Eton House Selection 2019

[yellowshoe]

We have been asked if we would like to pre-nominate a maximum of one house master (out of a group of three otherwise randomly allocated house masters) to meet in advance of our son's 2019 entry. We have no connection with any particular house, and in fact no experience of boarding whatsoever, but I don’t feel entirely comfortable leaving the whole selection up to chance, just in case we end up with all the short straws, whatever they are.

I wonder if those in the know – and I do realise this is entirely subjective – would share their views with me privately on whether there are any no-brainers, either in terms of a particularly inspiring individual or a particularly undesirable location etc. I have come up with my own shortlist of sorts but would love to compare notes.

For example, I am not keen on the idea of three meals a day in a canteen so I am minded to avoid all Bekynton houses. Am I missing out on some gem in doing so? Do the boys generally feel it is more beneficial to live near the playing fields for an easy walk home or near chapel/lessons for a short hop in the morning?

FWIW, our son is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none (an “all-rounder” if you want to be generous) so I can see him wanting to be involved in a multitude of sports, drama, and music to a lesser extent. And having said all of the above, the house masters as a whole are a very impressive bunch on paper so I’m sure it will all be fine whatever happens.

We've gone for the random selection. I'm not too fussed about Bekynton - the good looks good and I don't think it'll in any way detract from his school experience. We thought about nominating a particular housemaster, but weren't convinced that our choice would be any better than random in terms of finding a good match.

Hi TheNext and Yellowshoe. Congrats to your DS's. It's a wonderful school, my boys have been very happy. Re Houses: the school tends to be good at "matching" boys to houses and they consider the mix of boys carefully. Houses do have "personalities"; when you meet Housemasters I would go with your instincts and carefully explore your son's feelings about the Master in question. My youngest son, who is still there, was clear that there was only one house he wanted - it was his choice - that's been good as he was invested in that working well. Bekynton has advantages and disadvantages as you rightly perceive, but I agree with you that's it's certainly not a deciding factor; that being said, I think some of the houses located furthest away from Beckynton can make for a long walk to breakfast/supper on a wet/freezing morning or evening! Lots of choice at the canteen vs arguably slightly higher quality (but no choice) in house. Also not eating in house offers an opportunity to see friends from other houses. There are a number of excellent newer House Masters and since they agree to stay for a fixed term, if you get one at the early stage of their tenure, there is a reasonable chance that they will see your DS all the way through his time at Eton. Every boy is also allocated a Tutor, this is their academic guide and the two work in tandem offering support both academic and pastoral. When you visit houses do take the Dame into consideration. Again it's often about personality and the fit with your DS. General organisation of the house can be a good guide and a slightly "sterner" Dame can be helpful in getting the younger boys organised - really essential. It's a big school and juggling distance, complicated timetables, music lessons and Socs etc can be challenging to a 13 year old boy ... if he's anything like mine! They are given good support and by the end of F-block tend to have it all off pat. Hope that's helpful and good luck. 😀