Eton housemaster for entry 2021

[Sussexparent222]

We have been following the standard Eton entry process and have had three houses suggested to us by Admissions: Waynflete, Mustians and Baldwin's Bec. My wife and I will see the housemasters in January but would be grateful for any background info beforehand or if you think any of these are particularly bad/good options (by private message please) Thanks a lot for your help.

Baldwin's Bec is eat-in, the other two are Bekynton houses which means they eat in a central dining hall. More variety of food, but a different and possibly more disparate house culture when you're not sitting down together to eat in-house multiple times a day.

There's a lot of talk about which houses are best location or amenity-wise but I'd just go by your and your son's rapport with the housemaster and the dame - they're all seasoned professionals but you're going to be working together with them for 5 years so they should both be someone you feel you can talk to.

The only thing that matters is whether you feel you can trust the HM to look out for your boy in good times and bad. A good HM needs to be both conscientious and tough minded, actively dedicated to the wellbeing of each individual boy and the unity (and reputation) of the house.

Also bear in mind that, when you go to meet potential HMs, your son will have his own views. Remember he’s the one who will be living there.

And, after all your worrying and cogitating and close questioning - it is entirely likely that the HM will, at some point during the five years, leave and be replaced by someone completely different.

Do you know boys at the school?,they will fill in you in on the reputation of the house, a house can make or break a boys experience of Eton,at least one of those houses has received unfavourable comments from our boys and others at the school.

Helpful replies, my thanks to all. We do know some boys already there but it's good to hear from other parents, without an axe to grind, what they think.

I’m not sure if randomers on the internet will actually add anything: you get to meet all three, and the Dames, and can put forward a first and second choice. We got a huge amount of insight from that and loved two of the houses and felt the third wouldn’t suit ds at all well. The Bekynton thing isn’t a big deal, and didn’t factor into our decision.

Who the fuck are you calling random, avocadoze?

Why is my (apparently) knowledgeable opinion any less valid than your (apparently) knowledgeable opinion. We could both be lying.

But I certainly recall the MN hive-mind (strictly on the Education boards) being a useful additional resource at the OP’s stage.

I think we’ve said more or less the same thing which is: decide when you meet the housemaster. But fair enough about randomers! I had zero advice on the Eton stuff really, and we’re very happy with the house ds ended up at. Apart from the fact that no-one seems to take any notice of the one-way system at Short Leave and Long Leave...

What I didn’t say (but thought about) was advice to choose a house based on minimally hellish parking .

My DS is at a house on the Eton Wick Road and curiously there is no traffic issue there at all. Sept drop is the only time I haven't been able to park in house (and some years I have managed in sept), to the extent that I am repeatedly curious about where everyone else is.

I enjoy looking at the carnage in Common Lane as I drive past

Superficially you may think the housemaster is a great choice but imagine if later you find out for example he operates the most draconian mobile phone regime for new boys in the whole school and boys and parents hate it or would you want your son on a Saturday night to see his mates from other houses waiting at the Burning Bush for Deliveroo and a night of Netflix knowing your housemaster has banned it..

Yes, there are quite a few housemasters who do one or both of those things, for good reasons. I guess the OP could ask about devices and takeaway policies and the reasons behind it. It would give an indication of his values and how he would handle other issues in future.

I'm trying to work out what I think about devices and takeaway policies myself - Eton seems expensive enough without adding Deliveroo

Sussexparent indeed, the expense is one of the reasons why some HMs ban takeaways apart from special organised pizza nights or similar paid for out of the house games account. It's impossible and embarrassing for many boys to keep up with the Joneses if there is free rein on takeaways, and it's wasteful and disrespectful of the staff who make a great effort to make the food in-house if boys aren't eating what's served because they're getting deliveroo every night.

We are very happy with ds in a house where devices are handed in before bedtime, and they’re generally encouraged to make the most of all the school offers rather than stare at a small rectangle of internet.

On deliveroo - I think they are allowed to club together to do this in blocks (year groups) on a Saturday, but ds doesn’t seem to have spent much on this. Budgens, on the other hand, seems to account for most of his spending and we did have to tell him to rein in his chocolate expenditure or we’d cut his allowance