Peter Symonds - what's boarding like?

[Waffleswithcheese]

Interested in getting a sense of what the boarding provision is like at Peter Symonds (currently looking at sixth form options and DS is eligible for a state boarding place).

Struggling to get much of a sense of this from their website. Keen to know what the pastoral care is like and how much support / supervision boarders get. Are there weekend activities etc, or are they simply left to their own devices?

Conscious that the vast majority of students are day pupils, so keen to know how the boarders fit in. Also understand that there is a large contingent of Falkland Island students as boarders, so wondering how easy it is for an "outsider" to fit into a group that may have known each other most of their lives. Or are there enough "other" boarders that this isn't an issue?

Deliberately not posting this in the "Boarding" section in the hope of getting a slightly wider cross section of views from parents of day students as well as boarders.

Just checking you spotted this pdf hidden behind an image https://www.psc.ac.uk/docs/content/boarding/boarding_leaflet.pdf

Thanks @TeenDivided . Yes - had seen that pdf but found it quite brief and didn't feel like it gave me a good sense of what it's really like to board at Peter Symonds. Would love to hear from anyone with personal experience of the college / any insights at all into the boarding experience (even if these are indirect).

Sorry can't help with that.

Friends with kids who went to PS were overall happy but workspace could be limited during the day, also parents evenings tend to be for those they want to see rather than everyone.
(My 2 went to a college in the New Forest, and the agricultural college down the road from PS.)

Not sure if you ever got a reply? We visited PSC, and did two separate tours of the college (one on the open day and one at my son’t boarding interview). Was personally very impressed by the pastoral care provision and the way they scaffold young people into independence, along with the social support and nudges to keep on top of work via prescribed ‘quiet times’ etc. Boarding is being driven by my son who is keen to develop independence and deeper friendships that ‘being away from home’ can help foster. Having been for interview he is now desperate for a place, despite it being a very different place to where he has been at secondary school.

Thanks @BusyMummyWrites . Good to hear that you had a good impression of the pastoral care and support. We will definitely visit for an open day next year, so can hopefully see for ourselves. Fingers crossed that your soon gets his boarding place.