Boarding: An Investment in the Future

Aldenham School invested over £2 million refurbishing two of its Boarding Houses during the summer break. But why?

Parents are often heard to say that what they really want is for their children to be happy at school. Of course, they would like them to become well rounded and confident individuals, with academic, sporting and artistic success – but fundamentally, they want their children to be happy.

At Aldenham School, boarding provides a sense of belonging and community which beats at the very heart of the school.

“The School’s ethos of nurturing pupils within a community where the individual is valued is promoted strongly by all teaching and non-teaching staff.”​

ISI Inspectorate

For boarders and day pupils alike, there is a powerful sense of ‘home from home’ here. The very fact that large numbers of pupils and staff live on site, either permanently or flexibly, enables this ethos to permeate all that we do. A homely school is a school which enables children to be happy. A happy child is a child who is able to perform to the best of their ability.

Needless to say, in a school with Boarding Houses​ which have stood for over 100 years, regular maintenance and upgrading is necessary. This is not something from which Aldenham shies away. In addition to ensuring that all the Houses have modern facilities, such as IT rooms and wifi access, gone are the days of dormitories with 14 beds and rows of basins with cold water jugs in the middle of the room.

High Demand For Boarding

Boarding has always been at the core of the Aldenham experience, with many families choosing to take advantage of the additional care and support their children benefit from. Naturally, if you are boarding, you do not need to travel into school on a daily basis and many children like the fact that they are relaxing with their friends whilst children in other schools are contending with traffic and arduous journeys.

Boarding demand has been increasing, and a difficulty for the school has been meeting that demand with the limitation of the number of beds available. There have inevitably been many families who have missed out.

Over the last Summer break from academic work, Aldenham School remained a hive of activity. Building contractors were in undertaking a complete refurbishment of our two oldest Boarding Houses, McGill’s and Beevor’s. Over £1 million was spent on each House, upgrading bedrooms and bathrooms. Major work was carried out such as enlarging the high victorian windows​ to enable the students to more easily take in the views of the beautiful grounds. But also, minor details have been considered, such as the inclusion of USB charging points on every power socket.

Importantly, the School has increased its boarding capacity, meaning that more families will be able to take advantage of this way of life, rather than travel to and from the site each day​.

The students moved back into enhanced accommodation in September​ and are now well settled in to their new rooms and a new school year.

Investment in boarding is always an investment in happy children, and ultimately it is an investment in the future.​