Boarding in Year 7
The senior leadership team takes pride in the quality of care provided to the children and the progress that they make. They are aspirational for all the children and value the sense of community that the boarding experience brings. They place the children at the centre of all that they do, and the children feel this during their boarding experience.
A direct quote cited in our latest Ofsted report in 2024.
Boarding at RGS is a unique and extremely rewarding experience. In order to help familiarise our newest students into boarding life, we choose to only offer weekly boarding to our Year 7s; this allows the boys the option to go home on either a Friday afternoon or a Saturday morning and to return to boarding on a Sunday evening. As they progress further through the school, they will have the opportunity (should they wish) to become full boarders.
Our Year 7 boarders are roomed with fellow students from their year however they also benefit from a Year 8 buddy, to help them settle in, and a further buddy from the 6th form, who will be able to answer any questions they may have. This helps to ensure a smooth integration into the boarding house and allows your son to get to know his fellow boarders across a selection of year group and age ranges. All boarders will also have a member of boarding staff from RGS assigned to them as a Personal Tutor. The tutors regularly chat to their individual boarders and are there to provide constant support and encouragement, should the boys require it.
To assist with the transition process, especially for those students who may have never boarded before, your son will be visited during their final year at preparatory or primary school by the boarding staff at RGS. Your son will also be invited to an induction evening and an induction day in July, followed by a final induction day, just for year 6, prior to the start of the new term in early September. These introduction opportunities will help to ease him into boarding life at RGS, as well as ensure that he is placed in a dorm with students who have similar interests.
Every evening, our year 7 weekly boarders have fully supervised prep (homework) sessions with a Housemaster present, who will ensure that the students can be supported with any questions, and that their work can be checked. Once their academic day is complete, there is the opportunity for the boys to relax and ‘chill out’ in the Junior Common Room or to participate in regular Junior Activities (chosen by the students themselves) such as dodgeball tournaments, table-tennis matches and six-a-side football games.
During half-term, there are activities within Fraser Youens (our boarding house) which involve all of the boarders; these are always hugely successful and indisputably fun featuring events like the House Obstacle course.
The feedback we receive from both our Year 7 boarders and their parents is always exceptionally positive. If you would like to speak to a current parent of a boarder to find out more about the boarding experience we offer, please don’t hesitate to let us know and we can arrange this for you.