How To Prepare For Boarding School

Starting boarding school can sometimes feel overwhelming for you and your child, especially when you aren't sure on how to start preparing. Whether it's a brand new boarding school for you or one your child has been attending, every year brings new challenges and it's important your child is prepared. Here are our tips on how to be prepared for the new school year...

Review The School Guidelines and Rules:

Before starting it's important to review the schools guidelines and rules - this will ensure your child knows what they can and cannot do whilst they're in school. Reviewing this before packing or purchasing anything they will use during the year is advised, just to ensure they don't bring anything with them which is prohibited. You can also use this as a guide on what to pack.

Packing:

When you being packing, we would advise you to label your child's items - this will make it easier for any items which are lost to be returned with ease. If it's your child's first time away from home, packing comfort items such as, family photos, favourite item's from home etc. As-well as the essentials like, uniform, toiletries, extra clothing, we also recommend packing extras including, extension leads, a spare charger, bedside lamp and a spare water bottle. Whilst we recommend packing some extras in, don't overpack and consider the storage in the room.

Mental and Emotional Preparation:

During the lead up to starting at the boarding school, it's important to openly discuss it with your child, the positive and negative feelings. Addressing any fears or concerns before starting will make the settling in process much easier on the child. Introduce independence into their life - start giving them the task of making their own bed, putting their own clothes away and packing their own bag, this will help them manage their own belongings and space better when they are on their own. Many normal parts of life can change during this time, and its important to make the child aware of this - for example there will be a change in diet, what they have eaten at home will be different to what they eat at school, so it's a goo idea to pack familiar snacks and easy-prep meals to help them! Moving away for school can cause homesickness, ensuring your child has familiar items and photos will help ease it.

Preparing For a New Living Environment:

Moving into the boarding school can be daunting for a child, before they start introducing them to their house parents and matron can help them feel more comfortable knowing they have support at the school. Familiarise your child with rules such as phone usage and Wi-Fi usage to prevent them getting into any trouble! With roommates, it's important to encourage them to have open communication with them and make new friends! It is also important to make sure they understand boundaries and privacy and being able to recognise it, whether it's others setting them or the child.

Starting Boarding School is a process for parents and children, being able to be prepared and feel prepared makes everything a lot easier! We hope these tips help make the process that bit easier.

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