International Boarding School - 3 Reasons Why Now Is the Best Time to Enrol!

International Boarding School - 3 Reasons Why Now Is the Best Time to Enrol!

With the current lockdown-like situation in India and cases having touched a peak of 4 lakh per day, it is likely that schools will not open until mass vaccination is implemented, which may be another 10 months away. Moreover, the virus has mutated and these subsequent waves have impacted children as well. Given this situation, online school will be the status quo for a long time, leaving many parents to seek alternatives. Of the 80+ boarding schools surveyed by The Red Pen, 90 per cent mentioned that they have openings in grades 7-12 for Indian students to start in fall 2021! Also, more than half of the schools report there will be no increase in fees this year and several have scholarships specifically for Indian students.

Countries like the UK, Switzerland, UAE, Singapore, the US and Canada have resumed on-campus residential schooling, with safety measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 in place. In our survey of global boarding schools, US-based schools reported that they were open for in-person learning during the 2020-21 academic year. UK schools were closed during England’s nationwide lockdown, but have opened post-Easter. In Switzerland, schools were closed only for a month at the beginning of the pandemic. Students were able to engage in regular ski season activities during the winter.

These results suggest that boarding school might be the best option for August 2021 and here’s why: 

Safety measures are in place to ensure student wellbeing and protection

Boarding schools provide a safe bubble where your child can learn in a stress-free environment. Most schools are frequently carrying out mass PCR testing so that if staff members or students test positive, they can minimise the spread. For example, at Sevenoaks School, students must self-test twice a week using the NHS lateral flow test and upload results on the NHS website.

Moreover, during breaks, international students are allowed to stay on campus and are cared for by staff if they cannot travel back home due to travel restrictions. If they do travel back home, upon their return, most countries require them to quarantine to ensure the safety of others. The UK government, for example, has a mandatory 10-day quarantine with frequent testing. Day scholars, on the other hand, are temperature checked on a daily basis and a number of schools such as Sevenoaks School, Taunton School and Bryanston School have invested in a rapid COVID testing machine that gives results within an hour.

In a boarding school, students have access to a range of extracurricular activities

Access to extracurricular activities is just as important as face-to-face academic teaching. In a boarding school, students can engage in sports, music, drama and other activities within the school’s grounds. As these are controlled environments, where only students and faculty of the schools have access, gyms, fields, music rooms, 3D labs and libraries are all open. In the UK, the summer term has seen the start of inter-school sporting events with tennis and cricket matches in full swing.

In contrast, public areas like clubs or gyms or sports grounds will be the last to open in COVID-19 impacted regions. This is especially tough for budding athletes who need to continue honing their skill in a particular sport. For them, being in a boarding school, like TASIS England where all the sports facilities have opened, allows them to continue to train. TASIS England came up with a fun and innovative way for their students to compete. For a few sports, it was possible to play intramural games rather than against other schools. They created competitions between schools via video, where both teams had to complete certain drills while being recorded. The videos were streamed live simultaneously to see who won that “game”. 

Face-to-face learning is the most effective

While there are several benefits to learning synchronously online, not all students have managed to seamlessly adapt to virtual learning; returning to a traditional classroom setting can help students refocus on academics. A study from the Stanford Graduate School of Education found that primary school students’ growth in reading stopped almost completely when the pandemic hit, resulting in a 30 per cent lag. As instructors adapted to online school, learning accelerated, but not enough to cover the initial gap. Even high school students are struggling as complex new content and greater expectations are difficult to synthesise if they have not been specially designed for online learning. For teachers, delivering online instruction requires different approaches and professional development, which may not be accessible to all.

At many boarding schools, teachers live on campus, filling dual roles as matrons or activity and club leaders. This means they remain within the “safe, COVID-free” bubble and can carry out their duties in a physical classroom. The motivation, encouragement and supervision provided by these teachers are more effective in-person and even student mental health can be monitored more closely. A student’s ability to ask questions, respond or engage in discussion, without having to worry about their internet bandwidth, cannot be replicated online. For high school students whose academic requirements incorporate group work, the possibility of collaborating in a classroom setting is more effective. 

As we know, the 2020-21 board exams were cancelled in many parts of the world, however, this did not mean that learning stopped or that students were sent home. In fact, schools have used the time back on campus and in the boarding house to teach beyond the curriculum. At Sevenoaks School, students focussed on their higher level IB subjects and were taught all the optional areas of the curriculum and important research skills to aid them in their transition to college. This was supplemented with additional co-curricular activities.

The benefits of boarding school even in regular times have been well documented by us. But for up-to-date information, we are constantly in touch with global boarding schools to find out what they are planning for the upcoming academic year. 

To find out more about available boarding school seats for the 2021-22 school year or to plan for the future, get in touch with us at [email protected].