Pupils give top marks to flexible boarding trend

Once, going to boarding school meant that children would be away from home for months on end. Then weekly boarding was introduced, allowing pupils to go home every weekend.

Once, going to boarding school meant that children would be away from home for months on end. Then weekly boarding was introduced, allowing pupils to go home every weekend.

Now a growing number of schools are adopting a new approach that sees pupils staying the night on a flexible basis.

Even pupils who live within walking distance of the school are starting to board regularly because they want to be with their friends while their parents work.

The trend is believed to have seen the number of flexible boarders rise to more than 16,675 nationally.

Pupils can opt for an occasional sleepover at school, or to board regularly for two or three nights a week.

Nearly one in five boarders is thought to be a "flexible" boarder who stays at school on a part-time basis but can add extra nights.

The flexible approach is being pioneered by England's Quaker schools in response to demands from parents. It is drawn from the Quaker schools' philosophy that a pupil's needs should come first ­ and the schools try to tailor what they offer to those needs.

They are also responding to market forces after finding that a way to attract more boarders is to allow pupils to switch from traditional boarding patterns.

Parents facing a family crisis or who need to work for a night can book their child in to stay at school.

Jane Peake is development director at Bootham School, a mixed Quaker school in York, where one in six of all boarders stays on a flexible basis. "Our nearest flexible boarder lives just 300 metres away," she said. "I think it's a trend which reflects people's lifestyles but it also stems from demand from the children who want to be with their friends. There is a social dimension to boarding they don't want to miss out on."

The school gives day pupils two free boarding nights each term and the chance to spend other individual nights for £38 a night. Fees for day pupils aged 13 and above are £3,660 a term, but the school allows them to board two nights a week for £4,150 a term, while full boarding costs £5,675. Juniors are also encouraged to board, with fees in Years 7 and 8 for boarders £3,780 a term, compared to £3,475 for day pupils.

The popularity of boarding will be under the spotlight again next month when independent school leaders prepare to publish their annual census, which monitors trends in the sector.

But independent schools acknowledge that flexible boarding is a new and growing phenomenon which already attracts large numbers of children. Last year saw a dip in national numbers of full-time boarders after two years of growth attributed to the Harry Potter effect.

However, the Independent Schools Council no longer collects figures on flexible boarding because schools offered such a range of boarding options that it became difficult to monitor.

The last figures were collected in 2002 when 16,675 day pupils were averaging 12 nights a year at school. This compared to 70,000 full boarders. Dick Davison, spokesman for the Independent Schools Council, said the figures are believed to have risen since them. "It is a quite significant phenomenon," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Boarding Schools Association said: "Many schools offer increasingly flexible ways of boarding ... Some will always offer the traditional full boarding but now there is more choice."

Annabel Preacher, pupil, 15: Work hard, play hard, avoid traffic

Annabel Preacher, 15, lives only three miles from school. But she boards Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights at Bootham School in York.

She first boarded two nights a week, aged 12, after persuading her parents to allow her to board.

Annabel said: "It helps you meet new people. You have set hours to do your homework but there are activities every evening. It's very sociable." Her mother, Stephanie, an actress who has appeared in West End productions and in Coronation Street, said: "York is famous for its traffic jams and it could take up to an hour and it could be a nightmare taking her [to school] with her saxophone and hockey sticks.

"Annabel just so desperately wanted to board. I think she had read a few Mallory Towers sorts of books and thought it would be fun.''

The flexibility of the school's boardings meant Annabel could stay five nights a week when her mother was performing in a West End play and can add extra nights when her parents are working and she would be returning to an empty house.

Mrs Preacher said Annabel worked harder and was more organised when boarding.