Buy The Boarding School Companion on Amazon
Boarding school is a highly unusual situation which children are simply thrust into. Suddenly, they’re separated from their parents; they’re away from the familiarity of home, and they have to share a room with complete strangers. Their days are carefully planned out for them, with almost militaristic precision. They have showers which cut out after 10 seconds. They have to forego the privacy of a domestic bathroom for a cubicle in a communal space.
Boarding school is wonderful for children in so many ways. If I had kids, I would send them there, but it’s a situation which requires careful handling. There are ways to “do boarding school well” and ways to “do boarding school badly.” As with any situation in life, if a person is to get the most out of it, they have to approach it with the right attitude. This guide lays out strategies for coping, and strategies for thriving.
I’ve had the privilege of living and working in a boarding school for three years. My role is primarily a pastoral one, and I’m managed by the school’s chaplaincy team. When you live and breathe your role for 70-90 hours a week, and do it for long enough, you notice certain things; you have a lot of similar conversations. You spot patterns, and find yourself giving the same advice time and again.
That is why The Boarding School Companion exists. It’s a go-to manual which offers pithy, quick-fire advice around boarding school’s biggest challenges. The book covers everything from making friends to making enemies, to dealing with unfathomable rules, to dealing with grumpy teachers, to managing diet, to managing homesickness, to managing anxiety and panic attacks… It even touches on the growing teenage desire to attain ‘sculpted’ bodies in the gym, and offers advice on how to navigate these desires.
I’m a Christian, so The Boarding School Companion has a light Christian underpinning. I suspect most of the people who read this book won’t be Christians, so it’s not so much an evangelistic tome as it is a brief look at some of the teachings of Jesus. The Companion explains why the basic principles work, regardless of one’s belief system.
Overall, though, this boarding school guide has been written with children in mind: anybody from the age of 10 upwards. Primarily, it’s for people who already find themselves living in a boarding school situation, and offers practical advice on how to manage day-to-day life and, hopefully, have a great time in the process.
But this book will also be useful to those who are considering going into boarding, and it will help the parents of those children, too. Some teachers and houseparents may also find value in its pages.
Studio Skerratt 