What is boarding like for today's school pupils?

THE telephone rings mid-meeting in Tony Jackson's office at Barnard Castle School. A pupil's father has been taken ill and rushed into hospital so the house master at the other end of the line is asking if the boy can return to school early. "Of course, anything we can do to help," answers Tony, the school's new second master and head of boarding.

The summer holidays aren't over yet but the school, which is also term-time home to 200 boys and girls, is like an extension of family to its boarders. For many parents, knowing they can depend upon it, not only in times of crisis but in the everyday care of their children, is a God-send.

Barnard Castle is the school that never closes - throughout the summer it's been a hive of activity, from hosting other schools for sports coaching, pre-season training for its own teams and weeks of fun activities for under-12s from its Prep School and other primaries. Once term is underway, the day begins with breakfast at 7.35am and can go on until 10pm when the Sixth Form Centre finally closes. After that staff are on duty to provide care to the boarders, who are aged seven-18.

Barnard Castle started life as a boys' boarding school in 1883. There were 12 dormitories for 25 boys each, a bakery, steam laundry and hospital buildings for pupils with infectious diseases. Agriculture, botany and land surveying were on the curriculum, and the boys took part in boxing, wrestling and fencing.

It was a different era but there's nothing to say it ever had anything in common with that of writer Roald Dahl, whose apparently miserable experiences of boarding school were highlighted just this week in a Channel 4 programme to find his Most Marvellous Book. It is said some of his teachers were the inspiration for his more gruesome characters.

Tony Jackson at Barnard Castle School

A similarly uncomfortable picture of boarding school has been painted in the BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers, where the manipulative and controlling Rob Titchener has referred to the trauma he suffered at being "sent away" to boarding school to mitigate his sinister behaviour.

The family tradition of children going off to boarding school – typically the same one as their father and even grandfather – may still exist among some of the country's upper class dynasties, but the reality for most children is very different. Where father may once have dictated sons' education for instance, today mum is more likely to make the decisions on children's schooling and, increasingly, it's the children themselves who can say what works best for them.

Sixth Form girls, in particular, recognise that boarding presents a genuine pre-university experience of living away from home and an academic focus that can have real benefits for attainment, coupled with easy and safe access to sport and other interests once work is done.

Tony explains: "As an A-level student at home you have to be extremely self-motivated, which is very difficult with all the distractions of technology today. But if you're at school with homework or revision to do and everyone else around you is focused on it as well as part of the daily routine, then it's much easier, especially when there are teachers and resources at hand to support you.”

As the most senior pupils, Sixth Formers at Barnard Castle School have real responsibilities and leadership opportunities, a taste of adulthood that is enhanced even further for the boarders. "From the minute you wake up in the morning to lights out at night, you are setting the tone for your house and among younger pupils,” says Tony. “You have the opportunity to earn and to command respect, and that is true leadership.

"Boarding builds a level of resilience, not in an old fashioned 'stiff upper lip' kind of way but in a way that makes you appreciate routine and shows you that can do things for yourself, and that’s very rewarding.”

From learning domestic skills like ironing and cooking, to developing social skills at formal dinners and taking on official leadership positions (either elected or appointed), boarders can leave school well prepared for adult life and with friendship bonds that last a lifetime. The diversity of the boarding community, which includes some international students, adds further richness to the experience.

The promise of having immediate access to sports and creative arts facilities with your closest friends once your homework is done, instead of a lengthy car or bus journey just to get home, is encouraging students in lower years to board.

"When it comes to GCSEs there is also the advantage of having older students around you who have already gone through it, who can help you with tricky topics, assist you in devising a revision timetable and advise on A-level options," says Tony.

The concept of Preparatory School boarding, for children as young as seven, may be a more difficult parental decision to understand.

"The biggest decision a parent makes, and definitely the one they should spend the longest time thinking about, is not about work or where you live, it's about where your child goes to school,” says Tony.

"Year three or four is the hardest age for a parent to consider for boarding, but if business takes you away from home a lot, if your job sends you overseas, your family situation is difficult to manage or if you live just that bit too far from the school you want your child to go to then it is a viable option. It may be the alternative that offers the stability, the consistency, the routine and the care and love you want for your child."