The opportunity to make life-long friendships is one of the main reasons students choose boarding school. For other potential boarders, being around new people is daunting!

Those mixed emotions can lead to the sort of questions this article aims to answer.

Topics will include whether you’re with other people around the clock, how easy it is to ‘fit in’ and who to turn to for help.

Never feeling lonely, but you can be alone!

Boarding school is one of the best ways to tackle feeling isolated when you’re a young person. It could be that your parents work long hours or travel for their careers, you live in a quiet rural area or you struggle to make meaningful friendships in your existing school.

All that can be firmly in the past at a well-organised boarding school.

You’ll be around students from across the UK (and some from overseas), and it’s highly likely that you’ll quickly find like-minded friends.

This leads to a very important point when you choose Rendcomb College. We work hard to make every student feel ‘at home’ and comfortable, but we don’t believe in creating conforming androids! We encourage you to be your own unique self, in the company of other students who are being encouraged to live their best life at school too.

In the ebb and flow of the boarding school day, friendships form naturally. Activities and sports in the evenings help too, and there’s plenty of time for spontaneous fun with new friends.

Someone to take care of everything

Rendcomb College crafts both its classrooms and social activities around helping students to feel part of an extended ‘family’. 

You may be wondering ‘What if I need a private chat about something really personal?’. That’s what houseparents and our pastoral staff are for. What you say to them is confidential (unless they need to share information because they’re deeply concerned about student welfare, in which case they will talk you through what’s happening). 

Every student who boards has a caring couple they can turn to for advice, encouragement and support. Houseparents are also there to provide some structure and routine to time outside the classroom, as having boundaries is important!

In a nutshell, houseparents keep you safe, healthy and happy – while your actual family are absent. 

The staff at Rendcomb College also include medical professionals to cope with anything health-related, and well-trained people to cover another important aspect of everyday life – food! Our chefs balance nutritional targets with menus that are delicious and enjoyable for your age group.

Can you have solitude at boarding school?

What if you attend boarding school but want space, peace and quiet?

Rendcomb College won’t force you to interact with other people all day, every day! This includes providing older students with private bedrooms with ample solo study areas. 

Also, students have flexibility in how they spend weekends. There are activities in each house but you can also ‘do your own thing’. Some boarders go home to see existing friends or enjoy their electronic gadgets.

The college provides students with opportunities to enjoy privacy and peace during the school week too. Once students have notified our caring staff, they’re free to roam in solitude in our extensive grounds. We all need some alone time occasionally!

What are the boarding school teachers like?

Rendcomb College is a place to thrive socially and make wonderful friendships, but primarily it’s a supportive learning environment.

We recruit teachers and teaching assistants with excellent experience and skills. They will truly enrich your ability to take in and retain subject information, because they know how to respond to each student individually.

Of course, there will be exams, homework deadlines and discipline in the classroom – coping with those are important life skills. However, Rendcomb College staff have the time and abilities to make classrooms as pleasant and supportive as possible.

You’ll never feel ‘alone’ or left behind in our classrooms; just as you won’t feel isolated or marginalised in our school accommodation. 

We hope the most important person you meet at boarding school will be your ‘best self’!