RURAL BOARDING SCHOOLS
- Liz Burwood, Marketing Manager at Shebbear College

To many people a boarding school in the English countryside conjures up scenes of a bygone age: misty, dewy mornings, a place where the air is healthy and good for you, where children can climb trees, camp out and do the things that you read about in the Enid Blyton books.


Today's rural boarding schools strive to have the best of the old but add to it the very best of the present. Many parents feel that the essence of boarding in the United Kingdom is best captured in a rural setting, where the natural elements of peace and quiet, fresh air and space to play can be combined with modern facilities housed in historic buildings.


Modern boarding houses offer comfortable ‘home from home’ facilities and a stable environment where changing family situations and relationships do not disturb a child's equilibrium.


A country setting provides an environment where children can be children. Equally important are the members of staff that dedicate their time to help growing children Shielded from the dangers of city streets, pupils experience personal safety - a highly desirable prerequisite to learning. The pressures of city schools to adopt more ‘sophisticated’ lifestyles are to some degree, held at bay.


Similarly, the drug culture that dominates so often in urban society is diminished by a rural location and the bounds of a residential campus.


Though once removed from the hurlyburly of the metropolis, pupils can keep in touch with what goes on through e-mail and internet provision. This rapid communication system allows the best of both worlds. Thanks to the Internet, there is no sense of the isolation that used to prevail in country schools. Technology allows frequent communication with home and parents can feel reassured that, in an increasingly hostile world, their children are in a safe, secure environment.

 

Liz Burwood is the Marketing Manager at Shebbear College, which borders on Dartmoor National Park and stands in 85 acres of unspoilt countryside. It is part of the Board of Management for Methodist Residential Schools.