Boarding Life

At The Grove, we have a total of 67 boarders (38 boys and 29 girls), ranging from 11 years old to 18. A third of our boarders are from the UK and a quarter are from China. The remaining members of our boarding community come from a wide range of countries; Hong Kong, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, Italy, France, Slovakia, Serbia, Romania, Barbados, India and Australia. We are truly international!

This international element adds something very special to the Grove community as a whole. Not only does living and working in close proximity to different nationalities promote tolerance, understanding and respect for other people’s views, cultures and traditions, the diversity of our boarders also adds a vibrant energy to day to day life at The Grove.

The inclusive environment that exists at Woodhouse Grove is key to this. With only 10% of senior school numbers being boarders, it is important that relationships between the boarding community and day school students are valued and nurtured. We actively promote and welcome visits to our boarding houses by day pupils, and encourage boarders to build relationships outside of boarding. Many strong friendships have been formed and our boarders often visit the homes of their day pupil friends at evenings, weekends and during the holidays.

There are two boarding houses at The Grove; Brodwell houses our male boarders and Miller House is home to the girls. Both houses have recently been refurbished, with new carpets, curtains, bedding and noticeboards being fitted throughout. We have also invested in new common room furniture in Brodwell, as well as upgrading the Wi-Fi connections across both houses. New kitchen facilities will be installed in both Brodwell and Miller in the near future.

Although each of the Houses is unique in character, they share core values.  A caring and secure environment is maintained by resident house staff and our boarders flourish in the homely atmosphere, receiving all the individual attention they need, whilst being given enough space to mature, form close friendships, take on responsibilities and discover new talents.

All boarders have their own personal House Tutor to whom they are able to turn for guidance and support. Tutors meet with their boarding students regularly and discuss academic progress and co-curricular involvement, as well as completing pastoral and wellbeing checks. All boarders have access to supervised prep in the evenings and at weekends to undertake additional work outside of the classroom. The school also offers a large range of academic support clinics during and after the school day.

It is a real pleasure to see our boarders participating in the many activities offered to them, both academic and co-curricular, making the most of all the opportunities offered at The Grove. Young people today face increasing pressured to compete at top universities and to climb the ladder in rewarding careers. But soft skills such as confidence, versatility, self-discipline and self-motivation are just as important as academic qualification to achieve success – and it is these attributes that I witness developing in our boarders on a daily basis. I watch them having the discipline to practise their music before joining their friends for a hot chocolate in the house kitchen. I see their confidence grow after a successful play rehearsal. I watch them represent the school in sport and then be motivated to visit our fitness suite and train independently at the weekend. Living on campus, I am privileged to witness these mini transformations in our boarders every day. Walking around school, seeing our confident, motivated boarders, studying hard, feeling free to express their unique and varied opinions, taking an active part in school life – and adding so much to it – it is clear that the constant, rich and diverse stream of opportunities afforded by Grove boarding life creates a truly unique environment for pupils to become the very best versions of themselves.

At the weekend, we organise a full and varied entertainment programme for our boarders, including activities such as go-karting and paintballing, trips to nearby cities such as Manchester and York and visits to theme parks, the seaside and water sports centres. Senior boarders are given the freedom to make their own weekend plans, once these have been approved by staff. Boarders can arrange to leave their boarding house to stay with parents or friends at the weekend – and visitors and overseas parents are always welcome at The Grove.

I had the opportunity recently to travel to China to meet current and prospective parents on a busy and extremely ambitious trip that enabled me to explore Shanghai and Nanjing, venture along the coast to Quindao and Yantai, before finishing my travels in the city of Beijing. A highlight was meeting up with the parents of some of our current boarders; it was very interesting to hear their views of the overseas boarding experience. Words cannot describe the incredible level of hospitality that I received – and I felt very lucky to be able to explore the local sights, experience a new culture – and embrace the local cuisine!

The importance of food within different cultures is something we are keenly aware of in Grove Boarding.  The different cultures that make up our boarding community are very much celebrated. We want all our boarders to feel valued and that this is their home away from home – and we quickly learnt that a popular way to achieve this was through food! We have bi-weekly international cuisine nights, enabling pupils to sample cuisine from the countries of their fellow boarders. We also host a wide range of cultural events and celebrations throughout the year; Lunar New Year, Ramadan, Burns Night and St Patrick’s day, to name a few. A major celebration is our Boarding Christmas Ball, which takes place on the last full weekend before the Autumn Term finishes. We host a Christmas meal in the dining hall with music and speeches prepared by our boarding students, followed by a carnival on site, including dodgems, carnival stalls, candyfloss and a disco.

As Assistant Head – Boarding and Compliance, I am very lucky to be working with such a supportive boarding team who are all dedicated to ensuring that the needs of all students are being met. Having the opportunity to build not only a boarding community but a boarding family has been my favourite part of the role. It is a real pleasure to spend time with students from across the world, to really get to know them outside of the classroom, in a home environment and to appreciate the cultures and countries that they come from.

A memory I will cherish is my first Boarders’ Christmas Ball this December. It was amazing to see the entire boarding community coming together for this. The older students were true ambassadors; they aided in the planning and organisation of the event and then helped the younger students prepare. For some of our more junior boarders, it was their first time in a suit or formal dress. Miller House was like a beauty salon as boarders got ready for the event together, helping each other, being supported by boarding staff – and having such a good time that the Ball itself had a lot to live up to! Luckily, it was a fantastic evening, made even more special by the boarders themselves, who also provided the music and entertainment, with a live band and singing. It was a very proud moment.

Boarding really is a very special and unique opportunity that a school can offer its pupils. I feel very privileged to be part of The Grove’s highly regarded boarding community, which celebrates traditional values, whilst embracing tolerance and understanding of all cultures, giving importance to what we can learn from them. Combined with the academic and co-curricular opportunities that Woodhouse Grove offers all its pupils, it is not surprising that Grove Boarding attracts students from all over the world.

I am an individual, yet I am part of something incredible.

I am Grovian.

Dan King, Assistant Head (Boarding & Compliance)