Like steering a cruise liner, it can take time for a boarding school to change direction. Often this institutional inertia can serve schools well, enabling them to avoid jumping on the latest fad and allowing them to continue delivering the highest-quality education, as they have done for decades or even centuries.
But, like a cruise liner, schools must ensure that they have the best provision both in accommodation and in the personnel who work for them. To do this effectively requires long-term planning, the results of which will outlast the current incumbents of the school. Such thinking is often difficult to achieve in a busy 24/7 boarding school.
“Be brilliant at training and supporting your boarding staff.”
I’m often asked by schools what they could do to improve their boarding provision. This conversation usually develops by way of discussing the colours of bedroom walls, posters in corridors and the careful positioning of toasters! The answer to the question is, I believe, very simple: be brilliant at training and supporting your boarding staff.
Recruitment
Another question which I am being asked more frequently is how to go about recruiting high quality boarding staff in the first place. For those of us who know the joys of working in boarding, it is easy to see the benefits. For those looking in, it is harder to appreciate why working on weekends and during evenings has any appeal at all.
When I was beginning my teaching career, some colleagues who ran boarding houses exuded an aura of almost super-human ability. As I struggled to plan and teach a few lessons they managed, with apparent ease, to run a top sports team, teach, organise regular trips, and still have time for a healthy social life.
Times have changed, of course, and the demands on house staff due to compliance, mental health awareness and parental expectation makes this balancing act much harder. Nonetheless, there can remain an unspoken expectation of total commitment during term time and an ability to manage all manner of plate-spinning.
“At the start of my career, some colleagues who ran boarding houses exuded an aura of super-human ability.”
I recently wrote a short piece on LinkedIn with the intention of stimulating the sector to consider how we can future-proof our staff recruitment. The article began with the sentence “It may sound counterintuitive, but could we solve the recruitment crisis in teaching by helping people get out of the profession?”.
I went on to say that “recruitment” and “retention” are terms often bundled together: two sides of the same coin, working in unison to help staff our schools. But what if recruitment is stifled by people seeing a career in the education sector as a cul-de-sac with no ability to move on?
Transferable skills
It strikes me that we are getting better at opening our minds to the range of experiences that might make someone suitable to work in schools, and particularly in boarding. I come across people working successfully in boarding with a background in, for example, nursing, social care, and even the prison service. Going in the other direction feels much harder.
Yet, the experiences gained as a boarding practitioner, or in boarding management, offer transferable skills the envy of many professions. Emotional intelligence, problem solving, budget management, regulatory compliance, teamwork skills…I could go on and on.
So why isn’t the boarding profession more popular for those looking to move their careers forward in, or beyond, schools? Maybe, if the sector could highlight the opportunities for professional development and open doors to a range of careers, then it will be more attractive to those at the start of their professional life? Should we perhaps replace “recruitment and retention” with “recruitment, development and opportunity”?
“If we give our youngest staff unreasonable workloads then the conveyor belt will dry up.”
The LinkedIn post gained some good traction and a follow up poll saw three quarters of respondents agree they felt a career in boarding sets people up with the skills to work in other areas. If schools can communicate this effectively during the recruitment process, it may have an impact in attracting a greater number of suitable candidates to the profession, but it will take time.
Job appeal
What else can be done? Responsibility needs to be accepted for making jobs appealing to those entering the jobs market. If our youngest members of the profession – often on gap years or in “graduate assistant” roles – are given unreasonable workloads and responsibility without the right support, then the conveyor belt will dry up. And fast.
“More could certainly be done to showcase the excellent accommodation perks on offer.”
Often a role in boarding comes with on-site accommodation. This can provide an opportunity to live in wonderful places which might otherwise be inaccessible. I have been paid to live in stunning locations during my career, and even had payment of my electricity and gas bills thrown in for good measure.
Coming out of boarding has made me realise all the extras that I’ve taken for granted over the years. Shower leaking? That’ll be an expensive plumber rather than a call to the works department. More could certainly be done to showcase the excellent accommodation perks on offer in our boarding schools.
But most people do not get into a boarding role for the accommodation or, for that matter, the holidays. Making a meaningful difference to the lives of young people is the primary motivation for many. This hasn’t changed and, mirroring some of the wonderful “Get into teaching” adverts, perhaps it is time that as a sector we shouted more about “Get into boarding!”.
“Even two experienced members of staff covering overnights may find the going tough after a few weeks.”
Living arrangements for staff must be considered and reviewed carefully by schools looking to the future of boarding. Many still adopt the traditional house structure, whereby boarding accommodation is attached to house staff accommodation. Typically, there is a house parent in their own house and a more junior assistant in a flat. However, there are increasing calls for a more flexible approach to staffing boarding houses. Even two experienced members of staff covering overnights may find the going tough after a few weeks of term, and schools need to be mindful of this.
But it is not just staffing that needs future-proofing. The population of our boarding houses is changing, and schools need to adapt to this too.
Mental health
It is common knowledge that there is a mental health crisis amongst the young. This crisis – and that is the right word – has been exacerbated by the recent pandemic, but has been on the way for years. Fingers will be pointed as to the causes and the lack of an effective central response. Finger pointing, however cathartic, does not help a boarding practitioner faced with a young person in despair.
We are seeing an increase in depression, anxiety, self-harm, and eating disorders amongst students. Alongside this, we’re noticing greater numbers of diagnosed conditions such as ASD and ADHD. Boarding schools can, and do, implement plenty of tried and tested measures to support students but schools will need to continuously review and question their boarding provision to be able to cope in the future.
“Is it fair to have a self-harming student share with just one other in a two-bed dorm?”
Do students with ADHD have the capacity to cope with large, busy and crowded dorms at the end of a long day? Is it fair to have a self-harming student share with just one other in a two-bed dorm? How do you manage a variety of dorm sizes in a world where parents are increasingly likely to complain about a lack of fairness? None of these questions have easy answers, but the greater the flexibility around dorm size, the easier solutions will be found.
Sleeping arrangements
It’s important to consider the optimal sleeping arrangements for young people, given that within each school different age groups will have varying needs.
Over the years we have seen a trend towards smaller rooms shared by fewer students. In fairness, given the size of some boarding dormitories in the 20th Century, this was always likely to be a one-directional move. Newly opened houses now offer more individual bedrooms. In many places this also includes en-suite bathrooms and, in a few luxurious cases, individual kitchenettes. Some will raise an eyebrow at this and espouse the benefits of shared dorms, but wonderful compromises are possible.
“We have seen a trend towards smaller rooms shared by fewer students.”
For example, during one recent boarding school visit, I saw an arrangement where sixth formers were able to enjoy their own space separated from their neighbour by a sliding partition and shared bathroom. It felt like the best of both worlds and the students I spoke to loved it. Of course, it wouldn’t work for every school, but it certainly worked there.
Bringing cultures together
One last scan of the boarding horizon would indicate that as we bounce back from the pandemic the international market will grow. Demand from the wider global community, particularly in the older age groups, is likely to continue to rise. Boarding has the potential to be a force for good in bringing cultures together in a safe and supportive space. It will be the schools that embrace this opportunity to educate and nurture a diverse group of young people in an outward-facing way that will continue to thrive.
The boarding cruise ship is undoubtedly arriving at some choppy seas. But on the horizon, there is the promise that boarding schools will continue to evolve as dynamic hubs of intellectual growth, personal development, opportunity, and global connectivity – for both students and staff alike.
This article first appeared in the lastest print edition of School Management Plus, out now and available to read here.