Cargilfield has strong culture of boarding but one that is designed to suit modern families.
Many of our children may be going on to schools further afield across the length and breadth of the UK, and so the chance to gain some experience of boarding in a cosier and well-known environment is important. Nonetheless, there will be other Cargilfield children who just want to try the experience, who are drawn in by the chance of joining in with the range of activities and who will benefit from the opportunity to develop a little more confidence and independence as part of the boarding community.
We have a range of evening clubs and activities to suit every taste and our boarding community is supported by a team of experienced and committed staff who, along with the Headmaster and his wife, aim to create the sense of ‘a home away from home’.
Parents are opting into a boarding experience but want it to have the flexibility to suit their family lives – be it occasional evenings, weekends or a regular pattern of one or two nights a week building up to weekly boarding when your child is ready for it.
At Cargilfield, we call it ‘Tailored Boarding’ and, although it may be more convenient for busy families, they are opting for it because they can see the benefits for their children….who are, after all, the people that are usually driving this choice.
Cargilfield operates a flexible approach to boarding with opportunities for weekly boarding (Sunday evening or Monday morning until Friday evening) as well as flexible boarding (a regular evening or two each week). By negotiation with the Headmaster, we are also prepared to accept children to board for one-off evenings or periods of time.
Cargilfield is proud of its boarding culture which means that the School is busy in an evening and every other weekend. Children in the Upper School are welcome to stay for supper in an evening with no charge and the vast majority that do will stay on to participate in evening clubs between 6.45 and 8.00pm.
Every other weekend is generally a boarding weekend. This will sometimes be open to children from a specific year group and, on other occasions, be open to all children in the Upper School.
We specify two evenings per term as ‘boarders-only’ evenings when there will be a specific activity or treat for the boarders and the boarding community.
Weekends at Cargilfield are an opportunity for day children and those who might board during the week, to come and experience the excitement of the boarding lifestyle with the opportunity for trips, activities and time to have the run of the School campus and all of its facilities.
Some of these weekends will be aimed at specific year groups: perhaps a camp or a weekend based at School while others are for all year groups from Form 4 to Form 8. We also have one weekend a year aimed at P3 children to allow them to have their first boarding experiences when they have a camping weekend during the summer term. Although boarding isn’t compulsory at Cargilfield, we hope that all children will have had some experience of this before they leave and have enjoyed some of the boarding weekends on offer.
Please email Heather Thomson (hthomson@cargilfield.com) to book your child in for a weekend.
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