Boarding is central to the ethos of the College and the strong Bishopstrow College community enriches our students and helps them build strong friendships and connections.
With Bishopstrow being a stepping stone to mainstream boarding schools, most students board on a full-time basis, although weekly boarding is also available. With high quality pastoral support, boarding at Bishopstrow promotes independence and aids the transition to destination schools.
Boarding is central to the ethos of the College and the strong Bishopstrow College community provides a home-from-home in a beautiful, calm setting.
Boarding at Bishopstrow offers a happy and vibrant family environment. Our boarding team’s top priority is to ensure that our students are happy, healthy and well cared for. We encourage our students to learn to study and socialise together and to live their lives to their full potential, academically, socially and physically. The safe and nurturing environment allows a sense of independence to flourish.
Our Principal, Head of Boarding and Deputy Head of Boarding also live on site, as well as the residential house staff who provide outstanding medical help and care if ever needed. This is complemented by full medical support from the local doctor’s surgery and by healthy and nutritious meal choices from our on-site chefs.
Boarding students live in one of the four boarding houses – Barrow House, Mandalay, Riverside and Aldhelms – with separate houses for boys and girls.
Junior and Middle College students live in Barrow House at the heart of the main campus, in shared rooms of between two and eight students.
Senior Girls have a suite of rooms in the top floor of Barrow House and the other boarding houses are also allocated to Senior College students. Mandalay and Riverside are located across the road from the main campus. Mandalay can accommodate up to 10 students and staff, whilst Riverside can accommodate up to 12 students and staff. Both houses benefit from extensive gardens overlooking the River Wylye and are a short walk from Barrow House and The Henson Building (classroom block).
Aldhelms is located a short distance from the College and can accommodate 16 students and staff.
Senior College students live in shared rooms of two, three or four, with access to kitchen and sitting room facilities.
There are between 10 and 40 students per house.
The extra-curricular programme includes a range of daily sports and morning and evening clubs and activities, designed to foster team spirit and the confidence to integrate with others when students move on from Bishopstrow.
As well as our onsite activities, we organise a stimulating and varied programme of fully-supervised trips at weekends. These allow students to discover places of cultural, geographical and historical interest and to sample the great outdoors through walking and other physical pursuits.
Sightseeing, cultural visits and even shopping provide contexts within which speaking and listening skills are put to the test. They are also great fun and provide memories to last a lifetime.
Trips and excursions may include London museums and art galleries, outdoor activity centres, trips to the beach and coastal walks. Local attractions include Stonehenge and Longleat and visits to neighbouring towns and cities, such as Bath, Bristol, Salisbury and Oxford.
A typical schedule may be as follows:
The College operates an innovative four-term academic year. There are no Half Terms and no fixed ‘exeat’ weekends for students.
Being a small school, students and staff have the opportunity to get to know each other really well. This contributes to the happiness, development and success of students. Visitors often remark on the unique atmosphere they encounter at Bishopstrow and the relaxed, informal relationships they witness between staff and students.
We are a vary caring and supportive community, with the safety and well-being of students of paramount importance. Our teachers and tutors support students in class, offering them advice and help when it is needed. Outside the classroom, our trained residential boarding staff ensure the welfare of students from arrival at the College to their final departure. We maintain a high ratio of boarding staff to students, thereby ensuring a high level of supervision of students during the school week and throughout weekends.
Fully-qualified staff are always available to discuss personal and health matters. The College has six trained and qualified Safeguarding Leads, led by the Principal as Designated Safeguarding Lead.
The Principal and Head of Boarding also act as the College’s Mental Health Leads. All boarding staff have first aid training and there is a medical room on site. Students are registered with the GP at the local surgery. A member of the boarding team will make appointments for students where appropriate and accompany them, in the unlikely event that medical treatment is required. We also offer a life coaching service, details of which can be obtained from the Principal.
All students at the College are required to have a UK-based guardian. We recommend that any guardianship organisation used by a family is one which is accredited by AEGIS (The Association for the Education and Guardianship of International Students). If a student’s parents do not know a suitable person to nominate as a guardian, the College will be able to provide details of professional guardianship organisations formally inspected and accredited by AEGIS.
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