Situated close to the south coast and only 60 minutes from central London, Claremont is a co-educational boarding school in East Sussex, focused on giving students the best possible preparation for the world.
Whether a student needs full boarding or weekly boarding, we pride ourselves on offering everyone a genuine home-from-home. Together, we form a close-knit international and British community with a friendly, caring environment where everyone feels valued and supported.
Claremont Boarding provision was judged to be Outstanding by Ofsted just before the school was named Independent School of the Year for the Performing Arts.
Claremont boarders are aged between 11 and 18. We understand that happy boarders are more productive students and this is why we are extremely proud of our two safe and supportive boarding houses: Clyde House and Pyke House.
Whether students board to develop their English skills, to become more independent, to access a British university or simply to enjoy the conviviality of boarding life, their experience at Claremont is always enriching. Our ultimate aim is to enable our boarders to achieve their full potential, academically, creatively and personally.
To find out more, please click on the link below and admissions team will be in touch to take you through the steps towards joining our community. You will tour our school and boarding houses, meet our director of boarding, Francoise Armstrong, and those joining Claremont Football Academy will also meet director, Jim Colston.
Pyke House is our girls’ and juniors boarding house and is located in the historic town of Battle while Clyde House, for our senior boys, is on the outskirts of Hastings, a famous seaside town. Both are within easy reach of the Prep and Senior schools and our boarders enjoy the separation between school and house as it allows them to follow a similar routine to day students.
Each house has a traditional English style, with all modern home comforts, spacious common rooms and large gardens to keep everyone entertained. Both Clyde House and Pyke House have their own unique atmosphere, carefully developed by the house parents. This allows us to meet the individual needs of every student, while offering high standards of care and professionalism.
After school and weekends
As well as all the football and other sporting and extra-curricular opportunities on offer at school, Claremont Boarders enjoy a full programme of social activities in the evenings and on weekends from the creative to sporty, with a bit of everything in between.
During the week, our extensive and varied Clubs programme is designed to develop free-thinking and skills-based learning that inspires leadership, creativity, team spirit, community-mindedness and academic excellence. Some of the most popular clubs this year include: Eco Club; Music Production; Sports Leaders and Space Society.
Keeping up with homework is vitally important and Homework Club at school is popular. In the boarding houses, there is homework time every evening after dinner, supervised by boarding parents.
Trips and visits
We consider boarding life to be an important part of the whole educational experience and it is on the weekends that the two boarding houses come into their own. We put on a varied programme of visits and activities to suit all ages and interests. We sometimes run three trips on the same day so that our students can choose the activity which appeals to them most. Favourite activities of our current boarders include: bowling, cinema trips, Laser-Quest, ice skating, Go Ape forest climbing centre, gardening, zip wire, visits to local museums such as the Observatory Science Centre in Hertsmonceux.
Both boarding houses are close to mainline train stations with fast trains to London meaning that trips to the city’s top cultural attractions, such as the National Gallery, London Eye and Buckingham Palace, are always popular.
An important part of boarding is gaining independence. Year 12 and 13 boarders are also able to visit London while all students may visit nearby towns such as Battle or Hastings on their own (with prior agreement with parents). The weekend is of course an opportunity to catch up with homework and get ready for the week ahead.
On weekdays, students up to Year 11 hand over their phones at bedtime to ensure they get a good night sleep. At the weekend students can go to bed slightly later. They often watch a film together on a Friday or Saturday evening and have a relaxing lie-in in the morning.
Our house parents are dedicated to delivering outstanding care for every student. We have a robust induction process which ensures that children settle in properly and that parents become familiar with our approach and ways of working. This involves a Zoom interview with our director of boarding, Francoise Armstrong, and an in-depth Zoom call with the House Parent closer to arrival. Once the child arrives at Claremont, there is a two day induction at the boarding house and a one day induction at the school. Being part of a happy boarding community and easy contact with parents, helps boarders settle in quickly.
Key elements of our approach are:
Healthy food helps to create a healthy life. All of our food is freshly prepared on the premises and students enjoy breakfast and dinner together in their boarding house, with lunch at school. At weekends all meals are provided in the house, with packed lunches for days out. The menu operates on a 3-weekly cycle and is carefully designed to provide a healthy, balanced diet. Students are also able to prepare themselves snacks outside of mealtimes in fully equipped house kitchenettes.
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