St Catherine’s has been both a boarding and day school ever since the School's foundation in 1885. We believe that the successful blending of these two aspects of school life into one happily integrated community is part of what makes St Catherine's special. Everyone, boarder or day girl, feels part of the whole.
Consequently, boarding has always been an intrinsic and popular part of the School and fundamental to the St Catherine's ethos. We firmly believe that boarding fosters respect and concern for others and gives the girls the confidence to develop their independence and their own sense of style. We are always amazed by the wide variety of activities that St Catherine’s boarders manage to fit into their days and they are noisily present in every aspect of school life here.
One advantage of living on site is that you have access to all the wonderful facilities from early in the morning to well into the evening. There is no commute but instead, one seamless day in a home from home.
There are almost as many reasons to board as there are girls and their families. It could be that a girl already has a very full and active life after school and boarding makes it easier to manage her commitments, be they dramatic, musical, sporting or artistic. Sometimes deciding to board is based on what best suits the whole family; a number of our parents live abroad and so for them, full boarding is the obvious choice. We are proud to welcome highly intelligent young women from all over the world who, in the process of gaining an outstanding education in English, enrich the lives and experiences of those who live locally. We are increasingly popular, too, as a full boarding school for girls who are travelling to us from across the UK.
Weekly boarding, with the week spent in school and the weekend at home, has become increasingly popular, especially for families where both parents work or where a parent wants to restart his/her own career after some time spent raising younger children. Our weekly boarding catchment area extends to central/West London – with a quick journey up the A3 or by train to Waterloo – or down into Hampshire or Sussex.
For all our boarders, weekends contain all the usual school activities such as sports fixtures, play rehearsals, Duke of Edinburgh's Expeditions etc., but also include a busy, varied and exciting programme of trips and activities specifically for them. Weekly boarders are always welcome to stay and join in the fun and often do. A schedule of these can be found online along with the girls' reports on their experiences.
We do not have regular compulsory exeats, which makes our full boarding option a good choice for parents living further afield or internationally, as their daughters will always be cared for by familiar faces in the very welcoming team of boarding staff all year round. There is only one exception to this which is the early May Bank Holiday where we do ask girls to go to their guardians as the support staff in school have that national holiday.
This is only a brief introduction to boarding at St. Catherine's. To get a proper feel of what we can offer your daughter and your family, come and visit us at a prospective parents morning or organise a bespoke visit via our Registrar. We will be delighted to show you boarding in action and you can meet some boarders. They are always ready to talk about their school.
Home from home
Boarding at St Catherine’s creates a home from home space for our girls where each has the opportunity to be with people who make her feel safe and secure, with whom she shares experiences and has fun. Living within a boarding house gives her the opportunity to talk things through, validate and make sense of her thoughts, emotions and experiences. It can help her to problem-solve difficult situations, as well as widen her thinking and enabling her to see other’s perspectives. Your daughter’s Housemistress will support her as needed and in consultation with you.
Through boarding, girls learn to build good relationships with a diverse selection of people who have many different interests. St Catherine’s creates a supportive community around your child, where she can grow and develop in intelligence and confidence.
Our Boarding Houses
There are four Boarding Houses and these are the home 'address' and where they live, and are age-specific Houses organised by Year Groups. Girls are also a member of a School House, of which there are six, each including day girls and boarders. The School Houses create a girl’s sense of belonging to the whole school from age 11 to 18. As a boarders, the girls have the benefit of two Housemistresses with specific roles, but who work together to educate and support your daughter.
The Boarding Housemistress will be a teacher who has a particular pastoral specialism with her given age group of boarders and is the touch point for boarders’ parents. A teacher, but also a parental figure – with all that means about nurture, encouragement, and the occasional nudge into getting behaviour and organisation right – the 'BHM' – as we call them – is going to help your daughter to become a great citizen of her boarding house, to organise her life and gain independence, complete all her studies and prep. properly, and encourage her in all her activities. From a carefully structured programme in Bronte or Symes as you join boarding at 11+ or 13+ to the greater freedom to study in your room in Keller for GCSE, to the trust and freedom of the Sixth Form where the atmosphere is more akin to that of a university Hall of Residence, the four houses help the girls to develop to the point where they are ready to take university life and study in their stride. It is an exciting journey of 7, 5 or 2 years, with girls joining us along the way. However, the longer you are here, the more you can gain from the St. Catherine’s experience and while we welcome new girls at each of these stages, we warmly advocate for years 7 and 9 as the joining points to get the best from this School.
Weekend & Weekday activities
Across the year a wide variety of events and activities are planned for the girls. Each term, tailored to the season, we structure the weekends to keep the girls stimulated and having fun. This include trips out and about – whether it is to Brighton Pier or to London to visit a gallery; and activities that develop their fitness and bags of fun such as donutting or laser clay pigeon shooting. We also plan some quieter relaxation in ‘home from home’ time. The girls gather together in their boarding houses to bake, do art and craft projects, play board games, finesse their chess game etc. You can see a programme of the type of activities we offer here:
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