A Modern Boarding Philosophy

Boarding House

With almost all of our pupils boarding at some point during their time here, boarding really is at the heart of Wellesley Haddon Dene, and underpins the family nature of the school.

The benefits are numerous; from learning independence and life-skills, to fostering life-long friendships, building self-confidence and developing good social skills. We are huge advocates of boarding, but also understand how important it is to maintain strong family ties and a connection with home.

Boarding is almost nothing like it was thirty years ago. These days boarding is comfortable and homely bedrooms, hanging out in the kitchen with friends making snacks, or watching Netflix in the boarders’ sitting room. It might be spending the whole week in the boarding house, or even just one or two nights a week. It’s going home for the weekend, or it’s staying in to enjoy a trip to the cinema or bowling alley with your friends. It’s hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows, or the Tuck cupboard on a Wednesday afternoon.

Our Boarding Facilities

Boddington House – Co-educational boarding space

Discover more about our boarding house, known as Boddington House, with it’s comfortable newly refurbished boarding facilities, wi-fi and streaming capabilities…

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more about our facilities

Our boarding house, known as Boddington House, is named after Mr Richard Boddington, who was one of the first Housemasters at the school.

It is a co-educational boarding space, which means that boys and girls board in separate wings of the house, each wing with its own bathrooms and facilities, but with a communal recreation space and kitchen on the second floor. In September 2020, the house was refurbished to a high standard, with new, comfortable mattresses; redecoration throughout; modern, newly-fitted bathrooms; new bedroom furniture; a newly-fitted kitchen area; wifi installation and streaming capabilities in the common rooms.

Communication with friends and family outside of school has never been easier, with parents regularly sending letters and packages, school email addresses provided for all pupils, several telephone lines in the boarding house (incoming only), a Homelink phone for outgoing calls and the option of bringing in your own mobile phone and iPad for Facetime or WeChat. Personal devices are held under lock and key when not in use, so boarders spend most of their week away from the temptation of phones and apps, only being given the opportunity to use these at weekends.

Types of Boarding
Something to suit everyone

Boarding at Wellesley Haddon Dene falls into four categories:

Full Boarding

Full Boarding is usually taken up by children whose families live a little further away from school, both in the UK and overseas. Boarders live at school throughout the term, staying in at weekends and only returning home for exeats and school holidays. These children enjoy an exciting but homely weekend programme, with a healthy balance of down-time and relaxation, and a Sunday afternoon activity/outing.

Weekly Boarding

Weekly Boarding sees pupils boarding Monday to Saturday, returning home on Saturday afternoon after games and returning to school on Sunday night or Monday morning. These pupils can stay in school for any of the weekends if they choose to, by booking themselves in. Some choose to do this if there is a particular activity they want to attend.

Flexi Boarding

Flexi Boarding is an arrangement that allows day pupils board between one and four nights per week. They book their nights on a half-termly basis. This arrangement is popular with younger children.

Occasional/Ad Hoc Boarding

Occasional/Ad Hoc Boarding is available for day pupils who need to board for the night due to a late activity, or when parents may be travelling for work and need their child to stay overnight.

Leanne & Dominic

Our Head of House

The house is run by our Head of Boarding, Mrs Spencer, who lives on site with her husband (the Deputy Head) and their two young children.

Mrs Spencer is supported by a team of house tutors and boarding matrons. The matron sleeps in the boarding house overnight, providing 24 hour supervision and care. The Headmaster’s house is attached to one side of the boarding house, and a resident house tutor lives on the top floor. This set-up ensures that there is a high level of adult supervision and support at all times.