Why full boarding still matters in modern education – the Headmaster’s perspective

In a recent article for the Autumn/Winter 2025 edition of The Week Independent Schools Guide, Headmaster Ms Elizabeth Stone discussed the benefits of full boarding. Read both sides of the debate here.

Adolescents are wired to become more independent and self-reliant. As they transition from childhood to adulthood, they’re meant to take risks, make mistakes, and explore their identity. In these crucial years, young people need to stretch the rubber band that ties them to the family unit – venturing out on their own, then returning safely, again and again.

Healthy teenage development requires time and space to navigate the world independently. Yet parents, educators, and policymakers have unintentionally stunted this growth by extending childhood and tightening its boundaries. Today’s children are often years behind previous generations in basic life experiences – cooking a meal, having a sleepover, or going out alone. Milestones to adulthood such as learning to drive or getting a job are similarly delayed. The result of our ‘new normal’ is that young people are missing out on opportunities to develop essential social and emotional skills: self-awareness, emotional regulation, decision-making, and friendship skills. Unsurprisingly, they are also more anxious and unhappy than earlier generations.

Boarding offers a proven way to stretch that rubber band within safe limits. Adolescents grow in independence and self-management whilst still anchored to a secure home base. Within the community of the boarding house, they have the benefit of a large peer group, and an extended school day filled with sport, music, drama, clubs, and societies alongside lessons and study.

Full boarders, however, enjoy one additional advantage: weekends.

Why does this matter?

Weekends give teenagers time to be with each other. It was once normal for teens to spend hours together every day without adult supervision – learning group dynamics, navigating conflict, and encountering diverse perspectives. Without constant adult oversight, they developed these skills naturally.

You probably don’t need research to know that spending time with friends is healthy, but long-term studies confirm that this is no longer the norm. In the UK, teens now spend over a third of their leisure time online, mostly watching videos that, according to Ofcom, “maximise stimulation but require minimal effort and focus.” It’s no surprise that their social and emotional development is regressing – and spending more time with your teenage peers face-to-face strongly correlates with better psychological well-being in adulthood.

Boarders are tremendously busy during the week, but weekends offer unstructured time simply to be with friends. In these hours, they unconsciously build the personal and social skills that underpin happiness and resilience – not just now but for life.

Full boarding also addresses what psychologist Jonathan Haidt calls the “collective action problem.” Parents often find that the most permissive families in their child’s peer group set the standard: once a few teenagers get smartphones, join social media, or attend parties with alcohol, peer pressure becomes overwhelming. Even the most resolute parents struggle to hold the line.

But when the same (school) rules apply to the whole group, the pressure disappears. There’s no fear of missing out, and behaviour shifts. Weekends become a time for low-key, analogue activities with your peers: lingering over breakfast, strolling to the High Street, kicking a ball around, drawing in Art School, or baking brownies together…the things you do because you have time to fill and your friends are right there. These simple, shared experiences foster deep bonds and healthy friendships but are increasingly rare in modern teenage life.

Finally, full boarding gives young people the time and space to explore their creativity and curiosity in ways that are hard to replicate at home. One mother shared with me how her daughter, a weekly boarder, envied her brother’s full boarding experience. Both loved boarding, but whilst he spent weekends putting on plays, playing in bands, and leading clubs and societies, his sister lacked a critical mass of peers around her to do the same.

I asked if she felt closer to her daughter because she had her at home every weekend. “No,” she said. “They’re both equally close and they both love school. But I can see how much my son is learning and growing, and I wish she could have the same.”