A PROGRESSIVE DAY & BOARDING SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS FROM THE AGE OF 3 TO 18
BOARDING
YEARS 7 TO 13
WHY BOARD AT FRENSHAM?
• A stunning setting on over 120 acres with incredible facilities and its own woodland.
• Three co-educational boarding houses, all with house parents, making the experience as close to home life as possible.
• A mix of UK and international boarders with at least fifteen nationalities.
• Proximity to London (just under an hour by train to Waterloo) and to major airports including Heathrow and Gatwick.
• Weekly boarder bus from Frensham to London Waterloo on a Friday after school (stops along the way), returning on Sunday evening.
• Regular trips and visits to attractions and cities including Guildford, London, Brighton and and a twice yearly surf trip to Polzeath in Cornwall.
• Enormous range of after school and boarding activities including climbing, cooking, craft, sport, high ropes, music, drama, social nights and camping evenings (in the summer).
• Caring, safe environment with staff living in-house and always on hand to help.
INTERNATIONAL
We welcome international students from around the world to Frensham on long and short stays. We work closely with families and agents to get to know your children and give you and them the best possible experience of Frensham before joining us, even if some of that has to happen remotely. Every year we sponsor students so they can join us on child student visas – we work closely with you through the visa process and make sure everything is in place before your child starts with us. Our language department supports the learning of additional English where needed.
OUR BOARDING HOUSES
Our three boarding houses cater for different age groups from Year 7 through to the end of Year 13. Our boarders enjoy the experience of moving through Hamilton House (Years 7-9) and Main House (Years 10 and 11) and by the time they get to Roberts House in the Sixth Form, they are ready for a little more freedom and independence.
At Frensham there is little distinction between boarding and day students. Our emphasis on relationships means we encourage boarders to be out and about in school during the day and equally we find opportunities for day students to get a taste of boarding life.
Boarding students also take part in the wide range of ECAs (after school and lunch time activities) and have use of facilities after school including our new conditioning gym, sports hall, music rooms, art, drama and dance studios.
OPTIONS
As with most things at Frensham, we understand that one size never fits all so we have a few different boarding options to cover whatever works for your family:
FULL BOARDING
Full boarding is what it says on the tin - 7 days a week.
WEEKLY BOARDING
Weekly boarding is Sunday pm to Thursday pm.
FLEXI BOARDING
Flexi boarding is the same three days every week.
OCCASIONAL BOARDING
Occasional boarding is adhoc on a first come, first serve basis - 2 days equivalent per week/per term for Years 7-9 and 1 day for Years 10 and up.
Boarding houses are open during term time, excluding bank holiday weekends and half-term breaks.
OUR HOUSES
HAMILTON HOUSE
Hamilton House is home to our boarders in Years 7 to 9. Students and residential staff live, study, socialise and relax together in what feels far more like a family home than a boarding house. Coeducational, in keeping with our ethos and like all our boarding houses, boys and girls sleep on separate wings – both alarmed to make sure there is no confusion over which students should be where and at what time. They share common areas for a wide variety of boarding activities - movie and games nights, cookery, yoga and more - not to mention coming together each evening to get their prep done. There are always plenty of fun evening activities to take part in once prep is completed.
Hamilton House is a technology free house at night time. Everyone must be in by 8:30pm, with all tech handed in and lights out by 9:30pm.
It is a home – as close to a family home as we can make it, led by the Head of House, House Parent and a team of warm and welcoming tutors. The majority of rooms are for 2 – 3 students and we have a few single rooms as well as some for 4 boarders. Housekeeping come in regularly to empty bins and change linen and just to help boarders keep their rooms clean and tidy.
Boarders have their breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining hall with the rest of the school community. Hamilton House is open at lunchtime and after school so boarders can check in and most importantly pick up the much loved after school snack!
MAIN HOUSE
Main House is our coeducational boarding house for students in Years 10 and 11. This is the historic part of the school with generously sized rooms and stunning views. There are two wings, one for girls and the other for boys with shared common rooms and kitchen areas. As with Hamilton House there is a Head of House as well as a House Parent and a wonderful team of boarding staff.
Main House is also technology free overnight. Boarders must hand in devices at 10am before lights out at 10.30pm. Boarders have all their meals in the dining hall although they can use the kitchen in the evening.
Boarders can come back to the house at lunch time and after school, but they are encouraged to be out socialising with day students and making the most of the many school clubs and fixtures. There is allocated quiet time for prep and house activities such as baking, art, games, sport or a movie night.
ROBERTS HOUSE
Roberts House is our Sixth Form Hub. It is home to boarders and Sixth Form day students. Sixth Form notices, social events, study sessions and some classes also take place here. It is somewhere students can go for independent study and find a bit of peace and quiet. Boarders have single rooms, each with a desk and a sink, on one of the two wings with common rooms in between. Bathroom facilities are shared.
Central to Roberts House is the House Parent, who offers a friendly ear, a comforting hug or just a cup of tea when the students need a bit of emotional support.
Recognising the need to ready themselves for life beyond school, Sixth Form students have more freedom and the strong relationships we build with students helps them along that journey. Sixth Form students are allowed mobile phones, but we ask them to restrict usage to in and around the Sixth Form Centre. Sixth Form boarders can take all their meals in the dining hall, but there are also two kitchens in Roberts House. By Sixth Form, students and can go into Farnham or see friends. We just ask them to be in prep time from 7.15pm to 8.30pm. All students must be back in house by 10.30pm.
ACTIVITIES
Boarding life begins when the school day ends. It obviously can’t be fun and games all the time, but evenings and weekends are all about striking the right balance between structured activities, homework and relaxation. Working around prep time and quiet time, evenings and weekends can see boarders really taking advantage of the school site and its facilities.
COMMON EVENING ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
• Basketball and swimming
• Group walks and bike rides
• Cooking and arts and crafts
• Movie and quiz nights
• Esports sessions
We also sometimes go off site for dinner, bowling or the cinema. We don’t have Saturday school, so there is time for a broad range of activities and trips.
COMMON WEEKEND ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
• Shopping trips to London and Guildford
• Trips to leisure centres and water parks
• Supermarket runs to stock up on tuck
• Trips to restaurants and cinemas
• Photography and art workshops
• Sports workshops
• High ropes and mountain biking
• Movie nights and discos
As we aim to have our boarding life mirror family life as much as possible, we tend to have a fairly busy Saturday followed by a quieter Sunday.
BOARDERS WEEKEND
At the beginning of every school year, we hold a Boarders Weekend when all boarders, full and weekly, stay for an activity packed weekend designed so that everyone
- boarders and staff - can get to know one another. It is always a really wonderful introduction to the school and our boarding community.
We have been a coeducational school since our founding in 1925. It’s not unusual to find coeducational independent schools nowadays, but it’s perhaps less common to find one with mixed boarding houses. As with our lack of uniform and first name basis, it is something we do a bit differently, but as with both of those, it’s not really that unusual in modern society. It is natural for boys and girls to share homes and grow up together and it can be a really beneficial experience, particularly for those without siblings of the opposite sex, towards understanding and respecting all genders. Parents can rest assured that in all three houses, boys and girls have separate alarmed residential areas and eagle-eyed residential staff on duty!
COEDUCATIONAL HOUSE STAFF
Each of our boarding houses has a dedicated team of residential staff living in the house supported by an extended team of staff living on site. It is a tightly knit team who offer not only evening and weekend activities, but also consistent pastoral care and support.
KEEPING SAFE AND WELL HEALTH
NUTRITION
RESPECTING EACH OTHER
Ours is an ethos based on mutual respect, tolerance and kindness. With our small, tightly knit boarding community, behavioural issues are rare and tend to be handled before they can become a problem. If problems do arise, they are handled through calm discussion with each student being given the chance to listen, talk and learn. These discussions will begin with the student’s boarding team and escalate upwards if necessary. All discussions are clearly communicated to and discussed with parents. We have boundaries, but not rules for rules sake allowing students to question, develop selfawareness, awareness of others and take responsibility for their actions. Although we recognise that everyone makes mistakes, we have a very firm stance on alcohol and drug use – this is part of our school rules which are agreed by all students and are available on our website.
CARING FOR OUR BOARDERS
In all our boarding houses, great emphasis is placed on the creation of a caring community which shares a philosophy based on mutual respect, enthusiasm and enjoyment of each other’s company and achievements. We aim to develop tolerant, friendly attitudes and good personal relationships. Frensham in its very nature is an informal and personal environment and our non-hierarchical structure and first name basis lead to strong, genuine relationships between staff and students. This is even more so for boarders who will get to know their house staff and fellow boarders really well. Our aim is to create an environment as close to a family home as possible.
Students can pick up a snack in the lunch hall at break and after school. A buffet style breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided in the dining hall where we all eat together as a community. Everyone has different preferences and our catering team provides a wide range of options to cater to all tastes and allergies and to help develop healthy eating habits. Students serve themselves and can sit where they choose. Boarding houses also have kitchen facilities which can be used to make snacks and cups of tea.
HEALTH CENTRE
We have an onsite Health Centre, staffed by qualified nurses. We offer 24/7 medical cover, so if a boarder is unwell out of school hours, there will be a nurse on duty. If a boarder is too unwell to return to class or the boarding house, they will be kept in the Health Centre under the care of the duty nurse. If they have a highly contagious disease, they will need to remain with a parent or guardian during the relevant quarantine period.
