HEBRON SCHOOL, OOTY accommodating only around 25 students. Also, to discourage unwanted permissive grooming, the boys & girls Dorms are distributed at two campuses – Lushington & Selborne.
The High-tech & Safe Science Lab
buildings, state-of-the-art educational infrastructure, the unique 11+2 curriculum, and an international mix of students. But the real Hebron character goes beyond all this. Explains Principal Reid, “It is the unique systems that we follow, that has given us our distinct character.” To unravel these systems, Seasonal Magazine quizzed in detail this thorough gentleman with no airs:
And what is the role for Dorm-parents? Each such small Dorm-house is managed by Dorm-parents, who are one or two teachers who stay with the Dorm inmates, and care for them much like their parents. The Dorm parents will be in total charge of the students’ welfare, and interface with the students’ own parents. Dormparents will be in charge of ensuring a balanced diet, healthcare, and even aspects like the students’ pocket money. That sounds very interesting… Yes, and it is a very important part of bringing up students in moderation & discipline. At Hebron, money should not be directly sent by parents to students. Here, it is Dorm-parents who issue pocket money to each student, on the parents account, at a weekly rate set by the school and appropriate to the student’s age.
Hebron is known for its values-based education. What are the mechanisms for that? At the heart of values-based education, is the issue of values-based upbringing. In a family, children are brought up by their parents according to their own value-system. In an international school like Hebron, where most students are in boarding, there should be a valuesystem, as well as the mechanisms to implement it. Hebron’s sense of socially-acceptable behaviour provides the value-system, while our mechanisms like small Dorm-houses, caring Dorm-parents etc. provide the system for values-based upbringing.
Can you explain the concept of small Dorm-houses? Yes. As you might already know, at 340 students, we are a manageable school where I or any of our staff can know all the students. Many schools our size would have done with one or two big boardings. But our approach has always been different. To ensure a family-kind of individual attention to each student, we have 13 Dorms, each
How do parents view this system? With great appreciation. This system is flexible enough to accommodate the special purchases the students might need, but again, only after communication between the student’s parents & his Dorm-parents. Also, in Senior Dorms (Grade 10 & 11), and A Level Dorms (Grades 12 & 13), there is better flexibility, because, instead of the School, Parents can set the pocket money rate for their child. Our aim is not strict regimentation, but prevention of unaccounted ‘black money’ in students’ possession. Even unspent travel money with students, should be handed over to Dorm-parents who would credit it to their parents’ accounts, or hold it for their return journey. It can’t be automatically counted as pocket money.
You lay great stress on communication between the parents & Dorm-parents…
Even Parents have fun here!