Lt Col Adam Griffiths Finding the right school is like finding the right jumper. All jumpers should have sleeves and a place for your head. All schools should have reasonable facilities and a place for your child. But the ultimate jumper will suit your personality, accommodate growth and feel like a second skin. Monkton is the cashmere among itchy alternatives. Unlike the scratchy jumpers your granny gives you for Christmas, the ‘right’ school must fit and accommodate your needs and not just the needs of the child. A really good school will ‘fit’ your whole family. That’s what I felt when I was welcomed by the headmaster at Monkton Prep School. I just knew everything was going to be ok. I’d met other Heads, who were just as charming and said just the right things, but I felt their spiel was a little too rehearsed and not all their smiles carried to their eyes. There is a terror in choosing the right boarding school, because you are choosing not just a school, but also a home and for a Service family you are looking for a home that can accommodate the unexpected. Monkton has done more than simply ‘accommodate’ our family. They have taken us under their wing and with my husband away on his 7th tour of duty, this time in Afghanistan; I have felt that Monkton has co-parented with me. I don’t want a school to make me feel usurped and I don’t want a school making my daughter feel ‘different’. We weren’t looking for ‘special treatment’, we were looking, and we have found, a school where our daughter is known, understood and ultimately cared for with sensitivity and love. My daughter went back to school last night. It is only her second term at Monkton and before she left she had to say goodbye to her father who will be returning to Afghanistan after his two week R and R. It will be another three months before she sees him again. We were with all the other parents sharing tea and cakes in the Head’s sitting room and Mimi simply hugged her dad goodbye and went to join
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her friends for supper. There was no need to go somewhere quiet or private, as saying goodbye in the Head’s sitting room was just like saying goodbye in your own sitting room. She was already home.
Lt Col Andrew Smallbone Boarding school became a reality for us when we were posted to Kent in 2006. Having enquired at 27 schools before we found places for our two daughters it also meant our 10 year old daughter was starting her fifth school. We needed to provide educational stability for our children and boarding school was the obvious answer. With our nomadic lifestyle it was important to find a school close to both sets of grandparents in the south of England. We wanted a school with Christian principles at its heart, good educational standards and a busy and happy boarding element. How has this worked in practice? After four and a half years and four different Army Quarters, Monkton has provided the necessary educational stability for our children and the educational, sporting, drama and music opportunities have been superb. But it is the pastoral element which shines at Monkton and we could not wish for a better environment.
Lt Col Simon Waddington As we left America our 9 year old son asked why as soon as he made friends he had to say goodbye to them. He was about to start his 5th school in his third country – so he did have a point. Something had to be done. We started with an AA Atlas and a compass (radius not cardinal points!) to zero in on the right geographic area. We then sent away for ‘glossies’. The Monkton DVD stood out from the rest and a visit with sleepover quickly followed. The quality of education was important to us - but we needed so much more. As soon as we walked in to Hatton House we knew we were in the right place.