Boarding & Flexi-boarding

Boarding at Northbourne Park is available to every pupil, from a single overnight stay to full-time care. Whether your child stays one night a week or lives in the boarding house throughout the term, the experience is the same: a warm, structured community where children are known individually, cared for, and given the space to grow in independence and confidence.

Flexi-boarding

Flexi-boarding is available to all day pupils from Year 3 upwards. There is no minimum commitment and no regular arrangement required. A single overnight stay can be booked at short notice, or your child can board on set nights each week, whatever works for your family.

Flexi-boarders join the full boarding routine: school, prep, supper, activities, milk and biscuits, bed. They have access to the same facilities, the same staff, and the same community as full-time boarders.

Wraparound care runs from 7.30am to 5.30pm on school days. Flexi-boarding extends that further, including supper at 6.00pm and the evening routine through to bedtime. It is an extension of the wraparound care that day families already use.

Flexi-boarding is available any night from Monday to Friday. Weekend boarding requires a full or weekly boarding arrangement.

A free overnight stay a term is available for any day pupil whose parents are attending an evening event at the school, for example, parents’ evenings. In the Autumn and Spring Terms, we run regular Boarding Theme Nights, where pupils of all ages are invited to stay at school for a themed meal, activities, and overnight stay. Contact us to arrange.

Full and weekly boarding

Full boarders live in the boarding house throughout the term, returning home at the holidays. Weekly boarders are in the house Monday to Friday, going home on Friday evening. If Saturday School is scheduled, weekly boarders stay on Friday night and return home after Saturday activities. Both full and weekly boarders follow the same daily routine during the week.

Northbourne Park does not operate compulsory exeats. Full boarders can remain at school throughout the term, including during bank holidays, without being required to leave. The only time full boarders must return home or stay with a guardian is during the school holidays. This makes Northbourne Park a genuinely flexible option for international families and those who live at a distance.

A day in the life

Mornings	Boarders wake at 7.00am for breakfast before school begins at 8.15am.
After school	Prep and clubs until 5.30pm, then a change into home clothes before supper at 6.00pm.
Evenings	A planned activity or free time from 6.30pm, followed by the evening routine including activities, showers, milk and biscuits, reading and lights out, timed according to age.

Weekends

Weekends are a mix of organised and unstructured time. On weekends without Saturday School — which runs fortnightly — Saturday typically involves an activity or excursion. Located in south-east Kent, a short drive from the seaside, boarders enjoy bowling, the cinema, Whitemills, the nearby seaside town of Deal, Betteshanger Country Park, the historic city of Canterbury or the local area. Sunday is a day to reset: activities on site or in the local countryside, with homework support available as needed.

Keeping in touch

Parents can call the boarding house landlines — in both the Boys’ House and Girls’ House — any evening during the week. Pupils can also contact home by email using school computers. Staff are easily reached by telephone or email at any time.

Electronics are managed by the boarding team via SchoolsMobile and held securely outside designated times. Children have one hour on Wednesdays and Saturdays to use their devices, to call home and catch up with friends, and half an hour on Sundays to contact family. Outside these windows, the boarding house is phone-free.

The boarding houses

Northbourne Park has two boarding houses, for boys and girls separately. Around 50 children board at any one time, depending on the term. The size makes the community feel like a family rather than an institution; everyone knows everyone.

Girls’ House

The Girls’ House is a purpose-built building within the school grounds, with capacity for approximately 30 pupils. It has five dormitories, each with en-suite facilities, and cupboard and drawer storage. There are two common rooms — Senior and Junior — and staff accommodation on site, with typically two members of staff sleeping over each night.

Boys’ House

The Boys’ House is housed within the historic main school building, with capacity for approximately 35 pupils. Dormitories accommodate around five children each and are treated as sleeping spaces. Socialising happens in the common areas, which include a billiards table and table football. The building has spacious bathrooms and shower facilities throughout.

How the houses work together

Mealtimes, excursions, and many activities are shared across both houses; however, each house also has its own programme and spaces. Children are grouped by age within each house, and where possible the school deliberately mixes nationalities and friendship groups so that pupils are not siloed with children from the same country.

What makes boarding at Northbourne Park different

Boarding at Northbourne Park is intentionally small, warm and distinctive. Some of what makes it different:

	Children bring home with them. Boarders are encouraged to make their space their own, bringing photos, duvets, games, food from home. Noodles have become something of a boarding tradition!
	The Boarding Prefect system. Older boarders take on responsibilities, collecting laundry, overseeing mealtimes, ensuring the house runs smoothly. Heads of Boarding oversee the prefects. For younger boarders, having an older peer who has been through it themselves makes a real difference.
	Northbourne Park boarding traditions. Milk and biscuits every evening. Theme nights. Noodle night. A Silent Disco. Boarding passes (invite a friend to stay in the house) awarded for good conduct. All looked forward to and fondly remembered by the boarding community.
	The outdoor ethos continues. The same values that run through the school day: time outside, time away from screens, genuine human connection, are the values the boarding house is run on. Children spend evenings and weekends outside with their friends.

Pastoral care and safeguarding

All boarding staff receive regular safeguarding training. The senior boarding team is experienced, with both House Parents having worked extensively in schools and boarding environments. The Head of Boarding, who also serves as Boys’ House Parent, is a former Northbourne Park pupil, and brings both professional experience and first-hand understanding of what families go through when their child boards for the first time.

House Parents are always available. Children who are new to boarding, or who are finding it difficult, are given time, reassurance and consistency. Homesickness is acknowledged openly — boarders are told it is normal, and that it passes.

All meals and snacks are provided. Menus are available on the school website. Boarders are welcome to bring their own tuck from home.

A Boarding Handbook covering daily routines, expectations and practical arrangements is shared with families on acceptance of a boarding place.

“Entrusting your child to a school hundreds of miles away is never easy. Knowing he was in the right hands allowed us to rest easy, and that is priceless.

The House Parents looked after the children as if they were their own — that is what turned the boarding house into a real home for him. From the trips to the everyday life of the boarding house, everything was thought through and prepared.

Our son leaves with wonderful memories, real independence and true friendships. He owes a great deal to the boarding team — and so do we.”

Parent of a full boarder

Supporting international boarders

Many of our boarders join us from overseas, some for a full year and some for a single term. Whatever the length of stay, the approach is the same: the same routine, the same rules, and the same community as full-time boarders.

New international boarders are paired with an established pupil through a buddy system, and the school actively fosters friendships between short-stay and full-time pupils.

The boarding team includes multi-lingual staff and multi-lingual boarding prefects. English is spoken at mealtimes and in designated spaces, giving pupils consistent, structured exposure to the language in a natural setting. Outside these times, children can relax and communicate with friends in their own language.

The Head of Boarding and House Parents are experienced in supporting children who are new to boarding life and living away from home for the first time. Families are welcome to visit during term, and to explore the local area with their child.

For full details of the English language learning opportunities available to international boarders, see our English System Boarding page.

English System Boarding

Travel and transfers

For international boarders, the school arranges the following accompanied travel, with staff travelling with children to:

Paris	Accompanied travel once per half term (except Summer Term),.
London St Pancras	Accompanied travel every long weekend. Departure on Friday in the evening; return on Sunday in the afternoon.
London Gatwick	Half term and end of term only.

For airport and station transfers at other times or locations, a trusted private taxi service is available. This is arranged and paid for separately. Contact the school for details.

Book a visit

Come and see Northbourne Park and the boarding houses during the school day.

Book your visit.

Make an enquiry

Provide details of your child and a member of our admissions team will respond within one to two working days.

admissions@northbournepark.com
+44 (0)1304 611215

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