Dear Parents
ROWAN PIORKOWSKI
Rowan has finished his first round of chemotherapy. Please continue to keep him and his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. We pray for healing and strength during his treatment.
BOARDING
We have made a decision, after a great deal of soul searching and analysis of trends, to close boarding as we know it at the end of 2018. In its place we hope to establish a residential boarding facility which will allow for a much smaller complement and a different model entirely, not linked to the school’s House system and with a very different logistical structure.
We make this decision with a heavy heart. Up to about 20 years ago the Prep had 90 boarders in two Houses, Bramley and Van der Bijl, and it was in many ways the cornerstone of the school and certainly the House system. As numbers fell during the early 2000s Bramley was eventually closed and the facilities converted into Grade 3 classrooms. Since 2005 numbers in Van der Bijl boarding house have continued decreasing despite specific marketing in the country area. Very few parents of modern day prep age pupils want or are prepared to allow their sons to board before high school level, particularly long distance boarders. Gone are the days of a six year old boy being put on a train in the Karoo and being fetched from Cape Town station by a Bishops Housemaster only to see his parents again at Easter. To counter the need for this, new independent schools have sprung up all over the country often started by farming parents in the vicinity. Applewood in Grabouw, Bridge House in Franschoek and Lanner House in Worcester are examples of this.
The decline in Prep boarding is a national and international phenomenon. Many boys’ schools have closed their boarding facilities in South Africa and Dulwich Prep, with whom we have started our UK exchange, are down to nine boarders out of a school of over 800. High school boarding remains popular including at the College where a number of boys board who could easily be day boys but are wanting the full experience of being a boarder with the camaraderie and proximity to everything at school.
It is a great pity as we have one of the best boarding facilities that I have seen in the country and the quality of care and the nurturing experience our boys receive is excellent. But we have to face the reality – we have beds for 45 and each year our numbers decline so that next year we will be under 10. We cannot keep the extent of the facilities and the logistics associated going for such a small number. A residential model will have different spatial and staffing needs, so a small complement will be housed in something closer to a family home and live in a family-type situation.
We are currently looking very carefully at our buildings with an eye to the re-use of space and have engaged architects to assist in the process and ultimately re-design according to our brief.
Boarding is definitely open for 2018 and will continue as normal. “Hotel boarding” will still be available for your sons if you need to be away for a while.
Best wishes
Kind regards
GREG BROWN
HEADMASTER
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