Boarders' Views on Boarding

Trinity School

Maria - current boarder

My name is Maria and I’m a student at Trinity School. I chose this school because it has a good reputation in the UK top schools. My English has improved since I came to the UK. From my point of view I can’t find anything that I don’t like about Trinity. I accept the rules as they are and I think I’m doing very well. In the beginning I was unhappy because I didn’t know anyone and I was missing my family and friends. But in my first day of school I met Noelle (my room-mate at that time), Karina and Ksenia. Since then we are best friends. All of us are going to stay until Sixth Form and planning to be together after Year 13.

The only thing that I can say about this school is about the staff that helped me to feel like I’m in Trinity’s Family. Now I feel like I’m living in this school for years and I have great friends. Some of them are in Sixth Form and are leaving this year but all of them are leaving their e-mails to keep in touch. I hope that new students coming to this school will have new experiences and if something upsets them; the staff will be here to help.

A Long-Termer's View by Ben Westhoff:

People often wonder how I have been able to stay at Trinity for so long, especially as a boarder. But after the initial feeling of panic that I no longer had the influence of my parents, but a team of four teachers, I began to enjoy my "time" here.

My most enjoyable time at Trinity has been the past two years, the events that have been put on - quizzes, games shows and even a trek across Dartmoor have been really memorable. The best things about boarding are that I have made close friendships and that I have been able to live in such a multi-cultural society.

Boarding, I believe, has also prepared me for university by allowing me to take on roles of responsibility as a Prefect, and even get up and act! Boarding has also made me realise that I can cope with most things - from sleeping on a camp bed on Dartmoor to the strange cabbage smell in certain Year 8 rooms in the winter! I will definitely miss my time at Trinity, but I am excited about the future.

My experience in Trinity School's Boarding, by James Hambly

In the autumn half term of October I moved into the boarding community. The first night was nerve-racking to say the least. Trying to get to sleep and waking up in a different room, and also the fact that I was going to be living under the same roof as 140 other people, but I soon realised it was not going to be a problem. After one week I had settled in and I was beginning to see how different it was to how I had expected. I had anticipated that relationships would not to be as close between the teachers and the pupils, but I soon realised that the boarding staff were very caring and treated you individually, helping you when you needed it the most. Every person in boarding knows everyone else, which is what makes it such a close community, and the staff make it feel like home by the way they relate to you and each other!

After Christmas things started to become routine and boarding started to feel like home, even though I'd only been there three weeks. The months after this became even more enjoyable as I began to see the teachers as not just adults, who stood up in front of us and started to cram information into our brains, but also as actually human and who do normal things - well to a certain extent!

During my time in boarding there were many activities that kept me and all the other boarders entertained. I have seen nearly every new film that has been out in the last year within the School. But the best trip though, that will stay in my memory for the rest of my life, was the Dartmoor Challenge Weekend on 6th and 7th July. It was an amazing two days of my life. We spent the night in a derelict cottage in the middle of nowhere, twenty-nine of us all huddled around a fire in woolly hats and gloves. It was brilliant to have come back after the weekend and to be proud of yourself for lasting and, above all, accomplishing all the weekend's challenges, which included a seven mile hike in one hour to one hour and a half. The teachers' input to this trip is also something that I will never forget.

Now that I am leaving the School and the Boarding Community, I am very upset about it as it is and has been an amazing experience for myself and (I believe and know) for other people that have been to this School.

My experience and time at this School has been such an enjoyable time. The many good times were only made possible by my close friends and boarding staff, who I would like to thank personally.

Other comments made by Boarders

"I have been boarding now for two years and I have definitely enjoyed it (boarding) above all. My life has led me in a direction to explore, share, love, create and most of all enjoy." - Maggie Ren from Mainland China.

"Boarding for me means freedom, independence and accepting the School as my home, and other pupils as my family. It has been enriching, helping me develop skills for living in a community. I can recommend being a boarder at least once in a lifetime." - Mael Hocombe from France.

"......however I went to Trinity and today I can definitely say that I do not regret this step. What I have found is not only a School (located in an easily accessible and pleasant location) but a community where teacher-pupil relationships are good. The many organised social events play a big role during the school year and help develop the sense of a community. Boarding life must by necessity be associated with rules, but without rules we would not have this organisation. Abiding by rules in this way will help us to adapt to our future working lives." - Christopher Christ from Germany.