A typical boarder’s day
Life as a boarder at Kimbolton School
A caring boarding community
From a delicious breakfast, to after school activities, one of our girl boarders outlines a typical weekday in White House.
Weekdays in boarding
07.30
Wake up! The bell is rung by one of the 1st-3rd Formers (Year 7 – 9) on duty. We get ready for school and meet in the foyer downstairs to grab our snack for break time.
08.00
We walk to breakfast, which is in the school dining hall. Breakfast is a good opportunity to catch up with friends from the other Boarding House, especially if you have siblings there.
08.40
Tutor time, followed by lessons in school.
11:00
Break time. As a Sixth Former, I can go to the High Street, or back to the boarding house if I’d like to.
11:20
Lessons in school.
13:10
Lunch. Sixth Formers can go back to the house to pick up books, or PE kit if needed. You can also go back to the house during study periods.
14:10
Lessons in school.
16:20
End of the school day. People are in and out of the house at this time. Some are grabbing a snack to have before hockey practice and others are heading to silver service club. Even if you don’t have anything on, there will likely be some sort of discussion or ‘TV watching’ in the common room. There is always someone around to chat to!
18:00
Supper in the dining hall, and then free time before prep (homework).
19:00-21:00
Prep. 1st-3rd Formers (Year 7 – 9) do homework in the prep room, often with a Sixth Form volunteer or teacher on duty to help. However, if you are 4th Form (Year 10) or above you can choose to do homework in your own room. A duty member of staff comes round to see if we are all OK.
21:00
Free time. Depending on the day, there’ll be an activity, e.g. playing a board game or watching a film in the common room. This is also a chance to do something by yourself, like reading a book or playing an instrument.
22:45
Get ready for bed. As a Sixth Former, I need to be in my room by 22.45, but that time changes according to what year you’re in.
Weekends
Term-time weekends are always busy with sports matches, drama rehearsals and trips and visits away from Kimbolton. Boarders have access to the sports facilities, including the swimming pool, and the school grounds.
We also run a programme of boarders excursions to a wide variety of destinations chosen by them. There is a trip every weekend. Favourites include London shows, high rope adventure centres, theme parks, shopping trips and the annual Clothes Show at the NEC.
Below, one of our boarders outlines a typical Sunday in White House.
09.00
I wake up quite late but I wake up just in time for brunch at 10, I get ready (normally into nice warm, cosy clothes if it’s winter).
10.00
I leave to go and get brunch down in the dining hall where I see my older brother; it is nice to see him. I normally have a full English breakfast just to fill me up because I am normally really hungry. Breakfasts are always good, but Sunday especially so!
10.30
Straight after brunch we rush down to the mini buses to set off for an amazing day out; today we are at an aqua park. We have lots of different activities organised for us which are never too far; the bus ride normally takes 30 minutes to an hour.
15.30
We get back from the water park just in time for tea. I need to get my swimming kit before we go to tea because I get picked up straight after – I am a keen swimmer, and it is great that Mrs Hadden is happy for me to work my training schedule round boarding life.
16.00
I leave to get to supper but just have something light, because I had a big brunch and don’t really want to eat too much before I go swimming training in the evening.
16.15
I rush out of tea quickly, just in time for someone to pick me up to go swimming, I am normally swimming for two hours, but the pool is 30 minutes away, so I am gone for around three hours in total. I’m a really keen competitive swimmer, so it’s great that I can still do this whilst boarding – and also make use of the School pool at other times.
19.30
I get back at around this time and when I get back I am normally really tired, but I do still sometimes have homework to do. On the weekend we don’t have scheduled prep time, so it is our responsibility to do the homework by ourself – I know I could do it on Friday night, but I often don’t!
21.15
After a busy day, it is time for me to go to bed. The duty staff will check on us at this point, so I need to make sure that I am ready before this time. It is nice to have a chat before bedtime too, and tell them how my day has been. They are always really friendly and genuinely interested.
