When choosing a boarding school for your child, what’s the most important thing to bear in mind? For some it will be the academic results, for others the location, the range of subjects or the variety of extra-curricular activities on offer. But for many, a big concern will be the pastoral side: who will be carrying out the parental role when your child is living away from home?
At the majority of boarding schools, matrons bear most of that responsibility. ‘When you take on the responsibility of someone else’s child, it’s very daunting,’ says Rachael McGuire, who has been matron of Matheson’s House at Glenalmond College in Perthshire for 24 years, and is in charge of 40 boys aged between 13 and 18. ‘Consistency is the most important thing — that, and getting a child’s trust. I think of the house as a jigsaw, and there’s a place for everybody in it. You just have some children who need a little more help than others.’
For many students, the first couple of weeks prove the most difficult, as they adjust to an environment that might be completely different from anything they’ve experienced before. While the adult professionals can be usefully supportive, often it’s other students who do most to help the newcomers settle in.
Jane Renyard is a matron at St Aidan’s, one of the girls’ houses at Ampleforth College. ‘We endeavour to create a family-like environment which allows the older students to help in taking care of the younger students in the same way an elder sibling would,’ she says. ‘I have always thought that the care shown by older students to younger pupils is one of the most endearing aspects of a new term. Older students are usually very generous with their time.
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