A day in the life of a boarder at St Jo’s.
From the start of the day at 7am, our boarders are ready to go and excited for the day ahead. We meet at 7.45am to register and share any notices before we all walk to the Refectory for our breakfast, a wonderful spread of hot food, a cereal bar, fresh fruit, toast and yoghurt to choose from. At 8.30am everyone then moves off to their form room for registration.
At the end of school, after everyone has taken part in the wide range of Development Hour opportunities, students return to Boarding, kick off their uniform, collect any laundry that they had put in that morning and relax with their friends. Some choose to have some quiet time in their bedroom, others make use of the time to contact home but a favourite activity is to challenge the boarding staff to a game of chess or pool.
At 5.15pm the whole community walks to the Refectory to enjoy their evening meal. There is always a choice of 2 meat options and a vegetarian option, salad and hot and cold puddings each night. There is then a little downtime for students to organise themselves for the next day and ensure they checked Go4Schools for homework set ahead of Study Time at 6.30pm.
Study Time is a fantastic opportunity to complete homework, additional reading and to make revision notes from the day, with the support of a range of academic staff. Our in-house student Subject Ambassadors are also very supportive. Whilst the supervised study room is a space for Year 7 to 10 students to study, those in Years 11 and Sixth Form have the choice of studying in their bedrooms with satellite supervision and support or working in the Study Room. Additionally, break out rooms are occasionally used for more collaborative study.
After study, there is a wonderful atmosphere in Boarding with lots of laughter and chatter between students and also with staff. It may be that heading to the gym, sports hall or astroturf is the priority for some, while others use this downtime to make snacks and cups of tea in the kitchen, hang out with friends in the common rooms or if it is a lovely summer evening, explore the outdoor space around Boarding.
Our youngest students have to be in house by 9pm, and then 10pm for the oldest. Electronic devices are handed in 15 minutes before bedtime for those in Years 7-9 (or those in older years who have been late to morning registration!) and the boarding staff make sure the youngest students have brushed teeth and showered and have their lights off by 9.30pm, with the oldest students being checked into bed at 10.30pm.
At the weekend, the routine is a little different, we all get a longer lie-in with morning registration being at 10.15am and lights out is also extended by 30 minutes. We have lots of different activities across the weekend, from organised sports fixtures and training sessions, quizzes and karaoke to our Sunday Programme of heading out to broaden our horizons through a variety of cultural and fun activities.
To visit us and find out more, please click here to book on to an Open Day.
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