Librarian Mr Corkett selects his top 5 romantic reads this St. Valentine's Day. 

It is not always an easy decision to board your child at a private school. However, in some respects, it is hardest for parents. Also, there is strong evidence that boarding school can sometimes bring you closer together emotionally.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder but could sending your children to a private residential school make your parent-child bond even stronger?

This flies in the face of the conventional myth that ‘sending children away to school’ puts your relationship with them at risk. This is the source of many concerns for parents, who struggle with the concept of being away from their son or daughter for days on end.

If you need to work or travel, are your motives for considering boarding school entirely altruistic? It can leave you with a sense of guilt.

Ironically, there is a strong possibility that this anxiety is only flowing from you.

Keeping your child in the loop

The starting point of making the whole experience positive is, of course, involving your son or daughter in the initial decision. When provided them with all the relevant information – and a chance to tour a top independent boarding school - many young people become intrigued and excited by the opportunities presented to them.

Strengthening the ties that bind

Being given the chance to make an informed choice about private education, by supportive parents, can start the whole process off on a great footing.

Then, when they do take up their place at Rendcomb College, your son or daughter will quickly see the ways in which our school community reinforces and extends their family links. This includes regular visits home at weekends as well as during school holidays.

Family also come into the school for events, concerts, sports fixtures and a host of other social contact activities.

Our experience is, that when children and young people do have family visits or home time, many are bubbling with news. Or they are content to ‘chill’ with mum and dad after some time spent apart. Which can make the relationship between parent and child stronger and calmer.

Do children at residential independent schools get homesick?

Students go through a range of emotions, just as any child or teenager would, and yes that can include bouts of missing family. Rendcomb College’s professional Houseparent team are alert to any boarder with the blues, for any reason, including offering support when they need some extra parent contact.

Again, long experience suggests these issues are fleeting and students are quickly back to being happy and content at boarding school. They are often highly aware of how lucky there are to have parents who readily agree to them experiencing the advantages of a private education.

If a student ever did experience any form of long term distress or resentment about being away from home, we would contact parents immediately to discuss robust solutions. Fortunately, this is extremely rare!

The ‘joys’ of parenting adolescents

Truth be told, having older children at a private boarding school can take some of the tension away from parenting adolescents. There are so many temptations and distractions for pre-teens and teenagers in modern society, including over-reliance on electrical gadgets and social media, and of course the terrible spectre of substance misuse.

How many battles over time, priorities and unsavoury activities could be settled, if the young person is being kept occupied and fulfilled at boarding school? They have fabulous friendship circles around them all day, negating the need for roaming around or mixing with the ‘wrong crowd’.

Parents can breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing that their child is safe, busy and provided with abundant leisure and fun activities with like-minded peers.

Many ways to keep in touch

Keep in mind too, that life at a modern boarding school does afford young people and children plenty of opportunities to keep in close contact with family and friends on a daily basis.

The caring staff at Rendcomb College make relevant technology available and provide ample time for video calling and other family communications.

Now ask yourself this. Which would you prefer: a surly early teen sitting on the sofa complaining they are bored; or an animated early teen Skype calling you to tell you about their horse riding, rock climbing or Science Club exploits?

For many children and young people, having a nurturing school life that includes tailor-made learning and leisure support puts them in control of their ‘world’. It is a way to learn independence and self-sufficiency; the sort of life skills that make confident and strong adults.

Collaborative working

Parents are provided with various ways to update themselves on their son or daughter’s accomplishments and progress, so they feel connected no matter where they are in the world. This includes not just the tradition parent-teacher liaison, but also a continuous stream of updates and chances to ask questions.

There is another way you can help your child enjoy boarding school and reap maximum benefit, at the same time as strengthening your bond with them. Care packages, letters and emails.

Our school community universally and unequivocally love receiving messages, news and ‘goodies’ from home. It is another great reminder of how much they are loved, and how much they belong to their actual family as well as their school ‘family’.

Rendcomb College, the co-educational day and boarding school for children aged 3 to 18 has opened a new Sixth Form Centre marking the start of the school’s 100^th anniversary year.

What are SATs exams? If you have a child then you need to know what they are, how many exams they will take, what they test for, and what this means if you wish your child to attend a boarding school or academy. Below we answer all these questions.

What are SATs?

SATs stands for Standard Assessment Tests. and children will take these tests twice during their time in primary school. These tests always take place in May. The first SATs tests happen in the second year of primary school during Key Stage 2, so in Year 2. A child will then take further SATs tests in year 6, the last year of primary school.

These tests in Year 2 are usually carried out in the classroom in an informal setting. Children are not given a set time to complete the tests in Year 2 but do have a set time of 45 minutes per paper in Year 6. The class teacher will be responsible for setting the tests which are then sent away for marking.

What do they test?

Children sit SATs exams in English and Maths. During the English SATs a child is tested on their writing, reading, handwriting and spelling. During their Maths SATs a child will be tested on shape, number, measurement and skills and knowledge.

The results will show what level the child is learning at and if it is below or above the average standard. It is important to know that a child does not pass or fail a SATs test.

How many SATs exams do students sit?

So, as already stated a child will sit SATs in Year 2 and Year 6.

Year 2 SATs are fairly informal with a child having to sit two test papers in the classroom. These papers are on maths and reading. Additional assessments will also be carried out by the teacher on the subjects of listening, speaking, science and writing. These assessments will help to guide learning as the child progresses into Year 3 and the next Key Stage in learning.

A child taking Year 6 SATs exams will sit six papers. These usually take place over the course of a week and are more formal than Year 2 SATs. Each paper usually takes around 45 minutes. Children will sit papers on English grammar, English reading, spelling, punctuation and maths. As in Year 2, the teacher will also carry out their own assessments in listening, speaking, science and writing.

How do SATs results affect your choice of educational establishment?

Parents will receive their child's Year 6 SATs results in July. This is usually when they also receive their end of year report. The results will state if they have reached or exceeded the national standard in that subject. So, once you have received the SATs results, does this have an impact upon your choice of educational establishment?

The reality is that a child's SATs results will have very little impact, if any, on your choice of school. If you are wanting your child to have a place at a boarding or private school, then your child will usually have to sit an entrance exam set by the school or they made need to take the 11 Plus. SATs are used by a secondary school to assess a child's learning progress and to place them in the right stream or subject group. They will not look at SATs results during the secondary school placement process.

To conclude, SATs exams test your child when they are in Year 2 and in the last year of primary school. SATs focus upon English and Maths, assessing the child in basic reading, writing, punctuation and grammar in English, and number, space, measurement and shapes in Maths. SATs do help schools to assess the progress of a child and these results are reflected in Ofsted results. However, SATs also help to find a child's strengths and weaknesses in a subject, helping to pinpoint any problems a child may be experiencing in a subject so that additional help can be given. They are also used in placing a child into the correct learning level or set when transitioning to secondary school.

We hope that you now have a clearer understanding of SATs exams and how they will impact your child's learning and future education.

Rendcomb College, the independent co-educational school in Gloucestershire for children aged 3 to 18 has today announced who their guest speaker will be for their 100th birthday celebrations in May this year.