Prep Boarding

We find 45-55 full-boarding boys and girls aged between 7 and 13 to be an ideal number.  They live together as one extended happy family that isn’t too big and isn’t too small.  Brothers and sisters that are together within the boarding house enjoy living together whilst those with siblings in our Senior School boarding houses find they have plenty of time to spend together.

Taunton School is warm, welcoming, and progressive.  Pupils from varied backgrounds and cultures all feel at home in a community founded upon core values, including kindness and respect.

Cultural diversity is important to us.  Whilst the majority of our boarders are British, we have a careful blend of other nationalities from all over the world.  Approximately two-thirds of the boarders are aged between 11-13 and one third between 7-10 years.  There is a fairly even split between boys and girls.

We are proud to be a non-selective school, and pupils who join us in the Prep School have a guaranteed passage into the Senior School.  The Prep and Senior schools are based on the same site, with pupils enjoying the use of two swimming pools, two sports halls, two theatres, two music schools, two full-size astros etc.  Pupils in Years 7 and 8 (at the top of the Prep School) are given leadership opportunities to become more involved in the running of the boarding house and support of the younger year groups.

The options of weekly and flexi-boarding are popular with some parents and children, although the large majority of our full boarders stay in school during weekends.  Flexi-boarding can also provide a great opportunity for our boarders to spend more social time with our day pupils; strengthening bonds and friendship groups.

For more information about Flexi-Boarding  click here.

We have an excellent reputation amongst the British military communities and always have a good number of boarders from military families.

Please click here for our dedicated page on our Military Family offering.

Mrs Wells, our Head of Boarding and House Parent, lives in family accommodation forming an integral part of the Boarding House with her husband and three children.  Mr Wells is a full-time teacher in the school and we were delighted to tempt them away in September 2018 from Chafyn Grove Prep School where they very successfully ran the boarding house for many years.  Mrs Wells boarded as a girl in a Prep School as her father, in the Navy, was posted around the world.

Our House Parents are supported by house staff including Assistant House Parents, Matrons and Resident House Tutors, all providing excellent pastoral care and educational support.  Our 24 hour Health Centre always has qualified nurses present, with doctors on call if required.  We take well-being and mental health extremely seriously and have professional school counsellors available for consultation in the Health Centre.

Keeping in touch is vital for all members of the family.  Most pupils communicate without prompting on a daily basis with their families, often using Skype, Whatsapp video etc.  Different time zones are accommodated, and pupils are able to contact their families at different times of the day if this is helpful.  House Parents maintain strong communication with parents to ensure that they feel a part of the community.  For certain events (e.g. school plays), we are able to live-stream performances over the internet.

The large majority of our full boarders stay in school during weekends.  On Saturday mornings, all pupils in Years 7 and 8 (including day pupils) have compulsory Saturday morning lessons, whilst over half of our day pupils in Years 3 to 6 choose to come into school for exciting Enrichment activities.  Saturday mornings are therefore busy and sociable for all of our boarders.  For the rest of the weekend, boarders enjoy matches against other schools, ‘down time’, trips into town, a varied range of organised activities, and, on Sundays, there is always a fun trip out of school to a local attraction.

Pupils have wonderful opportunities to play a wide variety of sports ranging from the beginner to the national standard competitor. Several of our boarders play a leading role in our swim teams, helping us to be one of the highest-ranked schools for swimming in the country (our Year 8 girls are current National Champions in the relay medley).  Our swimming boarders receive excellent support and benefit hugely from the pool being within 50 yards of the boarding house.  Those participating in early morning training sessions are woken up and looked after by house staff, whilst we ensure that all logistics are looked after for training and competition events on weekdays and at weekends.

Our boarding house has exceptional facilities, providing our pupils with a modern 2020 boarding experience.  Facilities include spacious dormitories, relaxing lounges and recreational areas (including a large cinema screen), a dedicated ICT suite, study areas and music practice facilities. Mealtimes are taken care of in our main dining halls with a broad range of choice to suit all tastes and requirements.

Homework for our boarders is supervised and supported by teachers every evening, with reading being tracked especially carefully.  Boarders who would benefit from extra attention being paid to their reading are given additional support.  Musician boarders benefit from dedicated sessions from one of our full-time music teachers, and there are particularly good opportunities in music, dance and drama, with a large number of groups and ensembles practicing every week.

We provide an extensive range of exciting, well-structured activities in the evenings that ensure a balanced and rewarding life as a boarder. Activities which are particularly popular include swimming, climbing, cookery, shooting, chess, Warhammer, model-building, Robotics, film nights, crafts, computer games and many more.  There are approximately 50 activities on offer each week.