Page 9 - Kingweston House Handbook

KINGWESTON

BOARDING

LIFE

PREP Students should request their exeat before the Wednesday
The minimum requirement is that there is both an ethos and of the weekend in question, with parental/guardian
an environment within Houses that supports the academic permission required in advance. An email or a phone
work of all students. This means that during prep time, all message will suffice, however Students are not allowed to go
boarders will be in appropriate spaces, the House will be on exeat without this parental confirmation. Housemasters/
quiet, and staff supervision good. Doors will be propped mistresses will always reply to an exeat request to confirm
when a bedroom is occupied. the plans accordingly. After parental permission is received,
travel chits are issued and transport arrangements are made
SIGNING IN/OUT by the school. Students are allowed to go out with their
When students leave or return to house for any reason they family on a Sunday without this counting as an exeat.
must check in/out with house manager and/or the duty
member of staff. It is essential that all students ensure that CARE OF PERSONAL POSSESSIONS
their return to the house is known to house manager and/or All possessions should be indelibly marked, name taped or
the duty member of staff. engraved. Clothing must have name tapes stitched/ironed
on. Students will not be allowed to send clothes to the
FIRE SAFETY school laundry unless each item is named. Name tapes can
A fire safety briefing will be given at the start of the be ordered from the School Shop and spare name tapes
academic year and all houses carry out planned fire drills are necessary for items purchased during term-time. Minor
every term. If the fire alarm is heard at any time, all students sewing jobs such as name-taping can be done in houses
must congregate outside at the relevant fire safety location. by house managers. Socks are bagged together in a single
named bag, and so do not need to be individually named.
LEGAL GUARDIANS Articles of value should be insured under your household
Following the Children Act (1988), the Protection of Children policy under all risks or you may wish to use the insurance
Act (1989) and the Care Standards Act (2000) Millfield policy recommended by the school. Students should keep
School, in promoting and safeguarding the welfare of every the amount of possessions they bring to the school to a
Student, requires parents who do not live in the United minimum. Lockable drawers for more valuable personal
Kingdom to appoint a guardian to act on their behalf for any possessions will be made available to all Students via the
Student in the school. The above legislation protects the Housemaster/mistress upon arrival.
rights of children and makes ‘proper and appropriate care’ a
compulsory requirement. ROOM ALLOCATIONS
Year 10 students are accommodated in double or three-
During term time, the school is legally responsible for berth dorms, Year 11 students will have double or
each Student’s welfare, and undertakes delegated parental occasionally three-berth dorms. Where possible, Upper
WHO TO GO TO IF YOU responsibilities. However, there are times (e.g. exeat Sixth students will be allocated either a double or a single
ARE STRUGGLING weekends, half-term breaks, or when a Student is suspended room although this cannot be guarunteed, and Lower Sixth
by the school, etc.) when the school must be able to hand
will be a mix of single and double dorms. Every effort will
over these parental responsibilities to another adult – a be made to accommodate sharing preferences, however
properly appointed guardian. compromises will have to be made from time to time. Dorm
allocations change each term, therefore over the course of
EXEATS the two junior years, your son will have shared with most of
Students are allowed three exeats a term and these can be the boys in their year group. It is important that tolerance,
taken at any time. In addition to this, there is a compulsory understanding and acceptance is always paramount in a
whole-school exeat in the Autumn Term where the whole shared boarding community. Rooms must be kept tidy at all
school will be closed for the entire weekend (Friday 12.45- times, especially in the mornings so the cleaning staff can
Sunday evening). Exeats start after games commitments do their job unhindered. Beds must be made and desks left
on Saturdays (but not before 3.30pm). All Students should free of clutter. Posters can be displayed on the pin-board
return from exeat by 9pm on Sunday to allow adequate alongside flags if desired.
time to prepare for school the next day. It is a statutory
requirement that all overseas boarding Students have a UK BEDDING/LAUNDRY
based guardian. The school provides all bedding, duvets and pillows so
there is no need to bring these items from home. However,
if students should wish to bring their items, these should

HOUSE HANDBOOK 9