Boarding is at the heart of Gresham’s Prep School and all pupils have the option to board, whether full time, weekly or flexi boarding. Dyson House has two separate boarding wings for boys and girls and boarders come together for meals and evening activities each day. We also have two homely social spaces for the pupils to use during the day: Crossways House for girls and Kenwyn House for boys, where the children can relax and play together inside if they wish. In the evenings, these areas are open to the boarders in addition to the relaxation rooms on the boarding floor.
All of the boarding staff are dedicated to creating a caring and homely environment that creates a sense of family and belonging, giving the boarders an excellent boarding experience. The strong relationships that are built create a happy and thriving community, within an outstanding pastoral care system.
“Boarders demonstrate particularly high levels of initiative and independence”
PREP, PRE-PREP AND NURSERY SCHOOL – ISI INSPECTION REPORT 2023
Flexi Boarding
We have a strong boarding community and warmly welcome flexi boarders. Flexi boarding can be booked for one to five nights per week. It is convenient for our day pupils and provides the option for a brilliant balance between experiencing the camaraderie of boarding with friends and spending precious time at home together with family. We are completely flexible and work to support the needs and wishes of individual families to help with the busy lives our parents and pupils lead. In addition to enabling children to stay over at school with their friends, flexi boarding also helps them to learn to be independent, organised and resilient. A number of children board flexibly in our junior years becoming full time boarders in the upper stages of the Prep School or when they move on at thirteen.
DYSON HOUSE
The boarding house is extremely comfortable and has recently been refurbished (2024) to create a cosy and welcoming home for our boarding community. Great care and thought is put into ensuring that boarding life is organised to give our children the daily structure they need, as well as making sure that they have lots of fun! Boarding at Gresham’s Prep allows children to develop self-reliance and self-discipline in a supportive and kind environment.
Our resident Houseparents and Junior Assistant Houseparents all live on site as an integral part of our boarding community.
Boarding at Gresham’s Prep
Activities and Weekends
The boarders at Gresham’s Prep enjoy making the most of the fantastic location on the coast and regularly enjoy a trip to the beach. Every evening there is an opportunity for the boarders to make the most of the facilities on the school site, whether it is playing outside, enjoying a fire pit and roasting marshmallows, swimming, music practice, using the art room, sports hall or cricket nets or enjoying games together as a group on site or in our woodlands.
Transport
Train travel to London
At Home Weekends, half terms and the end of term, a bus/taxi service is provided to transport pupils to and from our designated local train station to link with London. The Prep School provides an accompanied service to London and stations in between. The designated stations will be advertised nearer the time of each travel period, to optimise the best route (due to planned rail works, replacement bus services etc). It will either be Norwich to London Liverpool Street or Kings Lynn to London Kings Cross.
Airport transfer
We organise airport transfers for our international students to coincide with school holidays. Cost is dependent on the nature of the journey. If you have any queries, please email [email protected].
FAQs
Please see our frequently asked questions for further information about our boarding provision at Gresham’s Prep School.