Blog: Boarding, Books and Being outdoors

By Ally Onions, Boarding Houseparent, St George’s School

I loved to read as a child ( I still do, but now it’s more of a luxury activity). I was very happy to hike across the countryside with the Famous Five,  discover the wonder of nature in the Secret Garden or bathing in the sea pool at Malory Towers-  I consumed them all, and many more fuelling my enthusiasm for reading, but also of something else as well- being outside.

The Secret Garden as an example,  for the uninitiated, is about Mary Lennox, sent to Yorkshire after the death of her parents (children’s books love an orphan, or at the least absent parents, but that’s a blog for another day) Through the abundance of fresh air, exercise and hot steaming porridge, Mary starts to flourish, she learns to love the nature around her- and so the story unfurls…

But what, I hear you cry, has this to do with boarding?  Well, all of these stories and many more I read, have children in wide open spaces, connecting, enjoying and learning in and from nature. Authors know that children naturally connect to the outdoors, it’s why these stories stay with us, albeit we may forget them, until as an adult pitching a tent, and a memory stirs of those heady adventurous days,  buried within  the well worn pages of a story.

Boarding can teach children many things, resilience, team work, the chance to hone bed making skills,  but a huge bonus is the access to the outdoors. At our school we have gardens and parkland for the boarders to romp in, there are areas for gardening, quiet reading and enough space for ‘family it’ – a perennial favourite that involves large amounts of boarders running and hiding, all within our beautiful grounds. As Mary Lennox discovers in the secret garden, being outside in nature allows you to witness the change in the seasons, to marvel at what’s around you- and to get some colour in your cheeks. I have been impressed with the wealth of knowledge some of the children have for plants, growing veg and the bugs that crawl about- their interest will stop these things becoming irrelevant, and they will hopefully pass on their love of outdoors to those around them, and time in boarding spent outside can allow them the indulge these enthusiasms.

The freedom also after a day in school to be released into the open air and reconnect is one which the boarders relish. On an chilly evening recently we stood around the fire pit, some boarders were engrossed in toasting their marshmallows, others were chatting to each other, it was all very relaxed, yes it was getting a bit dark and chilly, but amongst friends in the warmth of the fire,it was a wonderful place to be.

In our ever technology driven world, giving children the chance in boarding to be outside with their friends, enjoying simple pleasures in our increasingly complicated world,  is something that feels even more important than ever before.