Where Next?
Boarding has been an important part of Brentwood School for much of its history. It offers diversity and an international element to the School by enriching our community, providing UK students with friendships from other countries and overseas students with a high-quality British educational experience.
As boarding is such an integral part of the School, we are proud to announce that we will be transforming our boarding facilities by building a new state-of-the-art purpose-built boarding house.
The project, which has been years in the planning, will be subdivided into three main sections; a girls' and boys' boarding house and a central shared facility including new dining and communal areas and an outdoor courtyard and dedicated landscaped social space.
Facilities
A new Sixth Form Cafe will be the beating heart of our new boarding house, acting as a hub for boarding and day students alike. The cafe will provide a social gathering space for Sixth Form students, further strengthening ties between boarders and day students. In the evening, the space, which will also act as a study space and group meeting venue, will be exclusively for boarders’ use. The cafe will feature a covered arcade, access to the courtyard and a terrace.
The ground floor of the new building will also house communal seating, recreation areas and social spaces, including a kitchen and dining area, a common room, boot room and a laundry collection room. Additional features will include a lift so the whole building will be fully accessible.
New single bedrooms on the upper floor will offer a home-from-home for boarding students featuring cutting-edge university-style accommodation with light and airy private ensuite rooms. These study bedrooms will feature beautiful angles, fantastic storage solutions and will be bathed in light.
The build will also include staff accommodation, which will be located at each end of the site and will connect to their respective boarding houses.
Our new high-spec facilities will be energy efficient and will use sustainable material choices as part of the school’s push toward sustainable development.
A new dedicated outside area with improved landscaping and social areas centred around a courtyard garden will enhance the character of the site and surrounding area, creating a better outdoor experience for boarders. Extensive new planting and trees together with a new pond in the corner of the grounds will offer improved biodiversity and better access to nature for our students. The new grounds will also provide ample areas for sports, studying and socialising.
“Our new boarding house is a top-tier, supportive, and nurturing environment that fosters academic and personal growth.”
The new building is a testament to our ambition and aspiration to be the best boarding school we can be for our students. This says a lot about Brentwood and our constant wish to improve and move forward.
Our partnership with architects, Cottrell & Vermeulen Architecture, is long-standing. The same architects worked on the award-winning expansion of the Preparatory School, which included new buildings and the upgrading of existing buildings and the Sixth Form and Bean Academic Centres on the Senior campus. In 2012, they were the winners of the 2012 RIBA Award for the Sixth Form Centre, in 2016 they secured a Brick Award for Best Education Building with the Bean Academic Centre and in 2022 they won the RIBA East Award for the Preparatory School build.
Boarding at Brentwood
We offer full and weekly boarding for 13 to 18-year-olds in comfortable houses where experienced husband and wife teams ensure the best possible care for all the boarders. The School benefits hugely from our boarders’ rich mixture of backgrounds - we are a truly international community.
Our pastoral care is outstanding and the safety of our students is our highest priority, we have an excellent team in place to support each young person individually. The wellbeing of our boarders is paramount and we make sure that our school and boarding environment is maintained to provide comfort and security to all students.
“You've truly made a positive impact on everyone’s life thanks to your commitment towards our wellbeing and growth.”
Academically, we believe in developing broad horizons, so keep a wide subject base for as long as possible. At Sixth Form, we offer three academic pathways; the International Baccalaureate Diploma, which fosters internationalism as well as academic rigour, A Levels with 26 different subject choices, and BTEC Sport or Business. We are proud to be a top 10 UK IB School and offer the Pre-IB pathway for high-achieving ambitious students.
We are a Diamond Model school, so our boys and girls are taught separately from Year 7 until the Sixth Form, which allows us to encourage freedom of expression and create space for individual identity within the classroom whilst maintaining and developing social integration beyond it.
We also offer an exceptional inclusive programme of co-curricular and enrichment activities with a wide and diverse selection of clubs, societies and trips available. Our students can take part in competitive and recreational sport (we were ranked 17th in School Sport Magazine’s ‘Top 20 Sporting Schools), musical activities (we are a Steinway School and have a partnership with the Guildhall School of Music), drama groups and productions, public speaking and Model United Nations, STEAM and much more. There is something for everyone.
Pastoral & Wellbeing
At Brentwood School, we have an outstanding level of pastoral care. The wellbeing and safety of all our pupils is our priority and we have an excellent team in place to support each young person individually.
Our Wellbeing programme supports the pastoral system and strengthens School aims, especially regarding relationships within the School community.
This programme aims to help our students develop social skills, communication skills and to raise confidence levels by providing information relevant to their needs in today's society.
We also have three wellbeing dogs at the Senior School. The cognitive, emotional, and physical benefits are numerous for pupils, as they have been found as a source of comfort and relaxation away from the usual school backdrop.
Academic Overview
Our mission at Brentwood School is to inspire life-long learning within a nurturing, culturally creative and intellectually dynamic community. We are committed to character education, encapsulated in our School ethos of 'Virtue, Learning and Manners'.
Teaching and learning should engage pupils and support pupils to become actively responsible for their own development. We believe that appropriate teaching and positive learning experiences help children to lead happy and rewarding lives and to emerge as intellectually curious, resilient, enterprising and independent young people, with good moral character.
We are committed to educating the ‘whole person’ and embrace a holistic approach to nurturing and supporting each individual child, ensuring they are safe, valued, enabled to fulfil their potential and achieve the best possible academic results.
Co-Curricular & Enrichment
The School has a reputation for developing happy, confident, resilient and lifelong learners with a sound work ethic.
New students experience many different ways of belonging: through the clubs, societies and teams they choose to join, including the Combined Cadet Force, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme or Voluntary Service Activity projects. Please visit our Senior School Co-Curricular page to find out more.
Our extensive academic enrichment programme provides a wide range of opportunities for students to engage with, instilling a thirst for knowledge in them that remains beyond their time here. Our enrichment activities aim to stimulate and extend students with a particular subject passion as well as some that are more focused on broadening interests and knowledge. Our enrichment provision is inclusive in nature and we encourage all students to take part in activities and clubs which they might find interesting. There is something for everyone.
Brentwood Boarding combines the best of a busy, vibrant day school with an established boarding tradition set within a close, family atmosphere. Our School values, ‘Virtue, Learning and Manners’ remain a cornerstone of the School’s philosophy today.
"We enable our students to become the best version of themselves by developing Virtue, Learning and Manners"
With the combination of our School values, a rich co-curricular programme, three academic pathways, excellent results, the diamond model and life within a new exciting and innovative boarding house, boarding at Brentwood will be a unique experience amongst UK boarding schools.
Student Spotlight
Students at Brentwood are on a journey through education but are also building relationships on many different levels.
We offer our boarding students a wide range of activities including trips and visits to embed a sense of community within each house. We believe in creating a family environment in the boarding houses and encourage our boarding students to invite friends over for weekend activities.
“Your kindness, compassion, and enthusiasm make our boarding house feel like a true home away from home.”
For a deeper insight into boarding at Brentwood School, please click on the links below:
 |
 |
Location
Brentwood School is located in the town centre in close proximity to London, which is just 23 minutes away and has excellent transport links and access to main airports.
We have ample car parking at the School and plan to improve requirements by creating a new basement car park under the boarding house. To improve the flow of the car park and traffic congestion, we will add new vehicle entry points from Middleton Hall Lane and Shenfield Common and will make the Bayman Gate an exit only to allow for a one-way flow during drop-off and pick-up times.
The new boarding house will be built within the spacious main school campus, making access to school quick and secure. Entrances to each house will be located at opposite sides of the courtyard and a central entrance will gain access to the cafe for boarders and Sixth Form to use. There will be internal connections between the houses for boarders only.
We plan for our boarding house to maintain an environment that provides comfort and security as well as a peaceful and friendly atmosphere, with new landscapes to transform the whole school. Our boarding students will benefit hugely from this supportive environment, and together with the massive investment in high-quality facilities we will be #BuildingFutures
International Boarding
Boarding Prospectus
School Facilities
Virtual Tour
How to find usContact Our Boarding Recruitment Manager
For any questions about the new boarding house or help during the boarding process, please get in touch with our Boarding Recruitment Manager using the details below:
Mr Brian Hays |
|---|
| Boarding Recruitment Manager |
Telephone: +44 (0)1277 243273 Admissions Team, |
