There is plenty we can tell you about Windlesham House, but it is better to visit yourself.

Living, learning and playing

We understand there is no place like home but we are proud to provide a sense of family and comfort for our boarders who love living, learning and playing at Windlesham House.

Our 65 acre estate is the perfect setting to provide a safe space for boarding children to seek adventure and develop lifelong friendships after classes finish for the day. It is also an amazing location for weekend adventures, including trips to the coast and camping on the South Downs.

With our flexible approach to boarding, it is no surprise that many of our day pupils go on to become boarders, wanting to take advantage of this flexible approach and having seen the benefits of boarding, keen to spend more time with their friends and more time enjoying the evening activities and weekends.

Boarding at Windlesham House is also great preparation for those thinking about boarding at senior school.

Boarding principles

We believe strongly in the great virtues of a boarding education for children, and in the qualities which it develops in them as well as the broad all-round opportunities which it offers.

Boarding at Windlesham House is based on the following principles:

  • We seek to develop the whole child during their time at the school – emotionally, spiritually, morally, academically, physically, culturally and socially. Building their confidence in a caring environment.
  • Children are taught to respect others and to treat them in the way they would wish to be treated themselves.
  • We believe that boarding develops the children’s ability to live and work with others and it strengthens their sense of self-reliance and independence.
  • We treat all children equally regardless of gender, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief (or lack of religion or belief) or special educational needs (‘SEN’).
  • We provide excellent and continued communication with parents to develop an authentic and effective partnership between the school, parents and child.
  • We aim to create a safe and secure environment at the school.
  • We believe that boarding helps to develop: confidence, community spirit, independence, social skills, cultural awareness, respect for others, self-motivation and responsibility.
  • We believe that boarders gain from boarding at Windlesham House in the following ways:
    • They receive an enriched broad education.
    • They have greater access to school facilities.
    • They have a wide range of activities available.
    • They learn to take risks in a safe and secure environment.
  • We believe our boarding houses should be:
    • A place where children can grow into independent adults, able to cope with the ever-changing world; they will take on more responsibility as they get older.
    • A place where all children are accepted for themselves; we want them to be kind and considerate of one another’s needs.
    • A place where the children can mix with other students of similar ages, irrespective of race, religion, cultural and linguistic background.
    • A place for children to have fun whilst maturing into caring adults.
    • A place full of happy memories.

Developing friendships that last a lifetime

We encourage our boarders to be respectful, kind and live tolerantly with their fellow boarders. Each year we are proud to wave pupils off at the end of their time at Windlesham knowing they are well-equipped both academically and socially to continue successfully on to senior school.

Although most children who board at Windlesham happily settle into life in West Sussex very quickly, we promote regular contact with parents and family – as there is much to share! We encourage children to send a weekly letter home to parents, a school tradition which we know from first-hand reports are loved and treasured and there are telephones around the school which children can use at any time. Parents can also phone the boarding houses each evening to say goodnight to their child.

There are plenty of opportunities for parents to attend sporting events or musical recitals and we are able to recommend many exciting day trips within the local area should families wish to explore at weekends. We understand that children whose parents reside overseas have different needs and we work hard to ensure they have time set aside to FaceTime (working with time differences) as well as organising travel home when requested.

Weekends at Windlesham

A typical weekend at Windlesham,  starts with the exciting new Windlesham Diploma and Windlesham Challenge programmes on a Saturday morning, followed on most weekends with a sports fixture in the afternoon.  There are always activities on offer in the afternoon, eg baking, karaoke, swimming and then supper and a film.

Sundays offer a relaxed breakfast/brunch (which parents are warmly invited to) and options for a range of activities from nature walks on the downs, shopping or cinema trips to local towns, inflatable obstacle courses in the pool, textiles and pottery making.

We also plan several extra trips per year like ice-skating at The Natural History Museum, outings to Harry Potter World or to watch rugby at Twickenham along with trips to local tourist attractions and theme parks.

Decoration

″Windlesham has a caring, let’s learn and do more together approach″

Windlesham parent

Boarding options to suit every family

We are one of the oldest independent prep schools in the UK and we were the first independent prep boarding school to become co-educational. Our forward-thinking approach continues today with the introduction of flexible boarding options to meet the changing needs of our parents and pupils. Full boarding, of course, remains an option as well.


Full boarding:
Full boarding at Windlesham is Monday to Saturday or over the weekend (apart from exeats which we call long weekends).

Weekly boarding from Year 3 – 8:
Weekly boarding for 4 nights a week.

Flexible part-time boarding:
2 or 3 nights a week, any night of the week (Monday to Sunday).

Occasional boarding:
One night per week (any night).

To discuss these options and explore the best choice for your family please don’t hesitate to contact Admissions on telephone: +44 (0)1903 874701 or email: admissions@windlesham.com

″There is always someone to talk to... I like being with my friends and the matrons are really kind.″

Clare, aged 11