Boarding school booster pays off
BROTHER and sister Oscar and Lucia Canton are enjoying boarding at Steyning Grammar School after moving back to Britain from Qatar.
The pair followed in the footsteps of older sister, Ella, 19, who also boarded at the school in West Sussex, and is now studying politics at Durham University.
Steyning Grammar School (SGS) is among 40 state boarding schools in the country, where parents pay only for the cost of boarding, not the education.
These schools are often described as education’s ‘best-kept secret’ as they boast high academic results and the fees are a fraction of those in the private sector — £11,700-ayear for full boarders at SGS, compared with more than £30,000 at independent boarding schools.
Oscar, 17, who is in Year 13, had to adapt to life in the UK after his time in Qatar, where his parents, Lisa and Derek, still live.
He says: ‘ At first I found it challenging to integrate, because I was not an outgoing person. However, the induction process and the family atmosphere at SGS has brought me out of my shell and improved my self- confidence.’ Oscar was elected head boy of boarding at the end of Year 12 and is relishing his role.
Sister Lucia, 16, is in Year 12 and undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award with physical, skill and volunteering tasks.
Mr and Mrs Canton, both teachers, have lived in Qatar for more than ten years and were not familiar with the state boarding sector before Ella’s experience.
Mrs Canton says: ‘SGS was ideal, given its close location to our family in Eastbourne.
‘Steyning is a small English town in a safe, rural location. We are fully confident our children are looked after very well.’
Mrs Canton is sure that boarding at SGS has helped Ella make a smooth transition to university life. ‘She found moving to university easy having boarded for two years at sixth form,’ she says.
Tom Leighton, director of boarding at SGS, adds: ‘ Boarding students are better equipped to cope with the challenges of life after they finish their A-levels; whether that be the world of work, university or apprenticeship.’