Boarding

A residential school takes on the whole of a child’s day, and the whole of the responsibility that goes with it. The boarding houses of Shiva International Residential School opened in April 2026, in separate houses for boys and for girls within the campus, under the care of house parents who live with the children and staff who are on duty through the night. Boarding is a choice a family makes, not a rule the School imposes; day scholars share the same classrooms, teachers, games and traditions, and go home at four.

The houses and the people in them

Each house has its own house parent, who lives in the house and is responsible for the children’s routine, discipline and welfare, and who is the parents’ first point of contact. Wardens supervise the house by day and by night. Matrons look after the younger children’s clothing, cleanliness and small ailments. Boarding teachers take evening preparation and study; the sports coaches live on campus and take games each evening. No child is out of an adult’s sight, in the house or on the grounds.

The boarding day

Saturdays have a shorter timetable and more games. Sundays are for rest, telephone calls home, hobbies and, from time to time, an outing.

Meals

Five meals a day are prepared in the School’s own kitchen and served in the dining hall: breakfast, a juice break, lunch, evening snacks and dinner. The food is fresh, vegetarian, and cooked to a standard the School inspects daily. A special diet is provided when a child is unwell. Students take their meals together, at set times, with staff present.

Health and wellbeing

A nurse is on campus and a doctor is called when needed; parents are informed of any illness on the same day, and a child who needs rest is looked after in the house. Every student joins the School with a medical fitness certificate, and parents are asked to tell the School of any condition or allergy. A counsellor and a special educator are on the staff. The rules on infectious illness and on the return to school after it are set out in the almanac and are applied without exception.

Keeping in touch

Students telephone home at set times in the week from the house. In an emergency the house parent may be reached at any hour. Parents may visit by arrangement with the house parent, and are welcome at the School’s assemblies, at the Investiture Ceremony, at the inter-house finals and at the Annual Day. Mobile telephones are not permitted in the School.

Joining the house

At admission the School gives each family a list of what a boarder brings: uniform and games kit, bedding, toiletries and the few personal things a child needs. Every item of clothing is marked with the child’s name. The office advises on what is available locally. Boarders arrive on the day the term opens and go home on the day it closes; every school day is planned, and the School asks parents not to take a child out during term.

Day scholar or boarder

To confirm before publication: the classes from which boarding is offered, the names of the houses, and the arrangements for telephone calls and visits.