Boarding Options

The community of full boarders is a tightly knit and very supportive group of friends, looked after by a team of enthusiastic staff, all of whom, other than the medical staff, are teachers. The weekends are filled with activities which might include theatre trips locally or in the West End; city visits – Winchester, Windsor, Brighton, Oxford, Cambridge, Salisbury, London; one-off events or exhibitions - The Tate Modern, Buckingham Palace; icon visitor experiences such as Harry Potter World, The London Dungeon or Bletchley Park.  The annual trip to Thorpe Park is very popular and girls also attend professional sports matches and other theme parks.  Other activities include paintballing, donutting, air hop (trampolining fun), go-karting: and then other things crop up as we seize opportunities: Guildford Race for Life, strawberry picking and charity events. A huge variety of activities, with something for everyone.

Weekly boarding is a popular option which offers weekdays at St Catherine’s and the weekends at home. Weekly boarders may go home on Friday night and return on Sunday evening or Monday morning in time for registration (or breakfast if that suits better). Should weekly boarders wish to remain overnight during the weekend, perhaps for a match or a rehearsal, they are most welcome. To help busy working parents, we run a bus from School to Putney in London via Guildford Station as a drop off and pick up point, on Friday's at 6pm and returning at 6pm on Sunday evening.  Many girls join weekly boarding for Year 9 (Upper 4) or for GCSE, or for Sixth Form as a pre-university experience. 

We also offer boarding beds for daygirls, space permitting, when trips return late at night or depart in the early morning for example. It can also be very helpful for parents if their daughters stay for the occasional night or more to accommodate family commitments such as work travel or short breaks. A sudden need for a parent to travel with grandparents at times of need can be supported here because we can scoop up a girl among friends for a night, a week or several weeks. We do not, however, offer a regular slot each week. To book your daughter in for an occasional boarding night/nights/week, please email occasionalboarding@stcatherines.info.