Learning and belonging happen most powerfully when creatures are nestled within a living community, an esteemed naturalist wrote back in 1902. William Goldsmith, Head of Packwood School in Shropshire, reflects on how this concept neatly aligns with contemporary boarding.
Among the books on the coffee table in my study is a recently republished copy of The School of the Woods, by William J. Long. This wonderful title, now over 120 years old, describes how young forest animals learn to live in an environment shaped by rhythm, instinct and example. The author portrays the forest as teacher: the dawn chorus setting the day’s rhythm, changing seasons providing structure, and the very act of living alongside others empowering timeless values such as tenacity, respect and humility.
As it happens, those are the same values that underpin The Packwood Way here in idyllic, rural Shropshire. Long’s belief that learning and belonging happen most powerfully when creatures (and in our case young human beings) are nestled within a living community neatly aligns with the benefits of contemporary boarding.
DAILY STRUCTURE
Like all Heads and Houseparents, I bang the drum for what I see from happy boarding communities in schools like mine. We promote lifelong friendships, independence, increased responsibility and learning to live and get along with different people, plus the fun and nurture of the boarding house. All are very true, but having reflected on the messages within Long’s book, I would put forward a much deeper and more interesting case for the true power of boarding within a noisy, rushed and, at times, insecure world. Through structure, pace and belonging. life in a boarding house provides a unique and unrivalled apprenticeship for young children in becoming the people they will aspire to be as teenagers and adults.
How? The daily structure of house life, so yearned for in chilldren, builds tenacity almost unnoticed and entirely cultivated by the environment, rather than adults. Early wake-ups, organising one’s belongings and contributing to communal responsibilities, to name a few examples. Similarly, the inevitable small dilemmas such as mislaid kit, negotiating different personalities and taking responsibility for one’s actions develops crucial agency in young people where they need to act rather than wait for adults to throw safety nets down.
Proximity also nurtures respect. Living closely with peers enables children to read moods, recognise unspoken needs, and practise kindness in practical ways, none of which come close to being replicated on screens through gaming, social media or Al. Nor can it be so powerfully learned through PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) schemes. Just as Long’s young forest dwellers develop relational awareness by living alongside their own kind, children in a boarding house internalise the rhythms and responsibilities of community simply by being part of it
BEING HUMBLE
One of our core school and boarding community values is humility. I believe there is no greater moral purpose for educators than to teach and role model the very simple act of being humble. Boarding houses depend on smalll acts of contribution and generosity of spirit, where celebrating the success of others is more important than your own ego. How about self-development? Tenacity, respect and humility in a boarding community are priceless lessons that cannot be timetabled and are wholly focused around being a force for good. Rightly so. However, the anchorage in ourselves is also important, and a boarding community provides the space and time to develop a sense of self away from stress, anxiety and the constant rush that so often defines childhood.
DEEPER CALMNESS
Many families today grapple with relentless logistics: car journeys, screen interruptions and extracurricular commitments scattered across different locations. Daily rhythm becomes fragmented, and children can be surrounded by fluster, lists and an unnerving feeling of being rushed. Boarding restores a sense of cadence, allowing children to settle, focus and feel at home. When the tempo of life is consistent, children feel a deeper calmness, allowing them the emotional breathing space to take risks, make mistakes and grow, all away from the constant fussing of others.
Long believed that the woods taught young inhabitants a grounding sense of belonging in their environment. In a similar way, a boarding community roots children and teaches them the qualities needed to live well together. This is a powerful counterbalance to the dislocation many young people feel as society moves at a pace.
When children return home at weekends, exeats and at the end of term, they carry something of that formation with them – entrenched values such as tenacity, respect and humility, alongside a stronger sense of self and a rootedness that will serve them long beyond childhood. Excellent boarding offers young people something increasingly rare in 2025: time, space and an environment intentionally shaped to provide a apprenticeship for life.
By William Goldsmith, Head, Packwood School