Being a Boarder

St Bede’s is situated in the village of Upper Dicker. We hold our chapel services in the village church, also giving many musical recitals there. Maintenance of the village cricket and football pitches are carried out by the School and we share our sporting facilities with the local primary school. In addition, we encourage local clubs and villagers to use our pitches, swimming pool, squash courts and drama studio as local amenities.

In a carefully supervised programme, some students help with local events; others work in the local primary school and some play for village sports clubs and take part in social activities. By contributing to the life of the community as a whole, our students begin to prepare themselves for life beyond school and home.

Above all, St Bede’s is a friendly school which helps us to nurture our students so that they can grow as individuals…

Boarders are at the heart of our community, comprising around 40% of the students and they greatly enrich the school. This is due to the diversity they bring and to the many additional recreational facilities associated with a boarding school. On average, 25% of our 850 students come from overseas. Through their presence, we all learn to understand and respect each other’s values.

There are five boarding houses at St Bede’s, three boys’ and two girls’ houses. Each house has a Housemaster or Housemistress and two House Tutors living in. Matrons, who look after the students’ general welfare and health and deal with their laundry are on duty from 7am to 10pm. The three boys’ Houses are Camberlot, Dorms and Stud, the girls’ houses are Crossways and Dorter.