Boarding

There is a fairly even split between boarders and day girls. 50% of our students are boarders and 50% day girls. 

At Mayfield we have no fixed exeats so the school is always open at weekends during the term. Many girls choose to remain with their friends or enjoy the weekend activities on offer, but for girls who wish to travel home or to stay at day pupils’ houses, then this is fine also. 

Our weekend programme allows students to pursue their passion or to try out new activities. Whatever they choose, we aim to help them develop their skills, learn new ones, and to grow in confidence, all whilst having a great time with their friends. There’s plenty of time for relaxing too! 

On Saturdays the girls do an activity in the morning – cooking, art, ceramics, textiles, treasure hunts – the list is endless. Saturdays afternoon are when we tend to hold sports fixtures at School. This is a great opportunity for parents to come and watch and catch up with their children afterwards. We also run trips on Saturdays: shopping trips to Bluewater; visits to museums in London such as the V&A and the Natural History Museum; trips to the coast – Brighton and Eastbourne are within easy reach; as well as trips to the cinema, bowling alley and ice rink in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Saturdays generally close with a Movie Night, duvets, and ice cream in the Common Room, providing a fun and social way for the girls to relax and wind down after a tiring week. 

Sundays begin with a well-deserved lie in and a casual pyjama breakfast in the House before the girls smarten up for Mass and a scrumptious Sunday roast lunch. The afternoons are often unplanned, giving the girls the opportunity to decide for themselves how to use their time, but they often involve jigsaws, board games, arts and crafts, and use of the School facilities. It’s also a great opportunity for them to call home and catch up with family.  

There is also the opportunity to do sport at the weekend, outside of sports fixtures. Organised activities for the younger girls currently includes indoor curling, tag rugby and korfball. For the older girls we have a park run style cross country course, a fitness room, and they can also play badminton or tennis. 

Our international students make up 20% of the school roll. We currently have 28 different nationalities represented at Mayfield. 

We provide support in a variety of ways for our boarding community. The Housemistress, supported by her team (comprising the Assistant Housemistress, Graduate Assistant, House Tutors and the Head of Lower School) work with the girls to help them develop excellent organisation skills and independence. When they join us, we help them to settle in and become familiar with their new surroundings. They are also supported by their buddy and guardian angel, which ensures that any questions they have are addressed, helping them to integrate with ease. An Induction Day in the summer term prior to starting provides the opportunity for new girls to meet their Housemistress, buddy and guardian angel, as well as visit their Boarding House.  

Unlike some boarding schools which prohibit students from travelling home during term-time, we do not place our boarders under an obligation to remain in School every weekend. Many girls choose to do so in order to remain with their friends or enjoy the weekend activities on offer, but for girls who wish to travel home on occasion, we run a weekend return minibus service into London, and across Kent and Sussex.

We also offer flexi-boarding whereby day girls can regularly board for one or more nights a week, and occasional boarding if a day girl needs to spend a one-off night at School for a particular reason.