We have been placing students in British boarding schools for thirty years. What we hear back from them is the best part of the job.
Almost all of them describe experiences and a kind of development that would not have happened in the same way at home. Some return after one term. Some stay through to their final exams. And some write to us years later.
Theresia talks about her time at Monkton
Theresia came to England for one year and stayed for four years. In this video she talks about what that experience was like, and why Monkton remains one of her favourite places in the world.
The boy who became an astrophysicist
Barbara Glasmacher looks back on a student's journey.
His parents came to me as a last resort. Their son was, by all accounts, at the end of a downward spiral. He had left the Aufbaugymnasium under pressure. At the Realschule, his difficulties with written German were pulling everything else down with them. He was falling behind in every subject, and he had stopped trying. His headteacher had raised the possibility of special needs provision. He had been assessed as dyslexic. His IQ, however, was in the upper range.
In our first conversation I was able to explain that British qualifications, with the right subject choices, are recognised in Germany, as the mittlere Reife and as the Abitur equivalent. His strengths were clearly in mathematics and the sciences. German and English he could sit at foreign language level, with no further languages required.
To him and his parents, this sounded like a different world entirely.
His school career in England bore that out. After two years he passed his GCSEs. For his A-Levels he chose Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and German as a foreign language. His results were strong enough to have taken him into medicine. He chose astrophysics instead. He went on to study at the TU München, completed his doctorate and earned his professorship. He let me know in a Christmas letter, years later.
A path from near special needs provision to a chair at a German university may be exceptional. But it is not as unusual as it sounds. And it is one of the reasons I have never tired of this work.
Hear from our parents
"Over the past six months you supported us with remarkable commitment and expertise. You were always there when we needed you, responded immediately and gave us clear, considered advice at every turn. Your warm and straightforward approach meant we always felt that things would work out.
We are particularly grateful for the speed and transparency of your communication and the honesty of your guidance throughout. That Kaiyang has now received an offer from his dream school is in large part down to your experience, your patience and your exceptional support."
Family S.
"I want to thank you once again for placing both our children at such outstanding schools, Woodbridge School and Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation.
Both had, in the truest sense of the word, the time of their lives. The experience enriched and shaped them so profoundly that I find myself wishing it for many other children too, knowing what a privilege it is. Both came home with friendships and connections that will stay with them."
Family W.