Every morning, the boarders are woken up between 7am and 7.15am in readiness for breakfast which is served in the refectory between 7.30am and 8.00am. In some cases  Sixth formers are given the option of having breakfast in their own common room kitchen area.

After breakfast, all boarders then return to their rooms for a final tidy up, to make their beds, and collect their school bags for the day. They then make their way into school at 8.20am. No boarders may return to  boarding areas during the day, unless permission is granted by House or Senior staff.

At the close of afternoon registration, at 4.20pm, boarders return to their boarding house where a drink and a snack is served. The boarders are then encouraged to change out of their school uniform before leaving the house to attend one of the many after-school clubs and activities, or to attend Prep where they are supported to complete their homework. At 5.30pm, day boys who have attended clubs or extra-curricular activities go home, and boarders leave their after-school club or junior Prep to return to the boarding house. 

Supper is served in the refectory between 5.30pm and 6.15pm, and the boarders eat alongside the house staff. At supper, there is always a main cooked option, a vegetarian option, and usually also a Panini or baguette option.  Fruit is available at all meals. As at other mealtimes, individual food and dietary requirements are also catered for which is a key feature of the care we have for our boarders. Our catering team know each and every boy by name and by his dietary requirement  and are always happy to be put to the test on this!

After eating, boarders can enjoy some free leisure time until prep. For the Junior boarders and  Years 8 & 9 from Main House, this is from 6pm to 7pm. For Years 10 & 11 this is between 7pm and 8pm (or longer for those at GCSE level) and for 6th formers, they are encouraged to work for at least two hours each evening starting at 6pm. 

At 6.45pm on a Thursday, all boarders and the house staff attend Boarders' Chapel; a brief mid-evening assembly led by the Head of Boarding. Along with a weekly pastoral theme, other notices and good news updates are shared with the whole community.

After prep each evening, the respective age groups participate in a sports or other active pursuit. These are mainly on site every evening except for the half-termly off-site excursions for each age group. Onsite activities are decided by house staff but input  is welcomed form the boarders at the planning stage.  You can  see the range of these activities on the 'Activity' tab page on this website. All boarders from Year 6 to Year 10 must complete a certain number of activities each day/week, whilst in Year 11 and 6th form, where exam pressures are most prevalent, we use our activity programme to re-energise and give the boys a necessary diversion to their study time. 

In terms of down-time or 'free time', all boarders are given space and freedom within the obvious confines of overall supervision by house staff. This is more negotiable as the boys reach the older years in boarding, but we do also try to foster for individual differences and levels of responsibility as the boys themselves demonstrate trust, reliability and self-direction. This does, of course, involve sensible use of their own electronic device, spending time on purposeful activity and encouraging them to be active and healthy in their chosen activities. There must also always be flexibility to allow for quiet, reflective space and time in their otherwise very busy lives so the boarding staff will always be available to guide or make suggestions about times and spaces where this can be provided. 

At 8.45pm, all younger boarders must be in Main House preparing for bed, and be in their rooms soon after 9pm, depending on their age. Lights-out is from 9.15pm depending on age. The house staff ensure each boy is encouraged to shower daily and that his teeth are cleaned before bed. They also support each boy in managing his clothing and making effective use of the school laundry system. Again, as the boys grow with age and maturity, we engender their need for self-reliance and independence in all matters of their hygiene, room cleanliness and management of laundry. 

At 9pm, all but the oldest boarders must be preparing for bed, and this time is often used by the house staff to bring their corridor of boys together for quiet time, a shared hot-drink or pre-bedtime group discussions.  Lights-out in St Anthony’s House is from 9.45pm, depending on age, and  Sixth Form boarders’ Lights-out is by 10.45pm. Some Sixth form boarders will, on occasion, work later than this with the permission of house staff, when schoolwork deadlines or exam preparation necessitates. This is always considered on an individual basis, with the understanding that the pupil remains in their own room and retains the upmost respect for all other boarders. 

The staff in each of the boarding houses sleep in their own private flats within the boarding houses and remain on-call throughout the night.

Weekends are more relaxed, and breakfast is served at the later times of 9am on Saturday mornings and 10.30am on Sundays. Weekend breakfasts are eagerly anticipated as they are of the 'Full English' traditional nature.

If a whole day’s trip to London, Portsmouth or elsewhere is not planned for the day, Saturday mornings usually allow boarders to spend time in either Guildford or Basingstoke town centres for shopping, before returning to site for a cooked lunch. Saturday afternoon usually involves organised activities either on or off the site, and on Saturday evenings, after a cooked supper in the refectory, boarders often go ten-pin bowling, ice-skating,  to the cinema or engage in some other fun activity.

Following Sunday’s breakfast, boarders will usually sit down to complete their weekend homework, supported by the duty house staff. After lunch, there is often the opportunity to leave the site for an afternoon stroll, or take a trip to a leisure swimming-pool. A cooked supper is served in the refectory at 5.45pm before some of the Monday to Friday boarders return from home to school. An organised sports-activity, led by a member of the house staff is always made available for all returning or weekend boarders on a Sunday evening.