Boarding at Hiba Academy Nantong will stand apart from traditional Chinese boarding schools as it embraces the bilingual and global nature and values of the school under one roof. The boarding house will be built very much on the values of the UK boarding experience ensuring the highest standards of pastoral care. Boarding provides an exclusive, unmatched way to prepare young people to face 21st century life as global citizens.

After a busy and fulfilling school day, the boarders have free time to relax before dinner:

Sophia and Stella set up their violins and raised their bows together, the notes flowing through the room as the strings rubbed together.

Jessie sat at her favourite piano and played cheerful tunes with her fingertips tapping away at the keys.

Isabella and Gaven chose their favourite books and immersed themselves into the sea of words ...

Others chose a variety of table sports: table tennis, pool, foosball etc, or they set up the easels and did some drawing. The excellent facilities at the boarding house provide a comfortable and relaxing place for the pupils. It is “a home away from home'.

After down time, the boarders headed to the dining hall for dinner. Although they were not with their families, the pupils did not feel lonely at all. They enjoyed the food, shared their school lives with peers, talked about recent popular topics and talked positively about the food. The tempting smells of the cooking and the joyful chatter of the pupils wafted out of the dining hall and spread to every corner of the campus.

Since many of the boarders were away from home for the first time, the boarding team have arranged “phone time” to let the pupils contact their families. We are delighted that most boarders adapt themselves very well to the boarding life, even better than some of the parents! A saying from the parents is that "It's not the children who need us, but we need the children”. Good parenting does not depend on the amount of time spent together. A brief greeting once a day proves enough and leads to quality family time at weekends.

In addition to the daytime learning, pupils in the boarding house receive further academic support from teachers during homework time (called ‘prep’). The boarding tutors consist of Chinese and western subject teachers, so boarders have timely access to support when they need it. We are pleased to see that most boarders feel comfortable communicating with their western teachers, asking questions about their homework, play games with the western teachers and sharing their opinions on current popular topics. The immersive bilingual environment enables the boarders to develop their oral English skills and use English more confidently in their daily interactions with their native English-speaking teachers.

The length of prep is also flexible depending on the grade level. We hope that boarders develop time management and self-management skills, become independent and prepare well for their future studies abroad.

After prep, it's the boarders’ favourite enrichment time! The boarding team provides a wide range of evening activities for the boarders, such as table tennis, pool, frisbee, drawing and board games, which not only develops their inter-personal and oral English skills but also promotes holistic growth. 

Among these activities, the boarders' favourite sport is frisbee. The pupils are so excited to play this game and frisbee is easy to learn and play. The engagement of all boarders makes the sports hall more dynamic, like catching, passing, running, and jumping, adjusting their positions at any time, running to the right place in advance to prepare to catch the disc as well as sweating with all the running. The boarders work as a team to achieve victory and improve their abilities in various areas: physical fitness, speed, agility, throwing and catching.

The boarding house is close to the teaching buildings, which ensures a seamless transition between study and life. The theatre, sports hall and swimming pool are also accessible for boarders in the evenings, which facilitates their boarding life, expands their social space, and further stimulates their passion for diversity.

Henry Thoreau, the famous American writer, said, "Reading is a noble exercise of the mind." Hiba Academy Nantong is committed to helping pupils develop good reading habits. In addition to the reading programmes and various reading activities during the school day, teachers also arrange half an hour of bedtime reading.