Where young girls discover the best of themselves through boarding

Compassion, empathy, and independence — these are some of the qualities boarding girls at Branksome Hall Asia learn.

“We're very focused on emotional and social wellbeing,” shares YuKyung Kim, Head of Ainslie House and incoming Head of Middle School Boarding in 2022-23. Branksome Hall Asia’s goal? To carve out a space where “students can explore and build their own identity.”

Established in 2012, Branksome Hall Asia is an international boarding school for girls. It welcomes boys from JK Prep to Grade 7. Boarding is only available for girls in Grades 5 through 12.

Branksome Hall Asia is the only all International Baccalaureate school in Jeju, South Korea, boasting some of the world’s top IB scores with a class average point score of 38 points and a 100% IB DP pass rate. In 2021, Branksome Hall Asia was selected as the International School of the Year by ISC Research.

This outstanding result has landed graduates in highly respected universities around the world, including California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Cornell University, London School of Economics, and many others.

Such prolific outcomes are a testament to Branksome Hall Asia’s unique boarding programme, which encourages collaboration, communication, and the opportunity to discover oneself. From the moment the final school bell rings, students are treated to a host of Creativity, Activity, Service and Enrichment (CASE) activities, as well as daily fitness sessions.

What boarding staff emphasise most, however, is creating a “home away from home” for students — Branksome Hall Asia truly shines in this aspect. A dedicated boarding staff — one that stays separate from teaching staff — ensures that boarding faculty can be 100% committed to the lives and welfare of students.

A home away from home

Staff come from far and wide, bringing forth their own cosmopolitan experiences to contribute to creating a caring, diverse environment.

The Middle School boarding programme pays special emphasis on self-development and character building. “This is the time where they actually build their identity and get to know themselves and develop their character, but also learn important skills such as self-discipline and self-control,” says Kim.

They live in pods, where they share their space with up to eight girls. “We’ve found that they prefer to have a roommate in Middle School, so that they can be a little more social and meet new people,” explains Mindi Dryer, Head of Boarding.

All the while, they have access to an impressive list of facilities: an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an Olympic-sized ice rink, a gym, and a fitness centre, among others. Middle School boarding girls have additional access to their own Makerspace, a dedicated area to enhance design tech education for young girls, and many lounges for them to relax at the end of every day.

An all-encompassing Middle School boarding programme

Branksome Hall Asia has introduced a structured schedule. This includes set meal and study times to ensure students do not fall behind on their rigorous academic demands. For example, every morning, Middle School girls are up bright and early between 7 to 8 a.m. Much of their mornings are spent catching up with friends over a delicious spread of breakfast. Then, it’s off to classes — which every teacher at Branksome Hall Asia ensures remains fun, relevant, and exciting.

At the same time, students are encouraged to chase other pursuits outside of their academics. School ends at 3 p.m., after which students go off to join a range of after-school activities — or CASE. “CASE refers to Creativity, Activity, Service, and Enrichment,” explains Dryer. “We participate in the after school programmes as boarding staff, and there’s a mix of boarding and day girls.”

Evenings are for rejuvenation. “From 7.00 to 8.30 p.m., we have study hall, where students focus on either their academics or self-growth,” says Kim.

Productive days, great weeks

“We want to emphasise that not everything's about academics — you can do anything in relation to self-growth. So they will either go to our music room and play instruments, or they will go to the yoga room to practise their dancing. But we've tried to encourage them to think outside of the box to make sure that they are using this time efficiently.”

Weekday

Weekends are just as exciting. “We usually arrange a lot of hands-on activities on Saturday night,” shares Kim. “We have crafts on the first floor where they can get their art supplies and start painting if they want to. If it’s a rainy day, we’ll just have hot chocolate and movies.”

Sundays are reserved for fun. It’s usually spent exploring the beautiful island of Jeju: hiking, exploring, tangerine picking, visiting the beach and making s’mores by the fire pit. “It's nothing related to self-growth or enrichment,” says Kim. “We only want them to have fun.”

Saturday

Sunday

A system of sisterhood

Of course, there are moments when teachers may not be able to get through — this is when older girls step in through the Peacemakers programme.

“They’re older student leaders who are trained to help with conflict, or social issues,” says Dryer. “And so they ask certain types of open ended questions, conflict resolution questions, and they actually work and give workshops to our other students. So students know that they can go to their peacemakers and ask them social or academic questions, as well.”

All in all, it’s a truly unique experience that gives students room to breathe and grow into themselves. “I think we are very honest when it comes to our weaknesses, and we're forgiving,” says Kim. “That's the culture that I want to create, because comfort is what we all need at the end of the day here.”

Branksome Hall Asia’s International Merit Scholarships are available to non-Korean students new to its Middle and Senior School. The Scholarship award provides 30% of the tuition fees and 30% of boarding fees (if applying for a boarding programme). Learn more here

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