Page:A Few Words on the Future of Westminster School.djvu/19

 Finally, the circumstances of the School as regards its situation, which is universally acknowledged to be healthy, and its playground in Vincent Square, do not seem to require the breaking up of the existing boarding-houses. While there is no room to extend the boarding-house system further at Westminster, the existence of the present houses is quite compatible with the presence of a large day-boy element, and may satisfy some needs which are felt even in London. To some parents in the country it is an attraction that their sons should be brought up within the neighbourhood of such historic associations. Other parents again, resident in or near London, are attracted by the possibility of having their sons home for the Saturday afternoon and Sunday, which is an especial feature of the School. Moreover, it has been the experience of schools less favourably situated, like the City schools, that with the growth of the reputation of the School as a place of efficient teaching has come a demand from parents living at a distance for boarding-house accommodation. All these claims the continuance of the existing boarding-houses would be ready to meet. With the forty Queen's Scholars, the boys in these boarding-houses would form a valuable nucleus, of sufficient permanence in itself, round which might cluster an addition of some 150 or 200 more day-boys, whether half-boarders or 'home-boarders'—the class of boys which it is anticipated the throwing open of the competition for Christ Church and Trinity, the definite liberation of the School from the long-pending uncertainty of removal, and the advantages expected to accrue from the final passing of the Public Schools Bill will draw. It is only of late years that an alteration of school hours to suit day-boys has been made, and