Families sending their children to boarding schools in Britain are being offered a summer camp to help young students to get acclimatised to boarding life.

Educational consultant Jim Hewer, who arrives on the Island next week, is keen to speak with parents to discuss the Summer Academy.

“I’ve built a fantastic relationship with Bermuda over the years — it has been a happy marriage,” Mr Hewer told The Royal Gazette.

He travels the world advising families on the British boarding system, with his newest offering being a two-week camp for boys and girls aged 9 to 14. It combines academics and activities to deliver a chance to experience life at a British school.

“With the families I help, I tend to find they are between 70 and 90 per cent ready for immersion in boarding school in the UK,” he said.

“The Summer Academy is something I’ve been formalising in my mind over a long time — what could we do better to prepare children for boarding life?”

The thought of leaving home for the first time in September can be daunting, Mr Hewer pointed out.

“Having been at a lovely school in Bermuda with the sunshine and then entering a boarding environment for their first term and having 15 weeks in rainy Rutland, for example, can be a bit of a shock,” he said.

The camp will combine academia with “a more fun element”: leadership and confidence-building exercises and moviemaking, plus trips to Oxford and Windsor, woven around the theme of “myths, monsters and magic”.

Mr Hewer said: “I’m a big believer in people getting involved in a wide range of activities. It helps them to become very interesting people and it also gives them a better chance of finding that thing that they’re very good at.”

The Summer Academy has teaching staff who are “young enough to keep it fun and relevant, but experienced enough to give worthwhile and helpful feedback”, he added. Two school matrons will be also resident.

Mr Hewer, who will be available for parents to meet from April 28 to May 2, can be reached via the website www.thesummeracademy.co.uk or bookings@thesummeracademy.co.uk.