A boarder’s day at PSSEMR, hour by hour
A boarder at PSSEMR wakes at 5:30am, jogs at 5:45, is in assembly by 8:30 and in the first of nine periods by 8:50. Afternoons are for sport and the arts, evenings for two hours of supervised prep, and lights go off at 10:15pm. Here is the whole day, with nothing left out.
The weekday timetable
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 5:30am | Wake up |
| 5:45 – 6:30am | Jogging |
| 6:30 – 7:45am | Getting ready |
| 7:45 – 8:15am | Breakfast |
| 8:30 – 8:45am | Morning assembly |
| 8:50 – 9:30am | Period I |
| 9:30 – 10:10am | Period II |
| 10:10 – 10:20am | Short break |
| 10:20 – 11:00am | Period III |
| 11:00 – 11:40am | Period IV |
| 11:40am – 12:20pm | Period V |
| 12:20 – 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 1:00 – 1:40pm | Period VI |
| 1:40 – 2:20pm | Period VII |
| 2:20 – 3:00pm | Period VIII |
| 3:00 – 3:40pm | Period IX |
| 4:00pm | Buses carrying day scholars leave the campus |
| 4:00 – 5:30pm | Sport, dance, music, art, theatre, NCC, Scouts and Guides, band practice, Olympiad, science and robotics — for residents |
| 5:30 – 6:00pm | Evening break |
| 6:00 – 8:00pm | Prep |
| 8:00 – 8:45pm | Dinner |
| 9:00 – 10:00pm | Remedial classes or homework |
| 10:15pm | Lights off |
What the day is actually like
Morning
The day starts with movement, not with books. Jogging at 5:45am for forty-five minutes, before breakfast, before assembly. Getting ready runs to 7:45, which is a deliberately long window — younger boarders need it.
Assembly is short, at fifteen minutes, and it is not a lecture. It runs to a set pattern: news, the pledge, a thought for the day, health and hygiene, heritage, Know Your Leader, the significance of the day, and any celebration due.
The teaching day
Nine periods of forty minutes, with a ten-minute break after the second and forty minutes for lunch. Residents and day scholars sit in the same classes; there is no separate stream.
Afternoon
At 4pm the buses leave with the day scholars, and the campus becomes residential. The next ninety minutes are for something other than academics — sport, dance, music, art, theatre, NCC, Scouts and Guides, band practice, Olympiad training, science and robotics. Every boarder does something in this slot.
Evening
Prep runs from 6 to 8pm — two hours of supervised study, every weekday. This is teaching time rather than supervision, and it is the reason a boarder’s tuition fee is higher than a day scholar’s. Day scholars who want it can pay the difference and stay, arranging their own way home.
Dinner is at 8pm. From 9 to 10pm there are remedial classes for students who need them, and homework for everyone else. Lights off at 10:15pm.
What a boarder does not do
Worth saying plainly, because parents ask.
- No phone. Phones and electronic devices are on the list of things students may not bring. Contact home is a scheduled weekly call, at no charge.
- No outside food. Also on the restricted list. All meals come from the school kitchen.
- No unsupervised evenings. Prep is staffed, and the 9 to 10pm slot is staffed.
Common questions
Is 5:30am too early for a young child?
It is early, and we would rather say so than soften it. Lights go off at 10:15pm, which gives just over seven hours in bed.
How much homework is there on top of prep?
Prep is 6 to 8pm, and the 9 to 10pm slot covers homework and remedial work. Most work is finished on campus rather than carried into the night.
What happens between 3:40pm and 4pm?
Classes end at 3:40 and activities begin at 4. Day scholars head for the buses; boarders change and go to their activity.
Do boarders get free time?
The evening break, 5:30 to 6pm, is unstructured.
Where to go next
The five meals in this routine — and what is on the plate at each of them — are set out under what boarders eat. How the residential system works — the hostels, the wardens and the on-site nursing — is on boarding at PSSEMR, and the health centre, safeguarding procedure and campus safety rules under student care and safety. The evening prep hours in this routine are also what the IIT and NEET foundation programme is built around, and admissions covers how to apply.
Ask us about the routine on WhatsApp