Charm school: College that teaches pupils ballroom dancing, table manners and shirt-ironing

 Add your view

Most pupils leave school with at least a rough idea of their ABCs - but too few apparently have any idea how to mind their Ps and Qs.

Now one headmaster has decided to put good manners back on the curriculum.

During a year-long course, teenagers at Brighton College are taught everything from table manners and ballroom dancing to the correct way to behave on public transport.

Scroll down for more...

They also learn practical skills such as ironing, map-reading and how to boil an egg.

Headmaster Richard Cairns said surveys had shown that too many graduates lack manners and are impolite.

"Our role is to equip our pupils for all aspects of adult life,' he said.

"Exams are only a part of that preparation. Just as important, in my view, is whether a young person has a grasp of basic etiquette.

"This is really to make the children's university and working lives easier for them."

The compulsory course was introduced this term for the 140 pupils in the first year at Brighton College, where day fees are £15,387 a year and boarding £24,078.

The 13- and 14-year-olds learn how to set a table for a three-course dinner party as well as how to fold napkins and use cutlery correctly, such drawing a soup spoon away from the body.

They also learn three ways to tie a tie and how to tackle a bow-tie, as well as the correct way to iron a shirt.

At the beginning of term, only 15 per cent of pupils in the class knew how to iron shirts; the rest either didn't iron them or relied on their mothers.

Sending and responding to invitations correctly is also part of the course, as is formal letter-writing.

A session on etiquette around the city touches on considerate use of pavements, including stepping aside for members of the public, assisting pensioners and giving up seats on buses and trains.

Other skills covered in the 45-minute classes include putting up a tent, cooking an egg, monitoring heart rates during exercise to keep fit, making a pizza and taking digital photographs.

And each student will have a chance to dine with the headmaster at his Victorian lodgings, where they will learn basic etiquette such as the correct time to remove their jackets and how to deal with food they don't like.

Mr Cairns said he was concerned by the survey before Christmas from the Institute of Directors, which found that a quarter of company directors believe recent graduates display "impoliteness and poor table manners, which could project a negative or unprofessional image".

Parents may lack time to pass on traditional skills to their offspring, he said.

Even if they did, teenagers may delight in ignoring them.

"Parents I have spoken to are immensely pleased we are doing this. Children tend to listen to teachers over parents when it comes to manners.

"It can be easier coming from us," he said.

At the end of the course pupils will be challenged to a quiz - and there is a £100 book token for the student who has absorbed the most.

 

What's on today   What's on tomorrow

Receive our newsletter