The purpose of this study is to examine the aims of the education delivered in a small sample of schools in the boarding sector, using qualitative methods of data gathering - analysis of school documents, interviews with the key participants (pupils, heads, staff and parents) and a limited element of participation in the schools selected. Studies on school effectiveness have proliferated in recent decades, the majority focusing on day schools. In addition, the research has tended to focus on enhancement of achievement in the cognitive area, to the virtual exclusion of other aspects of pupils' development. The present study makes a contribution to the discussion of effective schooling in two ways: firstly, by looking at the practices of boarding rather than day schools, it extends the scope and applicability of effective school research; and secondly, it extends the focus on effectiveness to include the somewhat neglected psychomotor and affective domains, while also addressing academic achievement among the pupils in the sample schools. Case studies were made of three boarding schools: one state, two independent, drawing on analysis of the material gathered. The research questions were designed to throw light on the purposes, workings and effectiveness of the schools, as perceived by each interviewee. Analysis of collected data led to an exploration of three themes that emerged as crucial to the realization of each school's aims: curriculum, community and commitment. The study highlighted the responsibility felt in the boarding sector to enhance potential not only in the cognitive, but also in the affective and psychomotor areas of each individual pupil's development. Many researchers have voiced the need to exploit pupils' all-round skills and aptitudes and this study suggests that further research in boarding schools might well prove to be both fruitful and relevant to the day sector.