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The children reacted differently to boarding. This is not surprosin as the children themselves are different. Some children will not do well as boarders. Most children can benefit from the experience. New children at the schools, usually at about 8 yerars of age find boarding at first a difficult undertaking. Few children at age 8 years would choose to go away to school. Most adjust very quickly to boarding. Older children have more varied attitudes toward boarding. Some simply accepted boarding as the normal course of events. Some didn't like it. Other children rather enjoyed it, although they like the other children were always very happy when their parents arrived for exeats and end of terms. The children we spoke to expressed many varied as to their attitude toward boarding. Most of the children we spoke to were happy at their schools. Most older children would have liked to spend more tim at home, but they also saw a range of beneits with boarding. Some like the idea of always having mates at hand for games and sports. They also liked the idea of not spending and hour or more each day traveling back and forth to and from school. Often the sports-minded boys like the opportunities that boarding provided to focus on favorite sports. Some children didn't like boarding at all. Here there was often an opinion mixed with their overall attitude toward their school. A reader writes, "Many thanks for your excellent e-book which has brought memories flooding back. When I was 10 years old my parents sent me to a prep school in the north of England because they were so dissatisfied with the education I was receiving in the local primary school. I was a boarder until 1985 and left at the age of 13 and a half. While your book is delightful, I can't help feeling it gives a rather rosy account of prep school life. There were of course many things about my own school that were excellent. We were very well taught in a traditional kind of way. Boarding undoubtedly fosters resourcefulness, courage and independence. The sport was of a high quality (obesity, which is such a problem amongst today's young people, was unknown). Most of the teachers had a real concern for their charges.
But at the same time my 3 years at Prep School were more endured than enjoyed. It wasn't the bullying, though there was some of that. It was more the sheer grimness of the place. We were squashed into freezing cold dormitories without any personal space, the food was terrible and the homesickness was all-pervading. I was glad to leave and pleaded with my father to let me continue with my education at a day school." Of course the conversations we had were with the children at school. We did find some schools that seemed a little grim, but this was not the general impression we got. We found mostly happy schools with children that seemed to like their schools. Hopefully more readers will provide comments on their prep school experiences.
The children reacted differently to boarding. This is not surprosin as the children themselves are different. Some I rember at one school there was a little girl who was crying and could only sob, "I want to go home". The headmaster's wife had called her parents who were on the way. She was clearly not ready for boarding. Some children will simply not do well as boarders. Most children can benefit from the experience. Some debate exists as to the appropriate age. Most schools began boarding at age 8 years and the children seem well adjusted. Of course the choice of school is a factor here. Some children will do better in some school enviroments than others. And their are considerable differences from school to school in the program and atmosphere.
New children at the schools, usually at about 8 yerars of age find boarding at first a difficult undertaking. I was scared and had a sinking feeling in my stomache when mum and dad drive off. Every thing seem so big and I didn't know anyone." Few children at age 8 years would choose to go away to school, although some are better prepared than others. Most new children adjust very quickly to boarding. One boy told us "I have a great time with my form mates, especially thosof us in my dorm room. We sometimes get into trouble for making noise after lights out." One older boy told us, "I still remember my first day very well.
The children had many different situations. Some of the children had to board because their parents were overseas or a wide range of different family situations. Other children boarded becaise their parents thought they would bebefit acadenically and socially from the experience. Some parents who went through the prep and boarding school system as children wanted the same for their children. An increasing number of children attended the school as day children when they were yhounger and boarded as an older child. Here the schools promoted this so they were best prepared for their public schools. And increasinly the children had a choice in this. This was not common earlier. All of this of course affected how the children viewed their school and the boarding experience.
Older children have more varied attitudes toward boarding. As the girls tended to leave earlier at about age 11, the older children were odten the boys. At the age of 12 and 13 they were much more likely to have given some thought to their school and their experiences there. Some simply accepted boarding as the normal course of events. Some didn't like it. Other children rather enjoyed it, although they like the other children were always very happy when their parents arrived for exeats and end of terms. The children we spoke to expressed many varied as to their attitude toward boarding. One older boy who had completed his Common Entrance Examination, "Boarding I believe has given me a sense of responsibility and independence as well. I think I am a lot more organised than my friends at home who did not go to a boarding school." A girl told us, "I am getting much better marks here. There are fewer destractions. We get to know our teachers really well. And of course they know everything about us. I think this makes a real difference."
Most of the children we spoke to were happy at their schools. Most older children would have liked to spend more tim at home, but they also saw a range of beneits with boarding. Some like the idea of always having mates at hand for games and sports. They also liked the idea of not spending and hour or more each day traveling back and forth to and from school. Often the sports-minded boys like the opportunities that boarding provided to focus on favorite sports. Some children didn't like boarding at all. We found mostly happy schools with children that seemed to like their schools. Of course this may reflect a general predisposition to speak favorably about their scgool to outsiders they just met. But the impression we got was generally that the children were more than willing to speak openly about their school experience. Of course the yoinger children were less capable of expressing themselves with any retrospective, but they knew just mattered to themselves in immediate terms. What I like best is all the different activities that we are able to have a go at. There always seems something is going on. I have been able to try new things that I don't think I would have if I had not come here."
Here there was often an opinion mixed with their overall attitude toward their school. A reader writes, "Many thanks for your excellent e-book which has brought memories flooding back. When I was 10 years old my parents sent me to a prep school in the north of England because they were so dissatisfied with the education I was receiving in the local primary school. I was a boarder until 1985 and left at the age of 13 and a half. While your book is delightful, I can't help feeling it gives a rather rosy account of prep school life. There were of course many things about my own school that were excellent. We were very well taught in a traditional kind of way. Boarding undoubtedly fosters resourcefulness, courage and independence. The sport was of a high quality (obesity, which is such a problem amongst today's young people, was unknown). Most of the teachers had a real concern for their charges. But at the same time my 3 years at Prep School were more endured than enjoyed. It wasn't the bullying, though there was some of that. It was more the sheer grimness of the place. We were squashed into freezing cold dormitories without any personal space, the food was terrible and the homesickness was all-pervading. I was glad to leave and pleaded with my father to let me continue with my education at a day school." Of course the conversations we had were with the children at school. We did find some schools that seemed a little grim, but this was not the general impression we got. But it is defintely true that at many schools we did find some older children that were disatisfied. One boy complaine, "They think we are still babies. I'm not a little boy any more." Generally this was some of the older boys who had rather outgrown the school. A prep school is designed for younger children requiring considerable supervision. Boys by the time they reach 13 are of course ready for more respinsibility and a degree of independence. So in part this feeling is a sign that the schools had done their jobs and are ready for life at their senior schools.
