To think the government's idea to send some foster kids to boarding schools could be okay?

[mumsiepig]

www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2017/jul/25/the-drive-to-get-children-out-of-foster-care-and-into-boarding-school

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/06/11/send-foster-children-boarding-schools-cheaper-careminister-says/

(those are articles on it, I just found them a few minutes ago)

I feel as if this could be a good option for older kids (13/14+), who may be tired of being carted around to different places where they can't really settle.

Opinions?

My Mum was House Mistress at a Boarding School. She supervised breakfast then walked them to the school bit, then collected them & supervised homework & evenings til bedtime. I really do not think that's great psychologically for children who have had issues. They need a steady, constant main caregiver to build a stable 'attachment bond' to (neglected children often have attachment disorder) . A 'House Mistress' supervises around 30 children usually with another employee & can't possibly provide that much stability, care & nurture. There was also no realisation that long term boarded children (the majority of the Boarders, mostly Army kids, farmed out since age 7) often needed mental health support & senior staff were of the pull yourself together attitude to anorexia & obvious emotional issues that my Mum flagged up . (early 90's time wise).

I think it should be tried more often where there is some family who can care over the holidays but not all year like elderly relatives.

It does happen already - usually when teenagers have some stable family around who can have them for Xmas, summer, Easter but would struggle all year.

But I strongly doubt any boarding schools would want to take many of the teenagers in foster care who are - because of repeated failing by their parents and lack of financial heft from social services - quite fucked up, angry and difficult.

Not sure Jemima and Tarquin's parents, who are paying 40k a year, will want the likes of them in the same school as their kid.

Plus what happens in the holidays.

It's one of these policies all politicians like to trot out on occasion but which is much less likely to be helpful than actually funding social workers and foster care adequately.

It's certainly better than floating around different families and schools, plus kids who otherwise might drink cans of booze on street corners or do drugs might just get a quality education.

Worked for harry potter

Not sure Jemima and Tarquin's parents, who are paying 40k a year, will want the likes of them in the same school as their kid.

Hmm ... Another thing is that the diminishing number of independent full boarding schools tend to be academically selective. (A few are not.) Tarquin and Jemima’s parents may well be concerned if there was any likelihood of a sizeable proportion of children joining whose education might have been disrupted, leaving them behind the average standard.

And if this plan were aimed at state boarding schools - well I guess the State would be building and funding several more ...

Scemes such as Pathfinder started a couple of decades ago (it was a popular policy of the Blair years) and of course placements existed before that. And has never caused real issues with other parents

Does the latest iteration bear much resemblance to past ones?

www.boardingschoolpartnerships.org.uk/assets/user/toolbox/Boarding_School_Provision_for_Vulnerable_Children.pdf

It worked for Harry Potter......

I always think Harry Potter would definitely have an attachment disorder. No way would he be psychologically unscathed by a childhood of abuse and neglect like that. No affection from the age of 1! Horrible.
I think boarding school could work for a really limited number of cases, but I can't see it working for most.