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Boarding school

Connect with fellow parents of boarding school students on our supportive forum. Share experiences, tips, and insights.

Original poster

Who'd send their sprog to Eton now?

194 replies

felulageller · 06/01/2023 12:11

£46k a year for your DS to watch Neighbours at lunchtime, take all the drugs going, have sex with older adults in fields, leave with a B and D at A level.

Learn zero social skills.

Sounds more like a sink comp to me?

OP posts:
ItWasDobbinAtTheMareAndSpare · 13/01/2023 18:08

He doesn’t sound happy in general there.

Greatly · 13/01/2023 18:11

Velvetween · 13/01/2023 11:15

I recently overheard 2 (wealthy and ex public school) colleagues debating Winchester as a school choice for their own DC. One mentioned that their concern was that the super wealthy kids had access to party pads in London and drugs were an issue (obvs not at 13 but a bit later). Seemed like a lot was going down on exeat weekends. This had come from a current parent and it had put this colleague off sending their DC there.

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If parents of teens think that some schools are devoid of drug takers and party people they are naive.

Greatly · 13/01/2023 18:14

ItWasDobbinAtTheMareAndSpare · 13/01/2023 18:07

Yes, it was just the manner in which he described it, he says it was ‘confusing’ and later, that it stops at 13.

He said each boy ‘reclines like a little pharaoh for his personalised hair washing’ and that after the matrons would ‘ease back his head for a slow and luxurious rinse’ which he called ‘confusing as hell.’ He does say that there were separate baths for boys that had reached puberty.

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Good job he never went to a hairdresser then.

A B and a D at A level. Tbh I doubt he's that thick. He probably did absolutely bugger all work and partied all weekend like the posh entitled arse that he is. Almost certainly expected someone else to do the work for him.

ItWasDobbinAtTheMareAndSpare · 13/01/2023 18:25

Greatly · 13/01/2023 18:14

Good job he never went to a hairdresser then.

A B and a D at A level. Tbh I doubt he's that thick. He probably did absolutely bugger all work and partied all weekend like the posh entitled arse that he is. Almost certainly expected someone else to do the work for him.

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I’ve never been naked at the hairdresser but maybe I’m sheltered 😆

TizerorFizz · 13/01/2023 18:38

@ItWasDobbinAtTheMareAndSpare It wax reported at the time that his art teacher did do his work for him. She was sacked by Eton but she claimed unfair dismissal and won £45,000 in damages in 2005.

Oioicaptain · 13/01/2023 18:40

Yes, but where else would the art teacher do your coursework for you to secure you a B! That's what they paid for. His education has served him well. He's still paying other to write for him.

ItWasDobbinAtTheMareAndSpare · 13/01/2023 18:41

TizerorFizz · 13/01/2023 18:38

@ItWasDobbinAtTheMareAndSpare It wax reported at the time that his art teacher did do his work for him. She was sacked by Eton but she claimed unfair dismissal and won £45,000 in damages in 2005.

I hear you, but whether it’s true or not, he does dispute it in the book.

SweetSakura · 13/01/2023 18:45

Greatly · 13/01/2023 18:11

If parents of teens think that some schools are devoid of drug takers and party people they are naive.

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Agreed.

ReadtheReviews · 13/01/2023 18:47

The boarding school up the road from.me is full of teens hiding in the woods to shag and get high. So say staff I'm friends with.

TizerorFizz · 13/01/2023 18:49

She was dismissed because of what she did. She helped him with a project. He was found not to have cheated by the exam board. Surprise surprise. He needed the grade for Sandhurst. As she had brought the school into disrepute she was dismissed. Eton was described by the tribunal as high handed, unprofessional and prejudicial. She got £45,000.

DuchessOfDisco · 13/01/2023 18:49

Thisistyresome · 13/01/2023 10:47

The A Level matter because it shows that he was unsuited for the environment. A low IQ kid knowing everyone is significantly smarter than you is not going to be good for you. Had he been sent to somewhere like Millfield he may have been better off. Also some kids do better academically in an environment where they don;t feel so behind.

Eton was a bad choice for him, regardless of what he has turned in to the 13 year old Harry would have done better being pitched in a mar less academically competitive environment.

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LOL! I have an IQ of 148 but only got C,D,E in my A-levels. Same age as Harry. Academic results and IQ are not always interlinked

ItWasDobbinAtTheMareAndSpare · 13/01/2023 19:14

TizerorFizz · 13/01/2023 18:49

She was dismissed because of what she did. She helped him with a project. He was found not to have cheated by the exam board. Surprise surprise. He needed the grade for Sandhurst. As she had brought the school into disrepute she was dismissed. Eton was described by the tribunal as high handed, unprofessional and prejudicial. She got £45,000.

He doesn’t refer to any of that but it seems he was frustrated that he wasn’t allowed, by thr palace, to respond to the articles.

Fairislefandango · 13/01/2023 19:29

The A Level matter because it shows that he was unsuited for the environment. A low IQ kid knowing everyone is significantly smarter than you is not going to be good for you.

Hmm You've got a very funny idea of what constitutes low IQ. People with a low IQ don't get a B at A Level. Besides, even getting really low grades at A Level is not a reliable indicator of IQ. It's often a sign of having problems in your personal life or simply of doing no bloody work.

ItWasDobbinAtTheMareAndSpare · 13/01/2023 19:31

Fairislefandango · 13/01/2023 19:29

The A Level matter because it shows that he was unsuited for the environment. A low IQ kid knowing everyone is significantly smarter than you is not going to be good for you.

Hmm You've got a very funny idea of what constitutes low IQ. People with a low IQ don't get a B at A Level. Besides, even getting really low grades at A Level is not a reliable indicator of IQ. It's often a sign of having problems in your personal life or simply of doing no bloody work.

Or undiagnosed or unsupported special needs. Maybe he has dyslexia or ADHD for instance.

TizerorFizz · 13/01/2023 19:44

So now the RF cannot spot special needs! Harry simply didn’t put the effort in. He’s not got a low IQ! He got a D in Geography and a B in art. His iQ is fine. His ability to get on with school work wasn’t. I might argue he has a dodgy memory though!

Greatly · 13/01/2023 21:36

TizerorFizz · 13/01/2023 19:44

So now the RF cannot spot special needs! Harry simply didn’t put the effort in. He’s not got a low IQ! He got a D in Geography and a B in art. His iQ is fine. His ability to get on with school work wasn’t. I might argue he has a dodgy memory though!

I agree. I bet he did absolutely the best part of fuck all.

Aleaiactaest · 14/01/2023 12:04

Harry would have had a bodyguard and the constant smell of weed would have been obvious to the bodyguard. So I wonder why the bodyguard just overlooked it? They wouldn’t have overlooked that with the heir to the throne so I guess on that front Harry has a point.

Will Prince George go to Eton or Marlborough or a third place?

I assume Harry is confident he would never ever send Archie to Eton then? Or he is confident, that even if he changes his mind, Eton will still welcome his offspring there. Would they really?

Lampzade · 14/01/2023 12:08

Wrong forum Op
if you want to slag off Harry try the Royal Family thread.

ouch321 · 14/01/2023 12:27

Aleaiactaest · 14/01/2023 12:04

Harry would have had a bodyguard and the constant smell of weed would have been obvious to the bodyguard. So I wonder why the bodyguard just overlooked it? They wouldn’t have overlooked that with the heir to the throne so I guess on that front Harry has a point.

Will Prince George go to Eton or Marlborough or a third place?

I assume Harry is confident he would never ever send Archie to Eton then? Or he is confident, that even if he changes his mind, Eton will still welcome his offspring there. Would they really?

I get the impression William's kids will go to private day schools and not board.

Aleaiactaest · 14/01/2023 13:44

Who knows what their intentions are… they might not have decided yet, George is only in Year 5 I think.

If he went to boarding school though he would just become another pupil after a while amongst the rest of them so that might actually be better for him. As in, he could socialise more normally with peers, mostly away from the press. That is the whole point of boarding for the more rich and famous.

Greatly · 14/01/2023 13:45

Aleaiactaest · 14/01/2023 13:44

Who knows what their intentions are… they might not have decided yet, George is only in Year 5 I think.

If he went to boarding school though he would just become another pupil after a while amongst the rest of them so that might actually be better for him. As in, he could socialise more normally with peers, mostly away from the press. That is the whole point of boarding for the more rich and famous.

I'm sure they will have decided and I'd imagine it will be Marlborough boarding.

longwayoff · 14/01/2023 15:21

What do you want his bodyguards to do? Arrest him? Arrest his friends? Tell dad? Bodyguards know their remit.

Aleaiactaest · 14/01/2023 18:05

A bodyguard should have contacted his parent every time. A good adult in a child’s life puts the long term interests’ of the child first. That is if he very regularly smoked week as a 16/17year old. It can lead to long term mental health issues, depression, anxiety, paranoia etc.

Letting a child go off the rails and just looking on is not a good thing. He sounds like a vulnerable child at the time and it is possible that many adults in his life failed him at the time.

TizerorFizz · 14/01/2023 18:45

Would he have listened? He’s arrogant too. His position ensures that.

Aleaiactaest · 15/01/2023 17:34

All I know from having several teens and witnessing their behaviour and those of their friends (that have come and gone) is that usually those displaying attention seeking and outrageous behaviour and doing silly things have been in a bad place mentally due to parental divorce, poverty, abuse, grief etc, addiction, struggling with their sexuality etc.
It is always obvious to me who has had a hard time emotionally and I have had to email the schools’ pastoral teams several times over the years to point out vulnerable children so they are legally obliged to at least try and help those children. Often just one adult who really cares and becomes a mentor can make quite a big difference.