Britain's Youngest Boarder

[littledawley]

Anyone watching?

Yep - these boys will succeed in the business world and be running the country in 30 years.

And they will see love, warmth, physical contact with children as less important that independance. One of the best things about having securely attached children is that they grow to independance over their teenage years.

There is an emotional cost to forcing independance on a child this young.

the making of them seems interesting.

I do not think I could get over the feeling of rejection if I was sent to boarding school at a young age.

The Chinese boy was 11 and more than ready from boarding as far as I could see. The home sick one was 10 and a weekly boarder.

I would imagine it is pretty selective to get a place at Sunningdale so all the boys will end up at good public schools even if not top drawer like Eton and Harrow.

Fwiw I looked at a top boarding prep with ds when he was 4 (with a view to him going as a day boy at 7). He was very keen on the idea! Still is at 6. Having said that I would only consider a weekly boarding prep rather than full-time. I think 13 is a more reasonable age for that.

I also think it depends on your homelife. I would happily send ds to weekly boarding at 8 as we don't see much of each other during the week anyway (probably 1.5 hrs a day).

for boarding..

I have worked as a housemistress and the youngest boarder I had was four and a half. And Russian. And spoke no English.

Most others were 5 years old. Most were forces kids, some diplomats kids and other just not wanted by their parents.

Oh and I went at age 12 and LOVED it.

Serenity -- are there really schools that take boarders that young? I thought 7 was the very minimum.

Can't be common, though, surely?

There were quite a few Russian names at Sunningdale. There were lots of Chinese/Malaysian boys at the prep we looked at.

Frogs - they will take them from year one. Age 6 but this was a special case. He was Russian and the parents had money. The school was shite. Cared more for the money (Do not sent your children to a school in North Yorks with the initials QE)

These parents have been presented with the choice of having boys who literally be running the country or having boys who will be more emotionally literate etc and have chosen the latter.
When put in stark terms like that it becomes much more of a difficult choice its much easier to say we would all choose the relatuionships when we don't have that choice I think.

My dad was sent to board at the age of 5; his mum and her new husband went to live in Mexico. Dad never went home again, but occasionally his aunt would have him in the summer hols for a few weeks, but not often as his cousin really resented him being there.

His mum was a very odd woman. I don't think I've ever met his cousin.

Omni -

Why is the choice between privilege and love a difficult one? These kids were being separated from their families in order to be drilled in the habits and attitudes of the ruling class. The parents of these kids had clearly decided that privilege is far more important than love and were prepared (and of course able) to cough up the big wedge to purchase it. That's why the case of the Chinese mum who was struggling with letting go of her son was so interesting. She could see but not quite articulate that she had her priorities 'wrong': she felt that love for and closeness to her son were vital; but her husband (himself a public-school automaton) was clearly overruling her on this. The lesson that power and privilege are far more important than love and affection wasn't being taught just to the boy but to his mother as well.

And on that note, what the show also revealed clearly was how sexist this upper-class world of assumed, inherited and purchased privilege is. The boys were being 'broken in' by being separated from their mothers and sisters; the mothers (such as the Chinese woman) were having to bow to the will of their husbands. And the pretty-sexy little sloaney matrons were on hand to flutter around the boys and 'cheer them up' with their perky availability.

Ah yes, that's the only school I've heard of taking them so young.

Though I know someone who started preoper termly boarding (with parents abroad) at a much more establishment prep school aged 4.5, but that was in the 1970s.

i found the chinese boy interesting too, as he said standards were much higher at his shanghai school. i would have kept him there.

Midfieldgeneral, excellent posts.

Midfieldgeneral, your rigth about the bbc only showing the good side.

it was a bit like an advert.

they didn't show the children that didn't get in to harrow etc, and the ones that are t the bottom of the list.

in fact it was quite one sided.

Sunningdale and its like are just part of a racket designed to get boys into Eton or Harrow. Louis had quite clearly gone there in order to fast track him into such a place from the state sector

E&H demand certain standards from their pupils which only certain schools will instill in them. So parents who want that for their children feel obliged to cough up for these feeders and send their sons away to give them a decent chance of a place. It's just an extension of the rip off tutoring industry that goes on to get children into top day schools

Having said that, Eton is a school well worth attending imo. I've never met a less than delightful OE, it's not just about good A levels, it's about charm and manners that were already being instilled in those Sunningdale boys.

nikkershaw -

Yes, but you're forgetting that the point of schools like Sunningdale isn't academic 'excellence' (whatever that is) but training in the habits, attitudes and expectations that mark you out as a member of the ruling elite. That, and the access they give to the 'right' schools, universities, clubs, friends, etc. that are necessary to take the next step on the ladder to consolidating power and privilege.

It says it all that that the keys to getting accepted into Eton, Harrow, Hogwarts, etc. were the handshake, the confident gaze, and the ability to talk about great 'chaps' who'd been to the school before you. The academic programme is meaningless compared to all this class-power and class-culture flummery. And remember, the headmaster almost let it slip himself when he remarked that Churchill might have been an illustious old Harrovian, but he was rather thick academically.

i wonder if there was any link between churchill's black dog, and the fact he was a boarder?

Howstheserenity - there was another thread on here about that school. A member of their staff came on to say how wonderful it was !

Five is just so young

I thought it was quite sad when the mum said to her 8 year old son that he had to learn how to tie a tie as he will be wearing one for the rest of his life. That is proably true as he is being groomed for a life in the City or in politics, but it must feel quite powerless for him to know that he has no say over his future. One of the joys of childhood as that aspriation to be an inventor, explorer,etc etc.