That is the question. For many families the idea of sending their child away to school is not something they could ever consider, for others it is a necessity, especially for those whose jobs mean that they spend a lot of time away from home themselves. However, for many boarding is part and parcel of the whole school experience, especially given the length of the school day in Independent schools and all the opportunities to get involved in after school activities; sports matches, practices, rehearsals for drama and music not to mention the option of having supervised study sessions and wall to wall friends.
There is much greater flexibility for families with boarding today, with many schools offering a range of options from full boarding, where the students stay in school for most of the term but go home for holidays. The school ensures that there are plenty of activities laid on for full boarders and work hard to differentiate as much as they can, life at the weekend from life during the school week.
Weekly boarding is a popular choice, in many ways the best of both worlds, students are in school either from Sunday evening or Monday morning to Friday afternoon and home at the weekends – a great choice if you live close enough.
Flexi-boarding has evolved out of a demand from families who would like their child to have the option of boarding once or twice a week, either on a regular or ad hoc basis (as the school allows), and is ideal for families who may travel regularly or, if the student is involved in activities at school that mean they frequently have to stay late in school. Some prep school encourage student in the last couple of years to board so that they are better prepared to make that jump when they move on to Secondary school.
Living in a much more joined up, technologically connected world means that children are able to contact their parents regularly and gone are the days of eagerly awaited letters and food parcels…although there was something rather lovely about that too!
For many families it is not necessarily something they thought about until their child started at the school and then wanted to board and of course as with any type of school, ultimately it will all depend on your child and whether or not they and you, think it is for them. For some more introverted children it can build confidence and independence whilst even the most robust and independent child can be homesick and simply just want to be at home in their own bed.