Boarding

BitterAndTwisted

elliebobs wrote: »

Bitter and twisted; no it was in deepest darkest Devon! Sorry you had such a rubbish time

Your father probably had a commission, in that case. Very different for us progeny of the lower ranks. I expect they thought we were getting no better than we deserved. It certainly couldn't have been worse My sister and I have often talked about writing a book about it.

DVardysShadow

straight wrote: »

I know this is a chance of a lifetime for him, and that I should not stand in his way, but I am feeling sick just thinking about not seeing him on an evening. His younger brothers would miss him aswell. What should I do, please help!

Grit your teeth and let him do it, particularly if it is weekly boarding. i don't know what relevance it is that you are disabled, but in taking this decision you are on a level playing field with everyone else.

elliebobs

Hi bitter and twisted; no, he didn't have a commission til much much later. His regiment (3RTR) was however based in the South West so perhaps this had a bearing on it???
Go for the book though....

P.S sorry to OP for kind of hijacking thread! not intentional and I still believe she should seriously consider sending her son.

straight

Many,many thanks for all your replies. They are mostly very positive experiences of boarding.

The school in question, is the school that Tony Blair went to, and apparently James Bond went there too. I agree it is an amaing opportunity so yes , I think will let him have a trial run and see how it goes.

DVardyShadow, I mentioned the disability, because it does restrict me, in that I am not able to give him the opportunities that are available there, for example the weekend social activities etc

Regards Straight

straight

One thing that has been worrying me a little is, we are muslim and he is used to eating Asian food, and will he lose his culture etc, Im not so concerned about language because our 1st language is English.

msb5262

I'm sure he won't lose his culture - you sound to have been a very strong and caring parent. Your son will go out into the world, to gain enormously from all the opportunities he gets, with his cultural background as his backbone. I think often going out into a different environment helps ideas and beliefs to gel; certainly my belief in the politics and philosophy I was brought up with became stronger, not weaker, when I was in an educational environment which wasn't entirely in tune with them.

Spirit_2

The school will be respectful and recognise cutural and religeous sensitivities ask them about how they respond to the areas you are concerned about.

Surely if he is already there as a day boy you will know already how he is catered for at meal times.

BitterAndTwisted

I think the cultural and religious background you have afforded him goes an awful lot deeper than you imagine. To mix with people from many different backgrounds is a very healthy thing and don't believe it necessarily has to dilute or alter one's own beliefs

If your son is taking lunch at school I'm assuming they already cater for for those who cannot eat pork. I'm not aware of any other dietary restrictions and I'm certain they will probably discourage cola drinks rather than encourage them, like most of us do. And alcohol? Certainly not! Maybe once he's in the 6th form the temptations might be greater but then they will always be there if people want it, once adults

caevans

I know the school and I would so love to have gone there! Even now I look on enviously. I would love to have a wander round the buildings. Anyway, that aside, it sounds like a great opportunity and he will probably love it if he is already making friends as a day boy there. I know as a teenager I would love to spend more time with friends. It has such a good reputation, I say let him go for it (if he wants to). I am sure it will be a great advantage when he grows into an adult and looking for work etc. Good luck with the decision

elliebobs

All the very best to the OP; your son sounds like a very lucky boy and I'm sure you are very pround of him and quite rightly so.

I would sincerely hope that schools today are, quite rightly, respectful of other faiths/religions/culture etc and like others have said, if you are happy with him there as a day pupil then I can't see that there is going to be any problems.

It would be interesting if you were able to report back say in a couple of months or so; that's me just being nosey though as I do have a personal interest in others' experience's with boarding schools.