Let me say at the start, I was brought around to the idea of boarding school by my child. Yes, you did read that properly, by my child.
For her, the journey to boarding began when she watched one of her school leaders go to a high school located over 30 kilometres from our home. In her mind - she was seven at the time- that's where you went when you were a big girl and went off to high school at 13. That's where she was going too.
I didn't know that then.
And had I known, I would probably have jumped all over that dream with sensible adult talk of it's too far, too popular, we don't stand a chance in the ballot, and a million and one other excuses about why it would be impossible.
To be honest, I forgot about the 'dream school' for a number of years until it was our turn to choose a high school. Like many parents, I began the process of looking around at our local offering and, like many parents before me, came to the conclusion that the school we zoned for was unlikely to be able to meet the needs of a reasonably bright child with aspirations of attending university. I'm not a school snob, and I would so have appreciated being able to send my child to our local high school for a whole host of reasons. That I can't makes my blood boil, but I will save that for another blog. Suffice it to say, results from our zoned school, together with its poor reputation for success, put us all in the ballot bucket.
The ballot bucket is difficult territory. You are in control of nothing. It's luck of the draw. If your name comes out of the ballot, you get the school of your choice. You need to know when school open days are, the cut off dates for enrolment, and the requirements for each school in terms of paperwork can be quite different, even though you are trying to get your child admitted to the same state education system. But that was us. Diaries, CVs and verified copies of birth certificates at the ready.
Waiting.
Impatiently.
Then, a question from little miss. One of those out of the blue, root you to the spot, where did that come from type questions. One you just absolutely didn't have the answer to; stuck for words unexpected. 'Mum, would you and dad consider letting me board at school?'
And my inside voice, is answering her. Boarding? You're kidding right?
