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Hilary Moriarty welcomes changes to boarding school culture which mean that parent/ child separation is no longer as definitive as it once was


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hildren are walking away from us from the moment they are born. Well, maybe not that moment –


there’s lots of swaddling and peeking at the world over their mother's breast, and much sleeping, to be done first. But the saying goes, “A year to walk and


a second to talk” – which rather suggests that, in evolutionary terms, walking is more important than talking. Your life can depend on your mobility. But communication? Maybe not so vital. Look at the recent picture of Prince George reaching his first birthday - what is he doing? Walking away. Not even Mum is visible in the photo. “Excuse me, I'm off!” says the picture. Heading for the cameras, as it happens, but then that's a prince's life. Apart from the simple mater of


needing to run from predators, children's capacity to walk away must be deep within us, right from our cave days. Otherwise, we would surely still be living in them, with mum and dad peering out across the plains, murmuring, “Ooh, I don't know, it looks quite scary out there, do you think you should?” If the strapping son hadn’t swung


his club on his shoulder, picked up a meaty bone and strode past them in search of pastures new – “Mu-um, I'll be fine, honest, I'll send smoke signals! Keep watching the horizon, ok?” – we would all, by now, be huddled in a very overcrowded cave. For most mums and dads, the first big


step out for their children is their first day in school. The baby you cradled is now out of the door, gone into the care of strangers for a whole day at a time. How will he cope? Who will look after him? Who will notice if he falls over, hates his dinner, or has no friends? “Help!” we want to cry. And you look at his teacher and you think, “I'll bet you're more interested in your social life than you are in my precious child,


Hilary Moriarty is national director of the Boarding Schools’ Association W: www.boarding. org.uk


Main image: © Sebastian Czapnik | Dreamstime.com


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