What Made the Willats Family Choose Boarding School?

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Live, study and play, all in the same place, while asserting your own independence and being 100% responsible for your choices – does this sound appealing to your child? Then perhaps boarding school is the path to consider for their education.

Boarding schools have existed for centuries, with the earliest form of such schooling existing for boys who were sent away to train as literate clergymen. While boarding schools have evolved with the times, across the globe today boys still outnumber girls in co-ed boarding schools, and boys-only boarding schools are more common than the all-girl equivalent. That said, plenty about boarding schools has changed, so you can forget that archaic image of an intimidating, ivy-covered stone building with a stern headmaster waiting to dole out discipline like hot cross buns at Easter.

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After researching and interviewing local boarding school staff, a UK boarding school alum, and a prospective student, I feel safe now in saying that boarding school can be likened to a more controlled college experience that also caters to a younger crowd. In the US, the most popular age to send kids off to boarding school is between 14 and 16, or grades 9 and 10, though it is not unheard of to send kids as young as 7. A local-born acquaintance even bragged that he was sent to boarding school in the UK when he was just 5 years old! Now that he is a parent to two young boys, he has made it clear that boarding schools loom very possibly in their near future as well.

By summer’s end this year, when 15-year-old Thomas Willats steps onto the Holyport College campus in his home country of the UK, the Willats family will join the proud ranks of families who pass on the boarding school legacy from father to son. The funny thing is that Dulwich College (London) alum and father Alex Willats had neither planned nor initiated this move.

“It was Thomas who came to us and told us he wanted to go to boarding school,” reveals Thomas’ mother, Claire Willats. After being educated at seven different schools in six countries over the last decade, Thomas is looking for a calmer, more stable environment where he can forge long-lasting friendships in the tight-knit community of a boarding school. “I see my father staying in touch on a daily basis with friends he made back in school even now, and I really want that,” yearns Thomas.

While it was the stability and promise of kinship that lured Thomas, it was the local COVID situation, particularly the restrictions on after-school activities, that catalyzed his decision at this time. With the start-stop nature of school and extracurricular activities in Beijing, Thomas hasn’t been able to fully develop his potential in his passions, such as rowing. This is why he’s rather excited about the top-notch sporting facilities at Holyport College and having access to the amazing facilities at Eton College, their neighbor.

Are his parents worried at all about Thomas going off on his own at such a tender age? Considering that dad Alex entered boarding school himself when he was just 11, you might think not, but mom Claire says, “He’s used to being the ‘new kid’ all the time, so I’m not worried about him making friends, but I am worried that he won’t remember to call his mom.”

As for the challenges ahead, Thomas himself is concerned about “keeping his room clean,” even though Claire shares that “I’ve always made sure they are quite self-sufficient by teaching them how to cook and clean for themselves.” She ensures both her kids clean their own bathrooms on the weekends and cook family dinners once or twice a week. Not out of necessity, mind you, but because she abhors “lazy kids.”

“We’ve been privileged in our lives, but we have always gone out of the way to make sure the kids understand there are others living in very different worlds out there.” From bringing their kids along to impoverished villages in needy countries where Claire herself helped initiate vaccination programs for the underprivileged to volunteering Thomas as a pretend attacker in her community self-defense classes, it seems that the Willats parents have exposed their children to people and situations from all walks of life, in order to build up their tolerance physically, mentally and emotionally.

At the end of the day, that’s really all that we as parents can do for our children – to prepare them to go off into the world on their own, even if that moment comes earlier than we had anticipated, as it did in Claire and Alex’s case.

“When Thomas told us that he wanted to go to boarding school, I didn’t want him to go. But at the same time, I know that if he goes he’ll have a wonderful experience,” relents dad Alex. Claire followed up by saying, “I think there’s much more chance for him to thrive in an environment he’s chosen. We’re giving him the latitude to follow his own destiny.”

And if it means anything, by the end of our lovely chat over afternoon tea, the Willatses’ younger son, 9-year-old Henry, said, while hugging his big brother, “I want to join Thomas in boarding school when I’m 11.”

Images: Uni You

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