I would suggest that, like so many of their media brethren (and sisteren) the reporters in this case took a fact and didn't bother to think "now I wonder why that is...?" and leapt straight to a sensational headline.

My kids attended a number of schools, and in most cases they were accepted in because the majority of the kids also had parents in the mob. It was understood that this "transient" population moved around, in fact I think when I went to enrol my kids at a new school the first question was "What was your previous posting".

The only problem they had was when I got out of the mob and moved to a small town. In this case the class of kids had been born at the same time, grew up together, been in the same class as each other every year and didn't like the concept of newcomers, especially newcomers who originally came from outside their county.

Not just we grumpy oldies.
I happened to ask S2 why so many young people had such stupid ****(*) Wing opinions and he said "Oh it's because they only read stuff which supports their existing views."

My son had 5 schools in 4 years! Clearly the "journalists" have not thought this through or made suitable enquiries. I can't access the full article at the moment but did they also pick on the FCO, which employs a similar (I am told more attractive) scheme, or has Defence-bashing becoming a prime-time sport?

Ogre. My daughters had the same problem when I left and moved to Herts. They weren’t local and didn’t speak with any accent. The local kids also thought it amazing that two of them had been born in foreign countries!

D2, although born in Scotland, moved, in the year of her birth, with us, to the SE.
A few years later, on visits to relatives, cousins and their friends stood around the wee lass, asking her to demonstrate this RP thing which, I may say, she had not received from her parents. ;)

D1, who was about 8yo when moved, took about a week to transition from Ayrshire to Bucks speak.

Flexible little monkeys.

I always say that I had a good education. It should have been, I went to eight different schools in three different countries!

Most of my schooling was in Australia, where I was bullied for being a "pom". After the family came back to UK, my two younger siblings (Australian born) were bullied for being "Oz". You can't win. (Seven schools for me,I think.)

7 schools for me in 3 countries - until finally put in the boarding house of King's School in Grantham to do my O and A levels as the family went out to get shot at in Aden. Over half the boarding house were in the same boat - travelling overseas for the summer holidays..

Yes! 6 moves in 8.5 yrs for me....

Interesting, that most of the comments about how many schools they went to are from the older generation! The RAF offered a greater choice of postings both at home and overseas in the fifties and sixties and a settled education for children was difficult. Most spouses now have settled careers and no longer want to move, and where are the places to be posted to? I remember a pilot with four children in boarding school who was not posted during their education!
So is BSA now relevant?

8 schools for me in ten years. Got fed up with it all and signed on the dotted line for an apprenticeship at Halton.

Fair dos, HG. Your moniker suggests rotary, and to be honest, I was thinking about FJ. And there are the moves between training bases to consider too, I guess.

CG

Whether BSA is ‘relevant’ depends on your career situation. If you’re going places then moving every couple of years can still be the norm unless you’re prepared to leave the family & commute. More stable careers are possible but you can’t guarantee that You won’t get posted ‘for service need’ if required.
I’d moved every couple of years and with the expectation of continuing to do so put my kids into boarding schools. As it turned out I remained stable for the remainder of their educations so with hindsight did I actually need it? No, but going back to the start had I asked the poster for a guarantee of stability would he have given me one? No again.

It’s an easy allowance to paint as ‘allowing nobby officers to send their kids to posh schools’ but it’s equally used by NCOs and the cost in lost retention would likely exceed the cost to the taxpayer. I have a friend in the army who has moved every posting of his career, including overseas multiple times. His kids would be massively affected by this but for BSA.

It seems to me that it’s a small price to pay to retain experienced people who would be lost otherwise. I don’t expect this kind of article from the DT, it’s more typical of the Sun/ Daily Mail.

This tripe sums up why I abandoned the DT for The Times some years ago.

Kudos to those who are trying to give their children the best possible (and stable) education. My civvy son is bleeding money to put my 2 grandchildren through (boarding) Public School.

I have long ago stopped buying or reading any newspaper. They have become propaganda media who's owners seek to persuade the brainless reader to believe whatever rubbish, now called 'fake news' they choose to print. They are also extremely expensive. As a result I am much better off both financially and morally.

The DT’s Cryptic Crossword is still good - alone worth the £100 pa I pay for th e on-line version of the newspaper.

Yes, the Cryptic Crossword is by far the best of the broadsheets :) However, their pro-Brexit Editorial stance that forced me to cancel my subscription of many years.

If it's pro-Brexit you're after there are a number of options -Independent, Grauniad - as rabidly anti-Brexit as the DT is pro, so you can choose a Daily to satisfy your own prejudices!

Sadly though, The Telegraph was always a balanced newspaper for an intelligent readership.

"Was" being the key word ;)

I did like the DT Crossword, though. The OH and I used to do it together on the Underground on our way to our respective MoD offices ... and I mean the crossword, before someone chips in with a smutty comment! :cool: