Warren, New South Wales

Back to Boarding School

For Edith O’Brien, heading off to boarding school means leaving life on the farm near Warren for the bright lights of Sydney. For her parents, it means learning how to let her go.

By mid-afternoon, the wind has picked up at ‘Hatton’, a mixed cropping farm near Warren in central western New South Wales.

A summer storm is brewing and Angus O’Brien is checking cattle with his daughter Edith. “She’s my little farm girl,” he says, “by far the most enthusiastic about coming out with me.”

They stop at a trough and Angus loosens the plug letting water gush into the dirt. Edith grabs a broom as the sky darkens overhead. “I like growing up here,” she says. “It’s out in the open and you can do whatever you want.”

By late afternoon, visibility drops and the air thickens. Edith and her three siblings ride their bikes through an orange wall of dust, disappearing and reappearing through the haze.

“Growing up on a farm really gives them a grounding that they can't get in town or in the city,” Angus says.

“They learn a lot about life and death and everything in between.”

Soon, Edith will leave it behind as she heads to boarding school in Sydney, swapping wide paddocks for city streets and school bells. She’ll miss her animals and her own bed, but the thought of boarding excites her. “It’s like another home you have to share with other girls,” she says. “It’ll be fun.”

Warren has a population roughly the size of Edith’s new school school so local kids grow up in the care of an entire community. Cafe owner Bonnie (who’s also a swim coach) greets Edith and her mum Sophie like old friends. “Have the best time,” she says, giving Edith a goodbye hug with her croissant.

Back at the farm, the reality of leaving becomes clearer as Edith packs a suitcase and tries on her school uniform with Sophie watching on.

“It’s not until you start buying the clothes and the uniform that you realise they’re about to go,” she says. “You do lose part of your family and it's really hard, but at the same time you’re watching them grow.”

The storm moves on and the air cools at ‘Hatton’. The tension of the day lifts and the O’Brien family gathers in the back of a ute, catching up as a glow bathes the paddocks around them.

“I’m sure farm life gives them the resilience they need when they go away,”
Angus says. “The best part of boarding school is having them come home.”

Edith looks ahead. “I feel ready,” she says.
“And I can’t wait for it to be me.”