MANY parents send their children to boarding schools even when they live less than half an hour’s drive away, a survey found this week. Almost half of those questioned by the Boarding Schools’ Association lived within 30 minutes’ drive and more than four out of 10 did not see their children every week. Attendance at boarding schools rose this year, a figure some observers attribute to the Harry Potter phenomenon. Children are thought to have been encouraged to go to boarding school by reading about their hero who boards at Hogwarts Academy.