Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

One group which is definitely aware of the CH abuse cases over the years is Boarding School Action which is keeping in close touch with the current Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) and making sure that said inquiry is kept briefed about CH among others. It is fronted by a lady called...

On the subject of "one size fits all" comprehensives in the UK, this is simply not the case these days. My daughters went to a local compre (one ending up at Uni with a degree, another training to be a teacher via Open University) and they were setted by subject. In other words, if you wer...

On the subject of the wealth divide Phil, in his book "The Great Crash 1929" the American Keynesian economist JK Galbraith (Roosevelt's lieutenant in the New Deal and economic advisor to several US presidents) after having researched booms and busts through history, discerned that a huge w...

I'm not just talking about income tax although even there the top band of income tax in Sweden and Denmark is about 55% as opposed to 45% here. Interestingly, the top rate here was 60% for the first nine years of Mrs Thatcher's time in office. It's really to do with tax on unearned assets, particula...

Eton is part of the establishment and many of today's well-off and well-connected send their children there. As do some of those who work in the top echelons of the media and send their kids to these places. They have a vested interest in bigging up the top fee-paying, boarding schools.

It's interesting as to which of the national papers publish these court cases. The "Torygraph" (as it's always been known among its own journalists) often runs these court reports whereas the more leftist Grauniad doesn't. And neither do the national TV news channels. I would have thought ...

In reply to John Hopgood's references to Warwick University, I'd be interested to know whether Warwick has a tradition of radicalism. In 1972 I was working for a music magazine publisher who produced a new monthly called "Let It Rock". Editorial meetings usually featured the presence of on...

What the hell are cycling shorts parties? We didn't have 'em in the 50s! School's going to the dogs!

Well-liked teachers and sex abuse can often go together. In my era Gordon Pink in Prep B was a much liked and academically respected teacher. He could have his English class in fits of laughter. At the end of my last term in the Prep, Summer 1955, we had a whip round and bought him an inscribed pewt...

CH medical officer Trevor Hoskins appears to have missed the 1978 zeitgeist somewhat. Hippies may have gone quiet but Punk was breaking out all over the place. "White riot! I wanna riot!" Wake up Trev.

Firstly, I doubt that any Labour politicians live in £10 million town houses. Corbyn's seems to be the terraced house in Islington that he's probably lived in for years. I Iived on the borders of Camden and Islington many moons ago and Corbyn was always a well-respected constituency MP. I've never b...

In reply to JR's post about grammars and academic attainment, it seems to me that Germany does it rather better. My information on this is based on a friend in Germany, some exchanges with Michael Scuffil and what I've been able to discern in research. Any one else with other info is welcome to put ...

I'm not sure what Wilson meant by "a grammar school education for all". They were called Grammar precisely because they historically tended to cater for scholars in classics, languages and some humanities. Apeing what the posh boarding schools traditionally did. Interestingly, Mrs Thatcher...

All this anguished stuff about who might have been a paedo and who not makes me laugh. No children (or ex-children) should be having this conversation. My three daughters went to state secondary school over about a 12 year period and there was no whiff of scandal then or since. Except in very except...

Loringa says that for now private education may be the only suitable option. Since it can only be accessed by seven percent of the population that doesn't seem to me much of an option. Maybe we should stop living in the past and think up new options.