Welcome to the unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum - for discussing everything CH/Old Blue related. All pupils, parents, families, staff, Old Blues and anyone else related to CH are welcome to browse the boards, register and contribute.
englishangel wrote:She is 22 and in her 3rd year at Newcastle doing medicine. So she would have gone to Oakham in 1997 I suppose, though may have gone at 13 from her prep school.
Her surname is Ferraro but her first name escapes me.
OK, doesn't work Angela as I left in 1994. Anyway good to knowas you never know!
As it has been explained to me ,it seems that the exam will be slightly more advantageous to you if you have a presentation. There are no financial benefits to you though sometimes, I am told ,if there is a single donator they will take an interest in the child and may take them out for the day or something.The benefits are more to the school, in that the person presenting the child has to donate some money for their trouble! There are corportate presentations such as the RAF ones and various guilds have them but I don't imagine they are as personal as the donation govs. I think the Lord Mayor has one and the Duke of Gloucester has two...not that I am a presentation stalker or anything! I was just interested so I looked it up in a book.
What does 'slightly advantageous' mean? If they have a presentation do they pass at a lower score or something?
When I first heard about presentations it seemed that getting one was a dead cert to get a place, but, like Jade, I'm confuded by the system. How many presentations does anyone think have been made?
I was a presentee in 1978-1984. Basically I had to achieve the pass rate on the exams to get in and therefore I was not in competition for a place. I actually missed joining CH as a 2nd Former because the outgoing presentee sat Oxbridge (7th term in these days) and thus I had to miss an academic year.
I assume that there are a certain number of presentation places and then it's up to your kid to do the bit at the exams etc.
My mother still paid fees based on her income and the presenter must have made a donation to the school which allowed him to have one child in every educational cycle...6 or 7 years.
How do you mean that you were not in competition for a place? Do you mean you just had to scrape a pass whereas those without a presentation would be ranked in order of high scores?
Any idea how many other presentees there were in your intake?
YadaYada wrote:How do you mean that you were not in competition for a place? Do you mean you just had to scrape a pass whereas those without a presentation would be ranked in order of high scores?
Any idea how many other presentees there were in your intake?
All I had to do was to pass. Lucky me. Things may have changed as this was 30 years ago now!!!
Unfortunately I have no idea of how many other presentees were in my class. Maybe the examinations guy at CH can help you on that one or the Admissions people. Good luck.
I believe if you have a presentation you will still have to prove that you can do well enough academically to survive the school! It would be a foolish parent who thought that a place would be a dead cert due to a presentation. Presentees would maybe have to be average or above though could still score very highly even though they have a presentation. I do know from another prospective parent that a child who took the first set of tests didn't meet the required standard and so the presentation that they had would have to go to someone else. I am guessing that the more presentations there are, the more competative the purely academic places will be.
I was at CH 81-9 and helped as an exams nursemaid in 82-4, if i remember correctly the way it was explained then (when exams covered lunchtime Monday to lunchtime Wed and were 2 english, 2 maths, aptitude, interview with housemaster plus special exams for those talented in french or music) was that each exam had a part a & b, presentees only had to do part A while competitive pupils had the same time to do A&B. Presentees got in if they passed (equal roughly to common entrance) all places left after presentee places were allocated were taken up in order of combined scores of the other exams with other abilities taken into account as it got closer to getting in or not.
Hope that helps but it is all based on 25 year old memories of a then 14 year old
A presentation guarantees a place at the school if the following is met - the students passes the examinations to an agreed level (CH is an academic school,(far more so than when I arrived 10+ years ago) so it would do no child a favour to be put in a school where they are way below their peers academically). Moreover, they will need to satisfy us that they are socially robust enough to cope at a busy school - reports from past school, reports from interviews at the school and a general report on their 'behaviour' will also count. As reported earlier, it has no bearing on the fees charged at all.
What this means is that their 'ranking' on the academic list is not significant. Other NON presentees are ranked academically. That is not the only criteria when considering them, but it is a very significant one.
I just left CH and had a donation govenor. I remember my mum writing to loads of different people (she was given a list by the school office) she sent reports and stuff telling them about me. Three people wrote back interested but only one person wanted to present me regardless of meeting me first. We met him before I took the exam and he was really nice. It was made pretty obvious to my mum I would be given a place, my govenor chose me because of my academic ability. This would seem unfair but when I was offered my place the headmaster wrote a private note saying i was 'very rounded in all areas'. my mum still has the letter.
Anyway it is nice to have a govenor. I still keep in contact with mine because he has done so much for me. He sends me birthday and christmas presents and when I had trouble at school with teachers or pupils he always got involved and stood up for me and got it sorted out. And because he was an almoner I got to meet lots of very important people. He is one of the nicest people I have ever met and will keep in contact with him always as he has been such a role model for me.
However I know one girl who had a govenor at school who got to take the entrance exam twice because she had a govenor. We always thought that was unfair because shewasnt evry bright and the school didnt seem to benefit her because she didn't try at anything and got poor GCSE and ALevel grades. i dont know if that is the same today but sadly it is unfair but a tradition of the school.
hunta42 wrote:but when I was offered my place the headmaster wrote a private note saying i was 'very rounded in all areas'. my mum still has the letter.
My son and daughter who are current pupils at CH both did the entrance exam and got in without a governor (despite many letters)! I would hate to disillusion anyone but I also got private letters commending my children on their all round ability! I think Dr S was just a very nice man indeed
Happy New Year to everyone. I was wondering if anybody had some good advice for my son, who will be going to the January assessment next Thurday. He is really excited and really wants to attend Christ's Hospital. Luckily he has been given a presentation. Thanks in advance.
The one thing I remember is that when my son went for his overnight assessment he was put in the same house as another boy we knew - much "louder" personality than my son and someone who really pushed himself forward during the in house time. I was convinced that my son wouldn't stand a chance with this other child around but in the end my son was offered a place and the other boy wasn't!
Just tell him to be his natural self; don't be loud and pushy - I think they're watched pretty much all the time they're in house to give an idea of what sort of boarder they would make. Good to stand out and be remembered but much better that it is for reasons that he is kind & helpful and not because he is loud! He needs to be confident in his interviews but how would you teach someone that?
Good luck to your son. I hope it all goes well for him. Thinking of you too - I have 2 children at CH and still remember how stressful this admission process was.
