Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Vonny wrote:

stoice wrote:and now recently just having had a son, the thought keeps returning.

Did you have your son in St Mary's in Pompey?

Yes I did Vonny

Well if I even (or ever) have kids, I'd probably send him/her there. I had fun in my time there, short as it was, but I think (or tell myself) that I came out the better. That and I know my kids going to be a hellion at ten, so why not, maybe he'll come out decently and come back to America with a functional accent and pick up ladies easier.

stoice wrote:

Vonny wrote:

stoice wrote:and now recently just having had a son, the thought keeps returning.

Did you have your son in St Mary's in Pompey?

Yes I did Vonny

Me too - heard some horror stories about St Mary's but both times I was in it was fine!

Vonny have pm'd you

stoice wrote:Vonny have pm'd you

Have replied

oh good

like stan the man was saying, value added. v important.
of the three schools i got scholarships for, CH was not the highest academically. by a mile. but it still seemed the best overall (to me anyways, my mum wanted me to go to bedford school )
music, arts, social, sport, yadiyadiya. all important factors.

and how many ppl can say that they wore a uniform dating back to 1553?

I do ^^

I am so proud of CH, the oppertunities and the life it gave me I yarp on about it to anyonw who will listen... admittedly they all think I am nuts and that I am probably a lesbian but eh, who cares.

As for sending my kids to CH, I couldnt say, only if they wanted it, and if it suited them, boarding isnt for everyone. Aso if i end up being one of those mothers who trains her children to be doctor/stock broker/general genius from birth then I think I will go down the normal school route, but add in some private tutition, as much as I loved CH I dont think I came out of it very world wise, if you understand my meaning.

Jenny L-C wrote:I wish the boys still wore the dresses...oh sorry, tunics...

mean! my big bruv used to take the piss out of the housey coat enough as it was......"so why d'ya wear a dress to school then?"

tunics??!? when ? where? how?

As an OB ( Hertford generation) , I planned practically from birth to send my son to Horsham. He got in , but was desperately unhappy ( mainly from incredible and indefensible bullying - to physical agression level). I finally had to move him to KES, where he was blissfully happy - as was his sister. So, although the academic level of CH cannot be faulted, and although it is certainly character-building ( I fully acknowledge that I owe a great deal to CH) , there is to my mind definitely a social problem in the school ( unles this has been resolved in the past 10 years - one would certainly hope so ...)

Any thoughts from recent leavers on the subject ?

I'm not sure that I would send my children to CH as I found it very demanding. I suppose that that is the way that you benefit from a place like CH but still, I felt that I was always being asked to contribute/ participate etc. Perhaps because CH constantly on the scrounge for money this attitude spread to other things as well. I can't say that I didn't benefit greatly from the school, and it was a great deal better than the other options available to me but still ... What amuses me is that my father has made himself something of on ambassador for the school, telling anyone who will stop to listen about it, but as he never attended it himself he doesn't really understand the issues that my sister and I have with the place and can't understand our reluctance to send future children there etc.

Euterpe13 wrote:there is to my mind definitely a social problem in the school ( unles this has been resolved in the past 10 years - one would certainly hope so ...)

Any thoughts from recent leavers on the subject ?

well, yeah, there is. it's a public school.
it's changing (towards the 'less bullying' end of things, hopefully) but there will always be kids who get picked on by other kids (who shouldn't be allowed to breed, yet alone get the priveledge that so many children would really appreciate). so i feel for your son, and acknowledge that it does happen, but it's happening less and less often. i hope.

parental ambassadors. yeah, my mums full of it. they're just proud that their kids got into CH. they mean well, but it is annoying when they know f*ck-all about what really goes on there.

I guess another perspective on the parental-ambassadors is that they're proud of their kids, and how they turned out. Given the ratio of growing-up-time spent at CH, this must be in part due to the influence and opportunities of the school?

I felt CH set me up exceptionally well for life, even though I had some extremely rough times there at certain points.

J

I have to agree with you. Re-reading my post it sounds rather bitter and that's not really how I feel, and definitely not how I left CH. I can't help but add though that the massive influence CH has on its pupils and everyone connected with it stems from the incredible people rather than the instsitution, some of whom are impressive in spite of rather than because of the school.

Agreed- but how would you draw the distinction between the abstract "institution" and the people?

I know what you're saying, but it's an interesting one to explore. There is definitely a feeling of the institution and it's ethos, in contrast to the people and their ethos??

With the formation of the CH Association, I'm absolutely committed to us ensuring that the ethos and feel of the instituiton (or association) becomes the same as the ethos of the people (rather than vice-versa, unless we feel the ethos of the people needs modifyin?)

Have I lost anyone yet?!?

J