Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

In a recent online forum the current head informed parents that, from Sept 2021, the School is going to stop the Marching-In to Lunch on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This appears to be something driven by the current Leadership Team only and has not been put to either parents, Old Blues, some of the governors and most importantly the students themselves - This is not a CoVid reaction, this is a permanent change to "improve the school day". I am very worried that this is 'The thin end of the wedge" and beleive that the current head has an agenda to rid the school of much of its tradition. Are people connected to CH aware of this change and happy that this is going ahead?

That’s very sad if that’s the case.

Marching into lunch every day except Sunday is a very important tradition, part of the identity of the school and must be preserved.

Tuesdays is Bugle Band and Wednesdays is when there are visiting sports teams and Verrio Guides.

An ill judged and pointless initiative from a fairly new Headmaster and SMT.

Tradition is what makes the school special.

Might as well get rid of the uniform at the same time. They could turn big school into a JD sports so that pupils can get easy access to the right tracksuits for the conditions.

Thinking it through a bit further, is there any need to actually go to the dining hall? an Uber Eats style arrangement could see food packages dropped directly to the boarding houses. This would in turn negate the need for the band altogether, saving yet more precious time.

A move to E-Sports would also make good reductions in injuries and laundry, and in doing so it will assist in the preparations for the future transition to a 100% online learning from home model.

That'll do for now.

Without commenting further on the proposed change, would not an appropriate reaction be for some respectable body of Old Blues, or others, to approach the “Current Leadership Team” politely and respectfully and to enquire how the proposed change will “Improve the School Day”?

When a response has been received and evaluated, a further possible question could be, “Why do Tuesday and Wednesday require improvement in this way?”

Phil wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 5:18 am Without commenting further on the proposed change, would not an appropriate reaction be for some respectable body of Old Blues, or others, to approach the “Current Leadership Team” politely and respectfully and to enquire how the proposed change will “Improve the School Day”?

When a response has been received and evaluated, a further possible question could be, “Why do Tuesday and Wednesday require improvement in this way?”

Simple answer I(if they give one); M.Y.O.B.

From a purely practical point of view hw else do you get close on 900 young people through two doors on time, every time without chaos? Even if you get them walking in they will be tripping over each others' heels and the school claims to be safety conscious

And why just the two specific days? Is this something to do with some deep dark masonic type secret or do they simply object to certain letters of the alphabet. Just a thought; are those the days when men from mars will be observing (or not observing) strange human rituals designed to confuse Murphy who is watching from the Celestial Palaces of Alpha Centauri? . (a prize for the person who can place that last reference)

While I'm not a big fan of keeping traditions just for the sake of keeping traditions, I can't see how this is supposed to help "improve the school day". As noted above, you've got 900 people you need to get into a place, get fed, and then get out again with as little chaos as possible. Marching in to a brass band is an odd, but relatively effective way of doing it in a short space of time.

While the whole lunch ritual is anachronistic, I don't think that marching in every day was the bane of my existence there. Annoying, sure, but you only had to look vaguely neat and in step from Mid B to the dining hall door. I'm fairly sure I could think of a load of other areas for improvement before marching came up, but so it goes.

CH sells itself on these rituals so it seems counterproductive to phase them out.

Just on the logistic of getting everyone to eat at approximately the same time, what happens now for breakfast and tea?

jhopgood wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 1:29 pm Just on the logistic of getting everyone to eat at approximately the same time, what happens now for breakfast and tea?

I seem to remember marching in as a house for breakfast, but I think that was only as a junior.

Tea at 6pm is a short skip from Period 7 which finished at 5:45pm.

Phil wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 5:18 am Without commenting further on the proposed change, would not an appropriate reaction be for some respectable body of Old Blues, or others, to approach the “Current Leadership Team” politely and respectfully and to enquire how the proposed change will “Improve the School Day”?

When a response has been received and evaluated, a further possible question could be, “Why do Tuesday and Wednesday require improvement in this way?”

Would Old Blues have much influence in the day to day running of the school and the traditions...?

AMP wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:24 pm

jhopgood wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 1:29 pm Just on the logistic of getting everyone to eat at approximately the same time, what happens now for breakfast and tea?

I seem to remember marching in as a house for breakfast, but I think that was only as a junior.

Tea at 6pm is a short skip from Period 7 which finished at 5:45pm.

Period 8...?

In my time we marched in to every meal.
One dark, wet and dismal evening I got something in my shoe but was not allowed to fall out. Turned out to be a big bit of glass which cut into a tendon in the sole of my foot. School attitude was a) too bad and b) you bloodied a school sock which is forbidden
and c) you are in trouble now for causing trouble;I was denied what would have been a typically foul sh1t supper. (this was during rationing when the food was foul when good and beyond any expletive when normal). I was lucky however - Mr Jones didn't flog me!

While I wasn't a huge fan of marching in to Dining Hall when I was at CH, it had its moments and I appreciated that it was an efficient and effective way of getting 800 pupils into one building at a set time for a meal.
Marching also gave us a certain amount of pride in our house, our appearance and our ability to keep step.
And, particularly if the band were playing Sousa's 'Liberty Bell" (better known as the Monty Python theme), the music often brought a smile to our faces.
So, I'm sad to hear about the change that's planned.
And, as others have said, it may be just Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the moment, but if that's successful, could it mean a complete end to a very long-standing CH tradition?
We shall see...