Covid 19 Hardship Fund

[sejintenej]

"Bring back slide rules, blackboards and fountain pens; so many unnecessary luxuries that could be done away with... "

Slide rules and fountain pens!! What sort of nonsense is this? Fingers and an honest nib pen that sprayed in all directions were good enough for us.

Don't forget the sand to dry the ink! My slide rule is in the drawer of my desk in easy reach --- and I know how to use it. Better than a book of log tables

[J.R.]

"Bring back slide rules, blackboards and fountain pens; so many unnecessary luxuries that could be done away with... "

Slide rules and fountain pens!! What sort of nonsense is this? Fingers and an honest nib pen that sprayed in all directions were good enough for us.

Don't forget the sand to dry the ink!

Tablet and chisel plus abacus, anyone ????

[sejintenej]

"Bring back slide rules, blackboards and fountain pens; so many unnecessary luxuries that could be done away with... "

Slide rules and fountain pens!! What sort of nonsense is this? Fingers and an honest nib pen that sprayed in all directions were good enough for us.

Don't forget the sand to dry the ink!

Tablet and chisel plus abacus, anyone ????

Please John. NOT the abacus which is Chinese. I have a soroban which is the Japanese version and was taught by Kimie Markarian, a Japanese Doctor of Mathematics who has authored many books, some in English, taught in many countries, appeared on Blue Peter and is a neighbour. I like her US tv programme nickname - Motormouth!

Just remember that when Japan was occupied there was a series of contest between a soroban user and an American using a calculator; the soroban won all but one of the contests

[Pe.A]

I also like the fact that it is targeted support and I agree with all your comments Ioringa, but thank you button has disappeared


Roy Hattersley - "Christ's Hospital perpetuates privilege"

Remember him?

And all the other champagne socialists who send their children to private schools, would have squandered the finances years and years ago if given the chance

It's ironic that the Founding Charter of 1552 is still as relevant today, it's the current model which has evolved since the 1970s which is outdated.

The school should live within its means, reduce staff and the curriculum and if necessary, reduce pupil numbers rather than expanding.

And get the Marketing Department to focus on a targeted nationwide communication campaign aimed at deprived areas.

I am pretty sure that with their fixed assets, CH could still remain sustainably financially independent

I don't necessarily agree with the champagne socialist bit with regards to private education - if one has the money, why not? Same concept as private healthcare, and similar to expensive holidays and private tutoring for the kids.

But i am fascinated by your comment "It's ironic that the Founding Charter of 1552 is still as relevant today, it's the current model which has evolved since the 1970s which is outdated"

Might need a different thread, but could you clarify your views, pls?

[Pe.A]

If CH has decided to take itself out of the state educational system and "relieve" the state of having to educate these kids then that is CH's worry. If CH has decided to follow Eton and Harrow and build state-of-the-art facilities and employ loads of specialist coaches to staff them in order to attract the children of Chinese and Russian oligarchs and their valuable currencies (24% fee payers these days I believe) then that is CH's problem. Incompetent management and accountants also seem to be a problem. Unable to make things add up. My kids went to state schools which had a fraction of the facilities that Christ's flaming charity school Hospital enjoyed. If I had any spare cash it would have gone to Meopham Comprehensive in north Kent. Do I have a chip on my shoulder? No, I don't believe I do. Just an ability to see the wood for the trees.

The existence of CH, and the transformation in the last couple of decades (?) in "follow[ing] Eton and Harrow and build[ing] state-of-the-art facilities and employ[ing] loads of specialist coaches to staff them in order to attract the children of Chinese and Russian oligarchs and their valuable currencies" are slightly different things.

I actually agree with you on the latter, if that is totally correct.

But i have a couple of questions about the rest of your comment. How fewer facilities did your childrens' comprehensive have - i guessing that your kids went to school in the 90s (?) If you had lived in a more affluent area (and i'm not saying that Meopham is deprived - because it's not), do you think that facilities would have been better?

[Pe.A]

Christ's Hospital didn't 'take itself out' of the State system; CH provided an education for poor children long before there was a State system: 1552 as opposed to 1870 (the Elementary Education Act though it didn't come in to force until 1880).
I actually have some sympathy for your views on spending vast sums on expensive facilities to attract full fee payers; I would much rather a slightly more austere CH with fewer facilities and more children educated for free or for much reduced fees. I am not, however, sure your comments about incompetent management and accountants is fair. I am not convinced by their business model but it doesn't mean they are incompetent. That said, I am pleased to see they have set up a hardship fund as any donation one chooses to make will not end up going towards a new sports or performing arts centre.
You don't have a chip on your shoulder - well if you say so ...
As for seeing the wood for the trees, that sounds to me a little like those people who like to announce that 'they say it as it is ...' when, of course, what they mean is that they are extremely opinionated and only their views are worth hearing!
You wrote your post at 8.00 pm on a Saturday. Maybe you'd had a cheery pint or two before settling down to write?

I agree with AMP that your post deserves praise.
I accept that government and similar regulations have forced the school to spend money not directly related to teaching the three Rs. Example - asbestos control, breaking up of dormitory sleeping .....
I don't argue with many of those BUT do they really need a new drama building - was Big School not enough? Will getting up and spouting on a stage help the average Joe? That actually turned me off speaking for life which I have found a major detriment but do they care? No.

How about sports? OK so we have had a Silk, a Launchbury (sp?) and a few others who were a tiny imperceptible minority but need the school attempt to make every pupil an Olympic or Vasaloppet contender ? A moderate level of physical fitness as we saw in the 50's is surely sufficient for a long healthy life from which that minority can rise? I remember the Bissett twins who decided to go for steeplechase and trained for it whilst at school.

Does the new language building make for better linguists and if so are they teaching the "right" languages for later life? Is the building itself really truly needed or could they have used existing classrooms?

It seems to me that past management has foisted on the school too many white elephants and that the school should mothball such luxuries and get on with the real education.

Dormitory sleeping - so many laughs...

Rest of your comment - spot on.

[Pe.A]

I don't argue with many of those BUT do they really need a new drama building - was Big School not enough? Will getting up and spouting on a stage help the average Joe? That actually turned me off speaking for life which I have found a major detriment but do they care? No.

You're talking like a troglodyte.

Troglodyte. Such a beautiful word....

[Pe.A]

The Theatre is an example of money well spent.
Maybe too well, but at least the seating has now been upgraded.
The red brick is still modern and being based on The Globe will never date.
Compare that to the South Bank and Royal Festival Hall which look very tired and definitely 50s.
It serves many purposes, not just educational and has helped raise the profile of the school and extra cash.
Mastermind etc
Remember going to a regional version of Question Time during the '87 election and observing a chain smoking Ken Clarke and Charles Kennedy backstage.
Food and accomodation on the other hand has probably gone too far the other way.. Have heard that some staff limit themselves to one dining hall appearance per week for fear of becoming (too) overweight.

I'd be fascinated to see a menu nowadays - if that is the case...

[sejintenej]

You're talking like a troglodyte.

a person characterized by reactionary attitudes.
ie anti Trump the chump. otherwise a hermit. Sounds OK to me seeing how the politicians are bu**ering the world up.

I was actually referring to the new Drama building. OK so it is similar to the Globe and will (may) not age but how many Mastermind programmes will actually cover its expenses?
Publicity does't pay the bills - paying arses on seats do but are there enough? CH is about the practical education of children; the stage in all its forms is a minority career (even if my grandson and sister-in-law's son are in/on it). Does it bring in the beans to enough of CH's OBs?
.

[loringa]

I was actually referring to the new Drama building. OK so it is similar to the Globe and will (may) not age but how many Mastermind programmes will actually cover its expenses?

The 'new' theatre and arts centre were actually opened in 1973 so probably don't qualify as new anymore.

Actually, it hasn't aged too well materially owing to the appalling quality of finish: unusable bench seats, unsanded balusters and a quality of plywood flooring that splintered the first time it was used, however, it was completed at a time when Christ's Hospital did not take any full fee-payers and also educated 1200 pupils across the two different sites.

Whether it was money well spent at the time I don't know but I do know that lots of us would have preferred a new swimming pool and gymnasium. The bottom line was that the school actually couldn't afford either and I wasn't best pleased as a Squit to be given a pound and told to do odd jobs to turn it into a tenner to support an arts centre I wasn't much interested in, but at least we didn't take the kids of oligarchs to pay for it!

[Pe.A]

You're talking like a troglodyte.

a person characterized by reactionary attitudes.
ie anti Trump the chump. otherwise a hermit. Sounds OK to me seeing how the politicians are bu**ering the world up.

I was actually referring to the new Drama building. OK so it is similar to the Globe and will (may) not age but how many Mastermind programmes will actually cover its expenses?
Publicity does't pay the bills - paying arses on seats do but are there enough? CH is about the practical education of children; the stage in all its forms is a minority career (even if my grandson and sister-in-law's son are in/on it). Does it bring in the beans to enough of CH's OBs?
.

So you think Drama is a waste of time at school level? What about Art etc...?

[Pe.A]

I was actually referring to the new Drama building. OK so it is similar to the Globe and will (may) not age but how many Mastermind programmes will actually cover its expenses?

however, it was completed at a time when Christ's Hospital did not take any full fee-payers and also educated 1200 pupils across the two different sites.

Curious - when did CH first admit FFPs...?

[loringa]

Curious - when did CH first admit FFPs...?

It was after my time and I left in 1980. I seem to remember it being discussed along with the forthcoming merger with Hertford so possibly mid 1980s?

[sejintenej]

So you think Drama is a waste of time at school level? What about Art etc...?

Drama: the only drama in my day as a) the Shakespeare play set for that summer's O level English Lit which was performed only once; certainly not enough to make anyone interested and b) house plays; the first one I remember was sh*t. The second one and the only one where there was any effort was Pirates of Penzance which I did enjoy because I was sweating backstage and trying to bolster the singing of those on stage. Again just one performance with no followup.
How could one get interested in drama on 2 hours a year?

Music? Apart from the band there was from memory just one semi concert of boring music per year .
During the early 2000s living in France there was a concert (over three days) in a barn; for 10 euros we got two hours of opera sung by six or seven Covent Garden performers - beat YouTube any day . (One star had a house nearby and brought her friends down for a holiday on the condition they took part) Never got an attempt at anything like that at CH .

Art? There was absolutely no art instruction at an€y stage. The first lesson an A3 bit of paper, a brush and (I assume) some paints were dumped there and we were instructed to "Paint". End of story. Second lesson - repeat the above and so on through out my time in the art school. Bl**dy useless. Looking back, at that stage I had never seen a painting nor a photograph of one. I didn't know anything about colours (let alone mixing them) and was never shown.
During the year up to A levels we had to do Art - I spent three terms drawing my left hand with a pencil having seen a Durer picture. She never even looked.
In 1989 (28 years after I left) I was asked to help open a company in the West End. Wandering around at lunch time I could go into the galleries around Green Park and see for the first time what masters paintings were- if only that cow had taught me a little I would love to have been able to try with some knowledge of even what the media are.

So with that experience of CH attempts at artistic exposure why do you expect me to prefer the arts over the sciences?

[AMP]

The Theatre is an example of money well spent.
Maybe too well, but at least the seating has now been upgraded.
The red brick is still modern and being based on The Globe will never date.
Compare that to the South Bank and Royal Festival Hall which look very tired and definitely 50s.
It serves many purposes, not just educational and has helped raise the profile of the school and extra cash.
Mastermind etc
Remember going to a regional version of Question Time during the '87 election and observing a chain smoking Ken Clarke and Charles Kennedy backstage.
Food and accomodation on the other hand has probably gone too far the other way.. Have heard that some staff limit themselves to one dining hall appearance per week for fear of becoming (too) overweight.

I'd be fascinated to see a menu nowadays - if that is the case...

It may even stretch to Hash Browns and Angel Delight.