Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

[quote="Jade
On that note, my DS's mattress seemed like the springs were sticking through. I'm worried he won't sleep very well on it.

If the mattress is very uncomfortable, he should let his matrons know - we then try to get a replacement. In the meantime, he could probably be given a blanket or two to put over it, under the mattress cover and sheet. I did this for a boy in my house the other night, as I know it will take a while for a replacement to be found.

Note to all: Please encourage your children to talk to the staff here about any problems they have - we cannot help if we do not know!

Wasn't quite sure where to put this, but...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... l?ITO=1490

I was particularly struck by the reference to braces (of the tooth variety), which are definitely in vogue here. Every time one of my female students smiles at me (which is, of course, regularly) I recoil in horror at an array of purple stars adorning apparently perfectly aligned teeth.

Very funny, Philip

Katharine, am I right in thinking that when you brought 8-year-old Jeremy over to school in the UK he was also dyslexic and would presumably have had problems writing a decent letter 'home'?

Fjgrogan wrote:Katharine, am I right in thinking that when you brought 8-year-old Jeremy over to school in the UK he was also dyslexic and would presumably have had problems writing a decent letter 'home'?

Quite right, Frances. In the first year, last lesson on Saturday morning was 'our letter home to Mummy and Daddy - and I will write on the board what we have done this week'; in that first year he never once spelt all three words in the name Rossall Junior School correctly. Letters, such as they were, were much treasured, no phone calls then! The school helped him a lot and he has a PhD in Chemistry now.

Note to all: Please encourage your children to talk to the staff here about any problems they have - we cannot help if we do not know!

I'd love to but have no way of contacting him! I hope the staff are doing the encouraging in my absence....and am sure they are.

How can you say that you have no way of contacting your child? Time to rediscover the lost art of letter-writing, or to cultivate it for the first time. I am sure that the ban on communication does not extend to letters in either direction. I realise that there is a mail strike just now, but it will not last for ever. We all survived in the days before mobile phones and e-mail, and in the process some of us actually learned to communicate in writing! If Katharine's 8 year old dyslexic son could survive in a totally different environment to what he had been used to, and indeed ultimately do so well, then I am sure your bright articulate eleven-year-olds can all do so too. I know that it is harder for the parents left at home than it is for the children who are facing new and exciting challenges every day, but trust me - you will all survive as we did. If anything really dreadful were to happen the school would soon get in touch, so no news really is good news; when your children are having so much fun that they don't even think to write or phone home, then rejoice with them - they are growing up and it is you that have given them the confidence to do so!

I seem to remember we got one phone call from the house mistress to let us know things were okay and then perhaps after a week or so all the girls got to phone home from her flat so if the pupils got upset they weren't alone to cope with it. I did also receive letters from her, after that first leave weekend it was def all emails & text messages!

I went through this last year. I wrote to my son but didn't get a letter back !
But I did get emails once his email account was up and running which was during the second week so that was great hearing from him. The housemaster also rang to say he was fine and before the first leave weekend my son was allowed to call. I suppose it all depends on what house they are in whether you get a call or not. It is so awful waiting but the emails really helped so fingers cross you will get on.

Briefly referring back to Peter Andre and The Boars Head......

I found this rather interesting !!

http://www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk/spik ... ticle.html

Realised as soon as I posted that of course I'd forgotten letters as a method of communication and have already sent him 2 cards. Was more thinking about the 'encouraging' part and thought it a bit much coming from school staff to tell us to encourage our kids to talk to them when we aren't able to talk to them and they are.
Bit fed up with people telling us how it was 'back in their day' and of course I know all will be well.......I still feel awful though and as others here knew how that felt thought it was the place to share it. Will shut up about it now.

yes surely the new 2nd form are allowed to email? I remember getting an email from the housemaster with a photograph of all of them which was really exciting. then a short email from my son saying how great everything was. Of course by the first leave weekend reality had set in and the moans and groans had started, but now two years later he is extremely happy. The only problem over the last two years was getting him to communicate with me at all. I was miserable without him and desperate for messages. In a way I think the enforced weekly letter, which I also had to write at school, was at least a guarantee of keeping in touch. My Mother's letters back were always a bit rushed and always ended 'must go and catch the post' which I thought was a real cop out!

This is definitely a great place to share things, and I only wish I'd known about it back in 2007. hope I'm not just adding more of the same old stuff but it's good to talk.....

YadaYada wrote:
Bit fed up with people telling us how it was 'back in their day' and of course I know all will be well.......I still feel awful though and as others here knew how that felt thought it was the place to share it. Will shut up about it now.

Sorry, YadaYada, for inflicting my reminiscences on you, should have put them on another thread. Honestly didn't mean to offend, or to imply that my experiences as a "newbie" over 50 years ago (blimey, that long?) were any worse than yours as a parent of one now. No-one can know your grief except another parent, & then probably not 100%. No need for you to shut up at all - this is your platform, pour it all out, & please be assured that we old boots (sorry, OBs) do truly care. Only 2 weeks to go now ....

My girl is very, very homesick I feel like a useless c**p parent!

Apologies for mentioning 'the old days' again, but it's just my experience!: I know it's 40 years ago, but it's still very vivid in my mind: I was so homesick for the first few days that I ended up in the infirmary -' up timf'. There I lay on the bed crying and REALLY longing for my mum to come and take me home. A senior girl from another house who lived in my home town was sent to see me - I didn't actually know her then (I felt so bereft cos it was all so strange like countless other newbies, I knew no-one , but at the time it felt like I was the only one in this position!) Anyway this older girl's words were kind and comforting; she gradually made me see things weren't THAT bad and I went back to the house shortly after that. Looking back, that should have been the housemistresses' job - comforting any homesick girls, I can't remember them ever doing so. It seemed very heartless. I think our parents were probably as upset as those on this forum, the difference being back then they more often kept their feelings to themselves. Mine did anyway. It was only years later my mum told me how upset she was at leaving me for the first time