Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Last September, Jonathan was lucky enough to be offered a place as a New Dep into CH. It has been a great experience, if a tough one, for him. Coming from a very small village in Cornwall with virtually no other children of his own age, it has not always been easy for him, and the academic expectations of the staff are clearly much higher than anything he has experienced hitherto. Despite the difficulties however, he is immensely proud of the school and everything it stands for; he has, I believe, begun to settle in and contribute effectively to Housey life in a variety of ways and will, I am sure, continue to do so.

Just over a week ago, Oliver's prowess at cross-country took him to Bournemouth; from here, the journey seems practically most of the way to CH, so, naturally, we went on and took Jonathan out to dinner that Saturday evening. On Sunday morning, Oliver and I squeezed into full school chapel, and then, after lunch, Oliver went off to watch Jonathan do his clay-pigeon shooting down at Doctor's Lake before we all went to the Band Concert in Big School.

Oliver had considered an application to Christ's Hospital at age 11, but coming from a tiny village primary school in which there were only two other boys in his year group, he felt that he was not ready to leave home just yet. Understandable perhaps, but he has since regretted it. He is a keen all-round sportsman and loves his football even more than his cross-country(which since age 11 he has done at National level running at major events all over the UK where he has represented Cornwall and his school in various finals and UK trials). Unfortunately, Flushing has only four buses a day and nothing after 4:30 pm. The ferry to Falmouth stops at 5:00 pm and so Oliver is entirely dependant on lifts on the twelve mile journey home from Truro for the four nights a week he spends training and singing in the Cornwall Junior Choir. His orchestra at school has collapsed as has the Truro Youth Orchestra in which he played for a couple of years.

I mention all this just to indicate that living in a beautiful place (as we do) can create serious problems for children as well as giving them great joy, and it is to its credit that Christ's Hospital has always understood that whereas "need" may be often be that of severe financial deprivation, there are other needs as well. No doubt, this was taken into account in Jonathan's successful application last year.

Anyway, for some time, Oliver had been increasingly envious of Jonathan and, after each visit, becoming ever more aware of the various facilities the school had to offer - sitting in the organ loft, wandering over Big Side, watching his brother in the theatre lighting room or peering in at the swimming pool while having a snack in the Leisure Centre. He makes friends very easily and already relates well to those of Jonathan who he meets in the theatre or in Peele A. He also quickly established contact with a lady in Big School sitting next to us who turned out to be a presentation governor with a presentation available! So enchanted was she by him that she offered him a presentation on the spot - alas the Admissions procedure only allows presentation at the age of 11, so that door seems to be shut. In fact, as Oliver is now 12, he is unlikely to be considered for entry until 16, by which time, of course, it will be very late in the day for him to begin developing any academic, musical or sporting potential he may have. Just in case a miracle happens, I have this week submitted an application for entry on Oliver's behalf.

I have told this tale at length in case it may have some general interest for forum members who have children or who know of children who may be in a similar situation to Oliver or Jonathan. In any case, I should be interested in any comments that anyone cares to make.

Do they no longer take 3rd form squits then?

There were a few in my time.

Mid A 15 wrote: Do they no longer take 3rd form squits then?

There were a few in my time.

Indeed - I was one.

I`d like to echo what Simon said - and I wish you and Oliver lots of luck.

It is by no means unknown for pupils to join the school later, but I think these may be ones who have been on a waiting list or for whom the need to be here is very sudden. I`m sure Howard would be able to give further details.

Mrs C. wrote:I`d like to echo what Simon said - and I wish you and Oliver lots of luck.

It is by no means unknown for pupils to join the school later, but I think these may be ones who have been on a waiting list or for whom the need to be here is very sudden. I`m sure Howard would be able to give further details.

Is HH allowed to discuss individual cases?

The Admissions Office confirm that there is indeed a huge waiting list.

No, definitely not, but he would perhaps be able to give some examples of how and why children might come here later on.

Mrs C. wrote:No, definitely not, but he would perhaps be able to give some examples of how and why children might come here later on.

Well that's rather what I thought. Perhaps someone might prompt him to give some generalised guidance on this forum/thread.

Good luck in getting your son accepted.

DavebytheSea wrote:alas the Admissions procedure only allows presentation at the age of 11

What is the procedure for attempting to go about this route of entry to CH?

One of my friends joined CH on the 3rd form and another on the LE so I don't think it's uncommon - good luck with getting Oliver in. Alternatively just get him to steal a few cars and he'll get in as a 'special case'...

Good luck Dave - I would get a list of governors and start petitioning them. You never know. What about the Worshipful Companies entry categories or other minor entry routes? Are you related to John and Francis West? That could trigger the interest of the Wests' Gift route...?

I think this could nicely link into the comments made about the CH Charge - taking children who would *actively* benefit from a CH education and therefore promulgate the sentiment derived from the Charge has got to be a serious consideration.

A couple of my siblings did not make it to CH which meant they too had to put up with horrible transport arrangements for their schooling. Oliver has my sympathies.

DavebytheSea wrote:I mention all this just to indicate that living in a beautiful place (as we do) can create serious problems for children as well as giving them great joy, and it is to its credit that Christ's Hospital has always understood that whereas "need" may be often be that of severe financial deprivation, there are other needs as well.

The issue of rural isolation for children is one of the reasons we recently moved from a village in mid-Devon to a market town nearer Plymouth. Our older daughter, now 11, was desperately needing to broaden her horizons, but as a one-car family and with public transport quite insufficient, things were proving to be more difficult the older she got. Being at boarding school and having everything under 'one roof' certainly helps logistically, but I still have hesitations about sending children aged 11 to live away from home. How do you balance their development academically/educationally with basic home nurture that is vital also? I really struggle with this one!

cj wrote:

DavebytheSea wrote:I mention all this just to indicate that living in a beautiful place (as we do) can create serious problems for children as well as giving them great joy, and it is to its credit that Christ's Hospital has always understood that whereas "need" may be often be that of severe financial deprivation, there are other needs as well.

The issue of rural isolation for children is one of the reasons we recently moved from a village in mid-Devon to a market town nearer Plymouth. Our older daughter, now 11, was desperately needing to broaden her horizons, but as a one-car family and with public transport quite insufficient, things were proving to be more difficult the older she got. Being at boarding school and having everything under 'one roof' certainly helps logistically, but I still have hesitations about sending children aged 11 to live away from home. How do you balance their development academically/educationally with basic home nurture that is vital also? I really struggle with this one!

During the war many of us under 11 were sent away from home. I know that I was one of the lucky ones in that I went first to a very kind lady in St Leonards, and then to a family in a tiny village in Wales. We were fortunate in having a teacher from our own London school in each village, and mine clearly knew about CH. When my parents left London in 1943, I moved back 'home'. My father somehow talked the LCC into letting me take their 11-plus and so I got to CH. That was just as well, because we moved about the country quite a bit,and I would have been constantly changing schools.
The wartime experience made me able to put down roots easily, and wherever I live has been my home. My friends could never understand if they asked if I was going home for Christmas I say I was going to my parents. Most children can be more adaptable than their parents give them credit for.

Did you adapt because you had to? And because lots of others your age were in the same situation? Undoubtedly, children are adaptable, but if they are already safe, secure and happy at home, how does being taken away from that impact on them?

cj wrote:Did you adapt because you had to? And because lots of others your age were in the same situation? Undoubtedly, children are adaptable, but if they are already safe, secure and happy at home, how does being taken away from that impact on them?

You are probably right. CH was a good thing for me because if I had been at a day school my father would have driven me demented- constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure I was working!

As you may have gathered from some of my postings we lived overseas most of our working life. John worked for the British Council - which helped to pay school fees so CH was not really an option for us. I went to Hertford at just 12 rather than 11 and took some time to break into friendship groups. I decided my sons would go at whatever age their chosen school started 8 or 9. We brought them up from tiny to know that they would go, and they saw their expatriate friends going to Britain. They had no problems settling - unlike us. We had concentrated so much on them that we forgot to prepare ourselves and were quite devastated at how we felt. Standing at the airport seeing your little darling flying to the other side of the world is not a happy experience. When the boys went on to Uni they settled very quickly and were quite scathing about those suffering homesickness.

None of this will help Dave get Oliver into CH, all I can say is Good Luck - if you don't try, he won't get in but if you pester ... I was under the impression when I was there that it was totally impossible to enter after the age of 12. I know things have changed now.

BTW I quite understand about living in beautiful surroundings with little public transport - I live in Snowdonia on the edge of the National Park.