Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

I remember an elaborate and well-defined hierarchical system of punishments. 30 years on, I wonder if any of this remains or if it has been overhauled or adjusted. Also I wonder how it worked prior to my time. To the best of my recollection (I may have got some details wrong), the system in the 90s was as follows, in ascending order of seriousness:

Drill - Internal to the boarding house - for minor misdemeanours like leaving shoes on, talking after lights-out, swearing - resulted in "trades" = general cleaning downstairs after prep before bed. Usually split between one person at the front of house (dayroom, kitchen), and another person at the back (changing rooms, toilets).

Drill DT - outside early on a Sunday morning in all weathers, accompanied by the School Marshall - cleaning up litter around the grounds, running errands, etc. For isolated failure to do homework, skipping class/chapel/marching, or for disciplinary breaches not serious enough to merit a detention. Also for repeated drills (above). I once got one of these for banging on a window at a teacher, sticking my middle finger up then running away, because I was 14 and it was absolutely hilarious.

Disciplinary detention (single or double) - on a Saturday evening in a classroom, for disciplinary breaches such as violence or vandalism, or for repeated drill DT offences. Involved writing an essay on a given topic.

Academic detention (single or double - equal seriousness as disciplinary detention above) - for serious academic insufficiency e.g. very poor performance or repeated missed homework. Involved doing the missing schoolwork.

Yellow card - Typically given for smoking, and for serious disciplinary breaches related to major bullying or fighting. For 1 week, the pupil on a yellow card had to have the card signed every lesson by the teacher. Also accompanied by a disciplinary detention.

Red card - For sex, drugs and very serious/repeated disciplinary breaches. Similar to a red card but considered a final warning and that you are at risk of suspension or expulsion.

Suspension

Expulsion - interestingly enough I knew a boy who was "asked to leave", he (or his family) said no, he actually stayed at the school and did fine in the end. I think this was a good example of how the pastoral care at CH could make a positive change in the lives of especially those from difficult backgrounds.

Ha!ha! I've often wondered what would happen if someone was asked to leave and then said: "No, I'm not leaving thanks very much. B*llocks to the lot of you. You can effing well leave if you want!" When I was there beatings were common, for often minor infringements. Some housemaster seemed to be looking for excuses to beat while others never did. It was all a bit random.

Otter wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 10:39 am Suspension

Expulsion - interestingly enough I knew a boy who was "asked to leave", he (or his family) said no, he actually stayed at the school and did fine in the end. I think this was a good example of how the pastoral care at CH could make a positive change in the lives of especially those from difficult backgrounds.

I thought the "asked to leave" line was the equivalent of asking someone to fall on their sword rather than suffer the ignominy of execution (expulsion). Surely there must have been something else going on rather than the parents saying No...?

Pe.A wrote: ↑Wed Jun 01, 2022 8:21 am

Otter wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 10:39 am Suspension

Expulsion - interestingly enough I knew a boy who was "asked to leave", he (or his family) said no, he actually stayed at the school and did fine in the end. I think this was a good example of how the pastoral care at CH could make a positive change in the lives of especially those from difficult backgrounds.

I thought the "asked to leave" line was the equivalent of asking someone to fall on their sword rather than suffer the ignominy of execution (expulsion). Surely there must have been something else going on rather than the parents saying No...?

I'm sure there was. I was told this first hand by the pupil in question, who was a peer. But of course they may have embellished it or not told the whole story.

When people were expelled they were immediately spirited away to spend their last day and night in the sicker. I've always imagined that this was to prevent them returning to their houses and thinking that they might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb and causing mayhem.

I can endorse that. In (about) 1952-3 someone two senior to me on the house roll, who had been in trouble on several occasions, simply disappeared, together with all his belongings. There was no public announcement. We were told quietly that he had been expelled and not to discuss him any further - and that was that. Within a day it was as if he had never existed. To this day I have no idea what he had done.
David

I remember drills being a run around the mile on a Sunday morning, but I think they evolved into something more productive.

There were green cards too, although they might have been academic rather than behavioural. I am sure that if you were rusticated you had a few weeks of either red or yellow card after you returned as the final part of your punishment.

Otter wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 10:39 am Drill
Drill DT
(in house)
Disciplinary detention (single or double)
Academic detention (single or double - equal seriousness as disciplinary detention above)
Yellow card
Red card
Suspension
Expulsion

I remember the terms, but have a different memory of the offences that merited each one.

Academic Detention was not so serious and were handed out like confetti by some teachers. I remember getting one for forgetting a verb conjugation in Latin. I think if you picked more up than two in a week it got converted into a Disciplinary detention, but that could be a memory failure on my part.

Disciplinary was given out for things like missing chapel because you overslept, but could also be for something more serious. It was more serious, but again, a lot depended on the mood of the teacher, their feelings towards you, and your reputation.

Sex and/or drugs were instant expulsions as I recall. I have memories of more than one couple getting kicked out for shagging. Not necessarily being caught in the act, but for the evidence (circumstantial or other) being undeniable.

Nothing was really set in stone though and a lot of discretion was used. You could be stumble drunk in front of some teachers and just be told to try not falling over on you way back to house, and you could be facing rustication for buying smokes if another teacher caught you.

It seems that as things got worse and worse in terms of pastoral care, bullying and general fairness and decency during the 80s and 90s as widely reported elsewhere on this forum, the punishment system became more and more complicated. In the 70s we broadly had:

Drill - running around the loop by the Station and Swimming Pool / Gym supervised by 'Chief' Bradley - took place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons if I recall correctly. Could be awarded by senior house monitors but was, I think, the only punishment they could award.

Detention (DT) - could be double or single, normally for disciplinary failings including failure to complete work. Poor performance /mistakes academically would be unlikely to merit a detention. I think these were on Wednesdays and Saturdays and normally involved writing an essay which presumably the teacher giving the detention then had to assess.

Crack - tap with a slipper on the behind by a house tutor / house master - pretty sure this was limited to the junior houses only, normally marked by a notch on one's girdle.

Cane - never had this but could, I think, be delivered by a house master or the head master.

Rustication - sent home for a period of time - very, very rare I think.

Change of house - happened occasionally, I believe to persistent, minor offenders. We had a chap move from Thornton B into Coleridge A; I don't know what he had done to deserve this but he always seemed a perfectly pleasant fellow to me.

Asked to leave - discussed above. Somewhat shrouded in mystery but probably better on an individual's record than an expulsion.

Trades and other tasks were carried out by the younger members of the boarding houses and supervised by the more senior; I don't recall them being awarded as punishments.

DazedandConfused wrote: ↑Fri Jun 03, 2022 9:26 pm I remember drills being a run around the mile on a Sunday morning, but I think they evolved into something more productive.

There were green cards too, although they might have been academic rather than behavioural. I am sure that if you were rusticated you had a few weeks of either red or yellow card after you returned as the final part of your punishment.

Actually, i think that getting rid of Sunday mo0rning running drills was a mistake. They were slightly more of a deterrent than litter picking or disciplinary detentions.

Otter wrote: ↑Tue May 31, 2022 10:39 amDrill DT - outside early on a Sunday morning in all weathers, accompanied by the School Marshall - cleaning up litter around the grounds, running errands, etc. For isolated failure to do homework, skipping class/chapel/marching, or for disciplinary breaches not serious enough to merit a detention. Also for repeated drills (above). I once got one of these for banging on a window at a teacher, sticking my middle finger up then running away, because I was 14 and it was absolutely hilarious.

Even now I found myself smiling at that .

Anyway, thinking a bit more about this, I have to say I have absolutely no recollection of these Drill DTs. I think our time at CH overlapped, so I guess they must have been a thing while I was there, but I cannot remember them at all. Or that there was a School Marshall.

I’m pretty sure we have covered this subject before. See “Questions re the PunishBook”?

loringa wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 8:31 am
Rustication - sent home for a period of time - very, very rare I think.

The one occasion I know that this was applied resulted in the miscreant being sent to a monastery for a few days. It was not 'sent home' as I understood it. However, given the later furore with the Bishop of Sussex this could have had consequences. There was a monk who came to talk at the school (excellent speaker - I recall him using the term 'put the sandal in' when tempted to violence) and I think he was from the establishment that the chastened returnee had been rusticated to.

We never had yellow cards and red cards in my day (1950s). What for? Two-footed tackles? Abusing the ref? Last defender taking out the striker?

rockfreak wrote: ↑Wed Jan 11, 2023 7:54 pm We never had yellow cards and red cards in my day (1950s). What for? Two-footed tackles? Abusing the ref? Last defender taking out the striker?

I guess now pupils who are punished can request a VAR review.

jhopgood wrote: ↑Mon Jun 06, 2022 8:51 pm I’m pretty sure we have covered this subject before. See “Questions re the PunishBook”?

I did search the forum before starting the topic and couldn't find anything related, but if that bizarre title was what it came under, no wonder I couldn't find it.