Amelia White (in the Daily Mail) deplores her CH years

[MrEd]

A very sad story, I remember some boys in the late 70s who simply could not cope with boarding and it must have been horrible. However, the feelings of rejection by parents it is not really something to lay at the door of CH even if it was the 'enabler', it is a choice ultimately made by parents. Some desperate to give a child a good education, some probably desperate for a bit of autonomy and indifferent to the consequences for the child, some having no real practical alternative (like the many Forces brats whose fathers were in the BAOR or RAF Germany or off beyond the seas), when this was part of the price of service.

For me, CH was a perfectly acceptable alternative (apart from the food and the hyper-allergenic environment) to a grim home life in a single-parent household, and I was more than happy away from it and at CH. In this case at least mother and daughter can talk about it and to each other. It is hard to judge a parent without having been in their shoes.

It should be noted that school bullying can have terrible life-long impacts, particularly with girls who might be prone to eating disorders. That however, can equally be the case in any school, co-ed or not, boarding or day. What is clear is that all the guff that the management came out with at the time of the merger with Hertford was nothing more than window-dressing, I left in 1985 and many teachers were talking about the new strict rules that were coming in (a few years after the Webb scandal), so they knew that they had responsibilities and they did not step up to them.

[Pe.A]

I think we know that boarding school life is not for everyone. Unlike many Old Blues, I was brought up with parents who hoped I’d go to CH, my brother started at Horsham when I was just 5. We brought our sons up telling them that they would go to boarding school at the age of 8 or 9. I think that start makes a huge difference to the experience of it.

I was surprised by her calling it Christ’s, is that common usage? I would have expected CH or the full name. Of course the change may have been made by the paper.

A very interesting point.

[Pe.A]

In my day, the 1950s, we were certainly kept busy, with compulsory games as well. So we were knackered physically and mentally. This led to a lively discussion between the late Dr Scuffil and myself as to whether this was deliberate to keep our minds off sex, which then would have been of the homosexual variety and therefore illegal in adulthood.

What, so you think that rugby and cricket practice steered you away from wanting to give another boy a hand shandy in the showers...?

[Otter]

I was surprised by her calling it Christ’s, is that common usage? I would have expected CH or the full name. Of course the change may have been made by the paper.

I have heard this on several occasions, but not by current or former pupils or staff themselves. I've heard it said by people who are somewhat familiar with CH but have no direct connection to it. Local residents, teachers at other schools, etc.