Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

But as Sean points out, we did not have the girls, J.R.

I believe this would not only have further improved my experience of C.H., but the following years, which were NOT good for me (having won my university place I was thrust out while still metaphorically in nappies despite my pleas to Flecker to let me stay for another year), might have vastly improved my ability to deal with the opposite sex and life in general. As it was, what followed CH was a disaster.

I know exactly what you mean, David.

My knowledge of the fairer sex was limited to theory only when leaving Horsham. The practical was non-existant !

However, making up for lost time still ranks as some of my best memories !

blondie95 wrote:oh Mr P did you make mistakes-chance to get some dirt on you now???? What did you do?

The 11th commandment is good to follow...

I had brothers, and my best friend from primary school stuck with me so I always went out when home for the holidays. I did go a bit bonkers at Uni as I was at an engineering Uni with 7 men to each woman and the women I DID know all lived at home, but I do think single sex education is a bit unnatural. we have three local grammars, one boys, one girls and a mixed, but the boys/girls do get togehter for drama, music, orchestra etc.

englishangel wrote:I had brothers, and my best friend from primary school stuck with me so I always went out when home for the holidays. I did go a bit bonkers at Uni as I was at an engineering Uni with 7 men to each woman and the women I DID know all lived at home, but I do think single sex education is a bit unnatural. we have three local grammars, one boys, one girls and a mixed, but the boys/girls do get togehter for drama, music, orchestra etc.

AND ???????????????

I loved my time at CH on the whole. Even the bad bits (usually when I was in trouble) don't colour my feelings. If I had my time again I would want to take the work a little more seriously but still do all the other exciting things.

I think it is great the way CH has moved with the times and it is, as it always has been, a great honour to be a pupil there. It will be very interesting to see how things develop and change further over the next few years. A new headmaster and a new governing body next year will almost certainly mean another leap forward.

I would never want to return to Hertford. Not even sure about visiting the place now, it has absolutely no hold on me. Returning to Horsham is a bit of a mixed bag. It's only in the last year or so that I feel disposed to think positively towards some aspects of the place. My parents feel a great sense of responsibility for sending my brother and I somewhere that had saw devastating events unfold in our lives and suffering the repercussions of that, but as Euterpe says, who's to say that the resulting psychological/emotional mess wouldn't have occurred but with another trigger. I'm not sure that boarding suited me from the age of 11 - at the moment I feel that I wouldn't want to send my children away at that age - but I don't know how I might have fared at the local comp or any other establishment. For me, it's not a question of the quality of the education, the opportunity of accessing the wonderful resources or the sense of historical tradition that CH affords which were high, boundless and unique, but the implementation of pastoral care for those who needed it, but didn't know or couldn't ask. So (as I feel now) I have to say that whether I would do things differently now or not is irrelevant as it has led me to a place where I am content to be.

englishangel wrote:Never, never, never, well not to Hertford anyway.

Like Sean I wouldn't mind giving a co-ed Horsham a go.

Hi Mary

Your post really surprised me, as I haven't read any posts from you knocking the place, and I had the feeling that you were happy there.

Apologies for my lack of empathy.

Mary said something that made me think of a follow on to the original question in this thread. My second question would be, how did your friends at home react to you going away to boarding school?

When I left North London to go to Horsham, I lost every friend I had back home. They all treated me like I was some sort of lepper or other. I still don't regret it for a minute and would do it all over again in a flash.

I'd only been back from being evacuated for 2 terms when I went to CH, so I'd only made one real friend. My real problem was getting to know my parents again. I don't think I ever succeeded in that.

I never had any friends in the places we lived as I had always gone to school outside the catchment area from the age of 4. It was never an issue as friends would come over and vice versa. It only became noticeable when we moved to Sussex, and that coincided with the merger. All those of our age in our village went to the Weald comprehensive in Billingshurst, so we stood out like a sore thumb. I once went out for a bike ride with my brother and these kids formed a barricade across the road and tried to run us down. A sort of 'welcome to the neighbourhood' gesture.

I am begining to feel really guilty for starting this topic because it would appear I have exposed some painful memories. That was certainly never my intent

I had lived around Horsham all my life so I did keep in contact with a few of my friends...

there was of course the fun between hte town kids and the 'penguins'...

Scone Lover wrote:I am begining to feel really guilty for starting this topic because it would appear I have exposed some painful memories. That was certainly never my intent

I wouldn't feel guilty. Bad memories are there somewhere regardless of whether they are discussed.

In fact, arguably, it is good you have raised the topic as people can see that they were not the only ones to feel as they did and maybe feel better about things because of that.

Scone Lover wrote:Mary said something that made me think of a follow on to the original question in this thread. My second question would be, how did your friends at home react to you going away to boarding school?

When I left North London to go to Horsham, I lost every friend I had back home. They all treated me like I was some sort of lepper or other. I still don't regret it for a minute and would do it all over again in a flash.

I was lucky in that I kept those I regarded as my real "friends" and remain in touch to this day.

However I encountered hostility from "aquaintances" (and their parents in some cases) who were not hostile prior to me going to "that posh school in Sussex where they wear dresses."