Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Once started at the school, instead of having to cruelly withdraw the child because of financial problems, wouldn't it be so much fairer all round if the school could come to an arrangement with the family concerned and agree to an alternative way of paying, eg in installments or even some kind of interest free loan. I don't know anything about financial matters and I may be totally unrealistic here, but I do feel for those kids who have settled happily and have to leave through no fault of their own. I will stick up for Miss West here, she wouldn't have thrown anyone out for financial reasons at Hertford, another era I know, but it comes down to compassion and genuine care for pupils and that's surely the whole ethos of CH...NOT purely money.

Indeed Miss west would have put her foot down but the school and the Foundation are separate now . The headmaster has no influence over financial matters concerning individual pupils I think ,other than pointing them towards the Mitchel(sp?) Foundation who will give a grant of up to £1600 for pupils -now I'm not sure about this -taking exams. It may only be for years 12 and 13 but it could be for year 11 . Where there is a problem paying the fees when a child is taking exams they can step in. You do have to have high predicted grades but the head will give you a form to fill in if you approach his secretary. Thornton Smith and Plevin are also very helpul but again you do have to have a very good case .
now that the school and the Foundation(The Mob?) are separate a hard line is the order of the day. I am viewing the postman with horror in my heart every day.Such is my dread of next years fees arriving that I have put a hex on him. He stands at the end of the path and gibbers and then goes away.

dinahcat wrote:I am viewing the postman with horror in my heart every day.Such is my dread of next years fees arriving that I have put a hex on him. He stands at the end of the path and gibbers and then goes away.

I'm dreading reading those numbers too, although I just want to get it over and done with and see how much they are, so I'm eager for my assessment to arrive. In the meantime my poor old car is getting ill, it's got a hole in it's exhaust (my neighbours love me!), it needs some new tyres, it's got a knock coming from somewhere, and a kind of bubbly/spitting noise that I don't like (but which I can't hear any more if I turn the radio up really loud), but all of that will have to wait until my fees stop in 5 years time

I know what you mean, my car has got to last 6 more years and it has already gone round the clock once. Hopefully it can do this twice!

dinahcat wrote: .... I never had to pay a deposit six years ago , for example .

There's not just a deposit when you accept a place now either; before you even get to take the test I notice that there's a non-refundable 'registration fee' of £50, payable when you return your forms. £50!!!! Well that should certainly put off the poorer families - it would probably have floored us - it's just taken me 2 months to save up £40 for a Cub camp for our younger child. I know independent schools mostly do have registration fees but I also know that many of them waive these if you are applying for a bursary place and £50 does seem very steep.

I'm also slightly bothered about the "academic high-flyers" business. I'm obviously hopelessly behind the times here but I thought that CH was all about offering an excellent educational opportunity to bright children to whom it would not otherwise be on offer, and for whom, in addition, boarding would offer a positive benefit. I also thought that the assessments were as much about identifying potential as excellence. I'm quite sure that my CH child is not an 'academic high-flyer' but there are few schools that could have coped with their quirky brightness, extended their limited opportunities and provided an escape from the problems of our home life in the way CH has done, and I am depressed to think that children like this may be cut out of the equation in future.

Antinous

yes it was £10 to sit the test last year. My youngest was also going to sit the test, he really won't pass I doubt, but we'll have to do it, if he wants to, in order to make it seem fair. But £50 is alot of money to most people (ie the people who would benefit from going to the school)

The fee for sitting the test always used to be means-assessed too, albeit very basically. Is this no longer the case then? Is it a straight £50 fee, regardless of income?

Fra828 wrote

Once started at the school, instead of having to cruelly withdraw the child because of financial problems, wouldn't it be so much fairer all round if the school could come to an arrangement with the family concerned and agree to an alternative way of paying, eg in installments or even some kind of interest free loan. I don't know anything about financial matters and I may be totally unrealistic here, but I do feel for those kids who have settled happily and have to leave through no fault of their own. I will stick up for Miss West here, she wouldn't have thrown anyone out for financial reasons at Hertford, another era I know, but it comes down to compassion and genuine care for pupils and that's surely the whole ethos of CH...NOT purely money.

It would be even fairer if, once a child had started at the school, some way could be found to ensure that the assessed contribution remained affordable rather than spiralling out of all proportion to a family's income year on year!!

lonelymom wrote:The fee for sitting the test always used to be means-assessed too, albeit very basically. Is this no longer the case then? Is it a straight £50 fee, regardless of income?

The residential assessment was about £50 and means tested, but the initial exam was a straight £10. By the look of it this has increased to £50

Antinous1 wrote:
I'm also slightly bothered about the "academic high-flyers" business. I'm obviously hopelessly behind the times here but I thought that CH was all about offering an excellent educational opportunity to bright children to whom it would not otherwise be on offer, and for whom, in addition, boarding would offer a positive benefit. I also thought that the assessments were as much about identifying potential as excellence.

Antinous

I've just had a good look around the 'new' website, and I'm amazed. The whole ethos of CH seems to have changed overnight! No mention of 97% of pupils receiving burseries. It reads just like any other independant school, and I'm not impressed. I wanted my son to go to CH to be around other children from backgrounds similar to ours and to receive a good education in an environment where it's 'cool to be clever', something similar to a traditional grammar school.

If I was reading it it as a new parent, i wouldn't think it was a school 'for the likes of us'

I agree that the wording has changed a great deal, however the first title line under fees does say "Christs Hospital aims to make an education at the school accesible to pupils from all backgrounds".

This is all making me feel quite sick (I would have put naus.... but I'm not sure if it's nauseous or nauseated)

[quote="ailurophile"

It would be even fairer if, once a child had started at the school, some way could be found to ensure that the assessed contribution remained affordable rather than spiralling out of all proportion to a family's income year on year!![/quote]

Yes that would be better; unless they do this, the school shouldn't be presented to prospective parents as something 'different'.

I agree with most of what has been said. However playing devils advocate the school cannot continue living beyond it's means. It is interesting to read the financial reports for year ending August 2010 (on the website) and it will be even more interesting to read the next set to August 2011. If things carry on as they are the fund will run out in under 50 years which for a school that has existed for nearly 500 would be a tragedy. I think the Foundation have to try and take extreme measures to redress the deficit, hopefully in the near future the financial position will improve. In my view the real villains in all of this are the fat cat bankers who caused the global financial crisis in the first place!

englishangel wrote:This is all making me feel quite sick (I would have put naus.... but I'm not sure if it's nauseous or nauseated)

I couldn't agree more, Mary. I have been quite upset reading all of this, and my heart goes out to all the parents here. It doesn't sound like the CH we thought we knew so well.