Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

CH pic and mention in article about public schools

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 603332.ece

Glad doorm raids got a mention, brings back some happy memories

Reminds me when we used to get the fire extinguishers and soak people after lights out

The Victorian headmaster quoted in the first paragraph, Dr William Haig Brown, was a boy at CH from 1832/3 to 1842 and subsequently a Governor, an Almoner, and President of the CH Club 1893-94.

Rex wrote:The Victorian headmaster quoted in the first paragraph, <b>Dr William Haig Brown</b>, was a boy at CH from 1832/3 to 1842 and subsequently a Governor, an Almoner, and President of the CH Club 1893-94.

The school cannot be held responsible for the actions (or inactions) of its ex-pupils.
Just been looking up the tree of a contemporary of Charles Lamb and Samuel Taylor Coleridge; if they had controlled Charles le Grice's lusts a bit better then HRH Charles would not have had to contend with the torments of C le G's great .... grandson's legal efforts to stop his latest marriage. There is another side to this - Val le Grice's father was Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall and his mother an expert on herbal medicine**. Not bad for a poverty stricken family in the 1770's.

** If Megan Rigby - infirmary nurse par excellence - is reading, she's even better than you!

I notice that an OB made a comment:

As a former pupil of Christ's Hospital, I was more than a little disturbed to find an image of the school and it pupils illustrating an article that ignored the fundimental differences that set it apart from the rest of the public school system. Whilst the uniform may be Tudor its approach to care of pupils and well rounded education couldn't be more different.
Christ's Hospital is far from the preserve of the elite that by association you suggest it is, it unlike many other public schools takes its charitable status seriously and a high percentage of pupils like myself came from low income inner city families where full scolarships were made readily avaliable. In fact pupils whose parents were paying full fees are in the minority.
Whilst it is true that boarding/public school education is not for everybody in an environment like Christ's with the wealth of different backgrounds, it provides a wide range of opportunites and facilities to children who could otherwise not access them

Ian Baxter, Belfast,

I noted this additional comment made:

As a current public school girl, I weekly board at a boarding school in Surrey, I can relate to some of the “issues” mentioned in the article. Only my outlook on the issues is very different. For example the “bundling” of students, by selecting a random participant in a group, tackling them and the whole group “bundle” over the boy, is common practice at many schools, however in most case “bundling” is not as many think “bullying”. Instead bundling is a game. Dorm Raids were also mentioned but in fact are simple attempts to escape the boredom of boarding houses late at night, involving pillow fights or excess amounts of shaving foam. But don’t get me wrong, in some context these “games” are in the case of bullying, targeting one person in specific, but the majority of the time boarding schools are a great deal of fun and character building. Although the principle of “fagging” was abolished years ago at any school, simple hierarchy systems still occur; there is the one table (continued)

Annie, Dorking,

My appetite is whetted. I wonder if this could be Box Hill School. Any thoughts, Matt ?

every school has bullying and games that are played with groups, yes sometimes they may be in part bullying but, what this article seems to make out is that its really serious in public schools because there are these games that to outsiders seems violent and like they are picking a victim!

Its a real shame that play now seems to be under theat for being mis-understood. Bullying is an issue but it needs to be tackeld directly and in a such way that does not stop the games and traidtions that many kids and schools have.

'Bundling' and the like generally takes place as year group, or at least group, activities. Therefore intentional bullying is prevented, as individuals are protected/supported by their group.
If somebody is being bullied, this will normally be due to them being unpopular with the majority of their peers, in which case they need to:
- adapt themselves to make them more acceptable to the majority or
- find more people in their situation to associate with or
- fight back in a literal/physical sense.
The first and third options are the extremes and work.
The second one will in time create a self-perpetuating sense of group victimisation, as well as a larger target to be picked on.

Great Plum wrote:I notice that an OB made a comment:

As a former pupil of Christ's Hospital, I was more than a little disturbed to find an image of the school and it pupils illustrating an article that ignored the fundimental differences that set it apart from the rest of the public school system. Whilst the uniform may be Tudor its approach to care of pupils and well rounded education couldn't be more different.
Christ's Hospital is far from the preserve of the elite that by association you suggest it is, it unlike many other public schools takes its charitable status seriously and a high percentage of pupils like myself came from low income inner city families where full scolarships were made readily avaliable. In fact pupils whose parents were paying full fees are in the minority.
Whilst it is true that boarding/public school education is not for everybody in an environment like Christ's with the wealth of different backgrounds, it provides a wide range of opportunites and facilities to children who could otherwise not access them

Ian Baxter, Belfast,

I think he was on my year and in my Archaeology class. I also don't like that way that CH gets lumped in with 'other' public schools. We are definitely not like them!

I think it must be Box Hill JR...

Great Plum wrote:I think it must be Box Hill JR...

The only other possibility would be Hurtwood House, but that's more Holmbury St. Mary.

Box Hill School doesn't exactly have a reputation for a strict regime, though.

blondie95 wrote:every school has bullying and games that are played with groups, yes sometimes they may be in part bullying but, what this article seems to make out is that its really serious in public schools because there are these games that to outsiders seems violent and like they are picking a victim!

Its a real shame that play now seems to be under theat for being mis-understood. Bullying is an issue but it needs to be tackeld directly and in a such way that does not stop the games and traidtions that many kids and schools have.

I was telling my Girlfriend about the things we used to do and she was horrified. At the time and still now I never saw a problem with it. Games that involved someone getting hurt was done to me, and i did to someone else and they did to someone else. If i may take a quote out of the Lion King.... Its the circle of Life (well CH anyway) - Not sure that last bit was in there but should of been

cj wrote:

Great Plum wrote:Ian Baxter, Belfast,

I think he was on my year and in my Archaeology class. I also don't like that way that CH gets lumped in with 'other' public schools. We are definitely not like them!

Wasn't Ian Baxter in Peele A, when i was on my UF he was on his Grecians. Lived in a room upstairs and had a hamster

peter2095 wrote:

cj wrote:

Great Plum wrote:Ian Baxter, Belfast,

I think he was on my year and in my Archaeology class. I also don't like that way that CH gets lumped in with 'other' public schools. We are definitely not like them!

Wasn't Ian Baxter in Peele A, when i was on my UF he was on his Grecians. Lived in a room upstairs and had a hamster

He certainly was in Peele A. Couldn't say about the hamster though ...

cj wrote:

peter2095 wrote:

cj wrote: I think he was on my year and in my Archaeology class. I also don't like that way that CH gets lumped in with 'other' public schools. We are definitely not like them!

Wasn't Ian Baxter in Peele A, when i was on my UF he was on his Grecians. Lived in a room upstairs and had a hamster

He certainly was in Peele A. Couldn't say about the hamster though ...

I think the hamster was in a cage !