Royal Hospital School Ipswich

RHS, can be an okay school. i must admit it doesn't have the best pupil care in place, the punishments are harsh and they don't try and the help the student before removing them from the school. I have heard a lot of children are diagnosed with a mental health issue whilst there such as depression or anxiety due to the stress and bullying.

@Soma - that's brilliant; you won't regret it. My son is missing it hugely and desperate to go back - whenever that might be...

@SE13Mummy, hats off to you and your DH!

@Soma thank you. Unfortunately, DH and I are both teachers so our salaries mean we're not eligible for any kind of bursary and that's unlikely to change.

I went there and loved it. Your son will have the time of his life

@Soma that's exciting news!

DD2 would love to be heading there for Y7 in September but we can't afford it, more's the pity.

RHS used to have a reputation for being less academic than some of the other local private schools, but I think that is changing. It's worth remembering that it's much less academically selective than many, and its intake is much more 'comprehensive' - which of course affects results. My son is academically able (and there are many high achievers), but there's never been any sense that he isn't challenged, or that expectations aren't high.
As far as extra curricular activities are concerned, there is far more going on than anyone could ever take advantage of! There are trips and opportunities galore, and the biggest challenge is choosing and prioritising activities for the best use of their time.

@IcedWater - wow! I can't imagine having to deal with or having to reschedule so many activities! I particularly liked the sound of the cultural trip to Florida & West Indies...

@Soma, we are generally too frazzled to attend external speakers unless they are directly relevant to us. Things like how to deal with adolescence as a parent, or information about drugs. These are always welcome.

RHS have a good website which I’m sure you have seen. Like all schools they have had to cancel everything at the moment because of the horrid Coronavirus, but this link will give you a flavour of what they had lined up for March (see cancelled events)

www.royalhospitalschool.org/coronavirus

@IcedWater, thanks for the link. I'd forgotten about Best Schools. I guess we're looking at RHS for all the other / extra things it can offer, over and above the academics. What does your DS say about all the extra-curricular stuff? Are the external speakers any good / inspiring?

@Soma, if you are looking at schools at the moment you may find this site interesting, it has all sorts of different rankings for independent and boarding schools

www.best-schools.co.uk/uk-school-league-tables/list-of-league-tables/

As far as houses are concerned, all Year 7s go into Blake. Then in Y8 day puplis go into Drake or Raleigh - both co-ed and very similar. Cornwallis is for flexi-boarding boys, and all the other houses are boarding. They stay in those houses until the end of Y12, when everyone goes into Nelson for Y13. Not so sure about any differences bewtween boarding houses, as my son is a day boy - my understanding is that they're pretty similar, but I could be wrong. Certainly similar in a practcial sense...

@icedwater haha! My bad.

@Soma, I think we were at cross purposes regarding dogs lol. The dogs in house are comfort dogs. The sniffer dogs are from an outside company that occasionally come in to combat drugs being brought into RHS making them comforting for parents!

@IcedWater and @usedtobeboss3, thank you, thank you, thank you! Are some houses better than others? Which one would suit a girl, either day or boarder? Which one would suit a boy?

My DC still loves the "comfort" dogs either when I mentioned that they were sniffer dogs - lol.

I agree with everything @IcedWater has said - it's a unique place, fabulous if it works for you but not necessarily everyone's cup of tea.
She's also right about the fact that it helps if your child has something specific s/he's interested in, as those things definitely contribute to their social circle. So, yes, if he or she is sporty, musical, arty or whatever, and plans to get involved (and why wouldn't you?) then that helps enormously. My son was the only one from his primary school, and didn't know a soul when he started in Y7, but it doesn't seem to have ever been a problem.

@Soma - yes, very friendly atmosphere, and as far as I know girls don't have any specific problems. My son has a wide circle of friends of both sexes and that seems to be the norm.
As far as Prince Andrew is concerned, the school has pretty much distanced itself from him since all the publicity. He's no longer mentioned explicitly on official lists, and i don't imagine there are any plans for him to visit again in the future!
The staff turnover thing is a difficult one - it does seem a bit higher than normal at the moment, but you would expect some turnover every year in a staff of that size - and many of the recent/current vacancies are for September. There are many members of staff who have been there for many years, and also a good number of newer, younger staff, so it feels like a good mix. I don't think I'd be too concerned, especially as they don't seem to have any trouble making good appointments.

@Soma, it is a really hard question to answer and you will get different answers from different families but here goes I hope that it helps. There are three parts to RHS which make it unique and different to other schools. There is a deep naval and military tradition, the Royal aspect and the school itself. They all go together with the first two giving a flavour for everyday school life. Each part makes RHS unique and contributes to a wonderful side but there other side effects. Watching the whole school marching in uniform for example is magnificent and while the children grumble about the winter cold or summer heat marching is something that will stay with them forever. It bonds the school and is very special. On the other side of that it is a little uncomfortable to watch when children pass out or vomit or need to be helped off the parade square especially the younger pupils. There are generally a few casualties during each march, a couple of summers ago we counted a couple of dozen casualties because of the heat. Within RHS this is something that is perfectly normal and has been taking place for decades. They look after casualties, pick them up and send them out again next time. It is nothing out of the ordinary to RHS or us now but when a relative came to watch she thought it was a little barbaric. So the uniqueness of RHS is magnificent but also not everyone’s cup of tea. If you feel that your DC will settle well into the RHS way of life which is steeped in tradition and busyness there is no better place for her. Some pupils have a better experience of RHS uniqueness than others though.

Otherwise the house that your DC enters will have a bearing on how well she settles. The vast majority of day houses and boarding houses are good, there are a minority that may be less good. DCs relationship with her house master or mistress will be crucial as she settles in and then for her time at the school. Most house mistresses and house masters are fully committed nice people who work really hard. It is a demanding role though and some cope better than others which could affect settling in.

It may help DC settle if she is sporty as sports teams often bond. If DC is arty there are plenty of extra curricular clubs for her to join and make likeminded friends. Sailing is a big attraction at the school. I suppose that like all schools RHS is what you make of it in that respect.

I guess the more settled that staff are in a school the more consistency it gives to pupils who are entering a new environment. The teachers that do stay seem to stay for a long time and many of them have children at the school. It does seems that the uniqueness of RHS is not for all teachers though and it can be really disruptive for all children including new pupils trying to settle in when teachers come and go

@IcedWater i was being a bit facetious but hopefully he won't be returning to visit..... Probably not entirely relevant to the decision to apply or not but it would enter my calculation.

@IcedWater & @usedtobeboss3, sorry to bombard you with questions. Do you know if girls settle well at the school? Is there a friendly atmosphere?

@helpmum2003, using a mathematical symbol for the Prince Andrew patronage is one way of looking at it lol. You are right though, I suppose that it does boil down to a plus, minus or question mark on the spreadsheet when comparing schools before rolling the dice and joining one. For us the Royal aspect of the school was originally a big attraction at RHS and it still is a plus. There is admittedly a background feeling of an elephant lurking in the room, but on a day to day level we haven’t noticed any impact at all from stories in the media. School life is still all about lessons, sport, homework, washing kit and juggling an intensive regime with sleep and downtime.

The top brass at RHS have said very little but the allegations and media reaction are no doubt something that they could well do without. I can’t speak for anyone else but we feel sympathetic towards the schools situation while keeping an interested eye on the news.

I'm not sure having the patronage of Prince Andrew is a plus??