Being a chorister - what do we need to know/ask?

[MollieO]

Ds has been offered a place as a chorister at a choir school. He can go as a day boy to start but will have to board once he's surpliced. Very proud of him and a bit surprised but if we are going to commit to the next five years I need to go in with my eyes open.

I know about having to be in school for Easter and Christmas, plus apparently having to cut short the family holiday if someone royal dies.

I have a meeting with the head this week. What should I ask him? I'm writing up a list of questions, some basic (who does his laundry?), some more important (how will 20 hours singing a week impact upon ds's school work?).

What happens when his voice breaks

I suggest you meet the housemaster as well as he will have day to day care of your son once he starts boarding. Speak to other parents and choristers - are they happy? Having a chorister in the family is a huge commitment, eating into holidays (not just Easter and CHristmas but also half terms if they have to sing at weekends). Is your son bright? The academic side of things can really suffer if you're not careful. Is your son very musical? The singing will take over from instrumental practice and you may not like this.

I know two friends of friends with choristers, one just started and one in his last year. Both love it.

I asked about the academic side at the open day and the school recognise that academic work may suffer so this year have employed a teacher whose job it is to support the choristers if they need help with their studies. I need to ask how that works in practical terms.

Met the house parents at the open day but good idea to meet them again.

Where do the children go when they leave? Some choir schools have strong connections with senior schools are even part of a prep school which is in turn part of a senior school.
If the senior school is selective what happens if your DS is not bright enough for it?
If your DS want to go for a non musical scholarship into an alternative school have they got the enough staff/classes to cater for this?
If your thinking of a particular senior school does the choir school have a history of sending children there.
Look at the medical facilities singing puts a strain on young children?s throats etc is there a resident qualified nurse who can act independently of the choir master.
Definitely meet the house parents how long have they been doing the job? It?s a stepping stone to a head of a prep it?s not usually something you do till you retire.
Look at the dorms remember young children don?t want single rooms with en suite facilities my DS?s had the best time at their boarding prep when an idiot teacher in their wisdom decided to put 16 boys 9 ? 10 year olds in one room. The had an absolute riot ball.
Is there facilities/time for other activities are these built into the daily program?

I need to find out about senior schools. It isn't attached to any senior school. It is on Eton's list as a feeder school (not sure ds is bright enough for Eton!).

Dorms are reasonably large - 10 to 12 beds iirc. Good medical facilities - a doctor visits the school every week but I need to check how qualified the school matrons are. House parents are older so I doubt they would be looking for a headship.

The offer is from a school where he can start as a day boy. The other one that is interested in him would be full boarding from the start and he has been offered a voice trial at a third which is tiny (only choristers in the school) and would be full boarding from the start. Not sure I like the idea of that.

A bit like happygardening (and given your other threads) I'd be asking

• Destinations (senior school) of all choristers.
• If the school is a prep school, how do the choristers' destinations compare to those of the cohort as a whole?
• What happens when your child's voice breaks (this is obviously at an unpredictable age - could be 11, could be 13). Do you immediately have to pay full fees? Or does the scholarship continue for a short / long while?
• Does the school expect lots of other music commitments from choral scholars e.g. 1 / 2 / more intstruments? How do all these + choir impact on other 'non core curriculum' subjects such as sport?
• Is there a decent programme of sport / play / other extra-curricular activities for the choristers? Or are they by default excluded from pretty much all other aspects of school life?
• How is 'less than desirable' behaviour managed within the school? If, for example, a child did not behave well in lessons, would this have an impact on choir?
• If your child is having any kind of difficulty - social, academic, behavioural - once they are a boarder, how quickly is this communicated to you? How is it typically addressed?
• What is the SENCo like? How do they support children who fall behind, and how do they extend children who are academically able?
• In the boarding house, ask to see (on a normal day, preferably midway through the afternoon) the toilets / bathrooms and the cloakrooms where the children change for sport. Also ask to stay for / drop into lunchtime or supper time, and sample the food. Ask where a child would go who wanted some quiet solo 'downtime', and find out what facilities are available for children to play - is there a big garden? Access to the sports facilities? Regular trips out and about?

Sorry, X-posted - a doctor who visits every week isn't much good when your child has a sore throat on a different day and the choir master wants him to sing. You need someone who is qualified to make the judgement that says 'sorry, child X cannot sing tonight'.

In most boarding schools doctors visit every day (well Monday - Friday) and hold a "surgery," there really should be a qualified nurse on duty 24/7 as many matrons (who are not qualified nurses despite the name) will not give simple medication; calpol/ibuprofen. Also it is quite normal for the qualified nurse to make that judgment; no singing/games but they have to have the power to act independently and know they are not going to be pressurized by the choir master/games teacher/drama teacher to change this. For this they need to know that they have the support of the head or deputy head.

The school has a very good ISI report which states Very good medical care is provided by resident matrons and the school doctor.

The Ofsted report says There is a matron on duty at all times throughout the school day. Arrangements for the medical care of boarders are very good. The matron ensures boarders' medical needs are supported, and this is complimented by the school doctor and the local surgery. The Ofsted report says the 'helping children to be healthy' (which includes the medical care) is outstanding.

I'm never sure how much credence to give to ISI and Ofsted reports though. I agree that it is important that whomever deals with the choristers' welfare is able to make a judgment independent of the choir master.

Thanks for the input. It is a big decision to make as it is committing ds (and me) to a way of life for the next 5 years.

Congratulations to your DS MollieO!

EBD I've just replied to your PM!

Oh, and thinking of a chorister I know - check how often they tour, and how far away they go, as a) that may further eat into your holidays and b) boarding within driving distance is one thing, but a 2 -3 week trip round the USA may be outside your comfort zone...

The school is not great academically. I can understand why you wouldn't want him anywhere else because of location but there are much better choir schools. The university choir schools offer the best of both worlds. They are very prestigious but only have an eight week term, excluding tours, and Christmas is free. They are better academically too. The reason this school has got kids into Eton is because up until last year there was a junior music scholarship for up to four boys at Eton but they all had to attend St George's.

That's interesting. The registrar at Westminster Abbey said how lovely the Oxford school is. I hadn't thought about the term length being so much shorter.

Just checked. Term length is the same and same commitments for Easter and Christmas. I wish I knew how to choose which will be the best fit for ds.

MollieO is your other school Christ Church Cathederal? DH and I happen to know the Head there (we went to ChCh and randomly met the Head of the cathederal school on holiday and kept in touch). He and his wife are lovely and I can imagine the pastoral care is brilliant. Christ Church is a fantastic institution to be part of, I can only think they would look after their choristors very vell.

The school looks very small though, do they have much in the way of facilities for things other than choir?

Pastoral care at Christ Church is shocking. Very bad bullying amongst the choristers and many children have left. CC is not a normal university choir school. If you look at Kings, St Johns and New College, they all run on an 8 week term. FWIW, if you go down the Christmas route then I'd opt for Westminster Abbey. Class sizes are so small that your average son will probably end up bright enough to get into selective schools like Eton because of the children:teacher ratio.

The 8 week term is a bit misleading though - once the uni term ends the choirs tend to go on tour/do recordings etc.

In many ways, OP, the question is whether you as a family want to enter into this commitment. For the chorister it can be fantastic but it depends on the child. Is your DS someone who enjoys being in a group (e.g. summer camp/ski school, that sort of thing where you have to 'muck in')? Dormitory life does not suit all.

Another question to ask is do choristers ever leave? What would happen if your DS wanted to leave?

Do you have other children? How will it affect your weekends/family dynamic to have one child away? It is incredibly disruptive to normal family life is what I'm saying - do you want that?

So, yes, look at the school itself, but don't overlook whether this life will suit your DS and the family as a whole.

I would also want to have statistics on numbers of choristers leaving e.g. over the last 5 years, and to have a chance to speak privately and openly with a current 'new' parent and a current parent of an 'older' chorister.

The first choir school my child was at - arguably the most prestigious - only send their choristers to very unselective schools. Pastoral care was so shocking that boys were at risk. Most of the boarding choristers at the last choir school also did poorly compared to their peers in terms of music and academics. The best academic "normal" schools for choristers are the Cambridge choirs, New College and Winchester choirs. The Winchester College Quiristers don't do Christmas either but have a top notch education along with the Cathedral choristers.

We are a fairly musical family. The three boys won music scholarships and we all sing. Your first issue is boarding. I am not pro boarding and you are obviously happy he will board so that's fine but it's the major issue isn't it, that you think it's fine he doesn't live with you.

If he wants to do music scholarship exams at 13 then you need to ensure he has enough time for another instrument.

If the school is a feeder for Eton I would imagine its academics are pretty good and they will have alternatives if he's not up to that standard academically.

I think children who do a lot of music do well in their other work too. The two often go together. Learning instruments etc seems to help you in academic work in school too so it could be better not worse for that kind of thing.

Mollie, You don't mention that your DS plays any other instruments. Does he, and does that provide any basis foir preferring one school against another? If the aim is for him to go on to a secondary school on a music scholarship, then high achievement in an instrument will be expected as well.

The other one is Christ Church. Interesting about Westminster Abbey. Ds has been offered a voice trial there this week and I've got to let them know whether he will be attending. Based on the reaction he has had at CC and the offer from StG I assume that they will be interested too. I really liked the heads at WA and StG. Met the deputy head at CC but not the head. Deputy head was very nice.

Provided I'm happy with the answers to the many questions I have I think we will accept StG as that seems to give the opportunity of the most normal life and isn't compulsory boarding to start with (both CC and WA are). Ds will just have to get used to girls! Every contact I've had with StG has been lovely and I know friends of friends with choristers there (new and soon to leave) and both are happy. I think I have to stop overthinking this and stick with what is a fantastic offer.

I'm not worried at all about boarding. Ds is very independent and keen to board. I will ensure he has a boarding trial before committing him to board just in case he hates it, but I doubt he will.

Someone faced with a similar decision for senior school was recommended to choose the school that provided the most rounded education as the view was the child would achieve to the same levels academically in whichever school they chose (choice was very academic, reasonably academic, not selective). They chose the reasonably academic as it offered more choice of extra curricular activities than the other two.

Ds plays two instruments and StG reckons that most choristers leave with high grades on at least one instrument if not two.

I would go for that view too which is what we tried with our children - picked schools where most children achieve well academically and as in your case it's prep look at the schools children go on to after.