Charterhouse Houses......any thoughts?

[JaneyPal]

Hi to all!

We are in the midst of looking at the Houses at Charterhouse and wondered if anyone could give me any 'inside' knowledge of what's hot and what's not?

Questions we are asking are;
Which are best, old or new?
Are some more academic than others? Some more sporty?
Does any strength persist through time anyway or is it constantly changing as boys come and go?
Does it really matter anyway?

Any thoughts are most welcome!

Thanks

JPx

Hi JP

We will be doing this in the summer as well so will be interested to see the replies.
When visiting I found the old houses rather dark and gloomy and I am worried how this may affect the boys moods. The windows in the bedrooms were very small.
I also preferred the large open dining room for the modern houses.
I know we are not supposed to be swayed by architecture, but I think it is important.
One of the other things that worried me was the small number of showers on each floor, there are no changing rooms elsewhere in the school so how does this work after a muddy games session?
Hoping someone can tell me!
Anne

Hi Anne,

It is interesting how different they feel given they are all in the same school of course! The house masters were all very different and DS had strong views on which he liked and which he didn't!

We bumped into some other prospective parents and they though almost precisely the opposite of what we did about two houses we had both seen which amazed us.

Showers! Us mummys' top priotity eh? LOL

JPx

I can't comment on Charterhouse but would urge you not to worry too much. I don't suppose that Charterhouse has any really duff house/housemasters.
The biggest factor in whether a house will suit your DS is the nature of the boys who go in with him when he starts. That is outside your control!
We chose a house at Eton with our son. We found out afterwards it had a reputation for being very middle-of-the road/rather stodgy and unexceptional. Friends of ours chose the "hot" house at the time (sporty, musical, brilliant housemaster "who is bound to end up as a headmaster"). The boys who joined with my DS were all delightful and became firm friends. A mixture of interests outside the classroom etc. The boy who went into the cool house wished he hadn't. The boys who joined with him soon split into three cliques. There was no unpleasantness - just a diminished social life in the house.