Forgotten RHS: Traditions (Pt 2)- Molly N
Following on from my last article on previous (but clearly not all forgotten) traditions at RHS, here are some more responses from teachers- with some new features:
Mr Gould:
Plate – Bring it back! It taught young people to look after the dining hall. Sadly, however, it meant that the year 12s often just bossed around the juniors children.
Skirmish – I can’t recall seeing young people ‘skirmishing’ an area for a long time. Do they even know what it is? Unlikely.- I haven’t heard of it, maybe it truly is ‘forgotten’ amongst the pupils
Manners: when I first got to RHS, any time a teacher walked into a room the whole class stood up and waited to be seated – they also thanked the staff member for each lesson – gone are the days…- Slightly similar to Raleigh and Nelson where we stand up as the teacher enters before meeting. And I hope all students are still thanking their teachers after they put up with you for a whole 55 minutes!
Mr Coleman:
The swimming gala. This used to be a very feisty and racous inter-house battle, with the non-swimmers expending almost as much energy in their banner making, waving and chanting as the competitors. In fact, I miss the previous passion for inter-house sport in general. With fewer houses now, it has lost much of its lustre.- I remember the swimming gala. Definitely not my favourite inter-house.
Divisions almost every week. I grew up near RHS and could never work out what was going on every Sunday when this band starting playing. It wasn’t until I came to work here much later that it made sense. Imagine it every week. It was a full on enterprise, with pupils responsible for ironing all their own kit and seemingly endless boot inspections. Getting rid of the weekly aspect was definitely a good thing, but I don’t think it would hurt anyone to learn how to wield an iron.- maybe don’t say the words ‘more divisions’ around school, it might not be received well…
Although it’s not a tradition – I loved the cannon that used to stand at the front of school, it added a bit a grandeur I think.
Mrs Hodson-Langer:
Marching to mess: When I first arrived as a German assistant in 2008, “muster” was called three times a day, students would assemble in front of the boarding house and march to mess. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner). It was all very civilised and the quality of marching at the divisions was maybe better in those days. (But I am no expert in judging the quality of marching!)- Maybe lets just keep marching to divisions and flag
House drama: Over a period of 2 evenings all houses (and there were many) competed in a house drama competition. Nelson always did a short play at the end which often depicted scenes from school and various members of the teaching staff were portrayed on stage. This was entertaining for pupils but I think most teachers dreaded it. It was still a great event but it involved a lot of rehearsal time. It would be great to see a comeback though!- Ah house drama… the plays were always entertaining with notable moments when Henry S played Juliet and Howe House did tiktok dances dressed as the 7 dwarves. Although I do remember Nelson’s drama (dressed as their teachers) not being received too well by some staff after they used a fake script to hide the real jokes until it was too late. I’m not sure that tradition will be brought back any time soon.
Christmas lunch – staff had to serve the students. Not something I personally miss!
Miss Pearson:
Squadding up outside the DH! Discipline was so much better!- I can definitely agree with this. We used to have to squad up in 2 lines, with blazers done up and COMPLETELY silent otherwise we weren’t allowed into mess. Must have made the prefects’ job much easier- it’s chaos in the watertight sometimes!
Reading before bedtime in actual dorms. Sometimes led by senior prefects.
Mr Hodson:
Anson House summer party (when a boys’ boarding house). Too many frills on house parties these days: what’s wrong with going down to the Stour to light up a beach fire, eat hot dogs, gather samphire, and watch the sun go down?- not quite a bouncy castle or obstacle course but still sounds pretty fun
Mrs Izod-Miller:
Statis card – an absolute blast from the past. Students had set items they HAD to carry on them at all times. Lessons often began with a statis card check ‘ruler, pen, pencil, etc’ anything not retrieved from a blazer pocket and immediately placed on the table resulted in a signature on a scruffy piece of card – I think 3 signatures (maybe 5) earnt you a sanction.
Closely linked – the old cafe – now the gym. Staff supervised at breaktimes as students pushed and shoved in the queue – eager to use their ‘preloaded caf cards’ to top up stationery (to avoid a statis card signature) or purchase crisps / drinks from.– maybe some traditions just evolve into new ones like the Heritage Cafe
GeoHub milkshakes – when I first started the now geo-office was the (original before other subjects tagged on) ‘geo-hub’ – Mr Mann, Mr Mac and I decked it out with a fully working bar and vintage glassware – once a week it would open for milkshakes – FairTrade banana or Striking Strawberry were the top faves with guest servers such as the chaplain often making an appearance. Milkshakes were free in exchange for a geographical fact or promise of taking it at GCSE / AL!!! I’ve got some old photos somewhere.
Mrs Eales:
Not so much a long-standing tradition really, but they became something that lots of people looked forward to during Covid – the videos like ‘Second Master’s Secrets’ where Mr Dixon in particular went into little know areas of the school and explored with commentary and sound effects on video. Like up the clock tower, in the tunnels etc. I thought they were really interesting and gave us a different view of the school.– I actually didn’t know those were a thing until Mr Eales was talking about it earlier this year. The tunnels explain the ‘mystery’ trap doors in the assembly hall…
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