Community

Christ’s Hospital and the Community

We offer our amenities, engage with organisations and welcome members of the local and wider community to share in the school’s grounds, facilities and resources.

We run a diverse range of events for groups and individuals, including weekly lunchtime concerts, a variety of termly theatrical performances and musical events, weekly historic tours and community lunches.

Our extensive community action programme which was started in 1987 and involves over 200 of our students. More than 30 different placements are organised on a weekly basis throughout the academic year including nursery schools, primary schools, special needs schools, residential homes for the elderly, hospices and charity shops as well as a Ready and Able Sports Club and CH Day Centre lunches.

Each term events, challenges and workshops are held for local schools. We were delighted to welcome over 1800 visiting pupils to these last year.

The visiting schools experienced a diverse range of activities including a Solving Crime with Science Day for Year 5 students, Year 4 and a Year 5 Maths Challenges, free tickets for primary schools to attend productions in our theatre, Year 4 and Year 5 History & Drama workshops, sport workshops in the summer term plus regular design a poster workshops in our Art Department.

Our annual Choral Day is a favourite for the visiting schools and we are looking forward to welcoming over 200 Year 5s to this event in 2024.

Choral Society

The Choral Society is a mixed adult choir of about 100 voices, open to anybody from the Horsham area who enjoys singing. The Choral Society has a lot of fun but tackles challenging music. We rehearse on Tuesday evenings at Christ’s Hospital during term time from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. The choir holds no auditions, but expects members to be able to sing in tune, and to take music away to practice between rehearsals.

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The Community Action Programme

Over 200 senior students (Years 10–13) voluntarily participate in the Community Action programme each week. More than 30 different placements are organised on a weekly basis throughout the academic year including nursery schools, primary schools, special needs schools, residential homes for the elderly, hospices and charity shops as well as a Ready and Able Sports Club and a lunch club, which take place at Christ’s Hospital.

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Primary Schools

Christ’s Hospital organises a range of events, each term for primary schools to attend, these events cover a wide selection of subjects and topics and are an ideal opportunity for primary school children to visit Christ’s Hospital.

Our annual events include Year 4 and Year 5 Maths Challenges, a Solving Crime with Science Day, Choral Day, Music workshops, Drama events plus Poetry days. These events allow us to welcome over 1800 primary school children to Christ’s Hospital each year.

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Lunch Club

A Lunch Club for the elderly was established at Christ’s Hospital in 1991.  Today the Lunch Club continues and each term between 50 to 70 elderly people, some with disabilities, who live in Horsham and the surrounding villages come to the school for a few hours and to have lunch.

It is just one of the many activities which forms part of the Christ’s Hospital Community Action programme which has been running for over 30 years.

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Verrio Tour

A Verrio Tour is an opportunity to visit Christ’s Hospital and enjoy an historic guided tour of the buildings and grounds. The tour takes its name from the wonderful painting by Antonio Verrio which hangs in the School’s dining hall.

Christ’s Hospital is one of the oldest boarding schools in England. In 1552 the young King Edward VI responded to an impassioned sermon on the needs of London’s poor, following which he wrote to the Lord Mayor of London, to set in motion charitable measures to help.

For further information and to book a tour please call the Christ’s Hospital museum on 01403 247444 or email: chmuseum@christs-hospital.org.uk

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Weekly Concert

A concert takes place at Christ’s Hospital once a week on a Thursday during term time from 2.00pm – 2.30pm. These concerts give our students the opportunity to present a short music recital to a small audience.

Admission is free to Friends of CH Arts and CH parents and light refreshments are provided, for a small donation, from 1.30pm.

 

Friends Membership Information Form 2024

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Order our prospectus

Our School Prospectus provides an introduction to life at Christ’s Hospital. You can request a printed copy which includes an application form by completing the form and/or you can download a pdf of the prospectus.