I was the first of 5 girls to join this school.....it was brilliant! I left about a term and a half ago. I still really miss it even though I'm still always there. I will always remember this school and the people in it. Thank you so much to all the teachers - you made it a great six years.

I disagree with the majority of comments made and am delighted that the school is in new hands. When I attended this institution in the late 1960s it was akin to 'Dotheboys Hall'. A tyrannical regime that inspired fear in so many, despite the fact that bullying was cited as a cardinal sin. Thank God for enlightened times!

I have some sympathy with Robin's views. If you were in any way uncooperative or failed to make the grade, life could be difficult. But from that point of view it was not untypical of private schools of the era. That is not justification for what may at the time have seemed to be a fairly brutal régime to some, but for the majority it certainly brought results. My memories are coloured by my own experiences, which for the most part were good; I can think of some fellow pupils who may have found it more difficult to endure.

I respect Martin's views. That said, it was NOT just a case of not 'cutting it' or being uncooperative. I recall boys who were mercilessly taunted by Saunders, one simply because he was of small stature. I also have vivid recollections of parents on a number of occasions causing a scene in the school.Personally, I had good and bad times and I agree for many, Martin's word 'endure' was clearly appropriate.I shall always remember cramming my pockets with uneaten food so I would not be faced with it after school at 4pm.There is a very clear distinction between strong discipline, of which I am in favour ,and what is sheer brutality.

Actually one of my least favourite things about St Christopher's was the serving of baked beans with every lunch (except on Fridays - macaroni cheese alternate weeks with cheese potato). There was one boy I remember who was physically sick some days because of those awful lunches.

I can't believe it's been 4 years since I left St Christopher's for Brighton College. I think I started in 1993 and they were difficult years. I did not speak a word of English and I didn't fit in very well. It was in the lower school that discipline was harsh. One of my earliest memories was standing in a queue whilst we watched Mr Scott and Mrs Peterson scolding some 2nd former. It was harsh, yes, but you behaved well in the end. It was only when I reached transition that things got really better cos the discipline seemed more relaxed. I remember our first science lesson with Mr Scott and everyone was really scared cos he was the teacher, who was feared by everyone in the lower school. I agree that academic standards were very high, especially when I reached JVI, when we were doing work, that was at least a year beyond us, for the scholarships. I want to thank all who taught me, in particular, Mr Bairamian, who helped me succeed in the latin and greek scholarship papers and also Mr Sharpe for being a brilliant history teacher!

This comment list has been going on for two years now, I was trying to look for the school website but it's a bit disappointing. I joined St Christophers, I think in 3rd form, can't remember the year, I then moved to transition. It was a very good school, and like Raymond said, the school was teaching us things that were beyond us. I realised when I was in my A-level biology class, I learnt somthing that I already knew from a lesson in UVI. It wasn't as detailed, but still four years ahead. It was a shame when the school got brought by BC. I moved to Dubai about a year after I left, so I haven't had the chance to go back, but I would really like to. It was a great school, good teachers and tough, playing sports in nearly all weather. Over here in Dubai there is a bit of rain and the school stops functioning sportswise.

Under review

I went to this school 1990-1995. It was fun and all. I remember gettin in trouble loads of times. My fav was Miss Maine. I left as I really couldn't stand the rugby. Kinda missed all my mates though.

I was a pupil at St Christopher's in the 1960's. I have nothing but happy memories of the school. Red blazers and sunny days. Rugby practice on frozen ground. The only negative and enduring memory I have is of Maurice Standring. Mathematical genius he may well have been, teacher he most certainly was not! I was terrified of handing in my maths prep which was always a lottery as I have numerical blindness he might as well have asked a deaf person to describe an opera!

Bernard is right, I remember Maurice Standring. Does anyone remember 'Major Forrest'? He was certainly a character and as I recall taught cricket at Glebe Villas as well as latin.

I attended St Christopher's from 1986 to 1994 after which I went to Lancing. I have mixed feelings about St. C's. Not being the sporty type which usually led to trouble with Mr Saunders, or being made to eat and finish usually horrid lunches. Other than that I thoroughly enojoyed my time there and the teaching was excellent, especially Mr Sharpe.

There were, over the years, a number of prep-school masters (and mistresses) employed. Latin was the subject with possibly the greatest turnover; WHB Walker, ML Yorke (for two terms), FB Marcuard (also for two terms), EHP Mallinson, me (for two terms) and Major Forrest among them in the 50s and 60s. The two-term appointments were usually ex-Brighton College boys waiting to go up to Oxford or Cambridge - some of us less competent than others (as I am sure Bernard Dutton Briant and Robin Conway could both attest!).

Under review

I also attended St.Christophers with my brother Paul. The day I left was probably one of the greatest reliefs of my young life. That sort of tyranical treatment should not be experienced at school, school days should be one of life's happy experiences. Thank goodness the school is under different ownership and hopefully corporal punishment is a thing of the past.

I left st. Christopher's in 1999 and absolutely loved the seven years I spent there. Yes it was strict and yes sometimes you were afraid of the teachers, but these were people who genuinely cared about how you turned out and how the school did. You learned to love the unique traditions the school had, and I am still proud to say I went there. I still have a lot of close mates who are ex-pupils and we will all always remember execution tests with Mr Saunders and walking Thursdays in the week long run up to sports day.

The 'mystery man' at the back is Mr Walker who I remember well as a very kind and generous man. In essence diametrically opposed to Saunders,Standring and peer group. Mr Telford, who as Bernard states succeeded him,was indeed badly disabled. His disability did not however prevent him from being a good teacher and a decent man. I also remember you well Martin and we thoroughly enjoyed your lessons, impressed by your youth and humour!

I went to St Christopher's from 1982 to 1985 when I got a scholarship to a top independent Jewish school. I believe I was the only boy to ever go to this school from St Christopher's (and certainly the only one on the honours board).  In my day there were two girls at the school (both Roger Saunders' daughters).

I was a complete St. Christopher's pupil through and through. I started at the young and tender age of 3 at the pre-prep stage at Glebe Villas. It was here where my passion for St. Christopher's and England really began. When I went into the LowerSchool I saw a few familiar faces but on the whole I was in a sea of red confusion. In the first form I was tamed by Mrs Sparrow and Mrs Gozzet and then Mrs Mitchell and Mrs Martin in the 2nd form. In these years I learnt the basics of education under the disciplined eyes of the teachers, which proved so valuable in carving out my life. However one of the two most memorable and kindest teachers in the lower school was Mr Maine, along with Mrs Weldon, they were both extremely enthusiastic about their teaching and music. It was Mr Maine who started my passion for true music; such songs were contained within a small purple book. These songs talked about sea shanties, the ivy in Ireland and that marvellous song "the farmyard song". In the lower school the fundamentals were taught so well that when we arrived in the Upper school, we were not too daunted by Mr Sharpe. It was in the upper school where myself and the rest of my classmates excelled at studies and games- as Roger would say "work hard, play hard". However the best teachers were to be found at the extremities of the school - Mr Voice and Mr Scott, and I am sure you would all agree with me. These two men gave their devoted time to teach us the standard syllabus and beyond. I don't think that there was any kind of tyrannical treatment at St. Christopher's. Because the way I see it is that kids need punishment and if such discipline is ignored then problems, that we as a country are experiencing today, will occur; and I thank Roger and Danny for keeping us under strict control. However as years moved on and we grew older I witnessed many changes in the heart of the school. The catalyst for this was the retirement of Roger Saunders. Following in these remarkable footsteps was Mrs Beeby. I would like to say that she was a very good head, foe the 21st Century; however I needed/wanted the fun and enjoyment that Roger gave the school. I was House captain of Howe in the UVI and proud to lead my house to victory at the end of the term. I left St. Christopher's with great memories of teachers and pupils, a 25% academic scholarship to BrightonCollege, a list of sporting, musical and artistic achievements under my belt. I would like to thank the following in particular: - Mr Maine- for the opportunity of singing in magnificent places, such as Westminster; Mr Sharpe- for teaching such a varied and deep amount of historical facts; Mr Voice- helping me excel in maths and as a great housemaster of Howe.; Mr Scott - for such love in his science, not just to me but literally thousands of children over his life; Mr Roger Saunders.

One has to have experienced the regime of the 60's to comprehend the unspeakable behaviour of some people. I am still to this day haunted by the tyrannical bullying, albeit in retrospect I personally escaped relatively lightly! What excuse can there be for mercilessly teasing small children about their stature, their physical attributes or their inability to comprehend an issue. Discipline is right and proper, but there is no excuse for cruelty. My understanding is that under Roger, humanitarian basics improved, albeit many years too late.

I Joined the school in JVI, under Mrs.Beeby, and it has changed a lot since then. In the first year I was just settling in but then Mrs.Beeby left and we now have a new head master, Mr.Mclyntyre. He has changed so many things it's hard to count. He has changed the names of all the classes like 7b and 7r etc, abolished work minuses, got rid of the minus board, every class now has a small minus board in their classroom. Prefects have many more priveleges, he has made a new building with a new classroom and a new I.T lab, He has improved school lunches considerably and brought in new bits of uniform. These are just some of the changes he's made. But overall he is a good headmaster, and a lot stricter than Mrs.Beeby.

http://www.stchristophershove.org.uk/ is the new website

One thing that seemed very important to the school in the 1950's was the weekly mark card. This was filled in by the form master or mistress, giving weekly positions and a summary of how many pluses and minuses (for conduct and work) you had been given. It handed out on Friday afternoon each week, and was to be signed by a parent and brought back on the following Monday. Woe betide anyone who failed to get a signature (I remember trying with some degree of success to forge my father's indecipherable signature on the way to school on more than one occasion). And you couldn't lose it, because you had to keep it in an envelope on which you had been made to write the school's address: "St. Christopher's School,
33 New Church Road,
Hove. 3."

Returning to St.Christopher's now, I see many girls running around in their red blazers, but once upon a time I was the only girl at the School. (Thank you Paul for having fond memories of me!) I even had my hair cut like a boy at one time in order to fit in. Oh yes! I have many memories like you all - some good, some bad and some amusing - I remember especially having to stand up on front of the House (Anson) on a Friday morning house meeting and having to sing 'Scotland the Brave' for getting two conduct minuses! Don't ask me what they were for - probably swapping cigarette cards during class! Maurice Standring tried very hard to teach me maths and gave me grinds before my O Levels. I failed but remained good friends with him and used to visit him and his wife 'Pixie' regularly. He told me once that I was his only failure but he never held it against me! I returned to the school and became a Girl Friday for my father for eleven years before moving to Ireland in 1975 where I have been living ever since. The survival skills I learned then have stood me in very good stead and I was able to encourage my sons with their Rugby and Cricket and teach them the rudiments of boxing (I also have an amazing collection of cigarette cards!)

I remember Vicky, known by us as 'the bird' in her 'shades' and a frothy pink outfit with matching big hat at sports day.

I only took the nostalgia route of late when remembering my school days, hence my viewing and contribution to the comments. In candour, one can only look back both in anger and in sorrow on the excesses of a brutal regime aimed at innocent and defenceless young children. There is no excuse for Saunders and his staff, perhaps some mitigation in terms of what was allowed in the late 60's. To be factual, such treatment would today warrant prosecution.

I attended St Christophers from 1991 until 2000 and have no hesitation in saying that they were incredibly happy years in which I made some great friends and was fortunate enough to recieve a fantastic all round education. I agree entirely with those who say that St Christophers gave an excellent headstart to those who went there - something most students only realise in their later school years where standards are dumbed down considerably for GCSEs. I remember the traditional routine of the school with great affection and feel that if most other schools had retained a slightly more "old school" approach to teaching then more people would leave school with the values that really do make former St Christophers students stand a head and shoulders above most others. In regards to what has been called a "brutal regime" led by Mr Saunders, I can only speak for the 90's, but I never saw any evidence of this. It was during my time at the school that the last caning happened, and whilst corporal punishment should not be used in the school room, the strict disciplining that was common was never malicious and contributed greatly to the spirit of the pupils. The premise was simple - if you didn't do homework or misbehaved you would be reprimanded, but fairly. If, as one contributor has claimed, St Christophers was a "brutal regime", might I ask how he would describe Stalinist Russia or perhaps the Khymer Rouge's rule over Cambodia? I only hope he can keep finding more adjectives to convey genuine terror and very real persecution.

I always found St Christophers a very friendly place and the staff were, in retrospect, nothing short of wonderful. It is sad that so much has changed there now, but I and my friends from St Christophers will always remember it as a fantastic place to have gone to school.

I am sorry this column has deteriorated into a debate on corporal punishment. Suffice it to say that the expected punishments of the 1950s and 1960s are neither those of today nor those of the past twenty years. I was lucky as a boy, and avoided the cane at school (though my own father kept one and administered it!). My brother was less fortunate, and like Robin Conway, was not particularly naughty. The way most of us would wish to remember St Christopher's is as a largely friendly school which encouraged excellence in both work and sport, and the greatest legacy of the Saunders family is the very considerable body of men and women who learned both the value of hard work and the rewards to be gained, plus good behaviour and politeness - skills for life.

I was a St.Christopher's for six and a half years, from 1997 to 2004, until I left for secondary school. I miss my time there as I was there for so long. I was in Drake and Iremember Mr.Sharpe was head of Drake house. I have fond memorys of the place and I woudn't mind another look round after so long.

Hello all St Christophers' alumni. Just to let you know, I and a few friends of mine are planning a reunion later this year (2008). Any ex-pupil of the school is invited whether there stayed until the end or not. Please join the St. Christophers School Facebook group. I will be posting information regarding the event on there. My email is info@dominicferris.com should you have any queries. See you soon!

What ever happened to the older students who went to St Christophers in the early days of the war, when the school was in a private house on the other side of the road?  A Mr John Hoyle was headmaster and a battle axe of a lady was in charge who smacked you over the hands with a ruler!  Miss Griffiths, I think.

Reading some of these comments brings the memories flooding back. Funnily enough I recently found two old school photos, one from 1966 and one from 1968. I hardly recognized myself, let alone anyone else. Sorry to hear that those days still haunt you Robin (do you remember me?), the discipline side of St Christopher's was definitely tough.

I should like to invite all Old Boys and Girls to a Reunion to be held at St Christopher's School on Thursday 25 June 2009. This will be an excellent occasion for ex-pupils to get together and meet old friends and teachers. Please e-mail hmsec@stchristophershove,org.uk for further details.

To Steve Lewis, yes, of course I remember you and also your house in Dyke Road. I recall your Dad used to make fantastic model airplanes in a huge snooker room at the top! We were good friends. I am now resident in Australia and would love to hear from you . I came across this site by fluke and simply added my thoughts, perhaps at 52 one reflects. My email is robconway08@hotmail.com Do contact me mate.

I attended the school, with my twin brother between 1970 & 73. I was Rose 2, I was the younger twin. The school had a good academic standard, but yes I'm afraid a harsh discipline culture existed. This was handed out in a fairly equal way by Maurice Saunders. My brother and I boxed, we both did ok on the Rugby pitch, actually my brother was quite an all round athlete,regularly winning the 100 yards on Sports Day. I gained the impression, maybe wrongly, that if you boxed and did all right on the Rugby pitch, Mr Saunders had a bit more respect for you. I also enjoyed Maurice's geography lessons. At that time what your Father did in the war made a difference...my father had a tough war ,and was a bit of a hero at the Battle of Monte Cassino, I guess he was a similar age to Maurice. I mention this as I always recall with interest, how respectful ,almost deferential Maurice was to my father. Not sure he was that way to all the parents.

My sister Vicky Saunders-Helps, a former pupil and member of staff at St. Christopher's, died sadly, on the 8th Jan 2010 in Ireland where she had lived for the past 35 years. She leaves three adult children and two grandchildren. She was a very talented artist and photographer and examples of her work can be seen on her website - www.vickysaunders-helps.com

I was very sorry to hear from Marylou Greenaway that Vicky, my contemporary at St Christopher's, had died. She must have had quite a difficult time at school being then the only girl and the Headmaster's daughter, though of course her elder sisters Marylou and Serina (Snooky) had gone before her. Fond memories!

I was at St Christophers from 1965 to 1973. I remember well how brutal Mr Ezra could be. My parents complained once to be told that he (Mr Ezra)was so dedicated towards the children that he sometimes got carried away. My parents were not intervening on my behalf but for a boy who came home to our house after school and had concussion after he was thrown into a desk. I was in Howe House - a lot of the parents were scared of Mr Saunders and, woe betide if you parked where the school bus was going, he would rush out shouting "move that car". I was sorry to hear about Vicky Saunders-Helps we had her as the art teacher and I still remember her black mini skirts well - it was the height of the 60s.

My dad, Maurice L. Saunders of Hertford North Carolina, Jul 25, 1931 - Dec 8, 2009, was also a beautiful man, the likes of are not made anymore. I did a 2 1/2 year military tour in England and fell in love with it. Growing up, all English classics were my favorite books. I wish I would find my distant relatives from England. My dad named me.

Truly sorry to hear about Vicky. My belated sympathy and kind wishes to her family.

I have only just found this "Memories" site and have been reading through the accounts of the Maurice Saunders' years (I was there in 1956-1959) and the differing views about the toughness of the regime he imposed. Originally he ran the school with a Mr Beale, who headed the academic side, Saunders having been an RAF drill sergeant instructor in WW2 who therefore concentrated on sports. The discipline was consequently almost military and if you were not sporty by nature, which was my own fate, you got a pretty hard time. Nevertheless Mr Saunders was a fair man in the sense that he had no obvious favourites and treated everyone with equal severity! (My one "favoured" occasion, as a 12 year old, was to go out at lunchtime to the local tobacconist and buy him his regular ounce of toxic "Digger Mixture" (surely illegal now). The other teachers could be severe too, but it got results, none of us were scarred for life, and it is wrong to judge schools and behaviour of that time (Brighton College, for instance, retained beating by prefects and fagging by juniors when I was there in the 1960s) by the more relaxed standards of today. I remember Martin Nimmo and agree with much that he says of those days. The news of Vicky Helps' death is very sad indeed. She and I were exactly the same age, to the day, and after a gap of 45 years "met" again through Friends Reunited and corresponded regularly, though we never physically met again as I live in Surrey and she emigrated to Eire to get married (but was later divorced) in the 1970s. She was very much the "tomboy" while the only girl at St Christophers and recently showed me a copy of a school report for 1959 written by her father in which he rather brutally subjected her to exactly the same criticisms as if she had just been another pupil, not his daughter. In many ways she had a difficult relationship with him and a hard life later on, but it was a privilege to know her and she was a fantastically gifted artist and photographer. I had commissioned a painting but regrettably it was never delivered, as I ceased to hear from her late in 2009. A very sad break with the past - my condolences to her children, and to Marylou, Snooky, and Roger (whom I just remember at Brighton College).

I would like to invite alumni to visit the new school website (going live this Friday), register and post news which can be done via e-mail to alumni@stchristophershove.org.uk  I would also like to invite all alumni to come to a reunion and drinks reception at the school to catch up with friends and touch base on December 2nd from 7pm. If you would like to come, please e-mail hmsec@stchristophershove.org.uk.

I lived next door to St. Christopher's in the 1970s, in the upstairs flat of the Synagogue complex, where my dad was caretaker.

Thank you for your kind comments about my family and especially about my sister Vicky. I was the school secretary for many years, not only to my father but also to my brother, Roger. It was good to learn that most of you appreciated the discipline.