At CH, school magazines have provided the means of communicating news both internally and to the outside world; they have also been an important medium for showcasing the literary and other abilities of the pupils.
For the boys, their main publication - The Blue - was founded in 1870. Initially it appeared once a month, then nine issues were produced each year, this being later reduced to three and today just one issue per annum. Content embraced School and Old Blue news; literary and scientific articles, carried originally, later found other outlets. Over the years the style, size and format have undergone various modifications, including the introduction of colour. The illustration on the left shows an early front cover from February 1874.
For the girls at Hertford an annual magazine had been produced from 1922 (until 1947) and an annual newsletter from around 1898, this continuing beyond the amalgamation of the two schools in 1985. For both, the content was broadly similar to that for The Blue although both continued to include literary articles.
Amongst other magazines, at Horsham the early 1920s saw the first issue of The Outlook which became the main vehicle for essays, poems and other literary work. The publication ran until the 1960s, with a new series beginning in 1980. At both Horsham and Hertford, the boys and girls produced unofficial House or Ward ‘magazines’, which were usually short lived publications initiated by entrepreneurial pupils who were even prepared to include coloured plates in a work of considerable effort and quality
The CH Scientific Society was founded in 1875, but seems to have been disbanded within twelve months. The Natural History Society was founded anew in 1903 which had many lectures and outings, as described in official annual reports. A replacement and new style magazine for science was started in June 1950, the Christ's Hospital Science Journal and N.H.S. report, with many articles specially written by pupils, which gives a good indication of the huge progress in scientific development during the 20th century.
From 1994, a bi-annual newsletter - Housey - has been produced, while the advance of technology has been embraced, with school and Old Blues websites and the production of a monthly Old Blues e-letter.