SPEECH DAY, 1942

House Monitors: . The Manor—E. P. Davison, R. B. Goodman, D. J. Burton,

D. L. Pryer, D. H. Denholm. The Rise—F. D. Godsmark, R. L. Murray, P. M. Steele,

J. P. Corry. School House—P. V. Leigh, R. L. Miller, P. Penniston,

F. P. Tee. Temple House—A. L. Wyman, J. D. Bulmer, W. Amos,

G. Wilson, R. T. Hey.

A very large gathering of parents and friends at Speech Day, held on the 29th October, emphasised once again the inadequacy of Big Hall for the requirements of a stillgrowing school. A large number of the boys had to listen to the speeches (which, after all, are directed to the boys as much as to their parents) from the two adjoining classrooms. The Dean of York, the Very Rev. Eric MilnerWhite, presided, and the prizes were distributed by Dr. T. S. Hele, Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

The Headmaster began his survey of the School year with a reference to the continued numerical growth of the School. We were now over 300 strong, and it had been found necessary to open another boarding house, the Manor (formerly No. 17 Clifton), to relieve the pressure on School House. The question of accommodation, already acute, had, of course, been accentuated by the air raid in April, and we were fortunate in being able to secure a property which was in every way an ideal addition to the School. In this connection the Headmaster expressed our thanks to the Army authorities who, with a generous appreciation of the difficulties created for us by enemy action, had readily vacated the premises in our favour. The air raid, of course, had been the outstanding fact of the school year, and Mr. Dronfield paid a generous tribute to all who had so willingly and wholeheartedly co-operated to ensure that the work of the School was continued with little or no interruption, and certainly with no adverse effects on our results. He expressed, too, both his sympathy with Mr. and Mrs. Burgess, who had suffered considerable personal loss in the

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damage to the Rise, and his gratitude to the parents, who had shown no sign of apprehension, but only an understanding of the difficulties and a loyal acceptance of the inevitable improvisations.

In reviewing the work the Headmaster was able to report most satisfactorily. Two Open Scholarships had been gained at the older universities (by G. Long, in Modern Languages, and R. E. Dodd, in Natural Sciences), and there had been a gratifying expansion of the 6th Form. There were fourteen boys working beyond the Higher Certificate stage, and there were now 6th Form Courses in Classics, Modern Languages, Mathematics, Science, and Pre-Medical subjects. The external examination results had been good, 16 Higher and 31 School Certificates being gained in the course of the year, several of which revealed outstanding individual achievements.

Turning to the general educational policy of the School, the Headmaster reiterated his conviction that early specialisation was to be avoided. No boy below the 6th Form was permitted to depart from the School Certificate syllabus, a policy which nat only ensured a sound general education, but proved of direct benefit when specialisation was embarked upon at a later stage. On the question of careers—a difficult problem in these days when senior boys were inevitably pre-occupied by the claims of the Services— Mr. Dronfield urged a balanced outlook. He emphasised the importance of deciding now on a .peace-time career and passing all possible preliminary examinations. Whatever prophetic view one might take of the post-war world, all must agree that ultimately the best insurance was the highest possible degree of educational attainment. And in the present critical times it was equally true that the Services expected much, and rightly expected much, from those who were privileged to stay at school until the age of 18. In connection with the immediate problems of boys about to leave school much valuable help had been given by Service representatives who from time to time visited the School, and the Headmaster called for a similarly clear lead by those responsible for meeting the technical needs of the country. The State Bursary system was not receiving the attention from boys which it deserved.

In dealing with out-of-school activities he was able to stress in particular the vigour and efficiency of those most

nearly connected with the war effort. Every eligible boy in the School was enrolled in the Home Guard Platoon, and the A.T.C. had spent a year of great activity, giving valuable experience to those with an R.A.F. preference. The vigour of the J.T.C. was attested by the success of 32 Certificate A candidates and the award of 43 Individual Certificates A. The introduction of physical fitness into the Certificate A syllabus was a noteworthy innovation. A very successful farm camp had been run by the School for a period of six weeks during the summer holidays. The camp had been attended by 77 boys for spells of two weeks or longer, and in the aggregate a total of 5,694 hours had been contributed to the vital task of gathering the country's harvest.

Games fixtures had suffered an inevitable curtailment, and more distant rivals could no longer be met. There had been notable rugger victories over Durham, Giggleswick, and Ampleforth, and, though the Cricket XI had not quite the success of the record-breaking 1941 side, it won all its School matches except one, and the Headmaster was able to dwell with justifiable pride on the noteworthy fact that in two seasons only one School game had been lost. The Boat Club had suffered unduly by the restrictions of wartime and by the ravages of the air attack, which damaged the boathouse and its 'contents, but, nevertheless, rowing flourished with a vigour and enthusiasm which augured well for the time when more normal conditions should permit the expansion of the Club's activities. To the list of other sports which continued a healthy existence—Athletics, Shooting, Squash, and Tennis—the Headmaster could now add Swimming, which, from being 'merely a pastime, had become a recognised school sport, with matches against other schools. Lastly, he emphasised that in the distractions of war the cultural aspects of the School had been by no means submerged. Among others, there were strong Musical, Debating, Scientific, and Dramatic Societies, which continued to make their vital contributions to the true education of the boys.

Concluding, the Headmaster claimed that he had hoped to give some impression of a school which was " very much alive and filling a useful place in the national war effort and, more important still, in preparing boys for the long and difficult task of post-war reconstruction." The year had been a most difficult one, and he was proud of the excellent spirit which had enabled the School to achieve so much.

It was this spirit and these achievements which gave him confidence that, whatever the future held for Public Schools, and whatever educational changes might take place, St. Peter's and schools like it would always have their part to play.

After the presentation of the prizes, Dr. T. S. Hele, our principal guest on the occasion, gave an interesting address. He referred in particular to the contribution which undergraduates were making in the national emergency. He said that the Minister of Labour encouraged boys to go to the universities to read physics, engineering, mathematics, modern languages, and so on, to continue their education as medical students, and to read other subjects in order to prepare themselves to become leaders. It would be a very poor thing if every boy was driven into the Fighting Forces so that the specialist jobs could not get their full complement of men.

On specialisation in education, Dr. Hele said that if they did away with the School Certificate, as was suggested by the Norwood Commission, there would be a danger that they would ultimately get a state of affairs in which they would have people taught snippets of everything, and at the end of their university careers they would be in danger of being jacks of all trades and masters of none.

At the conclusion of his address Dr. Hele was thanked by Major P. Godsal, and the proposal was seconded by Professor J. H. Jones.

PRIZE LIST.

The Dean cf York's Prize for Mathematics C. A. F. Cookson The Whitehead Divinity Prizes:— St. Peter's ... ... ... ,... ... ... A. H. Terry St. Olave's ... ... ... ... ... ... ... D. Tate The Headmaster's Prize for Latin Prose D. Taylor-Thompson The Toyne European History Prize ... ... ... J. A. Denison Reading Prizes:— St. Peter's—Senior D. G. Middleton St. Peter's—Junior J. E. Thompson St. Olave's—Senior ... ... J. D. Dench St. Olave's—Junior ,... ... R. F. Wyman The Crombie Memorial Prize ... P. A. Lockwood The B.M.A. Medal for Science ... R. E. Dodd The Stephenson Greek Prize ... D. Taylor-Thompson The Modern Language Prize ... ... F. L. Duffield