House Notes

The term soon got under way : the 14 new boys quickly settled in, and before long we were being rigorously trained for the House Rugger matches by the House Captain, R. H. Parker, ably assisted by Kettlewell, who organised evening training sessions and Sunday practices. This produced, we feel, a high degree of fitness, but for the Senior team unluckily this was not enough. The team was beaten in the first round by a superior Temple side in a very good match. However, for their efforts in this match and for their general services to the House so far, Senior House Colours were awarded to Kettlewell and Junior House Colours to Ibberson. The Junior team fared better, and after beating The Grove in the semi-final (having received a bye in the first round) faced Queen's in the final. After a fairly even first half, we were finally beaten 5-19. Junior House Colours were awarded to A. C. Milnes, Croft-Baker and Hedley. This, coupled with success in the House Leagues, has made the House Rugger this term look most encouraging.

The efforts of the House Captain of Chess, Kemp, to find the best team were rewarded by victory in the first round over School House. However, we were unable to keep this up, and fell in the semi-final to The Manor.

The Bible Reading Group again flourished this term. Daily bible reading sessions were held, and also three evening discussions, at which visiting speakers, mostly from the Staff, gave talks.

One new trophy came to The Rise this term—The Dronfield Trophy. It was with some embarrassment that our Housemaster revealed that we had won it!

We bid farewell to Fawcett, Marsay and Wilson. We were sorry to hear that Mr. R. J. Wilson has ceased to be our Assistant Housemaster; we thank him for all his interest and help.

It has been a long term, but, spared to a certain extent by the weather, a most enjoyable one.

SCHOOL HOUSE

Atkinson, Carruthers, Gillies and Starkey were appointed monitors at the beginning of the term.

An interesting change in the decor confronted us on our arrival in September; the monitors' bathroom is now salmon pink in colour and the Long Dorm. ice-blue. The House has acquired as an Intermediate's study the former Careers Room; the Quiet Room is situated directly above the Head Master's office (there are three layers of carpet on the floor); and an additional dormitory has been opened in our annexe at No. 8 St. Peter's Grove.

An Honours Board with the names of Heads of House back to 1913 has been made and installed on a wall near the House Master's study.

The outstanding sporting achievement of the term was the triumph of the Senior Rugger XV. Fitness, teamwork and enthusiasm overcame the opposition of The Grove, The Manor and Queen's in turn. The uniform soundness of the team rather than the excellence of a few was without doubt an important factor in their success.

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The Junior XV suffered a first-round defeat in driving rain; Lunn and Collomosse were awarded their Junior House Colours. An encouraging sign for the future was the fact that seven members of the House played, at one time or another, for the Junior Colts.

The House provided an impressive number of actors and stage-hands for the production of "Richard the Second"; a reason for this could have been the popularity of the House play produced by Mr. Field nearly two years ago. R. H. Grayson, in particular, in the title role, proved himself a maturing and competent actor.

Other House activities have continued, the Junior House Debating Society, the Ecclesia and the House Proms. to mention three; an increasing amount of Chess is being played; there is a greater amount of Squash being played and the new Squash Courts should encourage this.

Hodgson is leaving to go to the Westminster Secretarial College and Collins to take up residence at St. John's College, Cambridge, next October. We wish them both good fortune. * * *

Jokes have been made about P. Collins' initials and he has fully appreciated them. In actual fact Collins, as Head of House, has shown many of the attributes of the best type of police constable, understanding with firmness, fairness above all, and he must rank as one of our best Heads of House on any standard.

A.T.H.

TEMPLE

The culmination to a most successful year was reached when the Work Cup was restored to the House to take pride of place amongst our 11 cups. This was particularly gratifying ir: view of the fact that we won both the Senior and the Junior Sections, and it is interesting to note that we have now won this cup 13 times since 1938.

For the first time for many years we can record a victory in the Senior Rugger Competition. A strong, confident team succeeded in defeating The Rise in a well-fought game, meeting The Rise's sole threat with annihilating, defensive tackling. Victory against Queen's was not to be and, despite Carr's excellent kicking, we lost a tactical battle by 9 points to 12. Success in the Junior House Leagues and three prospective Colts would seem to suggest a bright future for Rugger in the House. G. R. Monfort was awarded his House Colours.

This term has seen a great improvement in the House amenities. Three daily newspapers now circulate throughout the House in addition to our regular magazines. The studies and the Senior Common Room now sport armchairs, acquired from divers sources, and Study 1 showed great initiative in painting their ceiling yellow !

Finally, our thanks and best wishes go to our leavers, particularly to Mr. Shuttleworth, who has left us to join the enemy. 10

The Harvest Thanksgiving comes early in the Christmas Term and makes a very happy beginning for it. The Chapel is always beautifully decorated, a distinctive feature being the baskets full of harvest gifts presented by each of the Houses in St. Olave's. This year we had the extra pleasure of having Mr. Jones with us to preach the Harvest sermon.

Unfortunately the Dean of York's sudden operation deprived us of his visit, which should have taken place on 22nd October. We are thankful to hear that he is making an excellent recovery. Our only preacher this term from outside the School has been the Rev. D. N. Jenkins, the Schools' Representative of S.P.G. We are very grateful to him for coming and for his memorable sermon. The Head Master preached on the first Sunday of term and on 10th December.

On 12th November, which was Remembrance Sunday, we kept to our usual practice of observing the Two Minutes' Silence in the course of a short service in the morning, at which the Head of the School laid a wreath on the Book of Remembrance. As in other years Evensong was sung as a thanksgiving for our preservation in the two world wars. Once again there was a voluntary service of Compline and Preparation for Communion on the evening before Advent Sunday.

To our great regret the Head Master missed the Carol Service owing to illness. Mr. Le Tocq read the last lesson in his place and Mr. Rhodes read the lesson appointed for the Second Master. There were good reports of the relay of this service to the Memorial Hall. St. Peter's and St. Olave's pooled their Carol Service collections, with the result that we were able to give £2 10s. Od. to each of the inmates of the John Burrill Home for old people at Clifton and £27 15s. Od. to the Godfrey Walker Nursery at Acomb.

In response to an urgent appeal for the British Honduras Hurricane Relief Fund the Chapel Committee at a special meeting on 4th December decided to devote the collections on the following Sunday to this particular need. The combined sum from St. Peter's and St. Olave's amounted to £22 5s. Od.

We were most grateful to Mr. Willstrop for the gift of a handsome candle extinguisher which he has presented to us as a thank offering for his baby daughter's baptism in the Chapel.

N.K-W.

THE CHOIR

First of all we extend a warm welcome to all the new members of the Choir this term. We started off in good form by singing in the Minster for the Annual Harvest Thanksgiving Service, which as usual went very well. In our own Thanksgiving Service we sang Greene's "Thou visitest the earth". A good selection of anthems this term ended with Purcell's "Rejoice in the Lord alway", which was splendidly sung with Dawes, J. D. A. Platts and Bytheway in the verse parts.

The Carol Service was again a great success, and Platts must be congratulated on a fine solo in "The Three Kings". 11

Unfortunately Mr. Cummin resigned from the Choir this term. The tenors have owed a lot to him for his help over the past years and he was greatly missed. Later we heard that Mr. Jeffs would be leaving us also. He has been faithful to the Choir for such a long time as bass and joint conductor that we shall miss him a great deal next term.

The music sung during the term included: — O Come ye servants—Tye. Thou visitest the earth—Greene. The Lord hath been mindful—S. S. Wesley. Stanford in B flat (Nunc Dimittis).* 0 Praise the Lord—Batten. How dear are thy counsels—Crotch. Greater love bath no man—Ireland. Evening Hymn—Balfour Gardiner. Stanford in B flat (Jubilate).* Hosanna to the Son of David—Weelkes. Rejoice in the Lord alway—Purcell. * With the School.

The Carols sung included: — The First Nowell.* Ding Dong Merrily on high. There is no rose—john 7oubert. In dulci Jubilo—R. L. de Pearsall. The Three Kings—P. Cornelius. Past three o'clock—arr. Woodward.* Sung with the School.

"RICHARD II"

The Victorians admired Shakespeare for writing finer poetry than Tennyson's; the 'Thirties praised him for psychological insights which both matched and anticipated Freud's. Universality in art implies the ability of each age to interpret it according to its special needs. Today we value Shakespeare, especially in the History plays, as a political observer, and it seems impossible not to add to his overburdened genius yet another superlative, that of being the most subtle and penetrating political intelligence in the history of English drama. Hence it seemed inevitable that the School's production of "Richard II" last term should emphasise the play's political action rather than its ravishing flights of poetry or its undoubted psychological ingenuity.

Inevitable, and also sensible, for who will deny that in the hands of schoolboys this aspect of a play, its action, stands to gain most from what they have to offer. Indeed, the youthful vigour and unmitigated enthusiasm often denied to more seasoned performers, can be turned to powerful advantage in the representation of sharp conflict, where an over-subtle approach can only vitiate the dramatic impact. Thus we saw a most spirited head-on clash between Bolingbroke and Mowbray which set the play off to an excellent start, reminding one, topically if irresponsibly, of a couple of Congolese politicians in the presence of an Unarmed Neutral. Here, indeed, was our point of contact with 12