i) Headmaster's Report

SPEECH DAY

HEADMASTER'S REPORT, JULY, 1965

I feel that you would all like me to preface my report with a word of welcome to our Chairman, the Dean of York, on the first occasion he has presided over our Speech Day. Already our Dean has shown his lively interest in our ancient School and we hope that he will be here many years to preside over our fortunes.

I would also like, on behalf of the whole assembly, to welcome you, My Lord Mayor and Mr. Sheriff, together with your Ladies, and we are proud at St. Peter's to be able to say that the presence of the Civic Party has become a valued tradition. I shall hope to refer later to our connection with the City.

For me personally, as well as for many of my colleagues, this is a specially important occasion in that we have a famous ex-Headmaster here with us in the person of Lord James, the Vice-Chancellor of York University. He has already been welcomed in the St. Peter's traditional manner, and I can assure him that he has our special affection as one of the outstanding educationists of the century. It would, indeed, be appropriate at this stage to mention that we have already derived benefits from the creation of the new University of York, and we look forward to more and more contacts as the University expands. With all due modesty we hope that we may perhaps, as an ancient educational institution, be able to help our University, for it is certain that we shall derive much help and inspiration from them. We rejoice to know, from the visual evidence already available, that we are to have in York a residential University embracing all the best features of Oxford.

We are additionally honoured today by the presence of Lady James, and apologise to her that in this all-masculine stronghold our ladies are relegated to the floor. I am sure Lord and Lady James cannot in general spare time to attend each other's Speech Day appearances!

We are indeed glad to be able to provide opportunities for the education of the sons of some of the University staff, and one member of the University staff has already "lent" us (if that is the appropriate term) his wife to assist temporarily in our mathematical teaching. Boys and Common Room alike will miss Mrs. Hutton.

It seems to be expected today that the Headmaster of an Independent School should say something at his Speech Day about modern educational trends and particularly about what is commonly called the "integration" of Independent Schools into the State system. I have never had any doubt as to what our own position in this respect should be. We have for many years co-operated with the Local Education Authority in providing places for some of their nominees, and I can say without hesitation that nothing but good has ever come out of this co-operation. Schools like ours are wide open for the extension of any such integration : all we ask is that this can be done without losing our independence, and by independence we simply mean freedom to select our own pupils and to experiment educationally. Independence for us does not mean licence to do as we like, and in fact we indeed fully depend upon our parents, whose confidence we must continue to deserve.

During the year under review many activities have, as usual, taken place, and I cannot hope to deal more than very briefly with the main events. 5

I said last year that is was very difficult to translate one's work results in terms of 'figures, and I will make no such attempt. But I claim that we can report a successful year in that respect, and the close contacts we retain with boys who have left School entitle us to be fully satisfied with their progress at Universities and elsewhere. I have said before from this platform on numerous occasions that we cannot measure progress by the number of boys who obtain places at Universities, and indeed in some ways success in doing this may not always be to the benefit of the boy concerned. There are careers which can be better approached direct from school, particularly for boys who leave with a good general school record, but who are obviously not fitted for further long academic study.

One special point I want to mention to parents about the curriculum is that in the future we are going to be rather less prone to place a boy into what is called the "quick" or two-year course to "0" level, rather than the average three-year course. After all, a boy who joins the latter course has opportunities through the system of "setting" to go beyond the bare "0" level syllabus during the three years, and he has the same opportunties of University entry or anything else as that rarer boy who can manage the two-year course. Another point which may be of interest to some is that the Governors have decided, after careful consideration, to retain Greek as a subject in the school curriculum for boys who are able to benefit from a full classical course. We are fully alive to the necessity in these days for learning modern languages, and all this is allowed for in our curriculum, but at any rate up to "0" level stage there is no greater mental discipline in learning two modern languages than one, and the second language, unless a boy is going to read Modern Languages at "A" level, can be introduced after the Vth form stage.

We are making a beginning in September with the audio-visual method of teaching French, and this will start in J.4 in our Junior School and be continued in the Senior School. We are also introducing the new approach to Mathematics in our IVth forms, together with a more modern approach to Science, replacing the syllabuses which I understand were laid down about 1900. I can also assure parents that the successful experiments we have been making in past years for general and additional courses in the VIth form will be continued, and are appreciated by most of the boys concerned. Thus, we are continuing to try to produce boys who have had a general education, at the same time not losing sight of the necessity for specialisation in their chosen subjects.

In relation to the general school curriculum I would like to emphasise again that we make our syllabus consecutive throughout both the Senior and Junior Schools so that the transfer of a boy from St. Olave's to St. Peter's is a social rather than an educational event. We have already examined these boys on entry, and so long as they continue to work and make progress they are not required to take an examination at any special time with the object of testing their suitability to be at St. Peter's. Many of our boys, of course, come from other Preparatory Schools, and the system we have of contacts with their Headmasters and of offering definite places to suitable boys two years before entry is, I know, much appreciated and goes far to achieve that same object of continuity.

An outstanding event during the past year has, of course, been the formation and opening of a fifth Boarding House built purposefully as such. I am very glad to report that the most difficult part of this venture habeen an unqualified success. I do not refer to the designing of the House 6

or even to the raising of the money, but to the immediate and favourable response of the school community and their acceptance of a new House formed inevitably by boys who were asked to change their loyalty. This has been achieved to no small extent by the great ability, drive and enthusiasm of the first Head boy of the House, Martyn Smith, who himself transferred his close loyalty in what he believed to be the interests of the School. Even the fact that "Dronfield" has met with a certain success on the playing fields is not, I am sure, resented by anyone in any other House, and as I hope in many other ways, I can say that the School is united in their pride in this achievement.

Another outstanding event of the year has been the opening of the new indoor swimming bath which has been in use now for the past four or five weeks. We have not arranged a special official opening since we thought perhaps our friends might be getting a little tired of these functions, but I hope that all our visitors will make a point of seeing, and if they like testing the bath today, and I might also mention that we are hoping that our parents and other friends will take advantage of joining the club which is being formed to use the bath during the holidays. The acquisition of this bath, which can be used all the year round, will obviously do much to improve the school swimming, and it will also give more opportunity for healthful exercise when our grounds are frozen and snowcovered and one gets a little tired of continual runs. We have already paid tribute to the generosity of our friends, and particularly our parents, which has made these two valuable additions possible, and apart from smaller projects to keep us up-to-date, there will doubtless now have to be an interval before our next major schemes are prepared.

In connection with building I would like to mention at this point that the York Corporation have agreed to co-operate with us in designing a suitable footbridge for the use of the 120 boys who live on the other side of Clifton. The provision of this bridge will, I know, be hailed with satisfaction and relief by our parents, and we are grateful to the City for yet other evidence of their interest and sympathy for our problems.

It is not often that one says very much about the Chapel in an annual report, but I would like to assure our parents and friends that we are very conscious of our responsibility in the matter of the use of the School Chapel and the arrangements of the services. We know that our boys, like many other people, have difficulties one way or another with their religious beliefs, but we still maintain that the instruction we give in this way is the basic foundation of our education at St. Peter's. We are alive to the fact that there should be changes and we have in mind plans which will enable our boys, particularly our senior boys, to express themselves more freely in these matters.

I need not say very much about careers since I know that most of our parents here this morning appreciate all that this service, ably led by Mr. Coulthard, is doing and can do for their individual boys. May I just mention that there will be another two days' Careers Convention in the School next March, and take the opportunity of inviting parents who have suggestions to make for special topics to be covered to write to Mr. Coulthard in the meantime.

The careers room will be available for parents and visitors to see this week-end and I hope that parents in particular will ask their boys to take them to see it.

The Drama Society continues to flourish in several ways, and of course their outstanding achievement during the past year was the production of "H.M.S. Pinafore". This again was a combined effort of the Drama and Music Societies and included a strong contingent of the Junior School staff and boys. The staging of this opera again gave valuable opportunities to boys behind the scenes, and I would like particularly to congratulate Crombie and Oxley for the results and particularly the moonlight opening of the second act which was surely an achievement of rare quality for an amateur production.

The Society has continued its activities in play-reading and has encouraged House drama which, during the past year, has been more vigorous than for some time. Indeed, activities under this heading are only really limited by the time available.

Another of our important societies—the Debating Society—has been very active. Attempts at giving younger boys a chance to make platform speeches have been quite successful. All boys are welcome to seek membership of the Society and opportunities are offered in the open meetings for showing genuine interest.

In the Schools' Debating Association the School team of H. Biddle and N. J. Smith won the Regional round in the annual competition, but were defeated in the semi-final by Stonyhurst.

H. Biddle, who has been an outstanding debater here, and who is known to Ampleforth debaters as "the dreaded Biddle", was invited to become the Chairman of the Schools' Debating Association for the coming year; he has had to decline this honour, but it is an indication that the Society stands well in reputation at the centre of School debating.

I referred last year to the new regulations governing the C.C.F. and was very glad to receive an encouraging and good report on the contingent's first inspection since the setting of new and higher standards. The activities during the year have been varied as usual, but the Band deserves a special mention. After its very successful summer term last year it was cut by more than half, but high-powered recruiting by the Band's leading N.C.O.s produced a new organisation within a week, which had reached a good standard at the time of the annual inspection. Our visitors will be able to judge something of this later today.

It is perhaps worth mentioning that contrary to the view of some, the C.C.F. can offer almost unlimited chances of doing social service, and there is no better example of this than the fact that a local Boys' Brigade band has been trained in spare time by three members of our band, J. F. Gagg being the leader in an effort for which he might justly feel proud.

I would again remind parents that although membership of the C.C.F. is entirely voluntary, we must of course insist on the three-year contract being carried out when a boy joins.

The Scout Group has again numbered just over 70, evenly divided between the Scout Troop and the Senior Scout Troop. Six Queen's Scout awards have been gained during the year. During the Easter holidays the Senior Scouts took part in an expedition in the Lake District. Later in the holidays A. D. Bailey ran a Patrol Leaders' training camp, but they were less fortunate with their weather. It is interesting to note that M. J. Baddeley, the preacher at the Commemoration Service, was the first Senior Scout Patrol Leader in the School group and was also our first Queen's Scout.

There are about 50 boys participating in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, and of these, 10 are taking the Gold level expedition at the beginning of the holidays. This is a severe test of endurance and initiative which will try out their hours of arduous training. There is no time to go into all the activities of this Scheme, but I would like to mention that earlier this year our boys were attending courses in public service with the intention of providing opportunities actually to serve the community by making use of their training.

Apart from the three organisations I have just mentioned, there are other boys in the School who do forms of social service under the enthusiastic leadership of Mr. Mair, and we are indeed proud of the fact

that through one organisation or another our boys are helping in many forms of social service, and perhaps what is still more important, are being

conditioned to wish to continue in this most vital work as opportunities

present themselves when they leave school.

Before I turn to a review of the school games during the past year I

feel I must mention the work which has been accomplished on the school playing fields. About this time last year Mr. Harding decided that the 1st XV field must be widened by nine yards, and although he was told pretty firmly that no funds were available just at the moment for such ventures, he succeeded in persuading us this must be done. The result you will see today, if you have not already done so, and this involved moving about 4,000 tons of soil from the rugger field to fill up what was known as the cricket bay. We shall now have a rugger field of the correct dimensions, and I am sure this will make a very great difference to the game. May I, in this connection, take the opportunity of thanking an old boy, Terence

Stephenson, for his generosity in loaning machines to carry out this work,

and also Mr. Johnston, our Head Groundsman, and his staff for the enthusiasm with which they tackled a seemingly impossible task. It is indeed that sort of service of which I have for years been very conscious.

Another general observation I would make on our school games is that

it can truly be said that from the point of view of super excellence in one game we perhaps try too much. I have, for example, during my years here been pressed on the one side to give up hockey in favour of a second term of rugger for the whole school, and on the other to continue hockey on the grounds that it is a traditional school game and one which a man can continue to play until middle age. As far as this particular contest is concerned, we have now hit upon a compromise which I hope will achieve most of the objectives we have in mind.

With an exceptionally young 1st XV (as many as seven players, including the Captain, only 16 years old), team building for the future was our main preoccupation. Results were inevitably our least successful. With nine old colours returning, we are hopeful of the future and a refreshing spirit of renewed confidence pervades.

Athletics took on very much the same pattern as in previous years.

The weather did its best to intervene and bring operations to a standstill, but Bootham School came to our aid not only in allowing us to beat them in our annual fixture but also in loaning us their ground, which kept our programme operational.

Cricket has once again high-lighted the School's annual games' record.

We now very much regret losing to Worksop in mid-May because ever since all the remainder of school matches have either been won outright or gone decisively in our favour.