Commemoration

We congratulate T. M. Day (Dronfield) on qualifying as an Associate of the Royal College of Organists (A.R.C.O.). He is the fourth Peterite since the Second World War to do so while still at school.

We congratulate P. S. Oglesby (Queen's) on being placed first in the semi-final of a national gliding contest organised by the British Gliding Association at Sutton Bank on Saturday, 1st July. Oglesby is a member of the Ouse Gliding School, Rufforth.

We have pleasure in announcing the following marriage: —On 29th July, at St. John's Church, Greenside, Co. Durham, Mr. K. S. Clark to Miss Enid Hanson.

Prize-giving was held on 22nd July, in the Clifton Cinema, with the Dean of York in the chair. The platform party, which included the Lord Mayor and Sheriff, was flanked on this occasion by Mr. Dronfield's first and last Head Boys: Dr. G. E. L. Graham (1937), C. J. A. Smith (1967).

I. M. MacLeod delivered the Latin address of welcome to His Grace, the Lord Archbishop of York, who presented the prizes. Dr. Coggan's speech is reproduced below.

The usual proceedings were followed by the presentation of retirement gifts to Mr. and Mrs. Dronfield. This was performed by the President of the Old ,Peterite Club, Mr. T. J. Lewis, on behalf of Old Peterites, parents and friends of the School. Further details of this presentation will be found in this issue.

The Commemoration Sermon was preached by The Ven. H. N. Hodd, T.D., M.A. (O.P.), Archdeacon of Blackburn. The Blessing was given by the Archbishop of York who attended the service unexpectedly, as a spontaneous gesture of goodwill towards Mr. and Mrs. Dronfield.

HEADMASTER'S REPORT, JULY, 1967

Before embarking on a brief report of the events of the past year, I am sure you would expect me to say something about the future of Public Schools in general and St. Peter's in particular, especially with reference to the present enquiry being carried out by the Public Schools Commission. I am afraid I can offer no completely original ideas on this matter, but would first like everyone connected with St. Peter's School to know that we have invited, indeed urged the Public Schools Commission to send representatives to St. Peter's in order to see what we try to do. There has been no evidence that this invitation is likely to be accepted and no attempt as far as we know to obtain the information one would think a Commission would require before making recommendations.

St. Peter's School is fortunate in being a Boarding School with a strong, though minority Day Boy element. In this way we show that we do not believe in boarding to the exclusion of day education, and feel that there is room for both to live together. Boarding is obviously more suitable for some boys than for others, and in addition to this we feel that we have been and are able to provide part of the local provision for education of 5

boys living in York. The fact that we are situated in a City so rich in culture and tradition as York, is another source of our strength. Whatever the future may have in store, we are confident that so long as we retain the support of our parents, the position of St. Peter's must be secure.

A good deal is said about Comprehensive education in these days, and indeed, it has rightly been said that Independent Schools are to some extent Comprehensive in that they are free to select the boys they want to have, and sometimes the reasons for their choice are not solely academic. At St. Peter's we take in boys if we feel that we are able to do something for them and that they themselves have the ability to benefit by the type of education we are offering. In this connection it can surely be said that the real test of a school's success is what the school is able to do to bring out the latent abilities of the less academic type of boy.

The question of fees and costs of running the school is one which gives constant concern to the Governors and myself, and particularly to the Finance Committee who spend a good deal of time and thought on this question. It is unfortunate that the increase in fees which became operative in September, 1966, has not proved to be sufficient to cover the new salaries and wages scales which became operative on 1st July and 1st May respectively this year. A further increase in fees next January has therefore been found to be inevitable, and we do hope parents will appreciate that the Governors are really powerless in this matter. We do not like to accept the inevitability of rising costs and we look for economies wherever possible, but in the main fields of expenditure on education the economies which are possible unhappily make little difference to the result. In this connection we are encouraging boys to do more for themselves here, and I understand that there is to be an extension of this in the future. While a system of this kind can save a certain amount of money in wages, its main usefulness lies in the training of a boy to look after himself in the modern world.

I would now like to say a word about the curriculum, and particularly to repeat what I said last year about the abandoning of the short two-year course to "0" level. Every boy coming into St. Peter's next term at the normal age for entry will start in a IIIrd Form, but by a system of sets it will be arranged for each boy to progress at the pace appropriate to his abilities and needs. One disadvantage of the quicker course was social rather than educational. Under the revised system all new boys will start in the same group of forms where of course their friends and common room associates will be. On the educational side, as I have said, nothing will be lost; in fact there will be a definite gain in that no major or irrevocable decision on placing need be made in a boy's early terms. I have discussed this policy with my successor, who will naturally make his own decisions for future years when he has studied the situation.

I am glad to report that the Tutor system is working well and provides yet another means of help for boys in their Transitus and Vlth Form years, and particularly in their preparation for Universities. The transition from schoolboy to student is always difficult and depends to a great extent on an ability to organise one's time. In this the Tutor system can be a great help.

Each year I have said something about our Careers department and would again like to urge parents to go and see for themselves the sort of information which is available for boys in our Careers Room. The Careers Convention, which has become a biennial event, is to be repeated next March, and I hope will prove as useful and fruitful as in the past. Its

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theme will be "Further and Higher Education", and the aim to sort out the possible channels which may be used by boys from this School to gain further qualifications after "0" or "A" level exams. One point which will be emphasised will be the availability of the large number of courses outside Universities which lead to degrees or equivalent qualifications.

To come now to a review of the past year, I would like to say at the outset that I shall make no attempt to mention every activity since this would take far too long. A faithful record of what we have been doing can be read in the school magazine, but there are, of course, things to which I want specially to refer :

I would like first to mention that this year, for only the second time in my Headmastership, we spent Easter at School. I think most, if not all of us, are agreed that under the guidance of our School Chaplains this experience was one which many of us will not forget. The fact that it is probably unlikely ever to happen again makes it the more worthy of note.

Our music has continued to expand, and it has been much helped by the appointment of Mr. Sandercock to a full-time post mainly to look after the violin teaching. I may mention in connection with music that T. M. Day has obtained his A.R.C.O., being the fourth post-war Peterite to do this at school and the first to succeed at the first attempt.

Among outstanding musical activities during the year was Stainer's "Crucifixion", and in general I have been enormously encouraged by the obvious pleasure the school take in their congregational singing.

This year, largely I suspect to please me, the school play again took the form of a comic opera, but I am confident many others than myself were appreciative of the excellent performances produced by the Bolton-Wain combination, which must be unbeatable.

Another outstanding event of the past year was the Science Exhibition and before I say anything about this I am sure parents would wish me to express their deep sympathy with Mrs. Robinson on the death of her husband on his return from a visit to Bombay last January. After all, the success of our modern Science Exhibitions has been due almost entirely in the first place to Mr. Robinson's vision and capacity for hard work and organisation. I feel that the recent Exhibition was in one sense a fitting memorial to his efforts.

As in former Exhibitions, more than half the School took some part, and everyone seemed to understand what he was doing and some were able to communicate their understanding to their parents.

There were many aspects of our Science Exhibition which illustrate the basic priciples of the modern methods of teaching 'Science.

Before passing on I would like to mention the great encouragement and help our Science Department is receiving from the University of York. We had Professor Heavens to open our Exhibition and Professor Norman, Head of the Chemistry Faculty, has assisted and is assisting us in many ways. Both Professors are always ready with help and advice, which we much value.

The three parallel organisations—the C.C.F., the Scouts and the Duke of Edinburgh Award—all continue to flourish, and since they are all entirely voluntary they are the more efficient. The only thing we expect of a boy is that once he has decided to join one of these organisations he must see it through. That, after all, is no bad training for life after school. 7

The outstanding event in the Scout world at St. Peter's is the retirement of Mr. John Nix, who has been a very active Scout Master since he arrived in York in April, 1942, on the same day as the Raid, and for most of which time he has been Group Scout Master. For some years he has also been an Assistant Commissioner, and I would like to take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude and that of many generations of Scouts and Scouters for his enthusiastic leadership during these years. I am happy to say that this retirement does not mean that he is leaving the School, or indeed that he will not keep a benevolent eye on the efforts of new and younger members of the Staff in their scouting activities.

After reviewing some of the year's outstanding successes, already reported in this and preceding issues of the Peterite, the Headmaster concluded : —

I have tried to give a picture of an alive, active and happy community in which boys have opportunities for full development of their many and varied interests and abilities. The young people of today are perhaps more restive—perhaps more concerned about the big issues and unsolved problems in the world. There is a spirit of impatience with petty rules and regulations and discipline is an unpleasant word in many quarters. We still strive to order our daily lives within a framework of discipline which is largely self-imposed. The success of such a system can only be judged by the measure of self-discipline with which a boy continues to order his life when he leaves school. In these days he is "on his own" to a far greater extent than used to be the case, for although there may be people ready and willing to advise, he will have to seek them out. This is particularly true of modern University life, and without a sense of responsibility and self-discipline, the change from school to university can be disastrous.

Reference has been made to the thirty years during which I have been privileged to guide St. Peter's School. I certainly do not wish to take up your time by any sort of historical survey over this period. It is very obvious that whatever success the school may have had has certainly not been the result of one man's work. Among our many assets, we have a devoted staff—whether on the teaching, administrative or other sides—of many people who help in the day to day working of the School. This, above all, is not the occasion for me to pick out any individuals for special thanks, but I do want to say just this:

Like many schools between the wars, St. Peter's had a difficult period, but the one thing I realised from the moment of my arrival was the spirit of certain members of the staff and Old Peterites who had no thought of failure, and whose enthusiasm and belief in the future were a tremendous encouragement in those days—and if I mentioned Kenneth Rhodes and the Ping handshake, I think my older colleagues and others would understand.

The School is full; it is in a strong financial position so long as we retain the confidence of our parents, who will continue to support us so long as they believe in us. School accommodation is adequate, but one must always be looking for improvements.

Mr. Headmaster, I would like to congratulate you on the report that you have given us this morning and on the fine record of work and sport that lies behind the facts you have told us. The report you have made shows a thirst for knowledge on the part of many people which reminded me of the master who said to the mother : "Your son shows a keen thirst for knowledge. I wonder where he got it from." To which she replied : 'Well, the thirst he got from his father—and the knowledge from me."

Then I would like very warmly to congratulate MacLeod on that speech. I only wish that I could have a memory like that and an ability to concoct such splendid Latin prose. I noticed in a letter that the Headmaster sent to me that he said that on the right-hand side of the programme there was a translation into English "for some of the parents". I thought that was a splendid illustration of the tact which he has shown down the years; and the reference to this cinema "in hanc basilicam" was, I thought, a wonderful touch. Whether he could be a Yorkshireman who could refer, more or less, to a "flock of pigs", I very much doubt; but there were delicious touches and they have not gone by me unnoticed.

I am sure that the last person to want a long, drawn out farewell speech would be the Headmaster, in whose honour we meet today. But I am one of those who hold that to make a speech immortal it need not be everlasting. You would not, however, •forgive me if I did not make some allusion to him who is in a sense our host and our chief guest today.

I believe very strongly in long periods of work in one place. There is a phrase in our Church of England funeral service about people who never continue "in one stay". Now our Headmaster has long continued in one stay : he has put in thirty years of quite magnificent work in this old School; and in those thirty years—I believe I've got my figures right—the numbers of the School have almost exactly trebled. It has been a period which has been marked by a most noticeable building programme, not the least part of which has been the bridge thrown across the road. I take it that the Headmaster believes in the principle outlined in the notice which appeared on a public highway : 'Don't run over a child. Wait for a teacher".

It would, I think, be almost true to say that the Headmaster has, at the beginning of his time, almost rescued this ancient School from death. It might very well have disappeared if he had not appeared. But, thanks heavens, he did; and he set about his work with tremendous vigour.

He has shown himself down these three decades as an administrator of very great gifts, a man with a careful eye to finance, in a period which financially has been full of difficulties. But perhaps above all he has shown himself something of a genius in his choice of men to join him on his big staff; and evidence of that can be found in the large number of staff members who have done long spells of distinguished work in the School here or else have gone on to posts of greater responsibility as headmasters elsewhere. That has called for the gift—all too rare but greatly to be desired—of insight into character in the choice of men.

I guess also that that insight into character has shown itself in regard to the hundreds of boys who have passed through his hands. Was it Mr. Dronfield who wrote in a report : "This is a boy of rare ability—so rare that I am 9

completely unable to trace it"? Or of another : "This lad will go far—and the sooner the better"? Or of yet another: 'IMathematics : Trying. General behaviour : Very trying."?

The Yorkshire Post had a very interesting article about Mr. Dronfield not so very long ago. I read it with great interest; but there was one part which left me very much perplexed. It said that he made the statement, I think, that he hadn't caned a boy for twenty-five years. Well, that's fine. But then he went on to say—and this is what puzzled me—that he believed that a good hard tap on the right part of the anatomy is the kindest form of punishment. Now this left me wondering on what part of a boy's anatomy you could administer the tap if you didn't administer it—well, where you generally cane. I was puzzled by this. But I remembered a story that old Bishop Furze, that great, towering Bishop of St. Albans once told of a man who, perhaps better at getting money than he had been in getting education, bought himself a huge property and planted a row of trees. He said to the 'Bishop: "I've planted oaks. But of course oaks grow very slowly—I shan't live to see them—so I've really planted them for my posteriors." To which the Bishop replied: "In that case you should have planted birches."

The Bishop was a great lover of gardens and this same man is reported to have said to him: "I have a magnificent show of salivas."—"Ah, but" said the Bishop "you should see my spittoonias."

I am still puzzled as to where this discipline has been administered—but evidently it has and the School has flourished. I believe that when we come to look back against the perspective of history over these thirty years we shall see that the reign of Mr. Dronfield has been a very great reign. It has been a reign of almost unremitting toil and now, as the psychiatrist said to the kleptomaniac, he must take things more quietly. But I doubt whether he will. He is Chairman of the Bench of Magistrates; to my great joy he is a Reader in the Church of England—and we value his work there enormously; and I have no doubt that he will have a host of friends, old and new, who will come to him, as the old ones have done down the years, for counsel and advice. He will look forward—and this is what we hope and wish and pray for him—to a long and happy and full retirement.

And I must just add this: the work down these thirty years—or at least nearly all these thirty years—would have been quite impossible, if it had not been for one who has stood loyally by his side and who is hidden somewhere down in the audience—and I refer to Mrs. Dronfield. (Applause)

Well that speaks volumes, doesn't it?

There she's been beside him as wife, mother of his children, doctor, J2., at the beck and call of almost anybody in need, and ready at any time to do the toughest kind of job for those who need her services. What a record! We're very proud of her and very thankful for her.

And so today we salute them both, we thank them both and we wish them well from the bottom of our hearts. They take with them our affection and our gratitude.

And now Mr. Chairman and Mr. Dean I must be very brief, for it's 12 o'clock and you've sat in your seat almost long enough. As I draw to a close—and it is right I think that the main part of my speech should have 10

been a tribute to our two good friends—I remind you of a verse which runs like this: —

There was once a man who said : Damn! It is borne in upon me I am An engine that moves In predestinate grooves: I'm not even a bus—I'm a tram!

That well-known rigmarole appeared again in The Times just this week in connection with the obituary of the man who wrote it. Now a tram—as the younger ones will not remember but will have learnt, and the older ones among us will have seen and suffered—a tram moves in a groove, unable to strike out on its own, unable, if I may use the phrase of a tram, to make up its own mind as to where it goes or what it does. And it seemed to me as I read that familiar verse again, that it is to save boys from that kind of "trammy" fate that this School exists. It exists to help them develop, to send out into the world of commerce, into the world of business, into the world of the professions and so on, men who are alert and with their whole personality alive—alive to the world in which they live, with its crying need of hunger, its crying need for healing, for literacy, for God, for servicemen who are alive to one another in the friendships of every day and above all, because the others depend very largely on this, men who are alive to the God who created them and whose love in Christ is waiting for an answer from them—not, as the Latin welcome said in its opening phrase, men with eyes down "in hanc basilicam", but eyes up to God ready for marching orders and out to the world in its beckoning need. That indeed would be the note that I would strike as I congratulate once again the School, as I congratulate the Headmaster and his wife, and as I ask him for one sort of parting mercy : an extra day's holiday for you all next year.

RETIREMENT PRESENTATION TO MR. & MRS. DRONFIELD

In presenting Mr. Dronfield with a cheque on behalf of Old Peterites, parents and friends of the School, Mr. T. J. Lewis, President of the Old Peterite Club, recounted how the Headmaster had assumed office at a time when others despaired of the School's survival and how he had devoted all his energies to restoring St. Peter's to its rightful place as one of our leading Public Schools. He cited the construction of the bridge over Clifton as an illustration of the ability to achieve the well-nigh impossible, so characteristic of him who had proved to be, in every sense of the word, The Man.

Speaking of Mrs. Dronfield, to whom he presented a gold wrist-watch, Mr. Lewis paid tribute to her great gifts and natural charm, assuring her that all she had done for the welfare of so many in the audience had won her a high place in all their affections.

Mr. Lewis explained that the commemorative album had been donated by Mr. Walter Smith and handsomely inscribed by Mr. Gaastra with the names of over a thousand contributors to the retirement fund. It contained

the crest of the School in colour and a photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Dronfield, while the first page bore this inscription : — "This album contains the names of all the parents, Old Peterites and friends of the School who have been pleased to have the opportunity of subscribing to the retirement fund to a great Headmaster and his wife."

Mr. Lewis thanked all contributors and gratefully acknowledged the assistance of the Dean, Mr. Walter Smith and Mr. Roy Marshall in launching the fund.

It is understood that it is hoped to add to the contents of the album the text of the tributes paid to the Headmaster and Mrs. Dronfield during Commemoration.

COMMEMORATION SERMON

Archdeacon Hodd took as his texts : — "I also am a man under authority." St. Luke, Ch. 7 v. 8. "I am myself a man under orders." St. Matthew, Ch. 8 v. 9.

He concluded his sermon as follows : — "Today we are ending another chapter in the history—the long, long history—of this School, a chapter which, please God, is not even the middle chapter of this proud book.

It has been a good chapter and the title-heading is "John Dronfield"— or, if you are publishing a popular paper-back—"The Man".

He came here thirty years ago with the School teetering on the edge of extinction. He leaves it firmly based and well equipped to face the future. You can see around you in the School buildings the tangible results of his work, but there are other results far less obvious, but even more important, in the lives and characters of at least seven generations of boys in this school.

John Dronfield would be the first to disclaim that the success of this School was due to his efforts alone. He has paid tribute to both Governors and Staff and to the support of Old Peterites. He has indeed been well served. But the responsibility of leadership has been his and he has accepted it.

The measure of his succes has been the fact that he has known himself to be a man under authority—a man of faith in God. That faith he has not worn on his sleeve—it is not pietistic, thank goodness—but from my own personal association with him over these thirty years I know it is very real and very deep. "The Man", you have called him. Yes, indeed, the Man under authority—the final authority of God.

And all of you here this morning—Boys, Staff, Old Peterites—don't you ever forget it.

There is only one in authority, God. And if we would accomplish anything in this life we must each be under God's authority. "For I also am a man under authority." 12