if some of them do fall in love, there doesn't have to be anything furtive about it. Co-education can be creative without, contrary to popular superstition, having to be procreative too. The meeting of male and female approaches and sensibilities in the class-room is richer and more productive. And in English (which as any English teacher will tell you is the most important subject—and it is, because is promotes the synthesis of all that is most important and personal to the individual) it's possible to discuss Virginia Woolf, William Golding, or D. H. Lawrence, from more varied responses and levels, and therefore more meaningfully. Come to think of it, how could anyone seriously imagine that co-education amounts to little more than holding hands in the back row, pulsing away the moments till you can slope off behind some distant hedgerow? This is exactly the kind of immaturity it is designed to destroy. This seems to me the chief point: that you never for a moment think of the establishment as being "co-ed" when you are in it: it just seems natural, and it is other types which seem bizarre. No doubt is isn't the answer for everyone: there are, I suppose, born (or early-conditioned) bachelors and spinsters who would be happier elsewhere, and quite a number of people who happily survive whatever form of education they are processed through. But for a boarding-school it strikes me (and, incidentally, educational psychologists too) as much more whole. I should like to have been educated at my school. Tim Williams Tim Williams left the staff of St. Peter's in 1966 and is now a housemaster to seventy children at Bedales School, Hampshire.
SWIMMING In 1965 the new swimming pool was opened, a great improvement on the old one, both indoor and heated. We had two swimming matches, both were lost. Three years later, 1968, we had 11, 10 were won. The obvious statement is that swimming has gone from strength to strength. This is apparent from the fact that the swimming team is made up of full-time swimmers only and that all but two of the School records are held by boys who are still present at the School. It should be mentioned that these School records are all of extremely high standard, there being few schools who have better ones As well as our tremendous improvement in inter schools matches there has been a marked improvement in our performances in national schools relay competitions: Otter Club relay (freestyle) 1966-34th; 1967-20th; 1968-16th. This year we also entered the Bath Cup relay, a medley relay in which we came 12th on virtually no training. With some hard training things look very rosy for next year. We were fortunate enough this year to be hosts for the Northern Schools relays here we also put up some fine performances reaching the three finals we tried for. •
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