Radio 5

top we were immersed in low cloud (has anyone ever actually seen the top of Bow Fell?) and battered by a strong wind, or gale?, the distinction is purely academic.

After another intake of food we descended to the Three Tarns, bathed in sunshine and then completed the day with a gentle canter along Crinkle Crags to Pike o' Blisco and back to the bus at the Dungeon Ghyll.

So ended a year of numerous varied outings offering a real chance to get out and about. It is hoped that more boys will take advantage of these next year, and to those who can't make up their minds, there's only one way to see what it's like—come along next term! G.P. D.H.H.

Easter term

A week after the beginning of the term a regular scheduled broadcast was already under way. Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings were devoted to music programmes of various kinds with Pete Wood, Robert Flint, Barry Avison and myself having regular programmes, with at least one other D.J. being featured each week. Saturday was devoted to Project 1, a series of literary programmes devised by Tony Lawrence.

There were also one or two special programmes, the most notable being a specially adapted play which was performed by "The Rise House Players" under the direction of Charles Steadman. Summer term

As most people were involved in exams and outdoor activities this term, the Board felt it necessary to have no regular broadcasts, but instead to concentrate on special programmes when people had the time to produce them.

Tim Elsworth did a short series of excellent blues programmes early on in the term; and just before the General Election the two Parliamentary Candidates for York were asked about their policies and opinions by a special team of interviewers. The two candidates, Bryan Askew (Conservative) and Alex Lyon (Labour) were extremely good interviewees and thanks to Nick Blitz, Ian Gill and Michael Stephenson, two very interesting interviews resulted.

A history of the School in sound was started late on in the term, and the L.P. should be released during the next School year. Side 1 will be a potted history of the School from its foundation to the present day, and side 2 will be about the School as it is today.

When you read this there will be a new Board of Directors (with Mr. Anderson and Mr. Oxley still in charge) and regular broadcasts should be under way.

I hope you will listen if you can, as Radio 5 depends on your support and participation, especially participation. It is not very difficult to do a 30 minute show (on any subject, not necessarily music). 32

N.B. Try also to listen to the St. Olave's programmes, which, although they are sometimes broadcast at awkward times, are of an excellent quality. G.S.Y.

GREEK PLAY, BRADFIELD: JUNE 6TH 1970

On a very hot Saturday in June six boys, one man and his dog clambered into the belly of the formidable minibus that was to be their prisoner for the next five hours. Another school expedition was about to begin. The shirt-sleeved party set off and after a brief stop at Wheldrake arrived at Wakefield to be complemented by a master and five studious girls from Wakefield Girls' High School. We then proceeded down the M1 in the sweltering heat and it was not long before we were deep into the sophisticated wilds of southern England.

Eventually we reached Bradfield College which is situated about ten miles from Reading, and were directed to the Greek theatre, modelled on the one at Epidaurus. The breath-taking stage is in the form of a temple and the impressive stone tiers are placed in a delightfully English setting with overhanging trees which emphasize the mergence of the two dramatic cultures.

The play was Sophocles"Philoctetes', the story of the attempts made by Odysseus and Neoptolemus to coax Philoctetes to come from his hermit's life on Lemnos to the battle-torn fields of Troy and thus ensure Greek victory.

The play was performed in Greek and was acted superbly. All the main cast put a great deal of feeling into the words and the characters appeared much more realistic than is customary in such productions. The chorus was very well-rehearsed, its delivery and cohesion being outstanding. The music was novel, interesting and very apt. The poignancy of the play was well caught throughout and in all respects it was an excellent performance.

With darkness falling we returned to the minibus and a relieved Winnie, all of us struck by the vividness of the play. We quickly set off and, after a brief stop at Wakefield, were back in York at three a.m. We are all very grateful for Mr. Croft's hard work in arranging this most enjoyable and worthwhile trip and particularly for his excellent driving after finding at the last minute that he was to be without a co-driver over such a long journey. J.C.W.W.

BOOK REVIEW

The recent history of St. Peter's School, York, by F. J. Wiseman, M.A., published by the Herald Printers at York, price 42/-.

The book covers the years after the School was transferred to its present site in 1844, a time longer than the lives of many public schools, but a small part of its long history, and so properly called recent. Since that year 1844 much has happened in the world and this is reflected in the history of the School. If a boy who had been at the School in 1844 were to return today there would still be much that was familiar to him within its precincts, and not only in the buildings 33

which are the nucleus of the present School. It is this continuity from the past to the present which Mr. Wiseman has presented with charm and felicity. This is a fascinating account of the growth of a school and the way it has served the needs of the community. Much of the account is of necessity parochial and is therefore a mine of valuable background information for any future chronicler of educational history. All the familiar names are here, and many too perhaps of less importance in the sum total, but of those who have each in their own way made some mark, however small. There is one omission, Mr. Wiseman himself, who has an honoured place among the staff for his distinguished services in Mr. Dronfield's era. It is to J.D. that the book is rightly dedicated with a suitable Latin tag, and, alas, a sign of our times, an English translation and explanation. The book is admirably produced by the Herald Printers and a bargain at 42/-. It is a "must" for all who care for our School.

P.G.C.

JE REVIENDRAI

Arriver dans une "Public School" pour y etre le premier "French Assistant" promettait des decouvertes interessantes ou inattenduesAvec bien en tete les systemes scolaire at universitaire frangais (quelque peu troubles ces derrieres annees), it m' a ete interessant de comparer, d'apprecier l'etendue d'une education aussi complete que possible, ou equitable avec le cote academique.

Ainsi j'ai pu decouvrir ce que que "Beagling" et "Bird ringing" signifiaient, joindre le "Walking group" et les expeditions "Duke of Edinburgh", assister aux reunions des "societies", du "Young Farmers' Club", mieux connaitre Shakespeare grace aux "theatre visits".

Travaillant avec une gamine &endue d'eleves, depuis les douze ans de la "Junior School" aux candidats aux concours d'entree a Oxford et Cambridge, en passant par une "third form", les candidats "C.S.E.", "0 level", et "A level" (ce a quoi s'est ajoute une experience de "French teaching in primary school"), j'ai pu avoir une idee globale de la facon d'enseigner le frangais de huit a dix huit ans en Grande Bretagne.

Avec l'aide des precieux Ewes Longmans', et les methodes audiovisuelles, nous avons decouvert quelques aspects de la France, depuis les voitures de sport . . . a la philosophie.

Avant d'arriver dans une "Public School" on entend beaucoup de critiques, et l'on comprend a quel point les idees sont precongues a ce sujet, en voyant de rinterieur l'ouverture de l'ecole sur les activites de la ville, sur le monde exterieur; l'agrement d'un nombre limite d'eleves permettant un travail plus approfondi et une meilleure connaissance de chacun; le temps passé par les professeurs, pour les eleves, en dehors de leur enseignement academique, dans les equipes de sport ou les nombreuses activites para-scolaires.

Cet asprit d'ouverture, a une époque de changement, est la marque de la volonte d'un "Headmaster" jeune, de favoriser l'expression et la culture du plus grand nombre de talents.

Il ne fallait pas rester "l'etranger", at l'accueil du "French department", de son amical et efficace "Head of department" de la "staff room", des "Housemasters", de "Dronfield House", des "Monitors" 34