Presentation of Prizes

PRESENTATION OF PRIZES 6th October, 1979

The Chair was taken by the Dean of York, the Chairman of the Board of Governors, and the prizes were distributed by Professor S. B. Saul, Vice Chancellor of the University of York.

Mr. D. G. Cummin, the Acting Headmaster, started his speech by welcoming the Lord Mayor of York, the Lady Mayoress and the Vice Chancellor. He then continued:

There can be no better way of keeping strong the links between the School and the City than to have here together the First Citizen, the ViceChancellor of the University and you Mr. Dean as our Chairman, reminding us of our close ties with the Minster.

In echoing the words of welcome to our visitors that you have made Mr. Dean, may I add how very gratified we are that one of our Clifton Councillors is this year's Lord Mayor, making this a peculiarly local as well as a Civic occasion.

In considering the past year I must first sadly refer to the deaths of three people closely connected with our community:

In April, in the fullness of his years, Leslie Creer died: a distinguished citizen and a distinguished Old Peterite; President of the Club for many years, Clerk to the Governors and later a Governor himself — truly a man of whom both the City and the School are justly proud.

I said that Leslie Creer died in the fullness of his years, and as though to remind us of the mystery of life, we lost two very young members of our community.

The gentle Jillian Harness died in April. She had had to give up her school life knowing that she had not long, but she often came to see us and at every visit she made us all feel happier.

Then in July, Paul Green was drowned in a canoeing accident. As a Sub-Lieutenant on the threshold of his career, he had just gained his Engineering degree in the Royal Navy and the future looked bright.

We extend our sympathy to those who mourn their loss and we assure them that we remember them with pride and joy.

As one having the responsibility to try to keep in good order the bridge between two Headmasterships, I am able both to look back to the past few years and forward to the future.

It is with affection and admiration that I look back to Peter Gardiner's twelve years with us here. He brought us intellectual refreshment, and with his quiet and often subtle ways, effected changes in the life of the School that showed his determination to seek to fulfil the vision that he had.

But as a practical schoolmaster he took an unstinting part in the day to day life of the School — in games, drama and all kinds of activities — and he was always accessible to masters and pupils alike.

Peter Gardiner frequently reminded us that education is a process that has no proper connection with politics or social differences, and it is entirely characteristic of his honesty of purpose that, in seeking change for himself, he should find it in a school where the aim is exactly the same as in any other school and where only the environment is different.

We who have worked with Peter Gardiner know that he will enrich those with whom he now works. We thank him for what he has done here and we wish him happiness and success.

And now we look to the future, and we are ready to welcome Mr. Peter Hughes from Shrewsbury School. My contacts with Mr. Hughes make it dear that you and the Governors, Mr. Dean, have made a wise choice and that 3

we can look forward to the cautious development of new ideas that can only bring further prosperity to the School.

Meanwhile we look back on the past year, and first I refer to academic achievements. You will see on the prize list the successes in entries to Oxford and Cambridge, and there is cause for particular congratulation to Nigel Pemberton who, at the age of 16, became an Associate of the Royal College of Organists. This is not the first time a boy at the School has achieved this distinction, but I think Nigel is the youngest to have done so here. A further individual distinction is the award to John Abbott of a National Open Scholarship to read Engineering as a civilian scholar, at the Royal Military College of Science.

At the Ordinary Level of the G.C.E., the results were much as last year. Of the 91 Vth Form candidates, 10 passed tz subjects each and the overall percentage of passes (73%) is slightly down on last year, but in general we can say that all through the '0' levels the industrious were rewarded. A word of warning might not come amiss: there should be no relaxing of effort for any particular subject on the assumption that the subject can be taken again, as of right, in the autumn.

For the first time this year all IVth Formers (95 of them) were entered for the Religious Studies '0' level paper, and the 6o passes again show this to be a worthwhile and promising innovation. Those 6o boys start the '0' level year with the confidence of having mastered at least one subject, 24 of them having taken a Maths paper as well and all of them passing — all but two of them with A grade.

In the 'A' level examination the results were again impressive: in fact if you work out the percentages, the attainment of top grade passes is higher than last year. But what is more important is that more candidates are showing that four or more 'A' levels (rather than three) can become the norm for the able boy or girl. 45 candidates, in fact, took four or more 'A' levels, and they accounted for 46 of the total 55 A grade passes.

I mention this statistic to follow the comments made by Mr. Gardiner last year about the Normal and Further Examination Scheme proposed by the Schools Council as a replacement for the present 'A' level. The purpose of the N. and F. Scheme is the very worthy one of broadening the base of a sixth-former's education, but we think we are already doing that here in three ways : first by the wide range of existing 'A' level courses available, second by the flexible use of the Alternative '0' level courses that can be taken halfway through a pupil's career in the sixth form, and third (and perhaps most important) by the General Studies courses taken by every sixthformer. These courses are designed in part to lead to one of the General Papers taken by all 'A' level candidates, but mainly to provide a wide range of interesting topics that we feel can only enrich a school education. Let me give some examples of the courses run by our own staff: Looking at Buildings, Ecology, and Musical Appreciation, to name but three.

And these internal offerings are enriched by visitors, to whom we are very grateful, and again, some examples will show the range. Already this term we have had a presentation by one of our Governors, Mr. Michael Sinclair, on "The Business of Soccer". And how grateful we are to him for this comprehensive view not only of what happens behind the scenes, but the inclusion of a visit to a York City match as part of his presentation and needless to say, York City won the match. Later this term we shall have a lecture from Dr. Hogarth, a York University Biologist, on Dragons, and then a two-day visit from Mr. Colin Briant concerned with the School and Industry Project, this being to give sixth-formers a close look at the workings of industry. We hope that from this visit there may develop opportunities for pupils to spend a bit of time in an industry, not just looking round but actually participating in the work being done.

All in all we are alive to the need for the broad education and we hope that parents would never support a son or daughter who might be tempted to say, "That is not an exam subject — it's a waste of time". If they do, then either we have got it wrong or their children are not at the right school.

And so to some of the many things we do here that have nothing directly to do with exams, but which give so many people an opportunity to develop enjoyable skills. There have been four important dramatic performances: a French Play, Horace, (and a second one will shortly be produced); Antigone (not in Greek or in French but in English) was performed by sixth-formers; Romeo and Juliet (the last production here by Peter Gardiner) was fraught with difficulties that made postponement necessary but was then beautifully performed; and earlier in the year we had the splendid production of The Yeomen of the Guard performed by both Schools and giving a marvellous outlet for the orchestra as well as the performers, and opportunities for the designers and lighting experts to combine in this memorable performance.

Dramatic, but also highly scientific, was Mr. Hamilton's presentation The Rise and Fall of the Atom. He and his team made all their experiments look easy, and when we were told "this is one you can do for yourselves" some of us actually thought we might have managed it, although we probably did not try. We were involved in it all; we enjoyed it, and we were left with much to think about in the deep problems of atomic energy

Among the many activities through which the friends of the School raise money for various causes we should mention in particular the splendid effort by The Manor (pupils and parents alike) at a Christmas auction in raising over L40o for the Body Scanner being provided in York.

Committees are often suspected of being designed to cover up inactivity, but I should mention two School Committees formed during the year which are becoming very active: the Advisory Committee for the Environment of the School (A.C.E.S.) is made up of pupils and staff whose interest is to try to preserve and enhance the environment. The Committee has examined and made recommendations on buildings and traffic in the grounds, on treeplanting and litter. Those who have served on it feel that they have had the chance to take a constructive part in making the School a pleasanter place to live in. A second Committee is just getting off the ground. Its purpose is to publicise the events in the School and events outside which members of the School could usefully know about. It offers scope for initiative, for artistic skill and for the psychology of advertising. What we hope to achieve is not only greater awareness of what goes on in the School but also closer links with the City, of which we are a part. We would like to feel that some of the events in the School would be attractive to people outside — some lectures, some concerts and plays. Obviously invitations must be limited by space, but we would like to feel that what's on in St. Peter's can sometimes be open to a wider public.

Reference to concerts reminds me that while we have a wealth of music in the School, as shown in concerts by the orchestra and by the wind band, in individual performances and in our choir, nevertheless as a School we are not good at singing. Sometimes a rather determined glumness seems to cover up the feeling that I am sure many must have that they would love to sing if they dared. Well, in the near future it may be that at short notice there will be invitations to come and sing for half an hour or so, and I am sure Mr. Pemberton will welcome parents as well. It could be worth trying and might make us more aware of the pleasure of community singing.

Looking at activities away from the School, some spectacular expeditions have taken place during the year, one to the Sahara and one to Iceland by way of the Faroes, and a rugged climbing expedition to Snowdonia. I am sure that parents as well as boys are very grateful to the masters who organise these trips and maintain harmony in the parties they take with them.

An expedition of a different kind came for some privileged members of the C.C.F. — a week's voyage from the Firth of Forth to Portsmouth by way of the Skagerrak in H.M.S. Bristol — a spectacular example of the splendid opportunities open to members of the C.C.F., not least because it was free, since like all C.C.F. activities it was part of the training provided for cadets by the Ministry of Defence.

Within the School itself the many societies have flourished throughout the year over all sorts of interests open to everyone.

And now to look at the year's sport. I have not of course mentioned all the sports (competitive and otherwise) in which the School is involved, and if this part of the report seems to be too selective it is because I have tried to pick out aspects of School sport that show not only the successes but also the difficulties that we sometimes face.

Thus I would say that Boating had a set-back when Mr. Brian Macdonald left, but nevertheless enjoyed a successful season having been kept going by Mr. Hughes and Mr. Daniel and further strengthened when Mr. Wootton arrived. And once again we thank the Boat Club Supporters who raised a good contribution in their summer dance.

Hockey suffered more than for many years from appalling weather which prevented any outside hockey until well into the term. When they got their fixtures the 1st XI lost none of their matches, but next season is bound to be affected by the loss of a season's experience.

Rugby football had a very good season, regularly fielding eight teams during the autumn term. The 1st XV had a season that ranked with that of 1949 when the School was unbeaten. They won all their normal inter-school matches on their northern circuit and had only one defeat in their East Anglia Tour when a make-shift XV lost by a try in the closing minutes of their first game.

Among several outstanding players must be mentioned John Ellison, who represented England Schools in all Home Internationals and then in their highly successful tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The Cricket XI had a very good season. The team was young but had a fine spirit and plenty of determination. There were no really outstanding players — it was rather a team in which everyone played their part. Only one inter-school match was lost, whilst five were won and the remainder drawn. As only the captain (Charles Burdass) and one other player have left School there is great promise for next season.

There are two more matters that I want to report specifically: one is the recently completed chronology of the School which has been carefully collected and checked by Mr. Richard Harding, an Old Peterite, now Housemaster of Alcuin in St. Olave's. It is a very valuable factual addition to the Histories of the School, and we thank and congratulate Richard Harding for what we can properly call a labour of love.

The other matter has in it a risk, for if generosity is recorded someone else may feel slighted. But in a world that all too often shows ill-will and division, a warm gesture from the past can bring only pleasure. Just before this term started I received a kind letter from Mr. Scott Cooper, who many years ago was Master-in-Charge of St. Olave's, and he enclosed a gift for the School of £r,000. And many who knew Scott Cooper will appreciate that the generosity lay as much in the gesture as in the amount.

We have welcomed six new members of staff this term; their names are recorded in The Peterite; and earlier in the year we welcomed Mr. Paterson and Mr. Wootton; we wish them all a happy and successful time at St. Peter's.

It seems that an Independent School is under pretty close scrutiny, particularly in its own locality, and such a School comes in for a good deal of criticism — some justified, some not. All of us in this community (pupils,