SCHOOL OFFICERS, 1957-58

Head Boy, 1957: B. Workman

Head Boy. 1958: A. Hunton. Vice-Head Boy, 1958: A. George

Prefects: G. Brown, A. Jones, R. Marriott

Blues: W. Bauer, H. Clark, M. Cracknell, A. Glass, J. Hansell. M. Jefferies, A. Johnston. R. Nawrot, I. Thorn, P. Tilley, J. Walmsley. C. Warren

SCHOOL OFFICERS: 1958-59

Head Boy: G. Brown. Deputy Head Boy: R. Marriott

Prefects: J. Walmsley and R. Nawrot

Blues: B. Sandland, R. Rosen, R. Buckland. W. Coutts, P. Williams, and E. Coote

THE FIRST SCHOOL DANCE was held on the evening of July 20th, Speech Day, 1957, and what a successful climax it was to the five weeks of preceding preparation. To quote the Headmaster: "It was first-class by any standards."

The only reason why a dance had not been held before was the low estimate of the number of possible partners. However, about half-way through the Summer Term, our late Head Boy. Ian McCulloch, decided that this obstacle could probably be overcome and approached the Headmaster to see if a dance could be arranged for the end of term. He willingly agreed to the idea and some of the, Staff's wives kindly offered to give us lessons twice a week as the majority of the Sixth Form were unable to dance. To start with we had about only eight partners for the lessons, and between twenty-five boys that is not very many, but towards the end of term the classes ceased to be lessons and became practising sessions to which a few girls were invited to sample our toe-crushing.

To hold a dance there were a number of things we were going to need; namely, someone to dance with, somewhere to dance, some music to dance to and, of course, some refreshments. Our partners for the actual dance began as a mere ten or so names, but by many and varied means the number steadily grew to the required amount. Victor Shreeve wrote out the invitations in his artistic hand, but these were sent to adults only. Other invitations were mainly by word of mouth to preserve as much informality as possible.

At first we had thought of hiring a band, but it was soon realised that the cost would be a great obstacle, especially as the dance was to be on a Saturday evening. The School jazz Club, however. soon provided the solution by agreeing to play for us - There was the leader of the group, Ray Simmons, on the trumpet, Trevor Head on. the piano, "Isa" Cummings at the drums, and "Erol" Fletcher on the flute, with Mr.Thomas looking very "gone" strumming away at his double bass.

There were many reasons why it was impossible to use the gymnasium for the dance, two of them being that it was to be used until 6.0 pm. for the Speech Day ceremony and concert and that the floor, although quite adequate for practising, was not very good for the real thing. Mr. Cobb offered us the use of his classroom, which, when adjoined to another by opening a sliding partition, which was in turn joined to Hansons' Common Room, made an ideal hall. The decorating was done mainly by Miss Williams, who completely altered the appearance f the room by means of varied types of vegetation. The only drawback of this room was that the roof leaked considerably when it rained, and, typical of an English summer, it did on the evening of the 20th, so we just had to do our best to steer our partners round the strategic parts of the floor.

I can only describe the refreshments as absolutely magnificent and highly professional. I believe the main organiser was Miss Johnston, who with a few helpers took over the School kitchen and spent most of Friday evening preparing the food. To tell the truth, I was rather annoyed that my partner did not wish to eat a reasonable amount of refreshments - statistical reasons I suppose.

Finally, on behalf of last year's Sixth Form, I would like to thank everybody who helped in any way with the organisation of the dance, and I am only sorry that they were too numerous to be mentioned by name.

G. BROWN (U. VI)

I. McCulloch succeeded R. R. Cox as Head of the School at the beginning of the Spring Term.

The "Prefects" have been: R. R. Cox, I. McCulloch, D. A. Begg, D. Glass, R. Croucher, B. Workman, M. Brown, J. Byford.

The "Blues" have been: T. Davies, A. George, A. Hunton, A. Kuptz, C. Warren, G. Brown, M. Cracknell, J. Hansell, A. Jones, R. Marriott.

R. R. Cox has won an Open Exhibition in Modern Languages to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

University Admissions:

R. Croucher, Christs College, Cambridge - B. Workman, Christs College, Cambridge - I. McCulloch, St. Peter's Hall, Oxford - T. Davies, University of Edinburgh

A. Kuptz, University of North Staffordshire.

Several boys have played Rugby with distinction with various teams of the Streatham R.U.F.C.

A. Durrant played in the London School's Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Merlin Channon has been appointed Conductor of the Ipswich Orchestral Society.

Mr. B. Davies left at Christmas to take up an appointment at Swindon Technical College. We wish him and his wife, whom the school will remember as Miss Birrell, every happiness. in Mr. Davies' place, we welcome Mr. J. K. Pillai. his stay with us will. We hope be a happy one.

In September, the Rev. F. Lambert left Woolverstone to work in Yorkshire. His place has been taken by the Rev. B. Chapman, whose presence has already been felt in the School. He prepared 25 boys for Confirmation during the Autumn and Spring terms, and on March 24th, they were Confirmed by the Bishop of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich.

SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND: OUR COLLECTIONS have continued at a reasonable level and a most enthusiastic letter has been received from the mother of the boy we have adopted, saying what a difference it is making to her son to be properly clothed at school.

I hope in giving for this deserving cause boys will realise how fortunate they are to be in a position to help somebody else, and they can all have the satisfaction of knowing, that because of their collections they are giving something in life to somebody who would otherwise not have it at all.

The amount collected last term was slightly lower than the term before, and I hope this trend will not continue.

J. S. H. SMITHERMAN, Headmaster

During the past year the following boys have been rated as School Blues, and deserve our hearty congratulations on receiving this honour:
Hunton, Brown, George and Moss, Workman and Begg.

Glass and Croucher are to be congratulated on their appointment as School Prefects,. This makes a total of six prefects and four Blues. Lewis and Moss rated as Blues last year, but have since left the School.

R. R. COX

SPEECH DAY, on the 21st July this year, included prize-giving for the Upper School, an Open Day, and a Fete. Fortunately the weather did not interfere with any of these functions.

To present the prizes, and to give a stimulating talk, we were fortunate in having the Rt. Hon. John Hare, O.B.E., M.P., Minister of State for Colonial Affairs, who also expressed his good fortune in being invited to come to this new school which has sprung up in his constituency.

Parents were able to observe many forms of school activity, including a concert by the Music Society on a more ambitious scale than had been previously possible on such occasions.

The fete followed the lines laid down last year, with sideshows organised by the Houses, and stalls run by wives of the staff. A sum of £90 was thereby added to the University Scholarship Fund.

I.R.B.

CHAPEL: AFTER CHRISTMAS it was decided that the spiritual needs of the School could best be met by corporate services each week in the gymnasium. Our own form of service has been evolved, and these services have now become a regular part of School life.

Twenty-six boys in the Church of England were prepared for Confirmation by the Rector of Woolverstone, the Rev. F. W. Lambert, and the Confirmation Service was conducted by the Bishop of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich on the 11th March. This was followed next morning by a most inspiring Communion Service attended by over 80 boys. The School is most grateful to the Rector of Woolverstone for preparing these boys and for his arrangements for a corporate Communion Service.

SCHOOL COLLECTIONS: THE SCHOOL COLLECTIONS for charitable purposes have continued at the same level. The House collections are a little uneven and the Junior House is to be commended for the high level of its collections. At Christmas it was decided that we should make regular donations to the Save the Children Fund, and to this end an eleven year old boy in Germany, who has just won a scholarship to the equivalent of an English Grammar School, has been adopted. It will be most interesting to keep in touch with him as he grows up and I hope it will be possible one day for him to come and see us in England.

These collections are well worth while. It is so easy to find so many worthwhile causes which require help, grows up, and I hope it will be possible one day for him to come to England to see us. but the main difficulty is to decide where help can best be given. As a matter of principle we will help young people and children, and I hope the School will be as generous as possible. However hard-up we may feel ourselves at times there are always people far worse, off than we are.

HOUSE COLLECTIONS

LAST TERM these were on behalf of the National Library for the Blind. The sum collected totaled£9 3s. 4d., and a further donation of £1 14s. 9d. was received, making a total donation of £10 18s. 1d. The totals from the Houses are a little uneven, in some cases falling well below 1d. per boy each week.

It has been decided that in future a regular donation shall be sent to the Save the Children Fund. We are proposing to adopt a boy in one of the Displaced Persons' Camps in Europe. By this means we shall be able to bring hope to some small boy at present living with nothing to look forward to. I hope we shall eventually be able to welcome him to the school for a holiday. I shall be able to write about him in the next issue.

BLUES' NOTES

As from the beginning of this term (Winter, 1955) R. R. N. Cox has been appointed Head Boy of the school. I. McCulloch is Vice Head Boy.

The total of Blues has risen to nine with the appointments of T. J. Davies and C. D. Lewis as Blues.

AN OPEN DAY was held at the school on Saturday, July 23rd. As Speech Day was to be held in London it was felt that parents should have an opportunity, usually provided by Speech Day, to see some of the work and activity of the school.The second purpose of the occasion was to raise, by means of a fete, funds to supplement state and county awards to boys going up to university. It is perhaps not fully realised that the awards from public funds do not always permit boys to provide themselves with such essential equipment as books and University Society subscriptions; there are also expenses incurred in taking university and college examinations and in attending interviews, which are not covered by awards.

Parents were able to view many sides of school life and activity, some as processes, some as end-products. It is not possible to mention every item which was to be seen. Apart from certain teaching rooms (art, science, woodwork), which were open for inspection, there was a programme of ploughing; the Sea Cadets of Cunningham and Cochrane classes provided a display of seamanship and signals and a demonstration was given by the Archery Club.

Exhibitions were arranged by the Archaeology, Photographic and Geology Clubs and the school 1st XI played (and won) a match against Ipswich school.

For the fete, sideshows were organised by the Houses, and wives of members of the staff arranged and ran a housewives' stall, a white elephant stall and a jumble sale. All of the activities contributed to the very satisfactory profit of £80, which has provided an excellent foundation for this school fund.

SPEECH DAY: LAST YEAR'S PRIZE-GIVING was held at the end of the summer holidays in London, at St. Pancras' Town Hall. This change was made owing to the lack of a hall at Woolverstone large enough to hold the entire school and the parents at one sitting. The new venue proved popular, except perhaps with the teaching staff. The prizes were presented by Dr. G. B. Jeffry, F.R.S., Director of the Institute of Education, University of London.

The occasion was also marked by an announcement from the Chairman of the Governors that the council's plans for the future development of the school had been accepted by the Ministry of Education at long last.

I.R.B.

CHURCH NOTES: VISITING PREACHERS during the last two terms have been:-

An innovation this year has been the special Sunday afternoon Church of England services for junior boys. These have been much appreciated, and have a valuable place in the complete life of the School. We are very grateful to the Rector of Woolverstone for conducting the services for us.

HOUSE COLLECTIONS: OUR CHAPEL COLLECTIONS have ceased. We have decided that our money could be put to much better use if we collected within the Houses each week and at the end of term sent the total collection to a Society deserving of help. By giving a little regularly, a worthwhile sum can thus he collected each term and we can play our small part in helping those Societies devoted to people in one way or another worse off than ourselves.

The Christmas term collection was for the Spastics Society and realised £9 5s. 0d.

The Easter term collection was in aid of Reed's School - a school for boys who have lost their fathers - and realised £10.

During the Summer term we shall be collecting for the National Library for the Blind.

It will be noticed that all of the Societies chosen are in aid of children or young people - the National Library for the Blind of course, supplies books for Schools for Blind Children. We will make this one of the principals to be followed in choosing those Societies we try to help.

WITH MRS CHAPLIN again in the chair the 1953 Prize Giving took place on 25 July, before an audience of parents and visitors which taxed the capacity of the gymnasium to its limit.

In his report, the Headmaster surveyed the development of the school in its second year. The day marked, in fact, the conclusion of the first stage in the school's life, for those boys who remained from the Nautical School had completed their courses and were about to leave, and the school was thenceforward to be a grammar school, pure and simple. After reporting on scholastic and athletic results, the Headmaster made mention of the expansion of out-of-school activities, in particular the trips to Derbyshire and to Paris. He went on to thank the Parents' Association for its great help in backing the Amenities Fund which made many of the activities possible. His final remarks dealt with the plans for the future of the school and with the taking over of Woolverstone House as a step in the right direction.

The prizes were presented by Mr Duncan Carse, who afterwards gave a most interesting talk on his experiences as a sailor and explorer.