Waitaki Boys’ High after 100 years

Press, 20 November 1982, Page 16

Waitaki Boys’ High after 100 years

Strong to Endure: Waitaki Boys’ High School 1883-1983. By A. R. Tyrrell. Waitaki High School Old Boys’ Association, 1983 (sic). 336 pp. $29.95. (Reviewed by Allan Gardyne) •Waitaki Boys’ High School .was established on . bleak, . wind-swept wasteland, more than three kilometres from the centre of Oamaru. It was the brainchild of Mr S. E. Shrimski, who was one of the two members of Parliament for the Waitaki electorate. Waitaki Boys’ was based on the model of the English public school and its location was seen by many of the townsfolk as being chosen deliberately to discourage them from sending their sons there. Indeed, the people of Oamaru were not consulted when a few distinguished men with lofty ideals planned the school. . The first Rector, who for a while was the sole teacher, began with only 19 pupils. From such beginnings, the school, according to A. R. Tyrrell, became “one of the most renowned in New Zealand.” For many decades boys from throughout New Zealand have been sent to Waitaki for their secondary education. “Strong to Endure” (the title comes from a line in the school song) is the third history of the school, the earlier books being written for the fiftieth and seventyfifth anniversaries. Ron Tyrrell, head of the history department at the school and a resident housemaster for a number of years, has painstakingly compiled facts, statistics and photographs. Old boys will find that the book brings back many memories. They will be able to search the chapter on distinguished old boys (of which there are many), the sports results and athletic records, the list of head boys, the dux list, tbe captains of sport, the members of the board of governors, and so on. A chapter is devoted to each of the seven Rectors, and the Hall of Memories, the cadet battalion, teaching staff, sport, hostel life and war service are all covered. So thorough is the author in his research that he does not neglect to mention the provision of new toilets and locker rooms in the junior high block and the renewal of the drains in 1973,. Unfortunately the boys’ initials are nearly always used instead of Christian

names — very annoying for readers who will be searching for the names of friends, relatives and ancestors. Many of the descriptions of school life have come from the magazines published by the school, the “Oamaruvian” and later the “Waitakian.” When ! was a pupil at the school, I always found the “Waitakian" to be rather insipid, guaranteed not to offend. Tyrrell, not noted for his aggressiveness, says in the preface that he has “tried to be fair and trust I have offended no-one,” This approach to history is most obvious in a chapter on the “masters,” where the merest hint of criticism is reserved for someone long dead. Those who taught me at Waitaki in the 1960 s ranged in skill from the excellent teachers who also commanded respect, to ineffectual teachers incapable of controlling a class. In my sixth-form year I used to sit at the back of a language class, catching up with geography and history studies. Other pupils threw paper darts and gave cheek while the teacher appealed in vain to their better nature. Another teacher, nearing retirement, was almost never in class. He instructed the boys to take lengthy notes from textbooks. His explanation for this odd teaching method was that he was training us for - university-style education. Although Tyrrell has called one chapter “Standards Under Siege,” he glosses over major changes in education over the last century, perhaps considering that an anniversary book — published by an old boys’ association — is not the place for such a topic. Writing on the 1970 s and early 1980 s, he says that “not only Waitaki Boys’ but the entire community was under scrutiny,” but the school continued to provide a good education. I found little evidence of this when, as associate editor of the “Oamaru Mail,” I had to interview a number of job applicants who had been educated at Oamaru schools. Their

general knowledge, spelling and grammar left a lot to be desired. By far the most entertaining chapter is the one on hostel life, when Tyrrell writes from His experience as a housemaster. “Boarders,” he says, “were greatly influenced by the films they saw in the old gymnasium. ‘The Wooden Horse,’ ‘The Great Escape’ and similar films encouraged ah upsurge in escape techniques around the school; underground tunnels, huts, the illegal use of cellars followed the screening of such films.” Bed slats were used as tunnel supports and many beds gradually subsided towards the floor. Spades and shovels disappeared. “When contractors came to move the open-air dormitories they found that their vehicles slid into the many tunnels beneath the floors.” Tyrrell also briefly mentions the socalled riot” which occurred one night in 1963. “A disagreement between the authority and the boys” resulted in most of the boarders moving into the school grandstand and refusing to go to Sunday chapel. They all “received retribution” for their troubles. Perhaps because the local newspaper ignored the incident, Tyrrell apparently believes that it escaped publicity, but “Truth” got the story and gleefully called it “The Night the Boys Cut Loose.” I can remember hiding in trees near the grandstand and listening to the rioting boys chanting: “We want the Rector.” Living adjacent to the school was often a source of entertainment. Boarders dug underground huts on our farm, stole apples — for home brew — from our orchard, and flirted with my sisters. Bolder boys tried their skills at bullfighting in our bull paddock. Perhaps when Tyrrell retires he will feel inspired to write the full story of the exploits of the boarders he coped with while housemaster. All the anecdotes he summarises’ have the makings of a fascinating book.