CROYDON SCHOOL

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 86, 6 January 1930, Page 16

CROYDON SCHOOL

COMMEMORATION DAY Commemoration Day was held on Tuesday, December 17, to celebrate the foundjug of the Wellington Diocesan Boys’ School, at Croydon. Day's Bay .The main idea of this day is the bringing together of the old boys of the school, also parents and friends, all of whom are reminded of their own school days. There ■was. in. fact, a gathering of present boys, old boys, and parents on a common footing, uinl all for at least one day in each year could feel young, and take part in the ainusetxients of the young. In the morning t-ne commemoration service was held. The service was conducted by the Ven. Archdeacon Johnson, assisted by the Rev. W. Raine. Prayers were read by the headmaster, and the lessons by. Mr. L. Courtenay-Hall, and Mr. L. L. T. Bush. In the afternoon there was a cricket match. Old Boys v. School. Owing to rain this match had unhappily to be abandoned after the Old Boys’ first innings. The “break-up” and prize-giving was held in the evening. Mr. G. Shirtcliffe occupied the chair, and Mrs. Shirtcliffe presented the prizes. The Education Reformers. The headmaster, Mr. Skelley, after reading the school report, spoke of the heed of schools of this kind, schools of a more conservative train of thought to act as a restraint on the modern tendency to introduce vocational or technical t l- ® ll1 ’ ing into our primary schools. lhe speaker stated that there seemed to be two extreme views on education. The one view was expressed by the Duke of Argyll when some years ago he opposed the outcry in Scotland against the growin" desire to give a classical education generally. The late Duke said: “If every ploughman were a B.A. we would have better ploughing.” “I believe, said the speaker, “that we have had sufficient experience in this direction to show us that this is by no means an ideal. Indeed, if every ploughman were a B.A. we would probably have no ploughing at As the other extreme they had the strictly utilitarian instruction which by the way is not necessarily educative at all. The speaker said that he believed that this craze for technical education in the primary schools would be short-lived, at least, he hoped so. To begin with-—is the average schoolmaster capable of giving vocational training? If he were able to put boys on the road to earning large salaries there would probably be fewer schoolmasters. Would any farmed care to have his son taught farming by the average schoolmaster? In this age of specialisation should we not be merciful and keep the boy as long as possible from screwing the particular nut on the particular part of a machine? “There is in this school a carpentry class. If my own boy were going to be a carpenter I should not allow him to join that class. If a boy is going to follow some vocation that requires deft, supple fingers, such as a surgeon would need, then let him learn the piano, but do not teach him typewriting if he is to become a typist.” An Agricultural Bias. They had a Minister of Education whose motto seemed to be “Give the boys an agricultural bias.” No doubt an agricultural bias would be a good thing for this country, but is it necessary to make any special effort in this direction in the primary schools—or the secondary schools, for that matter? “Do you remember your own school days? Did you at that time ever spend a vacation on a station or farm? If so, did you not go back to school with an agricultural bias? Giving any particular bias, except one for regular hours of steady employment, is not the work of the primary school; it is not the work of the Education Department, but of some other Department later on in the boy’s life. It can only be profitably given by making the land available and the conditions attractive. I don’t propose to state how this is to be done. I am not a statesman, and I have no scheme for bringing the conditions about that would satisfy myself; much less, then, would it satisfy other people. The Essential Product. “The work of the school is in the main to 'give to the country boys at the end the course with a well-developed and disciplined mind and to teach those subjects that will be most likely to produce this result irrespective of the practical use the knowledge may be afterwards. We quite well know that the boy will forget much if not nearly all that he has been taught at school soon after leaving, but he cannot lose the mental development that has taken place in acquiring that knowledge. It may deteriorate through lack of use afterwards, but he cannot wholly lose it.” The Prize-Giving. Mr. Shirtcliffe in his address reviewed ■ the progress of the school since its foundation. On behalf of the Board of Governors he thanked the headmaster, Mrs. Skelley (described as the headmistress), and the staff tor ably carrying out the work for which the school was acquired. A programme of music supplied by the pupils wa? appreciated by those present. Mrs. Shirtcliffe then presented the prizes as follow:— Swnbey Cup, for leadership.—M. BowerKnight. ' Form 111. —Dux of school and winner of Somes Scholarship: Evans, 1 (headmaster's prize). Mathematics: Evans, 1 (Mr.- Henderson’s prize). Chemistry: Evans. 1 (Mr. Bush’s prize). Form ll.—General proficiency: BowerKnight (Mr. G. Pearce’s prize). Arithmetic: Skelley (Mr. Barton’s prize). Languages (Latin and French): J. Wall (Dr. Harty's prize). Form I. —General proficiency: .1. Butt (Dr. Cameron's prize). , Standard IV. — General proficiency: Cameron, 1 (Mr. McKinnon’s prize). Standard lll.—General proficiency: Kent, 2 (Mr. Kebbell's prize). English: Cameron 2 (Mrs. Bower-Knight’s prize). Standard II. —General proficiency: Evans 2 (Mr. Wall’s prize). English: Falloon 1 (Mr. Liddle's prize). Standard I.—General proficiency: Lewis 1 (Mr. Matthews’s prize). Primers.—General proficiency: Falloon 2 (Mrs. Vallance’s prize). Music, piano.—Senior: Evans 1 (Mr. Blundell's prize). Junior: Cameron 1. Violin.—Senior: A. F. Pearce (Dr. Shand's prize). Miss Wells’s Special Prize.—Skelley. Shakespeare.—Senior: R. H. Liddle (Mrs. Skelley’s prize). Junior: R. I. R. Skelley (Mr. Anderson's prize). Perseverance Cup.—J. K. Climle (presented by Mr. Washer). Most Improved Footballer.—Harty 1 (Mr. Washer's prize). The ceremony closed with the singing Of the National Anthem. At the conclusion all present were the guests of the headmaster and Mrs. Skelley at supper.