TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 19 December 1924, Page 6

TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL.

“BREAKING-UP” CEREMONY

RESULT OF YEAR’S WORK.

SHOWS RECORD DEVELOPMENT

For the pupils of the Hawera Technical High School another year’s work has passed; and the time has arrived .when, amomentary halt is called and opportunity of recognition of the good) work don© -is given. That really ex- j cellent work has been done at the sehodl wan evident by the remarks made by various speakers at the “breaking-up” ceremony, which.. was held in the Winter Show Buildings last night. It was plainly evident that the greatest success had attended the year’s work, and as the principal (Mr A. Gray) stated, the (greatest development that the school had ever had to record was this year .shown in the annual report. • ' At the function lasp night there was a large attendance of parents and friends, all of whom thoroughly appreciated the programme which had been arranged. The items by the pupils were especially pleasing, and by being rendered at intervals between the speeohes helped to brighten up the programme.

The chairman of the High School Board (Sir R. S. Sage) presided, and associated with him on the platform were the Mayor and - Slavoress (Mr and Sirs L. A. Bone), Sir J. R. Corrigan, M-P-j Mr and Sirs J. B. Sliirdoch, Messrs H. Trimble, T. C. Hobbs, J. W. Harding, A. L. Campbell. P. O’Dea, the principal of the school (Mr A. Gray), and the remainder of the teaching staff.

Apologies for absence were received from Messrs A. Lees, G. H. Buckeridge, F. A. Bates ancl Sirs J. R. Corrigan.

The chairman at the outset expressed pleasure at seeing so many people present. He extended a welcome to all, and added that the board was thankful to the Winter Show Company for giving them the use of the hall. Previously the function had been held in a smaller hall, but with the growth of the school it was thought advisable this year to launch out a little further. The hoard wanted people to know what the Technical High School was doing for the district. The class of pupils attending the school spoke volumes in this respect. Further, the Board wished to express appreciation of the. work of the staff during the year. The principal then delivered his report, which was as follows: I am happy to he able to state confidently that this year’s report shows the greatest development that we have ever had to record. The numbers on the rolls of the various classes have Literary 92, commercial 61, special agriculture and dairy science 9, engineering 36. home science 14; total 212.

Examination Successes. —-Despite the . popular plea for the abolition. of examinations, successes in this direction must always form an important section of the report of any school, and our record this year is noteworthy, both on account of its numerical strength and i because of the great variety of examinations attempted. Practically every section in the school has successfully prepared candidates for the departmental, university and City and Guilds of London examinations. We have thus accomplished our aim of so arranging our programme of work that, no matter what course of work a student takes up at the school, he hnay be prepared for entrance examinaI tion into various trades and professions. In this connection greater elasticity in the matriculation syllabus and more correlation between the university programme and that of departmental examinations would be of great benefit. The following, successes have to be recorded:-—l923.—Literary: Matriculation, sol. gen. and med. prel., 1; partial pass matriculation, 2; Public Service entrance, 3; intermediate

examination, 3 ; senior free place, 43. 1 1924. — Engineering: City and Guilds i of London Institute- —Mechanical en- j gineefing, division 1, grade 1, pass, 2; • ' mechanical engineering, division 2, 4 1 grade 1, pass, 1; Public Service en- ’ trance, 1. Commercial: Shorthand — >' Third-class theory certificate, 20; . ’ second-class theory certificate, 15. ! Speed —80 words per minute, 3; 90 words per minute, 1; 150 words per ' l minute, 1. (Government shorthand and [ typists examination, 3. Maxwell Gray i obtained a university bursary. The standard of work reached by the. • senior commercial and engineering stu-1 ' dents is a very high one, and will be > found to compare very favourably in- • deed with any other school in the DoL ' minion. This year, for the first time i in the history of the school, the dux on the girls’ side has come, from a 1 division other than the literary.

The Staff.—At the beginning of the year Mr W. Thomas, 8.A., joined the staff, and during the year Miss D. Britland, M.A., and Mr R. Heward also joined. The school congratulates Mr Heward on obtaining his degree of Bachelor of Agriculture.

Sports. —The year has been a most eventful one in the world of sport. Mainly owing to the coaching of Mr Thomas our football and cricket teams have put- up notable records. The senior football team won the South Taranaki fourth grade championship, while the second fifteen was runner-up in this competition. The third and fourth teams had many interesting games with the primary schools of the district. Our touring team had a fine victory at Feilding. where the hospitality of the residents made their visit a memorable one. To the local Football Club, particularly to Mr J. J. Goodwin, our thamcs are due for help during the football season. Although beaten for the Silson Cup, the cricket eleven is leading for the junior championship of South Taranaki. We heartily congratulate Feilding on winning the cup. In connection with the

cricket, we were, indebted to Rev. H. 1 W. Monaghan, Messrs Dalgleish and i B. McCarthy for giving many useful c hints to the, members of the team. < Swimming was heartily taken up by < the boys under Mr. Larkman’s super- 1 vision, and good progress was made in ' that important branch of sport. On the girls’ side the hockey team was 1 coached by Mr Walton in the early part of the year, and by Miss Earl and Miss O’Rorke later, while the basketball team was coached by Miss Clay, who left the staff to he married, and by Miss Britland. All the lady members of tlie staff take a keen interest in the girls’ tennis. The annual sports proved a very great success. The contests for the various championships were keenly fought out. A special word 1 , of praise is due to the Hawera Amateur Athletic Association for. its encouragement of school sports. I have never known a. sports body take a , keener interest in boys’ athletics, and our very great thanks are due to Mr , A. Grant (president), to Mr G. Weir . (secretary) and indeed to the whole of ; the members. Opr greatest track i.«% l, /\(1 4-kn rt A ItM IX A-P

tnumph oi- the year was the wm ot the school relay team over Hawera and Wanganui teams at the electric light carnival "recently. A feature of our athletics has been the running of tlie girls, who have among them some very fine athletes indeed. Agriculture and Dairying.—Every hoy in the school who takes science takes agriculture and dairying. In ad-vg dition we have a course which is some® what unique, viz., a special agriculture and dairy science course. As with all highly specialised classes the numbers are not large, hut splendid work has j been, done during the year. At present and for next year we are paying particular attention to intensive farming. In this connection the school has to thank tlie senior partner of the firm of Wilton and Co. This gentleman, now in England, has shown a most keen interest in our particular work, j and. besides sending us very valuable

literature, lias put us in touch with | experts in the Old Country by whose help we are keeping pretty well up to the times in farming ideas. Lectures.—During the year the boys of tlie agriculture class were privileg-’ ed to listen to two very valuable lectures— one by Mr. A. Bayly, M.R.C.Y.S., on “Diseases of animals” and the other by Mr S. Turner on “The marketing of our dairy produce.” Mr Bayly has kindly offered to give a series of lectures next year. With the assistance of such experts as these I feel that our hoys are getting firstclass and first-hand information. The home science class has done some splendid work during the year. On them has fallen the responsibility of preparing afternoon tea and of entertaining generallv, and they have done their work really well. During the year they gave demonstrations of cookery with gas ovens and also with electric cookers. The “artistic furnishing” branch of the work, made possible by the kindness of Messrs Purser and Suisted. is probably the only work of its kind vet'taken up in the Dominion. School Debates. —Great interest has been taken in debating. Several very

fine debates have been held between the various divisions, while ope evening debate was attended by a large number of parents. The debate on the abandonment of the Singapore base scheme was splendidly carried out. The hoys were most emphatic in their condemnation of. the abandonment, and subsequently the British Government decided to .go on with the 'ork. Parental Interest. —One very pleasing thing "to record is the very greatly increased interest taken in the school by parents. A point- like this should really not be worthy of note, c tit the modern parent, and I have to plead guilty myself, is inclined to I ike all possible from the school ancl give nothing in return. For instance, diirectly the examinations are over, some j parents immediately let their. • hi’ci: en i leave school instead of waiting for the end of the year. It should be understood that our yaer ends on “breakingup” day and not before. And our awards are made to students on the roll at that time.

The Full -Course.—l again vish. to emphasise the necessity lor a four years’ course. I know this is rot always possible, but if practicable at all parents should insist on the completion of the course. The Staff .—I have to express my deep appreciation of : lie work of the staff. Much extra time lus reen put in by the various members, and .1 feel that any successes we have ach.eted , are due to their whole-hearted eo operation. Two of the younger n embers of our staff, Miss D. Garnett and Mr N. Martin, are leaving- at the end oj the year on the completion of their student teacher ship. For a period of some six years as students and as teachers these young people have been connected with the school. They have been most enthusiastic and loyal helpers, and I can assume them that the selloo.l will miss them. We all join in wishing them success in the profession they have chosen.

The Board of Managers.—During the year the Board has had a great deal of very important work to do. I most gratefully acknowledge the sympathy and help of the chairman and members. We are very fortunate in our Board.

Tlie Press. —The local press is deserving of more than passing mention for the help given during ' the year. The school keenly appreciates this assistance.

Old Girls’ and Old Bovs’ Associations. —The work of these two.bodies has gone steadily on during. the year. The Old Girls’ Association is to he' commended on its special activity in raising funds for the girls’ tennis courts; A sum of £ls has been handed in. and the present, girls are delighted with this proof of enthusiasm on the part of those who have 1 passed through the school. A feature | of the Old Boys’ Association has been j the application for badges from boys | at a distance. . One old boy wrote from | Canada enclosing' his subscription and. j asking for a- badge so that be might. I wear it. We also have to thank the following ladies and gentlemen for do- I nations and special prizes:—His Worship the Mayor, cup for swimming; Mr S. C. Tonks, junior athletic cup;

Mr J. R. Corrigan, M.P., dux medals; Mr R. S. Sage, special prizes for Literary Division; Mrs Coleman, special prize to Commercial Division; Messrs Purser and Suisted,, special prizes to Home Science Division.; Messrs \Vilton and Co., special prize to Agricultural Division ; Sir E. Eyans and Mr JL S. Holland, special prizes to Engineering Division; Messrs Hopkirk and Co., special prize to Engineering Division; Electric Company, special prize to Engineering Division; Messrs Bennett and button, special prize to Engineering Division; Messrs Gyde and Barringer; special prize to Engineering Division; Mr C. W. Allen, special prize to Engineering Division ; Messrs Duff ill and Gibson, special prize to Engineering Division.

To all who have helped us during the year (and they are many) we wish to express o.ur thanks. The Helping Spirit—lf there has been any special tendency more noticeable t-i i’a another among our students during the year it has been the development of the helping spirit. Perhaps our school motto may have something to do with this, but m any case it is a splendid thing to observe the growth of an unselfish and helping spirit among the young. 1 would like to make this my final word for the year. Let us work for success by all means—•ambition is a fine- thing, the fighting spirit is a grand thing, but the greatest and grandest thing of all is the helping spirit—that sublime lesson taught over nineteen hundred years ago bv the greatest teacher of all the ages.” Mr. M. Trimble, chairman of the 8-trtaford Technical High School Board, was the next speaker. He said he had been connected with the establishment of the High School in Haweia. and had also been associated' with Mr. Gray when technical high school work was being commenced in New Plymouth. Before Mr. Gray had been appointed in charge of the technical school in New Plymouth, it bad been a very small school indeed, the day school proper not then having been established. Later, however, the day school was- established under Mr. Gray, after .he had been appointed Director of Technical Education for the district. These classes had now developed into the present New Plymouth Technical College. Continuing, Mr. Trimble congratulated the school on the work done during the year. It was very satisfactory to . find so many children continuing their education in secondary schools. The growth of the secondary schools had been causing some anxiety to tho-se who did not want to find the money to Carry on the schools, but the speaker said he had recently told the Minister of Education that he was very glad that he (the Minister) had to find more money to carrv on these schools, as the more children who were 'brought- into the secondary . schools the greater would be the inI telligenee of /the whole comnrunitv.. I They wanted an educated and intelli- [ gent community in order to safeguard democracy. Proceeding, Mr. Trimble referred to the proposed

establishment of a High School at . Manaia, which he thought was a step backwards; They had heard a great deal about concentration of the printary school work, but it w&s much easier to get teachers for primary school thau for secondary school work. The argument of coneentrjttion applied with greater force to the secondary schools, and in the. case of Manaia, the teaching them could not - possibly be as good as in ta school of the size of Hawera. There would probably only be one teacher at Manaia, and the number ob classes could not possibly he the same as in a> larger institution. If the principle of the establishment of a school at a place like Manaia were followed out then there would be similar schools at Eitham, Inglewood - and 'Waiiam. In concluding, Mr. Trimble urged the boys and girls to work hard and work for the sake of the work. Mr. Bqne said that in the first place he wished to heartily congratulate the pupils' and the teachers pri what had been a most successful year. ' Also, he thought that the board was deserving, raff congratulation for the work which they, had accomplished in attending to the administration of the school. Addressing the punils; Mr. Bone asked if they were satisfied with their year’s work. Learning was hard, and it was a true saying that a conscientious worker was never satisfied, but many of the school pupils had succeeded, as was evident by the prizes and- certificates' ■to be distributed. In a 'Small way the prizes and certificates stood for luck, hut to a much greater extent they stood for hard work and. perseverance —those qualities which always told in the end. But it must be recognised that .some pupils passed! through tlie school without winning j prizes, and yet later took their place' amongst the leaders of the community. No one knew what was in store, biit the /scholars of to-day were binding for the future, biit it must not he forgotten that they were laying the foundations. A person’s education never ceased as long as he could use his brains at all. He had learned more since he -had taken his place in ' public life than he had ever thought was possible. Nothing stood still: a i person’s education was ever being, built up; from the first ideas were be- • ihg gathered which eventually made people what they were. Continuing, ’ Mr. Bone said that we in New Zealand had one of the finest svstems of education in the world. From the kindergarten to the university a scholar who had a little more than the usual ability could obtain education without it- costing his or her parents a penny. -The'people‘of the country had to thank their Government too nart-icidar Government) for placing these facilities in their wav. and he thought that the present Minister of Fduc-atjqu was deserving of special thanks for what he was doing. j Proceeding. Mr. Bone dwelt on the uower, wealth and use of knowledge. 1 It was a great thing to be an edu-j cated mcrr. or woman.. The choice of books for reading at one’s leisure was also referred to by]

Mr. Bone, who advised the pupils to put away the “trashy” novel of the day and read something worth reading and remembering. • Good, books would form, one of the -finest assets of their lives. In conclusion, _ the speaker wished teachers and pupils a pleasant holiday, and hoped that they would return next year with the intention of making their school one of the finest in the Dominion. Mr. O’Dea said that he had been asked by the /principal, Mr. Gray, to give a short address on “Education.” Education was a subject of such farreaching dimensions it was possible ip an address of a lew minutes to touch but the merest fringe of it. He would, however, address a few short words op the subject, first, to the. parents; secondly, to the teachers ; and thirdly, and most important of all, to the pupils. To the parents he would say this: “Look upon the teaching profession as one of the noblest of professions.” It was Herbert Spencer, one of the greatest' philosophers )>f the nineteenth century, who said in his work on education: “To pursue a rational ppuise of education throughout the entire range of studies asks for an amount of judgment, of invention, of intellectual sympathy, o.f analytical faculty, which we shall never see applied, to it while the tutorial office is held .in such small esteem. True education Was practicable only by a true philosopher. Judge then what prospect a. philosophical method of education now has of being carried out. Knowing so little a® we. yet do of psychology, and ignorant as our teachers ate of that little, what chance has a. system which requires, -psychology for its. ba§is?’’ Unless the office of the teacher was held in the highest esteem throughout the community it was impossible to obtain men and women with that amount of intellectual sympathy which Herbert Spencer pays was necessary for our teachers to have, to obtain the best educational system. No doubt many people have looked upon the insistent claims made by our teachers for increased salaries as rather sordid and material, but could we expect our best men and women to enter a pro-, fession which requires a. long period of tutelage, unless after that , tutelage was completed we paid tjiem decent remuneration for their services? At the present time a. smart hoy could .earn very much more in other professions which did not require/ as strenuous a period of preparation. The consequence was. it wais getting more and more difficult to induce boys to enter the teaching profession, arid soon we would have in New Zealand a similar phenomenon to what exists todav in America., where Upton Sinclair tell® us in his recc.pt book. “The Goslings.” that not 10 per cent, of the teachers' are men. He was carting no reflection on our women teacher*, manv of whom are' in the front rank of the profession; fart, only last evening at New Plymouth he had heart) Dr. Marsden. Assistant Director of Education, refer to the women

teachers as.the pick of the women of New Zealand, hut it seemed to him that for, . the education of, at all events, the older male pupils, a. man teacher , was required. If the teaching' profession were held in the highest.honour in the civilised world, as it should be, then we would not have this, curious anomaly of the teaching profession being mainly in the hands Gf women and the evident aversion of pur: ablest ; ; hoys to enter the prafessipn. . Tlie matter was primarily one for the parents of New Zealand.

The Increasing aversion of male pupils iio ; .take oil teaching was. in the dpehker’.s opinion, me-ely a reflex of the. OpimoVi held In- the parents and people of Now Zealand as to the .pod--

tioh of the . teaching profession among tH^;ip’ , ofessio»'S. To the teachers he Wahid say, “’Mold your profession in the' Highhsf honour. Re frank and bpen and. independent in your deal r Ihgs with inspectors. committees, and education, boards and of those who iie.ye official relationship with you. The teaching profession is not going to be valued while the units composing it Have such poor; opinions of their own standing in the community and of their relation to their official superiors. • Let anyone read two recent work* bvT T pten Sinclair. “The Goose Step”:' apd “The Goslings. 1 ' “The Goose ’Step” is a. criticism of High School autl Gniversity education in America.. •. The.-name describes what the writer thinks of the calibre of the tgachprs ;• in. America-—-‘The Goose Step”—that i<? to say that they are all modelled after one pattern, that i.y that independence of thought and freedom' of action are curtailed among the ~teacjiprs : that is.. that the large t’custs '.and ednibines Which dominate . AmkHea-V commercial life also dominate -her teaching profession. Similarly iri ‘‘The ; Goslings” relating to the pfimpV.v sf'hools of America. Teachers'. will be valued in the community ,ih the same degree in which they value-,tkefnselves. As a corollary to general average level of culture -in the teaching profession should he. higher: than the general level of the of the community. He does u6fc: ivish dto be thought to be speakirtgfhffensively, but as. an -old teacher perhaps lie' was privileged to say that in liis opinion, in very many cases, the dgelie rlil average level of culture h.hioiig ,tlie teachers is not above that •of the average level of the eomimmityi.d .Hfe.tlid not know how matters siockli.but.‘he did remember in his old te.at'liing 'ciaye that if one teacher hapTterifea to; be .’MR against tlie - Education Boar.ct or; {his official r superiors, he iyoUld, be avoided by very many of his fellow teachers for fear -they too life'.dihplicated in the odium which flifevianbieil attached to him. No blofessioh in which suc-li a slave spirit prevailed was likely to be thought nighty of .by the community. Teacheti.;; must cultivate. • independence and bltthlihesS' .of - spirit. Lastly.; :,tb' the pupils he would say, afiq:;: partieplarly to those about to tfeasre school: “Your education has beeii: of little use to you unless it HaSjJgiveil .you an, open mind.” We kiioW:-, that • iii old age very many tjeople. gfet,. set minds. Their prefudi'qfes. hake grown until those prejudices liaVfe become so strong that the; UW. people are impervious to any argument which runs counter to their "chedsfeed-' ; convictions.’ There ie.’-.a physiological .explanation of_ this psychological phenomenon. Sir Arbutliiiot. Jiaiie,. . one of .peatest -ahatomists, tells us that this fixity ..of opinion is due to the brain tells i becoming, ; as it were, oetrified. We--..hiast .of us . have come across people whose brain" cells have become sp.^pfetlifted., mostly old people, hut unfortunaLei y W§ .tiud’ .prejtidices existiiig; even among young people. Ho urged .upon tlie boys and girls to cultivate -what •one great 'writer had ■entiled : “The .Religion of the Open iviihd.”.. Let- : them remember the: words of Mark. Twain' in “Puddiir Head Wilsoti”.: ;It were not best that wo should {ill think alike.- It is difference of opinion that makes hor.sei'aeing.” ■ Thereto vp they should tolerate : other people’s .views. ’ _ They should learn to put .their own side of ■vV argutaent without losin" their tempers. They should ’'remember that nrejubee is like, theinfluenza. No mail knows hmv. ,it is acquired, hut verv mruiv of us know what the oomplaiht is like.. Just as we try to eradicate .the conditions that bring about attacks such as those of influenza.;. 'so we ih/utld cultivate our minds t • be free from iveiudice, to he tolerant and open-minded in our intellectual encounters with others. Mr. O’Dea concluded by wishing all his hearero the compliments of the season.

Mr J. B. Murdoc\ one. of the mem-j hers of the High School Board, ex-1 pressed pleasure at seeing so many | preseht, amt said that the only matter! for regret was the weather. Although! the work during the year had been | strenuous, it had been a pleasure to j carry it out in order to see its re-j s lits. Ho had to. eongratulte the staff on Heir accomplishments. as shown in.j the principal’s report. As far as the ] Board of .-Managers was concerned, the results world .serve to increase their! efforts to get even better returns next yeai.- Although the school had only been established a short time they had a school hostel, which was ably conducted bv Mrs Gray. The Board were thankful for Mrs Gray’s services, and he was .sure the bovs appreciated her. Mr Corrigan said a lew words before the distribution M the prizes and certificates. He spiel he endorsed the rein arks made by Mr O’Dea concerning the teachers, and said he was convinced that the work of the teachers was not appreciated as it should be. Proceeding, Mr Corrigan congratulated the school c-n.the way the work had been done, and stressed the importance of continuing in a spirit- of loyalty to one another. Mr. Corrigan then proceeded with the .distribution of prizes, and certificates, as follow: — - CERTIFICATES. Literary Section. . Senior Girls; Form V., 4th year.— Edna Death 1, Francis Tally 2, Eileen Sage 3. Third year: Melba Jackson !, Maisie Patten 2. Marjorie Brown 3. Senior Boys, Form V., 3rd year.— Cornelias O’Dea 1, Neil S-nlton 2, Richard! Jordan 3- 4th year: Peter Keegan

Intermediate Girls, Form IY.—Annie Johnstone 1, Inez Wells 2, Mavis Reid and Catherine Sutherland (equal) 3. Intermediate Boys, Form IY. —John Sargeant 1, Clive Harrison 2, Leslie Walker 3. Junior BovS, scholarship, Form lIIA. —D&hald Brown 1, Richard Sargent 2, Jackson Graham 3. Junior Girls, scholarship, Form lIIA. —ttit.ii Sanson 1, Olga Harding 2, Doreen Bell 3. Junior Boys, Form 1118. —Denis Lennon 1, Hardy Good 2, Gordon Hawkins 3-

Junior Bovs, Form 111. —Oscar Shield 1, Eric Chadwick 2, Colin Sturrock 3. Junior Girls, Form lll.—Evelina Oliver 1. Thelma Watts 2. Kathleen Brown 3. Form IV. : Sybil Pratt (first in examination).

Home Science. Form IY. —Yera Hodge 1, Katherine Quin 2. Form lll.—Jean Sprc.ull 1, Winnie Biaht 2, Joyce Hicks 3.

Engineering. ] Form lll.—Rex Beatson 1, Francis 1 Quin 2, Eric Gane 8. Form IV; —Robert Richards 1, Eric Bunn 2, Ronald Old 3. Form ■ V'.—Clement Allen 1, William Milian 2. Stanley Yates 3. Commercial Section. Junior Boys, Foam 111. —John Cheevers 1,. Jonn Tonkin 2, Dudley Wills 3. Junior Girls, Form 111. —Monica Evans I, Evelyn. Cameron 2, Louisa Brady 3. intermediate Boys, Form IV.—William Pnilip I, Jack Beauchamp 2, Geo. Bishop 3. . 1 Intermediate Girls, Form IV.—Mabel Brough 1. Muriel Beys 2, Sadie Evans i 3, • . j Senior Boys, Form V.—Eric Owen 1, : Graham Surgenor 2, Thomas Armitage | 3. Form Vi.: Leslie Church 1. Senior Girls, Form V. —Audrey Nicholas 1, Violet Heigenhan 2, Aland Willcecks 3. Agriculture Section. Forni IV.—lvan Nicholas 1, May •Duckworth 2. Form ill. —JaekVinten 1, Allen Phil-, pott 2, lveuiiein Reynolds 3. SPECIAL PRIZES. Messrs Purser and Suisted. —Home Science: IV., Vena Hodge; 111., Jean Sp’roull. ' . , Air Sage, progress prize.—Literary: IV, Violet Death; 111., Alice Wytkin; V. Dudley Gower. Mrs Coleman, progress prize (books). 111., Eunice Nicholas; 111., John Gower; I Vi, Jessie Gallie; home science, Jean.' Easton (cooking); home science, ,Ethel Lander (general . progress). Air Holland, progress prize (slips).— Commercial: V., Alary Quin; IV., Aileen Brough. Messrs W. G. Wilton and Co. (slips). —Agriculture: IV., Ivan Nicholas, 30s; | IV., Ray Duckworth, 30s; 111., Allan i Philpott, 20s; 11., Jack Vinten, 20s. Miss Earl.—Home science: Vena Hodge. Engineering. Ate6srs Hopkirk and Co., Alessrs ! Bennett and Sutton. —Alechanieal engineering: Clement Allen. I Alessrs Gyde and Barringer.— ' j Robert Richards (science). i Air Evans.—Ernest Bunn (mechanic- : al engineering). Air C. W. Allen.—Ronald Old >; (mathematics). • | Air Larkman.—Rex Beatson (meichanical engineering). I Air E. Evans. —Francis Quin (me- ’! clianical engineering). I i Air E. Evans.—Eric Gane (mathe- ■ imatics). - i Alessrs Gyde and Barringer.—lsaac 1 i Bishop (workshop practice).

Swimming. Championship Cup (donor, the Mayor).—Winnie Grant. Sports. Senior Championship Cup (donor, Mi’ Brunette). —l\an Nicholas. Intermediate Championship Cup (donors, H. 8.). —John Gower and Geo. Nicholas (equal). Junior Championship Cup (donor, Mr S. C. Tonks). —C. Sturrock. Cadet Challenge Cup (shooting), for 101 Company.—Graham Surgenor. Mrs Gray’s special (excellence in boarding-housef.—Maurice Burke. Headmaster’s special (tackling at football). —Kingsley Skjellerup. Dux of school.—Gill, Audrey Nicholas (commercial); boy, Cornelius O’Dea (literary). Donor. Mr J. tt. Corrigan, M.P.

Head prefects (badges).—Patrick Coleman, Edna Death.

After the distribution of the prizes and certificates about 400 people were entertained at supper in the hall below, which was prettily decorated with pink sweet peas and rambler roses. To the girls’ home science class, under Mies Earl, special commendation is due, for it was they who provided the dainty repast. To undertake the catering for so many people was no small undertaking, but the girls did it and did it well, thereby demonstrating their wonderful enthusiasm as well as their method of working. After supper the adults went upstairs again and joined in the dancing, which continued until 12 o’clock. Among the items given by the pupils during the evening the two old melodies sung—“ Far away” and “Will ye no come back again”—were worthy of special mention. It seems a pity that ! these beautiful old songs are not sung i more, but the school is doing its share I to bring them back, and at all* similar functions they intend to include at

least one of the old melodies in their programme. In connection with the arrangements, thanks are due to Mrs Glasson, of the Islington Tea Rooms, for the loan of table clot.»o and silverware, to Mr W. Gilbert and St. Mary’s vestry for the loan of crockery, and also to the many parents and friends for contributing milk and material for the decorations. Special thanks are due to Mr L. 0. Hooker, who helped in every possible way and facilitated arrangements.