POPULAR HEADMASTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19512, 16 December 1926, Page 14

POPULAR HEADMASTER.

KING'S SCHOOL PRINCIPAL. PRESENTATION FROM PARENTS. Parents, friends and members of the staff of King's Preparatory School, Remuera, assembled in the school buildings yesterday afternoon to bid farewell to Mr. 8. Clifton Smith, who has been principal of the school for the past five years. The work of Mr. and , Mrs. Clifton Smith has been very highly appreciated," said Professor R. M. Algie, chairman of -the Board of Governors. " Parents have come to me and said, quite unofficially, that their little chap has been backward m his school work, and have asked for advice. On sending the boy to King's School a fresh start had been made in his life, and I believe that reformations such as these are wholly due to the splendid influence of Mr. Clifton Smith." " There is only one ray of consolation how that Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Smith are going away," Professor Algie said, " and that is that they are returning to their own country, and are going to promotion. When my old friend Professor Dettman heard that Mr. Clifton Smith was. available he immediately wrote to him offering him two positions, One was from his former employer, who wanted him back ; again, and the other came from a man who was going to found a new school on the lines of King's. Surely, no man received a greater compliment." (Applause. ) . A further tribute to Mr. Clifton Smith's devotion to duty during his term of headmaster was ptiid by Dr. M. B. Gunn, who said ho never regretted placing his boys uhder; liia charge, iHe would be remembered by all parents with the fondest recollections. Mrs. Winstone also referred to Mr. and Mi's. Clifton Smith in eulogistic terms. Professor Algie then presented Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Smith with a cheque on behalf of tho assembled parents. On rising to reply Mr. Clifton Smith was greeted with prolonged applause. " The success of any schoolmaster," he said, " depends upon his relations with his boys: I think there should be two books published, ' Parents I Have Met/ by a schoolmaster, and.' Schoolmasters I Have Met/' by a parent. It seems highly probablo that the schoolmaster would havo the thick end of the stick. During my life I have met hundreds of parents, but I,cannot say enough for the parents of my present pupils, who have been kind and generous to an extreme. In speaking of my influence on ths boys, they forget tho'"boys' influence on rne. Many of the nervous, self-conscious little fellows who wonder what is going to happen when they come to King's are soon turned into manly, Christian gentlemen." When he and, his wife reached Sydney they woiild be surrounded by memories of King's, and they would always extend a hearty _ welcome to any present who, cared to visit them. Mr. and Mrs. Clifton Smith will leave for Sydney by the Maunganui on December 24.