St. Peter's School- An Ambition Realised

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3423, 22 February 1936, Page 3

St. Peter's School- An Ambition Realised

and in the other projecting wing which flanks the entrance square is a dark-room equipped with modern photographic apparatus. Mr BroadIhurst is a keen amateur photographer himself, and he intends to initiate the boys into this fascinating hobby. Passing a loggia the visitor, comes to the private quarters of Mr Broadhurst. Adjoining the study is a spacious lounge pleasantly furnished and containing a magnificent grand piano. Of particular interest is a small cabinet containing rare examples of Indian art. The south-west wing of the ground floor contains wash-rooms, and a spacious changing-room for the boys. These rooms are as close to the playing fields as possible. The first floor contains the dormitories. Each of the four airy rooms is furnished in a different colour, each scheme being carried out in the curtains and the bed-

OFFICIAL OPENING TODAY

The Founder and His Staff 'JO-DAY, Saturday, February 22nd, 1936, will be a proud day in the lives of the headmasters, staff, and boys of St. Peter’s School. It will also be one to be remembered in the history of Cambridge, for it marks the official launching of a project, the development of which has been watched with great interest during the past two years. Cambridge should be, and is, proud to possess a preparatory school which, in the opinion of those best qualified to judge, ranks not only as the best in New Zealand, but among the best institutions of its kind in the world. Leading citizens of the future—administrators, business and professional men will look back on St. Peter’s with feelings of pride in the fact that it was their first school, and they will look back on Cambridge with feelings of affection.

jgEHIND the establishment of St. Peter’s lies the story of one man’s ambition to create such a school where he might put to practical test the theories concerning the education and training of boys which he had developed during more than a decade’s experience of teaching, and an intense personal interest in his subject extending over many years. Mr A. F. B. Broadhurst first found his interests turning towards the

teaching of boys about fifteen years ago, while he was a director ot the well-known Manchester firm of Tootal Broadhurst Lee Co. Ltd. His ambition ultimately to found a school of his own has found realisation in the new preparatory school of which he is joint headmaster. Born at Ayr, Scotland, in 1890, Mr Broadhurst began his education at West Downs Preparatory School. He afterwards went to Winchester, one of the best-known English pub-

After the Armistice, he resumed his directorship of his old firm, but his business interests were subordinated in 1924 to the urge to become a school master. He resigned his directorship, and for the next eight, years he assisted at his old preparatory school, meanwhile grad : uating Master of Arts of Oxford. During this time the ambition to found a preparatory school of his own, in order to put into practice his own theories of teaching and training boys, gradually developed. New Zealand attracted him as an ideal country in which to establish a preparatory school worthy of Empire recognition. In 1932 he embarked on a world tour. Although New Zealand was in his mind, he was determined to select a more suitable country if one could be found. His experience of manv confirmed his choice of New