GOODBYE TO THE SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1933, 16 December 1913, Page 16

GOODBYE TO THE SCHOOL.

v MR, DOVE'S LAST ANNUAL REPORT. AN INSPIRING REVIEW. Unfortunately the custom of writing annual reports of schools that are not merely a. prosaic recital of the events of tho year, has almost' gono .out of date. It was a real pleasure to tho writer to have been afforded the privilege of perusing that of the Rev. LI. Dove, headmaster of tho Wanganui Collegiate School. To appreciate his polished English style ; and the sincere purpose underlying lus reports, some extracts from tho report arc reprinted: "Catch up tho Torch." "Success there has been, but this is not the time to dwell upon it, only to perform tho sad office of saying farewell to the leaders: —To Maclean, tho Captain of Shooting; to Salmond, tho Captain of Cricket; to Cowper, the Captain of Football; to Miles, the Captain of Rowing; and we would wish that the sound of a farewell cheer might pass over the waves to Lala, the oar, the boxer, the three-quarter back, in his distant and lonely homo. Leaders one and all they aro going their ways and taking with them our hearts and, best wishes; but the sound of their mighty deeds shall return to encourage us; and the examples they liave set and the skill they have trained are already living in those who shall step to tho front to

catch up tho torch which they havo borne. Sets v. Forms. N "When the School was inspected a year ago it was urged upon us that we should abolish 'Forms' and substitute 'Sets'; and tho meaning is this: "Not infrequently a parent asks that his boy may be put into a higher form bocause lie is being kept back in English, and the schoolmaster answers that this cannot bo because tho boy knows no French. "The parent stares in amazement at so inconsequent an answer, but being a plain man and unversed in tho ways oi pundits he departs hoping for the best and reserving his comments for tho winds without. Tho schoolmaster though secure on his mound does not crow. He also knows that tho answer was ridiculous j but ho is more sinned against, than sinning, for the fault lies not in him.but in the form system, which assumes that because 20 boys are of about the same average in French thev must also bo of tho same average in 'English and History and in other things. Thus the form system lias dono a wrong to the boy and mado a fool of his master. Nono the less I could put up a strong defence for the form system ; but I will not do so, for it must go, and henceforth tho boys taught together in French will be selected for their French, those in English for their English, those in Latin for their Latin, and those in Science for their • Science; and this is tho 'Set' system, ! which wo nro introducing. After this ■ it will, I am sure, be a relief to you ■ to breathe tho fresh air of the playing field before we visit tho sanatorium." On Military Training. "1 have been- telling you about our work and our play; and there is one moro matter to speak of which 1 can- | not class exactly under either heading— | our military training. Many enjoy it like a game; to a tew it is toil; but whatever wo may feel towards it, there is one thing quite clear: it is a high duty to our country, and it is the law of tho land. • Bo it wo must, tho only question is whether wo do it well or ill, 1 effectively or ineffectively; and wo havo decidcd to do it well. "That this is right all will agree, and those who havo studied the question will also agreo that a weekly parade with nothing moro results in 1 doing it badly, and, further, that to g do it well there is 0110 way and only one, a course of continuous instruction. If v there had ever been any doubt about yr this, it has been settled years ago by - the success of the Public Schools Bri- - gado Camps in England. "Every summer, somo six or seven y thousand boys like ourselves give up g a week of their summer holidays to I- train under Army officers. I have known " that movement from the beginning; it .was a Email beginning whon seven and

twenty years ago Lord Wantago received two hundred school boys into the camp of the Home Counties' Brigade. We did not know everything in thoso days; but one day in a sham fight we took a prisoner. The prisoner was a big Berkshire rustic, and, fortunately, good-natured. 'Ho was sent to the rear by tho Adjutant, under escort of two very small cadets; and tho first thing to happen was that the prisoner liad to show his escort how to fix bayonets. •'Wo havo learnt things since then, and so have other people. Thoso , who thought, and fervently declared, that soldiers would not manage boys well, and would exert on them ■ a bad influence, have proved to bo wrong; exactly the opposite is the case —the discipline of the camps is good, and the character training is excellent. Now it was, as I said, my good fortune to be in at the beginning of this movement, and to number among my friends the man who started it. His name was Temperloy. Twenty-seven years after a close relation of his, an old Sherburnian and a University man anda soldier of tried merit, came to the Wellington District as Genoral Staff Officer in Charge of Military Training. "Hero was tho opportunity which I had long beon seeking. Camp being impossible, wo wont into barracks; tho masters walked out and the instructors marched in, and very excellent instructors they were. And if you ask after tho results of the experiment, I refer you to the School; they shall answer.

And if you want to know the kind of influence exerted by Major Temperley, again I refer you to tho School —they will answer. The ono thing I, for my part, will tell you is that I do not think tho school work has in any way suffered from the time spent on soldiering, and that both in health and tone the school has gained considerably. Athletics a Necessary Slave. ''There is a truth which all will acknowledge in the statement that athletics are a very good servant but a very bad master; It is a truth which lias been often demonstrated in affairs great and small, from tho downfall of a society which has sold itself to pleasure, forgetting its Sabbaths and profaning its temples with merchandise, to tho sadness and despair of tho individual life which has nothing in its past to record but bodily prowess; and nowhere is the working of this judgment moro swift than in a school. "There bo gods many and there be lords many, but for a school there may be only ono King: 'Follow the Christ, the King '; and enthrono 110 idol. Athletics at first sight make a very harmlees idol, wholesome, clean, and of good report; out their worshippers aro doomed. As a slave, however, they aro necessary to health of body and mind, and 'tho moro you beat .them tho better they bo.' And that is how I would account for the success of tho 6chool in games during tho past, and to this I would ask you to look for success in the futuro, even to working harder and harder in school and playing hard whilst you aro at it. ' An Appeal. "Nearly five years ago, when Mr. Empson lmndid over this school to me, I spoke to tho parents assembled. I told thorn that their interests and mino wero the samo, the true welfare of their sons; and 1 asked thom to work with mo and to allow me to work with them, They have dono.it. They have dono it well. I do not think it is possible for parents as a body to give more loyal and hearty support than it has been my blessing to receive during the last five years; and in saying this I wish to join with mo in tho statoment my wife. Mrs. Dove has felt and again and again acknowledged that the parents aro splendid —almost as jjood as their sons. And in tho times ot troublo this is a great strength to the school. When tho doctor's car is waiting and the telepliono boll ringing the distant call, those few faint words over tho wires, 'Do as you think best' may mean the saving of a life. "And what I would now ask ot Inc parents is to do once again a> you did live years ago, as j.ou transfciTcd your confidence from Mr. and Mrs. Walter Empson to us; even so I beg you to carry it on from us to Jlr. and Mrs. Hugh Latter. I have not yet tho pensure of knowing Mr, Lattor personally j

but I know the most important thing about him, I know tho rock whence he was liown; and I say with confidence that yoti may trust him; and in two years' time, if anyone takes the trouble to recall this moment, it will bo acknowledged that .what was prophesied then on December 12, i£)l3, was true."