THE HIGH SCHOOL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 165, 18 December 1914, Page 4

THE HIGH SCHOOL.

SPEECH DAY. There was a large attendance at the Gymnasium of the High School last night, when the annual prize-giving ceremony took place. Mr. E. Dockrill (cS man of the Board of Governors) pre : sided, and on the platform were: His Worship the Mayor .Mr. J. E. Wilson (an Old Boy of the school), Mr. H. Okey, -M.1., Dr. Fookes, and several of the members of the Board. In opening the proceedings the chairman said he was very glad to meet such a large assemblage in the new hall of the school, which had only been erected during the last year. He referred to the initiation of preparatory classes, expressing the belief that these would form one of the best adjuncts of the school. The conditions which existed were entirely lavorable to success. (Applause ) The Board has determined that no obstacles should deter them from placing the school m the position which it ought to hold in the district. Ho hoped that when twelve months hence, they met in that hall on a uimihr occasion, they would find the :ohool thoroughly equipped, enabling the work to be earned on to the best advantage, and on the most uivorable conditions. At present they were tied up for want of suffieient room, but he expected to get over that and other difficulties, and then the I'oard would be able to do somethin" for, the school which at present was impossible. Referring to the achievements of the school during the past year, Mr. Dockrill said that one of its remarkable records was the great success obtained in the Empire schools' shooting competi. tion. It was, he considered, something to be proud of to get within one of victory, the school being only beaten by Charterhouse. He believed that next year the boys would carry off the trophy. Another matter that they might well feel proud of was that their cadets had earned eulogy from General Sir lan Hamilton, and praise from such a high source was enough to make every boy in the school feel proud that he was on the roll. Events in Europe showed that rifle-shooting was no idle sport, and with the training that boys received at the school they would bo fit to take part m the defence of the Empire. It was necessary that the youths of the Dominion should bo trained so as to fit them for the call of duty, and he was confident that the boys of this district would not fail if, in after life, they were called upon to do that duty. (Applause.) HEADMASTER'S REPORT. Mr.-Moyes, the principal, then read the following report:— I have the. honor to report on the work of the school for the year 1014. During the last twelve months the school has shown a remarkable growth in many ways and we can now, I think, justly '■' aim to have worked our way into line with the larger and better-known secondary schools of the dominion. The school can no longer be merely regarded as a local institution, for a large proportion of those attending come from outside the town and ninny ,'udeed come from outside the district of Taranaki. The sudden growth of the school has naturally thrown upon the shoulders of the Board added responsibilities. The expenditure has been increased enormously and the constant need for increased accommodation and urgent improvements hns taxed severely the resources of the governing body. I wish to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the way in which my numerous requests had been accecded to. but at the same time I cannot help feeling that unless the progressive policy of the last two years is continued for some time to come, the usefulness of the school will be seriously interfered with. I am more than thankful for the liberal treatment the school has had in the past, but I must confess that I am not satisfied. Cessation means stagnation and no efrort should be spared to equip the school with adequate boarding accommodation for the next two years. I am confident that if the school' is to meet the demands that will be made upon it m the near future, a portion of the Borough property adjoining the school grounds should be acquired at once. The time has arrived when a definite and comprehensive building scheme should be taken in hand, and, if this is not done, the time is surely coming, when the people of this town will look back mid realise that indifference to the needs of the future has made it impossible to have in their midst a school suited to the requirements of the community. THE ROLL. The roll number again shows a marked increase. Some idea of the progress of the school may be obtained from a comparison of the enrolments for the years 1912, IMS, and 1014, which are as follows: 1912, 71 pupils, 1913, 130 pupilsj 1914, ISO pupils. Of this Jattcr number, 47 are boarders, and 133 are day boys. There is every indication that a further slight increase will be forthcoming in February next. EXAMINATIONS. Tlie results of the November and December examinations were satisfactory. Of the 13 candidates who entered for Matriculation, nine passed, while all who sat for the Public Service Entrance Examination were successful, six out of the eight being placed on the credit list. F. A, Bruce passed a section of the Public Service Senior Examination, L. G. (Joss gained fourth place for New Zealand in the Entrance Examination for the Royal Military College of Australia, and I. W. Weston gained a. Taranaki University Scholarship., Education Board scholarships were won by K. Brokenshire, R. A. Callander, and K. Jackson. As boys who have matriculated are now remaining at school, it was thought advisable this year to start a University class in order that those, who for variouß reasons are unable to attend the University, might proceed with the work of the B.A. degree. In the recent examinations, W. Wilson was successful in passing the first year's terms as an extra mural student of Victoria College. At the end of the second term, H. M. Leppcr snt for and passed the examination for special commissions in the Imperial Army, and he is now on his way to the Royal Military College of Sandhurst, where ho is to undergo three months' training preparatory to joining his regiment. OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. The school can, I feel, justly pride itself on the prowess it has made in most branches of school sport. In athletics, football, drill and shooting, there has been a marked improvement, showing the effect of systematic training. In the Schools of the Empire match, the senior team gained second place for the Empire, being beaten by one point by Charterfiouse, while in the Imperial challenge" shield matches, the junior team was placed seventh on the list out of a large

number of loading schools of tlio Empire. hi this connection, our thanks are due to Lieut. Hartneli, who for the past two years has devoted an immense amount of time to assisting the boys on the range and to Mr. Hall, whose enthusiasm for this branch of sport has been largely instrumental in enabling the shooting teams to make such a creditable showing. The annual football tournament in which Napier, Palmcrslon North and New Plymouth take part, was this year held in New Plymouth, and was won by the team representing this school. The standard of cricket is -infortunateSly still below what it ought to be and must, I am afraid, remain so until the 3 younger boys in the school have worked | their way into the first eleven. I sin--1 cerely hope that the-time is not far dis- | tant when the services of a professional 3 cricket coach will be obtainable in Now I Plymouth. | The cadet work in the school still I takes up a large portion of the time devoted to outdoor activities, and th». fact that General Hamilton singled out No. 2 Company for special mention, shows that our efforts in this direction have | not been altogether in vain. THE PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT. Tina department has increased in numbers from 2!) to 47. These boys are taught by masters especially trained for the purpose; their class-roonw are separlated from the others and everything possible has been done to make this portion of the school thoroughly up to date and efficient. In his report of July 7, Dr. Anderson, Assistant Inspector-General of Schools, says: "This division gives a very pleasing impression indeed, and careful and systematic instruction. Schemes of the work have been fully prepared, and the lessons are intelligently conducted with good results. The pupils answer readily and their books show careful attention."

For some reason, which I have not been able to fathom, a section of the public have always been opposed to a preparatory department to this school, and f have frequently heard it asserted that it is wrong for a secondary school to compete against the state schools in the district. I wish to take the opportunity of stating publicly that it n not now and it has never been our intention to injure the other schools in New Plymouth, and, moreover, I firmly believe that this school has made practically no difference to the attendance at such schools. Of the boys comprisi ing tiiis department, 23 never have and never would have attended the State schools in this town. Whatever is said to the contrary, it must be conceded that many parents prefer that their sons should participate in the advantages of a boarding school life, and it was to meet the demand caused bv such cases that this school was established. For 1915, boys have been entered from as far south as Wellington, and as far north as Auckland, and I think I can •safely leave it to the public of New Plymouth to decide whether it is to the advantage of this town for these hoys to attend school here or to go elsewhere. Twelve boys were entered for the recent examinations with the result that seven gained proficiency, throe gained competency and two failed. TIIE STAFF. Several changes have taken places in the personnel of the staff. Early in the year, Mr 11. Fenton resigned in order to accept a position under the Taranaki Education Board, and, in the second term, Mr V. J. B. Hall, M.A., who has been a house master for the past two years, left to join the main expeditionary | force. Should Mr Hall again return to ,Ncw Zealand, I sincerely Jicpe that he will again accept a position under the New Plymouth Gigh School Board, for the success achieved by the boys in various branches of school activity has been due in no small measure to his exertions. The stall' lias been further strengthcd by the appointment of Mr C. G. Bottrill, M.A., and Mr A. Diprosc (B certificate) to the lower school, and of Mr E. H. Espiner to the upper school. CURRICULUM. This remains practically the same as | that of last year. Three courses are open to boys attending the school, viz., the classical, the commercial and tlie agricultural. The commercial work is now taken at the school under the supervision of Mr T. Buxton, who himself conducts classes m book-keeping from 9 to 11 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays This is a decided on the old method of sending boys outside the school for instruction, and next November should see the second year boys well up in the Public Service Entrance standard.

The classical work in the two upper forms is still weak, hut I have no hesitation in stating that bj 1916, when the present fifth form have roachcd the senior class, the -Latin will be of a distinctly Ihieh standard. In this subject, probably more than in any other, a good grounding is absolutely necessary and this certainly is being given in the junior and middle forms.

Hie agricultural work has been still iurthor extended, and 2J acres are now under cultivation. With a view to carrying out experiments on forage crops', plots have been put down In mixtures of oats and vetches; oats and peas and Italian rye,-crimson clover and prairie grass.

■Uiionmcnts on soil inoculation have also burn earned out in connection with j lucerne and soya beans. In addition to this, samples of seeds have been obtained from various seed merchant* m New Zealand and Austraia for tlie purpose of conducting variety tests on timothy and swedes, while in-terj-sting opxeriments on box testing with noil obtained from Mr Blackball fann at Lepperton, are at present in progress. * MUSIC. I am glad to say that quite a number 0 pupils are now taking advantage of tin tact that provision is made for the teaching of this subject. During the vear, JV. lm.ll, a pupil of Miss Pike, passed the primary division in the practical examination and division 11 j„ theory 1 Mace „ lni])il of Mi . R „ n . uid • the middle grade of (he schools examination in pmnoforte playing. Altogether J up.ls have been taking music lessons at the school. In conclusion, 1 desire l ; , tender my sincere 1 hanks to all those who have so generously assisted us during the' year; t<> the press («„• (,| l(1 mi „\\\ nt , assis'tiuice on al occasions and to the meinbers of ','"> sill who have without exception j™*,-,! indefatigably to further tl " terests of the school. In the course of his supplemental remarks, Mr. Moyes stated that in the . afternoon of that day the school had shot for the Empire Challenge Shield scoring 524 points. That score was be- [ yond the score made by Charterhouse, the winning team of last year, and was conszderaMy more than any score made by any other school. He also referred to a, letter which appeared in the papers early ln the year on the subject of his report to the Defence authorities rclatrveto the camg w Mcli was held He

emphasised the fact that, while he re. I i cognised that the cadet movement was a \ ( very important part of the school work, 1 ho did not intend his remarks to be i taken as referring to the scholarship i work of the school, but to the recreative < and training departments of the work. • He stressed the point that all the ath- 1 letic and cadet work was taken outside f school hours, adding that, so long as he remained at the school, outdoor sports * and athletics would receive the same at- j tention as in the past. (Applause.) They could not be ignored, for it was recog- ' nised that on the playing Held the boys learned self-control, self-sacrifice, self, confidence, and mutual forbearance, be- | sides acquiring the habit of thinking i quickly and acting promptly. Referring to the belief which at one time existed as to the school being deficient in scholarship, Mr. Moyes said that during the last three years there was only one boy in the senior form in 1912, and he was the holder of a Taranaki scholarship. la the next year there were two boy 9, and one of theso gained a scholarship; and again this year there were two boys. As a matter of fact, the school had not been worked with the idea of gaining scholarships. Moreover, in order to obtain scholarships they must have, the material —boys capable of winning these scholarships The masters on the school staff had been successful in bringing boys at other schools up to scholarship mark, and he was certain they would succeed here if they had the material to work on. Until 1910, when the present Form V. boys would be ready, he could promise nothing, but ho was confident that the school would then show the successful results they all looked for. Apparently the people of this district drew a distinct line of demarcation between a High School and a college, but there was really no dilferenee, except in the name itself. The organisation was the same, and so was the curriculum. It should, however, be realised that the school was not a District High School, and that it was not competing in any way with thp primary schools. It was an endowed in--1 stitution, and sooner or later must come ; to be regarded as the centre of higher ' education in Taranaki It had been > suggested by the Old Boys' Association ' that the name of the school should be changed to that of the [Taranaki Col--1 lege. At first he was inclined not to ' favor the change, but he had come to ' see that the proposal had its good points. \ The school was exactly on the samo foundation as Nelson College and other schools of that kind. J THE MAYOR'S SPEECH.

The Mayor, who was accorded a very warm greeting, said tliab he regarded the invitation to be present that evening as a great compliment. As an Old Boy, he felt honored at being elected Mayor of New Plymouth, and in that capacity he might be expected to speak of the school in its relation to the town. The people now looked on the school as the one reliable institution of the town in which they could take an interest. It was no longer thrown in their teeth that parents had to send their boys to other centres to got satisfactory higher education, for the New Plymouth High School could .now successfully compete with other schools of the same grade, and if boys were sent from here to other schools, outside boys were being sent tp New Plymouth. Already the accommodation at" the school was severely taxed, and he felt that the pressure would grow more and more in the future. He hoped the BoaTd of Governors would be able to provide accommodation for all the hoys of the. province who were ready to come to the school. He was well aware of the Board's anxiety to do this, if only they had the necessary funds at command. The Education Department subsidised the Boards of secondary schools, but its duty should not rest there, it being necessary that sufficient accommodation should be provided for every child in the district who was capable of taking advantage of higher education, and he hoped that all the Parliamentary representatives of Taranaki constituencies would urge on the Department the just claims of the New Plymouth High School, in order that it might receive the same justice as similar schools in other places. He liked to feel that the school belonged not to the people of New Ply. mouth, but to the whole of the residents in Taranaki, so that it should be recognised as the college of the province. That the school was appreciated was evidenced by the fact that pupils came to it from other parts. He was confident that the numbers would largely increase with the growth of the district. He considered that the time had arrived when representation on the Board should be widened so as to advance the interests of the school by securing representatives from other parts of Taranaki. He. warmly complimented the Board on the progress of the school.. There had been bad times in the history of the school, but they had gone—gone for ever. (Cheers). The results obtained .during the last three years could not fail to engender confidence as to its future, as well as satisfaction in the useful work that it was performing. (Cheers.) OTHER SPEECHES. Mr 11. Okey said he considered the remarks of the Mayor as to the benefit which the school was to the district were quite called for, and that very often the presence of such a school in till! town was a deciding factor in attracting residents. fie quite agreed with the suggestion to rename the school, as to call it a College would lift it above the other schools in the district. He also agreed with Mr Moves' remarks as to the necessity for preparatory classes, though he knew that the Department was against those classes, for when asking for financial help for enlarging the school lie had been met with the retort that the preparatory classes were taking up room in the school. Referring to the Under-Secretary for Education, the speaker stated' that there would shortly be a change, and though he was not going to say anything adverse to the present Under-Secretary, he considered that a progressive man was wanted as permanent head of the Department as Ministers changed, but the Under-Sec-tary remained and guided the Minister for the time being. r>eferring to the Taranaki Scholarships, Mr Okey pointed out that the Wellington University had an eye on the accumulated fund, and he hoped that by 1915 or 1010, Taranaki would be able to show that there was no dearth of scholarship holders avail able. He complimented the school on ' 3

its cadets, who had been praised by Generals Hamilton and Gudley, and trusted that the training the hoys were now getting would iit them, if called upon in the future, for anything that came along. He promised to do all in his power to further tlie interests of the school which he recognised was a great asset for the district. In reply to Mr Okey's remarks as to the Taranaki scholarships, Mr Moyes said that an examination had just been held, but the results would not be known until next year, when he sincerely hoped that one of the boys would be a scholarship holder. In reply to a question by Mr E. Griffiths, Mr Moyes said that the money raised last year to help the shooting was of the greatest benefit as it enabled ammunition to be provided.

Mr Griffiths said ho was glad to bear it, and would be vciy pleased to help again.

Dr Fookes, who met with a most enthusiastic reception, said he was very glad to help the school along. Addressing the boys, he impressed on them the great advantages attached to good fellowship, both during their school days and in after life. He wished them an enjoyable time during the holidays and all good things in the new year. Mr Ewing, in the course of a brief address, pointed out that the school was the means of distributing in the town £IO,OOO a year. The chairman tendered to Dr Fookes the thanks of the Board and staff, and the scholars for the handsome "Honors' Board" donated by him. He also thanked the Mayor for his eulogistic references to the work of the Board and the staff. As to the question of outside representation on the Board, the difficulty in the past had been inability to pay members' travelling expenses, but under an Act of last session this had been remedied as from January Ist next. To the boys leaving the school he conveyed the heartiest good wishes of the Board for their future success and expressed a hope that those returning would show increased vigor to do better work than in the past. In conclusion he thanked all present for their attendance. PRIZES. The scholastic prizes presented quite an attractive appearance, being well and tastefully bound. They were distributed by Mrs Dockrill and the recipients, especially Bruce and Lueena, received great ovations. The athletic prizes and trophies made a most imposing array of silver ware and the fortunate winners were all loudly cheered. The following is the prize list:— Form 1.8.—15t., C. Saxta. Form I.A.—lst., K. Neal. Recitation prizes, K. Neal, R. Dolby. Form 2.8. H. Holden. Recital ion A. Moyes. Form ll.—lst., L. Fagan, Recitation prize, L. Fagan. • Form H.A.—lst., C. Webster, 2nd., C. Fookes. Recitation prize, C. KyngdonForm lll—lst, H. H. Goss, 2nd, J. B. Wilson. English prize, D. Denny Brown. Recitation prize, E. Johns. Form lll.B—lst, A. G. Mackie, 2nd., G. J. W. Boon. Languages, B. Johns. Mathematics and Science, P. Meuli. Drawing, E. Hamling. Form lll.A.—lst, M. Atkinson, 2nd, E. Tansey. Languages, A. H. Phipps. Mathematics and Science, I. R. Brydon. Agriculture, E.'W. Snowdon. drawing, H. A. Hastic. Recitation prize, M. Atkinson. Book-keeping, W. Smcllie, Form TV.—lst., E. Hamerton; 2nd, J. H. Kendall; languages, D. Saxton; mathmatics and science, N. Fookes; agriculture, B. Stoddart; drawing, K. Clemow; recitation, J. H. Kendall; book-keeping, N. Sole.

T Form V.—lst., D. G. D. Mackie, C. C. Yates: languages, A. R. Callqnder; 'mathematics and science, R. Lepine- Agriculture, L. Marfcll; drawing, A. Huse. Form VLB,—lst, A. Sutherland, 2nd, N, Leech j languages, X. Quilliam, mathematics and science, R, MonteatSi; drawing, C. Putt; special prizes, F. A. I3ruce, B. Kelly. '"' Form TV.A.-G. M. Salt. Music Prize—C. C. Yates. Dr. Fookes' General Excellence Cup F. A. Bruce. Dux medal for 1014: G. M. Salt. Before the proceeding were concluded, hearty cheers were given for the Board, and Mr and Mrs Moyes, after which a verse of the National Anthem was sung, the visitors dispersing after a thoroughly interesting and enoyable evening.