Chronicle-1957

In wishing the boys a happy holiday, he said; "You wilflind your parents a little older, a little stupider, a little more narrowminded. Be kind to them. Remember that some day you will be parents—stupid and narrow-minded too." Mr. Clem Woods, Vice-Chairman of the Board, thanked Mr. Broome, in choice manner, for his address. The following is the HeadmasterR'esport, which for the first time was printed and circulated among all present, to be read at their leisure, the Headmaster dwelling only on the salient points. Mr. Chairman, For over a decade I have presented these reports and the difficulties are greater than is generally supposed. So much goes on in the river of iife ofaschool. There are the paragraphs of the numbers, the health, the staff, examinations, academic iife, culturai and hobby interests and sport, etc., to which one shouid try to give the particuiar tone for each year, as weli as pay tribute to the multi farious burdens which the staff so generously shoulder in order to enrich the lives of the boys. To do adequate justice would take longer than the time at my disposal permits. Nevertheless, I want to thank all those who have taken charge ofthese important aspects ofthe life ofthe school or who have generously assisted by giving of their time to provide the boys with these opportunities for growth. We have been fortunate to have had afull teaching staffthis year,though illness at times created difficult, though fortunately only temporary, situations. At the beginning of this year our new chaplain. Rev. V. Bredenkamp, B.A., took up his duties and he hasfound a warm place in the life of the boys and the school. I hope that in the near future we shall be able to have the full-time services of a chaplain, for there is important work and great opportunity for a permanent chaplain in a school of this size. Mrs. Goldman,after some 1 1 years In the difficult job of"satisfying the inner man", left us last July, and 1 wish here to record our deep appreciation of the valuable services she rendered as housekeeper. In her place we welcome Mrs. Ireland. Mrs. Brechin, who for eight years was matron of Gillingham, retired in Sep tember. Her services to the boys and the College,too, require a special word of appreciation. Mrs. Hornby has taken her place and we give her a warm welcome. This year we have had 25 day boys and 292 boarders. We have had to refuse well over a hundred applications for next year, and this has given point to the fact that, because of our limited classroom accommodation, we shall in future have to restrict the entry of day boys. We already have 31 entered for next year, which is too many by far. The academic iife of the College has been sound, but without a post-matric form—a goal which we sincerely hope is not far from achievement—^we do not yet have the opportunity to develop our boys into real students. It is our earnest hope that funds may come forth to provide the necessary facilities. With ap parently a 40 per cent failure of all first-year students at university, it is of tre mendous importance that we try to bridge the gap between school and university so that when pupils go up to the university they will be able to profit as they should from its academic life. 270

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