Chronicle-1977

Term 4 At the time of writing two Recitals are planned in addition to the usual Carol Services. These will be reviewed later. THE CHAPEL ORGAN This fine instrument, installed in 1953 as a result of the considerable efforts of the late Mr Max Gram, has recently been enlarged by the addition of a two rank mixture set of pipes on the Great Organ. The money for this was the residue of the original sum raised in the early 1950's which had quietly been accumulating in the Building Society Account. The work was carried out by Mr Colin Hele of Pietenuaritzburg in July 1977, the pipes being made in England. This has made a significant difference to the organ and was the direct result of a request for this particular type ofStop by Mr Gram himself, shortly before his death. I am given to understand that further improvements are likely as a result of a bequest in Mr Gmram's Will. He has indeed been a good friend and servant of the College. J. M.H. Gn the 9th September,the Kearsney Parliament met for the final meeting of the year;it was also the 453rd meeting of the Kearsney Debating Society, and incidentally, the 289th meeting of Parliament. This debate, attended by members of the Durban City Parliament, reflected the improvement in the Standard of Public Speaking attained by members during the year. The reason for the improvement has been three-fold: firstly, the enthusiasm and determination of the Prime Minister, Paul Alcock, and the Leader of the Gpposition Leonard van Schalkwyk, in improving their own standard of speaking, and then their efficiency as Party Whips, holding meetings of their respective groups, and planning the debates with care. Thirdly, the influence of the Demosthenes Society in the general approach to Speaking, was clearly noticeable. Because of this, the doldrums that threatened the Society at the beginning of the year have been averted. Debates during the year have been lively and interesting; they have included the proposal that Natal should institute its own "Tumhalle", an Information Control Bill, and a non-political debate on Conservation. From all of the meetings during the year, E. Jordan was judged to have been best speaker and was awarded the Sutler-Gore Trophy for Public Speaking. Incidentally, he represented the School in the Hofmeyr Speech Competition. Most of the sixty members of Parliament have risen to speak during the year, and that the experience has benefitted them cannot be doubted. It is hoped that during 1978, the improvement in speaking will continue. The Speaker and Deputy-Speaker would like to thank all those, especially the Clerks, who have made the 1977 Session ofParliament, so successful. T.G.A. KEARSNEY PARLIAMENT It is very pleasing to report a considerable upsurge in the use of all library facilities this year. Regular library periods for all forms involve the library being used for 94% of total teaching time. Many projects have been set by staff and an increasing number of pupils work using reference material during the afternoons. Although comparable figures for 1976 are not meaningful, 11 305 books were issued to June 1977. In the third term, an increase of 95% with a total of6 145 books was recorded, whereas in the fourth.term, due to examinations, the figure had dropped to 4409. However, this represents an increase of 65% on the corresponding 1976 figure. This year, a total of 11914 English, 6312 Afrikaans and 3633 non-fiction have been issued. A new system of dealing with overdue books was introduced during the year and LIBRARY 63

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