At the School Speech Day, on July 20th, Sir Sidney Caine, an Old Boy of the School, was the chief guest. He Governor of the Reserve Bank of Rhodesia and director of the London School of Economics. In his speech,he stressed the need for hard work and readiness to seize opportunites that would lead to anexciting career. Lady Caine graciously presented the prizes.
The Headmaster, in reviewing the year's progress, pointed out that this was a year of special celebration for us. Our twelve Open Awards and six places at Oxford and Cambridge were the finest achevements in the history of the school and made us the leading State Grammar School this year in the country. He referred to Raymond Slade, who came from Roxeth Manor and won an Open scholarship to Oxford, as an instance of how the School was "gearing itself to meet the changing needs of sociey today." The successes were, too, a tribute to the work of dr. Simpson and the Staff.
"Everyone matters," declared Mr. Avery,and toprove the point, he referred to the Careers Convention held in March, in which 150 Old Boys, Parents and friends advised pupils on their possibe careers. Other experiments were in progress in many of the school academic departments, such as the use of Television in the Biology Laboratory, and the introduction of Russian. After saying farewell to the Masters who were leaving, the Headmaster added that the school had been "educating boys for leisure too." He detailed some of the work done in C.C.F. and Scout camps, in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and in their Review day and Gang Show.
After mentioning the healthy state of the various School games, Mr. Avery expressed our delight in the progress of Tim Rutter and Peter Kingsbury in their representative matches.
"We want an outward looking school," he declared, "and three boys sum up this spirit." These were David Zideman who has won an International Exchange Visit to Canada, Gordon Murray,who is visiting the Swedish Arctic to study lemmings; and Trevor Hancock, who is our first pupil to give up one year for voluntary service overseas. Mr. Avery stressed the need to make a break of this kind between school and university.
Reference was then made to the many school societies that played such a leading part in the cultural life of the school, such as the Dramatic Society, with its "Noah" complete with a "Do-it-yourself" dove, and the many musical occasions throughout the year.
Mr. Avery ended with a look at the future. "We have," he said, "not only a local but also a national responsibility to able boys in a school like ours. It is folly to smash a living successful school community, but it is common sense to research, discuss, consult fully and plan for the secondary education of our children inthe next decade. We can only hope that the standards of the Grammar School set above all by highly qualified, dedicated teachers, and by parents and scholars, will enrich and permeate the secondary school of the future."