Denbighshire Free Press

ST. ASAPH. St. Asaph County School. Annual Prize Day. The annual Prize Day took place at the School on Tuesday. The Daan of St Aiaph presided, and there was a large attend- ance of the governors, parents and friends of the pupils. It was a very Interesting and successful gathering. Lattera regretting inability to attend were received from Col Howard, C.B., Wygfair Mrs Hsslan, Bryn Asaph the Rev Father Keogb, S J., Si Bauno'd College Mrs E W Griffith, Pisfinewyd-1, Trefnant; Mr and Mrs R E Birch, Bryn- celIo; Mr and Mra H W Cleaver, Bryn Gwen; Miss Evelyn Piikington, oom- aandant V.A.D., Rhyl, Daring the proceedings the boys excel- lently rendered the following musical programme: Bong by ths School, I Lati the Bills resound with songs,' Brinley Riohird3(Mr T R Jones conducted and aocompanied, Song by the Sohool, Over Taera' Ethel Boyce, Song by the School, 'The Sword.' 1 God Save the King.' THE HEAD MASTERS REPORT. YEAR'S SUCCESSFUL WORK. Mr Mainer, M.A., the Headmaster. read his report as tollows:- The numbers on the registers have be311 53 for the Christmas terms, 1916 50 aad 43 for the two followiag terais< and 48 fof the current term. I bad anticipated a year ago that our numbers would go dowa, and that the school would feel soma olleat from the war. The demand for boys to work oa tll" lands and to fill gaps ia industrial, agri- cultural* and commercial life was bacoxita^ greater. No less than 19 boys—.nore than one third of our numbers—left batswaan August, 1916, and the end of July, 1917. Oi these one has proaaeded to Liverpad University, two are in engineering works and attending evening classes, two have passed to other schools, five ara working at tome on farms, one is learning to bj a gardener, two ara railway clerks, two ara empioyed as clerks by proteastoaal mes, three are In shops and warehouses, and oaa Is In the Rhuddlan Foundry, Tae length of their stay at this soaool ava--jigg:i 3i yosrii-our university student %7aa wiea 1H 6 years. Before I come to tha reoord 01 the year I wish to refer briefly to tha curriculum oi the sohool, iulbmach ss ia the summer there was a renewal of a by no means novel discussion of the curriouia? of the great publio schools and of the part science should play ia a boy'a education. Here gcienco h a not been neglacted-in fact I do not believe that it has been possible for many years, if at any time, to pareas humscijtio studies in tho Walsh Intermediate SJUOOIS at the espouse of scientiii? and commercial studios. The schools must adapt them- selves to the needs of their pcpila and to the preparation o! the latter for the duties of life—at the same time noa losing sight of the fact that what makes a fail man opona up a vista of greater usefulness in citizen- ship and of greater enjoyment io private life. It Is now sevan years since our amended sohool curriculum received the approval of the Board of Education. It comprises English language and literature a partiou -01 the Xew Testament confined to the gospels and the Acts cf tha Apostles British history and geography, the latter of which haa bsen taught by speoiaiigjf teachers from a aoientlfia point o! view Latin, French, and for Welsh-speaking boys Welsh mathematio*, ohem-istry, and physios, in which theory ij based upon practical work, rural saieaoe, drawing and singing, manual instruction, and phjsioal extraise. The course is daai^ned to afford promising pupils an opportunity of con- tinning their studies in mathematics, chemistry, French, to university scholar- ship standard preparatory to an honoars Tae science aide has not been dwarfed in favoar 01 classical studies. We have endeavoured to give a boy a good general education, with a bias towards science and mathematics. The pauoity ot oar nuanbers. and the limitation ot oac ctaft to four, do not permit of apocialisatlon ia classics. B3 in the paió we have prepared boys at exceptional ability for honours work in Latin and history. In the last year we had no boys working at post. matcleal atiou studies. Taere were fonr at the commencement of the year who were preparing for London Mstrljalatiea or the Central Welsh Board Senior Certifi- oate Examinations one of the four -left halfway through the year to take up an opening in engineering, the other three remained to the end of the year, and were successful in passing their examination!. Donald Ellis passed the London Univer- sity Matriculation in Jane in English, mathematics, French, bbtory, geography, end chamistry. He baa recently left sohool to work unier a distinguished eld boy at school, a hard trier. Ho will give satisfaction to his superiors. In a letter to me he says, I I have not come to the stage when one wishes he was baok at school. I had a jolly nice time at school, and have a lot to th:ink yen for.' Oar second boy Don 0 G Haalou, passed the Central Welsh Board Certificate Examination in English language and literature, history, arithmetic (with distinction), elementary mathematics, Latin, French (with distinotion), chemistry, geography, English dicSstioa (^i&h dis- tinction). His success carried exemption from the Northern CJaiversitiea Matri- calatien Examination. Ha is noiv at Liverpoel University. Owen Armitage gained the Central Welsh Board Senior Certificate in English language and literature, arithmetic, elementary matheaaatios, Latin, French, geography, and English dictation (with distinction). In Form V, the class which attempts the C.W.B. Junior Certificate Examination there were 10 boys at the beginning of the sohool year—three left halfway through the year, and two of them, Gordon Brown, and Gilbert Cooks, oooapied the 1st and 2ad places in the (orw. With them we loit the two best boys of the class. Of tha seven remaining, foar gained certificates and three failed. A Jack Lioid Lawrence of the successful candidates won distinction in English language and literature (an unusual achievement for our boys), elementary, science, chemistry and draw. ing. His performance in chemistry earned a special prize cfisred by one of the Governors. W H ;,J ewe1 with a distinction In drawing, Frank Hornby with a distinction in elementary science, and W B Chatham were the other successful junior candidates. I believe that two of the three dis. appointed boya would, in normal times, have gained certificates. Farm work si home militated against their chanoes of success. Buys who are compelled tagei up as early aa haili.pmat five in tne morning to help on the farm and to assist again in the evening. whilst they may be doing IndiapensaQle work almost of nationil Importance and undergoing discipline 01 great benefit to themselves, oannot do aa well as their sohool fellows wbo are fzeshe; for the routine work of school ani the evening preparation stndy at homea. In the examination o! the rest of the sohool conducted by the statf at the end of the summer term. W Kingsley Smith oama oub lit in Form IV with an average o! 70 per cent. G a stave Stock oUla 2nd with an average of 68 per cent. J T Taylor cams 3rd with an avarag eof 51 per cent. In Form III John H Ellis was 1st with the wonderful average of 93 par cant-lb is worth remarking tha the obtained full marks in Latin in each of the three terminal examinations for 1916-17 and fall marks in arithmetic in two of the terminals. iI.Frank Brown was 2nd with 66 par cent, and Oswald Mainer and Albert Fletcher were equal 3rd with 62! per cent. So much for the important side of lessons—pass we to the other sides of sohool lito. Donald Ellis made an excellent librarian. His successor, Lawrence, promises to do equally well. Don Hanlcn was vice-captain 01 football, and captain ot cricket, 0<?en- Armitage captain of football and vice captain of cricket. Both boys did excellent servica for the school. Taey stood out above their fellows. The present captain of footbjll is Sydney Bfawa-ht ia developing grandly. The cricket season was remarkable for the good bowling ot Armitage and Hanlon. They wara a good OMSMae to ea^n other. Hanlon oJfVleci iest round arm. righthand, and Armitage madium, overarm lefousad on one occasion Armitage parformed the hat-trick. Ia bitting Hauloa, Armitage, Griffilihi, and Boo Evans, all scored upon oooijiuns- Armitage shoeing tue bast style. The surprise packet was Sydney Brown who made 43 in the last matca of tae aeasoa when the go&col wi-I without Oqaa Armitage, who had had tne misfortana to de?eicpe appeal!aids. TaU spoud nu ohauce ol the ot tot waich there iial o^aa keen competition baoxaaa Ciptaiu sad ViC3C5?o*ia, lae atJieaae of Ov-ia aal 23 for Gila Ciptaia gare tao Utter 5ha bsit batting average Jos the yair. Wa ira indebted to { fos taa tuo ail so Mr W H Gravai, UN, o? a unite 0) íH given ta Oqen Ariiio tga asaa appreciation olsenio3 wish oi; ana t)4ii 8i1J ch 00 8)1. tloa for beiag oaaai isiJi a jau3 3 of winning fchs osii ol appeiiii-jiois, a eeaaai season cae n3n.).)i OI-J/JJ la-i iu pleasure of meeting ia frieally coaiasi si eleven of ojnvaiesoeut aoiuurs team gayl. Eloh side won oae gane and bJ11 sulibrj and boys appreciated to the tali tne hospitality oi altd PHklllijJn upoa ta;) one occasion, aad ot iAf Sioek upon the other. We issued oarly in the summer an appeal for donation] to the Games' Fuad waica was bearing the extra expense of tae CAdQIi Corps. We were anxious to make tha cadets aa efficient as po^i^ie (turn cat ia uniform counts), mora etpeciaily as Caere wero pending an impeesion by Brigadier General LL-yd at K'.naiel. and In all probability a competickn for the Luoas- Tooth Prize. The former was a most iaterest-ing function, Tao cadets from aa the Flintshire schools, after doing their best, were taken all over the omp. and shown the sights, and given an opportunity o! seeing company drill smittly periormed by regular soldiers. Every moment of the day was ocoapied. Tae schools returned aviated. We are all indebted to General Lloyd, for a full day of interest and inatrnotion. The .award of the Lucas- Tjoth Prize was made on the day's work by the cadets, and the award deservedly went to the Cadet Corps most completely equipped with uniform. The Flintshire Territorial Force Asso- otat oa has given the Cadec Corps a helping hand, and provided an expert instructor ot musketry, who visited the school each week during the Easter and summer tarns Rifles were borrowed from the Volunteers, and valuable instruction waa imparted by Sergt Major Garrie. Visits to tine Talaore Range, and practice with a service rifle, supplemented this instruction ia ausketry. Oar cadets all founa the target, and a few made oreditable ficore3-the best; "snob WA3 Sargt Bob Evans, The N.C.O's wete Sergt Major Hanlon, Sergt (subsequently pro- moted to Sargt Msjor). Donald Ellis, Sargt Johasoa, S,r;ltl Jewell, Corporals C Siewart, Ash, Ltwre-nog, and Fieceher, Lance-Corpls Danstan Roberts, and Tom Taylor. The old boja who ara serving in military or nval capacity invariably evince the greatest interest in the Caiet Corps, and often express the wish that the present boys will do their level best. Letters have come from R G Jones in Ejypt; Gerald Darcan in Palestine Russell Lloyd in Macedonia Fred Sopev in loily fiirdd Lyne, R Verrier Jones, and R G Mooro in France and Belgium and other old boyi are known to be serving in Hong Kong, Mesopotamia, South Africa Iadia, and tta Navy. Several bave received commissions—two, Percy Tomkin- son, and Ronald Carse, for good service on the fi lJ. Donald Hudson, B.So., was in the gas corps. la his letter he says :—" I went into action at Loos (1915) We had stunts of gas cioud at Hohen. zollern Redoubt. Richeloonrg, and Somaae, list year, and this year we bave been In front of Bapaume, chiefly Eeoust, Balle. court, RieDcoDr, Hermies, Arras, and a few other places." Hudson wrote me from a cadet sohool attached to the Royal Flying Corps in the South of England. We have had visits from Ronald Carse, late Lieutenant in the Australian infantry. Lieutenant Beard who narrowly escaped capture by the Germans. 2nd Lieutenant Auster, Lieutenant) Hanlon, Cadets. Hiroid Williams, Fowls Norman flaghes (M.T.C<). Frank Daan (Weiuh Kegiment). Lieutenant Soper. H S Smith, T E Morgan, 2ud Lieut Fred Rhodes, Lieutenant Don Rhodes— nearly all In uniform. Mr Evans, late Bcience master, now holds a commission in the R G.A. He is now attached to an Antiaircraft Battery in France. It cannot be but thtllibe number of our sona who have given taelr lives for choir country in the present righteous struggle should have rtsfn. They are England's sain ia We shall ise3 them no more to oar sorrow, they are rapt from the sphere of our pains. And the sword and tha fife and the bullet shall sear not nor sial them again, Priest and poet, clerk," seholar and craftsman, sea-toilers, tr sons of tha nLd- t From earth, air and ocean upgathered, they rest in thegardeu of God." Of these we commemorate the passing ot Lieut W K T Carse, R.F.C., Ivor Wynne Griffiths, F Norman Watkins, and one of the Harries' brothers. All four were at school about tho sawe time. I miss Norman's cheerful letteri.he was a faith- ful correspondent. Reggie Clarke (wouoded and missing), II Parry, Vivian Roberts. Frank Dean, Rassell Lloyd, R Verrxer Jones, are among those of our old boys whose naeues have figured in the lists of casualties. Robert Verrier Jones was knocked oat opposite Zonnebeke In September. We desire to congratuleto Lieut Russell Llojd and hi, people upon his having been mentioned in despatches. -¡ Oar felioit%ionl go als) to S Evelyn TfcoHis for a notable suTaaas, It was a great disappointment to him that the eta to of hia health debarrred him from military service. He illustrates the value of perseverance in study after leaving sohool. Out of 906 candidates in this year's examination of the Institute of Bankers, 33 pasaed the final examination, and the first in England and Wales was one old pupil, S Evelyn Thomas. He attained distinction in economics, commercial law, English composition and banking correspondence. Taa Beckett Memorial Prize and tho Charles Reeve Prize fell to him. Tho Soho-il has In a small way supported deserving causes from time to time in tha coarse of the yeip. On St David's Day W1 sent np a donation to the White OrOJB. This term Miss Goodwin gave us ai address on behalf of Dr Barnardo's Home It was followed op by a collection and the enrolment of young helpers for the Dr Barnardo's Homes. Donations have also been given to the Y.M.C.A. and the Red Cross. The necessity of producing and saving all tae food possible in these days of the shrinkage of shipping tonnage, led to an invitation to Mr Glyn Williams, expert in hortloultdre, to visit the garden. The operation of po ato spraying was oondaoted under his suoerintandenoe, I havs pleasure in acknowledging the help! assistance of Air WiJliacns In this and otbar wave. We desire to tender our bast thank) to the good friends who supported our Gam 33 Fand. In particular we thank Mr Gravei for the bat Mr W H Gramas, R.N., for the knife anci Mr Cheirlea Haghes for the interest he has taken in the, school library and the addition he has made to it. Tiio boys are ehowing great intoresii in the library. It is to be hoped that a love foe wholesome literature is being instilled in theif minds. el Toe staff is IU we ware a year ago. Me Robertson, tho seeond mister ani C.O. of our Cidet Corps, qaallQei as aa instructor of masiatsy fo? the Volunteers. fli is a aergojnii In the Rtfyl Platoon of V olunteers. Foar others of oar staS (two permanent islil C.7o vi^isiag) ara taeaoars of the Sb An¡.>h i'iAioon of V-olnnseeps.- Seven of oa.r Governors ate on aeiivo serried or in tha Vjiaateeis. la a .inclusion I have pleaiare ia testify- ing to eiie loyal seeyios aad s'eyiy d('Ho¡on to duty of all memu.rj of tho stAti, Oag regret I iuve—-ia is that the increased grant, tha Fisaer Geiufi. is no smiil ia the esse of tho S) Aapa School t'ait the members of the stad have bien unable to be recognised wich a perm^n^nt augmentation of salary, I born tfi-I B).%rd ol Einoation will be able to itiage-Aie our sch ool grant to eoa&le this tin .^mentation to be elected. PtilZEd AND CERTIFIIIATES 1917. Mra Edwards, the Palao >, gr-joefuliy de- livered f;ne pr st.-aand co gra uio<;d che winners ou thatr acheivaments -.— Donald Eliis. — University of London Matri- culation, Piize, Salute to tidvenourei,' John Buah»n • Table Tiik,' Wiiiiam Hiztiao. Doa C G Haolon. —Oantrai Wat.m Bjard Senior Caroifiaate, wich disoiuotijo ia arioti- metic, Ffench, English diatauion. Prize, lae Soory of the Suo.' thr Robert Bali. Owen Armitage.-Canoral Afaish Bjard Senior Certlfioate, with distinction in Eug ish dicoation. Prize, La Livre d' Oi,' and Iha Invisible War-Piane.' A Jtck H Lawrence.-Cenbral Weth Board Junior Certificate, with distinction in English language and literature, oheuai try, elemeataiy sciatioe, drawing. Ohemiabry Pnze, Modeia Inorjiaio Chemistry,' J W Alalioe (preienood by Mr C Hughes, Grove Home); Oarcificate Pnzi, 1 Le Lioro d' Or,' and The Age of M!í.chinery,' Alexander R Horre. W H Jewdi.—Central Welsh Board Junior Certlfioate, with fiiitinotion io drawing. Pr;z::> L3 Livre d' Ot." and The Boy's Guide,' A William i, Frank Horaby.-Central Welsh Board Junior Certificate with distinction In elementary science. Pciz), I The Heart 01 Midlothian,' Bit Walber 8coti. W B Chatham,—Central Welsh Board Junior Certificate. Priz3, I Adam Beds,' George Eliot. John H Eilia --lsb Form V, Christmas 1917. Languages Prize, I In the Grip of the Spaniard, H Hayera. laa in Form III July, 1917. Across the Camerons,' Cipt Uharlea Gilson. W R Meadowe.-2nd in Form V, Christmas, 1917, mathematics and solenee. Priz3, Dnder French's Command,' Capfc Brereton. W Ktngley Smith.-lit in Form IV. July, 1917. Pijza, « At Grip with the Turk,' Cap! Bfereton. Guatave Sbock.-ad in Fjfm IV, July, 1917 and for consistent good work. Priza West- ward Ho,' Charles Kingsley. Frank L Johnson. —lit in Form IVa, Christmas, 1917.' I\iz), I The Secret Submarine,' Saprell Doring. L C Banrell.—Priz9 for good wribten work. A Naval Venture/ Jeans (presented by Mr 0 Hughes). A Flatober.-Prize for good all round work in school Cade* Corps and the Football XI, í How Canada was won,' Capt Brecon. T 0 Jones.-lst in Form IVb, Christmas, 1917. Prize, I Life of Nelson,' Soathey. Herbert) Price.-lt; in Form III, Christmas, 1917. Prize, I Heroes of Exploration,' Ker and Cleaver. Bat, for the beat batting average, DOG Hanlon (presented by Mr Graves, Bryn Polyn). Knife, for crickot, 0 Armitage (presanted by Mr W H Graves, R.N.) GERMANS v. BRITISH CHARACTER. The Bishop of S: Asapb, in the eoursa of his address as obairman 0: the Governors, referred to the great adveusages the Germans had had by their soiectiUa education. it bad enabled them to pre- pare for the military conflict, but there was one thing the enemy had neVr;l cal- oulateit on, and that was tho MOZFAI of the British people and of British character (applause. Tiut be believed would win the war. No scientific guage could be applied to the national life of a people. That character had a great deal to do with Mr Fisher'u Education BUI, which was a go 3d measure, bnt he hoped opportunity would be found for adding to it a few clauses that woa!d bring about religious education in every elementary ani t-econdary school, as the life of the British uaticn was bound op so closely with the development of character. In these da s, y¡hen lines of division were going, he hoped that they would ba able to agree to a syllabus of religious instruction that would be acceptable to all sections for their eohools (applause). The prrceedings closed with rotes cf thanks to Mrs Edwards for distributing the prizes and the Dean for presiding.