The Weekly News and Visitors' Chronicle for Colwyn Bay Colwyn Llandrillo Conway Deganwy and Neighbourhood

Abergele County School. ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES. SPEECHES BY MR. J. HERBERT ROBERTS, M.P., AND PROF. J. E. LLOYD. There was a large attendance of parents, sholars and their friends at the annual distribu- P°n °:f prizes in connection with the Abergele ounty School, which took place in the School on Thursday. -Ihe Rev Francis Jones, Abergele, one of the y^ernors -°f the School, bad originally been J^^unced to preside, bu't as Mr J. Herbert Ah"61'1"8' M.P., who had1 paid, a surprise visit to ysrgelie, was1 present, Mr Jones prevailed! upoai to take the chair in his place. Very reluct. .J1 y the popular Member of Parliament ulti- atelyagneed to do so, and when the proceed- ings commenced he was 'supported by a very throng an,<-j: representative platform. Amongst ose present were the Rev Francis Jones, Prof. Bangor University, Mrs Aitken (Bodel- rajctani Hall), Mr A. Foulkes (Go-vernor), Aid1. li ana Griffith, Llanfair (also a Governor), the ««ad!master, Mr J. Williams. M.A., and Mrs w^hams, B.A., together with Miiss Edith j^ynne, 13.A., and other members of the staff. Aitken performed the distribution ceremony, ■j, i0 16 could not remain in the school buildings e nS without being greatly, impressed by the irrf e'riCl? the jyork that is being done in ^i^^ediate institutions of this kind. The b °|astic attainments each year are attested to wK'i n™rcras distinotionis the school wins, of fu 011 'a^ hands are to be found indications tyh hroad-'minded conception of education bov tend,s to make, and does make, manly ya and intelligent young women. MR T J *• J- HERBERT ROBERTS, M.P. "had Chairman observed at the outset that he in? K 0t C0'nt'e™pJat^dl presiding at that gather- Pri? h'eing down at Abergele, he heard of the Prize and thought that he would like ver 11 a mu'Ch to be one of the audience on such tj0 aPPy occasion. Having accepted that pasi- gc he would like to express his personal grati. at the very striking .success which had 4ni(ted ,the work of that County School. The 5^°' had earned a name for itself, for it was of °Wn throughout the length and breadth the 'e,s- It was too soon, he thought, for to judge finally the Welsh intermediate Co phonal system. There were some in the tbei w1il° w'ere criticising their methods and res.u-'ts- AH we could say was that very antial progress had been made with the tho 'which had been placed in the hands of Schorl^0 were responsible for the. work of that The number of scholars attending inter- SteaàtelchoOl's in Wales wascornstantly and increasing. The. number of the per- according to the Central Welsh. inCr report for last year, he also noticed, was poi astt'ng year 'by year, so that from the stand- teach' numbers and of the quality of the On atfg .substantial progress wa's being made Which ,'s^es- There was only one point to HOOI1 16 would like to call attention that after, in. *a Connection with the intermediate system h.a<3 „ and that was to suggest that the time tfe"'coinC^?'e w^en they should in some respects igiv6n the kind of instruction which was anyth,In the schools. Everybody who knew ahout education in Wales knew that if 0p6n ^fas a teaching appointment of any kind tion n,u-ni'ber of applications for that posi- thiiOu»i1*as very large indeed, and at was, he tho,Sg a point .of pressing importance that in Wal were guiding the inter,mediate system siderini leShT^le understood that they were COin- st nlg the matter—should consider whether the not, with 'advantage, be taken with the n°t5 with 'advantage, be taken with of Tvbrk t °* widening, >so to speak, the sphere the Scu special training in connection with cand in this way to enable the many s of scholars who. leave the schools they ha ^i, *n' Wales, to turn the advantages selves to better account 'both for them- ?ai<J +h the country generally. He had often ^Popta^t re' anci he really thought it most Upon ^,nt that they should lay greater stress of 6 ac'vantages of thle civil .services as a Jl5io,st ei 1^'?:1P^0ymen,t for Welsh youths. It was h<fca.r i S to him, only a day or two ago, to sayiHip- 1 President of the Board of Education ^ere was not .a single Welshman in facts ^artrnem. of Government work. These worthy of a great deal of their most o wih'T tion. In the same way, he was a ServiCe f •e ,a&° looking through the Indian Civil find+if 116 was sorry.to say that he could i?'§ to ra there was a single Welshman help- ^pipe TTY on 'the affairs of the great Indian ^Cat'o 6 now put it to them., as lovers of ^0^ J1' ^at 'it was necessary that something tlxesie ^°ne to. make the instruction 'given in to fittiri P*'8 mose directly useful with a view lie lil the boys for more departments of pub. As an^ service. lS|6Qse ardis education in Wales, ini a general fix-edi' all they had to do was to keep their eyes aUton,a npoiI] the goal, namely, educational tor Wales.. Any step in that direction c°rdial^ Was sure• a steP that would have the Wai6s '^p'por.t of all lovers of education in In 'ca con, he could only once more such. an yery great pleasure at being present a so the DeJsting gathering, and to express o-ppe.ned to v t one of the Governors, who Preisiant there,, at wife, was unable to be ondbn jUs^ she tyias obliged to remain in very • ohe had asked him to convey c°ess of thif> IL 111,0,8,1 sincere wishes for tihe at thie Abwrr f '■ was quite certain in Was ri'pcT'6 JC^oi°^ of which he was so fT '■he future u -lne to play a;n important part appiaus,e |story of the British Empire. REPORT. t(w ^11' umc £ f^a?1 °n the time of Prof- Lloyd, hiit (i? i-^ave of interest ha* I ha^ I Parents who are pre- e Pleawm f 1 °'n sirailax occasions, fila^6s gained K repealling some marked1 sue- 'say tha"t th^'lls °'f -the schooL 1 am T>ni?i °f the Vin v, y^31* rs not an exceptton. §!i schonf t pnzss cloveted' by the English a ^he;S havin fallen to our lot, E. A. in 5ar at Tr-- won an scholarship of /6o &06' Cambridge. In July, Exhibita awarded a Denbighshire V°n is are in 'a county where competi- °f tfn' .aSi may k'e seen! from the fact Board TT hi'§'ll'es,t positions, in the Central s^^ighishirp onouris List seven were, taken'by t, 'Urecj. ,th county school pupils, sit ill we. thf ^ole of w i P*ace on' the Honours: List for '°nour=; T the twenty-eighth place in iijrt n'cy of n! w,as also secured by us. The Wgi!d bv thp K6-1?. °1' ho'wever, is not to be Out t^e all.„rilliailt of a few pupils, ^,e school Td the pupils through. addition to nuxnerou-s c^ertifi. catels gained in the Central Welsh Board exam- ination in the Honours, senior and' junior stages, we have also to record. the successes achieved by 'some of our pupils in the Matriculation exam- ination of the University of Wales. Of the1 five who sat, one completed his matriculation, an- other passed, -in four subjects, and the third passed in the. second division, and two girls were placed in the first division. We are 'glad to be able to report successes gained by old pupils also. Miss Edith Wynne, an old pupil, has takein, her final B.A. examina. tion in the University of Wales, and has now been appoinitedJ mistrelsls in her old school. Such an event ought to proive a stimulus, to present and future pupils to persevere with their studies. Mr Tudor Millward, another old pupil, was placed third in 'Honours out of 189 successful 'candidates for the whole of Wales, in the final examination of the Institute of Chartered Ac- countants. We are also well represented at the Universities by several old pupils who very 'creditably ,support the honour of their alma mater. We have thus far spoken of the intellec- tual slide of education. It must not be for- gotten that the physical education of the child- ren is by no means neglected. Drill and games are participated in by every child in the school; there is, however, much room for improvement in the facilities for physical training in the school. It may also be interesting to note that some of our old pupils play prominent parts in college athletics, in football, hockey, cricket, and boating. In connection with the school games we desire too express our deep indebtedness to Mrs Mellor, of Tanybryn, for the keen interest which she takes in our "girls' games, and also for her continued generosity i'n connection with our club fiyndis. We must not forget to mention that the report of the triennial inspection of the school, held during the past year. was highly satisfactory. One of the many gratifying remarks made by the Inspectors was that the children seemed to take a pleasure in their work, and had not to be dlriven to it. We still keep up the tradition of the school in the matter of preserving its Welsh atmosphere, and encouraging the spirit of patriotism. St. David's Day was celebrated in a thoroughly Welsh style The language, literature, and history of Wales occupy a prominent place in the school curriculum. It will not be amiss to mention that in .spite of the fact that the fees have been raised the number of pupils on the school Toll is steadily increasing. Last term the number was a record one; this term it is higher than ever. The majority of the pupils come from elementary schools, and in this connection it may be me,n,tioned that a record number of can. dida;tes sat for the entrance scholarship examina- tion. This is again a proof of the excellent spirit of co-operation which continues to exist between the elementary schools in the district and our secondary school. In conclusion, I should say that this continued success of the school could not have been main- tained without the hearty co-operation of the staff, and the sympathetic support of the school Governors: additional financial help is, how- ever, absolutely necessary, before the Governors can do justice to their important charge. (Loud applause.) The Chairman: Teferre-d to' the report as a most admirable and encouraging one in every respect. (Applause.) PROF. LLOYD'S ADDRESS. Prof. Lloyd, who was received with loud ap- plause, said he was extremely glad to be present to sympathise with the Headmaster and his -staff in the excellent work they were doing. He had followed the career of the school from the very beginning—from the experimental stage up to the time when it wafs filnally decided that the ins.titution was to be a permanent one in the town. Now, he was glad to find the school took high rankamorngst the pumerous county schools to be found throughout Wales. This was a record! of progress of which the town might well be proud, and he could! assure them that what- ever the future had in store1 for them the sacri- fices. of the Abergele people at a critical time would -not be forgotten by those in authority. The way in which Abergele had' stepped into the breach was fully recognised on all hands, and the efforts of the townspeople since then in their maintenance and! support of the school were equally praiseworthy. (Applause.) He noticed the, other day that the N.U.T. were deploring the fact that they had not got in England scehemes of this kind, to which the children of the people had access merely by means of scholarship's or certificates showing a certain degree of efficiency. The Welsh inter- mediate schools were OPEN TO EVERYONE, and it was their duty to. support in every pos- sible way institutions which., as the County Schools had done, had proved themselves to be capable of producing such excellent educational results. Around the county school should focus all the intellectual life of a district such as they found themselves in, for at the Abergele school it was quite evident that those in charge had got at the true conception of education, and were doing work which did not fall exactly within the four corners of the ordinary school cur- riculum. They had, for instance, a very good antiquarian association in connection with the school, which oould .not fail to be of general in- terest, not to mention the many other equally interesting and instructive offshoots. The saig- gestion had! recently been made that the multi- plication of schools of that kind tended to keep down the standiard -of education, but he did not think experience showed this to be a great danger. In small schools of 60 to 70 scholars there was a concentration of effort which was absent from larger institutions;, and this sihouIid always be taken into consideration. The<re might be a few cases where a school was not re- quired, but sip-eiaking broadly he did not think the mistake had yet been made of erecting too many schools in Wales. (Applause.) Another danger had been frequently touched upon, and that was the danger of making the school curriculum too, literary, and so encourag- ing children to seek a livelihood in one or two limited directions. That undoubtedly was a danger, and he was glad to think that in all the schools he knew a serious effort was being made to produce A MORE COMPREHENSIVE SCHEME of technical education. In all the North Wales schools attention was not being given, to techni- cal instruction—woodwork and laboratory work in the case of boys and domestic work in the case of girls. It was just possible that the teaching profession deadlock had been somewhat exaggerated, because from his own personal ex- perience he had not known a case where a single young man who had passed from a school of that kind to the University had afterwards, fail- ed to get suitable employment in one or other of the schools up and down the country. One of the other dangers was the danger of over pressure. It was a great mistake to- think that a boy could be educated without paying a great deal of attention to health. The boys who. came on to the intermediate schools were the picked