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SPEECH DAY AT RHYL COUNTYI…

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SPEECH DAY AT RHYL COUNTY I SCHOOL. DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES AND CERTIFICATES BY THE BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH. THE CHAIRMAN'S APPEAL ON BEHALF OF THE BUILDINC FUND. CRITICISMS ON THE CENTRAL WELSH BOARD. The spacious and tastefully decorated hall of the Rhyl County School was on Wednesday afternoon thronged with visitors, the occasion being the distribu- tion of prizes and certificates gained by the scholars during the year. Mr R LI .Jones (chairman of the Governors) pre- sided, and was supported by the Bishop of St Asaph, members of the teaching staff, and others, while around them were gathered the scholars, who at intervals gave selections of music. Letters re- gretting inability of the writers to attend were read by Mr J Roberts Jones. clerk of the Governors. One from Mr3 De Ranee was accompanied by a cheque for the building fund. Mr L J Roberts. H.M.I.S., who was kept away by a pro- fessional engagement, offered his con- gratulations to the Headmaster (Mr W A Lewis), the teaching staff, and the pupils on the excellent work accomplished during the year, adding that the Report of the Central Welsh Board showed that the Rhyl County School compared favour- ably with the best schools in the country (applause). He also mentioned that three pupils were at present sitting for a King's scholarship, and he did not think it would be rash to predict that the result would be creditable alike to themselves and to the school. Mr F J Gamlin and Mr Eyton Williams (Chester) also wrote, the latter gentleman sending a cheque ?n ZD for R20 towards the building fund, together with best wishes for the pros- perity of the school, and a hope that the appeal of the Governors would be readily responded to (applause). This donation brought up the amount already acknow- ledged to f362 10s 6d. Address by the Chairman. The Chairman said it was a little over s twelve months ago that the school was opened, and he was pleased to state that not only could they show an increase in the number of scholars, but as a result of the annual examination they had one of the best reports of any school in the county. He doubted, in fact, if any school in Wales had done better. To attain this both teachers and scholars must have worked hard, and he heartily congratulated them on the result and hoped they would always maintain the same spirit. Dealing with the question of the future administration of educa- tional affairs, he welcomed the prospect of a change in some respects in the Central Welsh Board, for speaking as a Governor, he felt that body was not doing what it ought to do. One of the grievences he would like to ventilate was in regard to pupil teachers. Quite recently, they had been informed that because certain pupil teachers being taught in County Schools were a little over 17 years of age they would not be allowed to go in for the Central Board examination. The result was that these pupil teachers, after having been prepared for the Senior Welsh Board Examination, would now have to be prepared for the King's Scholarship Examination, which would throw them back another twelve months. Such anomalies as this needed remedy- ing before the educational system of the country would be what it ought. Coming to the financial position of the school, he regretted that he could not speak of it in the same satisfactory terms as he had done of the school's educational position. They had a debt of over £ 3,000,and the school was still unfinished. He was heartily ashamed to see the school and grounds in their present unfinished state, and he doubted not but that the inhabitants of the school district were also more or less ashamed. The present state of affairs was not worthy of the neighbourhood, and once more he appealed for help to finish the work in a satisfactory manner. The school belonged to the public as much as to the Governors for the time being, those Governors being elected triennially by ten different authorities, so that there was no reason why anyone should withhold their support, but every reason why everyone who could afford it should help to make it as complete and efficient a school as possible. As things stood, he felt that his position as chairman of the Governors of the school was a very unpleasant one, and he would leave it to-morrow but for the debt that had been incurred. He concluded with the earnest hope that the 19f0 necessary to make sure of Mr Samuel Smith's £ 100 towards the repay- ment of the first £ 1,000 of the debt would be in sight at a very early date (applause). The Headmaster's Report. The Headmaster (Mr W A Lewis), in his annual report, said the report was in every way a satisfactory one. He did not mean by that that they had reached such a high level that there was no room for improvement, but taking it all in all, the report was one of which the teachers might justly feel proud. The school had again increased in numbers. Last year there were 92 pupils, and this term they had almost, but not quite, reached the number which the County Governing Body estimated the Rhyl School should contain—one hundred (applause). He did not intend to detain them with the detailed report of the examiners on the school work it amounted to forty pages of close print. The general statement of the examiners was that the performance of the school as a whole was deserving of very high praise. All the honours and senior certificates and almost all the junior had distinctions endorsed upon them, and every subject was represented there not by one or two but by several distinctions. The Headmaster's prize was given for the best paper sent up in the examination, and the winner gained full marks (applause). How hard pressed he was would be seen from the fact that one pupil had 93, one 98, three 97, 16 over 90, and 57 others over 70 per cent. In the competition for the county exhibition they sent in two candidates who were easily top of the list; one was awarded the £ 35 and the other the Y,30 Exhibition (applause). A better certificate than that of W Hughes Jones could hardly be gained, every subject was marked with distinction (applause). To turn now to the competitions outside their own county, which were perhaps a better test of their pupils' capabilities. They sent candidates for scholarships to Aberystwyth, Bangor, and Lampeter, and each was successful; Florrie Millward at Aberystwith, W Hughes Jones at Bangor, and Arnold Jones at Lampeter. The aggregate value of the scholarships gained by the pupils was now over £ 500 (applause). This result had not been! gained by one year's work. Education j was a plant of slow growth, much slower i than most people seemed to imagine. Every scholarship gained represented years of hard work for both pupils, and teachers. Regular attendance at school was a very important factor. The three pupils who had gained distinctions this year were twelve years of age when they came at the opening of the school, and in the six years their attendance had been praiseworthy, several terms being kept without missing a single half-day (ap- plause). Unfortunately, it was not as easy to judge the results of a practical educa- tion as of a theoretical one. Often the boy who had derived the most benefit from a practical education was the one who appeared to have gained but little (applause). Few indeed were the scholar- ships they could expect to win by a purely practical education, and nowadays success seemed to be measured by the number of scholarships gained. They must look for the benefits of such teaching not in the present but in the next generation. In that school it had been their aim to combine the practical and theoretical in due proportion, and though they might not reach their ideal it was something to be on the right road (applause). Speech by the Bishop of St. Asaph. The Bishop of St Asaph presented the prizes and certificates, and afterwards de- livered a speech, and dealt at some length with certain features of the Education Bill. In conclusion his lordship said that what they had to try to do in these schools was to educate the pupils in the best and highest sense of the word, and not merely to turn them out with a certain market value upon them. He believed the schools were very fairly managed, now that the work was taken in hand by all parties without distinction of politics or sect. But they had to see that there was nothing at all like jobbery in the educational system. He had heard of people—not in this localitv, or even in orth Wales—using their positions to IL secure posts for their own relations or p friends who were not the best candidates. (; He had no objection to putting a relation I C, in a good post if he was up to the mark, v but that should not be done because he was a relation (applause). He had before alluded to the fact that they were over- f schooled. Some of the unnecessary schools would drop out of the system by a process of natural selection. Care c ought to be taken to prevent an over- 1 Z, loading of the school syllabus. While f every parent ought to keep his child in j the school as long as possible, many parents, b) any amount of sacrifice, could not keep their children very long at the secondary schools, and for that reason the syllabus should not be overloaded by a number of subjects which only could be touched and never learnt (applause). As to the training of girls, if they had a broad system of education which would develop their faculties and minds, even if they did not learn to cook in schools, they would be able to do it when they left school. It was intelligence that should be cultivated. In reference to the Central Welsh Board, he read the other day a speech by a distinguished man, Principal Reichel, for whom he had the greatest respect, and who said that the aim of the certificate system of the Central Board was to do away with all other examinations. That reminded him of Nero, who wished the Romans had got one neck that he might cut all their heads off at once (laughter). No doubt the Board were doing their best, but they needed to adopt a more enlightened and more elastic policy. The danger was of setting up a cast-iron system. That was not his conception of a school. He thought that each should have an in- dividuality of its own (applause). In conclusion the Bishop expressed his best wishes for the success of the school and his earnest hope that the debt would soon be cleared off. The Rev D G Lewis, Baptist minister, moved a vote of thanks to the Bishop for his presence and his address. This was seconded by Dr Girdlestone and carried. Mrs J Herbert Lewis, in the course of an interesting address, said she had attended as representing her husband, who had been ordered away by the doctors for the sake of his health. A list of awards showed that daring the year the following successes had been won :—Scholar- ships W Hughes Jones, gained an open county exhihition of £85 for 3 years (top on the list) Arnold E Jones gained a county exhibition of £ 30 for 3 years (second on the list); Florence Millward, ,0 gained the Ellis Eyton scholarship at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth W Hughes Jones gained an entrance scholarship at the University College of North Wales, Bangor Arnold E Jones gained an entrance scholarship at St David's Col- lege, Lampeter (top of the list); Hugh C Kelly gained an entrance scholarship at the College, Llan- dovery. Central Welsh Board Cerliificates- Senior: Florence Millward, Arnold E Jones, W Hughes Jones, Regina!d W Everatt, Margaret R Jones, Margaret A Pearson, Dora Roberts, Justina M Robinson; Junior; Kate L Asher, E/an G Buckley, Hugh 0 Edwards, Harold Flint, Marjory B Hickin, Arthur R Jones, Clarice M Jones, Florence C Jones, Wilfrid G Jones, Hugh C Kelly, Isabel Kirby, Chas T Kirtland, John Lunt, Harold W Pierce M R Jones, E G Buckley, A R Jones, and J Lunt passed the examination in conversa- tional French. The programme contributed by the scholars included the following items Pianoforte solo, Miss Madge Jones; part songy "Hurry for the country" song, "The plains of peace," C T KirtlaDd; recitation, Delavigue les trois jours de Christophe Colomb," Miss M P Pearson song, "When the heart is young," Miss Mattie Lewis quartette, On the hills," C T Kirtland, J Lunt, A G Edwards, and T Lewis part song, Llwyn Onn."

Christmas.

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LLANDUDNO.

OLD COLWYN.

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