SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
THE CORNERSTONE NO. 1 JULY 1963
EDITORIAL
“Talking is the disease of age” - Ben Johnson
We do not wish to earn Ben Johnson’s reproof, but do not fear to do so when it is considered that this is our first burst into real print. The idea has been courted on previous occasions but now we are in a position of Goldsmith’s feathered parent, “And, as a bird each fond endearment tries to tempt its new-fleg’d offspring to the skies”, so we offer you, the reader, our “new fleg’d offspring”.
The school has expanded in numbers and we now have an intake of sixty boys who have struggled, but not in vain, with that Pons asinorum know as the eleven plus. We wish them well.
We now have two winter games regularly played, so that devotees of both codes may be accommodated.
Earnest strivers after that “bauble” the “G.C.E.” present themselves in greater numbers as year follows year. The number of successes also rises as will be seen from the lists towards the last pages. We welcome our new Headmaster, Mr. Burgess, and sincerely hope that he is with us for many years. He comes to us from Scotland and we hope that, unlike Burns’ hero, “his heart is not in the highlands” - his heart is with us here in East Yorkshire.
To all our readers we extend our sincere good wishes for future success.
THE STAFF
Headmaster: J Burgess, Esq. M.Sc.
Deputy Headmaster: Mr. F. Mason
Mr. E. A. Martin, B.Sc (Eng.)
Mr. C. E. Martin, M.R.S.T.
Mr. C. H. Sugden, H.N.C. (Building), L.C.G.I. (Hons.)
Mr. P. H. MacNamara
Mr. J. M. Perry, B.A., Dip. Ed.
Mr. G. Young, A.R.I.C.
Mr. R. Wilson, B.A.
Mr. G. Wallis, H.N.C. (Building), L.C.G.I., M.R.S.H.
Mr. D. Law, N.H.C. (Elec. Eng.)
Mr. J.A. Coates, L.C.G.I. (Full Technology)
Mr. K. Hudson, B.A.
Secretary: Mrs. C.A. Bradley
HEADMASTER’S REPORT
By a coincidence I am writing this exactly one year after joining the staff of the College and School. It has been a year full of new, interesting and often inspiring experiences. As you will know the duality of my appointment allows me to spend only a small part of my time in the school. None the less I do enjoy coming amongst you. It is always a pleasure to associate with people who apply the craftsman’s touch to their work and the true sportsman’s touch to their play.
It is good to note the variety of activities undertaken by you fellows - from chess to cross-country running, from table tennis to football (of both codes) and from camping to midnight marching marathons! And I hope that increasing numbers of you will take an active part in more and more of these pursuits, thereby enlarging your interests and widening your circle of friendship.
As regards the more serious business of the school it is encouraging to note the increase in the number of boys being presented for G.C.E. examinations. It is also gratifying to observe that many of you are taking a longer and more serious view of you future careers. Opportunities for further education of all kinds are better and more numerous that at any earlier period in the country’s history; and the demand for qualified men of all grades has never been greater. The key word in the foregoing sentence is “qualified”. You should look well ahead and remember that many of you will still be earning your living in the year 2010. To obtain some idea of the degree of development in science and technology which is possible in 40 to 50 years you need only talk to your parents or grandparents about living and working conditions during the decade 1913-23. Ask them about their schooling, their conditions of employment, the health services, cars, aeroplanes, ships, radio, radar, television, cinemas, talking pictures, space travel, tower cranes, calculating machines. Many modern youngsters are surprised to be told that some of these things did not exist - that indeed some were not thought of - only a generation and a half ago.
Then think again how the pace of progress in science and technology is accelerating yearly, so that developments which took, say, 40 years may now be completed in 10 years. To meet the challenge of the next half century I suggest that anyone who possesses the necessary measure of intelligence (and that includes everyone in a selective school such as ours) should set out to train and educate himself to the limit of his capabilities for his own benefit and that of his country and mankind in general. You will note that I say “train and educate himself”. I mean by this that he should, whilst paying due regard to his scientific and technical training, not neglect the cultural subjects, viz, Art, English, French, Geography, History and the like. So let everyone continue his full-time education for as long as he possibly can - and his part-time education to the end of his days.
As to the more important changes in the school we have during this year bade farewell to that remarkable character Mr. Symes, and we have been fortunate enough to secure the services of Mr. Macnamara, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Hudson. We offer these gentlemen a sincere welcome and we hope they will find such happiness here that they will never wish to leave us.
Also we might make reference to the change in title of the school. From the High School for Building it has become Sir Christopher Wren Technical High School. The change implies a broadening of the curriculum to cover technical subjects in general, but still I hope with some bias towards Building. Sir Christopher Wren you will have learned was an outstanding English architect, astronomer and mathematician. His epitaph in his famous cathedral, St. Paul’s in London, is “Si monumentum requires, circumspice”. (If you require his monument, look around you). May we aim at such perfection in our own work that we too shall not be afraid to invite anyone to “look around” at the results of our efforts.
Finally, it remains to record our sincere thanks to all who have contributed in any way to this, our own magazine, and in particular to Mr. C.E. Martin, upon whom has fallen the major responsibility for the production.