St Michaels University School - Black Red and Blue Yearbook (Victoria, British Columbia Canada)

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long since earned retirement or. indeed, demolition. Wlithout endow- ment. therefore. we Hiust appeal for assistance: and to those who feel help -either directly or indirectly- and especially to those who feel they do owe a debt to the school. we beg you to clear that debt in concrete form. The academic results last year were below expectation, owing largely to the time wasted by seniors during study periods and preparation. To combat this we have spent rather more than 353,000.00 converting the Assembly Hall into a Study Hall, which is manned at all times by a Master. thus ensuring that no study or preparation is done in unsuper- vised lodges or Library, and that complete quiet can prevail. Also that the procrastination. which is the customary disease of young people, putting off until tomorrow the study which should be done today, is cut to a minimum. The general improvement has already been most marked and will undoubtedly show up in the June exams. In general the MA sets are all goodg the MBU sets not too bad, and only the 'Cv sets are giving anxiety. Not all boys by any means are geared to an academic lifeg they may have many other properties, and qualities of physique, of personal charm and integrity of character to a better than average degree- but the fact remains that some boys are not equipped to learn as quickly as others, and constant prodding and pressure is essential to make any progress at all. This coercion is applied steadily by the Masters concerned with varying degrees of success, and the amount of progress achieved must be measured in the light of all these factors. IVhile some boys will require more time than others to reach their goal, there are none who are not moving steadily- if in some cases slowly- towards it. Speaking of improvements to the Assembly Hall brings to mind the fact that we have at the same time started improvements to the recrea- tion rooms for the senior boys. The Studies are no longer fearsome holes -though untidiness at times is a problem. The senior lounge is comfortable and next year the classroom now opposite the lounge will be available to equip as a recreation room. If anyone knows of a billiard table for sale, I'd be glad to hear of it! Improvements are, of course, also being planned for Harvey House. Indeed, one of the outcomes of the new Science-Classroom block addition will be much improved recreational facilities for the boys. The object is not to increase enrol- ment but to increase efficiency and facilities in general. The sporting activities have again been very successful this year. In rugger the six senior XVls played a total of 50 matches, winning 47 of them, losing only one and drawing two. This is indeed a tribute to the quality of the coaching right through the school. The First XV then went to England and, in a period of seven days, won four matches - a fact that the British newspapers lauded as a tribute to Canadian fitness and energy. VVe would probably have won the fifth and last match also, but our luck ran out. In the first place through an error, we arrived on the wrong day- two days early - and had to sandwich the game between watching the Boat Race and being Lord Thomson's guests at the Sunday Timm: Crofton hurt his knee on the morning of the match and could not play. while Kelly became our first game 14

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HEADMASTER'S REPORT Speech Day, June 6, 196+ The Governors, Your Honour, Ladies and Gentlemen: In welcoming so many parents and friends to the school, may I add the hope that this will be the last occasion when the success or other- wise of the prize giving will be at the mercy of the weather. As you can see, work has begun on the new buildings and by this time next year-you will observe how careful I am becoming in my forecasts-the gym will also be up and, should weather demand a transference from outside to inside, there will be no problem. The Speech Day metamorphosis of the old Assembly Hall into the Black Hole of Calcutta will be a thing of the past. We were indeed bitterly disappointed that the earlier plans prepared for the Science-Classroom block had to be abandoned on the grounds of expense, and the never-ending delays became completely frustrating. In the finish good has come out of this, since revised plans will give us not only the required laboratories and classrooms but also a gym and, underneath it, a riHe range. Had it not been for the kindness of the Greater Victoria School Board and the Armed Services, we would have had no basketball or shooting during the past three years. VVe cannot, however, trespass on the generosity of our friends for ever, and provision of a new gym of appropriate size and a rifle range will relieve us of some - at least - of our present obligations. Over the past five years my building progress reports to the school have proved disappointing to the extent that some have said-and there have been times when I myself have almost come to think it- HI'll believe it when I see it . Well, here at last you can see - if not the completed buildings at least the beginning of them-and now that the work has actually begun the end should not be too distant. After all, the contractors and architects will want to be paid, and we want to be in by September. On the financial side, Ladies and Gentlemen, may I take this oppor- tunity to thank those parents and friends who have co-operated so well in the termly donation scheme. Without it, repayment of the loan for these new buildings will not be possible, and it is good - very good - to see how encouraging a start has been made. This is the only time in my sixteen years here that the school has ever asked for a large sum of money, and to those who have gone from here, as to those present, and future alumni, I say that since by your fruits ye shall know them the school has earned the right to make this appeal. There are so many many worthwhile projects which come before one every day, almost all of which one would like to help, but this is a rather special one since, apart from Brown Hall-the gift of Mrs. R. A. Brown, Sr., of Calgary - and the Chapel, no major build- ing has been done since the school was founded and many of the buildings which, even at that time, were regarded as teinporaiy have 13

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casualty of the tour in the early part of the match. I am happy to report that both boys recovered very quickly and indeed the general fitness of the boys and the scarcity of injuries on the tour was remark- able, but Kelly's absence in this game did mean that we played with 1-lf men only for most of it, and we still managed to lose only by one converted try, hve points - 0. The party was very well received by the Press, Radio and TV. Some of you, I believe, did hear interviews by CBC and BBC reporters with some of us over there, while the ITV CCommercial TVl broadcast of the opening moments at Eton-when the boys scored 20 points in 20 minutes- was a tremendous boost. I don't know how the Ameri- can boys felt at being greeted by strangers with Oh yes, we know who you are, you're the Canadians, we saw you on the Telly . But there is no doubt that this small Canadian school of ours did make quite an impact on both Wales and Southern England. The sight-seeing and social side of the tour was, of course, tremen- dous. Each host school, in its own particular way, was most friendly and hospitable and gave us a generous welcome. In addition we were received by H.E. the High Commissioner, the Hon, Lionel Chevrier, at Canada Houseg by the First Secretary of State deputizing for Am- bassador Bruce at the American Embassy: by the Lord Mayor of London at the Mansion House, by the Agent General, Dr. Fisher, who, with lNIrs. Fisher, entertained the friends and relations of the boys at an afternoon party at B.C. House: by Sir Leslie Ford of the Port of London Authority who arranged a sightseeing tour of the docks on the Authority's private yacht and last, but not least, by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, who was most friendly and cordial with the boys. On the way home we did some sight-seeing in New York, and here again we were given a welcome by the English Speaking Union who arranged a small party for us. True, we missed two days of school. but I think - and the boys certainly agree -that it was worth it. In basketball we were again the independent school champions and retained the Hocking Shield, while Track and Field have been stronger than I have ever known. In seven successive meets we have emerged triumphant over- among others- Esquimalt High, Cowichan High, Victoria High and Oak Bay High, and on May 29th. the Team won the B.C. Independent School Trophy at Shawnigan Lake. I have spoken much more than usual about sports and my excuse - if excuse is necessarye must be the large part these activities play in the life of the school and the character training of the boys themselves which are an end result, but I must not leave the subject without some reference to the interest developing in fencing and tennis, for which we now employ outside coaches to assist the respective lXIasters-in- charge. I am informed by Mr. lNIodos, a former Hungarian Fencing Champion, that Ashton and Price can be numbered among the best fencers in their age group in Canada, while in tennis lXfIr. Gordon Hartley is Filling a long-felt need and the boys are responding happily and well to him. The swimming pool is busy the year round and I believe that there is now no boy in the whole school who cannot swim. 15