Brentwood College School - Brentonian Yearbook (Mill Bay, British Columbia Canada)

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Canada; in Judo 8 orange and 24 yellow belts were acquired, and in Scuba Diving 29 boys qualified. All these activities were offered as a formal part of our school programme. In addition to all these programmed extra-curricular activities, the Band and Choir put on a highly successful concert last March, and both have given concerts to other schools, both public and private. In April we put on a production of the Pirates of Penzance, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the many who came to see it but most of all, I think, by the players themselves. The reason for this was, I suspect, that included in the cast was a large number of young ladies from Queen Margaret ' s, and we therefore had no shortage of volunteers from our own school to par- ticipate in this activity. In this regard I would like to say how very much we here at Brentwood have appreciated our association with Queen Margaret ' s this year. We have had dances, beach parties, tennis matches, and even a grass hockey game with these young ladies. But standing above all these is our combined Choir. It carried off top honours in the Cowichan Music Festival and, next year, we hope to go further afield. However, the business of competition and trophy winning is surely of secondary importance. What really mattered was the fact that all those who pa rticipated had a most unique musical experience and gave great joy to those who listened to them. In Athletics we have had a good season also. Our Rugby Team won the Independent Schools Championship for the fourth year out of five. It won the Vancouver Island High School Championship for the third year out of four, and the B.C. High School Championship for the second year out of three. Unfortunately this last had to won by default, as the Vancouver winners, David Thompson High School, were unable to field a team on the date set down for the com- petition. During the last week of the first term and during the Christmas holidays we took our 1st XV and Colts XV over to Britain for a tour. The 1st XV came back without a scalp, somewhat unluckily I thought. The games were extremely close, and three of them at any rate could have gone either 10

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them have indicated that they have enjoyed the experience thoroughly. Last year at this time we had just embarked on a new building programme which was due for completion at the beginning of September. Of course it was not and con- sequently we had quite a difficult time during our first term coping with an increased student population in our old facilities. However, everything was finished by Christmas, since when we have had full use of two new residences, this auditorium and the new dining-room upstairs. In the dining- room meals are served cafeteria style, and the resultant improvement in the food has been considerable. The auditorium has been used so much for so many things that I am not sure how we ever did without it, and the new residences have certainly provided a most acceptable calibre of accommodation. I believe we may now be reasonably satisfied with our plant. We have altered the daily timetable considerably. We now have full academic instruction from 8:30 till 1:10 daily. Lunch follows at 1 : 15. Thereafter three afternoons a week we have sports and, on the other three, we offer a programme of activities comprising Art, Choir, Band, Drama, Science Club, Typing, and so on, most of which carry academic credit, and may be used as subjects to qualify for University Entrance. The work of the Band and the Choir will be demon- strated during the ceremony, and I very much hope that afterwards, you will be able to take time to look at the exhibits of our Science and Arts clubs. The former you will find in the Biology and Physics Labs, and the latter in the foyer. I believe this new programme has been well worth while, and we certainly intend to continue it. Other extra curricular activities which we continue to offer are Flying where 4 boys have qualified for their licences this year already, and several more are approaching that stage, Driving, in which 36 were successful, Red Cross Swimming, in which 27 boys qualified for the Senior Award, 14 for the Intermediate and 6 for the Junior. In addition, 12 boys qualified for the Royal Life Saving Bronze Medal standing, thus becoming qualified to act as lifeguards anywhere in 9

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way. The Colts won three of their five, and acquitted them- selves with great distinction. But more important than the results was the the experience itself. The lads stayed sometimes with the schools against whom they played, sometimes with the families of their opponents and, for a short time, in a hotel. All pronounced it a most memorable experience. In rowing Joel Cotter and Brian Crookes teamed up to win the B.C. Double Sculls Championship, and they have been selected to represent the Province at the Canada Trials and in the Canadian Henley at St. Catharine ' s in August. There they will be competing for a place in the Canadian team for the World Championships. We won the senior Independent Schools Swimming Championship, and failed to get first in the Independent Schools Track and Tennis competitions by a whisker. Talking of swimming, I should perhaps at this juncture thank all those who supported our Walkathon, which was quite a great success. We have been able to pay off the first stage of the pool development, and the Board of Governors are now very seriously investigating prospects for a cover. Our staff is due to undergo but little change. Mr. Bombezin and Mr. Molloy are leaving, both after one year with us. Both have contributed greatly to the academic and extra- curricular activities of the school, and I want to thank them for their dedication and support this year and to wish them the best of luck for the future. In their places come not new faces, but old friends. Mr. Johnson, who has so magnificently directed our choir, joins us full time, and, returning after a year of education courses at the University of Oxford, is Mr. Colin Ross. Mr. Prowse takes as his assistant in Ellis Hous e one of his former students, Mr. Tony Keble, who comes also to teach Spanish. Mrs. Hallet, our revered housekeeper, is leaving today after looking after us so well for so long. We thank her for all she has done and wish her many happy years of retirement. And lastly may I briefly but most sincerely pay tribute to a fine staff not only for being so demonstrably capable in the classroom, but also for the fact that they never count the 11