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

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HEADMASTER ' S REPORT cont ' d from previous page sponsored by the University of Victoria always attracts the in- terest of several of our senior students, and three candidates were successful. In my view, the academics of the school remain strong when measured against these external yardsticks. However, my day-to-day concern lies with what is happening in our classrooms. With this in mind, I arranged through the Independent Schools Association to have our classroom work assessed. The inspector, Mr. Cos, reported that he had seen many examples of thoughtful, understanding and thorough classroom teaching. He went on to say that he had seen examples of instruction that could only be described as brilliant. I say to you that the staff of Brentwood is competent, has been thorough, and amongst the instructors we have several who do absolutely first class work all of the time. Herein lies the strength of the school. Furthermore, to maintain a competent, inspirational, demanding group of teachers is my primary challenge as Headmaster. The thread of growth and good work was evident in the fine arts. The choir and the band, consisting of 110 different individuals (30% of the school), had an exceptional year performing locally and in Vancouver. In our junior and intermediate bands we have some great talent coming up to fill the places left by our graduates. Classical guitar was offered for the first time this past year and most successfully to a group of 24 students. Some absolutely first class art work has been produced in a programme which also enrols more than 100 students. For example, Brentwood students took three out of four awards at the Cowichan Valley Easter Arts Fair and our ceramic and macrame section had a student receiv- ing honourable mention in open pottery competition. Two first and other prizes were gathered at the Shawnigan Lake Festival, and the work of our students was used at the Victoria Art Gallery as display material for the Pacific Northwest Weavers Association conference. As the Drama Club ' s production of The Diary of Anne Frank was an outstanding success, the players and technical group from our stagecraft class are deserving of considerable praise. This production was definitely one of the finest pieces of student drama ever produced in this school. As such it highlighted this year of intense activity in the fine arts section of our curriculum. I cannot begin to describe all of the achievements in games, as with our compulsory participation programme, coaching staff and facilities, we seem to gather a little more than our share of success. In providing a summary, I will go first of all to rugby, and compliment coaches Prowse and Ford for leading an undefeated 1st XV to the Independent Schools Championship. A tour of the United Kingdom produced a win, a tie and two losses for the 1st and three victories against one loss for the 2nd. It is significant to note that talent is coming through the school as our under 16 and under 14 teams gained the status of Mid-Island Champions. In soccer, a sport which is gaining more interest and emphasis from us, our first XI captured the Independent Schools Cup for the first time. Admittedly, we have not had the best of years in track and field, but our cross-country club and also our senior girls have provided extremely tough opposition for other competing groups. Indeed, our small contingent of young ladies were clear winners in senior girls independent schools track competition. As you know, we have Mr. Carr and Mr. Queen on our staff who, among other things, serve as coaches in our Rowing Club. The Club ' s successes this past year have been considerable. For example, we began this year with our Heavy Eight participating in the World Youth Games in Vilach, Austria. As the official Canadian representative crew, our boys gained a berth in the grand final and finished 6th in competition with 27 other countries. Starting last fall with several new recruits we began preparing for the 1977 season of rowing regattas. In the British Columbia High School Championships our crews gained first place in all divisions. In moving to national competition we found our Lightweight Eight gaining gold medals in a most impressive win at the Canadian Henley held at St. Catharines, Ontario. In the same regatta, our Heavy Eight and novice racers placed second as well, in the division for the Novice Heavy Fours. Arising from this ac- tivity two of our boys have been selected to train for the national men ' s crew. .Dale Bannerman, our cox, has been named to that position on the national crew, and two other lads have been invited to attend the national junior camp. I must take this opportunity to congratulate these young men and their coaches for their fine year. Challenging the outdoors is something that we do frequently through our rambling programme, this year sponsored by Mr. Dave Ewert. Their season was highlighted by a week of cross- country skiing in Alberta during the Easter break and the successful ascent of Mount Baker by eleven students some three weeks ago. I consider this programme to have great value and would like to commend Mr. Ewert for the enthusiastic fashion in which he has assumed leadership in this area of our curriculum. Although I could continue with this list of accomplishments in athletics, we have had other successes in such things as swim- ming, scuba diving and field hockey. I am certain of my stand when I say that our active commitment to sport remains a tremen- dous source of strength for this school. In providing you with this positive academic, fine arts and sports overview, I do not wish to suggest that weaknesses do not exist. Indeed, to take such a stand would be folly. My staff will join me, beginning July 5th, to begin a detailed reappraisal of our programmes, our system of discipline, our administrative routines and our house structure, in the first of what will be an annually scheduled reflective and critical view of the past, the goal of which will be to improve the future. The classroom work, our scholarship, our achievement in games and fine arts, reflect the fine combined effort of many as opposed to the work of a specific few. Therefore, I must extend my gratitude to Mr. Crookston, the Bursar, and the 55 non-academic members of our staff. To my assistants in administration, the house staff, my department heads, and the classroom teachers, I must say how tremendously grateful I am to you for your hard work, dedication, and for implementing our programmes so successfully. For your information, we this year will be saying farewell to Mr. Ewert and Miss McLennan. These people have carried out their tasks in an entirely competent fashion and I wish to express my gratitude to them for everything that they have done on behalf of the school this year. Naturally, everything we do rests upon the interest, the enthusiasm, the cooperation, and the talent of our student body. In reviewing our grade eights, nines, tens and elevens, and our recruiting board, which shows all but five or six places taken for next year, I am excited and very much looking forward to working with you again next year as I see a terrific academic strength and a full year of activity before us in 1977 78. The graduating class has received a most effectively delivered statement from Dr. Pedersen, but I must take this opportunity to wish them well in bringing this address to its close. I believe it is silly to attempt to provide a group characterization of a graduating class, so I will not be attempting one. But amongst your number I see a full range of personalities, a rather complete spectrum of characters, and an enormous variety of human strengths, weaknesses and talents. It is my hope that Brentwood has provided you with a firm foundation upon which to base further scholastic pursuits. Furthermore, I would be disappointed if your experience here has not forced you to examine your values; to consider the ex- tent of your integrity; and caused you to realise the great need that exists in our small Brentwood College community and, indeed, in the wider adult society, for unselfish acts of kindness and con- sideration towards your fellow man. On behalf of the staff and myself I would like to wish you well as you go your separate successful ways. We will remember you and sincerely welcome you upon your return as you visit with us in the years to come as Older Brentonians. W. T. Ross Headmaster 6

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W. T. Ross, Headmaster HEADMASTER ' S REPORT Awards Day — June 24, 1977 Ladies and Gentlemen : May I first welcome this large group of parents, friends, and students to our annual presentation of awards. Through your number it is a delight to witness your enthusiasm for joining us on this important occasion. Over this past year I have been asked to make comment about the Board of Governors and the school ' s financial position. May I therefore begin by speaking about the Board, its functions, and the support I have enjoyed from them in my first year as Headmaster. The Board, chaired by Mr. Brian Bramall, consists of nineteen other active and very enthusiastic people. Geographically, we have representation from as far east as Ontario. The majority, of course, are resident in British Columbia and Alberta. To be con- sidered for membership on the Board, a person must gain a nomination and a seconder from a member of the existing group. You should know that several on the Board at the present time have come to know us first as parents, or are themselves grad- uates of Brentwood College. Naturally, I fully endorse the in- clusion of parents and Brentwood Graduates on the Board, so I sincerely hope that there are several among you who will be will- ing, at some future time, to serve in this most important role. The functions of the Board deserve and require more time than I . can give them in this statement. However, I will mention finance as a major responsibility. The wise, experienced business minds on the present Board have put and kept this school in excellent finan- cial shape. I believe I have witnessed wisdom in every financial decision the governors have made this year in taking each dollar of revenue and putting it back to work on behalf of the students in the school. For your information, and by way of example, the college purchased twelve additional acres, consisting of the treed area im- mediately to the north to provide us with badly needed extra space. You will be interested to know that I have arranged for topographical survey work to begin next week in preparation for the development of new playing fields in the near future. The Board has fully supported my fund raising efforts for the library and assisted me greatly in providing $7,000 of additional money with which 1800 new volumes were purchased. These are only a few examples of several key decisions which have been reached to keep this school progressing in a highly responsible, business-like fashion. We therefore enter next year in first class financial condi- tion. These words about the Board lead me to mention Bill 33, the Act which if proclaimed would provide financial support for indepen- dent schools. Our governors have endorsed this proposed legisla- tion and I find myself in complete agreement with their stand. The Bill in its unamended form provides a system for making grants that will allow the school that receives such aid to protect itself against intrusion to its autonomy. The financial support which at the earliest will not come before August 1978, will be issued on a per capita basis with respect to the number of British Columbia students we have in the school. I must emphasize that although the Board welcomes financial support in recognition to the contribu- tion that schools such as Brentwood make to education in British Columbia, grants will not be accepted unless the freedom to main- tain our present philosophy, programmes and staffing remains in- tact. Now let me move this discussion to an in-campus setting and tell you about this school year which I believe has been one of the most productive in our history. Excellence in performance has sur- faced frequently from our undertakings in academics, fine arts and sports. In academics there is a lack of external standards through which our achievement can be fairly and accurately measured. Nevertheless, in provincial scholarship competitions last June, which are arranged on a school district basis, the independent schools in this region dominated the winners list. Brentwood College gathered more of them than any other school. In the English Composition scholarship qualifying examination we presented 20 candidates this year and 19 were successful. In inter- national mathematics competition this school finished top on Van- couver Island, 6th in British Columbia, and at the 85 percentile of all schools in North America who participated. The symposium Continued on next page 5

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STAFF Mrs. N. P. Arthurs, B.A. J. Boel H. Brackenbury, B.A. 7