|
Commandants Notes
I have decided to write my last Notes for The Victorian in the form of a personal review of the School Year 1973/74, in which I will make passing reference to some events which have remained in my memory as significant, of which a few may be enlarged upon in more detail in other parts of the magazine. If I leave out, as I certainly will, reference to many happenings and people which others will feel important, and which probably are, I hope this may cause no offence, since thess Notes are not intended to be at all a complete record of the year, even in summary, but just my own retrospective and se!ective memories of my last full School year at QVS.
It has been a notable year, important in the School's history. In last year's Notes I made reference to the departure of the last of the RAEC staff and their replacement by an all-civilian professional teaching staff. In June, as described elsewhere, we made our formal farewell, in general to the Director and his Corps, in particular to Lt-Colonel Evans, our last RAEC Headmaster, and Captain Hendry, and to those many former RAEC members of the RAEC staff who attended that June day. Only a few days after, our skies were darkened by "Vie" Le Maistre's death.
Coming back in September to the start of a new School year, Mr. John Melluish briskly took over Headmaster's duties and direction of the Teaching Staff, which had been further reinforced by Mr. Philip, in replacement of Captain Hendry, and Monsieur Spalter, who succeeded Monsieur d'Auzon. Mrs. Malkowska temporarily filled the vacancy which had so sadly and abruptly appeared in the Art Department, and Mr. Paterson became
Deputy Headmaster. We had to say goodbye, in Auaust. to Mr. R. E. Hughes. for five vears our
|
Librarian and for many years before that a member of the Teaching Staff, one of the first, indeed, of the "civilians". His place was taken by Mrs. Whitehead.
An innovation, that Christmas Term, was the appointment of Assistant Housemasters for the Senior School Houses, appointments for which we had wrestled long with Whitehall and the Establishments Committee.
In that term too, at long last, we brought into actual use our new Science Wing, unlovely in its exterior, but well appointed within. And a great asset to the continuous development of our teaching facilities, which have leapt forward a century or so in the last dozen years.
Since this is personal reminiscence, with unapologetically subjective priorities, I can emphasize at the possible expense of more weighty affairs how much pleasure Mr. Moffat's production of "Our Town" in the Christmas Term gave me. Before the end of the Christmas Term the "power crisis" was upon us and the Commandant and the Administrative Officer, harassed from above by minority directives enjoining them to exercise ruthless economy, found themselves in the invidious position of being cast in the role of deniers of warmth, light, hot water, evening facilities and other amenities to masters, boys, and staff. In spite of all this, the Christmas Festivities were carried through much as usual but in January the rigour of austerity increased still further.
Just before the Commandant, worn down by arguments over convector heaters and cold rooms, had reached the point of deciding to turn all the lights full on and the heat up to one hundred degrees, and retire prematurely, the government chanaed. the miners got their extra pay, and the
|
