The High School, Aylesbury WILLIAM JOWETT Proprietor: W. T. PHILBEY IRONMONGER Extensive Stocks of all reliable and leading makes of utensils and equipment for HOUSEHOLD AND KITCHENWARE Swan Aluminium, Judge Enamel, Pyrex Glassware, Addis Brushware, Ewbank Carpet Sweepers, Prestige, Skyline and Wostenholm Cutlery, etc., Ironing Tables, Salter’s Scales, Spong’s Mincers, Kilner Jars. 3, KINGSBURY, AYLESBURY Telephone: Aylesbury 82152 F. WEATHERHEAD & SON ------------ LIMITED -------------- ABOUT 40,000 BOOKS NEW AND SECOND-HAND IN STOCK 58 Kingsbury, Aylesbury, Bucks. Telephone: Aylesbury 3153 1 E.J.PARMINTER LTD NORMAN BERG 27, PARTON ROAD, AYLESBURY continues to please customers at QUALITY MEAT CIVILITY 3 9-40 FAIR PRICES LOWER FRIARS SQUARE 3 REASONS WHY OUR CUSTOMERS RETURN We get the latest fashions for the AGAIN AND AGAIN Teenager ALLOW US TO QUOTE YOU FOR YOUR DEEP FREEZE Also Green Shield Stamps REQUIREMENTS J. P. LUCAS & CO. LIMITED HOUSE FURNISHERS AND BUILT-IN FURNITURE SPECIALISTS 7 & 8 FRIAR’S SQUARE AYLESBURY Telephone: 86255 2 "far Prate. of Appearance ALTERNATIVE Old fllill QUALITIES BLAZERS Twenty sizes and choice of styles ROBERT HIRST Raincoats DUFFLE COATS SCHOOL PULLOVERS HOCKEY STOCKINGS SCHOOL SCARVES TIES, ETC. Titian lieTS W. THRASHER & SON ^ j 7, HIGH STREET, AYLESBURY The Suppliers to the Aylesbury Grammar School for over 60 years 3 EDITOR Gillian Smee STAFF EDITOR Mrs. M. Taylor EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Mariangela Eichholz Dale Glenny Jane Harrison Susan Ireland Diane Poole Susan Reece Alison Ripp Denise Simmons Julia Soundy BUSINESS MANAGER Miss. S. Stokes ASSISTANTS Jill Glover Sally Austin ART EDITOR Mr. P. Austin ILLUSTRATORS Elizabeth Kelsall Alison Ripp Shelagh Onn Heather Bulpett On behalf of the school, the editors would like to thank all the advertisers upon whose generous support we depend for the production of this magazine. 4 editorial As always, the appointment of school officers excited considerable speculation among this year's Lower Sixth, and also a sense of strangeness that after years of revering the wearers of those shiny blue badges we were at last to sport them ourselves. The elections and selections being over, we were disturbed to find the powers represented by these insignia to be virtually non-existent. The discovery was followed by a storm of protest which during ensuing months subsided into plaintive whines at every Sixth form council meeting. Gradually we came to accept the impracticability of trying to impose on others the outdated restrictions which had regulated our early school years, and contented ourselves with sighing w istfully for the days when prefects were a plainclothes police force whose duty it was to see that the juniors wore their berets, and who ensured that the rest of the school was safely imprisoned behind the gate during the dinner-hour, and herded outside at break in the bleak midwinter for fresh air. Personally, I do not lament the passing of an age of petty restriction and repression, when the most audacious first-former would wither at a glance from a member of the redoubted Sixth. But with it we have lost the sense of security which is felt under strict government and ordained hierarchy. Similarly, in society as a whole, the breaking down of class barriers and the adoption of freedom and equality, not only as ideals but as practical goals, while liberating us have left us unsure of our place in the world. We also face problems unique to this generation which serve to heighten our in­ security: the battery of sex, drugs and violence with which the media confront us; the ever-increas­ ing pace and complexity of modern civilisation and our advanced systems of communication which force us to be constantly aware of the horrors of war, starvation, disease, drought and deprivation, and to accept our responsibility for them. We must acknowledge also the persistent threat of dest­ ruction, by weapons which at one stroke can wipe our nation from the face of the earth, by wartime poisons capable of wholesale slaughter, dumped at random in our oceans, and by the subtler corro­ sive power of pollution. We can claim the unhappy distinction of being the first generation to grow up with the fear that our race may not survive this century. Consciousness of the nature of man and his world places a heavy burden on us for whom adolescence is already sufficiently painful in itself. There are too many frightened minds hiding behind the old cliches and superficial philosophies; too many disillusioned minds escaping into careless self-indulgence or negative rebellion; too much isolation, confusion, unhappiness, and spiritual barrenness, not just in our country or community but within the walls of Aylesbury High School. We cannot now hope or wish to return to the days of blissful ignorance and unthinking obedience; we have come to resent being told what to do, and how and when to do it. But there is nonetheless a need for guidance in shaping the direction of our lives; not in the narrow sense of further education and careers but in the broader meaning of a philosophy of life. And it is to the school which already plays so significant a part in our intellectual and emotional development that we now look, not to be ordered and regimented but to be helped to develop our thoughts and to form resolutions with which we can confront the seemingly overwhelming problems of Twentieth Century humanity. Gillian Smee L VIJ 5 staff notes In September 1972 we welcomed to the Staff Mrs. Denton, Mrs. Pestell, Miss Rolfe, Mr.Watterson, Miss Watts and Mrs. Wilkinson. We also offered congratulations and best wishes to Miss Loverock, who returned after the summer holidays as Mrs. Wall* and to Miss Tucknutt, who became Mrs. Edwards during the Autumn Term, and we were pleased to hear during the year of the arrival of Matthew Francis and Clare Derbyshire. Inevitably we had to say goodbye to some members of Staff during the year. Mrs. Wilkinson's place was taken by Mrs.Loarridge.at the end of the Autumn Term and at the end of the Spring Term Miss Keen left us, after having been at the school for nearly 5 years. During that time she gave invaluable help with the Service Club, catering at various school functions and also with School Play costumes. Miss Keen is now with the W.R.A.F. and we hear that she is finding this an interesting and enjoyable experience, lyirs. Robinson joined the Domestic Science Department for the Summer Term. Mrs. Gaisford also joined the Staff at this time to teach Mathematics part time, replacing Mrs. Bates, whom we were sorry to lose after 8 years at the school. She is now living in Newport. In July Mr. Eardley left to become Head of the Music Department at Mandeville County Secondary School. He joined the Staff in 1970 and worked with great enthusiasm for the music of the School. The girls who have taken part in choirs and orchestras under his guidance w ill want to thank him for the encouragement and enjoyment he always gave them. We were also sorry to lose two other members of Staff, Mrs. Kemp and Mrs. Davies. Mrs. Kemp had taught Mathematics here for two years but has now moved to Norfolk. And finally we said goodbye as usual to our foreign assistants for the year, Mile le Jan, Fraulein Merschbrock and Senorita Monzotto. We thank all these members of Staff who left, for their services to the School and to the girls, and give them our best wishes for the future; and finally we wish Mr. Chaplin well for his year in America. Mr. Chaplin will be teaching at the Brevard Community College in Florida under an exchange arrangement, and we welcome Mr. Cox in his place. TEACHING STAFF Mrs. E.E. Kemp (Mathematics) Mrs. A.M. Madge (Science) Miss J.M. Camp (Headmistress) Mrs. J. McLauchlan (English) Miss J. Williams (Deputy Headmistress) Miss E.J. Nix (Geography) Mr. P. Austin (Art) Mrs. G. Opstad (German) Mrs. J. Bridges (Economics, Mathematics] Mrs. R.E. Pestell (History) Miss S. Cadge (Physical Education) Mrs. S. Pritt (French) Miss M.E. Cattell (English) Mrs. J.W. Rawlings (Spanish) Miss M .K. Cattell (Mathematics) Miss B.E. Reed (History) Mr. N.D. Chaplin (Geography) Mrs. H.E. Robertson (French) Mrs. G. Denton (English) Miss M. Rolfe (Mathematics) Miss S.G. Dickinson (Physical Education) Miss E.E. Smith (French) Mr. M. Eardley (Music) Miss S. Stokes (Science) Mr. K.W. Evans (Science) Mrs. P.M. Tadman (Domestic Science) Mrs. L.F. Evans (Science) Mrs. A.M. Taylor (English) Mr. A. Gardner (Science) Mrs. G. Edwards (German) Mrs. I. Gleave (English) Mrs. K. Tydeman (Science) Miss M.J. Hodgkins (Mathematics) Mrs. M. Wall (History) Mrs. E.J. Jevons (Classics) Mr. W.H. Watterson (Scripture) Mrs. M.L. Johnson (Science) Miss C. Watts (French, English, Scripture) Miss E. Keen (Domestic Science) Miss H. Wharmby (Music) 6 PART-TIME STAFF NON-TEACHING STAFF Mrs. A. Bates (Mathematics) Mrs. J.M. Rixon (Secretary) Mrs. R. Buchanan (Art) Mrs. J. Rhodes (Matron) Mrs. J. Davies (Physical Education) Mr. D. Podbury (Caretaker) Mrs. A.S. Runcie (Cook-caterer) Mrs. P. Finch (Speech Training) Mrs. E. Solera (Laboratory Steward) Mr. J.A. Lewis (Latin) Mr. A.E. Fyles (Language Laboratory Technician) Mrs. A. Norris (Needlework) Mr. G. Meyer (Laboratory Steward) Mrs. P. Wilkinson (Geography) Mrs. P.E. Harris (Clerical Assistant) Mrs. J. Henderson (Clerical Assistant) FOREIGN ASSISTANTS Mrs. R. Pickup (Clerical Assistant) Mrs. G. Suckling (Laboratory Steward) Mile Francoise Le Jan (French) Senorita A.T. Manzorror (Spanish) DINNER SUPERVISORS Fraulein C. Merschbrock (German) Mrs. F. Kilburn Mrs. Chase Mrs. Donnan BRAINS AGAINST BRAWN Towards the end of the Easter term one Thursday afternoon a motley collection of staff straggled out of school towards the playing fields, tentatively dangling hockey sticks and doing their best to appear unselfconscious; prowling about the pitch, making occasional forays with a ball and sometimes hitting it with extraordinary violence, was a group of rugger-shirted, athletic-looking adolescents.