Ufirift' f&brt Writft 'HwrtAJ UuiJs rfnv Fawkcs Winter THE PETERITE Vol. LXXIII No. 399 October 1982 At Barclays we offer you far more than just a safe place to keep your cash. We can also arrange your insurance, your will, your mortgage and your investments. Or help you get more interest for your savings. Or make all the financial arrangements for your holiday. Altogether we offer a range of over 260 different services. Only one of which is cashing cheques. Find out more about our services now BARCLAYS by calling in at your local Barclays branch. CONTENTS PAGE The Visit by Prince Charles in March 2 Business Game Preface 3 Chess Club Presentation of Prizes 5 Christian Union Prize List 7 M'Aidez Society Examination results 7 Northcote Parkinson Historical Society St. Peter's School Appeal 9 The Railway Society Senior Common Room 10 The Sixth Form Discussion Group School Notes 10 Stockpiler Valete 11 York Schools' Sixth Form History Society Music 14 House Notes Chapel 15 Athletics Weather 17 Cross Country Drama 18 Swimming . Sahara Expedition 22 Rugby Ski Trip to Austria 23 Boat Club . Winter Camp in the Scottish Hills 23 Hockey Club Trip to Wales 23 Cricket The Greek Trip 24 Squash Rugby Trip to Holland 24 Fencing Family Day 25 Tennis Economics Trip to the City of London 25 Oxford Letter Combined Cadet Force 27 Lancaster Letter The North Bank Section Old Peterite News Apartheid ii Gift to the Prince and Princess of Wales Impressions de la vie Scolaire en France et en Angleterre iii Births, Marriages & Deaths Scholarship Examination iv Obituary Poems vi Old Peterite Club . H.R.H The Prince of Wales visited York on Tuesday, March 30th and arrived by helicopter at 12.45 p.m. on the 1st XI field. He was greeted by the Head Master and Civic Dignitaries. The last time a future King called in to the School was 89 years ago when his great Grandfather, then the Duke of York, paid a short visit with the Duchess after a busy day in York on 1st October, 1893. THE PETERITE Vol. LXXIII October, 1982 No.399 Edited by R. C. G. Drysdale, M.A. Editorial Committee: Barney Skrentny, Mark Simpson, Rosemary Smith, Joanna Rusholme, Clare Wise, Tracy Magson, Zoe Ashcroft, Matthew Wise, David Davenport, Jonathan Atkinson, Nick Hopton, Jonathan Abbey, Phil Kelly, Michael Cramb and Adam Stone. PREFACE The single most important event in the school this year has been the launching of the Appeal for the new Science and Design and Technology block. The target is £460,000 of which £296,000 has already been contributed. Further details concerning the Appeal can be found elsewhere in the magazine. The last academic year has been one of the best on record. The overall pass rate of 89% at 'A' level with half of those passes at grade A or B was the best ever. The results on the Sports Field are probably unsurpassed. Extra-curricular activities have also flourished as the numerous reports in the magazine indicate. Perhaps one of the most obvious has been travel. School expeditions have visited the Sahara, Greece, Scotland and Wales. The First XV toured Holland while cadets from the C.C.F. have visited Gibraltar and Germany. We can conclude from all this evidence that the heart of the School is indeed strong and the spirit sound. The response to last year's new format of the magazine has been encouraging. The editorial committee is grateful for the many favourable comments on the content and tone of the magazine. An opinion poll of the School sought views on "The Peterite" during the Summer term. One of the most frequent comments was the need to increase the original contributions. The editorial committee have tried to do this, but it is surprising how few contributions, whether articles, photographs, poems or sketches, actually come to the committee unsolicited. Are all our readers too modest? The Editor wishes to thank the many contributors to "The Peterite" and would welcome articles of general interest from Peterites past and present. #^% Oi xS<S^ AX •^i—IEHI- '1 WAXIPRINTtf^5If ^p*« MAX' &-.. —J o o MAXIPRINT Green Lane Industrial Estate Clifton, York Y03 6PY Telephone: (0904) 23467 PRESENTATION OF PRIZES 10th July, 1982 The Chair was taken by the Dean of York, the Chairman of the Board of Governors, and the prizes were distributed by Sir Donald Barron, B.COM., C.A., D.L., Chairman of the Midland Bank. The following are extracts from the Headmaster's speech: In a review of the year, there is always the danger that the highlights will be The 'O' level results were more mixed, with an overall pass rate of 73%, which excessively emphasised. It is nice to be able to record achievements and progress, but a compares favourably with the national average of 65% and that of other H.M.C. school must rely on day to day hard work and dedication of one's colleagues, often I schools of 72%. We have never been and will never strive to be a highly selective fear taken for granted by Headmasters, boys and parents alike. It is all too easy to thank school, and much of our best teaching is done with some of the slower pupils at the those who have done something out of the ordinary but our thanks should primarily go bottom part of the school; hard work and painstaking explanation very frequently yield to all my colleagues for the routine hard work they have put in during the course of the better results than a more brilliant but less disciplined approach. year. However, while thanking my colleagues for the hard work they have put in day by One of the posts in a school such as this which can go unrecognised is that of day I wouldn't like to suggest that we don't do anything except learn Latin and play Director of Art. Too often a visit to an Art Gallery or Museum receives a stony Rugby. We have visited Museums as far apart as the British and Science Museums in reception; little kudos is gained by good 'O' and 'A' level results in the subject, and too London and the Ironbridge Museum in Shropshire. We have been to the theatre in often Art is considered suitable only for those not particularly gifted in the classroom Stratford and to that theatre known as the Houses of Parliament. In the holidays or on the rugger field. Mr. John Gaastra knows better than all of us the frustrations parties have been skiing in Val d'Iserre, walking and climbing in Wales and Scotland and uncertainties he has had during his time with us over the last 30 years. At times his and sunbathing in the Sahara. This holiday a group will be on a canal trip from task may have seemed to be like that of Sisypus for ever condemned to roll the stone of Llangollen, while the C.C.F. will go to camps at Loch Rannoch in Scotland, Cranwell Philistinism up to the top of the hill again. And yet, in retrospect, there must be in Lincolnshire and Osnabriick in Germany. hundreds of Peterites who remember his lessons with affection and enjoyment, as an The C.C.F. today is very different from that of 20 years ago. Drill and discipline opportunity to do, rather than to absorb, in an atmosphere where visual and tactile are still there but polishing of brasses is almost non-existent and the emphasis on the senses are developed side by side with those of the mind. We thank him for his training is very much out of doors with a spirit of adventure. The opportunities are dedicated work, wish him and Joan happiness in their retirement, and particularly we there to learn shooting, canoeing, sailing and gliding — all paid for by the Ministry of will remember him every time we enter the chapel and see his splendid altar frontal. Defence. Our best wishes go to both of them. Last year I talked at length about the successes of our cricketers, and indeed we Also retiring this year from the Junior School are Miss Gypson and Mr. Field. have had another good season, being unbeaten in school matches, winning three of Good habits are acquired young, and many Peterites here present must thank both of them and getting the better of at least two of the draws. Those of us who followed the them for the hard work they have done in the past. We thank them both for the 30 fortunes of the Rugby team last Autumn term will remember particularly the fine years and more they have given to the service of the school. spirit in which they played all their games. They were certainly the best team since At some stage the Headmaster is expected to report on the academic success of the 1978, losing only four matches and these narrowly. We beat Denstone by the largest school; to say nothing would suggest that the year had been a bad one. We had no great margin ever recorded, and then were extremely pleased to win against Durham (away) expectation of last year's 'A' level candidates, but in fact they did better than expected in the 100th match between the two schools. and achieved results comparable to those of 1980; we had an overall pass rate of 78% We had a good hockey season as well, losing only one school match and this year (81% if we exclude General Studies taken as a fourth 'A' level by nearly all candidates) beating Worksop away, the first time we have done this since the last war.