The Editor of last year's DURNOVARIAN began by recording the foundation of the School Laboratories. Now there is revealed to us in a wide vista a startling and extensive change. Beyond the completed Laboratories and a recent acquisition of grassed land there lie rows of houses whose clean, clear stones and tiles freguently give the buildings the appearance of so many toy fabrications. Rows of houses grope forward from an estate which, regrettably, assumes the grim aspect of an industria1 town when palled in a cloud of smoke and silhouetted against the setting sun.
The extension of Hardye's paces the expansion of Dorchester. Both developments draw our attention to the problems of the increasing student population, its accommodation and, within this context, the need for compromise between the exigencies of depth and breadth in education. This latter problem has been tackled energetically at Hardye's with the introduction of 'minority subjects'. For all the success these lessons have achieved in widening a student's thinking a danger has been noticed.
A tendency for the arts man to regard his knowledge of science, and vice versa , as something tagged onto his education or as providing another qualification defeats the ends of the experiment. Warnings have also been sounded against the overzealous sacrifice of profundity for superficiality. And, indeed, it is possible that aspiration for knowledge, soaring like an eagle and aiming at two peaks might plummet, exhausted, into the depths between, leaving a few feathers fluttering into each side, without realising that one peak ought to be chosen whence there is an excellent view of the other.
Nevertheless the importance for as wide a sweep as possible in one's learning has been recognised. For the scientist an acquaintance with the arts often contributes more than an element in the experience of life; it can play a part in the development of the mind. Many of the great creative scientists and mathematicians of the past have had their minds moulded by the arts.
On the other hand the man studying the arts now incurs the responsibility of being able to place the history of science in correct perspective with all history . A grasp of the basic nature of scientific inquiry is the sine qua non in one's outlook if the vulgar error of arbitrarily imputing the whole blame for the critical state of the world to scientists is to be avoided. Besides, such an insight enables one to glance upwards occasionally from those tiled houses and see how science 'transfigures the fortuitous concourse of atoms into the tracery of the finger of God'.
On Thursday, 19th July, the members of the Senior School assembled in St. George's Church, Fordington, for the annual Commemoration thanksgiving service. The preacher was the Reverend Canon J. S. Maples, M.A., Chancellor of Salisbury Cathedral. He drew our attention to the text of the second lesson, the Parable of the Talents according to the Gospel of St. Matthew. The moral of this lesson, he pointed out, transcended its obvious material applicability and ultimately concerned the necessity of the development of our intellectual and spiritual capacities. The third servant in the parable was, through excessive timidity and lack of enterprise, guilty of a breach of trust. His parallel was to be found amongst those of us who, being endowed with a measure of ability, fail to exert ourselves to the limit of our capacities in the cause of the common weal. On the other hand those who had realised their potential were rewarded with yet greater responsibilities. Thus their guerdon was an incentive to continual effort until finally there would be incumbent on them the greatest trust of all, service in the Kingdom of God.
In the afternoon the whole school gathered in the Plaza Cinema for the Distribution of Prizes. The new chairman of the Board of Governors, Sir David Williams, presided and in his opening address he paid a tribute to Sir Thomas Salt who had devoted ten years of work to the school. Being his successor he could appreciate the responsibility and travail which that position entailed. The new science laboratories were a tribute in glass and stone to his successful term of office and the task which he and the parents and friends of the school had jointly undertaken. Sir David then congratulated the Headmaster on the results of the academic year. Purely mathematically the salient feature was the high percentage of the boys who were to leave the sixth form for a university place.
Before corroborating and expanding these figures the Headmaster informed the assembly that that year was of particular interest to him for the boys leaving then had joined the school with him in 1955. Of these 80 boys 49 were leaving after the full seven years' course and 28 amongst the latter had gained admission to universities. He congratulated W. S. Easton, R. Enestrom and B. Ventham on winning scholarship awards. On the magistral side Mr. Hamilton paid tribute to four masters who were leaving, Messrs. Barrass, Bristow, Johnson and Joscelyne. He thanked Mr. Barrass for his services as head of the chemistry department, Commanding Officer of the C.C.F. and housemaster of Hodges House.
The headmaster then spoke of the qualifications and abilities essential in a potential sixthÂformer and university scholar. The three main assets were self-discipline , a genuine interest in the chosen subjects and the intellectual capacity to cope with the concepts involved. These concepts, he declared, were quite different from those embodied in the Ordinary Level course of study. Finally, Mr. Hamilton admonished parents that the successful candidate in seeking a job or admittance to a university was he who had something more to offer than mere academic competence. Boys were expected to play games and take a part in school activities .
Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Wynford, M.B.E., who had presented the prizes, confessed that he himself had not been a winner of awards at school and admitted that "it is those who apply themselves to their books who steal the march". Lord Wynford referred to the status of the school as defined by Parliament. The price of the independence accorded to Hardye's was the incumbency of its raising a quarter of the amount of money required for its upkeep. As Director of the Quater Centenary Appeal Fund he appealed to parents to continue and increase their support. He looked with confidence to the attainment of their goal.
A vote of thanks for Lord Wynford was proposed by the Head boy, R. J. Pinney.