School History 1930 Part 2
County Minors
The usual announcement in the local newspaper of the names of the children who had received a scholarship and were due to start at the school the following September did not appear in 1930.
A New Term, A New School Year 1930-31
As was usually the case, two weeks before the event, Mr. Charles L. Crossley, the Clerk to the Governors, placed the usual advertisement in the local newspaper giving details of the date of commencement of the new term, which was Wednesday, 17th September 1930. Also on this day, at 10 a.m. those pupils desiring admission to the school were invited to take the Entrance Examination. A Prospectus and further details could be obtained from Mr. Crossley at the West Riding Education Offices, 8, St. John's Road North, Wakefield. However, the notice stated that the Clerk would be in attendance at the school on Monday, 15th September in order to collect the fees due from the parents of the existing pupils. The sum of £3 / 3s. / 0d per term was still required. Presumably other payment arrangements were made for the new entrants when the results of their examinations became known - or was there an instantaneous decision made on the day?
Talented Teachers
A large audience was looking forward to a dramatic performance from Mr. Roger Williams and his company on an evening early in October 1930, and when they failed to attend, the staff saved the day by nobly stepping into the breach with their delightfully informal entertainment, which was hugely enjoyed by all. Items were rendered as follows:
Mr. G. Hyde...................sleight of hand
Mr. J.A. Storer................musical jokes
Mr. A.G. Jenkinson........schoolboy "howlers" and spoonerisms. (Mr. Jenkinson has collected these for over 20 years.)
Miss E. Hodgson...........pianoforte solos
Miss M. Parsons...........violin solos.
This impromptu entertainment, which must have been staged with the minimum of notice, speaks volumes about the talents and characters of those who volunteered to save the day.
Everyday Matters
The Autumn meetings of the Governors, presided over by Alderman Gabriel Price, covered many of the mundane tasks associated with the running of a school within a historic building and its grounds.
► A previous request to the County Education Authority for the purchase of additional land for playing fields had been rejected. The Headmaster was asked to make further enquiries about this decision, and report back to the Governors at a future meeting.
► The male members of the Governors formed a Grounds Sub-committee, and had become increasingly concerned about the untidy condition of the school grounds. It was announced that they planned to hold a special meeting to deal with this matter, and would report progress at a future meeting.
► While the building of the new Dining Hall was proceeding, the number of pupils at the school was also increasing, and the existing rooms currently being used for dining had also to be used as classrooms. This led to great difficulties and extra work for the caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Manning. Assistance for them was engaged in the form of two additional maids; one to be paid for from the maintenance account, and the other from the school dinner fund.
► An application was received by an independent music teacher for the use of the school premises and piano. The teacher planned to give private tuition outside school hours. The implications of this were discussed at some length, and a final decision was postponed until the Clerk could ascertain the circumstances under which private tuition was given at Mexborough Grammar School.
► Tenders for the supply of provisions for school dinners were accepted as follows:
Groceries .............Mr. E.R. Quinn, South Elmsall
Meat......................Mr. W.J. Townend, Hemsworth
Milk........................Mr. C.S. Hanley, Hemsworth
The caretakers were authorised to make their own arrangements for the supplies of fish and vegetables.
► The Headmaster reported that he was in communication with Lord and Lady Middleton concerning their attendance at the school's Speech Day on November 12th.
► The Headmaster and staff received the congratulations of the Governors on the recent excellent examination results.
Lantern Lectures
A further series of lectures at the school was organised for the Winter and Spring terms, and although they were advertised in the local press, there are no details of an entrance fee for the general public, nor indeed any indication of a starting time. The press comment in a report after the first lecture had been given, stated that
"The lecture was illustrated by slides from photographs taken by Mr. Fothergill whilst on a recent tour of Morocco, Several of the photographs had been taken at great personal risk." Apparently Mr. Guy Fothergill's Moroccan trip was more dangerous than his earlier travels and winter sports in the Alps, on which he gave a talk at the school earlier in the year!
October 5th.................."Morocco" by Mr. G.S. Fothergill
November 26th............"Famous Prisoners of the Tower" by Mr. W. O'Donohue
December 10th............"Pickwick" story telling extraordinary, by the Rev. A. Runnels-Moss
February 4th 1931......"St. Paul's Cathedral" by Mr. E.W.H. Piper
February 18th.............."With the Mounted Police in Canada" by Captain G.H. Mansfield
March 12th.................."Adventures with the Secret Service" by Professor Wilden-Hart, M.A., F.R.G.S., F.R. Hist. S.
Wireless Fund
Since 1924 the school had owned a wireless set, to which Mr. J. Storer had constantly maintained and added components, and the rest of the male staff had encouraged its use in receiving broadcasts from abroad as well as from Home stations. To assist with the improvement of this facility, a Fund had been created, and on Saturday, October 25th, a jumble sale was held at the school, and the sum of £10 15s. was realised.
This may be an apposite occasion to mention that in October 1930 car radios were first introduced in the US. The complete installation weighed 30kg, and could be as large as an adult person. The first owners were taxi drivers, who charged extra for allowing their passengers to listen!
A Degenerate Generation
The first meeting of the newly-formed Debating Society of Hemsworth Secondary School Old Boys' and Girls' Association was held at the school a few days before Bonfire Night in 1930. The debate's subject was, "That the present generation is degenerate." Mr. Cyril Teale supported the motion and Mr. William Kirk spoke against. Not surprisingly, the majority voted against the motion.
On the same evening a general meeting of the Association was also held, with Miss Freda Swaine presiding. Miss Margaret Foster was elected secretary.
Ninth Annual Speech Day, Thursday November 12th 1930
Lord Middleton, of Birdsall Lodge, Malton, was one of the foremost figures in the movement for encouraging emigration to Canada, and who in defending the colossal expenditure on education, made a stirring call to young people to equip themselves for the coming struggle to lift England out of the rut and place it in the front rank of nations again. The prizes should have been distributed by Lady Middleton, but owing to indisposition she was unable to be present, and a close friend, Mrs. Howard Hall, of South Parade, Wakefield, kindly stepped into the breach.
Owing to his being at an important conference in London, Ald. G. Price, J.P., chairman of the Governors, was not present, and Coun. J. Potts (vice-chairman) presided, supported by the Governors, Mr. A. G. Jenkinson M.A. (headmaster), Miss M. A. Griffiths M.A. (headmistress), and Mr. P. Crossland (assistant master), Captain R.J.P. Warde-Aldham, of Frickley Hall, and Mr. C. L. Crossley (clerk to the Governors) were also present.
The School's extensions
Coun. J. Potts, on behalf of the Governors, welcomed the parents and their distinguished visitors. He went on to review the history of the school, and said the erection of a new dining room was well in hand. Additional classrooms were to follow, and the extensions would cost £12,000. The Governors were pleased to see the development of the school, which had grown from 90 pupils to 409 in nine years. That clearly showed that a secondary school was wanted in the district, and the successes achieved since it was opened reflected credit upon those responsible for its administration and offered a complete justification for its existence. The good work of the school affected not only the pupils and staff, but the people who were brought into contact with it, and its many activities. He congratulated the headmaster and staff upon the successful results obtained at the examinations, and thanked the parents for their continued support, remarking that there would be no surplus accommodation even when the extensions were completed.
The prizes and certificates were distributed by Mrs. Howard Hall.
The Headmaster's Annual Report
The Latecomers
The Headmaster's annual report stated that the school now had its highest number of scholars at 409. There were more pupils than previously expected because an unusually large number of fee-paying pupils had enrolled, and there had been seven extra individuals transferred from Central and Elementary schools. He was not convinced of the advisability of transferring children aged 14 or 15 from such schools, as they had learned no Latin nor Science, little or no French, and only elementary Arithmetic. Catching up with their peers in the short time available to them would prove difficult, and the benefits they would derive from a Secondary School education would be open to question. He would be watching the progress of the seven transferred pupils with interest.
The increase in numbers had made the present accommodation uncomfortably, if not dangerously, overcrowded, and it would be a relief to all concerned when the new extension was completed. He was afraid, however, that this would not be for another two years, so that temporary accommodation would have to be provided very soon.
The Satisfactory Examination Results
Last July the results were well up to the usual standard. Higher School Certificate - Nine out of 11 candidates passed. School Certificate - Of 54 candidates, 40 obtained School Certificates, and 16 obtained Matriculation. A County Major Scholarship was awarded to George Hunt. Holgate Exhibitions were awarded to Violet Dodds and J. Richards. Arthur Thorpe was awarded one of the ten scholarships given by the Miners' Welfare Committee. J. A. Leslie Jago, a former pupil of the school, had been awarded, as the result of examination, a West Riding Art Scholarship, which enabled him to pursue a four year course at the Leeds School of Art, with a view to becoming an Art teacher. R. N. Slatcher obtained the R.S.A. silver medal for the first place in all England, in the examination for Advanced Accountancy - a splendid performance. In the R.S.A. examination 9 out of 12 candidates obtained certificates in book-keeping, and two out of three in shorthand. There were 13 former members of the school at the Universities.
A "Splendid Adventure"
During the year ended July 1930, 49 girls and boys left the school, and 102 new pupils were admitted in September. Of those who left in July, four had proceeded to Universities, and 14 were either at training colleges or engaged in teaching, 10 had been transferred to other schools, 12 had become clerks, apprentices or shop assistants, one girl was training as a nursery nurse, five girls were at home, and two boys were definitely seeking employment.
Few of those who left the school in July were without some kind of occupation, but it was increasingly difficult for the average girl or boy to find employment with good prospects in Britain, and that was why the Headmaster was encouraging boys to embark on the splendid adventure of overseas enterprise. He particularly welcomed there that day the presence of Lord Middleton, who, by his personal interest and active co-operation, was doing much to foster and strengthen this great imperial movement. "We have three boys in Canada at present," he added, "from all of whom I have had cheery and contented letters, and I hope that another one at least will be going next spring." He continued that most people were unaware how seriously the movement of population from this country to the Dominions overseas had been checked by the war and other causes since 1913. Figures recently published had shown that the number of British subjects leaving for overseas countries other than Europe was 242, 000 in 1913, compared with 93,000 in 1929. This meant that, after making allowances for war losses, there were in 1930 roughly 1,600,000 more people in this country than there would have been if the regular movement of population had continued. As the unemployment dole increased, the movement overseas diminished, and it was impossible to resist the conclusion that either the increase of unemployment benefit had discouraged migration, or the spirit of adventure was diminishing. The Headmaster wanted to urge boys to get out of the rut, and on to the open road.
Homework and Health
The headmaster had seen letters in the press, many of them from doctors, claiming that homework in their opinion had a harmful effect on the health of many girls. He had personally been told by a doctor that he had seen every ounce of strength taken out of girls in the upper Forms of many Girls' schools, with who could say what result in later life. Mr. Jenkinson laid the blame for this situation firmly at the door of the examining bodies, who demanded too much. Also culpable were the school authorities who have to satisfy those demands, and parents who allow their children to work too long at home. His believed that a certain amount of homework was useful because it demanded initiative in the pupil, but it was the duty of parents to watch for the signs of over-pressure at home, and not allow their children to spend more than the stipulated time set for homework. As long as examinations had to be passed and examining bodies insisted on so wide a course, homework was indispensable in the higher forms, merely to cover the syllabus in the time. In the lower forms the case was different, and he had tried to keep the time allotted for homework to a minimum. The ideal system was doubtless for preparation to be done in school under supervision, but as Hemsworth Secondary School was a day school where pupils travelled long distances, that system was impractical.
Military Band Careers
In mentioning that he would like to purchase some wind instruments for the school orchestra, Mr. Jenkinson pointed out that a military band offered a good career to a musical boy, and that the County Authority might well consider subsidising this type of activity in schools bearing the career prospects in mind. He knew that military bandmasters welcomed boys from secondary schools - in fact one boy from the school had followed this path and been very successful. Any boy of 16 or 17 who was musical and could play a wind instrument would be encouraged to join a military band, and in 12 years or so he may well be a bandmaster. The playing of wind instruments was too much neglected in schools.
The importance of the final year
Mr. Jenkinson felt that a boy or girl gained untold advantage by remaining at school to the age of 18 or 19. Those last two years could be worth all the rest put together, because it is then that their minds and characters were broadened, sifted, and strengthened. Some have said that the main value of education lies in the fact that it broadens the mind and builds up the character. He had heard the same thing expressed in a rather different fashion by a speaker who wisely said that both teachers and taught ought to use a secondary school education for learning to look at things from other people's point of view. This principle could be applied to any subject in the curriculum, and was invaluable as a training for life. If teacher and pupil alike could learn to do this, a sense of humour comes into play, interest is aroused, apathy vanishes, and our school motto becomes a reality, because -"work has become its own reward."
Lord Middleton's Speech
1. Note of encouragement
After apologising for the absence of Lady Middleton, Lord Middleton congratulated all those who had received prizes and certificates, which were the result of hard work and industry. He hoped that those pupils who had not won anything would realise that there were other things which mattered in their school lives - knowledge and character. Successes in these often mattered just as much, so there was no need to feel downhearted. He explained that he served on an education committee in the East Riding, doing the finances and investigating new schemes. He found that there always seemed to be two schools of thought about the money spent on education. Some taxpayers would have liked to cut down by half on the amount spent, and conversely others would say that they were spending only half of what they should, as the need for more education was enormous. The country was spending millions on education as an investment in the future. When the younger generation grew up, the country would then be lifted and pushed along the road of progress to take its place among other nations and not be left behind. Individuals would be equipped well for the battle of life, and for the competition in trade and business. These were the benefits of investing in education. "If those results are successful," he asked, "don't you think that we who have had the money spent on us at school can be rightly be called to put something back? I think we can, for it is not an unfair demand. There is no country in the world where exist such opportunities for public service as in England." He continued that there were many roads to that public service, such as by the Boy Scouts, or Toc H, for instance, which were fine institutions for rendering service for their fellow countrymen.
2. The Coming Struggle - "Leave Politics Alone"
"Yesterday," said Lord Middleton, "we were commemorating a great sacrifice which I hope none of you will be called upon to undertake, but there are heroes of peace as well as of war, and perhaps that may be your portion. There are enormous problems to face in this country, and the men of my generation will not be able to deal with all of them. They will be on the heads of the rising generation. I wish you success, and trust you will solve those at which we have failed. The big troubles in the country today are unemployment and trade depression. Brought up as a simple soldier, I do not understand the ways of politicians, which baffle me. All parties say that if you believe in them they will cure our troubles, but when they get in they do not seem to do it, and I would advise you boys and girls to leave politics alone. The main reason we are in a mess today is because we are paying our debts. We have a burden of taxation which will continue until your children's time, because we have manfully and honestly come up to scratch. Honesty is our only policy. We are paying our debts and trying at the same time to maintain our social services. It is not easy and sometimes we see causes for discouragement, but you children will have to tackle these problems, for upon the boys and girls of today depends the future prosperity of this country."
3. The Promised Land
Lord Middleton went on to say that despite the fact that there were 2.25 millions unemployed, there were more men in employment in 1930 than before the war. This meant that there were more people in the country than could be employed, and there had been no discernable national policy to scientifically distribute the population within the Empire. He had visited Canada to investigate the prospects, and he was now firmly convinced that there were better opportunities in Canada compared with Britain, with proper security there, and a good living to be made. Hemsworth Secondary School had already shown the way in this matter.
A comprehensive vote of thanks was moved by Coun. A. Flavell, and seconded by Mrs. Guest.
The Prize Winners
Higher School Full Certificates:
Elizabeth Austin, J. Lawrence Frazer, Morris S. Gibbon, George A. Hunt, Josephine Read, Leslie R. Smith, Arthur Thorpe, Frank W. White, Fred Williamson.
Higher School Part Certificates : Maisie Thorne, J. Richards, Ethel Gee, John R. Barker, Phyllis Howe, Hilda Newton.
Matriculation:
Sidney Fox, C. Hodge, Gordon Sterry, J.N. Thorpe, H. Williamson, Nellie Leaver, Esther L. Page, Doreen M. Schorah, Winifred Senior, Phyllis A. Stoker, F. Baxter, Thomas W. Marriott, A. Stanton, Mary E. Jones, Mary Littlewood.
School Certificates:
J. H. Andrew, Colin Desborough Colin Hart, Patrick J. Kellett, Eunice Allen, Hilda Brooks Dorothy W. Lee Margaret Paley, Nancy Parsonage, Nesta Stirton, Mary Walker, Elsie I. Worrall, S. Bowen, J. Marlow, John Mellor, C. Newby, Ethel Midgley, Emma G. Wilson, Frank Denton, Reginald J. Dowdeswell, Harold Noble, Phyllis A. Hall, Edith Marson, Mary Silvester, Mary Ward.
R.S.A. Certificates, Intermediate :
Mary Silvester, Harry Green, Frank Denton, Reginald Dowdeswell, Phyllis Hall, Alice Hinchcliffe, Mary Jones, Mary Littlewood, Edith Marson, Harold Noble
Elementary :
Florence Parsons, George Potts, Thomas Wright, Kathleen Sayles, Leslie R. Smith, Millicent Webb, Hannah Thorpe, A. Edgecombe, H. Goodale, K. Harris, Thomas Hebden, Millicent Heptonstall, Alice Hinchcliffe, Reginald Dowdeswell, Harold Noble, Frank Denton, Edith Marson.
Special Prizes :
For Distinction in Higher School Certificate, George A. Hunt.
For Distinction in School Certificate, Sidney Fox, Doreen Schorah, Gordon Sterry, A. Stanton, Emmie Wilson, F. Baxter, H. Williamson, C. Newby, Mary E. Jones.
Form Prizes : Sidney Fox, T. W. Marriott, Mary Silvester, Sybil Howson, A. Sykes, Millicent Webb, T. Francis, H. L. Hackforth, Richard Leeming, Marjorie Dean, Doris Hainsworth, W. Metcalfe, Roger Foye.
Needlework Prizes........... Annie Thorpe, Margaret Poole.
Reading Prizes................. Senior; Ethel Midgley, Junior; John Priestley.
General Information......... Josephine Read, Morris S. Gibbon, Eric S. Whittle.
General Progress.............. Lorna Jagger ( 21 places), William Robinson (21 places).
Star Prizes........................ Hackforth H.L.(59), Doris Hainsworth (50), Lionel Newby (48).
Special Commemoration Prizes for the Head Girl and Head Boy of the School (given by Mrs. Warde-Aldham);
Maisie Thorne, Fred Williamson.
House Challenge Cup : 1st. Talbot (1170 points)
2nd. Holgate (910.5 points)
3rd. Price (823.25 points)
4th. Guest (823 points)
"Pickwick"
Charles Dickens: 1812-1870
Despite the cold and foggy weather, there was a large audience at the school on the Wednesday evening of December 10th 1930 to hear the humorous talk on "Pickwick" given by Rev. A.E. Runnel-Moss, an acknowledged expert on Charles Dickens. This was his fourth visit to the school, and all were well entertained. Lawrence Frazer gave a vote of thanks, and the Headmaster seconded.
The Staff Dance