|
Extracted, by Eddy
Norris, from the Jubilee Edition of The Borderer of 1969
Eddy Norris
records his thanks and appreciation to the Research Committee and I assume
responsibility for any errors occurring with the extraction.
RESEARCH
COMMITTEE
B. Schorr - C.
Murray
R. Brown - D. Reynish
S. Field - P. Lark
C. De Villiers -
B. Davis
P. Brent - R. Thomas
J. Winch - M.Davidson
K. Jacobs -
J. Sanderson
G. Newman - R. Burton
W. Rudd - C. Heron
T. Scott -
R. Barry
Chapter
IX
THE SIXTIES
1960-68
If
the first few years at Tiger Kloof proved to be years of tremendous
activity and development, the eight years of the sixties were to continue
this development on apace.
The completion of the new Assembly Hall
was a significant achievement bringing to fruition a project for which
funds had been accumulating over the previous four and a half years. The
School had, out of its own resources, to find or raise £8,000 which the
government capped with a grant of £10,000. The opening of the Hall was
planned for the 1st October and a large "Fiesta" was also organised but
the Saturday turned out toi be an untypical October day, with low mist and
gentle rain. Nevertheless the mist rose and by 3 p.m. the "Fiesta" was in
full swing and a large crowd listened as the Minister of Education, the
Hon. B. D. Goldberg, formally opened the Hall, naming it the Gledhill
Hall. The Minister in his speech commented, "The name of this hall is a
particularly happy choice. Mr. A. D. Gledhill made a great contribution to
education in Rhodesia, first as a teacher at Prince Edward, then as an
Inspector of Schools, and for many years, as headmaster of this school."
(Umtali Post 3.10.1960)
The Hall in design is unusual and the
architects took full advantage of the site, a gentle slope above the main
school block. The main entrance leads into a stone-paved lobby, from where
a flight of wooden stairs gives entry to the Hall proper, a third of the
way into the Hall. Behind the staircase are tiers of seats, rising to a
projection room. Large windows running the full length on both sides make
the hall light and cool. Behind the large stage is a storeroom, two
dressing rooms and a kitchen.
At the same time as the Hall was
being completed, work was going ahead on the completion of a new block of
classrooms just to the east of the hall. The new rooms, four classrooms
and two laboratories, were built on to the small existing block of
classrooms and when occupied at the end of the year, assisted considerably
in easing the problem of over-crowded classrooms.
The next year
further vital additions were made with the start and completion of the
administration and library block. Since 1958 the Head and the Bursar, Miss
Maritz, had been utilising a pre-fabricated hut in which "it was barely
possible to swing a cane. Now the school boasted of the most up to date
facilities in offices, store-rooms, staff-rooms and most important of all,
a library. A large spacious room, it had shelving for 17,000 volumes, but
these naturally were not immediately available and an urgent appeal was
made for any suitable books that parents might have at home. By February,
1962, some two and a half thousand books had been donated including a
complete set of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Indicative of the generosity of
the "Umtali public was a gift of one hundred books from the personal
collection of Miss P. S. Steedman. Indeed she went to the trouble of
obtaining copies from second-hand book stalls in
England.
Commenting at the annual Prize Giving in October, 1961,
Mr. Fleming said that although they thought the school "a showpiece" much
still remained to be accomplished. "I can give the boys a firm guarantee
that for the next five years at least we will never have enough manual
labour gangs to do what has to be done. The snag is going to be to
determine priorities," (Umtali Post 30.10.61) and two priorities he
pointed to were a gymnasium and chapel.
The Chapel was the first to
be dealt with, largely because a great deal of work had already been done
on the project. It had been originally mooted in 1944. under Mr. B. B.
Hi11 and a start made to fund-raising. Unfortunately the separation of the
school had halted work on the project, but in 1962, in conjunction with
the Old Borderers' Association, an energetic drive for funds was made and
by the end of the year the Head was able to report an addition of £1,800
to the fund. A year later the School Council and Chapel Committee approved
the final plans for the building, while manual labour had already made
some progress on the chosen site - the small, but prominent kopje to the
north-east of the main school buildings. The plans called for, a
brick-built decagon with a slender copper spire rising from the centre of
a folded concrete roof. Directly behind the altar a clear glass window
gives a view of the Vumba Mountains. This would help to symbolise the
motto "Ex Montibus Robur." The foundation stone was laid by His Excellency
the Governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs on June 11th, 1964, and the foundations
dug in May the following year. The first service was held on November 11th
1965 with the Chapel still unfinished, but the finishing touches were made
and on Sunday, 26th June, 1966, the Archdeacon of Manicaland dedicated the
building and brought to fruition a dream of twenty years.
The
gymnasium was never started and a temporary area was cleared and levelled
to cater for physical education and basketball. This area, in between the
main School block and Crawford/Palmer, has however been selected as the
site for a large gymnasium and plans for fund-raising are now being drawn
up.
It would be wrong to say that all the building operations
interfered with academic work, for the sixties saw tremendous advances in
work covered and standards achieved. In the first place bursary and
scholarship lists, showed that the School maintained a standard of
learning equal to any school. In 1960 a Beit Scholarship was awarded to G.
E. Butterfield and a Government Bursary to J. W. Smith. In 1961 Noel
Sheppy was awarded the Vacuum Oil Scholarship while Harold Rees won a
Government Bursary. 1964 set a record with four scholarships won on the
results of the 1963 Higher School Certificate — Anthony Dryburgh and John
Coleman both won Anglo American engineering scholarships, while a
Government scholarship was awarded to John Tylse and Robert Oddy won the
Umtali Municipal Bursary. These successes were continued the next year
with Ivan Rudolph, Robert Guthrie and Peter Wentworth all winning
bursaries. The list of bursaries in 1967 included a £300 Government
Scholarship to Michael Tselentis while in 1968 saw the list of winners
extended to five boys - Michael Hilburn, Malcolm Greenway, David James,
Timothy Dufton and John Ford and Michael Burton who had been at U.B.H.S.
from 1957-1962 was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.
These results were
achieved during a period when the examination System was undergoing
considerable change. In 1960 the College of Preceptors' examination was
introduced as the public examination for the C and D streams, an
examination which the pupils tackled with considerable success, twenty out
of twenty-one passing in the first year of its introduction. But in his
report for the year it was not to the College of Preceptors' examination
that the Head referred, but to the introduction of the new academic
examination, the General Certificate of Education in 1963. Commenting to
parents at Prize Giving, 1963, Mr. Fleming said that "G.C.E. is a subject
examination and a boy can get a certificate by having passed one subject
only. We naturally expect boys to pass in all subjects for which they are
entered. " When the results came out in 1964 they were not good and there
was some debate in the press columns on the relative merits of the old
Cambridge School Certificate and the new General Certificate; as the
Regional Director of Education, Mr. M. E. Richardson said, there were
"teething troubles but we are committed to the G.C.E. for 1965. "The
acting Headmaster, Mr. J. B. Clarke speaking for the staff said that the
results were much as expected." I feel that the major difference between
the two examinations is that the G.C.E. demands a higher level of
scholarship to gain a distinction or top mark. "The teething troubles were
gradually ironed out, and the results improved with 62 % pass in 1966 and
75 % pass in 1967.
The post certificate examinations and classes
also came in for some criticism and in 1966 Mr. Fleming feared that ' A'
level courses may have to be dropped as numbers taking the course were
dwindling. In 1968 he commented on ' M' level saying that "it is now being
totally and utterly abused" and in fact plans are being drawn up presently
for the replacement of the examination.
As is common with most
schools in Rhodesia there was a fairly high turnover in staff, as many as
a third changing during a year. But the school was particularly sorry to
say good-bye to three long serving members of the staff. Mr. H. J. Theron
who had first come to the school in 1934, left some time after his
official retirement in December, 1967. It was with considerable sorrow
that the School recorded his death the following year. In 1968 Mr. J. B.
Clarke left to become Headmaster of Plumtree after distinguished service
while in the same year Mr. E. J. Mirams left to take up an appointment at
Ellis Robins after twenty-one years at the school.
The grounds were
further improved with the sinking of a bore-hole which provided the fields
with a regular supply of water. A new hockey field was completed on the
southern boundary while Dedymas, the school builder, did a great deal in
providing additional amenities such as changing rooms and seating
terraces. Two fields were renamed in 1968, the first being the Athletic
Track which was named the J. B. Clarke field after the former Deputy
Headmaster who had done so much to bring about the cinder track and the
excellent standard of athletics. The New Field was re-named the Wallace
Field after Mr. I. O. A. Wallace who had been appointed
caretaker-groundsman of Umtali High School in 1952 and who had been
primarily responsible for preparing the Tiger Kloof site for its
occupation in 1954.
The School was visited by many distinguished
people including the Governor General, Lord Dalhousie; the Governor, Sir
Humphrey Gibbs, Mr. Ayerst of the British Inspectorate, and the Officer
Administering the Government, Mr. Dupont. A most memorable day was
undoubtedly Speech Day of 1965 when the Prime Minister took time off from
political activities to address the School. Due to the political rift
between Britain and Rhodesia, the audience included a larger number of
radio, television and press reporters and the Hall was strewn with
microphone cables and television cameras. Although the reporters were
disappointed in their hopes of getting a "scoop," the School was delighted
to find itself the centre of attraction and within a few days letters were
coming from overseas relating the coverage of the Speech Day on
television.
But the appearance of the Prime Minister took on more
fundamental importance a few days later with the Declaration of
Independence on 11th November, 1965, and the consequent imposition of
economic sanctions by Britain. There were fears that extra-mural
activities would be curbed as a result of petrol rationing and tentative
suggestions of lift clubs and greater use of bicycles were made, while at
a Parents' Executive Committee meeting, Mr. Fleming was asked to go ahead
with the drawing up of a new timetable which would provide for pupils to
eat their lunch at school, do their prep under supervision and then
participate in afternoon extra-mural activities. When the school reopened
in the New Year, it was obvious that sanctions were affecting the school
as several items of clothing- including honours ties and straw-bashers
were unobtainable or in short supply. It was this shortage that led to the
institution of the "Swop Shop," which collects and then swops or sells
items of clothing. Under the guidance of Mrs. Betty Allen and assisted by
Mrs. Chadder, Mrs. Lark and Mrs. Glendenning, the scheme got off to a good
start and has now become a regular feature of school life. The political
situation also led indirectly to the adding of a further name to the Roll
of Honour when in March, 1967, Trooper Reginald Binks was killed whilst
engaged in anti-terrorist activities. Reginald entered the High School in
1964 and left at the end of 1967 after completing his College of
Preceptors' examination. Described by the Headmaster as "a very pleasant
hard-working boy, with a most responsible attitude" his name was added to
the Roll at Memorial Service on Friday, 8th November.
A list of
speakers at Speech Day Speech Day
1960 Hon. T. I. F. Wilson
1961
J. B. Ross
1962 J. A. C. Houlton
1963 J. D. Slaven
1964 M. E.
Richardson
1965 The Rt. Hon. I. D. Smith
1966 Professor R. H.
Christie
1967 His Excellency, the Officer Administering the Government
C. Dupont
1968 Major General R. R. J. Putterlll
and
Memorial Service is as follows:
1960 T. Stratton
1961 St.
J. W. S. Burton
1962 D. C. Knight
1963 K. M. Fleming
1964 Wing
Commander R. H Annan D.S.O.
1965 W. J. Chadder
1966 His Worship the
Mayor, Cllr. W. W. S. Smart
1967 Group Captain J. Deall
1968 Major
P. Johnson
In the sixties some tremendous achievements were made in
the world of sport, notably in athletics where Roy Coltman leaped 6' 1" in
1962 and Douglas Schorr heaved the shot 50' 9" in 1967. In the cricket
world, 1965 was a good year for Frank Richmond who became the first Umtali
boy to score over 600 runs in a year. Rugby reached a pinnacle when in
1966 the First XV beat the touring Selbourne College from East London
30-21, in a match described by many as "the finest game of schoolboy rugby
seen in the town." Mike Taylor became a well-known figure in the swimming
world after setting Rhodesian records for the back stroke while still at
school. New sports have been introduced and have prospered, particularly
squash after the completion of two squash courts in 1968.
In the
realm, of hobbies the tradition of a wide range of pursuits has been
maintained and added to by the establishment of a Wild Life Society and a
History Society in 1968 and they are already contributing to the broader
education of the pupils as they pass through the school.
With the
leasing of the Young Men's Club at the end of 1968, the School has
followed a tradition of having parts of the school scattered around the
town. The Club serves now as a junior hostel and has been named Soffe
House in honour of Mr. A. C. Scofe who as a member of the School's
Advisory Committee did so much towards obtaining the land at Tiger
Kloof.
One feature that disappeared from the school scene was the
Cadet movement which was disbanded throughout the) country in August,
1968, primarily for financial reasons. As an institution of considerable
value in developing discipline and individual initiative and competence
there was much regret expressed at its passing.
And so, as the
sixties came to an end and the Schools celebrate their diamond Jubilee, it
can be said with considerable justification that the story of their
development is a story of constant progress, of material and mental
growth, of hardships and joys, of a continuous stream of members of staff
and pupils who have all in their own way contributed to make the Schools
fine examples of education.
END OF CHAPTER 9
Click
Here to Stop Receiving News about Umtali
Folk. |
