The
following extract appeared in the “
G.C.E. STANDARD NOT LOWER IN SECONDAY SCHOOLS
“It is rumoured that the standard of our General
Certificate of Education examination is not the same as the examinations taken
by Grammar Schools, but this is entirely unfounded,” said Mr. F.W. Goodger
(headmaster) at the 22nd annual speech day of
Mr. Goodger said that although the number of pupils
taking the G.C.E. had doubled, the passes had increased accordingly. Boys had passed up to five and six ‘O’ level
subjects, and some had passed two ‘A’ levels.
“In
the last five years the number of pupils in the school had increased by about
200. Five years ago only five boys
stayed on until the ages of 16 or 17, but now this figure totals 70. Nearly one-third of the school will stay on
beyond school leaving ago soon”, said Mr. Goodger, “and surely this is the best
way of raising the school leaving age”.
Mr.
Goodger added that his longer schooling was entirely due to the establishment
of extended courses. “In 1955 we
established our own engineering course, so we can offer three distinct
additions to the school’s normal courses”.
He
paid tribute to the work of his staff.
“They realised that what is needed is a great capacity for hard work,
and recognise that children need people who are really interested in them and
care for them”.
Speaking
about the social and sporting activities of the school, Mr. Goodger said,
“There are in the school 17 operative out-of-school clubs, promoted and managed
by the staff. Of these, the School Society,
which was formed 18 months ago, has proved its worth by assisting many of the
aged and infirm.”
The
school choir had won such comments from the adjudicators at this year’s Woking
Schools Music Festival as, “The choir can achieve much because they have a
complete understanding of music”.
The
school gardening club had decided to make a pond in the grounds. The Boating Club was flourishing.
The
football and cricket teams had won every one of their matches, and the girls’
netball teams won both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ cups in the inter-schools league”. In the
Before
distributing the prizes and awards, Mr. J.C. Thompson (chairman Surrey
Education Committee) said that the school had attained a name itself as
bi-lateral, “And I myself am immensely impressed by the number of ‘O’ level and
‘A’ level passes in the G.C.E. This is a
very happy omen for us in our new
So
that pupils should maintain their high standard, Mr. Thompson mentioned four
attributes which every pupil should maintain.
They were happiness, friendliness, good manners and hard work.
Before
the speech day a morning service conducted by the Rev. A.J. Costin (Vicar,