100
little snatches of verse very pleasant to listen to. This lighter part of the forenoon's pro- gramme having been concluded, Mr. PIERCY read the annual report on the working of the school, which was as follows:--
Mrs. Piercy and I returned to the Colony on December 14 after an enjoyable holiday in the homeland, and found that the many varied duties of Headmaster had been most admirably carried on during our absence by Mr. Sykes, who was ably assisted by Messrs. Whittock, Bran and Snuggs, and Mrs. Arnold, whilst Mrs. Suuggs had had charge of the household arrangements. Mr. and Mrs. Snuggs left for America on the day of our arrival. Mr. Whit- tock has on two occasions got up cono rts for the school, which were greatly appreciated. Mr. Brawn arrived in March from the Birming ham School Board, and, in addition to careful work in school hours, has taken great interest in the playground and very much improved our cricket and football club, so that our team has been unusually successful in play against other schools. For nearly four years, Mrs. Arnold has worked well and successfully and exercised a salutary influence over the boys; we trust that her contemplated short trip to Australia will be pleasant and completely restore her health, impaired by several years residence in Hong, kong. Owing to the absence of our Band instructor, who was serving with the Hongkong Regiment in North China, we were unable to keep on our Drum and Fife Band, originated a dozon years ago by a former assistant master, Mr. William Machell, whose early death in England last year was greatly deplored. Arrangements have been made to resume the Band practices after the holidays. The health of the school has been remarkably good. This is attributable to the strict atten.
tion paid to cleanliness, the physical training by our Drill Instructor from the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and the regular swimming and sea-bathing during the summer months. Our thanks are due to the Govern
new
ment Medical Staff and Mr. Chadwick Kow, denlist, for professional services. In July, 19 boys entered for the Oxford University Local Examinations; 15 passed, viz.-2 Seniors, 4 Juniors, and 9 in the Preliminary. Our per- centage was 79, which was considerably higher than that for the whole Colony. As the average age of the pupils in this School is much below that of the other large schools, this result is the more gratifying. Under Mr. Brawn's careful tuition, 3 boys successfully passed Pitman's Shorthand Examination for Theory Certificates, The average attendance has fallen off a little, being 146 against 154 in 1900. This was entirely amongst the day scholars, and was caused by the plague and the opening of a large free school for Chinese in the neighbourhood. The number of European boys is increas- ing. Mr. Irving, the Inspector of Schools, conducted the annual examination in the City Hall on December 3rd and 4th, and the vica voce part was held here on December 14th and 18th, the results, just made known, being as follows: 112 boys (who had made the 100 attendances required by Government), were examined; 100 passed or 89.2 per cent. In English, History, Elementary Science, Men- suration, Geometrical Drawing and Copy Writing 100 per cent. passed, in Geography 95, Reading 94, Grammar and Dictation 93, Composition 90, Arithmetic 87, Physical Geography 76, Algebra 70, Euclid 64%. The Per. F. T. Johnson has attended during the year to give religious instruction to the older boys, and the Rev. T Wright examined the whole school in Scripture. His report is appended. The following gentlemen have again kindly presented prizes:-The Bishop of Victoria, Hon. W. M: Goodman, K.C., Hon. Wei Yuk, Sir T. Jackson, Messrs. Fung Wa Chun, Choy Leep-chi, Choy Po-nin, A. Mackie, A. J. Mackie, D. Nowrojee, and Sin Tak-fan.
The report was greeted repeatedly with applause, as was also the following report by Rev. T. Wright :-I have had the pleasure of conducting the Scripture Examination this year, and have been agreeably surprised at the standard of excellence which the school has attained in Scriptural knowledge. The five upper forms were examined by means of printed questions, the two lower viva voce. In all. I examined 112 boys, and of these 100 passed the examination with credit to themselves and to
¡
I
|
|
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
their masters.
[February 10, 1902.
The latter have succeeded in | (Applause.) As Mr. Piercy has just said, he imparting an intimate and, on the whole, lately come back from a long furlough, and it accurate knowledge of the prescribed subject is only fair, as he himself most modestly and a task of no little difficulty when it is considered most properly said, to give full credit in that English is a foreign tongue to a large the successful working of this institution to Mr. proportion of the lads. The margin between Sykes. (Applanre.) I congratulate all the masters the first and second boys in eich form was very under Mr. Piercy. I think that all of them must narrow. The answers were, with rare excep- have shown an enormous amount of seal an i tions, thoughtful, even when not ab olutely energy to have brought things to the sta'e in which I see them, and which the mere fact of oorrect. The teachers cannot be too careful iù seeing that the repetition (especially in the these prizes having been won goes to prove. I accurate in congratulate you ys also with all my hart, Catechism) is intelligent and
The two upper forms might not only those who have won prizes and to expression.
whom I have had the ple^sure of handing them, advantageously have their syllabus extended a little. I consider that the answering generally but a'so those who have not won prizes and who was much superior to what would have been received from a similar school at Home.
The distribution of the prizes by H. E. Each Major-General Gascoigne followed. recipient was heartily cheered by his fellow few congratulatory pupils, and received
from His Excellency. The prize winners are:-
words
a
FORM PRIZES.
Form VII (1) F. Drnde, (2) Fan Kam. Form VI (1) P. B. Hastings. (2) W. Blumen- berg. Form V. (1) Tam Hok-kwai (2) U Wai- tak. Form IV (1) Cheong Chi, (2) F. Law. Form III (1) Ng Wai, (2) Sz Chung-ying, Form 11 (1) E. Alvarez, (2) R. J. Hastings. Form I (1) G. Evans, (2) F. Summers,
SCRIPTURE.
Form VII (1) Fan Kam, (2) Fau Kau. Form VI (1) W. Blumenberg. (2) A. Melbye. Form V (1) L. Arnold (2) L. le Breton, Form IV (1) E. Law, (2) J. Glaiserman. Form III (1) Ng Wai, (2) J. Crolius. Form II (1) P. Bandet, (2) L. Alvarez. Form I (1) Sun A-siu, (2) Ho Kai-fav.
SPECIAL PRIZES.
Form VII-Mathematics. Chey Ying-man. Form VI. Euclid. A. Melbye. Physical Geography. P. E. Hastings,
Form V-Mathematics. U Wai-tak. Physical Geography. L. le Breton.
Form IV-Algebra. Cheong Chi, Map Drawing, Fung Hing-yuk. Drawing, A. Mac- kenzie. Music, J. C. Palmer.
OXFORD LOCAL EXAMINATION CERTIFICATES.
Senior.-F. Drude, Fan Kam. Junior.-E. A. Ablong, Chey. Ying-man, C. W. Olson, H. H. Strangman.
Preliminary.-W. Blumenberg, Cheong U yan, P. F. Hastings, E. ong, A. Mackenzie, A. Melbyo, F. W. Moore, G. Thomas, Wong
Shiu-kwong.
alities such as this. It cannot fail for one
it.
hope will endeavour to win them on a future occasion. I hope you will lock upon them not only as prizes in this school, but as prizes towards that bigger school which in after 1.fe we have all got to go into fom school. (Applause.) There is one point that has struck me very much indeed Last night, when I received Mr. Piercy's report, I was studying it. Now, you know I am a soldier by profession, and I have been a soldier all my life, and my experience of soldiers-and I say the same equally about sailors-is that they are always taught to know that that the first things they duty" and "religion." I have to learn are " read with an immense amount of pleasure last night that this Diocesan School not only con- veys its secular teaching, but mixes it with religion. Well, I may say that that was the strongest inducement in bringing mo here. When I read that last night I was astonished; Christian and religions training is an enormous thing to inculcate in a school of mixed nation- thing, to bring us all more together, and as duty and religion invariably go hand in hand,
must unquestionably be the first and most important factor in the well-being of the institution. (Applause.) I say to you Chinese boys too that I have learnt another thing and that is: observed that in 1900, when the Lord Bishop himself was performing the function I have had the pleasure of doing to-day, distributing the prizes, he said he had been immensely struck with the fact of the amount of interest and energy that the Chinese boys evinced in acquir- ing the English language. Well, from what I can learn from the report, that interest and that keenness have rather increased than dim- inished, and I wish to congratulate you Chinese boys on that fact. I congratulate ourselves also, because I am perfectly certain of this— that the more the study of the English language PITMAN'S SHORTHAND THEORY CERTIFICATE.
F. Drude, Fan Kam, and Fan Kan. -
can be accepted by the Chinese, and the more Major-General GASCOIGNE then addressed they can work it up, the mors they will learn He said, My Lord Bishop, thoroughly that our English institutions, our the school. ladies and gentlemen, and scholars of the English laws, onr English ways of taking can assure you it affairs in life, are all governed by and start Diocesan School, I
a very great pleasure to from the one word, “Justice." Therefore, the has been that I should be asked to come here and present more they can thoroughly learn the language the prizes to you. Of course, I know that Sir and recognise that we are brothers together and Henry Blake took an immense interest in this here where the flag of England floats, school, and I regret for your sakes that be the better it will be both for them should have been unable to come here instead for us. (Applause.) Well now, boys, I have of me.
But your loss is my gain, because I am made my little speech and told you about able in this way to come here and see a little of the first teachings of a soldier, and now I am the social institutions of Hongkong, and I may going to speak to you more as a friend to friends. say I am very glad indeed of the opportunity to I have been very glad indeed to see another see something of these institutions, because I thing here, which was brought to my notice in take an immenso interest in-I might say I giving the prizes away, and that is that sports have an immense love for-Hongkong, where I and games are not forgotten in this institution. bare spent now three exceedingly happy years. There is nothing, believe me, that makes a man a better man, physically and morally, than to Therefore I welcomed with great pleasure the invitation to come here and learn something devote a certain portion of his time to field which otherwise, as the General Officer Comman-sports, and so I am glad to see that part of ding the Troops, I should not have been able to learn of the civil institutions in the Colony. Well, from what I have seen and from what I have heard and from what I have read of this school, I certainly do not hesitate to say that it gives me immense pleasure to have come here amongst you and see the good work being done here; I do not hesitate to say it is a mat- ter of great astonishment and great surprise to me to see the excellent work that is being carried out and that has been carried out in this Diocesan School. (Applause.) I can only say that to my mind it reflects the highest credit on Mr. Piercy, and as I understand that Mrs. l'iercy--I have been told so-takes an immense personal interest in the comfort and welfare of the boys, I congratulat Mrs. Piercy also on the success that has attended her kind efforts.
me
|
your instruction is nut forgetten in this institution. Well now, it is the first time 1 have had the opportunity of giving the prizes away, and as I say, it has been a very great Now, as it is the first pleasure to me. time you have seen me here, and as possibly it will be the last-although I shall endeavour to come again, even in a minor capacity, in order to watch you-I should like to ask for a favour. I may be encroaching on dangerous ground, and if so the Lord Bishop and Mr. Piercy must overlook the matter and refuse my request. Now, boys, you are going away on your holidays, and I shall venture to ask for a small extension of them-just two or three days extra, and if my request is granted you may have pleasure in the enjoyment of your holidays in reflecting that the extra two or
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.