THE PETERITE OCTOBER, 5945
Vol. XXXVII
No. 310
EDITORIAL. We feel called upon to preface this number of " The Peterite " with an apology for its late appearance. The delay is unfortunate, but unavoidable; if this issue is to fulfil its purpose adequately and contain within its pages a complete record of events to the close of the School Year. It will be readily understood that in the long summer holiday much must inevitably occur which relates to the preceding term (the publication of the Higher and School Certificate results is an obvious instance), and that there must be a consequent delay in the final preparation of copy for the printers. And if it is appreciated that the printers, too, have their difficulties and cannot work at their pre-war speed, perhaps allowance will be made for a tardiness which we regret but cannot avoid. The end of hostilities has not, of course, had any very marked repercussions on our school life, and we must expect that the transition to peace-time conditions will be slow and gradual. But the decision to revert to the Summer Commemoration in 1946 will be welcomed by all as foreshadowing a return to more " normal" life. During the war we have held successful Speech Days early in November, but it has always been intended to restore the Summer Commemoration as soon as circumstances made it possible. Accordingly the arrangements made for Speech Day this term have been cancelled, and instead a function of the pre-war kind will be held next July. The Commemoration festivities, which will take up- three days at the end of the summer term, will include the Commemoration Service, Speech Day, and the Old Peterite Re-union. It is confidently hoped that a very large number of Old Peterites will be able to re-visit the School on this occasion, and our plans include Old Peterite v. School Cricket, Boating, and other fixtures, the annual Dinner, and a business meeting. Full particulars will be circulated in due course, and will be the subject of a special announcement in our next number. We are glad to learn that discussions about the School War Memorial have already been initiated, and we would draw attention to the note which follows this editorial. The form which it is proposed the Memorial shall take seems byth practical and appropriate. The many Old Peterites who have given their lives can hardly be remembered more fittingly than by a spacious and dignified dining-hall in which the School will assemble daily. The decision to relinquish the Direct Grant has been heartily approved on all sides, and we set our feet on the way of independence with a confidence firmly based on assurances of support and on steadily increasing numbers. The combined total of St. Olave's and the Senior School amounts to more than 400—easily a record in the history of the Schoolj—and there is every prospect that in the immediate future only accommodation difficulties need impose any check to our numerical growth. The acquisition of St. Catherine's as a Headmaster's house has helped this term, and Albany House, under the aegis of Mr. and Mrs. 'Calder, now provides excellent house-room for the increased number of boarders in the Junior School. An increase in the Junior School boarding accommodation has long been desirable, and this arrangement does some little to redress the balance between day-boys and boarders in the lower school. Only the large-scale building projected by the Governing Body can properly solve our difficulties, but the realisation of these plans is at the moment beyond our own control and meanwhile one cannot but admire the ingenious improvisation with which our immediate and pressing needs are met. ;
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