Stevenston High School : Headmaster's farewell report 1971

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Stevenston High School : Headmaster's farewell report 1971

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Here is the rector's report at Stevenston High School closing ceremony in June 1971, the very end of that school; in which he looks forward to the coming move to Auchenharvie Academy.

AN END AND A BEGINNING FOR STEVENSTON HIGH

" From today Stevenston High School will move into the pages of the history books and it will be left to others to assess the great value of the contribution this fine old school has made to generations of pupils in our community . "

This was said by the headmaster of Stevenston High School, Mr Charles Wilson, at the closing ceremony on Wednesday as he spoke of the impending move to the new Auchenharvie Academy, which he described as " what must be the biggest flitting ever to take place in Stevenston. "

Mr Wilson described the new crest, motto and uniform adopted for the school, and spoke of new courses introduced. He continued :

" It must never be forgotten that Auchenharvie is going to serve Saltcoats as well as Stevenston - and indeed a close look at the new crest gives proof of that - and in this connection we are delighted at the successful integration of Saltcoats and Stevenston pupils which has taken place in our first year.

" If this experience is anything to go by , then the school is going to give a lead to the two adult communities, and we were very grateful in the month of April when Treasurer Clements of Stevenston Town Council and Treasurer Lambie of Saltcoats Town Council visited the school to help the 1st year classes in an English Department project on Our Town.

" Mention must be made of one other development in the session just ending - the new house system. Thanks to the enthusiastic and devoted work of the new housemasters, aided and abetted by the staff in a variety of ways, the new system got off the ground, and has achieved the immediate objective I set for it when we began last August - to have the rough edges smoothed out before we moved to Auchenharvie. The new house names - Mayfield, Parkend, Glencairn , Ashgrove - were further evidence of a happy blending of the two communities of Saltcoats and Stevenston, and whatever the future holds for the house system as it develops new forms of guidance, personal, vocational and educational, the session just ending has got us off to a good start. "

Speaking of changes in the staff, Mr Wilson said : " I must point out that with all the appointments to the new school - and we now have a staff of 50 - the position in mathematics is critical, as it is in commerce, while history, French, physics, music and art are still not up to strength.

" In spite of the confidence in raising the school leaving age in 1973, we heave a sigh of relief that we are still two years away from that, and the national picture of staff numbers will have to improve radically before we can hope to handle the extra pupils. For these two years we can no longer hope to use students or adults waiting to take their teacher training, as we have done in recent years.

Insistence on GTC registration for all teachers in secondary schools is an important and necessary step forward, but don't let's imagine for a moment that the staffing position will be eased. It seems to me that the only answer is for the area to produce enough teachers to satisfy the schools in the area, and I would appeal to parents and to our senior pupils to consider very seriously the possibility of teaching as a career.

" Stevenston has over the years produced more than its fair share of pupils of academic excellence, pupils who have succeeded in reaching out and realising their potential, and we disregard academic excellence at our peril. Too many of our pupils fail to reach high academic standards, and one detects a curious lack of ambition among some. For this parents must accept some responsibility and too many parents in our community are doing their children a disservice by not insisting on closer and more assiduous attention to study. There is no substitute for hard work and everyone learns that lesson sooner or later. My earnest plea to those who have the ability is to make the most of it by acquiring the habit of earnest study and the self discipline which is the only real discipline. No one pretends that this is easy, but without these personal qualities, talents will be stifled and opportunities missed . "

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 2nd July 1971


Susan
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