Tal Handaq Magazine 1964

The following ladies have been members of the staff for periods of varying length in the school year 1963-1964.

To Mesdames Barraclough, Prater, Allen and Taft we are especially indebted, for having come, often at short notice, to our assistance.

I should like to thank all who have played some part in producing this magazine. The children who have submitted contributions whether they have been included or not, and the staff who have worked so hard in sifting the entries and preparing items for publication. I am indeed fortunate to have such an efficient and enthusiastic Magazine Committee, and I am most grateful to them for having taken the load and worry of producing the magazine entirely from my shoulders. I hope that all who read it will derive much pleasure from it.

My first year at the school is now rapidly coming to its close. It has been a challenging and satisfying experience, if at times somewhat exhausting! During the year I have had many occasions to feel grateful to my predecessor Instructor Captain D.E. Mannering, for having established such a well organised and smoothly running machine, and to my staff for their loyal and enthusiastic support. When I look back, the changes and material improvements which have taken place in that short time are quite impressive, as will be apparent to all who read the account of Speech Day in this magazine: and when I look forward, changes and improvements next year are likely to be just as great. Amongst other things, our new bus park should be ready for use by the end of this term, and during the Summer holidays work is scheduled to begin on converting present classrooms into a new science laboratory and on improving our library. These will all be valuable additions to the school facilities.

On the academic side a start will be made to replace the examinations of the Royal Society of Arts by those of the new-Certificate of Secondary Education. A full range of C.S.E. subjects will not be available in 1965, but we hope to extend the range appreciably in 1966.

Early this year we regretfully said good bye to two very good friends of the school: Admiral Sir Deric Holland-Martin, and Captain R.A. Begg. I should like to take this opportunity of thanking them both for the keen personal interest they showed in Tal-Handaq and for all the help they gave us. We look forward to having their successors Admiral Sir John Graham Hamilton and Captain J.D. Trythall as frequent visitors to the school.

The effect of the Services run-down in Malta has been felt in the school this year. There has been a reduction of about fifty in school numbers compared with a year ago and the trend is likely to continue. It is clear, therefore, that if the past quality of the magazine is to be maintained, and I consider this to be most desirable, production costs will have to be increasingly subsidised from the School Fund unless the price is raised. Raising the price would inevitably have an adverse effect on sales, and this coupled with a falling school population would make the production of the magazine a serious financial risk. I therefore decided at the start of this year, to increase the termly contribution to the School Fund to ensure that the magazine could be produced without financial embarrassment, and to lower the selling price to stimulate sales. The magazine is indeed a very good buy at its present price of 1s. 6d, and it is souvenir well worth keeping. I hope that all children will purchase a copy.

Prize Day at Tal Handaq was held on Monday, 18th November, 1963. The Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, Admiral Sir Deric Holland - Martin, K.C.B., D.S.O., D.S.C*., presided and the prizes were presented by the United Kingdom Commissioner, Sir Edward Wakefield, Bart., C.I.E. who entertained and amused all present with a very witty speech.

After the presentation of prizes a vote of thanks to Sir Edward Wakefield was proposed by the Head Boy, Brendan Breslin, and a bouquet was presented to Lady Wakefield by the Head Girl, Allison Bigden.

I should like to second all that Admiral Holland-Martin has said in welcoming our guests. It is good to see you here. I am only sorry that we are unable to accommodate more parents and children on these occasions. We have made a little more room for children this year by having the staff on the stage, but we would need a hall double this size to accommodate everybody. And may I add a word of welcome to the Commander-in-Chief himself, who is presiding here today for the first time in his capacity as our administrative authority. He and Lady Holland-Martin have always taken a great interest in our school and it is good to know that their association with this school is now even closer. Until last July, the Flag Officer Malta — Rear Admiral Viscount Kelburn — was responsible for schools and I should like to thank him, in his absence, for all that he did for Tal Handak. During his tour of office the school was converted from a rather untidy collection of buildings into a place of some beauty and dignity and we who work in the school today are reaping the benefit. I should also like to pay a brief tribute to my predecessor — Instructor Captain Mannering — who left the school in August after serving here for nearly four and a half years. It was a long and arduous commission for him but it was a very successful one, as will be evident from my report.

How it is seldom very satisfactory to have to report on work that somebody else has done, but I am fortunate in that prior to coming here I served with the Director of Naval Education Service in the Admiralty for nearly 3 years where my main task was looking after the requirements of the Royal Naval Schools overseas. I can therefore speak with some authority about what was being done at Tal-Handaq, and if I speak in rather glowing terms I cannot be accused of blowing my own trumpet. Last year was undoubtedly one of the best year_s — if not the best — the school has ever had and all who worked here, both staff and children, are to be congratulated on the high standard achieved. The Headmaster and his staff must take the main credit for this, but the Prefects and senior pupils played an important part.

The Malta run-down did not affect the school as much as had been predicted, and for most of the year there were only about 50 less children than a year before; the number of those over 15 years of age, on the other hand, reached the record figure of 300, and the Sixth Form was larger than at any other time in the school's history. The rundown, however, did start to be felt towards the end of the Summer Term.

Two major changes were introduced into the curriculum last year a new scheme for the fourth year children, and a new class structure which avoids the use of the terms "Grammar" and "Modern". The children who started the scheme will be taking their G.C.E. at '0' level next summer, and it will be very interesting to see how they get on.

The re-organisation of the school on comprehensive lines involved adjusting the syllabuses and timetable to enable children to move between the old modern and grammar streams without undue dislocation to their studies. The ultimate aim is that all children should be able to progress as far and as fast as possible in individual subjects rather than be obliged to study them all at the same level and speed. This, of course, involves a considerable administrative problem and could not be achieved in one year. This year we have continued the process further and I hope that by the time I make my next report all children from the fourth form upwards will be following courses tailored to fit their needs.

The G.C.E. 'A' level results last year were first class and easily the best the school has ever had; there are five grades of pass — A to E -- in the 'A' level papers, and three grades — I to 3 — in the Special papers. In all 34 candidates offered 73 subjects and achieved 53 passes. In English 8 out of 9 candidates were successful and 7 of them with A or B grade passes. The results in other subjects were less spectacular but still good, and I must mention the performance of certain pupils. Peter Gettings, who offered 4 subjects and obtained an A grade pass in each; he also obtained a first class pass in the special Physics paper; Rosemary Dearden offered three subjects and passed in all of them, gaining "A's" in two and a first-class pass in the Special English paper. Angela Salter passed in four subjects and Mary Convery obtained an 'A' grade pass in Art after only one year's study. All very good performances.

The '0' level results were also very satisfactory, although not quite so good in the science subjects as during the previous year. The results suggested that one or two of the children who had been allowed to sit, were not quite ready. There were, however, some excellent individual results. Altogether 136 candidates sat for the examination and obtained 329 subject passes, with 21 pupils obtaining five or more. The R.S.A. results were very good, with a greater number of papers offered and a greater number of passes per candidate than in the previous year. 17 pupils obtained a total of 75 passes and 7 pupils passed in 5 subjects or more. 5 School Certificates were awarded.

And now I must mention some of the other activities which have helped to make this school year memorable. Those of you who have acquired a copy of the magazine will have learnt a great deal about them already and time will allow me to touch on only a few of them here. The magazine itself has, gone from strength strength in recent years and I think it is true to say that last year's edition has never been bettered in this school.

The school continued with its Gilbert & Sullivan tradition by producing "lolanthe" last December. This, according to the critics, was an excellent production and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The only other production last year consisted of a series of five short items produced at the start of the summer term under the title of "Spring Fever". The Literary and Debating Society was very active and held a number of interesting debates, verse speaking and speech-making competitions, brains trusts and play readings. The most successful effort was a mock trial of Mrs. Pankhurst, the Suffragette. Some of the facts of history were distorted a little, I believe, but the net result was very amusing. A school concert was held in June as in previous years and reached the usual high standard.

Our Guide Pack had another successful year, but I am sorry to report that our troop of Sea Scouts had to be disbanded when their Scout Master, Mr. Knight, left the school. Mr. Knight had resurrected the troop when he joined the school in 1951, and during the twelve years of his leadership it won every competition open to it in Malta. Mr. Knight served longer in this school than any teacher before him, with the exception of Miss Yule, and gave sterling service throughout that long period. It was perhaps appropriate that his troop should cease to exist-- if only temporarily — when he left. To compensate, for the decease of the Sea Scouts a Science Society was born during the year and had some very successful meetings. It managed to attract a few of the Arts Sixth to some of its gatherings and I hope to see more Arts students attending this year.

The school usually sends one or more parties of children to Sicily or Italy every year, but last year a new experiment was tried. In February 102 children and 8 party leaders sailed in the Cruise Ship "Dunera" to Genoa, Cittavecchia for Rome, and Naples. The trip was a great success and made a tremendous impression on the children.

The school had a good year of sport: soccer, hockey, rugby, netball, tennis, badminton, and rounders were all played, and in some, the standard attained showed improvement. The low point of the winter season came when the staff held the soccer first eleven to a draw, and the high point when the first fifteen beat the Overseas Rugby Football Club. At tennis, Jane Carver won the Malta Juniors Singles Championship and our Junior boys maintained their prestige as cross-country runners by retaining the Malta Secondary Schools Junior championship. In the Inter-Schools Athletics we won the Senior Shield Aggregate Cup and were second in the Junior Shield. Trampolining has been introduced and a display was given on Open Day. Twelve boys and girls demonstrated what a pleasing sport this is. We have had an outstanding cricket season; our final record: 27 matches played, 16 won, 5 drawn, 1 tied and 5 lost was most satisfactory. Life Saving has been a popular activity, with girls in all age groups taking part. Anne Sinclair, Lorna Tierney and Pat O'Brien gained the Distinction Award -- which is the next to the highest --of the Royal Life Saving Society: a fine achievement. Sailing has been increasingly popular with the Fifth and Sixth year boys and girls and by the summer term an average of 40 were taking part every week. Thanks must be expressed to the Boats Officers of H.M.S. St. Angelo and Ausonia for the use of their boats, and to the Fleet Recreation Officer for the allocation of Swordfish dinghies. The highlight of the sailing year was an expedition during the Easter holidays when two whalers, crewed by the boys, sailed round Malta — only rough weather prevented them sailing round Gozo as well!

The problem of how to provide suitable courses for those children who would have left school had they remained in the United Kingdom, was the subject of a course held at this school last March and run by a number of Her Majesty's Inspectors from the Ministry of Education. It was run mainly for the benefit of the teachers, but I attended from London and we were very pleased to have with us a number of representatives from the Malta Education Department, including the Director himself. The course was a great success, and has given me as well as the school staff, quite a few ideas for the future.

The school's careers service was developed during the year, and all children can now obtain up-to-date information about the various careers open to them and the necessary qualifications. A Youth Employment Officer from the Ministry of Labour visited the school in October to give the children amongst other things, first hand information about the employment prospect: in different parts of the United Kingdom.

Now what of our old pupils? Many of the children who left school last year have done very well. In the past the school has often had one, or possibly two, who have obtained University places, but this time there were no less than nine, and one of them - - Anthony Ashforth - - also gained a County Major Award. Many schools at home would be very pleased to get so many of their children into the Universities. Other old pupils have gone into the Services; others have entered Teachers Training Colleges and some have gone into Nursing. Unfortunately we do not have an old pupils association, so do not hear what happens to the majority of our children after they have left Malta.

Now I would like to mention some of the improvements which have been made to the school grounds and buildings during the past year. You will have noticed as you came into the school that a considerable amount of work has been done on the school grounds; many tons of stone and concrete have gone into providing better pathways and laid out gardens, and many trees and shrubs have been planted. It has not been easy to keep the grounds in order without a gardener, but Mr. Plant — our Caretaker — and his staff, have done wonders in keeping the gardens tidy. The tennis courts have been enlarged and improved and a large area to the left of the drive as one come into the school has been levelled with a view to its use as a bus park later. A large number of the buildings have been Snowcemmed or painted and a large number of the classrooms have been re-decorated. The children's toilets have been tiled and re-fitted, and the staff now have a large new annexe to their staffrooms, which those of you who stay to tea after those proceedings will see. But the improvement which I think has had the greatest impact on the school has been the installation of the Hammond Organ at the rear of this Hall. The work was completed a few days after the start of term and most of you will have heard the organ for the first time today. It has made a tremendous difference to the morning assemblies already and I am sure it will play an over-increasing part in the school life as time goes on.

I should like to thank the Commander-in-Chief for allocating the money from his Block Grant, which enabled these improvements to be made, and the Manager of Navy Works and his staff for carrying them out so effectively.

Now what about the future? Although the school has done so well in the academic and sporting fields there are many facilities which it still needs badly; and will continue to need after the rundown, if it is to go on developing as it has done in the past and keep in step with schools in the United Kingdom.

More laboratory space is needed to develop the science teaching, and more library books and a better library are required. Better heating arrangements are needed for the winter months and the school badly needs some playing fields of its own. We are grateful for the playing fields which the Services and the Marsa Club make available to us, but the children now waste half their games periods in travelling, and seldom get a shower after a game. Such arrangements are unsatisfactory if they are to be permanent. Many battles will have to be fought on paper before these and other necessary improvements are obtained, but it I can win most of them during my time here I shall not feel dissatisfied.

In conclusion may I say a word about my staff: teaching, office and industrial. No new Headmaster could inherit a more co-operative or willing team and I feel confident that with their assistance my report next year will be as satisfactory as this.

ROSEMARY ANDREWS — English Literature, History. MICHAEL ARMISTEAD - - Physics (with Distinction at 'S' Level), Applied Mathematics (with Merit at 'S' Level). ANTHONY ASHFORTH — Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics. TERENCE BROWN — English Literature. GERALDINE BUCKERIDGE — Art. MARY CONVERY — Art. ROSEMARY DEARDEN - - English Literature (with Distinction at 'S' Level),French, Geography (with Merit at 'S' Level). BRIAN FULLER — Physics. PETER GETTINGS -- Physics (with Distinction at 'S' Level), Chemistry,Applied Mathematics, Higher Mathematics. PAULA GOODALE — English Literature, History. PHYLLIS HANNON — Art. IAN HEATH — Pure Mathematics. PAMELA HINTON — Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics. NICHOLAS INSTONE _ Art. DENISE KYLE — English Literature, History. CHRISTPHER O'BRIEN — Pure Mathematics. LESLEY POWELL — Art.ANGELA SALTER — English Literature, French, Italian, History. PATRICIA SATCHELL — Pure Mathematics. RUTH WAGHORN — History, Religious Knowledge. MAVIS WHITTLE — French, Italian, Latin. ANDREW WILKIN — French, Italian, Latin.BARBARA WILLIAMS — English Literature, History, Religious Knowledge. PATRICIA WOODWARD — English Literature, History.

CAROLINE ALEXANDER — English Language, English Literature, Religious Knowledge. MICHAEL ARMISTEAD — English Literature. JOHN ATHERTON — English Language, Mathematics. GRAHAM ATKINS — English Literature, History (Foreign), Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. DAVID BAKER — English Language, Woodwork, Engineering Drawing. LINDA BARNES — Art.LYNDA BEAUGEARD — English Language, Art. WENDY BOYLE — English Language, Art. ANGELA BRADBURY — English Literature. MARGARET BRADSHAW — French. RAYNER BRAMMALL — English Language, Mathematics. RICHARD BROWNE — English Language. JENNIFER BROWNING — English Literature. GERALDINE BUCKERIDGE — English Literature. JOHN CACKETT — Art. JENNIFER CAIRNS — Religious Knowledge, Cookery, Human Biology and Hygiene. JANE CARVER — Human Biology and Hygiene. MALCOLM CHESNEY - - English Literature, Religious Knowledge, Human Biology and Hygiene. SANDRA CHRISTIE — English Language, Mathematics. PHILIP COE — English Language, Mathematics. SUSAN CRONIN — Art, Human Biology and Hygiene. WENDY CRUICKSHANK — English Language, Mathematics. SANDRA CURRIE — English Language. CLIFFORD DARLINGTON — English Language. DEREK DAVIES — English Language. CHRISTINE DICKSON - - English Language, French, Religious Knowledge, Cookery. WILLIAM DUNCAN -- English Literature, History (British). CHRISTOPHER DUNN - - English Language, English Literature, History(Foreign), Geography, Religious Knowledge, Art, Mathematics, Physics. WILLIAM ENGLISH — Religious Knowledge, Geography. ROSALIND EVANS — English Language. TERENCE FELTHAM _ English Language. SHEILA FITZPATRICK — English Language, English Literature, French, Art. WILLIAM FORBES-HUNTER — English Language. SUSAN FRASER — English Literature, Religious Knowledge, Biology. GEORGE GENTLE — Mathematics. ALAN GIBSON - - English Language, English Literature, French, Religious Knowledge, Art. WENDY GREEN — Mathematics. SUSAN HAMMOND — English Language. PHYLLIS HANNAN — Mathematics. MARY HARRIS — English Language, English Literature, History (Soc./Econ.),Religious Knowledge, Biology, Human Biology and Hygiene. CAROL HEBBLEWHITE — English Language, French, Religious Knowledge. PETER HEDDEN — English Language, Mathematics. DAVID HENDERSON -- Latin, Italian, History (Foreign), Additional Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. JANE HENDERSON — English Literature, History (Soc./Econ.). ROBERTA HENSON — Mathematics. STELLA HOBBY —• English Literature, French, History (Foreign), Geography. DAVID HOBDEN — English Language, English Literature, Religious Knowledge, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. ANN HOCTOR — English Literature, History (British), Art. STEPHANIE HOLLIER — English Language. ROSALYN HOLROYD - - English Language, English Literature, Geography. KEITH HOLMES -- English Literature, Latin, History (Foreign), Geography,Additional Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. STELLA HOSSACK — English Language, English Literature, History (Foreign), Religious Knowledge, Biology. MARY HUGHES — English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Chemistry. DAVID HUTTON — Geography. FRANK JACKSON — English Language, Mathematics. MICHAEL JAMIESON — Engineering Drawing. KATHERINE JEFFERSON — English Language. LESLEY KEARNE — Human Biology and Hygiene. DENISE KYLE — Latin. JOHN LEWIS — Mathematics, Geography, Physics, Metalwork, Engineering Drawing. DENISE LITTLE — English Literature, Cookery. PATRICIA LOCK — Art. MARY LOCKE -- English Language, Art. SUSAN LOFT — English Literature, French, History (Foreign), Geography, Religious Knowledge. MELANIE LUSTY — Physics. ALINE MacDOUGALL — Mathematics. JOHN McGONIGLE — English Literature, Geography, Mathematics, Chemistry. PAULINE McKINLAY — English Literature, History (British), Religious Knowledge. SUSAN MELLOR — Biology. JOHN MERCER — English Language, Geography. ANN MERCH-CHAMMON - - English Language, English Literature, History (Soc./Econ.), Art, Biology, Human Biology and Hygiene. CAROLE MILLER — English Literature, Religious Knowledge, Art. SHIRLEY MONK — English Language, English Literature, History (Soc./Econ.), Religious Knowledge, Art. CHRISTINE MORTON — English Language, Mathematics. JUDITH NEWTON — Mathematics, Art. NICOLA NEWTON — English Language, English Literature, Biology. ALEXANDRA NICHOLAS -- English Literature, Art. IAN O'BRIEN — Additional Mathematics. RODERICK OGDEN — English Language, English Literature, French, Latin, History (British), Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. JOHN PAYNE - - English Language, English Literature, History (Foreign), Geography, Religious Knowledge, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology. JOHN PETO — English Language, Mathematics. BARBARA PIKE — English Literature, Latin, Italian, History (Foreign), Geography, Biology. MARGARET PRETTY - - English Language, Mathematics. JOHN PROBST - - English Language, Mathematics. IAN PROCTOR - - English Language, English Literature, French, Geography, Art, Mathematics.CAROL RANDALL -- English Language, English Literature, Religious Knowledge, Cookery.GEOFFREY RANDALL -- Additional Mathematics. JULIE RECORD — English Literature, Religious Knowledge. ROSALYN ROBERTSON — History (Soc./Econ.). PETER ROBINSON -- English Literature. PATRICIA RODGER -- English Literature, History (British), Art. ALAN ROUTLEDGE -- English Language, Mathematics, Woodwork, Engineering Drawing.JEREMY SALTER — English Literature, Latin, History (Foreign), Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. MICHAEL SEMMENS - - English Language, Geography, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology. PHILIP SENIOR — English Language, English Literature, French, History (British), Religious Knowledge, Chemistry.MAUREEN SILLIS — Additional Mathematics! ISOBEL SIMPSON — English Literature. VIVIEN SIMPSON - - Mathematics.JENNIFER SMITH -- English Language, Biology, Cookery.SHEILA SMITH — English Literature, Italian. ANNA SPINELLI — Mathematics.SUSAN STEPHENS — Art. SHEENA STEVENSON - - English Literature, History (British), Religious Knowledge, Art. PATRICK STRAW — English Language, English Literature, French, Geography. ROSEMARY SUTHERLAND — English Language. STEPHEN SYSON - - English Language, English Literature, Religious Knowledge, Chemistry. ROGER TATTON -- English Language. JANETTE TAYLOR - - English Language, English Literature, Religious Knowledge, Art. BARBARA THURLOW - English Language, English Literature, History (British). LORNA TIERNEY - - English Literature, Latin, History (Foreign), Mathematics, Religious Knowledge, Physics, Chemistry. GORDON TRIGG -- English Language, Mathematics. MALCOLM TRIGG — Additional Mathematics. CAROL VINE — English Literature. ANDREW WALTERS -- French, Mathematics.LINDA WEBB — English Language, English Literature, French, Religious Knowledge, Art. SUSAN WILDISH -- English Literature, Geography, Physics, Chemistry. BARBARA WILLIAMS -- Italian. TREVOR WILLIAMS — Mathematics, Woodwork, Engineering Drawing. HAZEL WILSON — Art. MICHAEL WINKWORTH - - English Language, Geography, Mathematics, Chemistry. PATRICIA WOODWARD _ Latin.

MARY BISHOP — English Language, Arithmetic, Cookery, Needlecraft. PETER BULLING - - Mathematics II, Geometrical and Technical Drawing, Woodwork (with Drawing). SUSAN BUNTING — English Language. JAMES BURTON - - English Language, Art, Civics, Mathematics I and II, Geometrical and Technical Drawing, Woodwork (with Drawing), Physics. JENNIFER CAIRNS — English Language. ANN CARTER — English Language, Cookery, Civics. JEFFREY COOK — Mathematics I and II, Physics, Geometrical and Technical Drawing, Woodwork (with Drawing). LINDA COOPER -- English Language, Art. MARLENE EVANS — English Language, Typewriting, Arithmetic, Civics. ELAINE FIELD -- English Language, Typewriting. LINDA FINNEY _ English Language.JACQUELINE HARDING — Arithmetic, Cookery, Art. Civics. PATRICIA LEWIS — English Language, Needlecraft. MARY LOCKE -- English Language, Typewriting. GEORGE LYALL — Mathematics I, Geometrical and Technical Drawing, Wood work (with Drawing). CATRIONA MACDONALD -- Typewriting, Art. MURIEL MEDHAM -- English Language, Shorthand, Typewriting, Arithmetic,Art, Civics. COLIN MIDDLETON - - English Language, Mathematics I and II, Physics, Geometrical and Technical Drawing, Art. FREDDY MILFORD -- Mathematics I and II, Physics, Art, Geometrical and Technical Drawing, Woodwork (with Drawing). DAVID G. MOORE - - Geometrical and Technical Drawing, Woodwork (with Drawing). PATRICIA OSBORNE -- Needlecraft. CAROL PAPWORTH — English Language, Typewriting, Art. ALEXANDER PEDDY - - English Language, Mathematics I. ERIC ROBERTS — English Language, Physics, Mathematics I and II, Geo metrical and Technical Drawing, Woodwork (with Drawing). SUSAN SALTER — English Language. PATRICIA SAWYER — Typewriting. ISOBEL SIMPSON — Typewriting. ANNE SINCLAIR -- English Language, Cookery, Needlecraft. SUSAN STEPHENS — English Language, Arithmetic, Typewriting. MARGARET TERRY - - English Language, Art. ROY TOWNSEND -- English Language, Physics, Mathematics I and II, Geo metrical and Technical Drawing, Woodwork (with Drawing). HAZEL WILSON — English Language, Human Biology, Cookery.

GRAHAM ATKINS — Additional Mathematics. DAVID BAKER — Metalwork. MARGARET BRADSHAW - - English Language, English Literature. SUSAN BRIERLEY — Mathematics.PETER BULLING — Metalwork. MALCOLM CHESNEY — English Language. TERENCE FELTHAM — Physics.JACK FERRETT - - English Language, Mathematics. SUSAN FRASER —. English Language, Human Biology and Hygiene. IAN HEATH — French. ROBERTA HENSON — English Language. DAVID HOBDEN — French. ANN HOCTOR — English Language. ROSALYN HOLROYD — History (British). STELLA HOSSACK — Cookery. ROGER HURRELL — Geography. MICHAEL JAMIESON — English Language. MARGARET MacDOUGALL — English Language. PAULINE McKINLAY — English Language, Art. NICOLA NEWTON — Human Biology and Hygiene. ALEXANDRA NICHOLAS — English Language. GRAHAM ROBERTS — Geography. PATRICIA RODGER — Geography. ALAN ROUTLEDGE — Physics. MARJORIE SEWELL — German, Music. SHEILA SMITH — Latin. JANETTE TAYLOR — Human Biology and Hygiene. CAROLE VINE — English Language, Art.

T'was in the seventeenth century When Channel seas did swell, That ships from Plymouth sailed To a place where the Spaniards dwell.

It was thirty days and thirty nights That our gallant seamen spent Searching, spying for Spanish sails As to and fro they went.

On the thirty-first night while England sleeps The Spanish fleet crept by Crept by unseen! Past cannons and guns Their stealthy oars they ply.

When at last the morning came With Spain's intrusion still unknown The English fleet turned round about For England, blame, and home.

"The task of a Careers Master or Mistress is becoming increasingly difficult. Immense social pressures to succeed in a chosen career, a widespread emphasis on training and an atmosphere of countless opportunities of which most young people want to avail themselves are making Careers Guidance a greater responsibility.

"However it would be silly to disregard the fact that a number of young people are leaving school in some areas with little chance of satisfactory employment."

These remarks are taken from the 1964 "Careers for Young People" and are quoted in the hope that a greater awareness may appear among some senior pupils who do not avail themselves of the Careers Service in the school.

In October 1963, we had our third visit from a Careers Advisory Officer. In a stay of a fortnight, Mr. Barbour interviewed some hundred pupils and had time to give three talks of a practical nature to senior pupils.

The visit of an Advisory Officer to Service Schools Overseas is now arranged annually by the Service Authorities and Mr. Barbour will again be in Malta next October to conduct further interviews.

Comments on these interviews are received at the school later in the year, and parents are invited to come and discuss the prospects of a career for their son or daughter, normally by appointment on a Friday afternoon.

It is hoped in the coming year to arrange for a monthly careers talk to be given particularly to 4th and 5th Year classes not working towards the G.C.E. Examination, and perhaps to review certain careers in "Square!"

In connection with Careers, a number of trips were arranged by different members of the Staff for Senior pupils.

Of particular interest were two visits to International Aeradio at Luqa, and another to the Tape Relay Centre at Bingemma.

The efforts made to accommodate us and explain the world of communications were very much appreciated.

Sixth Form Scientists also paid a visit to the Malta Synthetics Factory where they saw nylon thread being spun into yarn used in making a variety of garments.

In April, Commander Price, Public Relations Officer at HAFMED, gave an interesting talk to 6th Form pupils on the role of NATO. This was followed by a film illustrating the problem of Berlin.

In May, Group Capt. Barnard and Flight Lt. Mallory from R.A.F. Luqa spoke to 4th and 5th Form Boys about the new entry requirements for Apprenticeships into the R.A.F.

a) A section which provides information on all forms of training, entry to
the professions and the Services, on requirements and methods of application for
courses at Universities, Colleges of Advanced Technology, Training Colleges,
Colleges of Art and Technical Colleges: largely for those who will have achieved
G.C.E. Advanced Level standards in particular subjects — in short, information
about the world of further study.

b) Another section offering opportunities and suggestions for those leaving
school to earn their living in a particular trade or profession, while continuing
part-time, some course of further education.

It may cause surprise that no mention is made of jobs for those who consider that study will "stop when they leave school — for the good reason that training is required for most kinds of worthwhile employment in this technical age.

Most firms insist on new employees continuing their general education, and detailed programmes of training have recently been drawn up for occupations in various branches of Catering and Hotel work as well as in the Textile Industry.

This increased emphasis on training is understandable when one reads in the recent Newsom Report on Education that "we cannot afford to have an egghead elite imposed on a sub-structure of morons."

The dangers of the increase in automation make the search for satisfying and responsible jobs more difficult nowadays, but there are many kinds of employment among the various 'careers' we list, which do not require G.C.E. passes.

Here are a few examples selected at random: Advertising, Interior Decoration, Dressmaking, Printing, Dental Technician, Child Care, Hairdressing, and various jobs selling to the public from Dairyman to T.V. Salesman.

It is quite natural that a great number of pupils have few, if any, clear ideas of what they would like to do later in life; likes and dislikes often change after the age of fifteen, but this cannot be an excuse for doing nothing about the future and its prospects if we pause and consider the recent outbreaks of malicious "togetherness" at Brighton and Clacton.

"The trouble with the Mods and Rockers is not that they have nothing lo do with their leisure; they have nothing to do with their lives." This comment from a Sunday newspaper may seem to betray a gloomy view of a section of modern youth but it points out clearly to parents the need to find out more about the prospects of different careers for their sons and daughters.

There are many books on how to approach the problem of sorting out likes and dislikes; the school library is well stocked with a number of general books on Careers as well as periodical literature and books dealing with particular kinds of employment.

Full information is available concerning Maintenance Grants for those returning t:.> U.K. independently of parents, to start apprenticeships.

Senior pupils who intend to make application to Universities, C.A.T.s for places in October 1965, should write personally during the summer months for the detailed syllabus of study to the University Faculty which they hope to enter.

Some general information on practically all British Universities and the courses they offer is held in school. U.C.C.A. application forms for 1965 will be available next term.

Prospective applicants for Training College places in October 1965 should also write for detailed information this summer. Many prospectuses can be seen in school together with a complete list of the addresses of these and other centres of Training and Further Education.

In connection with Teacher Training, it is pleasing to record the cooperation given by the Headmaster and Staff at Verdala in allowing Senior girls to visit the school in order to learn something about teaching young children and to have some teaching practice.

Miss Reed, who deals particularly with career prospects for girls not normally proceeding to Sixth Form work, last winter attended a special course on Careers and is available to advise on employment in practical and social work for girls.

Finally, a word of thanks to various members of staff, in particular to the Technical Department, for their help and cooperation throughout the year.

The School Magazine Committee wish to acknowledge receipt of the following School Magazines:

THE GEORGIAN -- St. George's School, Hong Kong. THE CAVALIER — Prince Rupert School, Wilhelmshaven. LASALLIAN - - De La Salle College, Cottonera, Malta. THE EAGLET -- St. Augustine's College, Tarxien, Malta.

After the great increase in the activity of the Society last year, it was decided to make an all-out effort to increase the scope and membership of the Society this year. A large Committee was formed comprising Aline McDougall as President, John Passmore as Secretary, and Graham Roberts as Treasurer The various functions of the Society were ably represented by Lorna Tierney Nicola Newton, Susan Jones, Helen Rourke and John McCallum.

The Society programme was varied as much as possible and although a backbone of debates was held, the meetings tended to become less frequent but with better productions as a result.

There were many excellent debates held throughout the year upon subjects such as Women Drivers Should Be Banned"; "Whether this House would prefer to be taught by Television than by Teachers"; "Examinations shouldt abolished and Great Britain is no longer a World Power", which gave evervone the opportunity to speak freely about their pet hates and theories and induced many intense verbal battles.

During the Autumn Term six Arts Girls produced an excellent evening's entertainment in the form of a "Jane Austen Evening". The girls wore exquisite period costume and also period music was played to give even greater atmosphere. The readers gave examples of the characters in Jane Austen's novels and in this way uncovered the true character of the authoress.

Soon after the Jane Austen Evening, a play reading was organised. George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" was chosen and after a little time for casting and rehearsal, it was presented to a very large audience who were very impressed with the excellent performance of Nicola Newton as Eliza Doolittle, Keith Holmes as Henry Higgins, and Alan Routledge as Alfred Doolittle.

The Annual Public-Speaking Competition was held before Christmas and as hi previous years was run on an individual as well as on a House basis. The subjects upon which the speech could be made were varied and interesting and ranged from "England expects every man to carry a straight bat", to "Publish and be Damned!"

The individual winner was Rosalind Evans who also won the competition last year and Aline McDougall came a very close second. Nelson was the winning House. Commander Brierley made a very competent and amusing judge.

During the Spring Term a talk was given to the Society by David Farley-Hills of the Royal Malta University on the subject of "Modern Authors". His talk was very enlightening and gave all present an added interest in the works o! Allan Sillitoe especially.

Also during the Spring Term the verse-speaking competition was held and although many people profess a complete lack of interest in poetry, the entry was excellent and the standard very high. The individual winners from each year were: 1st year, Judy Mathews; 2nd year, Pat Rayfield; 3rd year, Peter Ross; 4th year, Jennifer Lyon; 5th year, Aline McDougall, and 6th year, Pauline Mc-Kinley.

The highlight of the Society's activity during the Spring Term was the Balloon Debate where a number of famous characters from all periods of history had to make speeches giving reasons why they should not be thrown out of the doomed balloon which they all just happened to be in. The characters were, in order of appearance, William the Conqueror, George Harrison, Mary Queen of Scots, Guy Fawkes, Marilyn Monroe, and James Bond. They were all dressed in appropriate costumes and had a great time delivering their appealing speeches calling upon the good sense and mercy of the audience to save them. When the vote was taken, the person chosen to be the only survivor was Marilyn Monroe!

For the rest of the Spring Term, most of the senior members of the Society were concerned with the production of the plays for the Inter-House Junior Play Competition. The play, "Six Who Pass While the Lentils Boil", was chosen and each house had to produce this play with casts drawn exclusively from the first and second forms. The competition was, in effect, an initiative test for all who helped and organised the productions as no members of the staff were allowed to have a hand in it.

The actual competition was held on Tuesday, 24th March, and the judge was Commander Price, from H.A.F.Med. The two prizes were both awarded to Nelson House, one for the stage production and the other for decor, costume and general presentation. It is hoped that this will start a new era in school activities and promote a keener interest in the theatrical side of the world of art.

As the Summer Term is so full of other activities before the Summer Routine is started, the Society has only had one large meeting, which was in the form of a Shakespeare Memorial Meeting. At this meeting, which was attended by over 1oo pupils and members of staff, many of the famous love scenes from Shakespeare's greatest works were re enacted in costume and others were read. The programme was interspersed by the performance of Shakespearian songs and sonnets and the overall atmosphere created was superb. It is hoped that in future years the Senior Literary and Debating Society will continue to function in this manner and so stimulate a more balanced outlook and more widespread approach to the appreciation of the Arts.

The present year has not been quite so hectic as we were not involved in a Gilbert and Sullivan production at Christmas. Nevertheless, there have been numerous musical activities. The lunch time concerts were very well attended. The choir presented a Bach anthem "Dearest Jesus" for the Annual Prize Day, and at Easter sang Mozart's lovely "Ave Verum". At the time of writing both Junior and Senior choirs are busy preparing for the Annual School Concert. This year we have invited Commander D. Carver to sing for us.

The new Recorder Club has flourished and hopes to give a good account of itself next month.

Mr. Witherspoon has very generously given of his time to instruct pupils in the difficult art of violin playing and the pupils, I am sure, are very grateful to him.

I must end on a note of regret. This year has been disappointing in that more of the Senior girls have not made their presence felt in the Senior Choir. I hope this will be rectified next year when we hope to do Beggars Opera as our Christmas production. A lead given here would give encouragement to the Junior School.

During last term, three highly successful lunchtime concerts were held in the Music Room, proving that Tal-Handaq possesses much musical talent and judging by the large numbers that attended these recitals, many people are interested in this sub jet.

Every effort was made to ensure that these concerts provided music to cater for everyone's taste, ranging from Handel Trios to "pop" music.

Unfortunately, there is not room to discuss all three programmes but I'm sure all the performers will forgive me if I don't go into any details about their pieces that they played.

It was very noticeable that more and more pupils took part in this branch of entertainment than ever before.

Lyn Edmunds proved herself a very capable clarinettist in all the recitals, especially in her rendering of the ever popular "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" — a difficult work for this instrument. Tal-Handaq boasts many pianists (many of them very shy !). amongst whom we heard Helen Rourke Julie Landon and John MacCulham perform their own different ways. Each programme devoted some time to vocalists, and Elizabeth Fawcett gave a delightful rendering of "Westering Home" equally well "Buy Broom Besoms" sang two well known songs. A highlight in the last concert was the performance of the comic songs "The Two Gendarmies" sung by Ian Whittington and Brendan Breslin dressed in helmets and wielding their long truncheons !

The School's Rhythm Group performed at all three recitals and all proved to be great talented musicians - - Keith Holmes, their leader, tells me that they have been offered a number of outside engagements -- any offers to be their manager ?

Several members of the School Staff performed at all of the recitals. Mr. Tatton sang some Schubert songs delightfully. Messrs Gerrard (piano) Witherspoon (violin) and Lowe (cello) played a Handel Trio and Mr. Wilkinson proved to be a very versatile and skilful musician entertaining us on yet another instrument, the flute.

From this rapport we can see that the school possesses many musicians in different fields of music and Mr. Gerrard is to be thanked for taking the trouble to organise these concerts for the benefit and enjoyment of both the performers and a highly appreciative audience. W. DUNCAN 6A.

The Annual Concert took place on Friday evening June 5th and it was most encouraging to see a packed hall.

Much hard work had gone into the preparations and the Music Room during breaks, lunch times and evenings was a hive of activity. This year many more pupils took part.

The two choirs gave a good account of themselves, and particularly delightful was the rendering of "Heave-Yo-Ho!" by the Junior Choir. The Senior Choir sang with verve, and the Glee "O Happy Fair" was well received.

It was good to see a small instrumental group and the players, acquitted themselves very well. A new feature was the Recorder Group, and the players enjoyed themselves.

Our Guest artist this year was Commander D. Carver who is well known to us, and he sang two charming groups of songs which were obviously appreciated.

The Rhythm Group has now established itself in the school and played with confidence.

The programme was very varied and included harmonica solos,, duets and trios, both vocal and instrumental.

We shall be preparing for the Christmas production of Beggars Opera, and volunteers for this opera should see either Mr. Barraclough or myself.

THE JUNIOR CHOIR

In January the Junior Choir held its first meeting, his was attended by boys and girls from the various forms in the first year.

Our first appearance in public will be at the school concert which is to be held on the fifth of June and under the skilled guidance of Mr. Wilkinson, our choir master, we are all busy rehearsing for it.

We hope we will keep up the good reputation or the previous Junior Choirs. CAROL HAY 1A2.

THE JUNIOR LITERARY AND DEBATING SOCIETY

Committee: James Thomson Jonathan Wrigley Peter Bollard Jean Cantwell Teresa Griffin Judy Matthews

This society has held a number of interesting and successful meetings in the course of the last two terms.

To inaugurate the society a debate was held, "The Beatles Should Be Crushed". This was lively, and interesting. This was followed the next week by another debate, "It is better to travel by Air than by Sea". This ended surprisingly in a victory for sea travellers. "Co-Educational Schools should be Abolished" was the notion of the next debate; it was much slower than the previous two, but gradually came to life.

A "Brantub Meeting" was held next. Everyone present wrote their names on a piece of paper and placed it in a basket. A number of subjects were in another basket, and one name and one subject were drawn out. The victim was required to speak on this subject for two minutes. Here Lyndsay Billett must be mentioned for her amusing and imaginative speech "The Rims of Spectacles".

Another debate, "The Age of Chivalry has died", took place after this. This was very interesting and amusing.

We held a Talent Competition the week after this which was very successful, Michael Donkin won this competition with his one-man play about "Sheerlock Holmes". This was the last meeting of the term.

The first meeting of this term was a debate, "Animals should not be kept in Captivity". This was quite interesting; but disappointing because there was a poor attendance. The motion was won by 16 votes to i.

This was followed the next week by another "Brantub Meeting". This was quite as interesting as the last one. Lyndsey Billett spoke again on "Flowers", not without imagination.

The next week we held a balloon debate. This was probably the best meeting we had had. The characters on trial for their lives were: Cliff Richard, Anne Boleyn, Noddy, Henry Ford, Hannibal, Helena Rubinstein, Alfred the Great and Cleopatra. The voting showed Noddy worthy of staying in the balloon.

The programme for the future includes a "Bookshelf Meeting" where a few people will talk about books and authors; another talent competition; and to close with, a debate.

This year has been most successful for the society: the total number of meetings being ten. Of these ten talks four were given by members of the school on such subjects as "The Liquefaction of Gases", "The Aerodynamics and Hydrodynamics of Sailing" and "The Rotary Internal Combustion Engine".

Lt. Cdr. Swift gave a talk on "Servomechanisms" and for the remaining five talks we were very privileged to have Professor Lewis talking on "Newtons Laws" and "The Measurement of the Metre", Professor Edwards on "Absorption Spectroscopy", Lt. Cdr. Dewy relating his experiences in the Sailing Yacht "Mariboo" and Dr. Austin explaining "Marine Biology".

As can be seen our programme has been quite varied and the lectures were greatly appreciated by all members. The presentation of the lectures being of such a nature that even the most junior members were able to comprehend.

It is hoped that next year's programme will be as interesting and as varied as this year's has been and that the society will go on from strength to strength. There is always room for new members and any members of 4th, 5th and 6th forms interested are invited to join the society. Details of meetings appear from time to time on the notice board.

As well as being viewed by the parents on Open Day, the exhibition was visited by most of the pupils, and I believe I'm right in saying it was acclaimed by one and all. Indeed many of us - - and pupils make critical judges — were very surprised, and I may say proud, at the standard attained.

The exhibition was divided roughly into three sections - wood-work and metalwork, needlework and design, and art and craft, this last comprising all kinds of paintings as well as leatherwork and basketwork. The ejects were compactly arranged in little compartments and alcoves -around the sides of the hall, and thus displayed for the most part to their fullest advantage. Intriguing little a coves and niches arouse much more curiosity than row upon row of paintings, or baskets. At the same time more variety could perhaps have been obtained by intermingling the various sections, a display of brightly -coloured stuffed golliwogs and donkeys would have provided a pleasant change if wedged between neatly ranged metal tools and rows of shining spoons !

However apart from this rather minor criticism only the highest praise can be given, from the smallest copper bracelet to the 'piece de resistance', the "contemporary home". The standard of workmanship here was superb, with coffee tables, -book-ends, a lamp and even a sewing box any household would be proud to possess. Tal-Handaq will undoubtedly turn out some hardy husbands, if nothing else ! The girls kept up their own end by producing some fine examples of needlework, dressmaking and design. On the art side some interesting, colourful and sometimes amazingly lifelike paintings and drawings were displayed, and there were one or two fine plant drawings well worth mention. The display of silk screened materials for dress lengths and head scores was very professional.

This is one of the few occasions in the school year when the emphasis is shifted from academic prowess to the less advertised but more practical and equally valuable accomplishments of education. Great credit must be given to the contributors the organisers and their crews and all who helped make the exhibition what it was - - a fine display with standards in keeping with the highest traditions of our school. A. MacDOUGALL 5A.

The exhibits in the exhibition were of great variety which always impresses me. The paintings were very well done and most of them seemed as though the artists had great enthusiasm as he or she had painted them.

Neat, carefully-planned, attractive and professionally done is how I would describe the woodwork and metalwork articles. The needlework display was very eye-catching owing to the many varieties of materials and colours. Sculpture has always fascinated me and from an amateur point of view I think that what was on display in the hall was extremely good.

I think the exhibition showed great enthusiasm and must have been carefully planned by the staff. I am quite sure that the parents who came and saw the display were greatly impressed by what they saw.

In lA1's form room hangs a picture by Picasso. Here are some comments on it:

It looks like a thing with hair on, and its eyes look like shattered panes of glass. It has long six inch carpenter's nails and its ivory teeth look ready to bite them. Over its eyebrows grows yellow skin abundantly covered in scales which regularly flake off. It has a necklace made of the teeth of its victims.

The picture strikes me as being of girl of fifteen just going into an examination room for her first important exam. She is obviously nervous, for she is biting her handkerchief and her face has gone yellow and green and her hair a bluish colour.

There is a queer hat perched on top of the thing's head. Fingers and thumbs grow out of the face and a flower on the ear. The old hag is eating an off-white handkerchief.

This woman is sad because she has been to a funeral where she has seen the ghost of the dead person. She has a crying look in her eyes and terror is tearing at her handkerchief.

The mask of Anguish mingled with Pain and Fear. Perhaps this person is witnessing .... MURDER!

She wears a bright red 'cap' with a blue and yellow decoration. She has greyish-black hair streaked with drab yellows, blues and mauves. Her face is green in the shade and yellow out of it. Dark rings surround the eyes with ferociously sinister black eyebrows and eyelashes. The green blunt fingers with yellow fingernails knots and reknots a handkerchief. What does she see?

"The weeping woman" is a sea-sick, worrying tourist on a third-class rowing-boat trip across the Atlantic. She has just finished reading her tourist magazine and is chewing it up. She IS worried. She is thinking of her lucky mother z\ home dying in peace.

I think the author has painted a picture of a woman awaiting her turn at the guillotine.

It is a diabolical boy with no eyes who comes out of cupboards at the back of rooms. It lollops up behind people and suddenly cosnes them. It has teeth like bricks that seem to quiver when its appetite for flesh has been aroused. Its face is a yellowy-green colour with grey around the mouth. Its hair is long .... especially for catching teachers!

During the course of the year 1963/34 we have had news of a fair number of old pupils — especially from last years leavers, many of whom are now at Universities.

Angela Salter and Andrew Wilkin are at Manchester University reading Modern Languages, while Pamela Hinton is following the course of Advanced Technology there. Angela and Pamela were in the University sailing team which went to Dublin at Easter. Peter Gittings is taking an Honours course in Mathematics at the Imperial College cf Science, London. Mavis Whittle is taking Modern Languages at Reading, while Rosemary Dearden is at Exeter reading Geography. Patricia Woodward is taking the Social Administration course in the Department of Social Science at Nottingham University. Anthony Ashforth is at Edinburgh reading Social Sciences. Also in Scotland at St. Andrews, in the second year of the Dental course, is Charlotte Finnie who left in 1961. Marjorie Savage who also left in 1961 is taking her degree in the School of European Studies (French) at the new University of Sussex; while Diane Edgell who left in 1960 is in the first year of the Science course at Leicester University.

There are several old pupils at training colleges - - two ex-head girls, Marianne Tottman and Linda Knapp, finish their courses this summer, and Maria Kadlec is enjoying the Domestic Science course at Liverpool.

.Several boys have joined the Services. The R.A.F. has claimed Walter Willman who is in his last year at Cranwell, while Bernard Hoctor is in his second year at Henlow, Adrian Lindley and Roger Wilkin have also gained short-service commissions in the R.A.F. Gordon Moore who left in 1959 is now a Pilot Officer stationed in Gibraltar. Mary Sparham who left in 1959 has a commission in the W.R.A.A.F. — so has Rita Mays. David Gerrard is now an Officer Cadet with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service.

Allan Martin is taking 'A' level this year and hopes to go on to either a University or a College of Advanced Technology. Alexander Brown hopes to take a Degree in Music and has been provisionally accepted by two universities. John Payne is in the VI Form at King Edward VI School, King's Lynn.

Paula Goodall has started at the B.B.C. as assistant to the Assistant Producer of a programme entitled "Can I Help You ?" which appears on the B.B.C. Sunday Television.

Rosemary Andrews is working in a bank in Bath — she had applied for a post with the Voluntary Service Overseas organisation but I do not know whether she had been accepted. Phyllis Hannan is an articled pupil in an Architect's office in Plymouth and Mary Convery is nursing at Edinburgh.

There are countless others of whom we hear news indirectly from time to time and I hope that many more will write to tell us how they are getting on. either at other schools or in their varied careers. It is good also to hear of the various parties in different places where Old Tal-Handaqers get together and reminisce over their days here. I hope that the present generation will also look back with the same pleasure on their school days in Malta.

On Tuesday, 12th May, this Society held a very successful "Balloon Debate''. The idea is that several people are in a balloon when it develops a leak, so that it can carry only one passenger to safety. Each of the eight people makes a speech to tell the audience why he should remain in the balloon. The audience vote, and one person remains in the balloon, the rest being thrown out, Mr. Alexander introduced the characters: —

Cliff told us about his life and tours round the world. He explained that we. would have to vote for him because everybody else was dead, or likely to die "any day now".

Anne told us in a good speech about her life with Henry. She said, "Haven^t I suffered enough, without being thrown out of the balloon ?"

This was a good speech, but rather complicated because of the lists of dates given.

This was a very good speech beginning from "when I was a lump of wood in a tree''.

Hannibal gave us a good historical background to himself. He finished by saying, "if I and my 400 elephants were thrown out, the balloon would go straight up !"

Helena pointed out how much she had benefited the women of the world with her make-up; and incidentally the men, for all the women became beautiful to look at.'

This was a good speech telling us how Alfred founded the navy, and about his battles with the Danes, and how he made peace with them.

Cleo. gave us a good speech about herself, telling of her fight to keep the Romans out of Egypt, and her life with Caesar and Antony.

There was a good attendance of about 70 people, which we wish we could see every week. I am sure the eight characters in the balloon enjoyed themselves as much as the audience did, ' '. The final result of the voting — an overall victory to Noddy!

On Wednesday 13th May, the Senior Literary and Debating Society celebrated the Shakespeare Quatercentenary by presenting an entertainment based on the theme of love in Shakespeare. A stage, set up in Miss Cater's room, was sketchy but effective, consisting of a platform, two crimson-draped screens and a number of heraldic shields. Informality was the keynote of the entertainment; the actors sat at one side and the readers at the other in full view of the audience. When it was someone's turn to perform, he got up, performed and sat down again. There were no protracted pauses; one scene followed another swiftly, but as the scenes were well contrasted - - the word 'love' being widely interpreted -- there was no confusion in the minds of the audience.

Margaret McDougall introduced the programme very competently by giving brief resumes of the plays from which scenes were acted or read., First Susan Brierley read the well-known sonnet "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?", to set the mood. Then Marjorie Sew.••11 and Suzanne Prater, looking most fetching in Elizabethan costume, performed the scene in "Twelfth Night" where Viola, disguised as a young page, woos the fair Olivia on behalf of her master, Orsino. John Passmore and Susan Jones followed in the "nunnery" scene from "Hamlet": this scene made considerable impact in spite of the fact that it was read.. The well-known balcony scene from "Romeo and Juliet'' came next, acted by Aline (MacDougall and David Hobden. Aline MacDougall made a very believable Juliet, perhaps more serious than usual, and David Hobden's very good voice proved effective. The romantic mood was, perhaps, a little dissipated when, while Romeo was making an extravagant gesture, his doublet burst open from top to bottom.

Nor were Shakespeare's songs neglected. Linda Fairhall, singing very sweetly and truly, performed "The Willow Song" from "Othello" and "It was a lover and his lass" from "As You Like It". She was accompanied at the piano (by Bill Duncan. A scene from "The Taming of the Shrew" was read after this by Anne Sinclair and Ian Whittington. This sparring-match between Katharine and Petruchio came to life magnificently. Next, Bottom and Titania (Richard McGonigle and Helen Rourke) in a scene from "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The ass's head, sad on one side, happy on the other, helped to bring out the humour in this/scene. Last in this group, Bill Duncan and Alison Bigden read the garden scene in "The Merchant of Venice".

Susan Brierley now read one of the best-known of all Shakespeare's sonnets: "Let me not to the marriage of true minds". This was followed by a very dramatic 'scene from "Macbeth'' acted by Brendan Breslin and Pauline McKinlay, the scene in which Lady Macbeth finally succeeds in "persuading" her husband to kill the king. Pauline McKinlay's exceptional talents were made full use of here. Next, Elizabeth Robinson and Graham Roberts read some of the most moving lines that Shakespeare ever wrote — the death of Antony from "Antony and Cleopatra".

The climax of the afternon's entertainment was Bottom's play, "Pyramus and Thisbe", from "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Michael Winkworth and Linda Webb, dressed in beatnik clothes, extracted every ounce of humour from this burlesque brilliantly. Winkworth is a natural comedian.

It was inspiring to see an audience of over one hundred present to do honour to the name of Shakespeare.

The first things we were shown as the (band came on the stage were the instruments and what they were like, and what sound they made.

I think the most popular piece was the "Sandpaper Ballet". This was comical as well as a lovely piece of music, The sound was caused by sandpaper wrapped round blocks of wood and rubbed together. The other great favourite was the Huntsman. This was played by a Post Horn soloist. It is very difficult to play a Post Horn and every note is formed by your mouth because there are no notes on the Horn.

Plink, Plank, Plonk, was another favourite but all of the pieces were
beautiful and the Band of The Royal Marines made the music better, they
nearly put feeling into the music. SUZANNE WHITING.

Interest in the Library as a department of the school is increasing ~- we who work there can feel the attitude towards it altering from term to term and there are a few points about it I would like all the school to know.

1500 new books were placed on the shelves between September 1963 and May 1964. £1303 was spent on library books during 1963/64 financial year.

About 300 exchanges are made each day; that is an average of one book for every child every 3 days.

More use is being made of the library both by pupils doing research work in connection with their school subjects and by members of the school who merely want to read for enjoyment.

It has now become necessary to supply more shelf space and various structural alterations will be carried out during the Summer holidays of this year.

Those pupils who have given up a good deal of their time to work as Librarians have contributed considerably to efficiency of the department and not only I, but the whole school is indebted to them.

You hunt me with hook and line Mostly when the weather's fine; You've caught my friends, parents too, I suppose there is no heart in you.

I roam the waters full of fear, As you fish with bait so dear, Your wife she cooks a tasty sup With all the fish you fish up.

The howling wind, the rolling waves, The sailors up the mast, The clipper going at full sail, Now all of this is past.

Now its steamers belching smoke, And tugs with lots of power, No Jack Tars to be seen for miles, Oh! what a mournful hour.

The hydrofoil is roaring, The waves are forming fast, This streamlined boat's so modern It doesn't need a mast.

It must be stated from the outset that although the bronze, silver and gold badges signify ability to reach the required standards in the four groups of activities that make up this scheme, our aim is much higher than just the winning ol the badges. The real purpose is to give opportunities for developing character and discovering latent talents, giving service to others, and to suggest ways in which leisure time can be used in worthwhile ways.

Twelve boys started these activities at the beginning - f the spring term and although this means that they will be very busy to complete the first stage by July they are making encouraging progress. Boys who join the scheme or begin the second stage next September will have more time to reach the standards since they will not be expected to finish their stages until July 1965 For the benefit of any boy who may want to start in September here is a schedule of this year s work.

Six lessons on the theory of map reading followed by four practical map reading exercises on Saturday mornings and culminating in a practical test. While out on these exercises the boys have been introduced to rock climbing and have enjoyed several easy climbs. This proved popular enough for us to organise separate climbing sessions.

Ten first aid lessons are to be completed before half days begin. The boys will attempt to pass their P.E. and athletic tests this term.

Two camping expeditions before Whit should enable the boys to get up to bronze standard in this section.

This will mean that most of the activities will be completed before the weather becomes too hot, although we hope that one or two more extra climbing sessions can be organised.

If the boys satisfy the judges that they have made a sustained effort, over a. period of six months, with their hobbies they will have gained the Bronze award by the end of this term.

This term will be reserved for map reading and camping for both newcomers and those attempting the silver award activities.

A weekly lunch hour meeting to keep check on activities and decide future plans takes place throughout the three terms.

Commenting generally on the work we have seen so far it must be em phasised that a genuine sustained effort is all important. One or two boys may Eail their hobby section because they have needed prodding to show their work. This must not happen and indeed will not if the interest is genuine. Our standards must be high if we are to do any worthwhile work in this scheme.

If the scheme proves successful and popular, as we hope it will, and the numbers of participants increase, we will be able to make use of the wonderful offers of help from the staff of this school. No fewer than eighteen teachers wished to help in various after-school activities, so there is plenty of room for development.

B. Clarke, S. Fearnley, J. Rafferty, R. Simpson, P. Ross, M. Henderson, P. Framingham, D. MacArthur, J. Pittaway, S. Madgin, A. Maple, R. Smith.

We arrived at Mosta at 0900 hrs. on Saturday, i6th May. The air was very humid and the sun shone weakly through the clouds. We started off through Mosta, along the main road, which was strewn with dustbins and rubbish, waiting to be collected by the Refuse Centre. After Mosta, the countryside was a welcome change and the misty clouds seem to blow over completely revealing the blue sky. On reaching Y Junction just outside Mosta, we turned to the left,

and carried on by Ta' Qali aerodrome. The road on either side of us was bordered with meshes of barbed wire, and there was a noted absence of traffic.

Carrying on towards Mdina, which stood up majestically and still like a stage setting, we saw some farmers harvesting their barley. Then on starting to climb the hill to Mdina and Rabat, the sun went behind the clouds, and we got the same weather that we had at Mosta. In this dull weather, we carried on until we passed the Roman Villa, where we saw some tourists from the liner "Caronia". We left the Roman Villa, and proceeded downhill towards Fiddien Bridge, passing some obviously very new blocks of flats on our left. When we reached Fiddien Bridge we stopped for a few minutes rest.

Then we carried on down the road, passing fields, in which cacti grew, and the local farmers toiled. We saw a huge reservoir over to our right, and how we wished we could have swum in it. Further down the road, however, we met a farmer holding an extremely ferocious goat, with big horns on the end of a rope. Passing more fields, we were greeted with the usual "Hallo" from the children, but that was where our conversation ended, for they knew no more English than we knew Maltese (that could be put to a practical use).

On reaching Santi Gap crossroads we stopped for another short rest, and then on we went. In this area, we saw a large number of troglodites and many unoccupied caves. The road we started on wound its way half way up the side of a wied, giving us a commanding view into the green valley. We passed a local farm, to the usual barking of dogs, and then the clouds blew over again, and the sun shone brightly. The road, twisting and turning, became very narrow until it reached Ta' Labatija.

We met one of our expedition judges near where the Mgarr road meets the track, and farther on we took a photograph of Castello Zamitello, which stand? on a hill about three furlongs from the road.

r After walking for some time we came Upon a little farm where the caretaker of the Ghajn Tuffieha thermae lives. We stopped by a small reservoir for a short rest, and caught a frog. A few minutes later we started oft again, and regained the track. Then a dog jumped off a wall and barked fiercely at us until a bigger dog came along and scared it off. This dog, perhaps guided by the smell of meat in it, took a leap at Roger's pack. However, it left us when we turned round and made threatening sounds at it. Proceeding on, we passed the Ghajn Tuffieha Roman Baths and joined the road from Mosta again. At 12.15 we reached the bay.

After collecting our equipment we went and pitched camp over the other side of the bay. We had our dinner, and then after setting our tent up we went into Gnejna Bay to sunbathe. When we came back we did some climbing on a point called Ras il-Qamar. Returning to the bay we went for a swim and later we collected some wood for a fire, and had our tea. Someone produced a mouth organ and we had a sing song. At about 10 o'clock we turned in, with the noise of the water splashing against the shore in our ears.

Next morning, we got up at 7.30 and went for a walk to stretch our legs as we were not allowed to have breakfast until 8.30. Then when 8.30 came we had our breakfast and were visited by Messrs. Parker and Smith, two of our teachers, and after washing our dishes we took the tent down.

We started walking at 9.45 along Wied Tal-Pwales where there was a breeze blowing fairly constantly for most of the way. When we arrived at St. Paul's Bay we stopped to have a drink at a bar, and then on we went. The town of St. Paul's took us some time to walk through, and it became very hot.

We stopped at a cemetery near Wardija cross-road and had dinner, then we
pressed on to Targa Gap cross-roads, to complete our fifteen mile walk and to
be met by one of the judges who told us that we had made a promising start to
expedition work in the scheme. PETER ROSS and ROGER SIMPSON.

Some years have gone by since Tal-Handaq boys walked abroad on what became known, in their time, as the "Easter Trips". Over the years their enjoyment .and popularity increased until they tended to be oversubscribed, and although the last ones, when separate groups were formed for Sicily and the Italian mainland, were no less popular, there has been since then a lapse in the scheme. It may be unfortunate that these ventures were loosely connected with the title "Outward Bound", for indeed they had (no) direct connection with any such organisation or movement. They were essentially adventure holidays, the climax of a series of Autumn and Spring walks and camps in Malta, where boys and staff roughed it together and found cut how they measured up for the real thing - - full pack, tent, sleeping bag. food and cooking kit, a ten to fourteen mile walk, and a smile in the rain And for the future, memories of lovely places seen as they only can be seen at their best — on foot.

Reasons for the lapse are various, but one is bound to feel that in the passing years many Tal-Handaq boys must have felt the urge to cross that water and see what was on the other side. To have viewed it from a car on an overland journey is quite a different thing.

Now we have in the school the healthy beginnings of a true "Duke of Edinburgh Award" scheme, enthusiastically led and full of promise. It could be, however, that there are still those lads, particularly in more Senior Forms who, much as they would like to, cannot devote themselves to a full programme under that scheme, with its many activities all requiring their quota of time.

If it proves, that there is still a demand, ways might be found of overcoming the biggest obstacles, those of obtaining sufficient suitable equipment and keeping the costs down to a reasonable sum per head, while still maintaining a good standard of food and reaching places beyond the plain of Catania or the wildness of Calabria.

Have we in our midst those who, if it were necessary, would provide o rucksack cooking kit etc., and, at very worst, a tent between two?

If you will be in 3rd Form or above in school year 1694-65, even if none of those applies to you but you are keen, let us know — NOW. The interest of parents too would be welcome.

Next Easter may seem far ahead, with a long, hot Summer lying between. But camping weather does not linger long after September, and there would be many other things to do.

There is no desire to encroach on the "Duke of Edinburgh" scheme, but any spirit of healthy competition need not be a bad--thing, and may even sway your interests in that direction.

In the meantime, then, let's hear from those who are interested - - and
check your piggy-bank for leaks ! G.S. I6P.

Now hear! I tell a sorry tale, About a Dog, a joint and he Who owned the Butcher's shop And some lady shoppers three.

Unknown to all, the Dog came in And silently, with speed of light Snapped the large and sumptuous joint Into his mouth and out of sight.

Watching their antics from nearby Was that infamous Mongrel Thief. But he set the Joint between Ms paws, Untroubled by their grief.

My three years sojourn in Malta is drawing to a close and the nicest thing ] believe I can say, is that I wish it was just beginning.

When I leave, near the end of term, it will be with mixed feelings of joy and regret. It will be exciting to see old friends in England, and perhaps to look up, those who left before me, but what will I be leaving? Whatever we may say about it Tal-Handaq is a school most of us will be very sorry to leave. Discipline though far from lax is less strict than in schools at home and the staff are extremely pleasant.

Almost every one thinks the summer in Malta is the best time of the year. One spends a large part of the day either in or beside the warm Mediterranean sea. An amusing spectacle on these hot lazy days is provided by an inexperienced water skier: the boat slows up as the skier loses balance and topples amidst clouds of spray.

In England, it is true we have the much celebrated scenery. In my home county Hampshire one can see yachts on the Solent, their white sails and sleek hulls marred only by occasional smears of tar from the nearby oil refinery. Then there is the New Forest with its leafy glades and renowned abundance of adders. Finally there is the wonderful weather, the sun shines every day for five minutes at least. I am sure I will be very sorry indeed to leave Malta.

Let's face it, you have all got to come back to "dear old Blighty" sometime and so these notes have been compiled to help you — read and inwardly digest:—

This fair land is in the throes of a civil war twixt les mods and les rockers, commonly called the Battle of the Yobs. It is croucial, imperative etc. that you align yourself to one of these factions. Mods are the ones that wear makeup, take purple hearts and have cheque books. Rockers wear lubricating oil, take reefers arid have credit cards. (It must be remembered that both these groups are totally different from undergraduates who do all this and more). Every so often, usually during the public hols, there are get-togethers, at various seaside resorts, which rival the party conferences for aimability, tranquility and respectability.

The next thing to do is to "get wiv it, yeah, yeah, yeah''. There are certain things you must do, for instance, you must be bored with something or someone and it is highly fashionable to reject the world and go and sit in a cave in the mountains to meditate, A good nervous 'breakdown will always be a passport to success, and besides it's so typically Anglo-Saxon. Morals are regarded as being sufficient for a decadent, capitalistic society run by Fascist hyenas and so you must turn aside from all moral standards-let yourselves go, go, go.

Status symbols are the (basis of modern civilisation and you must jump on the bandwagon also or suffer the ignominity of being termed a "queer", of worse still, a "mid", (these outcasts of society). Bach true member of the community should posses is a motor cycle or scooter, a transistor radio, a personal make-up kit, and last, bait by no means least, a member of the opposite species. Other advisable requirements are an 1Q of below 35, a police record, at least 10 parking tickets and a studded belt — the last named is only for the "elite''. You members of the faired sex are strongly advised to have a scream of at least 80 decibels on you as you never know what's around the corner.

Those of you who still retain the antiquated idea that London is the capital -- forget it. Liverpool has risen to become the cultural capital and the "Cavern" is the hub of the Empire. Parliament sits in the Mersey Tunnel with Screaming Lord Stitch as the Speaker. Motions before the House are either a "hit" or a "miss'', or in modern English "gear" or "—". Society demands that you all should go on a homage to 'pool and offer daily prayers to the west for the safety of J.P.G.R. (If you dont know who they are take my advice and end it NOW).

Well there you have it. What has been said is true and now you all
know what awaits you on your return to this "land of sawdust Caesars" so gird
up your loins and jump. JOHN PAYNE,

"The Beatles" that magic name which has become part of our everyday vocabulary strikes an extra beat in many a teenage girl's heart.

Personally I like them, I like their beat and their songs; unlike many pop singers they do not sing soft and sentimental songs. Although most of the older generation think that they "just make a lot of noise," I do not agree with them, although I am not one of the great flock of Beatle fans who would tear them apart on sight, or get into a fit of hysterics whenever they start to sing.

Although the Beatles have become world famous I think that their advertising agents are going a bit too far, as now Beatle wallpaper, talcum powder, jewellery and many other Beatles products are being sold to fans all over the world, I believe there have ever been discussions as to whether or not streets in the United Kingdom should be named after George, Paul, John and Ringo. I hope for the sake of many of us who think this is very stupid that it turns out to be ridiculous rumour.

Nevertheless, for my final word on the subject I hope that they keep up their
standard of pop music; and know that all Beatle fans will join me in wishing
them every success in the future. LINDA HOWARTH — 36!,

They make girls scream when they flip their hair, The boys, all frightened of being square.

This was so when nearly fifty fourth, fifth and sixth form girls and boys took to the boats last week on Thursday and Friday, 21st and 22nd May.

This turn out of Tal-Handaq sailing fraternity is not going to be exceptional now that the summer sailing season is here.

Folkboat yachts, Swordfish dinghies, R.N.S.A. dinghies and Service whalers are all available to the school by the very kind permission of H.M.S. St. Angelo, H.M.S. Ausonia and the Fleet Recreation Officer.

Not that sailing has only just begun now that summer is here! The "hard core" has been sailing R.N.S.A. dinghies and Service whalers throughout the winter, when many a blue-fingered "guy" or "doll" has been very thankful to return to the cells at H.M.S. St. Angelo to change into dry clothes!

In retrospect, last September there were only ten qualified helmsmen left from the previous year. Of these, John Passmore was the only one well qualified at the time on Folkboats, Swordfish and Whalers, and he has also an R.A.F. "A" helmsmans certificate to his credit -- well done!

Keith Holmes, who had been running the administration side very efficiently left at Easter but qualified on whalers before he went back to U.K. Michael Semmens has now very kindly taken over the arranging of crews each week.

Melanie Lustie, Susanne Prater, John Lewis, Michael Merredew, Geoffrey Randall, Graham Atkins, Terrence Feltham, John McGonigle, Michael Winkworth, Philip Coe, Roger Tatton, Peter Bulling. Swordfish Dinghies:

Richard McGonigle of IVa has qualified on R.N.S.A. dinghies, and out of the small fourth year group who sail on Thursday, Michael Laurie should qualify as soon as he refrains from approaching the mooring buoy like a destroyer at full speed!

For the records, Mr. J. Bowen, a member of staff, has also qualified on R.N.S.A. dinghies.

During the year there were two gatherings in the physics laboratory when sailing topics were presented.

The first, an illustrated talk on Ocean Yachting, was given by Lt. Cdr. M. Dewe, R.N., who delivered a humorous and very interesting account of his time on board Marabou, the sail training yacht which he skippered for three years.

The second on "The Mechanics of Sailing" was given to the Science Society by John Passmore. I wonder if anyone has applied any of the principles outlined in John's talk?

I know that all of you who have been sailing in any capacity with Tal-Handaq will join with me in thanking Lt. Cdr. "Ken" Harper for all the hard work and humour he put into the building up of the sailing organisation. Although he has left Malta we are now reaping the benefits.

"If she goes South we will sit in her wind with the Spinnaker — if she goes North we can take to cover her all the time".

"The Spinnaker bags are lashed to the pulpits of Sonia and Skua — maybe they — ".

"Aft the genoa a little — we will keep on this course for a few more seconds until we have started and then harden up under the lighthouse".

A few seconds elapsed during which all three crews eyed each other, waiting for someone to make the decision.

"Aft the genoa'as tight as you can". The decision had been made and in Angela, followed closely by Sonia and Skua, we screwed up hard on the wind a.s we rounded the lighthouse and then started the long flog to wind'ard.

Sonia soon found herself in a hopeless position hard on our weather quarter and she eased her sheets slightly and bore away on a long tack out to sea. Meanwhile, Skua, who had been far out on our weather quarter, eased her sheets and bore down towards us and with her subsequent increase in speed, she ended up on our weather bow sitting right in our wind! After this she slowly gained on us until, by the time we entered the South Comino Channel, she had opened up a lead of one mile. Unfortunately for us, Sonia, who had stood right out to sea, had received the benefit of a wind change and she crossed our bows about half a mile ahead of us.

Darkness was now fast approaching and the skipper decided to reef down the mainsail as the wind was now blowing about Force 5 and the sea was rapidly becoming much rougher. The Navigator and myself went for'ad and after a minor battle against wind, sea, halliard and the roller reefing gear, we managed to reduce the area of the mainsail by some 45 square feet.

At 8 p.m. the Skipper and Navigator went below and as the lights of Malta slowly disappeared one by one, the Mate and myself settled down to the task of keeping each other awake and the yacht on her compass course of 254 degrees (East of North). As the night drew on the seas became higher than ever and almost every wave that hit the bows broke into sheets of blinding spray which plastered our hair over our faces.

After midnight the clouds broke up, and keeping on course was made easier by keeping a particular star in transit with the forestay or shroud. We were now about 30 miles from Comino and all that was left of the archipelago was the boom of the light at "Il-Gordan", in Gozo.

At 2 a.m. the Skipper and Navigator came on deck and a bearing of the light was taken before it too was finally lost below the horizon. This gave us an approximate indication of our speed and when this was calculated we found that we were making good about 4^ knots (5 m.p.h.).

When we changed watches at 2.10 a.m., I elected to stay on deck as I was not feeling particularly well and I could not face going below. Eventually I went to sleep lying on the leeward cockpit seat with foam gushing along the lee-rail about one foot from my face!

At 6.30 a.m. I woke to find that I had been sleeping in a pool of water that had accumulated in the back of my water-proof jacket — it had all dripped down my neck as I slept.

The wind had abated slightly but the sea was still quite high and in the light of early morning it took on a mean grey shade as if promising more bad weather but by the time I went on watch again, it had taken on its more usual shade of deep blue.

At 10.30 a.m. we saw a dark shape in the haze on the horizon, and after consulting the chart we identified it as the island of Linosa. Over a period of one hour we took a running fix on Linosa, and calculated that we were only 3/4 of a mile off course which, after sailing some 90 miles through rather bad weather, ii not a great error.

We continued on our way at about 4 knots and soon we were adopted by a flight of Petrels which kept flying ahead and then settling in the sea until we caught up with them and then flying on again.

Just after mid-day a long low shadow appeared on the horizon over the bow and slowly the low hills and cliffs of Lampedusa became clearer until at last we rounded the low S.W. headland and started tacking up the coast. It was at that time that we first saw another yacht — just entering the harbour — although we had seen nothing all morning.

As we tacked up the coast, the wind began to drop but just held long enough for us to sail into the harbour about 30 minutes behind Skua (we learned later that Sonia had returned to Malta during the night).

Our overall time was a two minutes under 24 hours which, for a journey of 110 miles is not a bad time.

We dropped anchor and secured to the quay alongside one of the Lampedusian fishing boats and heaved a great sigh of relief! The race had been hard but it was all over—and all that remained was to rest and then have a leisurely sail home but this is a different story which I am only prompted to tell whensailing in a Folkboat on the dark blue yet unpredictable waters of the Mediterranean. JOHN PASSMORE - - Upper VI Sc.

This year the school broke away from the traditional Gilbert and Sullivan and staged instead a modern play by Thornton Wilder. It was certainly "different". Set in Excelsior, New Jersey, it concerns the Antrobus family who are living in the future, yet are thousands of years old. They are true descendants ot Adam and Eve, having survived fire, flood, pestilence, the seven years locusts, countless wars and depressions, and the ice-age — by the skin of their teeth. Faced now with the approach of the end of the world, they again prove their indestructability and begin once more; but in the immortal words of Lily Sabina, their general utility maid "the end of this play isn't written yet."

I am afraid that the implications and morals behind this play must have been a little over the heads of the junior forms of the school. Indeed many seniors and adults among the audience found it difficult to understand, though light dawned towards the end, for me at any rate, through the magnificent acting of the entire cast. It was certainly a challenge to acting ability which was ably met.

Aline Macdougall as Sabina the seductive maid was on stage for practically the duration of the play — a severe test in itself. However, she carried off the role extremely well, even in a swimsuit - - a piece of necessary equipment to inviegle Mr. Antrobus away from his wife.

Mrs. Antrobus, played by Pauline McKinley, was a highly spirited piece of acting, well sustained throughout. This part was especially difficult, since Miss McKinley had to act a middle-aged woman: great credit must be awarded for this performance. Brendan Breslin as Mr. Antrobus also put up a very convincing show, derived no doubt from his past experience in school productions.

Susan Brierley as the Fortune Teller and David Hobden as the Stage Manager, were also commendable. Indeed the latter saved the day by making an impromptu speech to the audience when he went on stage before a lady member or the cast had changed. Rosalind Evans and Michael Winkworth, as the Antrobus children, also put up a very good performance.

The force behind this was Mr. Barraclough who, along with his long-suffering stage-crew, worked wonders with what at first glance appeared to be unlikely-looking material. M. MACDOUGALL — VI A.

On Friday, 29th May, 1964, the School said goodbye, for a second time to Mrs. Jean McCallum, the School Secretary - - "Mrs. Mac." to everyone, Between her earlier service during Captain Morgan's Headmastership, and the period, just ended, in the Headmasterships of Captain Mannering and Captain Broad, Mrs. McCalluim devoted some 41/2 years to the School. 1 use advisedly the word "devoted". No task was ever too much, no notice ever too short, no demand ever too impossible. An encyclopaedic knowledge of the details of the School's organisation; a remarkable capacity, given a name, for producing from memory the relevant particulars of an individual with, when required, a thumbnail sketch of devastating accuracy; a ready sense of humour; and an astringent unsentimental but most genuine kindliness, all add up to a very positive and likeable person, whose presence we are as sorry to lose as we were lucky to gain.

Sunday night, 26th April, was the last night of a three day festa, organised by the church in the village of Balzan. Before six o'clock there was a fantastic barrage of crackers and multi-crackers which thundered in the hazy red sky of smoke for almost half an hour. The bangers seemed to jump all over the sky, the red flashes followed by tremendous bangs gave the impression of some invisible 'plane flying into some fantastic barrage of anti-aircraft fire. Occasionally the din would cease for a few seconds as they stopped, then it would start again after some single mighty firework of superior quality had crashed out its own monstrous bang which could be heard for miles.

The sky was deep red when the final cracker burst and the charred pieces of exploded crackers floated in the wind uselessly. The silence was then broken by the pealing bells of the Balzan church.

Outside the air smelled of smoke and exploded fireworks, fragments of which were littered everywhere. People were walking to the square to see the priests and choir-boys in their scarlet robes parade in procession carrying the finely designed images of Mary and the Lord. Statues lined each side of the thronged roads and overhead hung light bulbs hidden in long ropes of leaves. The brass band was playing some local tunes and the many drink and hot-dog stalls plied their business amongst the ever increasing crowds. Movement along the road was slow because of the thousands of people, but it was worth working oneself into a position to see the church. The whole front of the church was dazzlingly lit up by the many coloured bulbs festooned all over it. People moved in and out of the church and the inside reminded me of a palace with its golden banners and fine altar surmounted by silver and gold candlesticks.

Here and there were policemen among the crowds to keep order among the excited people. Cameras flashed at every angle and the bright church presented itself as a fine subject. Young and old dressed in their best talked away as they listened to the band.

The crackers started again and flashed across the night sky with yellow tinged centres. The procession entered the church followed by spectators and the multi-coloured images glinted in the lights. As the coloured fireworks started people who had begun to appear on the rooftops to get a 'better view were bathed in the brilliant lights. Firework after firework shot itself into the air, burst into dazzling colours and lit up the sky like day. Occasionally the brass band was lost in the thunderous bang which deafened everything and everyone. After the fireworks died away and the band stopped the crowds slowly made their way homeward on a night to be remembered.

Under a clear blue sky, the black, sinister shape of the submarine slipped silently away from the side of its depot ship. Running smoothly on its electric motors it nosed its way out of the harbour, then with the powerful diesels switched on, it gradually disappeared out to sea. Two and a half hours later, several miles offshore, the watch reported, "Aircraft on the starboard bow". Within seconds, the buzzer indicating action stations for diving had sounded, and soon the sea was surging round the conning tower as H.M.S. "Thermopylae'' disappeared beneath the waves.

This was Malta, May 1964 and at 7.30 a.m. I had reported with two colleagues to H.M.S. "Ausonia''. By 8.15, fortified by strong coffee, we were standing on the narrow deck of "Thermopylae" watching the final preparations before putting to sea. -Soon we were inside with the 60 other men who form the crew of S. 54., and heading for our rendezvous with a "Shackleton"' of "38" Squadron R.A.F. Luqa. Before the arrival of the plane there was time for any member of the crew who wished, to have a swim and several did so as we waited on the surface. Once contact had been made with the plane, no time was wasted, and when the diving signal came, the submarine came to rapid life. Men materialised from all parts to carry out their jobs, the hydroplanes were put into position, water was pumped into the ballast tanks and we were soon at periscope depth. There are two periscopes on S.54, one a normal wide angle lens, and the other a close up periscope with high magnification so great is the magnification that a tanker which was barely discernible to the naked eye almost seemed to be crossing our bow. Whilst the captain was using the periscope, the radar operator was, plotting the position of the aircraft and 'before long, the submarine was moving slowly on its course with the aircraft trying to find it.

This was to be our sole activity for the next five hours, so whilst the crew settled into their routine, the captain showed us over the ship from the torpedo tubes through the crew's quarters and the control room to the engines,. A modern submarine is very compact and because of the vast amount of equipment on board, there is very little space unused. "Thermopylae", a "T" class submarine, was built just after the war and in the early 1950's was cut in two and had an extra section put in. With her sister ship "Turpin", also based in Malta, she regularly puts to sea for the benefit of the R.A.F. on exercise. After our tour of the submarine, it was time for lunch — and a very good lunch considering the cramped nature of the ship's galley. The afternoon was, spent wandering around watching the various members of the crew as they checked and recorded every aspect of the submarine's course. After tea, there should have been another rendezvous with a further plane for a second exercise, however communication with Luqa revealed that this was not to be, so the accompaniment of a loud hissing as high pressure air was pumped into the tanks, and a slight deafness in ones ears as the pressure in the hull altered, we rose to the surface and headed back to Malta. Much to our surprise, there was a film being shown in the wardroom and we ended our trip watching Sophia Loren in "It Started in Naples".

About 7 p.m. with the sun setting over Malta and a rosy hue on the buildings we eased into our berth beside Ausonia as silently as we had left nearly eleven hours earlier. Soon, all was quiet on board, the crew had gone and the submarine lay at anchor, as dark as the night around her.

You're lying on your back? Were you climbing up the wall Or climbing up the ivy Tell me why O beetle clear

You're lying on your back? Were you looking for your wife Or a mislaid child? Whatever 'tis 0 tell me why

It might be a dragon as people have said, Or it might be the underwater edition of the

Gone are the days of the murderous full-wave rectifier, and its cruel half brother;

Crumbling are the sinister inductance coils, former palaces of Thy Negative brother,

Swans, their white heads bowed against the spate of Time, Water, gently rolling, moving with a sigh, Golden water-lilies, alive, though some must die, Time, water, and swans pass by.

Water, gently rolling, becomes cold and firm. Golden water-lilies shrink and fade. Time goes by -And Winter comes:

It was the year 2038, April 23rd, and in a suburb of London, somewhere a baby boy was born. He was of the original family of James Logie Baird. He had the four fingers and large focus eyes as had been planned for him by Doctor Surgeon Steele. The large focus eyes were for watching television. In fact, he was the modern baby of the day! His eyes consisted of three quarters pupil and one quarter white, his teeth were non-existent and never would exist. His mother disowned him at first sight, this was due to a slight slip o' the grafting tongs.

It has been decided too that he would be a television mechanic, that is why he had the four extended fingers. He would make a brilliant mechanic as he had been brain-washed by psychologist Ernest Crops. His father, Harry Baird, had been an anti-television leader and had been imprisoned and killed for his disloyalty to his famous ancestor.

Lloyd, his son, was suffering in this way to compensate for his father's treachery. Being a model of the modern boy was no joke as later Lloyd found out. He was not allowed to stay with other children as he might distract their attention from the television which taught them mechanics and maths. From his early childhood Lloyd had been encouraged to watch television himself but he could never understand why he always had to watch it alone.

Every house was made up of one room, in which all the eating, sleeping and watching went on. In one corner stood an electric cooker, and in the other three stood single screened televisions. Outside was nothing but a tangled wilderness of wild briars, roses and forget-me-not; good roads deteriorated and half-built villas, fell to ruin, because man was too lazy to mend things. Beyond the flowers was a vaster wilderness where dark pools stank of stagnant water and strange creatures formed themselves out of one-celled germs. It was in these surroundings that Lloyd Baird was born and grew up through childhood, manhood, to old age and death; it was only after his death in 3011 that they found out that Lloyd was blind.

A gay and dancing effect was seen on the water from the powerful rays of the sun. The barge chugged on its way, gliding over the calm sea. The people on it, lay on the deck gazing in awe at the surrounding boulders. They indeed ti first sight looked like a mass of dull colours mixed to form an enormous shape. The other people stared at the peaceful, glassy waters and most probably wondered what strange and tropical sights lay beneath them.

Then the boat stopped between two rocks and the people chattered excitedly. One man with a mask and breathing tube on, climbed daringly into the blue water which was rather cold. He dipped his head into the sea and gasped in wonderment. Beneath him lay a different world of fascinating things. Coral reefs waved about in the water — their beautiful colour mixing with that of the sea. In and out rocks and caves swam small fishes in great shoals. There were fish of all sizes, shapes and colours glowing in the water, illuminated by the rays of the sun shining through the sea. He looked about, gazing at everything that was new and wonderful to him. Thinking that perhaps he would not see these sights again, he swam farther away, entering deeper into the land of mystery and enchantment.

St. John's is silhouetted, With Valletta clustering round, A ship is entering the harbour, Without making a sound.

At the entrance to the Harbour, Standing tall on guard, The lighthouse gives the guiding beam, Which leads the ships to home.

During my stay in Malta I have visited many places of interest, and I now consider that Ghar Lapsi is one of the prettiest I know.

It is a small cove on the west side of the Island. On entering the cove you will see a good car park and a small cafe. A steep incline runs down to the sea. A small seawall is built along the sea front and boat houses are cut out of the rocks. Running from these houses is a wooden skid to allow the boats to be put in and taken out of the water easily.

The sea runs in between large rocks that lie just off shore. As you stand by the seawall and look away from the sea and to the rear of the boatsheds you are able to see long rock cliffs which at this time of the year are covered with wild flowers.

You can watch a fishing boat putting out to sea, see it disappear behind the rocks, and after what seems quite a long time see it re-appear in a completely different place from where you expect it to be.

If you are still there when the sun goes down you find the colouring of the sea and rocks especially fascinating.

One day in the summer of 1963, L was asked if I would like to go to sea or, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker "OLNA". I accepted.

Two days later my father drove me down to Customs House quay where the "Olna's" boat was waiting for me. When I got to the ship I was immediately taken to the bridge. Captain Dunlop asked me how I was and then told one ct the Junior Officers to take me to the Ward Room for breakfast. While I was eating breakfast the ship started to leave Grand Harbour. I hurriedly finished breakfast and ran up to the bridge.

The Captain told me that the replenishment was taking place up near Gozo. The ship that we were to refuel was the destroyer "Aisne''.

As we were passing in front of St. Julian's, the destroyer came racing out of Sliema Creek. She sailed behind us for about half an hour. She was signalling to the "Olna" quite a lot.

Then putting on speed she sped alongside us and then slowed down to 14 knots (1-1/8 mph = 1knot) and cruised alongside us.

The line gun was fired and the line snaked over pulling a heavier line. Then the oil pipes were pulled over. When these had been joined to the pipes of the destroyer's fuel tanks, pumping was started. When the destroyer had "taken its fill", she put on speed and went between Malta and Comino.

The "Olna" then did a turn of a hundred and eighty degrees and sailed back to the Grand Harbour. We had to stay outside Grand Harbour for about an hour and a half. Then two tugs came out and we sailed in. The "Olna" tied her bows up to a buoy and swung round with the help of the tugs.

After lunch with Captain Dunlop I went on deck for about quarter of an hour and waited for the Captain to get ready to go ashore. We then went to the gang plank and boarded a single-manned Maltese ferry-boat. The oarsman then started the motor and we chugged along to the quay and to the end of a trip to sea.

There have been, in past years, many stories about the "Monster" of Loch Ness. Loch Ness is a very famous tourist centre. During the summer nights, people have seen a huge black shape appear above the water. Some pictures have also been taken of "it". A lot of money has been offered to anyone who can solve this still unknown quest. Many people have tried to get a picture of this "thing", but usually never even get a glimpse of it.

It is supposed to be from twenty to thirty feet in length with an enormous head suspended on a long neck. This information was gathered from people's descriptions and a chart of it taken on board a fishing vessel in the Loch.

There is, I think, a hole leading into the sea underneath the rocks and it is through this hole that our friend visits us. What do you think?

Gibraltar is known as the gateway to the Mediterranean. It is the land of sunshine, friendliness and interest; it is also a land of history.

It is a land of interest because of many things, one is the apes. The apes are well-known animals in Gibraltar and there is a saying, "When the apes leave Gibraltar, the English will also leave".

In the sixteenth century Gibraltar was captured by the Moors and there are a few remains of them today. One of the best is the Moorish castle.

Another attraction is the caves. These caves are called St. Michael's caves and are very erie. As one enters one can see stalagmites and stalactites hanging from the ceiling and floor, on the floor are pools of water.

Christmas is celebrated by the "Cavalcade of Kings". This is a procession in which three men ride on camels through the town, followed by floats. These floats are all made up of flowers and are very beautiful.

There are some very fine gardens called Alhamada Gardens. These gardens are full of flowers and when they are in bloom they look very beautiful. Also in these gardens are swings and there is a miniature golf course.

If anyone of you should ever visit Gibraltar I know you will enjoy it a: much as I did.

While I was living in the British Solomon Islands, a remote chain of Islands in the South Pacific, there happened one of those occurrences that will never be explained, when the M.V. "Melanesia" disappeared at sea.

The "Melanesia" was a vessel of about 400 tons, purchased by the Government and in which they had great hopes as it was to start the first regular inter-island service.

On this particular trip it was carrying 79 passengers. A radio signal was received saying that the "Melanesia" had left a District officer ashore on a small island to investigate a fire. The "Melanesia" was never heard of again!

Naturally rumours spread like wildfire but there were no reefs, underwater upheavals or obstacles and the sea was calm and the visibility good. Immediately 'planes were called up from Australia and all the shipping in the Islands were directed to the area.

No wreckage was found until many weeks later when a body, identified as that of the bosun by the tattoo marks, and part of a lifeboat with the buoyancy tanks squashed flat by water pressure, were found.

If this had happened in a more populated area it would probably have been greatly publicised but as it happened where it did little is known about it. What happened to the M.V. "Melanesia" no one will ever know!

Tiger Balm Gardens are in Hong-Kong, these gardens draw large crowds of tourists and even the islanders themselves find them a great attraction.

In the gardens are Pagodas; these are large towers that are pointed. They look as if they are built in layers. These buildings are temples.

There are also large, stone animals, such as apes, rabbits and lions which look as if they are real.

There are many other pretty sights to see and the picturesque flower beds are particularly lovely. A really enjoyable day can be spent at the Tiger Balm Gardens.

British Guiana is in South America, and is situated next to Venezuela. I was born in Georgetown, which is the capital of British Guiana. I went to the Stella Maris School, which is in Georgetown.

We began school at 8.30 a.m. and we finished at 1.30 p.m. This routine was continued the whole year round, because there are no seasons and the temperature remains at 75 degrees Fahrenheit - 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Hockey, Tennis, Basket-ball and Net-ball are played after school each day. Sports day is held annually, and inter-school sports is held twice a year. During the holidays, trips are arranged by the school, to different parts of the country. Every month the school arranges water-sports.

Turkey is a new, young republic which was built on the debris of Ottoman Empire.

In 1918, after the World War I, the Ottoman Empire had lost the greater part of its possessions, the government had no power and the King had gone to England. In this case Turks could not expect any help from the palace government, even to save the remaining parts of the country. Their only hope lay in the successful General of the war, Mustafa Kemal. He was a magnificent soldier, an inspiring leader and a nationalist Turk.

In 1919, Mustafa Kemal was given an appointment by the Istanbul Government as an inspector-general in Anatolia. Once appointed, his real objective became clear. He was determined to rally various nationalistic forces under one banner, and he was able to crystallize his movement in two national congresses in Erzurum and Sivas. These meetings which were attended by respresentatives of national associations, culminated in the centralization of direction of resistance in Ankara. So the Liberation War began.

Turkish nationalist forces fought on several fronts, and on July 24, 1923, with the signing of Lausanne Treaty the humiliating Treaty of Serves was abrogated and Turkey's independence recognized by the world powers.

The scope and meaning of the internal reforms can be better appreciated, if the conditions in Turkey forty years before, are borne in mind.

In a country where the Ottoman kings had ruled for centuries, as God's Shadow on Earth, Mustafa Kemal had courage and vision to do away with centuries of tradition and corruption, by announcing, on October 29, 1923, that the Turkish State was a Republic and with the name of Ataturk, which means father of the Turks, he became first President of the Turkish Republic.

In 1924, the Caliphate was abolished. The next logical step was the separation of religious and State affairs. The law of the Moslem religious book, the Koran, dominated all sectors of the Turkish society and State. Ataturk announced that the new Turkish State was to be secular. The new legal system was based on Roman law, 1925-1926. The biggest reforms were in the status of women. Thirty-five years ago, in Turkish society, women were confined behind latticed windows and were not permitted to have jobs. The new civil code gave equality. The women were encouraged to enter all professions and in 1934 they acquired the right to vote and to be elected to parliament.

Another of his reforms was the abolition of the using of Arabic script, and in 1928 the adoption of Latin characters. Modern schools were built in many parts of the country. Ataturk and his friends actually gave the lessons in these new schools. He also taught better farming methods.

Now, we are trying to follow these reforms. Today, Turkey, is a natural bridge between East and West, both geographically and culturally.

The S.S. "Oxfordshire" glided smoothly into the glassy waters of the Suez Canal, leaving behind it a mass of snowy white foam.

Small boys standing on the side waved frantically and threw anything within reach, while camels lazed in the scorching sun. Suddenly a dinghy appeared with a small man sitting on the mast, waving little leather souvenirs in the air, and after a while a basket was lowered and a number of things were put in.

On the outskirts of Syracuse stands the Latomia of Paradise, a garden well-known for the enormous grotto cut into the face of a rock cliff. The grotto is nearly 60 metres long stretching right through the cliff to an opening on the opposite side. The grotto was named the Ear of Dionysius by Caravaggio, a famous painter, because he noticed that the entrance of the grotto was like the human ear.

The grotto is believed to have been built by Dionysius the Old, who kept his prisoners there. A hole in the ceiling confirms the idea for it is said to have been used by Dionysius whilst he listened to the secrets of the prisoners.

The grotto itself can be divided into two caves, the first being the grotto of echoes and the second the grotto of cord-makers. The first grotto is very dark because the cliff overhangs the entrance and obstructs the light. For this reason the grotto is very damp and moss grows plentifully. This grotto, after turning slightly, forms into the grotto of cord-makers. It is known as the cord-makers' grotto because previously the prisoners made cord on the frames set in the ground.

From the ceiling of this grotto huge big stalactites hang down. In between each stalactite water constantly drips to the floor and so wears small dips in the floor.

This is surely a refreshing scene after the brilliant sun pouring down on to the Sicilian roads.

I have chosen this subject because the idea that most English people seem to have of the Scots' way of life is not at all true. They seem to think that all Scots' people live in little huts in the Highlands; have porridge for breakfast, and haggis which is a traditional Scottish dish consisting of a mixture of minced sausage and liver.

Edinburgh, Scotland's main city, which is called by many Scottish people by the affectionate name of "Auld Reekie", is what one would call a tourists' paradise. It is in my estimation one of the most beautiful cities in Scotland. It has a festival of art and music which is held annually, people from all over the world flock to see it.

One of the highlights of the year in Scotland is the Highland Games. This i? when the brawny Scotsmen come to test their strength at tossing the caber, in which the competitor has to see how far he can toss a huge log. When you see one of these huge logs, you probably wonder how they can possibly manage to lift one up. If you should venture to ask the reply would probably be "We get our strength from all the porridge we eat of course!"

It is the New Year though, or "Hagmonay", which is the real highlight of the year, as far as the Scotsman is concerned. He will start visiting other people at eight p.m., and will finally reach home about eight a.m. or later. It is the tradition that if the first man to cross your doorstep as the New Year comes in is-- tall, dark, and handsome you will have luck for the rest of the year. You are also expected to have a piece of coal to bring good luck.

Another thing which you must drink is the "water of life", which is of course whisky! Scottish scenery is amongst the most beautiful in the world. A true Scotsman wherever he may be will never forget his own country for it is very dear to him. I'm sure if you were to ask any Scotsman "What do you think about Scotland?" he is sure to reply, "Och man it's wonderful!"

Last year I spent three months in Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands. This island is 120 miles from Barcelona and its area is 1,400 square miles. It is very mountainous in the north-west, the highest point being Puig Mayor, which is 4,740 feet high.

We rented a lovely villa in a village called Fornalutz, which is tucked away in the mountains. There were 300 rough stone steps to climb from the village up to our house, which was very tiring, especially in the summer. In our garden grew grape-vines, olives and almond trees. Over the patio was a large bamboo covering which blew off one night when there was a gale. All the walls in the garden were made of large stones piled up together. In one of the cracks of the walls the cat, which belonged to the house had her kittens. The cat's name was Fondador, which is Spanish for Brandy. When the kittens were a few weeks old they were taken away to be sold or drowned.

One man, called Benito ran the bus service, taxi and local shop. The bus was very small and always crowded, and it went three times a day to the nearest town, where a tram would take us to the beach. As the bus was never on time we usually had to wait an hour for the tram.

All the people's washing was done in a long belt of running water, with a stone-board in front of it. The women would rub the clothes on the stone-board and bang them about so much that many of our clothes are frayed. Our maid Catalina did most of our washing, but sometimes we went along to help. People often used to drop the soap into the water, so there was an iron rod to poke it out with. The soap looked like a big chunk of yellow marble, but the people also used a tin of white, creamy liquid.

We left Mallorca in the blazing sun in August to return to England where it rained for three weeks.

In the last year's school magazine I read an article about a Turkish wedding-feast. I was very surprised when I read it because it was so different from the wedding-feast which we celebrate today. I must say that I never saw a wedding like that and never heard of one while I lived in Turkey. The boy who wrote the article had been to a Turkish wedding in Cyprus. Turkish people in Cyprus are different from us; they have never been in Turkey, they use some Arabic habits, and the names which were written in the article were Arabic names.

First of all the article states that the Turkish boy who was married had never seen the girl before in his life, and did not even know her name. I cannot imagine how he can marry a girl when he does not even know her name. It is true that Turkish people in Turkey used to get married in a similar way before Ataturk's reforms.

In the towns, if a boy wanted to get married, he chose a girl, and if the girl liked him, he went to her father and asked him for her, but after Ataturks reforms everything changed. Now, the boys and girls go out together and if they want to get married they tell their parents.

We do not have our marriage in the Mosque; we go to the Registry Office and our parents, and guests go there. Then in the evening there is usually a party, or sometimes the couple go off for their honeymoon immediately after the wedding.

The reason for my writing this article is that the name "Turkish Wedding-Feast" was written at the top of the page, and if English students read it, they will naturally have the wrong impression of us.

The 25th of August was a Sunday. At nine o'clock we started our journey. The sky was clear as we sped along at the mercy of a Maltese taxi driver towards Customs House Steps.

After we got through the Customs my father hailed a dghajsa. Although laden with my two sisters, my parents and me, not to mention the baggage, it glided smoothly through the oily, tar-coated water.

Through a crowd of shouting, crying, waving people I can dimly remember leaving Malta on the "Citta di Tunisi". The voyage passed quickly and soon the ship was docked in Syracuse. From the dirty quay-side we could see, across the bay, a shady, tree-lined road.

On the quay lingered carrozzelle, one of which we hired. Somehow we piled all our baggage in and then got in ourselves. At the station we unloaded and my father paid the carrozzella driver.

We boarded a train bound for Naples. The train moved off and I fell asleep in the growing darkness. When I awoke it was daylight and the train was still moving. The country side was wild and mountainous. Tunnels were numerous and sometimes we came near the shore and caught glimpses of the rocky coastline.

On reaching Naples we left the train and found a place to stay. As it was nearly dark we slept and next morning went on an excursion.

The city was modern and beautiful. We took a taxi and went up Vesuvius. Quite near the top was the cable-car up which we went. The cinders were red, purple, black and even green. We walked round a bit of the rim of the crater but it was too wide to go right round. After spending an exciting day we collected our bags and boarded the train for Rome.

Rome is a beautiful city. It is full of fountains and fruit stalls and gaily-coloured coffee bars. The streets are wide and very busy. We toured the Colosseum which stands as a great stone reminder of the past.

After two days in Rome we went north, where we saw the leaning tower of Pisa, then to Milan, where the famous cathedral stands. We spent an enjoyable day there and then caught a night train back to Rome, where we stayed the night.

The next afternoon we took a train to Catania in Sicily. We decided not to stay there and took a train to Syracuse, where we boarded the "Citta di Livorno" and spent a rough night sailing back to Malta, where we were met with sunshine and warmth.

Malaya is one of the hot countries of the world. Its capital is Kuala Lumpur. Malaya does not have a real winter as it is hot all the year round. Once every year there is a very heavy rainfall which lasts about a week. This rainfall is called a Monsoon.

Most of the women of Malaya wear Saris and have black hair. The most usual hairstyle is to wear the hair back off the forehead and into a bun. Many of the women have a black spot on their foreheads.

The people of Malaya are very friendly and hospitable. The houses of Malaya all have flat roofs and hardly any of them have a second storey. Most of the schools in Malaya occupied by English children have half-days so nearly everyone goes swimming in the afternoons. In Butterworth, a large Royal Air Force camp in Malaya is a big out-door swimming pool with a large refreshment store next to it. About thirty feet east of the pool is the sea with a lovely beach of golden sand.

My father, brother and I went overland by railway to England. We left Malta and sailed on the "Citta di Tunisi" to Syracuse. From there we went by rail to the Hook of Holland from where we sailed to Harwich. At Harwich we were met by some friends who took us by car to their home which is a farm near Colchester.

NAPLES — From our hotel Mount Vesuvius could be seen letting of smoke. Naples is a large city with a great deal of fast traffic. There are many big shopping centres and they have stores named "Upim" which is just like Marks and Spencers. There are many stalls in the streets where you can buy melon or cheap cool drinks for ten lire. Many people try to sell you things in the streets. The Bay of Naples is very beautiful, especially at night.

POMPEI - - This is a very small town and so is the station for the Roman ruins. In the ruins you can see many wonderful statues. The old Roman streets are bumpy where the chariots were once running. Some temples, the Forum and some shops still can be seen.

CAPRI - - In Naples on the tramcar to get to the boat a pickpocket tried to pick my father's pocket but he failed. There was quite a row on the tram. Capri is not a very big island and the two main parts are Capri and Anacapri. It is a very beautiful island and the Marina Grande is a very lovely part. You sail into it from Naples. We had a very exciting bus trip from Capri to Anacapri. We took a cable car from Marina Grande to Capri.

ROME -- We stayed a long time in Rome because there is so much to see. We say St. Peter's, Constantine's Arch, Trevi Fountain, the Forum, the Colosseum and many other famous places. We travelled on tramcars, buses and the underground railway. One night we went out walking in the city and the Rome fountains looked very nice. We threw coins in the Trevi Fountain and wished we would return to Rome. We visited the famous Rome Zoo and liked it very much.

FLORENCE -- It is not as wonderful as many people say. In fact it is rather dull except for the Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio and the Campanile by Giotto. We also went through the beautiful park which has many statues and fountains. I also saw Florentina's football stadium which is a great deal bigger than the one in Malta.

VENICE — This is probably the most beautiful place in Europe. We stayed at a hotel near the Basilica San Marco. We went for a trip in a gondola which was very expensive. Lots of photographers take your photograph. We also travelled by water bus across to the Venice Lido. We saw the Bridge of Sighs and the famous Rialto Bridge.

INNSBRUCK — On the way to Innsbruck guards were positioned along the track to prevent bombs being planted on the track. There had been some trouble in this area. This was another beautiful place with green countryside and snow capped mountains. We stayed in a hotel that was seven hundred years old. We went to Mount Hafelekar which is 7,000 feet high. We went to the top by cable car and I bought an Austrian hat with a feather in it. We saw a famous inn called the Golden Dache. It is supposed to have a golden roof.

MUNICH — This is a very clean city and the hotel was no exception. The room and the beds were very clean. Some of the buildings were more or less the same style as in Venice. The city gates in the Karls-Platz are very much like the gates in York. It has many large shops and cafes where people sit in the open air and have their meals and talk.

ZURICH — You can see many beautiful things to buy but you can't buy them because they are too expensive, but it is a very beautiful city near a lake.

BASLE -- We didn't stay long here but it was interesting to see the frontier running down the middle of the railway station. We changed trains here and got a train for Paris.

PARIS — The weather was now getting colder and when we were near the Eiffel Tower we got in a hurricane, but the weather cleared and we went to the top of the Tower. There is a wonderful view from the top. We also saw the Arc de Triomphe and the grave of the Unknown Warrior. There is a beautiful park where people sail their yachts. The hotel room we first stayed in was invaded by cockroaches so we moved and got a better room. We often travelled by the Metro. We cut one day off our holiday in Paris because my brother and I wanted to be in England in time to see Ipswich Town play football.

BRUSSELS - - When we arrived there was a big fair, so we stayed and watched the various shows. This is also a very large shopping place and it is a modern city. We bought some records and postcards. There is a very famous fountain and statue called Manneken-Pis, and we bought a record with Maurice Chevalier singing a song about it.

ROTTERDAM - - This is an extremely modern place now because it was bombed so much during the war. The hotel we stayed in had a very low roof and the buses run very late at night. There are no cars allowed in the shopping centre and trees grow on both sides of the road. The station has a glass roof. This is one of the most modern towns in Europe. Their statues are also very modern.

HARWICH — We crossed from the Hook of Holland and landed at Harwich. It was a Friday evening so we were in time to go and see Ipswich play. We had enjoyed our trip very much but the crossing from the Hook to Harwich was a bit rough. ROBERT ROSS -- lA1.

Before the second world war, the town of Plymouth was known as three different towns, Devon-port, Stonehouse and Plymouth. Since the war these have been joined together and taken the name of Plymouth. Devon-port and Stone-house are the Industrial areas of Plymouth. At Devon-port there is the Dockyard, where many men of Plymouth work. It takes up most of Devon-port and a lot of ships anchor there.

When the Queen came to Plymouth, the Royal Yacht "Britannia" anchored just outside the harbour and the Queen came in on a launch to the Barbican where the Lord Mayor of Plymouth was waiting to greet her. She came to Plymouth to open an institution for the blind. She also visited the Guild-Hall and R.A.F. Mountbatten, which is named after the Duke of Edinburgh's cousin, Lord Mountbatten. (No it isnt! - Webmaster)

The oldest and most famous place in Plymouth is the huge Fish market. The streets of the Barbican are still cobbled and lined with Elizabethan styled houses. Near the Barbican are the Mayflower Steps, where the "Mayflower" set off in 1620 to take the Pilgrim Fathers to new lands.

The "Hoe" is another famous place, it is where Sir Francis Drake was play-ings bowls, when he first sighted the Spanish Armada. There are swimming pools and beaches on the "Hoe" and many schools go swimming there.

Three years ago a big skyscraper was built in Royal Parade, called "The Givio Centre". It has many storeys, and consists largely of offices. It has a restaurant and you can get a lift up to the roof (or you can climb the stairs). Once on the roof you can have a panoramic view over the whole of Plymouth.

Royal Parade is the main shopping region of Plymouth and there are many large stores. Altogether Plymouth is a very busy and important town in Devon.

In the village itself there is one shop which is a grocers, a post-office and a confectionery. The nearest church is about two miles away and I used to walk there every Sunday. Most of Shottenden is farm houses and they are nearly all old-fashioned, but now they are starting to build council houses which, ] hope, won't spoil the country-side. There is one Pub. in the village which is owned by my mother and it is called the Plough. There are beautiful flowers which hang down in wire baskets from the windows above. There is also an old-fashioned bench which has been there for at least sixty or seventy years.

The village is surrounded by trees and orchards, cherry trees, plum trees, gooseberry bushes, apple trees and hop fields. One of the most fascinating things to watch is hop picking. Nowadays they use machines to pick them but the work used to be done by hand. The village is well spread out and there are many muddy tracks which lead to the very old houses.

Most shopping is done in Canterbury which is about ten miles from Shottenden. It is very peaceful and I think Shottenden is one of the nicest places
to live in. P. DANIELS — 3B.

St. Michael's Mount stands in the sea with a causeway to the land, which is a small village called Manazian, near the town of Penzance, Cornwall.

The castle was built in the Medieval times as a Fort, but when the tide is out it is impossible to search it except by boat. In older times it was difficult to invade.

When searching the island all provisions have to be taken on a small lift. In early days, men had to carry everything.

The castle has a small church and many years ago, remains of a man — six-foot six-inches tall — was found walled up there. Most prisoners during battles were thrown from the battlements to fall hundreds of feet onto the rocks below.

Today one can see the old canons used to guard the ramparts. Many visitors come to look over the Mount for among other things there is the footprints of Queen Victoria which was made when she stayed there.

The Mount now belongs to the National Trust, but Lord St. Leven still lives there with his family. C. FISH -- 2C1.

In Yorkshire, where I come from, Shrove Tuesday is celebrated more than anywhere else in England, especially in Scarborough.

The day starts just like any other day, but at 10.00 a.m. the fun really starts. There are races with pancakes and frying pans for the women, and the men usually go on a country run.

At dinner-time everyone starts to cook her pancakes, and if they are not eaten at dinner-time they are eaten at tea-time.

Early in the afternoon everyone makes his way down to the foreshore with skipping ropes, especially teenagers who get the thick fisherman's ropes to skip with.

There are people of all ages skipping, from small children of three to grandmas and grandads. All along the foreshore are skipping ropes spread across the road. Cars cannot get past and at least one of the cars trying to get along is almost sure to get tangled up in one of the ropes.

Curium is an ancient Roman city situated on the coast of Cyprus Episkopi. Serious earthquakes and tremors have razed it to the ground.

HOMMERWUCK

How cringed the little Lazybugs? How bent and sorrob were? Did teacher enter stern and fear? And round them for an oily tear.

Beware the Hommerwuck, my soul! The page that bite. The maths that catch Beware the unwrit word and shun The leering, jeering, paper patch.

And as in dreadish thought he stood The Hommerwuck without a blot Came fizzling at his head of wood And dented in this blameful clot.

And has thou done the Hommerwuck? Come to my arms, my beastly boy. Oh Yip Aye, A you'll pay Ole Sir yelped in his joy.

One two, one two, and through and through The pen went splatter! Blot! He wrote 'till dead this wooden head Then melted on the spot.

JACK LOWE — 2A2.

FIRST XI CRICKET REPORT — SEASON 1963

Averages

Batting

	Inn.	no.	h.s.	runs	av.
R.M. Hurrell	30	6	IOO	686	28.57
A. Ashforth	16	5	71	254	23.12
D. Evans	21	1	54	417	20.85
B.M.J. Breslin	30	4	44*	410	15.77
Mr. J. Bowen	12	0	36	188	15.66
G. Lyall	19	3	48	239	14.87
Mr. J.P. Ratcliffe	12	o	48	167	13.92
D. Hobden	27	4	71	320	13.91
Mr. E. Lewis	12	o	37	164	13.66
D. Eustace	5	2	31	35	11.66
F. Jackson	12	2	37	111	11.10
L. OBrien	13	4	55*	78	8.67
P. Gettings	IO	7	5	22	7-33
A. Wilkin	5	1	12	2O	5.00
A. Routledge	4	1	6	9	3.00
Also batted: Ferrett	o,o;	Randall	2, 2;	Caunter	12, o;
* signifies not out.	Clark 1;	Proctor	o.

School colours were awarded to: G.Lyall, M. Gillham, G. Roberts, M Paxton, T. Brown.

Results:

Feb. 29th v. Falcon W.R.N.S.Won 1—o

March 7th v. R.A.F. Wives Lost 1—o

March 7th v. Falcon W.R.N.S Won 3—2

March 13th v.Signals Squadron Mtarfa Won 2—1

March 26th v. R.A.F. Wives Won 1—o

April 18th v. R.A.F. Wives Drew 3—3

AMANDA HINTON — Captain.

We were fortunate in having several key players from last year's side forming the nucleus of a well-balanced team this season. Although their defensive play was often weak, our backs acquitted themselves well, as did the forwards, despite their lack of cohesion.

Though his tackling often lacked determination, full back Breslin's handling and touch-kicking were beyond reproach. Randall showed his customary incisive-ness until his leg injury, when O'Brien became the spearhead of our attack, combining well with a vastly improved Cooper, whose change of pace and grubber kicks were an integral part of our offensive play. After an insignificant start to the season at outside half, O'Brien was moved to the wing, his delightful 70 yard try against H.M.S. Ausonia justifying this positional change. In Bell and B. Jackson we had a pair of hard working half backs, who fortunately realised that the team's strength lay outside them, and they therefore used the ball intelligently, Bell creating many openings for his alert three-quarters.

The best of the forwards were, in my opinion, Whittington and J. Clark. The former for his terrier-like tenacity, his anticipation and his speed, Clark for his liveliness in the loose and his courageous tackling. However, a word of praise must go to Ford and Woodcock, our second row pair, for their hard work in both scrummages and line outs. Finally, I feel I must mention Lyall who, although in his first season of competitive rugby, hooked competently and was a big asset in loose mauls and in line out play.

The team would like to express their gratitude to Mr Smith, Mr. Griffiths and Mr. Bowen for arranging the matches, for their coaching and useful tips and for their vociferous encouragement from the touchline.

SCHOOL TENNIS 1963-1964

At the time of going to press, the School Team had not played any matches, but a match against the Ladies' Staff has now been arranged. The School Tennis team consists of:

1st Couple: R.Sutherland, J. Carver.

2nd Couple: S. Brierley, J. Browning.

3rd Couple: M. Sillis, R. Hopkinson.

4th Couple: H. Rourke, M. McDougall.

Res.: R. Holroyd.

JANE CARVER.

Results:

School First VII 31 goals Whitehall W.R.N.S. 10 goals

School First VII 19 „ Secondary Technical School, Hamrun 15 ..

School First VII 25 ,, Secondary Technical School, Hamrun 20 „

School First VII 25 ,, Falcon Wives 15 ..

School First VII 14 Falcon Wives 17

School First VII 11 Sacred Heart 13

School Second VII 18 Falcon Wives "B" 3

School Under 14 VII 11 Sacred Heart Under 14 13

1st VII A. Bigden J.Price S. Hollier C. Smith. J Carver (Capt.) R.Hopkinson M. Sewell Res. R. Hubble J. Price

2nd VII L.Fairhall S.Norman H Rourke (Capt.) D. John J. Hoole J Price R. Hubble Res P. Cutler

Under 14 VII J. Baxter C. Batchelor E Forrester P Daniels (Capt.) J. Osborne G Hamley J. Johnson

Colours were presented to: A. Bigden, J. Price, M. Sewell. Old Colours: J. Carver.

Jane Carver — Netball Captain.

Junior Netball Team.

THE MALTA UNDER-15 X-COUNTRY

Our team trained after school on Mondays and Thursdays. Some of us trained during the dinner-hour. We all had to do some training at home during the weekends.

On Wednesday, the 27th February, we were all very nervous, for on that day we were to run. During the dinner break we got on our shirts. I was captain so I told my team to keep up with the leaders.

Just after 2.15 the others runners arrived by bus. The race started at 3.15 - about a quarter of an hour before the markers went out.

When we were all lined up in our schools, Mr. Bowen told us the route and warned us of all the slippery parts of the course. Then we were off!

Out of the school gates and into the gully we went. We had started in the car park. In the gully it was slippery so we went very carefully. When we ran out of the gully into the valley we all settled down. I can't remember what I was thinking, I think it was about my style.

I splashed past the canteen, for it had been raining that morning. Smith was about five yards ahead of me, I was running with two Maltese competitors. Behind me lay the rest of the field.

The navy-blue shirts were all in the first fifteen. Up the hill Smith got away from the rest of us, then the two boys I was running with got away from me. 1 was yelled on by our school supporters at the top of the hill, and then I went a bit faster to catch up with the two Maltese boys, but when I did they went faster and I was too worn out to catch them again.

The yells of joy and encouragement were heard at the hill, when Smith for our school won. Then two more were applauded. I was next and another boy from Tal-Handaq came fifth.

All our runners came in the first twelve. We won with a very low total. I went up for the cup and the first four in our team were awarded medals. When the prizegiving was over we went into the canteen for refreshments where the headmaster, who had presented the prizes, went round congratulating all the runners.

MICHAEL HENDERSON

MALTA SECONDARY SCHOOLS X-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Following our good performances over the last two years it was with very high hopes that we accepted the invitation to act as hosts for this year's championships. It was thought that on our own severe course we would be unbeatable and so the results proved.

Juniors 1st R.N.S. Seniors 1st R.N.S., a clean sweep at last, but not before we were given a severe fright by Stella Maris College in the Senior event. It all depended on the position of their last scoring runner. Fortunately both our non-scoring members of the team beat him and forced him far enough back in. the field to give us victory. Our Juniors continued their winning ways in convincing style and this year managed to provide the individual winner.

Senior Team: Whittington (Capt.) 3rd place; R. Smith, 6th; Lyall, 9th; Reed, 11th; Hedley, 29th; Jamieson, 43rd.

Junior Team: W. Smith, 1st place; Henderson, 4th; Agnew, 6th; Thomson, 8th; Rafferty, 9th; Matthews, 10th.

DRAKE HOUSE BOYS

GENERAL REPORT

This past school year has seen a substantial increase in the number of extra-curricula activities and also the number of people who attend the meetings of the various Clubs and Societies. Drake Boys can boast of being represented in every one of these groups and in fact almost every boy in the House has some interest which is catered for.

The Senior Literary and Debating Society, although having predominantly female support in the Upper School, is always strengthened by the presence of three very keen Drake boys in the form of John McCallum, Michael Winkworth and John Mercer who always use their literary attribute to their fullest extent. Another Club for those who wish to express their feelings is the Art Club in which Michael Merredew is a very senior member.

For those boys who tend towards a more scientific outlet for their talents there is the Senior Science Society which always has excellent support especially from Ian Heath who is our Mechanical Brains Man.

On the whole, the talent in the house is above average and very diverse as Drake Boys besides being in the forefront of all sports are able to organise and help produce anything.

Proof of this is in the success we had in the Junior Play Competition in which boys from the First and Second Forms performed and Michael Merredew and other senior boys helped to organize. Although we did not win the Competition, we came a very close second.

In conclusion, I think that this year, the success of Drake Boys has been much more in keeping with the athletic success and I hope that it will continue in years to come to be the "top house".

JOHN PASSMORE — House Captain.

SOCCER

Our soccer team this year failed to emulate their predecessors and consequently we obtained only 3rd place in this competition.

The most successful team was that of the third year, which, ably captained by Janman, won 3 matches, drew 2 and only lost i.

The first year met with some success, but although they had the skill they rarely combined satisfactorily. McGreen, a promising young player, is worthy of note.

Although the line-up of our senior team was probably the most formidable in the school they managed to win only 1 game. The reason they did not do as well as expected I can ascribe only to the attitude of our temperamental stars. However, Jackson and Deas played consistently in defence whilst Paxton was our best forward.

RUGBY

We won the rugby competition but not without a little resistance from St. Vincent.

This was due mainly to the fine performance of our 2nd year who, captained by Moore, quashed all opposition.

• Our first year team won a match and drew one, whilst our 3rd year met with a little more success and scored two victories.

Although we had a hefty 4th year team they appeared to lack in skill what they had in strength and won only one game.

The senior side won two of its games fairly comfortably but succumbed to the kick-and-rush tactics of the eventual senior champions, St. Vincent.

CROSS-COUNTRY

The cross-country was a very close competition and we were narrowly beaten by St. Vincent.

Our best team was that of our first years who walked away with their team race. M. Todd won the race outright, McGreen came third and Ellis fifth. In addition to this, all six of our runners came in the first twelve.

The second year team came 2nd in their section but came well behind St. Vincent who won.

The third year did a little better but our seniors, not being as good as they were last year could not get the extra points to ascertain an overall win.

ATHLETICS

(Contributed by JOHN PASSMORE)

Once again Drake Boys had a comfortable win. All years contributed to this fine result, but special mention might be made of Cain and Todd who between them gained wins in 100, 220, 440, High and Long Jump in first year — i- very fine effort.

In Second Year Jamieson and Nicholas gained wins ir: the 100, 220, High Jump, Long Jump and Cricket Ball.

In the Third Year Whiting and Hoctor came through with a win in the 220 and seconds in 880, High and Long Jump.

In the Fourth Year we had wins in the 100, 220, and Discus and places in the Shot and 440. These results were due to fine effort by McCallum, Trick and Watson.

In the 5th and 6th Years our outstanding performer was Ian O'Brien with wins in the 440 High and Long Jumps while Paxton did very well with a victory with 220 and 3rd place in the Long Jump.

We also won the First, Second and Third Year Relays.

Finally, I should like to thank our House-master, Mr. McAllister, for the time he has put in the training, supporting and encouragement of our teams.

IAN O'BRIEN — Games Captain.

DRAKE HOUSE-GIRLS

REPORT

Tennis

The Drake team played very well and the three couples are to be congratulated on their good play and enthusiasm. The team consisted of:

1st couple — Jane Carver, and Rosemary Sutherland. 2nd couple — Maureen Sillis, and Rosalyn Holroyd. 3rd couple — Patricia Rodger, Anne Sinclair and W. Kunkler.

Hockey

Seniors Juniors

GK Sandra Wright Susan Roamer

LB Susan Pearson Kay Batchelor

RB Jane Beadle Margaret Murray

LH Maureen Sillis Caroline Sutherland

CH Patricia Rodger Nina Crosland

RH Nicola Newton Penny Green

LW Jane Carver Denise Porter

LI Joan Price Janet Osborne

CF Rosalyn Holroyd Valerie Brett

RI Anne Sinclair Elizabeth Forrester

RW Rosemary Sutherland Linda Barnett

Reserves

D. Carpenter E. Thompson

C. Symmonds G. Sinclair

A. Davies P. Menall

The junior team, playing with great enthusiasm and determination, managed to win the junior hockey cup. The seniors, however, were not so successful only managing to gain third place.

Netball

The teams consisted of:

Seniors Juniors

GK Rosalyn Holroyd Linda Barnett

GD Rosemary Sutherland Faith Savage

WD Janette Taylor, M. Sillis Elizabeth Forrester

C Denise John Denise Porter

WA Francis Lowe Janet Osborne

GA Jane Carver Fay Townsend

GS Joan Price Jane Johnson

Although the Junior team played very well they were placed second to Nelson. The seniors were also placed second although they did not play as well as expected.

Athletics

The junior and middle school did very well in the sports due mainly to the efforts of:

Faith Savage, Elizabeth Forrester, Jane Johnson and Janet Osborne. Janet must be commended on breaking two 3rd year records, the long jump and the 150 yards and finally for receiving the cup for the best girl athlete.

The seniors, however, did not do so well but our congratulations go to Rosemary Sutherland and Barbara Chapman.

The Inter-House Play

Drake came second in the Inter-house Drama Competition being narrowly beaten by Nelson. I think that everybody enjoyed themselves and congratulations should be given to the cast. Penny Wansbury, Carol Wansbury, Alan Buckley, Penny Green, Philip Woodcock, Diana Pearce, Timothy Lusty, Barbara Hayhurst, Linden Lawrence. and Nina Crosland, and especially to Susan Jones who with the help of John Passmore and Melanie Lusty produced the play. Our thanks also go to all those who helped backstage.

We would like to thank all Drake House mistresses, and Miss Tripp most of all for her help and support throughout the year.

JANE CARVER — House Captain. ' ROSALYN HOLROYD -- Games Captain.

NELSON HOUSE-BOYS

REPORT

Overall this has been a fairly successful year from the Games point of view.

Soccer

We began the new year by taking the Soccer Trophy from Hawkins at last, although the competition was not decided until the very last game. Our Junior and Colts teams were outstanding and it would be unfair to single out any individuals since everyone played so well. After a shaky start, the Seniors played very well and managed to beat St. Vincent in the deciding game to clinch the trophy. We were a little unlucky in having only two regular members of the First XI, Cooper and Hurrell, in the team but several others such as Maple, Whittington, Routledge and M. Townsend are worthy of mention.

Rugby

Our 2nd/3rd Year team was the mainstay of the House. They won all their games in the y-a-side Competition, but despite the efforts of 1st XV members Cooper, Whittington and Ensor we made little headway in the Senior Section. Our Juniors too, were very disappointing, probably due to lack of knowledge of the game. Despite the results, there was a commendable fighting spirit displayed by all teams.

Cricket

A season of disappointing results for Nelson. The Senior XI came very close to victory against Hawkins and St. Vincent but luck and time was against them. D. Evans, A. Ashforth, D. Eustace and R. Hurrell represented the School 1st XI and A. Routledge batted extremely well in the two matches mentioned above.

Cross-Country

This was another great disappointment and we must thank our 3rd/4th and 5th/6th Year teams for gaming us third position. Our Junior runners did very badly but they could have improved if they had realised the value of concentrated practice.

I.Whittington and R. Smith, both who represented the School at Cross-Country were outstanding in the Senior Race, gaining 1st and 2nd places respectively.

We were unfortunate to lose two prominent members of the House in D. Evans and A. Ashforth at the beginning of the Year, but due to combined House effort they have not been missed too greatly. I would like to thank Jim Cooper (House Captain) for all the help he has given me and Mr. Lewis and Mr. Wilkinson for all the work they have done towards the sporting activities of the House.

R.M. HURRELL — Games Capt.

NELSON HOUSE-GIRLS REPORT

We have been fairly successful during this past year. A project we started at the beginning of the year was a blanket, made up of knitted squares. After much pushing from the senior members of the House we finally got enough squares to finish it and we are now going to send it to a deserving cause.

A Public Speaking Competition was held during the autumn term in which Nelson came first. Our speakers were Pauline McKinlay, Susan Lawrence, and Alan Routledge.

During the spring term an inter-House Drama Competition was held in which Nelson did very well by again coming first. The play, "Six Who Pass While The Lentils Boil", by Stuart Walker, was acted by all four Houses; their Senior members produced and arranged the play, and the Junior members took part in it. Nelson chose Chinese costumes for their production, and I would like to congratulate everyone who had anything to do with it, for a wonderful performance.

Finally, on behalf of the House, I would like to thank all the staff members in Nelson, especially Miss Reed, for the help they have given us during the past year. Pauline McKinlay also deserves thanks for the help she has given the House since she came to Tal-Handaq, and especially for the play. On behalf of the House, I would like to wish her every success for the future.

ISOBEL SIMPSON — House Captain.

Tennis

1st couple — Anna Gardner and Sandra Kerswell. 2nd couple -- Helen Rourke and Audrey Driver. 3rd couple — Jacqueline Harding and Kitty Chaytor.

Reserve: Pat Doherty.

Nelson finished third in the Inter-House tennis matches, but the three couples played well, and are to be praised for their enthusiasm.

Hockey

Seniors Juniors

GK Audrey Driver Janet Townsend

RB Linda Finney June Liddle

LB Pauline McKinlay Katheryn Jennings

RH Jacqueline Bubb Teresa Bachelor

CH Kitty Chaytor Christine Tunkin

LH Greta Cantwell Christine Cole

RW Sandra Kerswell Jane Moyle

RI Pat Doherty Cherry Bachelor

CF Anne Gardner Elizabeth Couzins

LI Helen Rourke Gaynor Hamley

LW Catherine Johnstone Lesley Holmes

Reserves Pamela Beadle Jane Baxter

The Seniors played well but had to be content with second place, being runners-up to St. Vincent.

At the beginning there was a lack of enthusiasm among the Juniors, and practices were made difficult by their limited numbers. However, the team itself was keen and played well, and with a little more accuracy could have been more successful. It is hoped that there will be more enthusiasm next year among the Juniors in order to give the team adequate practice.

Netball

Seniors Juniors

GS Pat Cutler Jane Baxter

GA Sandra Kerswell or Gaynor Hamley

Catherine Johnstone

WA Jean Sayer Phyllis McDonald

C Helen Rourke Pamela Brewster

WD Anne Henderson Katheryn Frizelle

GD Susan Norman Christine Tunkin

GK Susan Lawrence Janet Sadler

Reserves

Sybil Wheeler

Nelson never seems to be very successful at Netball, and this year was no exception in the Senior matches. The team was no match for the other Houses, and hampered by illness and lack of practice, they lost all their games.

The Juniors however, excelled themselves by winning all their House matches, beating Hawkins and St. Vincent and drawing with Drake. It would be unfair to single out any one particular player as tliey were all very enthusiastic and played extremely well as a team. They thoroughly deserved their success.

Athletics

Nelson gave a good all round performance in athletics this year, winning the Girls Athletic Cup, although the House as a whole finished third.

Special mention must be made of: Jane Masters who won the 80 yards, Anne Gardner the 100 yards and 220 yards, Gaynor Hamley the third year javelin, Catherine Johnstone the fourth year high jump, Margaret Canham the fifth year long jump and Jill Scantlebury the discus. Both the third and fourth Year relay teams came first, the former breaking the record set up by Nelson last year.

ELIZABETH ROBINSON — Games Captain.

HAWKIN'S HOUSE REPORT--BOYS

REPORT

On the whole, this year has not been particularly inspiring either on or off the sports field. Despite the hard work of Breslin, the producer, our house play only managed to finish third in the Inter-House Competition. The majority of the senior boys were most reluctant to take part in extra-curriculum activities, the burden usually falling on Roberts and Breslin, the latter being the boys' representative in the Public Speaking Competition.

In the sporting events Hawkins failed to retain both the athletics and the soccer shields, and their performances in the other events can only be described as mediocre.

SOCCER

A magnificent season with the result of the competition resting on the final game. Congratulations to Nelson on their fine win! The seniors and the 1st Year team, who were ably captained by Evens, were undoubtedly the mainstay of Hawkin's challenge for the honours as the 2/rd Year side, captained by Bishop, started the season disasterously. A recovery towards the end of the season however, in which both John and Thurlow were prominent, brightened their performance. Of the seniors, who lost only one game, Brown, Gillham, Roberts, Bell, Jamieson, and Breslin all represented the 1st XL

CRICKET

Once again Hawkins put up a spirited challenge, but faded away towards the end of the season. The juniors, whose outstanding player was Walker, disappointed especially as it looked as if they had a strong side. The seniors were unpredictable, but very keen in the field. Brown, Roberts, Randall and Breslin represented the First XL

CROSS-COUNTRY

Thanks mainly to the generosity of Nelson, Hawkins finished third. This was despite some excellent performances by members of the junior school namely Rafferty and Thomson who helped Hawkins to win the 2nd Year section. The under 15'$ and the seniors disappointed although Jamieson ran well in the senior race. It must be emphasised however that one cannot win any race without the initial sweat and toil of hard practice. It is to be hoped that our successors will heed those words.

ATHLETICS

Despite some excellent individual performances Hawkins just failed to retain the athletics shield. This was I suspect partly due to the girls who were relatively weak last year. Of the seniors Randall and Brown were prominent although praise must be given to Stenton who broke the 4th Year long jump record and it is to be hoped that he and Randall form a winning combination in the sprints this year.

In closing we would both like to thank Mr. Griffiths, our House-Master, for his help towards the management of the House in the past two years. Finally we wish our successors the best of luck, and sincerely hope that they enjoy the same co-operation from the House as we have done.

T.R. BROWN — House Captain. B.M. BRESLIN — Games Captain.

HAWKIN'S HOUSE--GIRLS

REPORT

Tennis

1st couple — L. Kearn, M. Macdougall.

2nd couple — R. Hubble, S. Prater.

3rd couple — S. Hollier, C. Smith, J. Proctor.

Although we found some difficulty in procuring a team amongst the seniors, the above couples were finally chosen to represent us. Unhappily, tennis does not seem to be our best sport, for though all concerned tried very hard, we ended up fourth.

Hockey

Seniors Juniors

GK S. King P. Daniels

LB M. Hughes M. Taylor

RB A. Bigden G. Witherspoon

LH J. Proctor M. Knifton

CH C. Macdonald J. Rodger

RH M. Bradshaw G. Davey

LW M. Macdougall V.Reed

LI R. Hubble B. Williams

CF M. Bishop C. Forrester

RI C. Potter E. Morrison

RW S. Hollier K. Smith, S. McGaw

Reserves Reserves

A. Hoctor A. Bell, V. Duncan

The main difficulty in the senior team was a rather weak forward line though the defence played admirably.

The Junior team did very well this year, drawing a match with St. Vincent, beating Drake 5—2 but unfortunately losing to Nelson, which lost us the cup.

This was a very good effort, considering that the team was subject to alterations each week, due to different people turning up. Much credit must be given to goalkeeper Pat Daniels for this result.

Netball

Seniors Juniors

GS S. King P. Rayfield

GA R. Hubble P. Daniels

WA A. Bigden C. Forester

C C. Smith J. Matthews

WD M. Bishop V. Reed

GD M. Macdougall R. Bence

GK C. Potter G. Witherspoon

Reserves

C. Macdonald J. Rodger, S. McGaw

Both Senior and Junior teams came 3rd in the overall result: however inthe case of the Juniors who won a match, lost one and drew one thus making them 2nd equal, it was judged on goal aggregate.

Again Pat Daniels was the main-stay of the team.

Athletics

Overall, Hawkins produced a most satisfying result, ending up 2nd. Outstanding among the senior runners was Rosalind Evans, who won the 220, came 2nd in the 100 and put on a marvellous sprint at the end of 5th and 6th year relay, allowing us to win by a noticeable distance. Among the juniors, Caroline Forrester and Pat Daniels earned us quite a few necessary points. The 2nd year also were a great credit to us, especially in Long Jump and High Jump.

House Activities

The only other House activities were the Junior Drama Festival and the Public Speaking Competition. Many Hawkins girls helped with the play, but enthusiasm was not so great for the Public Speaking in which Carol Potter and Rosalind Evans represented the girls, 1st position was awarded to Rosalind for her speech on "Ludum Praeter Palmam Amare".

We would also like to thank the House Mistresses, Mrs. Harvey and Mrs. Gerrard for their support and help in all our activities and House Meetings.

MARGARET MACDOUGALL — Games Captain. ALLISON BIGDEN — House Captain.

ST. VINCENT HOUSE REPORT - BOYS

REPORT

Overall a very successful season's sport, during which St. Vincent triumphed in the swimming, cricket, and cross-country. This was mainly due to an excellent House spirit which was created by the enthusiasm of Mr. L.C. Smith, our House-Master.

Cricket

The Under-i5 team, ably captained by Vant contributed to the overall success of the House in winning the Shield. The Senior team, captained by Gettings, won two of their three matches. Gettings, Wilkin, Moore, Hobden all played for the school 1st XI.

Swimming

Excellent performances in both the diving and swimming events by Lyall and Norton, encouraged the "Saints" famous "water babes" to success. It must be emphasised however that this was an all-round effort and it is to be hoped that it will be continued this year.

Soccer

The seniors, who although strong on paper, proved to be very unlucky on the field with shots going everywhere but in the goal. The absence of an experienced goalkeeper also helped to produce a very mediocre score-sheet. The 1st Year team proved to be disasterous managing to amass a total of 14 goals against them in one match! The 2nd/3rd Years, although possessing a great amount of ego, failed to produce good results.

Athletics

There were many good performances by the St. Vincent boys those of Reed, Hedley, MacAuley, Lyall, and Tatton being the most prominent. The boys managed to attain second place although overall St. Vincent came last.

Cross Country

The 1st and 2nd Year teams could only manage to attain third position and I hope that those present next year will put in a few more training evenings. The Under I5's and the seniors ran excellently and green shirts were prominent at the head of the field in both races giving the "Saints" overall victory. Special mention must be made of the four scoring members of each team. They were Smith, Agnue, Matthews, and Kelly for the Under I5's and Lyall, Reed, Hedley and Hobden for the seniors. Well done!

Rugby

Once again the junior school let the rest of the House down, only managing to win two matches and drawing one altogether. The seniors on the other hand played some sparkling rugby. The 4th Years, captained by Ford, won every match in convincing style and the seniors, captained by Dunn, although lacking in weight made up for it with speed and also won their three matches.

The House spirit was especially noticeable during the rugby competition when a large number turned up to support.

In the two other activities, namely the Public Speaking Competition and the Junior Plays, in which Tatton and Wishart were our star performers, I must give credit to the girls for their excellent support. Although winning the Public Speaking Competition we came fourth in the plays, which was mainly due to pool support from the boys.

D. HOBDEN - - House Captain.

ST. VINCENT HOUSE-GIRLS

REPORT

Throughout the last school year, St. Vincent girls have shown a great deal of enthusiasm where games were concerned. Sometimes attendance at Manoel Island was not satisfactory and the lack of supporters for some of the matches was very noticeable, so it is hoped that before next year's House Report an improvement will have been made.

On behalf of the House, we would like to thank Miss Lister, our House Mistress, for her unfailing support and encouragement throughout the year.

Tennis

St. Vincent did very well in the Tennis season, losing only to Drake in a close match. Everyone concerned worked very hard, however a little more movement on the court was needed. Representing the House were:

1st couple — S. Brierly and J. Browning. 2nd couple — A. Hinton and A. Macdougall. 3rd couple — M. Sewell and L. Tierney. Reserves: E. Asher and C. Morton.

Netball

The seniors were very enthusiastic and as a team played splendidly and never lost a match. Sadie Lyle as centre deserves a special mention. They tied with Drake but due to a higher goal average, were positioned first.

The juniors did not do so well but tried hard in all their matches and always showed enthusiasm during practices. As a team, they worked together, but spacing on the court and passing of the ball can be much improved by practice. St. Vincent tied third with Hawkins but on a goal average came fourth.

The teams were:

Juniors Seniors

GK S. Whitting G. Buckeridge

GD J. Hobder J. Price (Capt.)

CD M. Rennick V. Burton

C P. Lowe (Capt.) S. Lyall

CA D. Taylor A. Merch-Chammon

GA S. Spencer R. Hopkinson

GS D. Doherty M. Sewell

Reserve Reserve

D. Banes L. Fairhall

Hockey

The senior hockey team did extremely well this year and succeeded in winning the cup. Geraldine Buckeridge played especially well although it was through good team play that we won.

The juniors were not so successful but they ought to do better next year with more practice. Their main fault lay with the forwards who did not press enough in their attacks but the defence was good.

The teams were:

Seniors Juniors

GK M. Harris/S. Smith S. Whiting

RB G. Buckeridge G. Patterson

LB L. Fairhall F. Jones

RH V. Burton L. Crisp

CH S. Pierce N. Sharp

LH M. Bell W. Brown

RW A. Macdougall D. Humphries

Rl J. Browning P. Lowe

CF A. Hinton (Capt.) H. Edwards (Capt.)

L, C. Pretty M. Rennick

LW C. Miller/L. Tierney D. Doherty

Athletics

St. Vincent Girls were not very successful this year, partly due to a number oi injuries both before and on Sports Day and also the same girls having to enter for most of the events.

General House Report

On the non-sporting side, St. Vincent has had varied results although on the whole they have done well. We came 2nd in the speech-making competition, thanks to A. Macdougall, M. Sewell and R. Tatton who all had excellent speeches. The new venture this year of a junior play was greeted with great enthusiasm by the junior members of the house. However the result was not so good as we came fourth.

It was decided this year to knit a blanket for charity, each girl knitting a number of small squares. They were sewn up and finished off by Geraldine Buckeridge and others.

AMANDA HINTON — House Captain. LORNA TIERNEY —Games Captain.

MALTA SECONDARY SCHOOLS' ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Last year after the school magazine had gone to print our athletes excelled themselves and managed to gain second place in the Junior Shield. First place in the Senior Shield and so carry off the Premier Award the Aggregate Cup. We proceeded in winning eight of the twelve field events, an exceptional performance and a direct result of work done on the waste land around the school.

This year hopes ran high that we might carry all before us, as in the crosscountry earlier in the year. Our Juniors however, suffered from illness, injury and in certain cases lack of school spirit. They slumped to third place. The seniors, inspired by the performances of their captain, Ian O'Brien, won the Senior Shield and gained sufficient points for us to retain the Aggregate Cup.

Worthy of special mention are the record breaking feats of Ian O'Brien He is now the record holder in all the senior jumping events. His records are High Jump, 5 ft. 4 ins.; Triple Jump, 41 ft. 11 ins., and Long Jump, 21 ft 31/2 ins. Remarkable performances for a boy of 17. Well done, Ian!

Athletic Sports 1964 and School Records

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