The St. Nicholas Parents' Association 09 (1965-66)

SAINT NICHOLAS GRAMMAR SCHOOL

PARENTS' ASSOCIATION

President: The Headmaster

Chairman 1964-65: Mrs. R. Henderson

Chairman 1965-66: W. H. Kinnerley, Esq

The Association has completed another very successful year. Undoubtedly the greatest achievement has been the final clearance of the money owed to those whose generosity made it possible for us to build the Junior Common Room. This was achieved because of the magnificent response of parents to an appeal for funds, and a very successful Fair held, as usual, in July. The construction of the Junior Common Room was a most ambitious project and the Association has every right to be proud of a fine building which is greatly appreciated by the School and has inspired other schools to follow in our footsteps.

The raising of money, however, has not been the only objective of the Association, and a number of well-attended social events were held during the year. These included the Padrams' production of Harlequinade and A Resounding Tinkle, a social evening held in the Junior Common Room, two interesting film evenings organised by Mr. Jefford and Mr. Coleman and a musical evening arranged by Dr. Watson and Mr. Spurgeon. The annual dance was held at the Tithe Farm Hotel, South Harrow, and again proved a great success. An enjoyable car rally, organised by Mr. Hudson, took place on September 26th.

Returning to the Fair, which was most graciously opened by Mrs. Watson, we were luckier with the weather than in some recent years, and an innovation was an athletics meeting in which other schools were invited to compete. (In fact, our own athletes were almost embarrassingly successful.) We were also delighted that Miss Gwenda Matthews, the Olympic athlete, was able to join us and thank her most sincerely for the charming way in which she presented the trophies and assisted in the raffle draw. The vast amount of preparatory work which takes place during the months preceding the Fair is not always fully appreciated, and the Association is most grateful to all those who assisted in any way both before and during the Fair. Thanks to their efforts the Fair showed a clear profit of £746 Bs. Id.

A more serious side of the Association's activities concerned the local Council's proposals for reorganising secondary education in the Borough. Information meetings were held to enable parents to decide whether they wanted to fight for the continued existence of the School. Similar meetings were held at our sister school, St. Mary's, and this led to a joint meeting of parents of both schools at which it was decided to set up a Joint Action Committee headed by Mr. Allard, a parent of St. Nicholas, and Mrs. Hammond, a parent of St. Mary's. We are most grateful to them and their Committee for the many hours they have spent looking after the interests of our sons and daughters.

During the year we had to say farewell to a number of friends among the school staff and the parents. A special Cheese and Wine Party was held on December 10th, during which a presentation was made to Dr. Clarke, the Senior Mascer, who has been appointed Headmaster of Sir Walter St. John's School in Battersea. Among the parents two who have given outstanding service to the Association, Mr. Hudson and Mr. Ingram, were elected Vice-Presidents. We should also like to offer our sincere thanks to Mrs. Trewin and Mr. Cannon for their services during their period of office.

Our very special thanks and appreciation go to Mrs. Launder and the ladies of the Catering Committee who again provided the most attractive and appetising refreshments at many of our events, and co Mrs. Matthews and Mrs. Millier and their ladies for their work in providing refreshments at school sports events something which is greatly appreciated both by the School and by visiting teams.

Finally, I should like to thank most sincerely all those on the Committee, Staff and Parents, without whose friendship and help I could not have carried out my duties. My thanks go to them all, but I feel I must especially name Mr. Hudson, our most efficient and patient secretary, and Mr. Kinnerley for the very thorough job he did as Treasurer. Mr. Kinnerley is now Chairman of the Association and I wish him and his Committee every success in the current year.

R.H.