The probable implementation of the proposals of the Radford Report and the resultant termination of the Junior Examination have made 1970 a significant year, not only for Grammar, but for all secondary schools in the State. Such a move will place the Queensland education system more in line with that which education critics purport as the most desirable.
The projected changes will, it is predicted, produce a less stereotyped student than previously as they will cater more for the particular talents of diverse individuals. But even though such a situation may be bordering on the ideal, it must be kept within definite bounds. The primary function of a school is to lay a basis for a broadminded education, to develop the ability to appreciate the Arts, and to understand the Sciences, and this is of prime consideration in forming techniques in education.
The responsibility of every school to the community has been extended beyond this of late however. During the last decade, the cancer of student unrest has inhibited the efficient operation of many universities and it is into this turmoil that many of Grammar's pupils will go. They must approach it sensibly and rationally and part of the duty of the school today is to ensure that they can. To achieve this, students should be instructed as to how to determine the facts pertaining to a topic of dispute and allowed to interpret them — through private thought certainly but more often through discussion, by which means both sides of an argument will evolve. The failure of several schools to encourage such an atmosphere is the principal reason for the present disruption of campuses in France, the United States and Australia.
We at Grammar are fortunate in this respect, for the concept of active involvement of pupils in debate has already come into wide usage. No doubt a product of this environment has been this year's introduction of a school newspaper. It provides a medium through which opinions on current trends in society can be advanced by boys and either questioned or supported by others.
Grammar has met most innovation successfully and adapted to it with discerning compromise between tradition and progress. This quality, prevalent in few schools, is inherited by every student and so, hopefully, can effect a stabilizing influence in society today, where the vogue is uniform non-conformity and passionate reform.
Richard Warne
Subscription — Annual: $4.00, due in advance on July 1st. Life Membership: $80.00. Badge: 60 cents. (Note: the General Secretary's correspondence address has moved from Thomson's Bookstore to the School itself, c/- Brisbane Grammar School, Gregory Terrace.)
Our new President, W. J. D. ("Bill") Ross, entered the B.G.S. in the middle of 1929 with the last batch of boys who gained State Scholarships tenable for a period of 2½ years. In 1932 he joined one of the leading firms of Chartered Accountants, later qualifying for membership of an Accountancy Institute. In 1935 he joined the staff of the South Brisbane Gas and Light Co. Ltd. and has continued with the same company since — now known as Allgas Energy Ltd., the first authority in Australia to introduce the use of natural gas — where he is Secretary of the company.
In earlier years his principal relaxation was Rugby Union Football and sailing (16ft. skiffs). Since leaving the B.G.S. he has continued to take an interest in the School, particularly since he has had four boys there himself, and he took an active part in the Centenary fund-raising campaigns in 1964 and 1967. He would like to see members of the O.B.A. making a special effort to increase its membership by persuading others who are not members to join, because he realises that the greater the membership, the greater the possibilities for helping the School.
The 1970 Old Boys' Section carries the usual Births, Marriages and Deaths registers (compiled by K. A. Lemon). These registers are not reproduced in this transcript.
They are not reproduced in this transcript.
In this era, an Old Boy's year designation was the year he entered Grammar; the convention today is the year he finished. A boy who started in 1993 and finished in 1997 was (93) but is now '97.
Brisbane Grammar School Old Boys' Association · Old Boys History. Part of the OBA Knowledge Project.
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