AOSA CENTENARY HISTORY 1841 - 1941
page fifty-eight
Contents
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Appendix
The long morning holds back dinner until half-past one. In the winter terms, games occupy the hours from two till four. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the girls have the top field for hockey; on Mondays and Fridays three games at football keep the boys busy. One game is on the bottom field, for generations of scholars the only one for both cricket and football; the other two games take place on the football field beyond the cricket field where Ayton clay sometimes still daunts the most resolute opponents. The vast old beech tree which stood inside the railings on the bottom field, has gone; the bank on the opposite side has been cut back and a touchline proper is marked a yard or two from it. The natural amphitheatre at the western end of the field is adorned with trees and shrubs and affords a seat from which to watch the lawn tennis on the two hard courts behind the goal. These courts are the much appreciated gift of M. S. Wells, so long the mentor of the girls’ side, and of the Old Scholars’ Association, to commemorate her presidency of the Association.
In the summer term the routine is slightly altered. The two school periods are cleared off at once; tea is put back to six instead of half-past five and the interval is used for cricket, tennis and bathing. The copper beech by the Meeting House is in leaf and for long this leafage has acted as timekeeper and thermometer for the swimming bath.
In cricket, as in football, the rising age of the players has improved the standard of play. Coaching produces increased skill and adaptability and though the School’s opponents are usually older than the School’s players, yet Ayton girls and boys hold their own against the ancient, friendly foes of Saltburn High School or of Guisborough Grammar School. The motor has increased the range of matches, and on Wednesday and Saturday half-holidays no longer does Minchin’s two-horse brake take hours to get to Redcar and longer to return. Instead a special bus whisks the players to Whitby or Scarborough, Northallerton or Darlington, and returns so soon that preparation can hardly be avoided.
During the spring term everyone prepares for sports. In addition to the individual championships and races the competition between the houses of Firbank, Swarthmore and Pendle stimulates house-rivalry and partisanship. House is matched against house in races, jumps, throws, relays. No longer do the experts alone count and a single point gained by the hidden talent of an unexpected junior is as valuable as one achieved by the champion. So house cries urge on the runners from the pistol to the tape and the proclamation of final results, delayed until the last afternoon of term, arouses keenly attentive interest.
This house system adapts the house idea to schools where no physical ‘houses’ exist, and Ayton adopted it in 1916. Four houses were chosen and named ‘Backhouse,’ ‘Harding,’ ‘Pease,’ ‘Richardson,’ famous names of early begetters and modern supporters. Each house had an equal number of children, and each house had its special colour. The members of each house chose a girl and a boy as house captains. Newcomers were picked in turn by these captains to maintain equality in numbers; equality in ability was not so simply attained, and in eighteen years ‘Pease’ won eight times and ‘Richardson’ six. One mistress and one master joined each house. These houses covered all the normal activities of school life. Marks were awarded for scholarship, hobbies, conduct and athletics, which, in addition to the usual games, included sports, swimming and gymnastics. In 1934. a new scheme was devised. The School was divided into three houses, ‘Firbank,’ ‘Pendle’ and ‘Swarthmore,’ names no less renowned but partaking rather of the genius of the place than of the person. This triple house competition was confined to athletics and hobbies and has proved no less valuable and stimulating than the earlier one. In general the house system encourages team work and fosters the idea of loyalty to the group; it gives a chance to all; even the weakest can help and it has helped to solve in part some problems of discipline and work.
But the school day sinks to its close; for in preparation after tea, minds concentrate on appointed tasks duly recorded day by day in the ‘prep ' books. The preparation routine is interrupted on Wednesday and Saturday evenings when leisure time work occupies everyone. Some hobby will suit each girl or boy. If the girl cannot knit she may sew or embroider; if she does not care for drawing or painting, she may like to make wool mats or to bind books. If woodwork does not appeal to the boy he may try metal work; or he may do art or music or photography. The smallest make wool mats or weave scarves on homemade looms. Natural history claims some, but whatever they do all are busy till the bell signals the end.
Sundays entail a different routine. Scripture teaching throughout the School occupies a period before Meeting. Meeting begins at 10.30. The normal Friends’ Meeting remains as strange as ever to those who come to it fresh and unknowing at the beginning of each term; it remains as helpful and strengthening as ever to those who have experienced years of its discipline and who at last have appreciated beyond this discipline the value of Quaker silence and of Quaker speech.
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