THE END OF AN ERA The School Loses its Head The Headmaster who nursed the School through its infancy, Mr Withrington. left to join the ranks of His Majesty's Inspectors in April 1947. A tribute to his work is best given by his pupils. The 1947 edition of Prospice put it as follows: . . .no comment can adequately record the School's debt to its first Headmaster. We feel that he will be remembered most by the influence he has had on the school. Despite difficulties of the war years, an evacuation which completely divided the school; the 'doodle-bug' campaign which kept the School almost continually in the air-raid shelters; and now, the re-organisafion of the school system involving an ever-increasing number of official forms, the Head has managed to preserve in the School a certain character which will remain long after he has left. The School had to begin from scratch, but now, we feel that there is little to show that the School is new, apart from the freshness of the building itself. In a short while the Head has achieved a maturity for the School and a high reputation in many, and varied fields of activities. In a School with a history reaching back for two or three, or five or six, hundred years, a Headmaster who served for eight years might strengthen its traditions, modify them, or merely struggle ineffectually against them; but the character of the School would certainly outlive his period of 'brief authority'. We of Greenford County School are aware, at this moment especially, that we have been sharing in that rare experience of creating a character and shaping a tradition that we are glad and proud to recognise as a School. Although we are asking Mr Withrington to accept more tangible tokens of our respect and affection, we know that he will most value this recognition of his work, and our resolution to continue, as far as may be possible, to develop that character and to foster those traditions. . . .An interview can be a thing of cold formality, of empty words. None of us, school, staff or parents, has ever gone to Mr Withrington with our personal problems or anxieties without receiving advice and help as full of practical value as of imaginative sympathy. 'Integer vitae,' says Horace of his ideal Roman; and within the larger bounds of the Christian philosophy and way of life, we would say the same of Mr Withrington. Among the many lovely passages he has read to us at prayers, one seems peculiarly fitting to be recalled at this time: the Aristotelian doctrine of virtue of character 'We acquire the virtues by first acting virtuously'. Alan Rogers: 1940-1947 writes:- The strength of Greenford County lay in its Headteacher. John Withrington, and his Staff. The school had a quiet atmosphere conducive to study and those who were prepared to take advantage of it were free to develop any potentiality. John Withrington was a scholar and a liberal educationalist. When I was in the Sixth Form and called upon to take assemblies I was allowed to illustrate the idea that 'our lives pray more sincerely than our lips' from the pages of the Dean of Canterbury's much abused book The Socialist Sixth of the World. Mr Withrington did imply at the time, I remember, that he thought I was pushing my luck: but he did not place a ban on the reading. Those who remember Mr Withrington's assemblies will have their memory buds stimulated by mention of the name of Thomas Traherne. One only had to hear the opening words 'the reading this morning is from the writings of Thomas Traherne' to anticipate the reading which followed: 'Your enjoyment of the world is never right till every morning you awake itt Heaven: see yourself in your Father's Palace; and look upon the skies, the earth, and the air as Celestial Joys. . . You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars: and perceive yourself to be the sole heir of the whole world, and more than so, because men are in it who are every one sole heirs as well as you. Till your spirit filleth the whole world, and the stars are your jewels; till you are as familiar with the ways of God in all ages as with your walk and table; till you are intimately acquainted with that story, nothing out of which the world was made; till you love men so as to desire their happiness with a thirst equal to the zeal of your own; till you delight in God for being good to all, you never enjoy the world.' For those who were prepared to listen the foundation was being laid for a life of one's own in unity with the whole world and with all life on earth. Ann and Derek Dawes write: Mr Withrington. the first Head, created a very big impression on the 1946 intake and although he left in 1947, had made a lasting mark on the school as he was a very charismatic figure, who, obviously, was genuinely interested in all his pupils. It was truly the end of an era as, shortly after Mr Withrington's departure, the School had to say farewell to two other stalwarts of thc School. Prospice again: The Extraordinary Mr Smith Mr H A Smith was known as a friend of the School before he became part of it, for his singing during Mr Marshall's Musical Evenings at Hillside (the Torquay club house) was admired by all who remember those days in 'foreign parts'. Little did we think then that the master from the school with velvet-capped prefects and heaps of tradition would join our staff and help our community during its formative years. Mr Smith was rapidly absorbed into the School because of his versatility: but particularly because one quality has been prominent in all his contributions to school life. A modest profession of his inability to do what is required of him has never modified his willingness to help and to add his energy to the job in hand. His supposed inexperience of dramatic work never caused a technical hitch in any play production he has stage-managed; his professed failure to understand charts and manipulate figures has never prevented him from keeping complete and reliable records and scores at all school sports functions; his avowed ignorance of any subject has never prevented him from making an invaluable contribution to any debate or discussion. The French and German Choir, founded and directed by Mr Smith, has now become one of the greatest attractions at school concerts: the Choir entertain the audience by their singing, but Mr Smith himself fascinates the Choir tenfold by his individual and vivacious method of 'conducting'. page 45