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Being unwell I missed the last
Winter Reunion. This is a favourite event in my calendar
and I relish the opportunity to catch up with
contemporaries from school days. Over sixty years ago I
entered Form 1b of Collyer’s School and I remember clearly
my first day there in September 1955. Growing older, my
appreciation of times past has greatly increased. Then a
Grammar School Education was something to be prized. In
the 1950s Collyer’s School was run with uncomplicated
efficiency, being relatively free of administrative “red
tape”. My first year was P.A.Tharp’s last as headmaster,
so my early time at the school bridged the change to
D.J.Coulson’s regime. PAT as he was widely known in
Horsham, had a caring style of headmastering. Determined
to learn the names of all the new boys, he lunched with
them on Wednesdays in the hall, working around the first
form tables and trying to identify each boy. Soon he was
nearly name perfect. On Mondays, in assembly, after the
procession of begowned masters had left, he would read out
extracts from letters he had recently received from Old
Boys who were making their ways in the world. Even though
the senders’ names meant little to me as a new boy, these
letters were interesting and afforded a chance to think
about future career opportunities at home and overseas.
In contrast, D.J. Coulson’s
headship was driven by keen discipline and a robust
academic ethic; work and its results were the all
important issues. These were well illustrated on 25th
October 1962 when I arrived to find the head boys of two
very prominent Sussex schools waiting in our prefects’
room. They had come seeking support for a planned regional
pupils’ strike. The intention was to demonstrate to our
politicians the terrible anxiety felt by so many young
people that the Cuban Missile Crisis would escalate the
Cold War into to a full blown nuclear confrontation
between the US and the USSR. Roger Hawksworth, my
immediate predecessor as Head Prefect, handled the
situation very tactfully at the time and our visitors went
on their way empty handed. There was however some press
interest and the Headmaster, in typical style, was not
amused, robustly stating ”We’re here to work.”. Jimmy
Hodgson reckoned the telephone wires between DJC and the
two other relevant headmasters neared melting point! The
protest fizzled out in a couple of days as the crisis was
resolved. The boys’ actions were a bit ahead of their time
and nowadays something similar might meet with more
understanding.
Recently, along with several other
OCA committee members, I attended the Old Mercers’ Club
Annual Lunch at the Mercers’ Hall. This was a splendid and
interesting occasion. Considering that Mercers’ School
closed in the late 1950’s, the Old Mercers have done very
well keeplng going for so long. Sadly their Club is to be
wound up in 2022 as the dwindling membership makes it
unsustainable. Unlike the OCA their Club has no successor
institution to support. The highly successful progress of
The College of Richard Collyer gives the OCA better focus
and a raison d’etre beyond merely keeping Old Collyerians
in touch. It affords a source of new members which we are
very anxious to exploit in to strengthen our membership.
There are many former pupils who do not belong to the OCA
but who might respond to a friendly nudge to join,
especially from an OCA parent.
The OCA as it stands includes some
very talented and committed members, some of whom have
worked extremely hard in pursuit of the Association’s
objectives. Many members have experience in a wealth of
career paths as well as the more general talents of
fundraising, communications, organisation and management.
To increase its relevance, and to avoid appearing slightly
like a chrysalis, suspended in time, the committee is
planning a number of activities which will enable it to
augment the activities of the College of Richard Collyer.
(Actually, the insect lovers amongst us will know that
there is nothing static or suspended about what is going
on inside a chrysalis. It is a time of intense
re-allocation of resources and re-organisation of form!)
There are two very obvious ways in which the OCA can
assist the College. One is in the area of awards, and we
have for some time sponsored certain prizes, e.g. in
Creative Writing, and the other is in financial support
for projects. Last year we donated money for team sports
kit. We are currently considering the idea of offering
careers mentoring for College students. By setting up a
series of reunions and other events we hope to attract
more members and to make it clear that the OCA is a
forward looking and productive organisation with a useful
future.
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