Old Boys' Society
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President |
Mr. G. Hamilton - Headmaster |
Vice - President |
Mr. D. Clough |
Chairman |
W. Ivan Rhodes |
Vice – Chairman |
Ken Oxley |
Secretary |
Len Price |
Treasurer |
Ken Oxley |
leonard_price@sky.com |
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As Headmaster of Ermysted’s, and President of the Old Boys' Society it is my pleasure to welcome you to this website page. The school’s long history, coupled with the loyalty it inspires amongst its pupils both past and present, mean we have an extremely active Old Boys' Society which takes a keen interest in the progress of the school. We are particularly grateful to the Society for their generosity in raising considerable sums of money to assist with our developments, especially with new buildings, refurbishment and the purchase of equipment.
The Old Boys are proud of the school, they enjoy hearing of its academic successes, its sporting and musical achievement, its drama activities and its rich variety of trips and foreign excursions. They form an important part of the school’s history, their experiences and reminiscences helping to draw a picture of a school which has developed throughout the 20th. century into one of the top grammar schools in the country.
The Old Boys are a representation of the fine teaching and the strong discipline which have inspired boys throughout the years. They have left school ready to play their part in the world, and have done so, often with remarkable success.
It is both a pleasure and privilege to be Headmaster of such a school; under the guidance of previous incumbents the school has flourished, serving the community of Craven for over 500 years. I hope it continues to do so for many years to come.
The Treasurer reported that the Society was healthy and financially sound. The Income and Expenditure Account shows a balance of £9865, while the Investment Account stands at £25061. The Hartley McIntosh account stands at £8866.
The election of Treasurer and Secretary was straight forward, both being re-elected un-opposed.
Those of you who attended the 2008 Annual General Meeting will remember that the Committee had received a letter from the Chairman resigning from the post, and from the Committee. The Committee recommended to the meeting the appointment of Ivan Rhodes as Chairman. This recommendation was voted on by the assembled members and passed unanimously. Ivan took over as Chairman with immediate effect.
This left the post of Vice-chairman open, and it was agreed that at the 2009 A.G.M. that the Committee would recommend a candidate to the meeting.
The Chairman announced that after much discussion the Committee proposed that Ken Oxley be appointed. This recommendation was voted on by the assembled members and passed unanimously. Ken took over as Vice-chairman with immediate effect.
The 2009 Founders’ Day Dinner was held at lunchtime for the first time in living memory. This was an experiment, some concern having been expressed about the rather boisterous behaviour by some of our younger members in recent years. The event was reasonable success, the profit from the Bar, Raffle and Ticket sales, was £702. The 2010 Dinner will revert to the evening.
A Society working party was set up to discuss the Cricket Pavilion replacement and has recommended that a replacement should be built between the Sports Hall and the
“ Top”. Plans have been drawn up for a Sports Pavilion, consisting of Changing Rooms and Toilets, with a First floor level with the Top consisting of a large room, office etc. with an exterior balcony. A target date for completion is the Centenary of the Old Boy’s Society in 2012. An appeal is to be launched when there is something more positive to report, please support it generously when you receive the correspondence.
On the Sports side of the Society activities, the annual rugby match against Giggleswick Old Boys was not played, Giggleswick requesting an alternate date. It was felt that this was not possible due to the extra travelling costs our team members would incur. This year’s the match will be played on the Sunday, December 12th. against a Craven, Wharfedale and Ribblesdale Select team. Please watch the “Craven Herald and Pioneer” for details of venue and time of kick-off.
The annual cricket match unfortunately cancelled due to the weather.
Golf is, at the moment, the busy sport.
We have the Hitchin Trophy, played for by Old Boys during May each year, won this year, 2010, by Derek Hickie .
The Society Annual match against the School was revived in 2009, and returned to it’s traditional venue, Ghyll Golf Club, the Society coming out on top.
The annual match against Giggleswick Old Boys continues to thrive, 2009 saw the Society team retain the title for the fifth consecutive year. The 2010 match was played in late June, the Society team retaining the Craven Plate with a 4 games to Nil victory.
Would golfers interested in playing in any of the above in 2011 please contact the undersigned.
The President reports that the pupil role is now 797, it is anticipated that this will maximise at about 850 by September, meaning that the school will be “full” within it’s present facilities.
He reported that, in 2009, out of 164 Grammar Schools, Ermysteds was placed 7th. in examination results, and was the top Yorkshire school.
The school has been up-graded to the designation of a “High Performance School”, it carries no additional funding, but allows the school to apply for a second Specialist School award. The President announced that it had been decided that an application for the “Leading Edge” designation would be made.
A grant was received from the Wolfson Foundation towards the cost of a major refurbishment of Laboratory S9, the work was completed by the start of the school year.
The Memorial Library has been renovated and its formal re-opening will take place in the Summer. The Library, known to our more senior members as “Big School”, has been returned to its original size and is now a new, extended, library. At the same time the old School House Dining room has been converted into a Sixth Form Resources Area, incorporating new shelving, furniture, lighting and a Careers Area.
Please don’t forget, the school web-site now has the Directory facility for users to purchase goods from a wide range of suppliers, please use this option if possible; the School receives a percentage of each purchase price to boost school funds.
The website has recently been up-graded by the IT department, and the “Old Boy’s Society” pages of the site up-dated. The Society pages will be kept up-to-date by liaison between your Committee and the School IT department, any members having comments about the site, or having items for it, should contact the under-signed.
. Last year the Society donated £5000 towards the School’s requirement to raise £25,000 for the next stage of the School’s Specialist Science College designation, as you can see we are carrying on our tradition of assisting the current pupils.
As you can see, the Society is in good health. Your Committee thanks you all for your support, if you know any Old Boy who is not a paid-up member of the Society please encourage them to join, the more subscriptions we can achieve the more we can do to help YOUR school improve the facilities for all
The Secretary’s report 2008-2009
Those of you who attended the 2008 Annual General Meeting will remember that before the meeting was formally opened it fell to me to announce that the Committee had, earlier in the year, been in receipt of a letter from Mark Follows tendering his resignation as Chairman and Committee member. This action had been made necessary by his increased career and other commitments. The committee had discussed the situation, and recommended to the meeting the appointment of Ivan Rhodes as Chairman. This recommendation was voted on by the assembled members and passed unanimously. Ivan took over as Chairman with immediate effect.
The Treasurer reported that the Society was healthy and financially sound. The Income and Expenditure Account shows a balance of £12678, while the Investment Account stands at £24679. The Hartley McIntosh account stands at £8866.
The election of Treasurer and Secretary was straight forward, both being re-elected un-opposed. The resignation of the Chairman means that the position of Vice-Chairman has to be discussed in Committee and a nominee will be recommended to the A.G.M. in 2009.
The 2008 Founders’ Day Dinner was once again a success, upward of 150 members enjoyed a pleasant evening, with Roger Ingham entertaining us with an excellent speech. Profits from the evening, from the Bar, Raffle and Ticket sales, were £807. This was less than had been anticipated, due to unforeseen additional costs.
The Cricket pavilion demolition has now been completed. A Society working party was set up to discuss its replacement and has recommended that a replacement should be built between the Sports Hall and the “ Top ”. This proposal needs to discussed with other interested bodies within the School, and any alternate areas for sporting investment debated.
A target date for completion is the Centenary of the Old Boy’s Society in 2012. An appeal is to be launched when there is something positive to report, please support it generously when you receive the correspondence.
On the Sports side of the Society activities, the annual rugby match against Giggleswick Old Boys is still being played, last years match resulted in a defeat for the Society Team. This year’s match will be played on the Sunday, December 13th. please watch the “Craven Herald and Pioneer” for details of venue and time of kick-off.
The annual cricket match against the boys continues. Would interested potential playing members please contact Ken Oxley, or David Smith, via the School.
Golf is, at the moment, the busy sport.
We have the Hitchin Trophy, played for by Old Boys during May each year, won this year by Ivan Rhodes . Normally this competition is played at Skipton Golf Club, but this year it was played at Ghyll Golf Club. An Old Boy, Bill Lee is the 2009 Captain and, with his Club’s permission, invited us to play there this year.
The Society Annual match against the School has been revived, and returns to it’s traditional venue, Ghyll Golf Club, in early July.
The annual match against Giggleswick Old Boys continues to thrive, 2008 saw The Society team retain the title for the fourth consecutive year. The 2009 match will be played in early July.
Would golfers interested in playing in any of the above in 2010 please contact the undersigned.
The President reports that the pupil role now exceeds 750, it is anticipated that this will maximise at about 850 by September, meaning that the school will be “full” within it’s present facilities.
At the end of the 2008 Summer term the Headmaster, Tom Ashworth, retired. During his time at the Skipton he has worked energetically on behalf of both the school and Society. We wish him well, and hope that he and his wife, Ros, enjoy a well earned retirement.
His replacement as Headmaster and Society President is Graham Hamilton. Graham has previously been a Deputy Head at School, this is the first time in living memory that a permanent appointment had been made internally. We are enjoying working with him.
Commencing in May 2009 will be the restoration of the Memorial Library, the dividing wall in “Big School” is to be demolished returning the room to its original size and the room becoming a new, extended, library. At the same time the old School House Dining room will be converted into a Sixth Form Resources Area, incorporating new shelving, furniture, lighting and a Careers Area. The anticipated completion date is September 2009.
A School tradition is the commission of a portrait of retiring Headmasters, and the Society has assisted in the purchase this year of Tom Ashworth’s portrait, an additional commission has been a portrait of M. L. Forster, which will fill a gap in the portraits of previous Headmasters. These portraits have been completed, the formal unveiling is planned to take place on completion of the Memorial Library restoration.
The school web-site now has the facility for users to purchase goods from a wide range of suppliers, please use this option if possible; the School receives a percentage of each purchase price to boost school funds.
The website has recently been up-graded by the IT department, and the “Old Boy’s Society” pages of the site up-dated. The Society pages will be kept up-to-date by liaison between your Committee and the School IT department, any members having comments about the site, or having items for it, should contact the under-signed.
As you can see, the Society is in good health. Your Committee thanks you all for your support, if you know any Old Boy who is not a paid-up member of the Society please encourage them to join, the more subscriptions we can achieve the more we can do to help YOUR school improve the facilities for all.
Len Price.
Hon. Sec.