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CELEBRATING 125 YEARS OF HISTORY 1896-2021
Thwaites encouraged contact between the
Guildford boys and the girls from St Hilda ’ s and Perth College for mixed dancing classes . The organising of the School Ball was given to a boys ’ committee .
Houses were required for new masters and land was purchased from the Harper family . More radical was Thwaites ’ proposal that the School should purchase property close by for use as a hostel for international students .
Thwaites wanted to replace the authority exercised by the prefects and masters with a more self-disciplined idea for the School . A Punishment Committee was established in 1950 to review prefects ’ punishment powers . Prefects ’ right to impose fatigues were stopped and attempts were made to find a more productive activity for delinquent students .
Thwaites encouraged contact between the Guildford boys and the girls from St Hilda ’ s and Perth College for mixed dancing classes . The organising of the School ball was given to a boys ’ committee .
Staff and students had great difficulty in coming to terms with the sudden relaxation of Guildford ’ s military style discipline . The Prefects ’ Committee , chaired by the School Captain and attended by the House Captains , reported a disrespect toward the prefects , increased cheekiness , sloppy marching and parades , untidy dress and unruly behavior . Thwaites asked the Old Boys , parents and the prefects to give his new system time to succeed .
In 1954 , Thwaites formed the Guildford Grammar School Society which was changed by David Lawe Davies to ‘ Parents and Friends ’ in 1958 .
The older members of staff and the Old Guildfordians resented Thwaites ’ new regime and were not happy with his closer involvement with the day-to-day running of the School . The new Council was at first very supportive of Thwaites , but not so much in the later years .
The new Science War Memorial Block was opened on 14 February 1956 and work was
Peter Thwaites at the opening of the new Science War Memorial Block in 1956 with the Governor Sir Charles Gairdner .
planned for the second stage immediately . This was partly funded by a fete held at the School . It was the first major building constructed from sources outside the Church since the chapel and gymnasium .
In the sporting arena , Guildford won the PSA Athletics in 1950 and Swimming in 1951 .
The Cadets also won the Commonwealth Cup for shooting in 1951 .
With the arrival of Ted Barber in 1953 , new life was breathed into gymnastics . Guildford Grammar School swept all before them in the State championships . Within the gymnasium , boxing again became popular while competitions were also conducted in badminton , table tennis and volleyball . Hockey was re-introduced in 1955 by Ernest Waller ( staff 1954-1975 ).
In 1954 , boaters were re-introduced as part of the uniform by the prefects .
A new dormitory for junior boarders was set up across Terrace Road in the sanatorium , named Woodbridge .
By 1956 , it was time for Peter Thwaites to leave Guildford . Apart from discipline problems , Council members were unhappy with performances on the sporting field , uneasy about staff changes and academic standards and disturbed by Thwaites ’ own brand of leadership . They were shocked by Thwaites ’ assessment of the needs for the School .
Thwaites announced his resignation in August 1956 to take up the position as Headmaster of Ballarat College in Victoria , the school once led by his father . He moved to Geelong College in 1961 where he was encouraged to implement changes he had tried to introduce to Guildford Grammar School .
David Alexander Lawe Davies – 1957 to 1978
David Alexander Lawe Davies was appointed as the eighth Headmaster of Guildford Grammar School in 1957 .
Lawe Davies was born in Sydney in 1918 , the son of Archdeacon D J Davies . The young David attended a local state primary school in the heart of working-class Sydney . He received a clergy scholarship for his secondary education as a boarder at Barker College . He was promoted as a school prefect and was in charge of the junior boarding house . University was out of the question as his father had died and David needed to find work . He studied part-time towards a diploma in chemistry and on completion , enlisted in the Australian Navy , where he served on corvettes . He was discharged with the rank of Lieutenant in 1946 .
David was not quite 40 years of age when he arrived at the School with his wife Elva and two sons Philip ( St / SG 1957-1962 ) and Christopher ( SG 1957-1966 ). Because of his Welsh background he was always known as ‘ Taffy ’ by the boys . The family lived in one of the School ’ s houses . A decision had already been made by the Council to convert the original Headmaster ’ s house built in 1911 to a new boarding facility . Harper House , named after the founder of the School , was opened on 20 September 1957 . A further wing was quickly added to meet student demand .
The decision was made to convert the original gymnasium built in 1924 into three classrooms , a new library and offices for the new Headmaster . A new gymnasium named after Lieutenant George Douglas ( Staff 1919- 1934 ) was opened in 1959 , along with a new swimming pool .
Guildford was the first PSA school to have an Olympic size swimming pool and dominated the interschool competition from 1959-1966 . A small swimming pool at the Preparatory School had opened on 25 March 1958 by Mrs Margaret Wickham , wife of distinguished St George ’ s Old Guildfordian John Wickham ( SG 1929-1936 ), a Fellow of Council from 1950-1971 and Chairman from 1956-1959 . Collisson Memorial Field was dedicated to Donald Collisson , a long-serving staff member ( 1912-1916 , 1918-1953 ) and Housemaster of School and Henn ’ s House .
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