From The Archives

Each year since 1945, the school has produced a Yearbook, which we still call our Ripples Magazine. In this first edition, 80 years ago, a student with the initials DLM wrote this short story about their first day at school and then their time at the school upon reflection in their final year at the school as a ‘Fifth Former’ – Year 11.

It is titled . . .

VALE N.H.S. – Vale means ‘farewell or goodbye’

On a dull, grey morning in February, 1941, there arrived at NHS. some hundredand twenty small, rather scaredboys. They were scared because thiswas their first experience of anythingquite so grim looking as a Metropolitan High School, and they didn't knowexactly what to expect.

They formed a queue, answered questionsabout parents' full name, schoollast attended, and so on; and then weredrafted into forms. Some of them made friends with their form-mates right away.Some of them waited a while, perhapsa little shy.

At recess they stood around in little groups, apparently feeling better, realising that they weren't any more scared than their companions. They had heard stories, frightful, gruesome, stories of the initiation ceremonies to which they would be subjected by the patriarchal fifth formers so it was rather strange that their presence invoked nothing more than sometimes a condescending word or two.

That was the first day. There have been many more days since -five years of them- some happy, some not so happy, some miserable. But always on the miserable days there have been friends around, and it has helped.

The course has been rough in places, here an obstacle to be surmounted, there an abyss to be bridged, but we have reached the end. Afew have attained some little distinction in the process, others have just made the distance, but we have all come to the same point. Soon we willpass through the doors of N.H.S., students for the last time. We will step out into the world with the fruits of our labour not on a piece of paper only.

Whether we make the grade after we leave here, or not, is up to us. But of this we are sure: there will be times many of them, when we shall look back and say,

"Thanks, N.H.S."

D.L.M., 5a.