Fellow Regentonians, Greetings!
As we are still in a celebratory mood in commemoration of this our 179th of the foundation our school On 25th March 1845, I wish to express my sincere and candid sense of joyfulness for the success obtained during this celebratory period Worldwide.
A school that has been in existence for one hundred and seventy nine years (179 years) cannot be without a tradition or heritage. It is the result of interaction between the school authorities, parents, teachers, present and past pupils (old boys), and the society at large that success and decorum are maintained.
The current pupils and old boys of the Grammar School can be found In distinguished positions in al spheres of public life, not only in Sierra Leone, or all Africa but globally as well. Our Alma Mater like a well preserved good wine has matured from ancient days when the school curriculum was limited to teaching mainly Religion, the Humanities, Mathematics, Astronomy, Agronomy and Clasics, compared to today's modern revolutionary approaches in science and technology; we can proudly claim to be one of the leading schools in Sierra Leone, and indeed, in the West of Africa if not in the whole of the continent and will continue to pursue that which is good as expressed in our School’ moto “Diwkw”!
Fellow Regentonians, as societies within and without, look to us for the maintenance of inculcated qualities that have been made and expected from a culture and traditions embedded in honesty, charity and concern for others, studiousness, sportsmanship, respect for law and order, and a positive and steadfast attitude towards educational leadership, religion and brotherhood, we must certainly continue to hold a firm grip and not let go of the Regentonian ethos.
Throughout these celebrations, we see the upholding of our traditional values and practices wherein ‘THE OLD BOYS RALLY ROUND’ the present pupils, passionately, and tacitly, to “TELL [THEM] WHAT HAS BEEN’’: It was indeed a cogent moment to observe the former Principal, Lay Canon Aki Josiah Lasite, and the present Principal, Reverend Canon Lenard Ken Davies, in the March past line together with other distinguished Old Boys, particularly the Acting Chief Justice of Sierra Leone, the Honourable Justice Nicholas Brown Marke, so humble in his colourful khaki Scout uniform, marching singularly ahead of the Boys Scout troops to the music of the several Schools Brass Bands, throughout the prescribe parade route from St. Georges Cathedral to Regents Square, ‘where ‘the Great and Massive Building Stands, a witness to our Light’! It was really a pleasant and encouraging sight to behold! (Click Link)
The (Brass) Band culture which has now taken a firm root in the body of extra curricula activities in most secondary schools today was initiated by the Grammar School in 1865 when the then Principal our FIRST BLACK PRINCIPAL Rev James Quaker, a man from Kent Village in Freetown, facilitated the Pipes and Drums (Scottish flavoured) school band, through the generosity of the Military Infantry Brigade, then resident at Tower Hill. The March Past rout after Thanksgiving services from St. Georges Cathedral was Eastwards, ending at the (Old) Fourahbay College, Cline Town. Today, this March Past (Brass) Band culture has now become a feature now, engulfing nearly every Secondary Schools’ Thanksgiving Services throughout the country and purposely included as an element within extra-curricula practical engagement in the arsenal of schools’ assets.
I am so very proud to have benefited from this feat since I was in Form Two (2) when I was considered good enough to be a traditional Band’s man and played my Trumpet (and Drums) with the older members of the Grammar School Band: an achievement to date cherished up till this day, hence my continued attachment with the School Band. My initial break through was with the West African Collegiate Secondary School's Thanksgiving Service at Samaria, W A Methodist Church Freetown, when the Colligiate school was at Circular Road Freetown. Indeed it is a pleasure and a great sense of pride that we have brought with us this traditional activity within our SLGS Old Boys Association here in the UK. (Please Click Link)
In continuing the focus on tradition: in 1991, at the Speech Day and Prize Giving ceremony, the Guest Speaker, Mr H. E. Maurice-Jones recalled a frantic breach from tradition by one former Principal, who, being anxious to awaken the interests and enthusiasm of Old Boys, made a desperate departure from established practice.
The then Principal invited a Navy Chaplin to Preach the sermon at the Grammar School’s Thanksgiving Service. Mr Maurice-Jones recalled that, that decision was “not well received at the time”, but, reflecting in his own gentlemanly liberal confidence and manner, he believed the action of the then Principal “achieved the desired result”. He the referenced the Preacher’s chosen Text, which was based on the Parable of the ‘UNJUST STEWARD’: “HOW MUCH OWEST THOU UNTO THE LORD?” But the Navy Chaplin Preacher injected a variation to “HOW MUCH OWEST UNTO YOUR SCHOOL?”
Mr Maurice-Jones thought then, that the TEXT was “a timely reminder to the Old Boys that the School needed their continued support. In other words, (and borrowing from the Late President J F Kennedy’s philosophy, “Ask not what your school can do (or did do) for you; but, ask what you can (or will) do for your school”). But does this liberal Amicus, outweigh the traditional and cultural values of our noble institution; in that we can simply break away, ignore and adapt a ‘satisfysing’ position just because we needed a Preacher, (one who is not traditionally qualified) but can pick any thoughtfully provocative TEXT?
Let us contrast this scenario with a similar situation in I believe 1988/9 or so, when we in the SLGS OBA UK ventured to also (inadvertently) break this very same tradition by inviting a Non-Regentonian, a Lay Methodist Preacher who was a seasoned Journalist from a rival Missionary School, to Preach at our Thanksgiving Service. The objection was so vehement, 🔥 that it provoked an objectionable chastisement of the whole Executive from one of the the Oldest Old Boys, a Seasoned Traditionalist and former Broadcaster of the BBC, the Reverend M G M COLE. This palava ignited a whole avalanche of objections and threats of withdrawals of support and refusal to attend the service; so frantic a protest that described the Preacher as “UNQUALIFIED “ to break our tradition. We were obliged to cancel the invitation to the Preacher and even then, the Reverend M G M Cole, who was the then Chief Patron together with the then Grand Chief Patron Dr Robert B Wellesley-Cole, had to be persuaded with a delicately negotiated smoothing visit to each of them,
With these two contrasting situations abounded, let me recall the words of the Late Mr E E D Lisk, Former Assistant Principal of the Grammar School 1989/90. He once posited in a ceremony thus “LET US NOT [without critically weighing the pros and cons] IN OUR OWN SHORT TIME, BE TOO HASTY TO CONDEM AND TO ATTEMPT SUDDEN CHANGES WHICH WILL BE OF BENEFIT ONLY TO OURSELVES” [by holding firmly on to the tail coat of our traditions, our culture and our personal convictions]. As such, he continued, “LET us consider the sacrifices which have been made by those before us, and then, shall we have the vision to continuously lift up the Grammar School and enrich the heritage” [which is so deeply entrenched into our culture and traditional psychology].
One such tradition is our regular practice year-on-year, to invite a distinguished Old Boy to deliver a reflection of events of his past days, weeks, months and years, in the Grammar School, sharing with fun and amenable trepidation. In this regard, Fellow Regentonians, I give you the Late Lay Canon, Professor of Music the Honourable, Professor Solomon Athanasius Jolly Boy Pratt, Lawyer, Agricultural Economist, a Former Minister of Development and Economic Planning, Foreign Minister Attorney General and a Masonic Guru, writer and musician: this here below, is Hon SAJ Pratt’s Reminiscences delivered at the GRAMMAR SCHOOL’S THANKSGIVING SERVICE IN MARCH 2005. Professor SAJ Pratt was instrumental in the recovery of the SCHOOL’S LAND from encroaches during those difficult times. We owe it to his continued remembrance especially in times like thus when we are celebrating the school’s anniversary if not for nothing else, but for his fortitude, his determined work and effort and time invested for free, leading to the peace the school enjoys today after a period of distress, suffered by the school authorities, Teachers and Parents, Pupils and other staffs.
I also add my contribution to the tradition for an Old Boy to address the celebrations of ‘PENNY DAY’ at which in 2002, it was a privilege for me to be accorded that opportunity;(please click Link) https://docs.google.com/file/d/10isBKYR0BwN7HLWino7qCjXWcfVJDnaa/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msword
Remember always Fellow Regentonians, that IN ANY JOURNEY THERE IS THE END OF THE ROAD, BUT, “LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP”!
FLOREAT REGENTONIA!
GOD BLESS OUR GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Author: Israel Parper (5617)
[OVER TO HON PROFESSOR S A J PRATT – READ ON]
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Hon.Solomon Athanasius JollyBoy Pratt
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