Web Page No 2534

8th December 2018

1^st Picture. Wally Dunstan

2nd Picture. School Programme

3^rd Picture. School Programme

 4^th Picture, School Programme

 5^th Picture, Sir Adrian Bolt conducts

Wallace (Wally) Dunstan

For those of my age and older the name Wally Dunstan will have a familiar ring because as we started Court Lane School Wally was about to retire and a transcript of the words on the final school concert are below. Also, from 1945 to 1947 he was headmaster of Solent Road School, so those who are a little more mature than me might well remember him from there.

As you read the piece below you will note what a remarkable man he was, not least among his achievements was letting out music master. John Stephens, at Court Lane to invite Sir Adrian Bolt to conduct the school choir

The Retirement of Our Headmaster

Wallace Dunstan was born as a late Victorian in the West Riding of Yorkshire though his name was Cornish and much of his upbringing     was in Devon. He was educated at Hales’s School Exeter and Exeter College and University. After a temporary appointment as Headmaster of Richardson School, South Devon, he entered the service of the Portsmouth Education Authority at George Street Boys School in 1913 where he served until 1938. During that time he spent the war years, from 1915, on active service when having entered the Officer training Corp, OTC, he was commissioned in the Devonshire Regiment and during his service visited India, Egypt and Palestine.

In these countries his deep Christian commitment resulted in personal visits to the Holy Land.

As the war clouds of 1938 approached he was appointed to the staff of Solent Road School. His responsibilities increased after the first evacuation on 1st September as Teacher in Charge he had to be the educator and head of the Portsmouth children who formed the highly successful Boarding School in Clarendon Park, Salisbury. As headmaster his influence was one of the happier effects of those war years, for the cooperative living and full development of his pupils physical, mental and spiritual lives received a tribute in the Official Examiners Report.

On return to Portsmouth he was appointed Headmaster at Meon Head School in 1944, he succeeded in the headship of Flying Bull Lane school for Boys in the same year. Two years of typically devoted service to his profession followed before he was appointed Headmaster of Court Lane Boys School in 1947. For seven years he led the school through a period of growth during which he gained the allegiance and respect of pupils, staff and parents.

In 1957 he became the first Headmaster of the newly organised Court Lane Secondary School for Boys and Girls.

All the achievements that he has amassed throughout his long career are too many to fully repeat. Always with concern towards the provision of teaching he has remained long in its associations. He held offices both in Portsmouth and Hampshire including (1932/33) that of President of the Portsmouth Class Teachers Association and (1934/35) President of the Portsmouth Teachers Association National Union of Teachers. He represented Southern England on the National Federation of Class Teachers from 1935 to 1943.

Music has always proved to be one of his main interests and locally he has held the posts of Secretary to the Portsmouth Schools Festival of Music from 1935-1947 when he became Chairman, a position from which he retired from last year. He was a member of the National Association of School’s Music Festivals for a year before he accepted the position of Chairman which he holds to this day. In 1945 this body became established as the Schools Music Association.

It is fitting that this brief account of his career should refer to his work as a Licensed Parochial Lay Reader of the Parish of Farlington from 1922 until 1926- a position which led him on to be appointed a Diocesan Lay Reader.

On retirement from his profession he receives the acknowledgement that we will never forget WALLACE DUNSTAN.

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On this day 8th December 1960-65

On 08/12/1960 the number one single was It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Armchair Theatre (ABC) and the box office smash was still Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 08/12/1961 the number one single was Little Sister/His Latest Flame - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Ipswich Town. The top rated TV show was "Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £not very interesting and 13.25 were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV)".

On 08/12/1962 the number one single was Lovesick Blues - Frank Ifield and the number one album was On Stage with the Black & White Minstrels - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 08/12/1963 the number one single was She Loves You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of this week was Christine Keeler jailed for perjury.

On 08/12/1964 the number one single was Little Red Rooster - Rolling Stones and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. Martin Luther King preaches at St Paul's Cathedral

On 08/12/1965 the number one single was The Carnival is Over - Seekers and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top-rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.