Apposition - May 12th 2007

Apposition: A public disputation by scholars; a formal examination by question and answer; still applies to the 'Speech Day' at St Paul's School, London (Oxford English Dictionary)

The tradition of Apposition dates back to the school's founding in 1509 and was originally intended as the means by which the Mercers Company could assess the teaching staff, the High Master in particular; they had the right to dismiss or reappoint the staff as a result. This function has now become purely ceremonial but "formal examination by question and answer" remains the cornerstone of today's Apposition when five Paulines "declaim" (usually by delivering a summary of an academic paper) and an invited "Apposer" judges the quality of each declamation afterwards.

This year's Apposer was Lord Baker of Dorking, probably best known for his role as Secretary of State for Education and Science between 1986 and 1989. He was most impressed by Ziad Samaha's delivery of "Oh, to be Count Malvolio" from Twelfth Night and complimented Gonzalo Garcia on the masterly way in which he explained "ATP: The Gateway to Life". Max Millard than explored the character of Mary in Graham Swift's Waterland and Lord Baker drew fascinating parallels betwen this and Hardy's The Woodlanders. Darius Imregun dazzled the audience with his excellently illustrated introduction to quantum mechanics and Michael Marks persuaded the Apposer of the significance in the development of the Cold War of a meeting between Isaiah Berlin and Anna Akhmatova in Leningrad in 1945.

The declamations gave, as usual, just a hint of the incredibly wide range of academic excellence in the school and, once again, allowed the High Master to pass his test with flying colours!

Lord Baker then delighted the audience with reminiscences of his time at post war St Paul's. There were extracts from Greek plays at Apposition, Latin prayers at Assembly, boxing and the CCF. The latter had obviously left a lasting impression as he went on to describe travelling to and from school in sharply pressed battledress and the corps often marched from the old school in West Kensington to and from Richmond Park in order to practise military exercises.

Then followed the presentation of prizes. This year saw a major departure from tradition, as prize giving is now restricted to Eighth Forms (years 12 and 13) only, junior Paulines having "their day" on a separate occasion. The change worked well and this part of the ceremony benefited from being more streamlined than before, also allowing more parents to attend than in previous years.

Earlier on, Apposition had been opened by the world premiere of Robin Wedderburn's impressive Apposition Prelude, specially composed for the occasion and scored for brass, piano and timpani and played by Pauline musicians.

The High Master then closed the proceedings, emphasising the priority that "needs blind" entry has on our admissions in the future. We have a "sacred charge" to nurture bright children.

[Lord Baker's speech will be available here soon]