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The syllabuses have been widened and in order to give breadth to
the education of the apprentices, French and current affairs have been
introduced. The syllabuses of the technical and school subjects have also been
widened in order to bring them into line with modern naval architecture and
engineering.
The standards of education reached by those apprentices
who complete the course of four years in the upper school is accepted by the
Civil Service Commission as being equivalent to a B.Sc degree with third-class
honours, and that reached after three years in the upper school as equivalent
to Intermediate B.Sc or Higher School Certificate.
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 Each year shipwright apprentices who take
very high places in the final fourth year examinations are recommended for
appointment as constructor sub-lieutenants and go to the Royal Naval College,
Greenwich for a further three years of specialized instruction before they join
the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors. Electrical fitters are similarly
eligible for further specialized training as electrical engineers in the
Service. Constructor Sub Lieutenats Lou Daniels & Malcolm Oliver were
awarded these distinctions in the 1955 Upper School examinations and are
congratulated by John Goss, the Principal.
Apprentices of other trades
who take high place in the upper school examinations at the end of their second
year have the option of changing to the trade of Shipwright in order to compete
for the Admiralty cadetships. An apprentice who does well in his school courses
can be sure of early promotion in the Dockyard, and if he elects to leave the
Admiralty service has little difficulty in securing a good appointment
elsewhere. Many apprentices who reach the final course compete for Whitworth
Royal and other engineering scholarships and have been remarkably successful in
this field.
Diligence and attention on the part of the apprentices have
formed the school into a vital part of the Dockyard. Ships of today are, to the
layman, bewildering masses of mechanical and electrical device and the
apprentices with their tradition of a hundred years are required to carry out
the skilled work and employ the modern methods they have learned in workshops
and in school.
Source: Hampshire Telegraph and Post |