b'A H I S T O R Y O F C O O G E E P R E P(now the library) and in his classroom. The boxing lessons them-selveswereheldintheChurchroombelowtheHall.RodneyKnock writes of him;He was a tough little character with cauliflower ears and a heart ofgold. In the annual concert the boys were paired in a boxing tourna-ment, the proceeds of which went to the Toy Fund. At the end, hewould call out, Put your hands together for!. He knew no losers.In the earliest years, Nimmo would take the boys in callis-thentics. But after some years, the Bjelke Petersen brothers visitedthe school every week for many years to take the boys in physicalculture.PublicSpeakinghasalwaysbeenanimportantpartoftheschools curriculum. In his Report in 1952, Nimmo said:Miss Hancocks has again resumed control of the Speech Training inthe upper classes, and the special class where imperfections of artic-ulation are dealt with in a class for the younger boys. These classesare in no way to be thought of as Elocution classes. They are mainlyfor the development of the power to express oneself, without self-consciousness, in public speaking and debating. The correct deport-ment, the absence of mannerisms, the removal of self-consciousness,are the chief objects, though imperfections of articulation are alsocarefully watched. The improvement of the boys is very marked from2B to 3C.Miss Hancocks had a fool-proof method to encourage the boysto open their mouths. She would cut off about three-quarters of aninch of lead pencil, tie a piece of string to it so that it would not beswallowed, and place it between a boys upper and lower teeth. Themouth remained open, but it was impossible for the victim to utterany sensible speech with such a device. As well as private speech lessons, the boys were, and still are,rostered to give speeches to their class or an assembly throughout theyear. Thus, between third class and sixth class, a boy will make overthirty five speeches. In addition, in the fifth and sixth classes, theboys have debates and public speaking in their weekly speech class. Music has always been taught by part-time staff, and the firstsuch teacher was Miss Barton.4 3'