b'F R O M T H E B E G I N N I N G4TeachingB illNimmowasundoubtedlyaremarkableteacher.Notwithstanding that the majority of his students went on toScots, Sydney Grammar or Sydney High, while others wentto Fort Street High or The Kings School and elsewhere, more thanone have declared that, after they left Coogee Prep, they learntnothing!Much of what Nimmo taughtthe rhymes, the drills andother aides-mmoireare still recalled by Old Boys sixty yearslater. Trevor Wagstaff (193236) remembers from his Latin classes:To ask, command, advise and strive,By UT translate infinitive.Nonetheless, Nimmo was not an advocate of rote learning. He useda lecture system, and taught the boys to think, to enquire, and howto study.One of his pupils, Adrien Albert (191620), who was Dux in1920 and went on to become a Sydney University medallist andone of Australias most internationally acclaimed scientists, cameunder Nimmos spell. When he was eleven, his interest in pharma-cy was sparked by a remark made by his mother to her brother.Isnt it remarkable, she observed, that when you take a medi-cine, it goes to the right place. If you take something for the heart,it goes to the heart; but if you take it for a headache, it goes rightto the head!. This splendid maxim set young Adrien on the pathto medical chemistry and renown.Bill Nimmo embraced a high standard of academic rigour. Heencouraged the habit of homework from the earliest years, increas-ing the volume from third class onwards. Not only did he keep adetailed book of marks, but each boy was required to keep his ownrecord book, noting down his weekly marks out of ten, for eachlesson and for each of the five nights of homework. 4 4'