TESTS AND TEACHING
SIR,—I note that in practically all correspondence and articles dealing with this subject it is taken for granted that the scheme originated in Gordonstoun School, Morayshire. As it happens, I was, until 1933, Rector of Elgin Academy, Morayshire, the school which, along with Gordonstoun, was later to be responsible for the institution of the Moray Badge. When I left Elgin Academy, on my appoint- ment to the headmastership of Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen, I found that a system, similar to that later adopted in Gordonstoun, was already in full swing at the college. The real originator of the system, as far as Scotland was concerned, was Mr. J. A. Kerr Hunter, the physical training master in the college, at present an officer in the Royal Navy. The only credit I am entitled to claim personally is, that I was quick enough to see the obvious merits of the scheme, with the result that, in 1934, the system was fully embodied as an integral part of the school education by the publication of the enclosed proficiency card. The college had not long to wait for the practical proof of the soundness of the scheme, for in 1938 and 1939 it created something of a sensation in the Scottish athletic world by its remarkable per- formances at the inter-scholastic sports and at the Scottish amateur athletic championship meetings. From the point of view of Mr. Hunter and myself, however, what was far more important than these spec- tacular individual performances was the gratifying development in physique, bearing and character of the general run of pupils in the college. I may add that this proficiency test card has now been adopted in a modified form by a number of schools in Scotland, and I think that it is only fair to say that its influence in the development of physical training in Scotland has been at least as important as the Moray Badge. I may say that, in writing this letter, I have broken a vow to which I have hitherto rigidly adhered—never under any circumstances to write to the Press, in case it should be construed as a seeking for publicity for any school for which I happened to be responsible. I feel, however, that, as a new and important chapter in Scottish education has been opened, it is right that it should be recognised that the movement originated in a typical Scottish secon- dary day-school with centuries of tradition behind it, and is there- fore thoroughly racy of the soil.—I am, yours faithfully,
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