Birth and rise of Quee Part 3
1954
In 1954, the staff of QVS was made up of four expatriates (Principal, C. J. Smith) and five locals. Included in the student roll of 159 were seven boys from other Pacific territories.
Two were successful in the New Zealand University Entrance Examination in a small Sixth Form Class of four students. They were Josua D. Cavalevu and Epeli Kacimaiwai (Dux).
Nineteen students were successful in the NZ School Certificate Examination of which nine enrolled at the Central Medical School - Aisea A.Rafai, Esaroma Daulako, Joji N.Guivalu, J. W. Kalsal, Nacanieli Taleniwesi, Timoci Tuinakelo, Timoci Bavadra, Koroiwale Vatani and Jone Vosarogo.
Athletics
In the 1950 British Empire Games held in Auckland, NZ, Hector M. McMillan, then a senior lecturer at the Nasinu Teachers College, was the coach and manager of a very successful Fiji Team.
Two teacher trainees at Nasinu brought joy to the whole colony with their performance. Mataika Tuicakau won gold in the shot put, and silver in the discus throw. Luke Tunabuna won silver in the javelin throw.
In 1951, Tuicakau was appointed physical education teacher at QVS and Mr McMillan joined the school in 1952. Their scientific coaching and guidance were soon reflected in the success of the senior (Under 19) and junior (Under 17) grades in the Inter-Secondary Schools Athletics Finals.
Josua D. Cavalevu, the national schools sprint champion was selected as a member of a small Fiji team (M. Tuicakau, Josefa Levula, J.D. Cavalevu) that toured Southland, NZ.
In July 1955, C. J. Smith who had been principal of the school since 1949 (Lodoni) left for a posting to Nyasaland (now Malawi). Hector McMillan, in his fourth year at the school, was appointed as acting principal.
The school roll was 170 with Josua D. Cavalevu as head boy and Nelson H. Delailomaloma as his deputy.
The First Female Students
1956 saw for the first time enrolment of three female students to the sixth form: Taufa Vakatale, Esiteri N. Vakalala (Kamikamica) and Akisi Naivaluvou (Renner). These three pioneering students went on to break new grounds in the field of education, politics and national sports.
1957
The Acting Principal, R. O. Sinclair, came from Wairarapa, New Zealand. Staff members comprised four expatriates and five locals, namely Semesa K Sikivou (Senior Master/ First Assistant), A Fatiaki, Netani Druavesi, Filipe Bole and Noa B. Rokona. Head boy was Joketani W. Cokanasiga and deputy head boy was Radike Qereqeretabua. School roll was 180 in three houses - Bau, Rewa and Verata.
The school's First XV team under the guidance of coach John A. Roos, went through the season unbeaten. In the schools' finals played at Navuso Agricultural School against Lelean Memorial School, the team retained the Deans Trophy to cap off a very successful year.
After the Deans Finals, players had to be ferried across a fast-flowing Rewa river after a spell of rainy weather. There was a rush to get on the few punts available to make the crossing and a punt carrying a group of QVS players with the Deans Trophy sank in the middle of the river.
Seru Dewa remembered someone shouting, "The Deans!! Mo, where is the trophy?" Loose forward Mosese Velia was holding the trophy when the boat capsized.
After a short search in the water, the tired QVS players gave up and swam ashore, with Velia among the first to scramble to safety. With a boatload of Kasavu villagers following, it did not take long before the coveted trophy was recovered from the murky water.
When asked why he lost the trophy and didn't look too hard for it, Velia said, "I came to play rugby, not water polo".
1958
1958 saw the arrival of the new principal, Arthur Hurrell, who would serve for three years. Teachers who joined the school were: Joseph D. Gibson, W. Graham Leggott, Peni Waqanicakau, Penisoni Ralulu and Tomasi Bagaga (Tech).
The school chapel
In 1957 members of the Great Council of Chiefs under the leadership of Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna visited the school. In his address to the school community, Ratu Sukuna conveyed the belief of the council that the school was incomplete without a centre of worship - a school chapel.
On June 23, 1958, the GCC visited the school again, this time they went up to the building site and took part in the ground breaking ceremony. They also donated seed money towards the chapel fund.
On the eve of his departure from the Colony, Sir Ronald Garvey laid the foundation stone of the chapel on August 9. The old boys and the school in two ways: production of Shakespearean plays and entertainment of passengers of selected tourist ships which included the display of handicrafts (basket making, hat making, sinnet making, fire making, husking and grating of coconuts), meke, a tour around the school, and rounded off with a lovo feast.
The project took off through the leadership of Arthur Hurrell (Principal 1958-1960), then seen through by Mr. Joseph D. Gibson (Acting Principal 1961-63) and Mr. Keith P. Walker (Principal. The dedication service on August 23, 1964 was a proud occasion for the students and old boys from Nasinu, Nanukuloa, Lodoni and Matavatucou. Special guests at the dedication service were the President of the Methodist Church, Reverend Setareki Tuilovoni, and the Governor, Sir Derek Jakeway.
Shakespearean plays
The arrival in 1958 of Graham Leggott, the senior english teacher, saw the start of a tradition that added another dimension to the character of the school. He produced the Shakespearean play "Macbeth".
It was a completely new experience for the students and staff.
In 1959 the school staged the play "The Merchant of Venice," 1960 - "Julius Caesar," 1961- "Henry V", 1962 – "Merchant of Venice."
At the school, the audience of 500 and over, were seated in the open, directly in front of the main school which was then the school assembly hall.
Here, the tall and majestic pillars supporting the arch above, the three low concrete steps leading down to the level of the audience and the flaming torches burning in either flank provided a setting which Shakespeare himself might have wished for the production of one of his dramas.
Money collected from the production of these plays was deposited into the chapel fund. Here are excerpts of the review of the play by S Brockett, Principal of the Nasinu Teachers' College:
"Macbeth, with its rapid scene changes, is not an easy play to produce, but, as Shakespeare intended, the audience is carried through the intricacies of the plot by the dialogue rather than the action and setting. Macbeth has been elaborately produced many times before, but it gains little from spectacular production.
This presentation, simple and direct, without awkward delays for scene changes, arrangement of stage properties and costume changes was in the best Shakespearian tradition and the portrayal by these secondary school boys ranging in age from 14 to 19, in what is for them a foreign tongue and what is, even for English students, a difficult language, was a remarkable achievement."
"The performance of Jone Vuiyasawa as Macbeth was outstanding. This young man has a command of English oratory which might well be envied by a Parliamentarian. His faithful interpretation of the character of Macbeth with his scheming and plotting, his moments of fear, of resolution, and ambition was indeed remarkable.
The much more youthful Lasarusa Vusoniwailala as Lady Macbeth played his difficult part creditably while the three witches Viliame Gonelevu, Epeli Waqa and Laisiasa Naulumatua - so entered into their parts from the very first scene as to leave a lasting impression."
"The costuming, neither too ornate nor yet too severe, was excellently in keeping with the whole staged effect.
"The prologue in the Fijian tongue was undoubtedly appreciated by a large section of the audience which as a whole followed the play with close attention and applauded