Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 21st January 2022
Dear Parents,
Over the course of Christmas and new year, one of the obvious impacts of the government’s ‘Will they? Won’t they?’ approach to restrictions vis a vis the Omicron variant was a self-imposed lockdown. Even if, for a time, we could do a certain number of things in public, there was a reduced appetite for going out and being around too many other people. I wonder how many families therefore experienced a return to their children feeling a bit too housebound, staring at the four walls that are now all-too-familiar after the restrictions of the past couple of years.
There may even have been a sense of idleness, even if it bordered on ennui, after a busy term followed by a sudden stop. Idleness is often viewed as the enemy of good education, though there is a compelling argument that it shouldn’t always be, and one of the most convincing exponents of this view is Lin Yutang, the academic, linguist and writer who published dozens of books between the 1930s and 1970s. In Lin’s view, humanity evolved towards civilization due to our ‘playful curiosity’. Just as a monkey looks curiously at the ear-lobe of a fellow monkey, usually looking for lice, so we developed by ‘fumbling’ curiously, investigating the world around us. Humanity continued to develop, in Lin’s view, because we continued – and continue – to chase after ‘some form or other of lice that is bothering human society’. This curiosity led us to explore ‘freely and playfully’, because the human mind is designed to be interested in all manner of topics and problems. Fundamentally, for Lin, this was for enjoyment, not for material gain: ‘The monkeys do not chase after lice in order to eat them, but for the sheer fun of it’. The process of obtaining knowledge, then, was a ‘form of play’; play was a natural instinct in and of itself. Learning and scholarship came through ‘an interest in things in themselves and a playful, idle desire to know them as they are, and not because that knowledge directly or immediately helps in feeding our stomach’.
This is an approach that we are in danger of losing today, if we encourage our pupils to focus more and more on cramming in more and more information in the hope that one day they will cash in their glittering CVs for financial gain. Fundamentally, Lin wanted education to return to its roots: the natural curiosity of children who pottered around at leisure, privately exploring for nothing more than enjoyment. He had little time for the view that the end of education was direct material productivity, nor for the idea that knowledge should be crow-barred into people’s brains intensely and mechanically. In contrast, if children were given the time idly to spread their ‘tentacles’ and irrationally ‘feel’ the world around them, they would develop taste and courage, not just knowledge. They would advance in ways that could not necessarily be measured in the same way that we read a gas meter. They would also learn how to be flexible intellectually, to respond to the higher things in life, and to be personally fulfilled in a world that is not ‘a syllogism or argument, it is a being’, and in a universe that ‘does not talk, it lives; it does not argue, it merely gets there’.
Pure idleness is not especially helpful when there is learning to be done. A lot of learning involves graft and those who find the process to be effortless, a serene process of absorption, are rare. But looking at philosophies like Lin’s help to provide a counterweight to the fetishization of constant hard work which tends to equate learning with non-stop factual acquisition, rather than seeing it as a peristaltic process in which the rest is as important as the stress. Constant stress leads to burn-out, in which no learning is occurring whatsoever. There is actually a virtue to the bored wandering (and wondering) mind, the one that learns to cope without constant external stimuli, but devises its own stimuli to fill the gap, to ponder idly, to try out ideas that may be wrong, to play. Procrastinators tend to get a bad press, usually from themselves, about the time they think they are wasting. But the downtime involved in procrastination can be valuable if it is leading to the valuable things outlined above; and, of course, if the task over which one is procrastinating is done eventually. And, assuming it is done, presumably it is done pretty efficiently to make up for the time spent idling elsewhere. The Pareto Principle suggests that 80% of results are produced by 20% of causes; so we could argue that four-fifths of our learning happens as a result of one-fifth of our efforts on a given day.
The early twenty-first century has witnessed a reaction against the technology-fuelled and efficiency-driven frenetic pace of life, and a return in many areas to slowing down or ‘downshifting’: ‘slow food’, ‘slow reading’, ‘slow living’. We could also add ‘slow education’ to that list. As Michelle Boulous Walker argues in her Slow Philosophy: Reading Against the Institution, it is philosophy as philosophia or the ‘love of wisdom’ that should be prioritized over the frenetic desire simply to know things – or to think we know them – and the education system’s ever-increasing obsession with testing, teaching to that test, standardizing, inspecting, and then testing again. While learning is, to state the obvious, desirable, it is how we define ‘learning’, what we value in that learning, how imaginative we are in assessing it, and how we put learning in the wider picture of personal health and fulfilment, that will be the measure of a truly excellent education system. None of this is to suggest that we should not have high standards, nor that work (and, at times, hard work) should not occur; it is to suggest that working well should be our priority, and it should be put in the context of the real benefits of what is happening to our brains when we are not at our desks, or when we are at our desks but not doing what we think we should be doing.
Have a great weekend.
Matt Jenkinson
Well done to our Year 8 boys who played in the music scholars’ concert in the Holywell Music Room on Wednesday evening. It was a real treat to hear the boys play, to witness (almost) the culmination of their musical training at NCS, and to have such a fantastic venue right on our doorstep. We wish the boys the very best of luck as they head to their scholarship auditions over the coming weeks. We are, indeed, entering the scholarship season so my colleagues and I would like to extend our best wishes to all those boys sitting for scholarships, whether they be music, academic, art, drama or all-rounder. We are already very proud of you all.
Congratulations to the choristers for their beautiful performance of Britten’s Ceremony of Carols on Thursday. They have had a fantastic start to university term and we wish them well for the coming couple of months. Details about services and performances can be found at www.newcollegechoir.com.
We will be hosting our Year 4 parents’ evening next Wednesday (26 January) beginning at 18.00, though a few colleagues are usually available a little earlier if you would like to make a head start. Please arrive as early as practicable (ideally by around 18.30) so we can finish the evenings by 20.00 and we can get everyone home at a sensible time. If you have any issues that you think would require longer discussion than possible in a five-ish minute meeting, please do book a separate appointment. We will be following our usual Covid-19 protocols for these events. They will take place in the sports hall, with the bi-folds open for as much ventilation as possible. Please therefore wrap up warm because it can get a little chilly. Please also take a lateral flow test (leading to a negative result) before arriving, wear face coverings, and respect social distancing, especially when sitting to chat to teachers.
Year 5 boys were delighted to share presentations with one of our partner schools, the Nalang Model Academy in Nepal, about their respective schools on Zoom and to discuss the impact of COVID in our different countries. Despite some preliminary technological hitches and the obvious time difference it all went very smoothly and lots of interesting questions and answers were forthcoming. It was an amazing chance to cultivate relationships outside the school community as part of our educational partnerships initiative. Lots of skills in presenting succinctly and clearly were honed too. Some of our older boys will be meeting their counterparts in Nepal online later in the term!
We were very pleased this week to receive a copy of Peter Hannah’s new book, Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats: A Treasure to the Service. Richard Goodwin Keats was a pupil at NCS in the eighteenth century and he went on to become a distinguished sailor in his own right, as well as a mentor to Nelson and William IV. The book will take pride of place in our library so current NCS boys will get to read about the achievements of the predecessors.
Well done to the Lawrence family who won the Library Christmas Quiz over the vacation. The chocolate Santa has been safely delivered.
The DfE has announced the following update regarding face coverings in schools: "From 20 January, face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in classrooms. From 27 January, face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in communal areas."
We are looking forward to next Monday’s NCSPA meeting (19.00 in the school hall). Our usual Covid mitigations will be in place: the hall will be well ventilated so please wrap up warm if you are attending; please also take a lateral flow test on the day of the meeting and only attend if there is a clear negative result; face coverings will also be worn and we will sit distanced. I know that there has already been a call to class reps for any issues, but if there are small issues that can be quickly dealt with by a form tutor or class teacher, do please use this first avenue.
From Mr Bishop: In this week’s matches there was a slight reversal of fortunes with our results. Coming off the back of four very impressive performances last week, the U13 A&B team faced a very tough and fast-paced Abingdon. In both the A&B games the NCS teams controlled long periods and frustrated our guests. At the end of the afternoon we may have lost both games but in both the A&B teams, the NCS boys had much better second halves and showed what they’re really capable of. I am sure the boys will be ready to go next week as all four teams face off against St Hugh’s and Summer Fields.
In the U11 fixture, the boys made the short journey across town to MCS. This has always been a close fought and competitive occasion and this week’s match certainly lived up to this billing. Mr Morrison tells me that in all four games the NCS boys were fast and determined, chasing every loose ball and never giving up. This spirit has been evident in training sessions all term and it’s great to hear the boys employing this tactic in matches too. With the A, B and D teams all winning and the C team getting a 0-0 draw this was an extremely positive afternoon for the NCS U11 teams and shows very encouraging times are ahead for the school’s hockey teams. I’d like to give a special mention to Jacob W who scored a great goal for the A team and Arjun S who was brilliant in goal for the B team. In the C team Alexander M was clearly player of the match and finally in the D team, Nathanael T was in brilliant form. These boys get a week or so off matches now to train even harder to make sure we’re ready to face The Dragon in early February.
Upcoming Events
Monday, 24 January 2022
14.15 U13 A&B Hockey v d'Overbroeck's, St Edward's
19.00 NCSPA Meeting
Tuesday, 25 January 2022
MCS Pre-test interviews for current Year 6 (Year 9 entry)
Wednesday, 26 January 2022
8.45-15:30 Year 5 & 6 Bletchley Park Trip
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Mr Damien Ettinger, Headmaster of Cokethorpe School
14.00 U13 A-D Hockey v Summer Fields, St Edward's
18.00 Year 4 parents' evening
Thursday, 27 January 2022
9.00 Year 8 Zoom Presentations with Nalang Model Academy
Friday, 28 January 2022
16.00 U13 A County Cup Hockey, Hawks Astro
Monday, 31 January 2022
MCS Music Scholarship
16.00 U12 A County Cup Hockey, Tilsley Park
Tuesday, 1 February 2022
14.00 U8 Hockey v MCS, Away
Wednesday, 2 February 2022
8.15 School Council-Charity Meeting, library
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Revd Esther Brazil, Curate, St Mary Magdalen
14.00 U13 A&B Hockey v Hatherop Castle, St Edward's
17.30 Governors’ Meeting, McGregor Matthews Room
Thursday, 3 February 2022
Abingdon Music & Sport Scholarship
Friday, 4 February 2022
9.00 U13 A IAPS Hockey, Cheltenham