Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 25th MArch 2022
Dear parents,
You may have seen that there is a new study out on ‘cultural capital’ – the idea that trips to museums, concerts, and the like might be good for us, and especially good for young people during their formative years. The study’s conclusions seem a bit confused, or rather the interpretation of the study in the media seems to have been a bit confused. Essentially, the study has found that there is no direct correlation between ‘cultural capital’ and improved GCSE grades. Therefore, some commentators are arguing, there is no direct correlation between ‘cultural capital’ and improving education. And, therefore, the argument veers, we shouldn’t worry too much about taking children to museums, galleries and concerts.
Excuse me while I scream into a pillow for a while. The first ginormous misunderstanding is that GCSE results, and improving GCSE results, is the only (or best) way to judge true education. GCSEs represent a system that, in many ways, tests one’s ability to play the system. Trust me, I did it. My GCSE Physics result was very good, but can I recommend that no one ever asks me to do anything related to Physics? The British educational system – and it is not alone in this – has contorted itself into a culture whereby we have created System X, and we define ‘success’ directly according to the criteria of System X. Take league tables, which are a pretty useless measure of anything other than a school’s ability to meet the criteria of said league tables. And maybe – just maybe – not everything (or much) in education can be quantified, measured and plonked onto a spreadsheet. I once visited a school which had displayed on its walls blaring headlines about how the school had topped the ‘league tables’ – which might have been impressive had those tables not had such narrow criteria that it would have been pretty hard for the school NOT to have been at the top of that table. Even sceptics of league tables who railed against them for not including more nebulous things like ‘pupil happiness’ quickly seemed to disappear down the quantification rabbit hole when they suggested that schools start to have pupils’ happiness somehow measured on a numerical scale and then put in, you guessed it, league tables.
So we are being told that ‘cultural capital’ does not improve one’s education just because it does not register on the flawed GCSE seismometer. Perhaps, just perhaps, we could suggest that there are other ways of defining ‘education’ or ‘true education’ beyond the strangled remit of GCSE exam boards? It is pretty difficult to sit at an epicentre of the arts, in the middle of an extraordinarily rich cultural capital, and to conclude ‘nah, there’s absolutely no correlation between a world-class university and the world-class culture that feeds into, and emanates out, from it’. It is a philistinely reductive view of learning, of education, and of life more broadly. And while it might lead to a mildly amusing rant from someone like me, there are some pretty serious consequences. What if schools, education departments, inspectors, governors, take this seriously? What if they reduce pupils’ exposure and involvement in culture and the arts because – simply because – you cannot measure it on a list of exam results at the end of Year 11? What education system would that be? What society would that create? And what enormous losses would we suffer to people’s creativity, their voices, their wellbeing, simply because the ‘computer says “no”’?
I fully accept the argument that there is some value to GCSEs, that we have to test young people in some way, and that exams have benefits. I’d be in the wrong system if I didn’t. (Though I note that the voices who champion GCSEs the loudest tend to be those who have most effectively played the system above.) But to reduce education JUST to that, and to define all of what we do simply because of those exams, is simply absurd. So please, please, please take your children to museums, galleries and concerts. And don’t do it because you think it will make their GCSE results higher; do it because you’re a human being.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Jenkinson
Well done to all those boys who played in our recent senior and junior recitals. It was wonderful to hear how much they have progressed over this busy term, and to enjoy their performances with such receptive and enthusiastic audiences. Well done, too, to the choristers who performed so well in the Sheldonian Concert last Friday to a full house. We are looking forward to the St John Passion, about which more below.
Thank you to all those parents and other carers who have already heeded my pleas about traffic safety on Savile Road (and its environs) at drop-off and pick-up. The situation is already improving, though we must not become complacent, and we must remain vigilant and considerate of others for the sake of the safety of the boys and their families. One extra plea, please: there should be no parking on the double yellow lines at the intersection of Savile and Mansfield Roads, and there should certainly be no reversing from Savile Road onto Mansfield Road. This is, quite clearly, very dangerous for other road users, especially cyclists. Thank you.
We are very much looking forward to the Years 5-6 French play next week, and the culmination of our poetry recitation competition. Best of luck to all of those boys involved! Please note that, as ever, parking is available on site only from 17.15 – first come, first served – and only once the boys have cleared the playground after their activities sessions. Staff will be around to help guide parents, but I’m sure that those parents parking on site will take responsibility for driving slowly and carefully when entering and departing the premises.
New College Choir will be performing Bach’s St John Passion in chapel on Sunday 27 March at 17.00. Tickets are now on sale from Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bach-st-john-passion-tickets-271007900927. Former New College Choir chorister James Gilchrist sings the Evangelist. Arias will be sung by members of the choir. Full details are available at https://www.newcollegechoir.com/
There will be a second-hand uniform sale, run by the NCSPA, at 15.15 in the playground. Also, the eco-shop has a half-price sale until the end of Hilary. The full price list is attached to the newsletter Parentmail.
Please could you encourage your sons to look for any NCS library books at home, and to return them to the library before the end of term? Many thanks.
And, finally, thank you very much indeed to all those parents, boys and colleagues who contributed so much to our ISI inspection this week. Inspection or no inspection, every day I am very proud of all the things that go on here, but it is especially good to be able to share this with our visitors when they come to look around. We shall be sharing the full report as soon as we are able.
From Mr Bishop: As the hockey term comes to an end the boys have been playing their final rounds of fixtures. In recent days the U13s have completed the return leg of the Summer Fields matches and the games certainly did not disappoint. They were fast and furious with all four teams scoring some excellent goals. The B team game was the standout game in terms of tactics and formation changes; the game was extremely tight and, locked at 1-1, both teams were trying really hard to unlock the opposition defence with tweaks and changes to the line up and methods of attack. In the end, neither team could find the breakthrough and the game ended up an honourable draw. In the A team game, the NCS boys had no trouble in finding the back of the net and, after a season of honing their skills to their absolute sharpest, they manged to push the score-line into double figures. This team has been brilliant this season but they were at their outstanding best last week. The U9 teams were again in action and this time they faced a pleasant away trip to Ashfold. From our three matches we recorded a win for the A team a draw for the C team and a loss for the B team. Mr Mainstone was extremely pleased with all of the boys and told me that the hockey on show from all the NCS boys was brilliant, and the behaviour was even better. They were wonderful ambassadors for the school.
Upcoming Events
Monday, 28 March 2022
No Activities in final week of term
Tuesday, 29 March 2022
8.00 HPV Vaccines Year 8 pupils
13.30 Yr 3&4 Hockey House Match Finals, Iffley
18.00 Years 5 & 6 French Play and Café, School Hall and Sports Hall
Wednesday, 30 March 2022
8.00 U11 A Hockey South Regionals, Woking (depending on qualifying)
9.00 Music practice in Chapel for Words and Music (no school service)
12.00 Poetry competition finals (Years 6-8)
13.00 Poetry competition finals (Years 3-5)
14.00 Pre-Prep Spring Concert
Orders in Years 3-8 issued
18.00 Years 5 & 6 French Play and Café, School Hall and Sports Hall
Thursday, 31 March 2022
9.00 Poetry practice for Words and Music, New College Chapel
13.30 Gig for Y7/8 Band
Friday, 1 April 2022
11.00 Words and Music, New College Chapel
12.00 End of term 12 noon
Sunday, 24 April 2022
Start of University Term
Monday, 25 April 2022
Staff INSET
Tuesday, 26 April 2022
Staff INSET
9.30-11.00 Years 3-4 pre-season cricket training (optional)
11.30-13.00 Years 5-6 pre-season cricket training (optional)
13.30-15.30 Years 7-8 pre-season cricket training (optional)
Wednesday, 27 April 2022
Start of School Term
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: The Headmaster
17.00 Year 7 Leadership Evening (ends 19.00)
Saturday, 30 April 2022
19.00 Pre-Prep 20th Birthday Party Drinks (ticket only, Founder's Library, New College)