Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 28th January 2022
Dear Parents,
Years 5 and 6 travelled to Bletchley Park this week, in a sign (I hope) that the green shoots of school-trip normality are beginning to show. Thank you to all of my colleagues who were involved in planning and supervising the trip, and to the boys who earned such positive comments from the Bletchley staff. I am sure that many of you have been to Bletchley and wandered around the huts in which the World War II codebreakers carried out their vital work. It is a great trip for the boys to go on, because it neatly combines the puzzle-like coding and decoding so attractive to our pupils, with the lesson that solving these ‘puzzles’ had a very, very important purpose: the upholding of democracy and the vanquishing of fascism.
In their book, How Democracies Die: What History Tells Us About Our Future, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt outline the conditions under which the democracies we take for granted may fall. Taking a wide historical and geographical perspective, Levitsky and Ziblatt pinpoint these dangers: political leaders who are lukewarm towards, or outright contemptuous of, democratic conventions; those who refuse to accept the legitimacy of their opposition, and who threaten the civil liberties of that opposition (including the media); and those who endorse, or at least do not condemn, violence as part of the political process. Fundamentally, those who do not exercise mutual tolerance and restraint pull away what Levitsky and Ziblatt call the ‘soft guardrails’ of democracy. What has this got to do with schools? Everything.
Democracies are at their healthiest when there is mutual respect and rational discussion, not knee-jerk contempt and loudest-voice-wins slanging matches. The problem is that today’s younger generations are being inducted into democratic life (or what we hope is democratic life) at a time when vitriol trumps respect and hectoring upends rational discussion. Vitriolic hectoring is naturally more attention-grabbing than measured debate. When media outlets require commercial backing and therefore viewers to consume adverts, they will go for aggressive ratings-bait. Once that attention has been grabbed, it cannot be sustained, because short attention spans require instant gratification and quick fixes. The nuances of sometimes understandable fears and concerns then become hacked up and channeled into pithy in-your-face us-versus-them, good-versus-bad headlines. With 24-hour news, or the irresponsible use of social media, repeat the process ad nauseam and witness the increased entrenchment of the vilification of the ‘other’. We cannot just disagree with someone; we have to hate them. We cannot just give the measured alternative view; we have to call them a ‘fascist’ or a ‘snowflake’. Give this the endorsement of key political figures and watch the descent of democracy into kleptocracy and authoritarianism.
Mutual tolerance and restraint, Levitsky and Ziblatt’s ‘soft guardrails’, therefore need to come from somewhere else. In Ken Robinson’s Creative Schools, he lists eight desirable characteristics to encourage in our pupils. They all conveniently begin with ‘c’: curiosity, creativity, criticism, communication, collaboration, compassion, composure and citizenship. The last four get very close to the mark when it comes to our ‘soft guardrails’ and I would venture to add two more: coexistence and civility. Much of this can be encouraged in lessons. As a History teacher I spend a not insignificant amount of my time reminding the boys always to look at both sides of an argument (within, of course, the confines of decency and the law – you can’t ‘both sides’ everything). They are not allowed not to have opinions – fence-sitting leads to stasis and stagnation – but I remind them that giving a balanced account or overview distinguishes a convincing argument from an off-putting rant. This requires practice. Anyone who has ever got young people to take part in their first debate will know that you can’t just leave them to it – cacophony, chaos and tears usually ensue. Rules for propriety need to be put in place and constantly reinforced, as tedious as that may be. Outside the classroom, everything about school life should inculcate civility and coexistence. Every interaction in the corridor, at the school gate, in assemblies, should be respectful and measured – between pupils, between teachers, between pupils and teachers. Aggression should be abhorred and censured, in its verbal as well as physical form. If it is part of a school’s vernacular, it should not require any effort; it demands, in fact, much less energy to be rational than to be aggressive. And, as Levitsky and Ziblatt argue, if someone doesn’t inculcate and police civility, when many pressures elsewhere encourage incivility, the consequences are so far-reaching they are pretty alarming to countenance.
On which cheery note, have a great weekend!
Matt Jenkinson
I mentioned to the boys in this morning’s news roundup assembly that this weekend is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. It would be wonderful if as many boys could take part as possible. Full details are available via the RSPB’s website: https://www.rspb.org.uk
I am pleased to say that our handsome new hymn books are fully in operation. We have a full set in the hall for use in our school assemblies, specially assembled, edited and produced for the New College foundation. There is also a set in daily use in New College Chapel. The endpapers of the new hymn book include the order of service for our weekly Chapel services, so there will no longer be any need for service sheet handouts.
Tickets for NCS Chamber Choir concert, 2 April: Tickets are now on sale for this term's choral concert, in which the NCS Chamber Choir will perform Gabriel Fauré's Requiem alongside the NCS Choral Society and a professional orchestra. The concert will take place on Saturday 2 April, 19.00, in New College chapel. Please follow this link to purchase your tickets: https://faure-requiem-oxford.eventbrite.co.uk
Upcoming Events
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
Thursday, 3 February 2022
Abingdon Music & Sport Scholarship
Friday, 4 February 2022
9.00 U13 A IAPS Hockey, Cheltenham
WEEK 6 (university week 4)
Monday, 7 February 2022
14.00 U13 All Hockey House Matches, St Edward's
Tuesday, 8 February 2022
Safer Internet Day
14.00 U8 A&B Hockey v Manor Prep, Iffley
14.45 U9 A&B Hockey v Manor Prep, Iffley
Wednesday, 9 February 2022
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Revd Miriam Moul, Methodist Chaplain, Oxford Brookes
14.00 U11 A-D Hockey v Dragon, Away
U13 A-D Hockey Vs Dragon @ St Edwards
Thursday, 10 February 2022
Abingdon drama scholarship
9.00 U11 A IAPS Hockey, Abingdon
Friday, 11 February 2022
16.00-18.00 Year 3-5 charity dance, sports hall
16.00 U11 A County Cup Hockey, Hawks Astro