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Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 14th January 2022

Dear Parents,

The golden rule has come up a fair few times this week: treating others as one wishes to be treated. It is a rule that transcends denomination, yet underpins pretty much everything we do. We first encountered it in assembly on Monday, when our artwork of the week was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense (published this week in 1776). In this extraordinary work of political rhetoric, which made an enormous contribution to the American Revolution, Paine looked back to his days at the front of the classroom: ‘When I was teaching children I began every day writing this on the blackboard: "Do to others what you would like them to do to you", telling them how much better the world would be if everybody lived by this rule.’ It is not the most enormous leap from essential childhood maxim to world-changing political treatise; a reminder, perhaps, that getting the formative years is vital to determining the habits exhibited in adulthood. And, therefore, why a values-based education needs to underpin the (still important) curriculum-based education we offer. There’s no point being stellar at verbal reasoning if you have a wrong-headed view of the world and yourself within it.

Cookery and chess in activities; Coding in Year 7; Pre-Prep story time; Building puppets in DT; Magnet strength in Science;

No one here is naïve enough to think that we all exhibit the golden rule, the underpinnings of kindness, one hundred per cent of the time. Would that it were the case, but we are all human beings, and we all sometimes get tired, frustrated, and therefore a little bit narky when – if we follow the maxim of the golden rule – we probably don’t want people to be narky back to us. In Year 7’s wellbeing assembly on Tuesday, then, the boys talked about the importance of carrying out acts of kindness to others. Using Aesop’s fable of the mouse and the lion as their inspiration, they reiterated to the rest of the school the importance of exhibiting kindness and support towards others, as this kindness and support would be returned. We should not just be kind and supportive towards others because there might be something in it for us in the future, but because that is the way for a healthy society to function. If we look around the world, including at Thomas Paine’s old stomping ground, it is not hard to see areas where societies based on kindness and understanding of others are under threat. Kindness and empathy are too often portrayed as ‘weak’, the enemy of the alpha, in some kind of culture war. What I want the boys to take away from here is that these traits are actually strengths – and stronger than the brittle and gnarled innards of those who use the carapace of hatred and aggression as their modus operandi in life.

Someone asked me this week if kindness was the theme of the week. My reply was that kindness is the theme of every week – everything else spins out from that. But it does no harm, and probably a tremendous amount of good, to stop occasionally and think about why kindness is so important. Otherwise it becomes another word to be wafted around without much thought, something to be parroted automatically rather than internalised and truly valued. As I say above, of course there are going to be times when that standard slips – we are all human, we are all always learning – but the more we can minimise those slips the better for us all, whether on Savile Road or in society at large.

Have a great weekend,

Matt Jenkinson

Good luck to all of those boys sitting the MCS pre-test for Year 9 entry this coming weekend, and indeed to all boys who are sitting pre-tests in this increasingly busy season. The boys have been well prepared and should feel comfortable going into their assessments. A reminder, especially to those parents new to the process, that details about future school selection and preparation can be found at https://www.newcollegeschool.org/page/?title=Future+Schools&pid=104

Well done to Isaac in Year 6 who played in the Oxfordshire Junior Chess Championship 2022 U11 tournament held at Cumnor School and came second overall.

As I mentioned at the end of last term, Savile Road will be out of action this Saturday as a number of cabins are installed on the boundary between the Gradel Quad site and the road. Mr Neal has been in touch with Saturday Music Academy parents about logistics for drop-off and pick-up. From this weekend, then, Savile Road will narrow in the middle, though there will still be pedestrian walkways on both sides of the road for the safety of boys and their parents. It will be more important than ever, then, that we are all very careful and cognisant of other road users, especially cyclists, and pedestrians in the vicinity – and especially during these dark winter months. Our reward for this slight disruption will be our new building rising out of the ground in the coming months.

From Miss Krebs: Thank you to all boys who entered the eco committee's photography competition based on the natural world. We had many fantastic entries and it was a very difficult decision choosing the winners for each category. In the end, the winners were Jacob L, Hugo S and Ashwin S. Runners up were Alex G, Isaac L and Jai P. Well done to all and the photos will be displayed in school for all to admire!

From Margaret and Roger Coventry: We are writing to thank you on behalf of the Afghan children for whom you donated toys, puzzles, games and books. They were thrilled to receive your gifts. A boy and his family have been settled in the north of England. When we visited them he was keen to show us his Year 1 school books. Next he read one of the books you gave. He did not hesitate, reading with delight, and working out how to say unknown words himself. His mother has told me that he has read the book again and again. Meanwhile his younger sister has enjoyed playing with toys. We have also visited a family in a London hotel. The two girls, eight and nine, and the younger boy had just started school. They were delighted to be given colouring pens, sticker pictures and puzzles. These are just two examples of the pleasure that families have had from the gifts you gave. Thank you all.

From Mr Bishop: A long awaited and very welcome return to the hockey pitches was made by the NCS boys over the course of the last week or so. Despite not playing hockey for some time now, the boys have been in fine form. The training has been intense and fast-paced with everybody working hard to ensure their skills and fitness are in tip-top condition. We have even managed to enjoy the opening fixtures of the season with the U11 and U13 teams all in action against Winchester House in Brackley. In the away fixture the U11s played some superb hockey with Mr Morrison and Mr Young both saying the boys were very impressive with their fight and determination. The skills on show throughout the teams were really pleasing and give a solid base upon which to build this season. I have to give a special mention to Herbie who was brilliant in goal for the D team and Alexander M who ran tirelessly for the C team. In the B team game George W was the standout player and Mr Young was seriously impressed with his athleticism and skill. The final game of the afternoon in Brackley was the A team game and Jacob W scored our only goal in a tight 1-1 draw. The boys all showed they are ready for a good, tough season and they look like they mean business!

I had the pleasure of taking the U13 teams to St Edward’s astro also to face WHS. The second and fourth teams kicked things off. The seconds got off to a slow start and, despite going a goal or two down in the first half, we then started to play a little better with Carter dropping deeper and controlling the midfield. We ended the game on the losing side but as the game went on we found ourselves more and more able to break down our opposition and attack their goal. I am confident that with one or two tweaks, this team can enjoy great success. The D team were dominant in their game and peppered the WHS goal with many shots from all over the circle. Tolly D broke the deadlock in the end and secured a well earned 1-0 win. Isaac T in goal for the first time deserves a special mention as he performed superbly well.

After this breathless opening pair of games, it was the turn of the C and A teams to take to the pitch. In the C team game, it was a very tight affair with 1-1 a fair result. Max B was brilliant and deserves his promotion to the B team for next week, he played with a calm and controlling manner that ensured NCS had the lion’s share of possession throughout the game. Finally, I was fortunate to umpire the A team game and the boys were in devastatingly good form from the first whistle. The NCS team had four shots on target inside the opening two minutes and, thanks to the WHS goalkeeper, the score remained 0-0. However, through quality passing and accurate shooting, Rishaan broke the deadlock on twelve minutes with a calm strike past the goalkeeper thanks to a slide-rule pass from Timon. In the second half the pressure began to tell and NCS scored three more goals to take the game away from our guests. This included a brilliant solo effort from our captain, Timon, who carved open their defence to slot home from two metres. A final score of 4-0 was a good opening result and capped off a very pleasing opening round of fixtures.

Upcoming Events

Saturday, 15 January 2022

9.00 MCS Pretest, current Year 6 boys (Year 9 entry)

Sunday, 16 January 2022

Start of University Term

WEEK 3 (university week 1)

Monday 17th January 2022

School Nurse Visit Year 6 P1& P2 Year 7 P3 & P4 Year 8 P 7 - P9 (no games)

Wednesday, 19 January 2022

9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Mr Robert Quinney, Organist, New College

8.15 Eco Committee Meeting, library

14.00 Rehearsals for scholars' concert (Holywell Music Room)

14.45 U13 A&B Hockey v Abingdon, St Edward's

14.00 U11 A-D Hockey v MCS, Away

18.00 Music scholars' concert (Holywell Music Room)

WEEK 4 (university week 2)

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

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