Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 28 April 2023
Dear Parents,
A couple of weeks ago I took advantage of the Easter vacation to visit a family friend back in my old hometown. They have recently moved house, to a street where my old secondary school sits just a few minutes away. I couldn’t not take the opportunity to go for a stroll to see the old place from the outside – the first time in, what, twenty-plus years. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be some misty-eyed drifting-into-middle-age reverie about my school years. I thought I would feel a little nostalgic walking past, and in some ways I suppose I was. But I didn’t feel anything strongly either positively or negatively; it’s very much someone else’s school now and – although from the street I could see my old Year 7 form room, and the science labs, and I was pleased to see the disappearance of the section of the playground formerly known as ‘the cage’ – there was so much new building that it looked like a different place.
Without getting too nostalgic about it, my mind did wander to a few memories and to what the school had done for me. I shan’t dwell on the negatives, though there were some: one or two of the teachers were appalling (though this did lead to a quite healthy autodidacticism); quite a lot of the behaviour (not mine!) was poor; there was some terrible bullying; and it was frequently quite cold. Instead, there were many positives from my time there. I think it’s fair to say that I wouldn’t now be a teacher, or a headmaster, without the really positive pedagogical influences I got to enjoy at the place. There were some fantastic teachers and I clearly learnt something, or lots of things. It was also a school that was suffused with music, at a time (like now, in many places) when the arts were under-resourced and seen as a luxury that many people wanted but few wanted to pay for. If I think about my peers from that time, I can list people who are now an award-winning viola player, a music therapist, a professor of composition, and Harry Styles’s songwriter and producer. One of those is making quite a lot more money than the others.
The school also gave me a sense of history and my place within it. While the buildings were hardly ancient – the original ones were levelled to make way for a car park by some progressive council – the school was proud to date back to 1701. A mere babe in arms, yes, compared to somewhere like NCS. But it got the right balance between tradition and looking to the future; it was informed by its past rather than suffocated by it. It also didn’t obsess too much over league tables, which was just as well because it (quite contentedly) didn’t come very high in them. The school saw education as something much richer and varied than something that can be caught in a snapshot either by an OFSTED inspector or by some arbitrary metric. I took great joy in the teachers giving the inspectors the run-around whenever they turned up; ticking the right boxes while being observed, just to revert to other tried-and-tested inspector-unfriendly techniques once OFSTED had left the room. It was proud of its Oxbridge or Russell Group alumni, but it also saw great value in a variety of different futures. Whether it realised it or not, and I suspect it did, it was a powerful mechanism for social mobility.
But it also, before ‘values’ education was codified in quite the way it is now, believed in imparting values quite informally, through osmosis. As I wandered past the school last week I tried to summarise what those values might be. The one that kept springing to mind was that of loyalty. Not a boorish and unthinking loyalty to the ‘old school tie’, but a sense of gratitude and belonging to something beyond ourselves. Loyalty is in increasingly short supply in modern society, with an ever-prevalent instinct to follow what will promote or enrich oneself above everyone else – the ‘eye for the main chance’ as it is frequently known. But I hope that schools like my old one, and my current one, will continue to fight against this deeply unattractive quality.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Jenkinson
Speaking of values and eschewing the narrow tedium of arbitrary metrics in the pursuit of a real education, you may be interested to see our slightly redesigned homepage, which now has on it more prominent links to our thoughts on responsible citizenship, character education, and sustainability at NCS: www.newcollegeschool.org.
Congratulations to Sarah Lintott, who has been appointed Biology teacher and Assistant SENCo at Princes Risborough School. In her stead, I am pleased to announce that Jan Alden has been appointed as our Inclusion Coordinator from September 2023. Jan has worked in both primary and secondary schools, in the UK and Canada, over the past couple of decades. She has a BSc from Nipissing University and an MSc from Laurentian University, and she studied for her PGCertEd and National Award for SEN Co-ordination at Oxford Brookes. Jan has taught locally at Rye St Antony and St Birinus, before becoming Assistant SENCo at the Swan School. Her classroom subject specialism is Science and she formerly worked with the Nobel Prize winner F. Sherwood Rowland at the University of California. I am sure Jan and her family will be made most welcome when she starts at NCS in September.
As part of NCS’s Educational Partnership Programme we are delighted to be hosting pupils from St Christopher's and St Mary and St John Primary Schools for an afternoon of singing in New College Chapel on Tuesday 9 May. They will be joining our junior choir and choristers in Years 3-5 under the baton of Isobel Rose. Please note all pupils in these year groups should wear school uniform on that day. There will be no change to the end of day pick up as the boys will be walked back to the school and will be able to attend clubs as usual. Unfortunately, due to the numbers of pupils involved there will not be room for an audience but we are planning to film the event.
You will already have seen Tom Neal’s Parentmail about the foundation of the Oxford Children’s Orchestra (OCCO), to be based at NCS from September 2023. Full details are available at https://www.newcollegeschool.org/occo. Do please pass on this information to anyone you think might be interested.
From Mr Bishop: The ‘Summer’ term has started off in typically damp fashion this year; we’re hopeful of some warmer weather soon when boys can wear sunhats and enjoy the feel of the sun. However, this week the clouds cleared just long enough for the U11 and U13s to play some cricket away at Abingdon Prep. All four teams posted respectable scores that, with a little more work, should turn into competitive efforts as the season progresses. I am confident that the talent will rise and the boys will enjoy a strong season. There were performances of note throughout the teams. In the 1st XI our captain Rishaan bowled with aggression and pace and was at his best at the end of his spell; some of his deliveries were unplayable at times! He also carefully instructed his team and showed a super working knowledge of the game. Dan C was resolute and disciplined with the bat as he made his way to double figures. So was Max B. The most impressive performance came from Jake J who was unbeaten after spending the longest at the crease. Peter K in the 2nd XI had his first taste of senior cricket from behind the stumps as wicket keeper and was brilliant. He took difficult deliveries with confidence and aplomb to keep the batters on their toes. The team was rightly praised by both coaches for their efforts in the field; there was impressive ground work and strong catching skills.
Mr Rose informs me that the U11 B team had a great afternoon as there were runs aplenty and wickets falling every few minutes. Both teams seemed to really enjoy the encounter and the Abingdon Prep staff made the time to let me know how well the boys had conducted themselves all afternoon and how they were a credit to the school. Mr Rose has singled out Michael S for player of the match thanks to his consistent hard work and dedication to the team. Lastly, in the U11 A team it was tough going at times as Abingdon posted a high score from their twenty overs. The boys bowled well but will be striving for a little more consistency in the future. We did have cause to smile, though, as our captain took six wickets, including a hattrick right at the death. Both are extremely difficult things to do but to manage both in one game just goes to show how talented Xander S is. During the NCS innings we saw glimpses of what could be with Alexander CB and Noah S scoring well with the bat. Mr Swanepoel has high hopes for the team once we can spend some more time in the nets.
Upcoming Events
Monday, 1 May 2023
School and bank holiday
Wednesday, 3 May 2023
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: The Revd Canon Dr Robin Ward, Principal, St Stephen's House
14.30 U11 A&B Cricket vs MCS, Away
14.30 U13 A&B Cricket vs Cranford House, Home
14.30 U13 A (5 pairs) Tennis vs Cranford House, Home
18.00 Parents’ Evening with Visiting Music Teachers and Organist/Assistant Organist (online)
Thursday, 4 May 2023
13.00 Year 4 Maths Challenge, Headington School (return 15.45)
Friday, 5 May 2023
9.00 Pre-Prep Coronation QED Day
Saturday, 6 May 2023
No Music Academy (Coronation Day)
Monday, 8 May 2023
School and bank holiday
Tuesday 9th May 2023
Singing Workshop and Concert with partner schools (PM)
14.00 U8 & U9 Cricket vs CCCS, Home
Wednesday, 10 May 2023
8.10 Charity Meeting, Geography Room
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Professor Afifi Al-Akiti, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
14.30 U11 A&B Cricket vs MCS (U10), Away
14.30 U13 A Cricket vs Bruern Abbey, Home
14.30 U13 B Cricket vs Bruern Abbey, Away
19.00 NCSPA meeting
Saturday, 13 May 2023
10.00 Mock ABRSM Grade 5 Theory exam (IT room)