Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 27th January 2023
Dear Parents,
Very soon it will be Groundhog Day and, to mark the occasion, in Thursday’s assembly Miss Krebs told the boys all about what this means. Observed each year in North America, it stems from a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that, should a groundhog emerge from its burrow on a clear 2 February, and therefore see its own shadow, it will return to its den for six more weeks of winter. If it is a cloudy 2 February and, therefore, the groundhog does not see its shadow, then spring will come early. Apparently its weather forecasting accuracy has been brought into question. The groundhog, which presumably changes every so often (the internet tells me that the average lifespan for a groundhog is three years) is named Punxsutawney Phil, after the town of Punxsutawney in Western Pennsylvania where the most famous Groundhog Day ceremony takes place. Quite why he’s called Phil is unclear, though it has been suggested that it is a historic reference to the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; maybe he, too, used to emerge from his palace each 2 February to look for his own shadow – who knows?
Most of you will probably be familiar with Groundhog Day because of the 1993 film of the same name starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. For those who are unfamiliar with the film: Murray plays Phil Connors, a weatherman who travels to Punxsutawney to cover the Groundhog Day festivities, but becomes stuck in a time loop which means that he has to relive 2 February over and over again. For those who are unfamiliar with the film, Murray plays Phil Connors, a weatherman who travels to Punxsutawney to cover the Groundhog Day festivities, but becomes stuck in a time loop which means that he has to relive 2 February over and over again. For those who are unfamiliar with the film, Murray plays Phil Connors, a weatherman who travels to Punxsutawney to cover the Groundhog Day festivities, but becomes stuck in a time loop which means that he has to relive 2 February over and over again.
It is a sensation that some of us might also have at this time of the year; the British winter can have us feeling trapped in an eat-work-sleep-repeat cycle which has some of us imploring Punxsutawney Phil not to see his shadow, just so we can get on with a rather brighter time of year. In the film, Connors initially uses his time-loop trap to live a life of self-destruction, knowing that none of his actions will have consequences, because he will just wake again the following morning, another 2 February morning, and he will just start all over again. This just leads to depression for Connors, so he decides instead to use his peculiar superpower, knowing exactly what is going to happen the next/same day, to pre-empt dangers and accidents, and to pursue more positive and improving pursuits: he learns to ice sculpt, speak French, play the piano, and he saves people’s lives along the way. It is at this point that the loop ceases and 3 February arrives, with Connors released from the repetitive grind of Groundhog Day. The underlying philosophy is not a difficult one to deduce: if we want to escape our ennui and the feeling of going around in tedious circles, then we need to think of positive ways to improve ourselves, especially at a time when the natural temptation is to hibernate and just wait it out until spring arrives – whether that spring is literal or figurative. This was the overall message of Miss Krebs’s assembly, so I look forward to the school containing a few more French-speaking, ice-sculpting pianists over the coming weeks.
Have a great weekend, and a safe and productive Groundhog Day,
Matt Jenkinson
Zeelo, the company organising our new East Oxford bus service, will be hosting an online information session on Monday 30 January at 19.00. Please use the following link to join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81703383580?pwd=NGE0MUlDWWRZSmxKTE5NaVVPYXAxZz09. Zeelo are planning to launch the app for booking seats shortly after the meeting. The precise vehicle size they source will depend in large part on the number of people signing up over the coming weeks, so we would very much encourage those families who are interested in using the service in the future to sign up for seats at an early stage.
Over the coming weeks, the boys in Years 3-8 will be carrying out their mid-year personal reviews. These increase in complexity/detail as they go through the school, but for all the boys self-review is a powerful tool as we reach this mid-point of the year. As with last year, when we successfully piloted the scheme, the boys will be given a series of prompts for each of their subjects, outlining desirable skills and outcomes in those subjects, and then the boys get to reflect on how far they have progressed so far this year. The self-reflections will then make their way home the week before the half-term break. This way, it isn’t just my colleagues and I ‘reporting’ on the boys all the time, but the boys learning to take greater ownership of their progress, with our help and guidance (of course).
Please find below the link to buy tickets for the next NCS Chamber Choir and Choral Society concert, with the Instruments of Time and Truth. It will take place on Saturday 25 March at 19.00 in New College Chapel. The programme will feature J.S. Bach’s Markus-Passion (BWV 247), reconstructed by Malcolm Bruno. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/j-s-bach-st-mark-passion-tickets-525465450307
From Mr Gardner: The RPSB Big Garden Birdwatch is a nationwide survey of our bird population, with 700,000 people taking part last year. To get involved, spend an hour with your children recording the different bird species that visit your garden, or bird feeder. It’s a good excuse to sit down and relax uninterrupted! Please find more information through this link: https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/?sourcecode=BWMITH0230&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppcad&utm_content=guide_request_various&utm_campaign=birdwatch2074&gclid=Cj0KCQiAic6eBhCoARIsANlox85CLNxzGMZVg4ux9QIVd61RnclWJsUWabpBoHPyILEJ7iyuHpWWLGgaAiaeEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Upcoming Events
Monday, 30 January 2023
15.30 U12 A Hockey Oxon County Cup. Tilsley Park
19.00 Zeelo bus information evening (online)
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
9.00 Year 8 HPV Vaccine
14.00 U8 A-C Hockey vs MCS. Away
Wednesday, 1 February 2023
8.15 Charity Committee Meeting, library
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Mrs Esther Yadgar, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
14.30 U13 A&B Hockey vs Hatherop. St Edward's
14.00 U11 A-D Hockey vs MCS. Away
19.30 Year 6 Ballet Trip: Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, New Theatre, Oxford
Monday, 6 February 2023
Charity Week begins
Start of Year 8/8S PSB/scholarship mocks week
Year 3-8 mid-year self-reviews completed and sent home this week
14.00 U13 House Matches. St Edward's
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Safer Internet Day
13.30 U8 & U9 Hockey vs Manor Prep. Iffley Rd
16.00 U9, U11, U13 Chess vs Dragon
Wednesday, 8 February 2023
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: The Revd Professor William Whyte, Professor of Social and Architectural History, St John's College
14.30 U11 A-D Hockey vs Manor Prep, Venue TBC
14.00 U13 A-D Hockey vs Summer Fields. St Edwards
Friday, 10 February 2023
9.00 U13 A IAPS Hockey Regionals. Cheltenham College
15.30 U11 A Hockey Oxon County Cup. Hawkes
Saturday, 11 February 2023
Start of Half-Term