Loading

Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 8th July 2022

Dear Parents,

So here we are, at the end of another academic year. And what a year it has been! We always knew that it was going to be challenging to put back together the NCS ritual year post-lockdowns, but it has been a joy to be able to do so. Our long-awaited ISI inspection, too, codified all that we value about the place. Our prizegiving ceremony this afternoon was an apt celebration of all that is NCS, and I thought I would share with you the words I addressed to our leavers:

As the word ‘prep’ or ‘preparatory’ in ‘prep school’ suggests, we are here to help prepare you for the next stage of your education, and for your lives ahead. One part of that preparation is, of course, the acquisition of factual knowledge – you will need to know stuff in the years ahead. But that is only part of the equation. We are also here to get you into good habits, to make sure you have automatic desirable traits going forward. That is why we have wanted to ingrain habits of collaboration, independence, reviewing and improving, and the other skills with which you will be more than familiar. But we have also wanted you to base whatever it is you go on to do on the bedrock of your values. The Apple CEO Tim Cook, just a month or two ago, gave a graduating class in Washington DC just one piece of advice: ‘Whatever you do, lead with your values’. ‘My values’, he said, ‘are the driving force behind everything I do, and they are at the heart of every decision I make’. I have every faith that those boys – those young men – leaving NCS this term will endeavour to do the same.

Running parallel to all of this, we have wanted you to be happy. And, of course, we want you to continue being happy in the future. There is no point having a report card with straight ‘10’s if you are miserable. Being happy, especially in the context of what we have all endured over the past couple of years, is easier said than done. But, as with your academic skills, we have wanted you to hone your wellbeing skills as well. The reason why we have ‘wellbeing grids’ in every form room, the reason it is printed in your planners, the reason we have talked about it every Tuesday in assemblies, is because we think there are some pointers towards good habits that will make you successful and happy. NCS is living proof of the symbiosis between those two things: if you are learning well, you are more likely to be happy; if you are happy, you are more likely to be learning well. It may surprise you to hear that this focus on happiness and wellbeing is a relatively new feature in many schools. Well, it suffuses everything we do at NCS and it is here to stay.

Prizegiving

One of the cornerstones of our wellbeing here is an appreciation of the opportunities we enjoy, and an awareness of the responsibilities this brings. (This is point VW2 on the wellbeing grid, for those who enjoy plotting such things.) As we sit here in the middle of a beautiful historic university city, with supportive parents and teachers, excellent resources, the enthusiastic support of one of the best colleges in one of the best universities in the world, and a stunning new building rising out of the ground, it is vital that we never lose sight of the privilege that we are enjoying. Put simply: the vast majority of young people in the world do not get to enjoy what we enjoy. The vast majority of teachers and headmasters in the world do not get to enjoy what we enjoy. It is natural that, over the course of your young lives, there will be moments of frustration, discontent, tiredness. But one very simply antidote to those moments is to stop and look around you: you get to enjoy something that the vast majority of people in the world can only dream of.

I would like to be able to stand here and to tell you that everything is going to be alright all of the time. That you will always get the grades and the jobs you want. That you will never fall out with your friends and, in time, your partners. That the sun will shine every day and that you will always jump out of bed in the mornings with a smile. But I can’t do that; I can’t lie to you. What I can tell you is that the good will outweigh the bad; the successes will come and kick the failures into touch; the sunny days will come to dominate the cloudy ones. That is in large part because of the education you have received here, a holistic education that – if we are allowed to take some credit – has helped to make you the wonderful young people you are today.

This is not ‘goodbye’ to our leavers, as you never really leave NCS. Not in some weird, overreaching, cultish way – but in a way that says you are always welcome back here. And there will always be a bit, a lot, of NCS in the way that you think and behave in your future. It is important that you look forward with enthusiasm and optimism; that you embrace the opportunities and successes that you will enjoy in the big wide world beyond the end of Savile Road. It is equally important that you understand that we are always here for you if you need us, and even if you don’t need us but just fancy a chat, or want to see if the place has changed.

Thank you for all of your excellent company and support this year. I wish you and your families a very happy and restful summer, and I look forward to seeing you back at the school gate in September!

Yours,

Matt Jenkinson

We have had a very busy and enjoyable final week of term. Tuesday’s sports day was a lovely event, with just the right levels of competitiveness, cooperation, and mutual support; the weather held, too, to ensure it wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t too cold. My favourite moment, on the finish line, was seeing the boy who came second in a tightly contested race immediately turn to the boy who came first to smile at and congratulate him. Well done to all the boys for their exemplary sporting attitude. I very much enjoyed making my cameo role in the pre-prep summer show yesterday; my thanks to Mrs Cox and her wonderful team who were such great sports at taking part. At the other end of the school, our leavers’ events have carried on through the week, with a hugely enjoyable playreading of A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Monday, a high-quality leavers’ concert in the University Church (once the site of NCS) on Wednesday and the excellent leavers vs parents cricket match last night. My thanks to all of my colleagues who have gone to great lengths to make these such successful and meaningful events.

Leavers' Concert; Play Reading; Pre-Prep Play

Congratulations to Kate Lam who has been appointed our new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Representative at NCS. I look forward to working with Kate in this new role, and I am sure she will bring great energy and innovation to the position.

Well done to our Year 5 boys who had their creative writing published in an anthology by Sherborne School.

The theme for our annual SHTEAM Festival next Hilary will be ‘How to Live’. We will be exploring this theme, essentially looking at all the different ways we can live well (or live ‘the good life’), and how we can learn how to live with advice from all our different subjects. We will be running talks and workshops, as well as incorporating the theme in our day-to-day lessons. If there are any parents, taking into account their specialist knowledge, who would like to offer a talk or workshop to the boys on an aspect of ‘How to Live’, especially focusing on physical and mental health, do please contact emma.krebs@newcollegeschool.org.

We will run our usual Reading in Interesting Places competition over the summer. If your son wishes to submit a photo of himself reading in an interesting place, please do so by sending a high-resolution JPG to office@newcollegeschool.org by Monday 5 September. I would love to read what the boys have been up to over the summer, so if any of them keep holiday diaries please do send these in via the school office at the start of the new academic year.

Our (at least) annual reminder that the school’s Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) policy is always available to view at https://www.newcollegeschool.org/wellbeing-and-happiness. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact either Mr Morrison on brett.morrison@newcollegeschool.org or myself via office@newcollegeschool.org.

Monday, 5 September 2022

INSET for Staff, 9:00-16:00

Tuesday, 6 September 2022

INSET for Staff, 9:00-16:00

Wednesday, 7 September 2022

Start of Term

After School Enrichment Activities start (pre-prep and prep)

9.00 Chapel. Speaker: The Headmaster

Monday, 12 September 2022

18.00 Reception and Year 1 form tutor information evening

Tuesday, 13 September 2022

14.30 U9 A&B vs Sibford, Away

18.00 Years 4-6 form tutor information evening, internet safety and 13+ destinations briefing

Wednesday, 14 September 2022

VMT Music lessons begin

9.00 Chapel. Speaker: The Chaplain

14.30 U10 & U11 A&B Football vs Elstree, Home

14.30 U10 & U11 C Football vs Elstree, Away

14.30 U13 A-C Football vs Elstree, Away

18.00 Years 2-3 form tutor information evening and introduction to the prep school

Thursday, 15 September 2022

9.00 Years 3 and 4 to Wittenham Clumps

9.00 Reception assessments for September 2023

18.00 Years 7-8 form tutor information evening and PSB briefing

Friday, 16 September 2022

9.00 Reception assessments for September 2023

Created By
NCS News
Appreciate