Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 8 November 2024
Dear Parents,
We have, in the NCS archives, quite a lot of photographs of old school sports teams. The 1932 NCS football team photo, taken outside the door to the 1903 building that the boys still use today, features a rather confident looking goalkeeper: a thirteen-year-old Alec Cranswick. Alec was born on Ship Street, less than half a mile away from the school, and he spent his formative years here, before heading to St Edward’s for his secondary schooling. While at NCS, his headmaster noted that Alec was not very academic and was prone to daydreaming – ‘he goes into a kind of trance and we only know he is still with us then because he appears to be breathing and, strangely enough, thinking deeply’. I think we could be more charitable and suggest he was indeed thinking greater and more ambitious thoughts than those provoked by his teacher. Also, perhaps I’m over-reading it, but there’s something about his stoic confidence in the football team photo which fed into his later life, and service, in World War II.
After a brief and unhappy time in the Metropolitan Police, Alec joined the RAF in July 1939, becoming part of 214 Squadron the following June when he flew his first operational mission, targeting factories near Leverkussen, north of Cologne. Over the next six months he would complete 29 missions, before joining 148 Squadron in Malta, from where he flew missions against targets in Italy and North Africa. In March 1941 he and his squadron moved their base to Kabrit in Egypt. It was here that Alec wrote a poem, which we still have in the NCS archives, and which current generations of pupils hear every Remembrance Service:
The skylarks sending down their songs from high
Acclaim the joyous advent of the spring,
But living man greets Easter with a sigh,
On him is lost the beauty of the thing.
No longer are the fields of Europe filled
With workers toiling hard behind the ploughs,
Unseen by eyes to whom nature is killed
The leaves begin to form upon the boughs.
’Tis stated that by nature’s ancient lore
Man against man is never wont to fight,
But ne’er has human dared to say before
That right is wrong and all that’s wrong is right.
For this therefore do all folk rise again
Lest they be also in his snare entwined;
And he, dictator of his own domain,
Finds that he has the world against him lined.
No longer does the peaceful countryside
Blend with the perfect setting of the day;
But guns, man’s worst creation, have defied
The harmless folk who dared to bar their way.
Spring lapses, summer bursts forth in bloom
And nature blossoms out in all her charms;
But many men go forward to their doom,
And nights are strident with grotesque alarms.
During Eastertide the world has changed;
The north, though down, is conquered not the least,
And more peace-loving countries now are ranged
Against the bloody talons of the beast.
And though the outcome of this desperate strife
Perchance is something I shall never see,
’Tis certain e’en though tyranny be rife,
The serf can not exterminate the free.
By April 1942 Alec had been promoted to Flight Lieutenant and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, having flown 61 missions. In January 1943 he was selected for Pathfinder Operations and, that July, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and named commander of B Flight, 35 Squadron, carrying out mainly administrative duties, which he found frustrating compared to active combat. He returned to active duty in April 1944 and, three months later, took on his 107th – what would be his last – mission. He was to target a railway junction near Villeneue-St George, south-east of Paris, but thick cloud cover necessitated a rapid descent into enemy fighters. Alec’s Lancaster was hit in the rear bay by German shells and caught alight. There was only one survivor: Wireless Operator Wilf Horner. Alec died, leaving behind his pregnant young bride, Val, whom he had married just three months previously.
Alec was, his contemporaries noted, a rather quiet and solitary figure. But he was clearly also a confident, determined and talented one. While he is thought to have been the Pathfinder pilot to have flown the most operational missions in World War II, Air Vice Marshal Donald Bennett noted that Alec ‘hated war’. But he hated ‘tyranny and injustice’ more, and he fought them ‘with his all’. It is to the many, many people like Alec that we owe a great debt for their fight against authoritarianism and fascism. If their efforts were not ultimately to be in vain, we need to work daily to combat a threat that hasn’t gone away, eighty years after Alec Cranswick’s heroic death.
Matt Jenkinson
Thank you to Years 6-8 who sang Geoffrey Burgon’s Nunc Dimittis so beautifully in Wednesday’s Remembrance Service, and to Xander and Alexander who read Alec Cranswick’s above poem so well. It was a very moving service, and an important one for the boys to experience.
Earlier this week, prizes were awarded for the competitions held during Charity Week. A big thank you once again to everyone who participated in the NCS Bake Off and the Art Competition. Your support for these events is hugely appreciated. The winners of the Bake Off are: Blade, Thomas H, Luca, Liam, Tino, Alex A, Olly, Henry D, and Daniel K. The winners of the Art Competition are: Eddy, Gunwoo, and William D. The artworks are now on display around the school.
From Elizabeth Hess: A number of NCS boys attended the Oxfordshire Book Awards this Thursday. 78 schools had participated in reading and voting, of which 30 were represented at the ceremony. The gathered winning authors emphasised the importance of reading when younger (“my head was so full of stories that they fell from my pen” - John Dougherty), for inspiration, and using one’s own experiences and imagination stimulated by personal reading. The NCS boys were very engaged with the event and demonstrated an impressive knowledge of literature and an enthusiasm to meet the authors (and enjoy the cake!).
National Anti-Bullying Week begins on Monday 11 November. No school should ever claim it is free from the potential for bullying and so it is important that children are always encouraged to be open about their feelings at school and at home and that schools are always vigilant to ensure there is an ethos in which anti-bullying is taken seriously. As ever, we shall focus on anti-bullying and a culture of openness and mutual support in our Wellbeing lessons throughout the school this week. I hope it goes without saying that we are here at any time for any concerns to be flagged up with us straightaway (with form tutors in the first instance) and we will do all we can to nip any issues in the bud.
Over the next two weeks we will be continuing our focus on saving energy during Switch-Off Fortnight. Eco-monitors will be checking empty rooms to see if the lights are off and they will also be reading the school’s electricity meters to see if we can reduce our energy use over the fortnight and beyond.
We are looking forward to our Years 7-8 performances of The Tempest next Wednesday and Thursday, 13-14 November, 18.00-19.00. Please note that entry will be via the Song Room (it will be signposted), and that boys will be picked up from in the chapel itself after the performances (just after 19.00). Please do not use the antechapel entrance, but always use the Song Room door for entering and exiting. Thank you.
Our Year 6 parents’ evening is on Wednesday 27 November. The official start time is 18.00 though a few colleagues may be available from slightly earlier if you would like to make an early start. Parking is available, first come first served, from 17.00; please be very careful when driving into the playground in case there are still one or two boys leaving their enrichment activities or aftercare. We would very much appreciate it if parents could arrive in good time to make their way around by 20.00, to enable colleagues to get home at a sensible time. If there are any appointments which might require a longer slot than c.5 minutes, please could separate arrangements be made with individual teachers? Many thanks.
Tickets are now available for Handel’s Messiah featuring the NCS Choral Society and Chamber Choir, and the Instruments of Time and Truth. New College Chapel, Sunday 15 December at 18.00. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/handel-messiah-tickets-1056646250379?aff=oddtdtcreator
Next Generation Soccer Schools will be running Christmas sessions at NCS, running from Monday 16 December to Friday 20 December. Sessions will run from 9.30 to 16.00 and are open to pupils of NCS in Years 3-8 and their siblings. With places limited, don’t miss your chance to secure a spot for just £45 per day. Led by Stephen Potts, along with other FA/UEFA-qualified coaches, the children will enjoy top-notch training, skill development, and plenty of holiday cheer. To register or for more information, please use the link below. You are also able to pay via the gov.uk tax free childcare accounts or childcare vouchers. https://campscui.active.com/orgs/NextGenerationSoccerSchool?season=3559242. Please note that Next General Soccer School uses NCS facilities but is an independent company run entirely separately from the school’s operations.
For those NCS parents in the process of choosing the right 13+ school for their sons, Matt Smith, the author of the Attain Independent Schools' Guide 2025 (rrp £9.99), has very generously allowed NCS parents access to the book for free. The guide empowers parents to find the right school for their child, cutting through the marketing spin and erroneous league tables. It distils 25 years of experience for parents considering an independent senior school for their child. The book has been widely-praised by Heads from across the country, describing it as 'a terrific resource', 'sage, sensible and savvy' and 'the book that parents have been waiting for'. The Attain Guide 'helps parents cut through the branding, shiny PR and glitz' and is 'really well written, entirely from the perspective of supporting parents.' Just enter the discount code NEWCOLLEGE2025 to read the ebook free-of-charge at https://attain.guide
Upcoming Events
Sunday, 10 November 2024
9.00 Year 8 Only, The Tempest rehearsal, chapel (ends 11.30)
Monday, 11 November 2024
National Anti-Bullying Week begins
Switch Off Fortnight begins
9.00 Reception Vision Screening
14.00 Year 7 Only, The Tempest rehearsal, chapel (ends 15.00)
18:00 Pre-Prep Chorister Information Evening (Virtual)
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
14.3 U9 A&B Football vs Sibford, Away
Wednesday, 13 November 2024
8.15 School Council Meeting, Creative Learning Centre
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Mr Alex Ansdell, actor and former NCS pupil
14.00 U13 House Cross Country, Uni Parks
14.30 U11 A-D Football vs Sibford and St John Priory, Home
18.00 The Tempest performance, Years 7-8, chapel (please enter via the Song Room)
Thursday, 14 November 2024
14.00 U8&9 House Cross Country, Uni Parks
18.00 The Tempest performance, Years 7-8, chapel (please enter via the Song Room)
Friday, 15 November 2024
14.00 U11 House Cross Country, Uni Parks
WEEK 11 (University Week 6)
Monday, 18 November 2024
8.30-10.00 Y8 Language Ambassadors to St Michael's
UK Parliament Week begins
14.30 U13 A-C Football vs d'Overbroeck's, Home
17.15 Junior Recital (Years 3-5), Hall (parking from 17.00)
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
14.00 U8 & U9 A*B Football vs Cothill, Away
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
8.15 Eco Committee meeting, Creative Learning Centre
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Revd Katie ('Kt') Tupling, Chaplain, St Hugh's College
14.30 U11 A-D Football vs Cranford House, Away
14.30 U13 A-C Football vs Cranford House, Home
14.00 Inter-Schools Debate (until 1600)
Thursday, 21 November 2024
14.45 U9 A-C Football vs Chandlings, Home
Friday, 22 November 2024
9.00 Flu Vaccinations (Rec - Year 8) Art Room