Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 21 November 2025
Dear Parents, I have been reading a lot of David Sedaris recently. In one essay titled ‘Sorry’ he talks about being on one of his lecture tours and meeting someone who was about to go into hospital to have a kidney removed. Moved by this person’s pretty miserable medical situation, Sedaris asked them if they had an iPad. ‘No? Well you do now. I’m buying you one so you can use it in the hospital’. (It is perhaps worth noting at this stage that Sedaris has sold well over sixteen million books; the expense of an iPad would have been fairly negligible to him.) Still, it was a kind and generous thing to do for someone he had only just met. When Sedaris told his mother-in-law of this good deed, she replied ‘You bought a brand-new iPad for someone you don’t even know? Now, that’s just showing off’. She told him that he should have donated the money to one of the humanitarian charities advertised on television. Sedaris’s response? The iPad beneficiary was ‘right in front of me. Doing something nice for him was easy and immediate and didn’t lead to the mountain of junk mail you’re punished with whenever you give to an established charity’. Sedaris goes on to admit that, yes, ‘of course, I had been showing off, but so what? A truly decent person got an iPad out of it. It made him happy, and if it made me happy to tell a few dozen people about it, or, OK, a few thousand, what was the harm?’.
Sedaris’s gift was a generous one, and of course it did not preclude also donating money to humanitarian causes. His essay is refreshingly honest in admitting that there are benefits to the charity giver as well as the receiver; it does feel good to do positive things for other people, and if that leads to a little dopamine shot, what’s the problem? Presumably this is an evolutionary trait: those who were motivated to protect their community, and by default themselves within it, survived. It might be tempting for the boys at NCS, growing up in relative comfort and attending a nice school at the end of a cul de sac surrounded by (mostly) lovely buildings, to think only of themselves. We know they come from families who encourage them to think beyond themselves, though, and in school we also work hard to remind the boys that there is a world beyond Savile Road, and there are plenty of people in that world who need help and support. When you are prep-school age, there are naturally limits on what one can do in person, but having a charity committee and charity weeks is a good place to start. So is having a wellbeing grid which has, for example, our recent wellbeing themes: ‘I think of positive ways to help those outside my immediate community’ and ‘I am curious about the world beyond my immediate community and I try to understand its difficulties’.
Handing over iPads to hospital-bound strangers is not going to be one of those ‘positive ways’ for our boys; at least, not until they sell a few million books. But there are plenty of other things the boys can do: raising awareness of different causes, coming up with fundraising opportunities, and fundamentally growing up with a mindset that we are meant to help one another, including those we may not know personally. And if that leads to a little bit of selfish feeling good, as Sedaris says, ‘so what?’. Have a great weekend, Matt Jenkinson
Well done to all those thirty-six boys who took part in the Junior Recital on Monday evening. It was a joyous event representing the depth of musical talent in the lower part of the school; it is exciting to see what we have coming through into the upper school in future years!
Now we are looking forward to our Senior Recital, next Monday 24 November at 17.15 in the auditorium. Parking is available in school from 17.00, once the playground is clear of boys leaving their enrichment activities.
Our Year 6 parents’ evening is on Wednesday 26 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.
On Sunday 14 December at 6pm, the New College School Chamber Choir and Choral Society will present their annual Christmas concert in New College Chapel. This year, we are performing alongside members of The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra in a festive programme including Respighi's Lauda per la Natività del Signore and Britten's Ceremony of Carols. Tickets are now on sale via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ncs-christmas-concert-respighi-britten-tickets-1741687266499. Tickets at a discounted rate are available for NCS parents: simply use the promo code 'Respighi1379' at the checkout.
Sport Roundup: Since the start of the second half of Michaelmas, the NCS boys have been training hard and preparing for the remainder of the football season. Over the past week or so, we have been back in action at all ages, from the amazing feats of the U8s all the way through to the dogged performances from the U13s. In the U13 age group, we enjoyed a mixed and fair set of results against MCS, with one draw, a win, and a loss apiece. The game of the day had to be the 1st XI and their epic 0-0 draw. Oh, what could have been, as the crossbar and upright were both struck by the NCS strikers. They also forced the MCS keeper into a string of brilliant saves to keep the score level. The U11s also faced MCS, this time on Wednesday afternoon, and their games were equally entertaining. The A team went down 3-2, but again the strikers and forward players absolutely battered the MCS goal and, were it not for the heroics of the keeper, we could have scored six goals. Two wins from the B and D teams and a draw from the C team meant a great day all round and another set of impressive results.
The U8s and U9s were in action versus St Michael’s Primary in the first week back from half-term. This set of fixtures once again proved very popular all round, with both schools recording wins, losses and the odd draw. Stand-out on this occasion for NCS was the U9 A team, who scored eight goals, including hat-tricks for two of our young superstars. They have backed up this good work with a trip across to Cothill, where the boys played another three cracking matches. Both the B and C teams managed to win their games 2-1 and 2-0 respectively. On both pitches, it was a pleasure to see such great team spirit and determination from the NCS boys. On the A team pitch, the score ended up at 2-1 to Cothill, but our boys showed just how far they have come over the past few weeks. They are really starting to develop and gel into a brilliant team, and we look forward to the future and what they can achieve.
Upcoming Events Monday, November 24, 2025 14.15 U13 A-C Football vs d'Overbroeck's, home 17.15 Senior Recital (Years 6-8), Auditorium (parking from 17.00) Tuesday, November 25, 2025 9.45 Year 3 Ashmolean Museum - Sumer 13.00 Fire Service visit to Pre-Prep 14.15 U8 A-C Football vs MCS, away 14.15 U9 A-C Football vs MCS, home Wednesday, November 26, 2025 9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Ms Kate Lam, EDI Rep, NCS 14.15 U11 A-D Football vs CCCS, home 14.15 U13 A-C/D Football vs CCCS, away 18.00 Year 6 parents' evening Friday, November 28, 2025 13.30 Rec-Year 4, Pantomime, Auditorium (TBC) Tuesday, December 02, 2025 8.50 Carol service readers' rehearsal (chapel) 14.15 U8 & U9 Football vs CCCS, home Wednesday, December 03, 2025 All boys: no Games 9.00 Form period (no chapel) 14.00 Carol service practice Thursday, December 04, 2025 9.30 Reception Vision Screening 14.30 Pre-Prep Winter Concert Saturday, December 06, 2025 University Term ends