Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 7 March 2025
Dear Parents,
Among my hundreds of generally untouched books, I have a few by the author Alberto Manguel. I say ‘author’, Wikipedia clarifies that he is more specifically an ‘anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, editor, and a former director of the National Library of Argentina’. He is tremendously impressive. What I especially like about Manguel and his writing is that he essentially writes about whatever he wants; his editors and publishers clearly trust him. I also like the fact that Manguel used to write in his personal library in a renovated medieval presbytery in the Poitou-Charentes region of France, surrounded by his forty-thousand books. There are moments when my mind might wander to a life in which I, Montaigne-like, potter around my medieval library, passing the time between meals and naps by writing whatever I feel like, whether or not my audience likes or wants it. (No rude comments at the back about headmaster’s newsletters.) In one of his books, A Reader on Reading (2010), Manguel looks back to his young adulthood and his attitude to reading at that time:
Between the end of high school in Buenos Aires and the beginnings of a full-time publishing career in Europe, I spent a splendid decade in Paris and London reading in an almost perfectly haphazard way, dipping into books that were too expensive for me to buy, skimming over others that incautious friends had lent me, borrowing a few from public libraries for company rather than for instruction’s sake, and hardly ever finishing anything. No method, erudite order, sense of duty, or rigorous curiosity ruled my reading. In body as in mind, I drifted.
I find this passage particularly appealing because it makes me feel marginally less bad about the unhealthy (or what I generally perceive as unhealthy) reading habits into which I’ve drifted in this twenty-first century age of distraction. I spend my working life surrounded by books – while I generally read PDFs on a screen – then I return to a home full of books. But most of those books sit beautifully arranged untouched on lovely shelves while I work out what to watch next on Prime; some of them come off the shelf to be read for a few minutes, then returned to their original place. I will shuffle off this mortal coil leaving most of my books unread, I’m certain, at which point they’ll be taken to Oxfam or wherever.
What Manguel’s passage above shows, I hope, is that it is quite conceivable to get the benefits of reading without feeling the pressure to read every book in one’s possession from the first page until the last. This fits, I think, with the national theme of this year’s World Book Day, which encourages young people to ‘read their way’, to break down the preachy barriers of reading for pleasure. There has long been a disconnect between the benefits of reading, on which pretty much everyone can agree, and the methods by which we might get more people to read when there are computer games, streaming services, AI, and any other number of attractions which take us away from the written word. Understanding that there is more than one way to read, or to get into reading, might be one powerful way in which we can encourage such reading. Nudging, coaxing, encouraging rather than intimidating young people with inflexible notions of what they should be reading, when and how – this seems to me a more sustainable way of getting future generations into reading. And if the ‘drifting’, ‘skimming’, ‘haphazard’ approach was good enough for Alberto Manguel, one of the most erudite readers and writers of the past century, then maybe it’s good enough for the rest of us.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Jenkinson
Thursday’s World Book Day and NCS Literary Festival were, as ever, great occasions in celebration of the written word. I would especially like to thank Chris Gausden for masterminding the day and preparing special activities for the boys, and Elizabeth Hess who started the day with an inspirational assembly. Well done, too, to those boys who performed so well in the final poetry recitation in the auditorium on Thursday morning. Thank you to all those parents who, we appreciate, put in a lot of effort getting the boys costumed. And to my colleagues who were good sports in dressing up.
Well done to all those boys in Years 3-5 who played in the junior recitals on Monday evening. The number and quality of the performances was testament to the musical talent we have coming through the junior school – very exciting!
Congratulations to Year 8 boys Xander, Thomas and Noah, who won first prize in the junior round of the Geographical Association's Worldwise Quiz which was held on Tuesday evening. Sixteen schools from across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire took part in ten rounds of geography quiz questions including map skills, topical issues and general geographical knowledge. A fantastic result – well done!
Our SHTEAM Festival begins on Monday 10 March and runs all week. For those who are new to NCS – or to the concept of SHTEAM (STEM with the Arts and Humanities put back in) – this is an annual festival at the school during which we celebrate interdisciplinarity by taking a single theme and looking at it from as many different curricular dimensions as possible. This year’s theme is ‘Space’ and there are dozens of events happening across the year groups: special lessons, workshops and talks covering all manner of astronomical areas. Many thanks to all those who are contributing to the festival, and especially those NCS parents who are taking the time to come in to talk to the boys.
You will notice on the SHTEAM schedule that there is a really special event happening on Monday at 13.00. We will be joined, via Zoom, by Col. Chris Hadfield – former NASA astronaut and Commander of the International Space Station. He will be answering some questions that were prepared by the boys earlier this term. (We didn’t tell them they were asking questions of a real astronaut; we just asked them to write down a question that they’d ask an astronaut if they ever met one!). This is an incredible privilege, a once-in-a-lifetime (and once-in-a-career for some of us) event.
As part of our SHTEAM Festival we will have our annual Holloway Lecture, next Wednesday at 18.00 in the auditorium, which will be given by Professor Katherine Blundell OBE, former Gresham Professor of Astronomy. This event is sign-up only and is currently fully booked.
The Next Generation Soccer School will be running again over the Easter holidays, from Monday 31 March to Friday 4 April (9.30-16.00). It is open to NCS pupils in Years 3-8 and their siblings. The cost is £45 per day and it is run by FA-licensed coaches. Sessions will focus on skill development, teamwork, and having fun. Whether your child is a beginner or a budding star, they will have a fantastic time improving their game. You can book via: https://campscui.active.com/orgs/NextGenerationSoccerSchool?season=3611442 . To book using tax-free childcare accounts or childcare vouchers please contact stephenpotts@btinternet.com. Please note that, while Next Generation Soccer School uses New College School premises, it is a separate company; it is not being run by NCS.
Sports Roundup: The last week or so has been very memorable for all of us involved with the NCS hockey teams. Over the years, we have enjoyed great success on the hockey pitch, and this year’s 1st VII team have taken this to new heights. Not only have they finished 2nd in the Oxon County Cup and the Stowe Festival, but they have now managed to achieve something that no U13 hockey team from NCS has done before: they have qualified for the IAPS National Hockey Finals after winning a silver medal at the regional qualifying tournament at Bedford. At this stage of the season, the boys are playing some of the best hockey we’ve seen here for some time, and on their way to the final, they claimed some notable scalps, including Bedford, Heath Mount and Wellesley Prep. We are very much looking forward to next Tuesday and the finals at Merchant Taylors’ School. Good luck, boys!
Away from the intensity of senior hockey, the U8 and U9 boys have also been in action this week. Their first trip on Tuesday saw some hard-fought games away at Winchester House, and in three very close matches, the boys played some fantastic hockey and were rewarded with very pleasing results against our toughest competition to date: two draws and only one defeat made for a very good day out indeed. On Thursday afternoon, they made the somewhat shorter journey to Chandlings. In four highly entertaining games, the NCS boys enjoyed superb results. Among the U9s, the B team were stuck at 0-0 at half time, but thanks to some great attacking play and resolute defending, a 2-1 win was secured and celebrated at the final whistle. In the A team’s game, things did not go quite as planned: following a 4-2 win at home in February, this time round we weren’t quite victorious. On the U8 pitches the goals were raining in, with the NCS teams proving that the future of NCS hockey is strong as both the A and B squads recorded powerful wins away from home—a very bright performance, with many individuals getting themselves on the score sheet.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, 8 March 2025
14.15 Tosca rehearsal (17.00 finish)
Monday, 10 March 2025
SHTEAM Festival on 'Space' begins: see separate schedule for full event list
Pre-Prep QED Week
Rehearsals for Pre-Prep concert this week
14.30 U13 A-D Hockey vs CCCS, St Edward's
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: The Warden
14.00 U13 A & B Hockey vs Abingdon and Summer Fields, St Edward's
14.00 U11 A-D Hockey vs Beachborough, Stowe School
14.00 U13 C & D Hockey vs Summer Fields, St Edward's
18.00 Holloway Lecture, Prof. Katherine Blundell OBE, former Gresham Professor of Astronomy (Auditorium; sign-up only)
Saturday, 15 March 2025
End of University Term
10.30 Tosca reheasal (16.30 finish)
Monday, 17 March 2025
Food Waste Action Week
8.30 Year 8 Language Ambassadors visit to St Michael's
14.00 U13 All Hockey House Matches, St Edward's
17.15 Senior Recital (Auditorium; parking from 17.00)
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
14.00 Year 6-8 Careers Talks, Auditorium
14.00 U1 & U9 (All) Hockey vs Beachborough, Iffley Road
18.00 French Café and Entertainment (Year 6) (Dining Hall; parking from 17.30)
Wednesday, 19 March 2025
8.15 Eco Committee meeting, CLC
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Fr John Saward, SS. Gregory and Augustine Catholic Church
10.00 Year 7 visit to OU Physics department for talk on The Extremely Large Telescope
14.00 U11 A-D Hockey vs Dragon, Away
14.00 U13 A-D Hockey vs Dragon, St Edward's
17.30 Pre-Prep Parents' evening
Thursday, 20 March 2025
9.45 Year 6 Science trip to Natural History Museum
14.30 Pre-Prep Spring Concert
Friday, 21 March 2025
Provisional date for ABRSM exams
14.00 U11 Pre-season Cricket, St Edward's
Saturday, 22 March 2025
10.30 Tosca reheasal (16.30 finish)