Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 28 November 2025
Dear Parents, When I was at university, twenty or so years ago, I was surrounded by lots of Americans. Well, I was surrounded by lots of people from all around the world, but there were times when the Americans stuck out. One such occasion was Thanksgiving. Even though half my family is Canadian, I had never had much exposure to Thanksgiving, and Canadian Thanksgiving is on a different date anyway. It was fun, then, to get caught up in this particular holiday, especially because of the way we all went about it. We had been together as a community barely six weeks when someone – we’ll call him Wade, because that’s his name – decided that he wanted to host a big Thanksgiving dinner.
A nice idea, you might think, but not especially the most practical as there was no obvious communal area big enough, especially when it quickly became clear that this dinner was going to involve twenty or thirty (or more) people. We did not have that much cutlery, let alone plates, glasses, or anything else you might need for such a meal. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. The fundamental point was: how on earth do you cook for that many people in a student kitchen, especially when student kitchens were (and, I think, remain) famous for having ovens that gently gesture towards warming food, rather than actually cooking it? The solution was fairly simple: the cooking would be split over four or five kitchens across the postgraduate accommodation complex, and the cooking would have to go on pretty much all day. But how would we get that many turkeys, on a student budget? Again, simple: we traipsed to the Tesco on Cowley Road and bought a bunch of frozen turkeys and – I can’t believe I’m writing this – we defrosted them in the baths of our student accommodation. I’m fairly sure we cleaned the baths first, but history doesn’t relate. The dishes were then split between the kitchens, each with its own sous chef, while for hours Wade traipsed between each one.
By the end of the afternoon, we had dozens of dishes ready. A tame Fellow lent us his car to drive the food the five minutes or so to a College room, which had been generously given to us for the evening. (I don’t think we’d told them about the defrosting arrangements.) So it was that, by about 7pm, we were able to serve up a pretty elaborate meal, for people we had barely met. They were from all over the world: Australia, Austria, New Zealand, China, you name it – but they all came together for this great event. One of these people – we’ll call him … well, I’d better not – complained that some of the food was a bit cold. We had asked people to pay enough to cover the costs, but this was nothing close to what the food would cost in a restaurant, so it was difficult to be thankful for his presence at that particular moment. Quite frankly, I didn’t care if his mashed sweet potato wasn’t quite to his liking. He wasn’t invited back. I think he had kind of missed the point: this was a bold, verging on foolhardy, project to get people together, to celebrate our new community, to do something nice for them, to be thankful for what we were enjoying. It was a wonderful evening, and we did it again the following year; we all still think back to those days, and no one got food poisoning.
Have a great weekend, and a slightly belated Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate,
Matt Jenkinson
Well done to all those twenty-seven boys who took part in the Senior Recital on Monday evening. It really is quite something to be able to sit and enjoy so much musical talent, and to hear just how far the boys get as they progress towards the top of the school. 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.
Congratulations to NCS alum Hugh Cutting who, in addition to being a BBC New Generation Artist and the recipient of the Kathleen Ferrier Award, has just been given the International Opera Awards' 'Rising Star' award. He also made his BBC Proms debut this year, been Artist in Residence at Wigmore Hall, and is just making his debut at English National Opera. So, yeah, he's doing alright.
Sport roundup: After a good couple of weeks on the football pitches for NCS, we were all quietly confident of a “great” week! The way things kicked off on Monday afternoon did not disappoint as we again hosted D’Overbroeck’s in another epic U13 fixture. The game kicked off with the usual D’Overbroeck’s gusto and attacking play, but NCS held firm, defended well, did not panic, and simply waited, watched, and worked out how best to cope with our guests’ style of play. On 15 minutes the patience paid off and NCS took the lead with a well-worked goal. Five minutes later we had doubled the lead and the opposition were becoming a little worried. Shortly after half-time D’Overbroeck’s scored one of their own, but NCS did not crumble; in fact, they grew in stature and scored a third and then, to cap off a brilliant afternoon, Maani scored what is possibly the goal of the season to ensure the 4-1 win. The B team also managed to win their game and, despite it being closer this time around compared to the October game, the boys showed real fighting spirit to ensure the 3-2 win. The U8 and U9 boys were also in action this week and again were riding high from their recent matches and results. Both age groups were facing local teams from MCS. In the B and C team matches in both age groups, honours were even with both schools getting a win and a loss apiece. But in the A team games, both U8 and U9 teams were victorious with comprehensive wins. I would especially like to highlight the brilliance and effort levels of the U11 teams as they have worked so hard this term. After sampling the taste of success last week versus MCS, they were again keen to enjoy this week’s matches against Christ Church. We enjoyed three brilliant games with three exciting wins, with two boys scoring hat-tricks in the B team’s 8-1 win. However, the D team were my team of the day as they worked so hard to ensure a 2-1 win thanks to a wonderful Wiz goal that secured the victory.
Tuesday, December 02, 2025 8.50 Carol service readers' rehearsal, chapel (return 10.10) 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 Monday, December 08, 2025 14.00 U13 Pre-season hockey training, St Edward's Tuesday, December 09, 2025 Final VMT music lessons of term Final after-school Enrichment Activities of term (pre-prep and prep) Wednesday, December 10, 2025 End-of-term reports issued 9.00 Carol Service A in chapel 14.30 U11 A-D Football vs Chandlings, away 14.00 U13 Pre-season hockey training, St Edward's Thursday, December 11, 2025 Christmas Jumper Day (£2 donation to Save the Children) Christmas Lunch 14.00 Pre-Prep Nativity Play 14.00 NCSPA Christmas Fair, Sports Hall Friday, December 12, 2025 8.30 End of term assembly 10.30 Carol Service B in Chapel 12.00 End of Term