Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 20 June 2025
Dear Parents,
It is an occupational hazard of headship that you can’t watch any educational setting on TV or in film without risk assessing it, judging it, and asking ‘why on earth are they doing it that way?!’. I therefore tend to avoid any ‘real-life’, fly-on-the-wall educational programmes, in an attempt to preserve my sanity. But sometimes it is unavoidable, for example if a drama unexpectedly has a scene or two set in a school. You would therefore imagine I’d have thought twice about going to see Steve Coogan’s new film, The Penguin Lessons. Well, I didn’t, perhaps because I took more notice of the second word in the title than the third.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, The Penguin Lessons is based on the true story of an English teacher (he was both English and a teacher of English), Tim Michell, who ends up teaching in an Argentinian boarding school in the mid-1970s. Escaping to the Uruguayan coast one weekend, Michell comes across an oil-covered penguin, the victim of an oil spill. Michell cleans up the penguin and attempts to return it to the sea, but the penguin attaches itself to Michell and refuses to leave him. Michell thinks he has little option but to smuggle the penguin, now named Juan Salvador, back to his school. The film presents the penguin’s arrival, and presence in the classroom, as a transformative moment in Michell’s teaching career. Pre-penguin, Michell’s pupils are distracted, poorly behaved, unengaged, cruel to one another. (This is arguably, to return to my original point at the beginning of this newsletter, because his room arrangement is wrong and his teaching methods are worse.) Post-penguin, Michell’s students listen to him, engage with poetry, learn a lot, and presumably live happily ever after. There is something of Dead Poets’ Society about the film, only with a penguin – Dead Penguins’ Society? But while Robin Williams’s students in Dead Poets’ Society stand on their desks to declaim their poems, Coogan’s pupils in The Penguin Lessons lie on the floor (so as to be lower than the penguin, or something, I think I’d drifted off during that particular explanatory point).
I’m not sure what our pedagogical takeaway might be from the film. If a teacher were to come to me, concerned about pupils’ behaviour or lack of engagement (not that this would happen at NCS!), should my advice be to … get a penguin? Maybe the lessons should come instead from the liberating power of empathy, freedom of thought, poetry. The political background to the film is the brutal repression of the Peronist government, and the economic and social chaos that came with it. Coogan’s Michell, and Michell’s penguin, stand deliberately and joyously in contrast. The more we restrict education and educational methods, the more we stifle engagement and creativity. It’s not a difficult concept; it’s just a shame that sometimes we need a penguin named Juan Salvador to remind us.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Jenkinson
Wykeham Day last Saturday was an enormous success and, I think, a record-breaking one. We had our biggest ever audience for the Wykeham Day concert which was a breathtaking recital by one of our most successful musical alumni, James Gilchrist. Then the fete raised £1,300 for the NCSPA, before a very well-attended evensong and the Wykeham Day dinner when 160 pupils and parents, current and former, came over to College to celebrate all that is special about the NCS community. My thanks to everyone who made the day such a success, including my colleagues – especially Jemma Kilkenny – and the NCSPA reps.
Congratulations to the choristers who sang beautifully in their concert on Wednesday evening. To hear from all of them, from pre-probationers to our Year 8 leavers, and to witness the progress they make, was a real delight.
Our induction and move-up morning was really enjoyable on Thursday morning. It’s great for the boys to have the opportunity to see what’s coming up in September, and for us all to be able to welcome our lovely new NCS families to the community. Thank you to all those current parents who came along to welcome these new families so warmly, and to help answer any logistical questions.
Year 8 have been giving their ‘TED Talks’ over the past couple of days. For those who are unfamiliar with these: our Year 7s and 8s carry out an independent research project, their ‘special subject’, over the course of the year. Year 7s submit a mini-thesis at the end of Trinity, while Year 8 present their ideas in person with the giant TEDxNCS letters behind them, giving them the chance to develop their oracy and presentation skills. The Warden’s medal is awarded at prizegiving for the best special subject in Year 7 and in Year 8, so we look forward to the results in the last week of term.
From Elizabeth Hess: The end of term is rapidly approaching and I would like to take this opportunity to ask boys and parents to ensure that all library books are returned. Some boys will have been given individual reminders. It is an important part of their education to take responsibility for books borrowed from libraries and understand that they need to be returned or renewed. Please check to see if your son has a reminder and help him find the book(s). If there is a problem, please contact me directly (elizabeth.hess@newcollegeschool.org). There are also a large number of books that have wandered over the year. Could you have a thorough check at home and in cars, bags and desks, just in case there is a school library book lurking there!
It is incredibly important that children enjoy reading. This will only happen if they spend time doing so, and being read to. The summer holiday is an ideal time to (re)-discover the wonders of children’s literature, both established classics and the fantastic array of new publications. Children and young people need support to establish their reading time. Please encourage your son to choose books from the school library to read over the holiday, or let me know if you want to come in with him. We have a wide range of books and they all want to be read! Can I also bring to your attention that Oxfordshire Libraries are offering different activities and that the Summer Reading Challenge is taking place again. More information can be found on: https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/
Upcoming Events
Saturday, 21 June 2025
University term ends
Monday, 23 June 2025
Activities Week begins
Year 5-8 trips depart
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
No chapel service
Friday, 27 June 2025
Years 5-8 trips return
9.00 Pre-Prep Cotswold Wildlife Visit, return 15.00
Monday, 30 June 2025
14.00 U13 A Tennis 5 Pairs v d'Overbroeck's, Home
17.15 Drama Club, LAMDA showcase
17.30 Parents v Leavers Cricket, Field (TBC)
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Last day of After-School Enrichment Activities (pre-prep and prep)
Three Choirs Festival (choristers)
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
9.00 Chapel. Year's End
10.00 Year 8 soloists and reader rehearsals, The New Space (10.00-11.45 and 13.00-16.00)
18.00 Year 8 Leavers' Concert, The New Space, followed by reception at NCS
Thursday, 3 July 2025
14.00 Pre-Prep Summer Show and annual certificates
17.30 Year 8 Play Reading: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, New College Cloisters
18.30 Summer Drinks Evening, New College Cloisters
Friday, 4 July 2025
8.30 Sports Assembly
10.30 Prizegiving for Years 3-8
12.00 End of Term
12.30 Staff Buffet in New College