Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 23 FEbruary 2024

We also asked ‘why did you choose to come to NCS?’. Again, we work here and we talk to parents (and prospective parents) a lot, so there were certain things that we hoped would come up. But it was reassuring that the following words occurred a lot in the survey responses: ‘reputation’, ‘academic excellence and rigour’, ‘pastoral care’, ‘small size’, ‘music’, ‘historic links’, ‘quality of teaching’, ‘behaviour’, ‘nurturing’, ‘inclusive’, ‘wellbeing’, ‘kindness’, ‘citizenship’, ‘location’, ‘great recommendations’, ‘outstanding’, ‘keeping options open for senior school’, ‘ethos’, ‘friendly’, ‘teachers getting to know the boys as individuals’, ‘deep, broad education’, ‘holistic’, ‘intimate’, ‘caring’, ‘exceptional’, ‘tradition’, ‘stimulating’, ‘energy’, ‘charming’, ‘creative’, ‘warmth and support’, ‘happy, polite, interested’, ‘down-to-earth’, ‘superb’. A shout-out to the parent who referred to NCS as ‘the best school in the world’ (who am I to disagree?!) and to the parent who wrote the following, which summarised the school better than I could have done:

We heard great things about NCS from several people we know and/or work with. This prompted an open morning visit and we were very impressed indeed with that and made the decision to put our son’s name down (he was only 18 months old). The boys who showed us around just had boundless enthusiasm about their school and what, and how, they were learning. We were especially attracted by the breadth of education and the clear sense of ethos and direction -- and one not focused just on … a narrow set of quantitative data defined by government. As well as academic rigour in key academic areas, we like the way NCS values the arts, music (obviously) and languages; we like how it sets expectations of character and behaviour without being a disciplinarian environment. I have heard much anxiety over the years from colleagues and friends who had bright young boys who then, in the 8-13 age band, lost their love of reading and their enthusiasm for learning and for school. We picked NCS to make sure that didn't happen to our son and that he would be happy as well as well-taught, and we were 100% right.

Thank you! And have a great weekend,

Matt Jenkinson

We are looking forward to our Year 5 parents’ evening on Wednesday 28 February at 18.00. My usual notices regarding parents’ evenings: some colleagues like to make an early start so do please arrive a little earlier than 18.00 if you are at a loose end. Please aim to arrive by 18.30 so you have enough time to get around every colleague by 20.00. Parking is available in the playground from 17.00 once the area is clear of boys departing after their enrichment activities. If there are any issues that you feel would need longer than a c.5-minute meeting, please contact the relevant teacher in advance to arrange a separate chat.

A quick update on last half term's charity week: we are delighted to announce that, thanks to your support and generosity, the boys raised £1,300 in support of Oxford Hospitals Charity. Thank you!

A note on lost property: please could families check at home for items of uniform belonging to other pupils, which might have been taken by accident? Coats and blazers seem to be the most commonly wandering items. These usually have name tags in. We are also encouraging the boys to be careful when picking up such items, double-checking that they have the correct ones. The lost property cupboard is looking pretty empty at the moment and we return lost named items as soon as we can in school, so an extra check at home would be much appreciated. Thank you.