Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 8th September 2023
Dear Parents,
A very warm (in many senses of the word) welcome back to NCS – an NCS that looks very different from when you last saw it in September! And, for many of you, a very warm welcome to NCS for the first time. I wish you and your families every happiness over the coming years in our special community.
During our first chapel service of the year on Wednesday, I talked to the boys about Michaelmas term, and where the word ‘Michaelmas’ comes from. That word ‘Michaelmas’ can sound rather odd. Compared to, say, calling terms ‘Autumn’, ‘Spring’ and ‘Summer’, or ‘Term 1’, ‘Term 2’ and ‘Term 3’, we call them ‘Michaelmas’, ‘Hilary’ and ‘Trinity’. ‘Michaelmas’, or ‘Michael’s Mass’, is named after the Archangel Michael – the Feast of St Michael and All Angels coming at the end of September. Michael is often considered as the greatest of all the angels, held in high esteem throughout history as a healer, a warrior, and a guardian. Broadening this out, I talked to the boys about angels more generally, and especially guardian angels: a term we now use to describe someone assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation.
I told them a story about the time that I met my own guardian angel, if only for a few minutes. I was travelling to visit some friends in Charleston, in the south of the USA, and had to fly via Washington DC to get there. After a long transatlantic flight, I was waiting in the departure lounge for my short connecting flight to Charleston, watching out of the window as the weather worsened outside and my flight got further and further delayed. Finally, my heart plummeted as the word ‘cancelled’ appeared on the departure board next to my flight number. The weather was getting too bad for any planes to take off, and even if conditions improved my flight would not be able to land in Charleston, because the airport reverted to a military base within the next hour or two and would not be allowing civilian flights to land.
It was getting pretty late by this point and I was very tired, having been travelling all day. The airport in DC was also due to close within a couple of hours. I joined the queue at the customer service desk to enquire as to whether there was any other way of getting to my destination; the answer was an emphatic and uncaring ‘no’. The next flight out, the following morning, was already full. I politely informed the customer service assistant that the airline might have a responsibility to get me to my destination; I had, after all, paid them quite a lot of money. They didn’t really seem to agree. Instead, they gave me a phone number to ring to get me a ‘discounted’ room at a nearby hotel. It is worth pointing out at this stage that this was before widespread WiFi in airports and my mobile phone contract didn’t allow me to make calls outside the UK. I had no way, then, to contact the friends waiting for me in Charleston, to tell them that I wouldn’t be turning up that night; and it wasn’t entirely clear when I would be turning up at all.
Anyway, I rang the landline number that had been given to me, to hear an almost inaudible and equally uncaring voice telling me to head outside the terminal and to look out for a red hotel shuttle bus that would take me to the right hotel. I stood waiting as various hotel shuttle buses went past; none of them was red. I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting. It was getting later and later and it wouldn’t be long until the airport itself was shutting down. It was at this point that I looked to my left to see someone official-looking in an airline uniform who seemed to know what they were doing. ‘Excuse me,’ I said, ‘do you know if the red hotel shuttle bus will be coming any time soon’. ‘Red?!,’ they replied, ‘that shuttle stopped an hour ago’. I explained my situation. ‘Get the next blue shuttle’, they said, ‘and I’ll explain at the hotel what’s happened to you and we’ll get it all sorted out’. I’ll add at this point that, although I didn’t know this individual, I was a grown-up in public, getting on a public shuttle; I was as safe as I could be in the situation. As we travelled on the hotel shuttle, my new guardian angel could not have been more reassuring; as we arrived at the hotel, they explained at the desk what had happened, got me (I think) a discount on my room. But more than this: they set up their laptop in the hotel lobby so I could contact the friends waiting for me in Charleston and then let me borrow their mobile phone so I could speak to them directly. And, just like that, they were gone. I never knew their name; I never saw them again; but they had been an incredible help in an otherwise difficult situation. The following morning I got the blue (!) shuttle back to the airport, found a friendly airline employee, and got on the next flight to Charleston.
This guardian angel of mine appeared from nowhere, disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared, but had protected and guided me when I needed some advice and support. They had no reason to help me; there was no financial reward. But they saw someone who was in need and they, without hesitation, cheerfully guided me until they knew that I was safe and that my onward journey had been sorted. I think this is a lesson that we can all learn at the start of this new school year: we are all, in different ways, guardian angels for one another. We are all here to look after and to support one another; and we most certainly are not here to do the opposite. There are formal ways that we can encourage this, for example through having codes of conduct and behaviour policies – we adults have them, as well as you pupils. But there are also more informal ways that we can be guardian angels for one another, protecting and guiding one another as we encounter the hardships that will inevitably come along in the course of our lives – both at school and at home.
This Michaelmas term is a long one – it is fourteen weeks long. We will enjoy a lot of things over the course of these coming months: academic lessons, sports fixtures, musical and dramatic performances, and all manner of other things both inside and outside the classroom. There will be times when we get tired; when we get a bit irritated with one another; there may be times when things seem a little too much for us. But by being each another’s guardian angels, we can support and guide one another through what will be, I trust, a happy, fulfilling and productive term.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Jenkinson
Please note that the school’s safeguarding policy is easily available via the school website at https://www.newcollegeschool.org/_site/data/files/documents/0BC836B027AF4262479DE2DF892B4EED.pdf
The school’s RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) policy is available to view at https://www.newcollegeschool.org/wellbeing-and-happiness. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact brett.morrison@newcollegeschool.org or office@newcollegeschool.org.
Now that we have much more space in the playground (and more protective netting!) do please feel free to wait in the playground by the gate at pickup. This will help to reduce the number of people waiting on Savile Road, and increase everyone’s safety.
Tomorrow, Saturday 9 September, is the grand opening of our new building. The (brief) ceremony will begin promptly at 10.00, so if you have signed up to come please arrive in good time. The official invitation says 9.45 for 10.00 but we are happy for people to arrive from 9.30. We are expecting c.500 people, so there is a careful plan in place to make sure that everyone can look around the new building in safety and comfort, including staggered entry times (you will be given a specific time on arrival). We are also expecting the morning to be very warm, so if you are attending please be prepared for hot weather. There will be shade and drinks stations dotted around the playground and sports hall. If you have not yet sent an RSVP but would still like to attend, please email office@newcollegeschool.org as soon as possible so we can put in place the necessary measures to cater for large numbers safely. The event will end at midday.
We are looking forward to our start-of-year information evenings next week. The details were sent out over the summer vacation, but please also find the key information below:
Reception and Year 1 form tutor information evening. Monday 11 September 2023 from 18.00. Parking available on-site from 17.30: first come, first served. 18.00 Meetings with form tutors in Reception/Year 1 form rooms. 18.30 Drinks in dining room (middle floor of new building)
Years 4-6 form tutor information evening (featuring internet safety and 13+ destinations). Tuesday 12 September 2023 from 18.00. Parking available on-site from 17.30: first come, first served. 18.00 13+ destinations and internet safety briefing in auditorium (top floor of new building). 18.30 Meetings with form tutors in Year 4-6 form rooms. 19.00 Meeting registrars of 13+ future schools + drinks in sports hall
Years 2-3 form tutor information evening and introduction to the prep school. Wednesday 13 September 2023 from 18.00. Parking available on-site from 17.30: first come, first served. 18.00 Introduction to the prep school in auditorium (top floor of new building). 18.30 Meetings with form tutors in Years 2 and 3 form rooms. 19.00 Drinks in dining room (middle floor of new building)
Years 7-8 form tutor information evening and Pre-Senior Baccalaureate briefing. Thursday 14 September 2023 from 18.00. Parking available on-site from 17.30: first come, first served. 18.00 Academic and pastoral briefing in auditorium (top floor of new building). 18.30 Meetings with form tutors in Years 7 and 8 form rooms. 19.00 Drinks in dining room (middle floor of new building)
And, for your diaries, here are the dates and times for this year’s parents’ evenings. For the prep school, parents’ evenings formally begin at 18.00, but there are often colleagues ready to chat to parents earlier (from c.17.45) for those who wish to get a head start. Parking is usually available from 17.15 once the playground is clear of boys leaving after-school enrichment activities. We request that parents arrive in good time to get around all of the teachers to whom they need to speak, usually no later than 18.30, to enable colleagues to get home at a sensible time. Thank you.
Year 7: Wednesday 4 October 2023, 18.00-20.00
Year 6: Wednesday 29 November 2023, 18.00-20.00
Year 3 and 8S: Wednesday 17 January 2024, 18.00-20.00
Year 4: Wednesday 31 January 2024, 18.00-20.00
Year 5: Wednesday 28 February 2024, 18.00-20.00
Year 8: Wednesday 6 March 2024, 18.00-20.00
Pre-Prep: Wednesday 20 March 2024, 17.30-19.30
Many thanks for sending in your pictures of the boys reading in interesting locations, for our annual competition. If you have any more to send in, please do email them to office@newcollegeschool.org. We will then be able to announce our winner and add to our photo wall outside the library. Holiday diaries are also very much enjoyed, so do please drop them into the office for us to read.
Please can I reiterate my usual plea about allergies? We are a nut-free school, due to a number of children with allergies, so we request that nuts are not put into school snack boxes, cakes, and the like. Many thanks.
From Monday the NCS tuck shop will reopen in the aquamarine hut next to the bike stores, and is open to boys in Years 3-8. The shop is run by members of Year 8 and will be open every morning between 8.00 and 8.15. It sells a small range of inexpensive snacks (such as popcorn and dried fruit) and juice cartons. Boys are welcome to bring a small amount of money if they would like to purchase a snack. Items range from 20p to 80p.
Saturday, 9 September 2023
9.45 Official opening of new building (until noon)
Monday, 11 September 2023
18.00 Reception and Year 1 form tutor information evening
Tuesday, 12 September 2023
18.00 Years 4-6 form tutor information evening, internet safety and 13+ destinations briefing
14.15 U8 A&B football vs MCS, Away
14.15 U9 A&B football vs MCS, Away
Wednesday, 13 September 2023
VMT Music lessons begin
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: The Chaplain
14.15 U11 A-E Football vs MCS, Home
14.30 U13 A-C Football vs Thorngrove, Away
18.00 Years 2-3 form tutor information evening and introduction to the prep school
Thursday, 14 September 2023
9.00 Years 3 and 4 outward bound day trip
18.00 Years 7-8 form tutor information evening and PSB briefing
Tuesday, 19 September 2023
14.15 U9 A&B Football vs Cothill, Home
Wednesday, 20 September 2023
9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Mrs Jane Crouch, Headmistress, Headington Prep School
8.15 School council meeting, Creative Learning Centre
14.30 U13 A-C Football vs Cothill, Away
14.30 U11 A-E Football vs Cothill, Home
Thursday, 21 September 2023
9.00 OPRO mouthguard fitting (Yr 3-8)
Friday, 22 September 2023
9.00 Portrait Photos, Sports Hall