Headmaster's Newsletter
Friday 20 March 2026
Dear Parents,
One of the core skills that we try to impart to the boys at NCS is that of happy and effective collaboration with one another (and us!). It sits cheerfully on our skills grid, overlapping the academic and pastoral side of things. The boys need to be able to get on with others in the workplace, so they might as well begin in the classroom; they need to be able to coexist with others in wider society, so we might as well model this in the playground. NCS pupils are generally really good at this, but it is a skill that requires constant revisiting, not least because we are all human beings, and we all experience frustrations, and sometimes those frustrations are with one another. That is life and there is no point in pretending otherwise, and we have to be realistic about the outside world in which the boys will be growing up: impatience, lack of perspective, dwindling levels of forgiveness, and worldviews becoming more and more entrenched as the ‘other’ gets increasingly, well, othered. Much of modern society, the modern political world, is combative. If we want society to look better in ten or twenty years’ time than it does today, then we need to be switching combative to collaborative among those young people who will be running things when people like us are starting to eye our pensions.
Imagine my frustration, then, with the way in which tension and conflict are now used so pervasively in modern media as forms of entertainment. I get that this makes sense in action films where the superheroes need to be saving the world from something bad, with a bit of conflict along the way. Otherwise we’d be watching the good guys sit down for mediation in a conference room with the bad guys, talking through their feelings, and working out some points of agreement from which they could build a healthier future relationship. I suspect that the ratings might be fairly low for that one. But there are plenty of other areas of entertainment where tension and conflict are added, I would argue, completely unnecessarily. Like a lot of people, I enjoy watching property programmes to drool over bifold doors I could never afford, in houses I couldn’t even dream of owning. To take Netflix alone, we can watch Selling Sunset, Owning Manhattan, Buying Beverley Hills, Buying London, Selling the City, Selling the OC, and Million Dollar Beach House, among others.
My problem with these programmes is that they seduce you into watching them because of their pervasive shots of the aforementioned bifold doors – or the occasional very large sliding glass door – and of beach views with palm trees. But before long, let’s call it half an episode, we are watching ‘estate agents’ throwing Pinot Grigio over one another because, well, I don’t know by that point because I’m not especially interested in the office politics of people hired to pretend that they are estate agents in front of cameras which are only there to capture the contrived conflict. Maybe I’m just too placid and conflict-averse, but I simply can’t see why this is entertainment. And I don’t see why we should be sold this stuff as a reflection of society, which then simply perpetuates the idea of aggression as the language of social interaction, especially to those younger and more vulnerable viewers who might just shrug and think ‘well, this is the way people behave in the world, so I might as well do so myself’.
Which is why I love The Parisian Agency – a new series of which starts on Netflix next week (I’m not being paid by them). If you haven’t seen it, the programme follows a family of estate agents based in (you guessed it) Paris, who show people around ludicrously expensive properties in the city and, as the series progress, far beyond. There is the occasional pout when the client doesn’t like the walk-in wardrobe, or because the view of the Eiffel Tower isn’t good enough, or the kitchen is too small to entertain their ‘thirty or forty friends’ on weekends. But it rarely reaches the point of uncomfortable tension, and there is no Picpoul being launched across the room. The family members themselves seem really rather nice – the matriarch was a teacher before realising that she preferred selling apartments – and even when the producers try to contrive some kind of friction between them, it rarely seems especially compelling or believable. We quickly return to what we’ve come for: voyeuristically looking at other people’s interior design choices, and wondering whether we’ll keep the curtains or kitchen worktops when we win the lottery and emigrate.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Jenkinson
Staying on the French theme … Many congratulations to Year 6 who put on a fantastic French cabaret on Tuesday evening. We were treated to a French-inspired menu from our caterers, Thomas Franks, as we heard French poetry, some French songs, and a quiz based on French history and culture. The boys clearly loved their stint as ‘French waiters’ too, keeping us very well looked after and entertained. My thanks to Catherine Phillips who put the evening together, and to all those colleagues who supported the boys as they prepared, and who joined us on the night.
We had a hugely enjoyable College Day on Wednesday, when the whole school got to spend a few hours using the College gardens, cloisters, chapel, archives, tower, and so on. Bearing in mind that New College is very close to many of Oxford’s other attractions, a few classes even got to strike out a little, including to the Botanic Gardens. Lunch in the medieval dining hall was a real treat, as ever, and we are very grateful to our colleagues over in College who welcomed the boys so warmly – underlining the school’s intrinsic part of William of Wykeham’s New College foundation. That the sun shone so gloriously throughout made the day even more memorable.
Year 6 enjoyed a fascinating visit to the Natural History Museum on Thursday. After a sunny walk to the museum they had a workshop, learning about the importance of insects and how different types of habitat contain different species. They also enjoyed handling some live specimens including Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches and a giant green katydid. The session provided an excellent link to the boys’ classroom studies on invertebrates.
Many congratulations to the many, many boys who took part in our Junior Recital on Monday evening, and then in the Pre-Prep Recital on Thursday afternoon. It was great to see so much talent on display in the younger part of the school, giving us a glimpse of the talent that we get to nurture as the boys progress through the prep school. My thanks to Tom Neal, Natalie Bath, and all our VMTs, who prepared the boys so well. We are looking forward to our Senior Recital, next Monday 23 March, at 17.15. Parking will be available once the playground is clear of pupils after their enrichment activities (c.17.00).
Do join us for our very special Spring Service in the chapel on Wednesday 25 March from 9.00. We will have a selection of music and readings, (hopefully) ushering in the joys of the new season. The service should last around 50 minutes, so it will be a little longer than our normal Wednesday chapel slots.
At the end of the Spring Service, our Year 5-8 choristers will be hot-footing it to Heathrow to begin their USA tour. They sang incredibly well for the BBC Radio 3 Evensong a couple of weeks ago, and then in the St John Passion in chapel on Sunday, so I’m sure they will be in fine form once they reach New York.
The Oxford Literary Festival starts this Saturday 21 March and will be offering many events for children and young adults. Some events are 'rated Age 4+', others 'Age 8+', and tickets are generally £9. All children's events (apart from the one on The Gruffalo) are over the next two weekends. Amongst the most famous authors are Michael Morpurgo, Julia Donaldson, Michael Rosen, and Hugh Bonneville. There are interviews with the authors, mini writing workshops led by the authors themselves, and also interactive read-along or draw-along sessions. The website link to buy tickets is: https://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-events/2026/children+%26+young+people. And, of course, there are many talks that may be of interest to parents, especially Chris Packham, Michael Morpurgo, Isabella Tree and Philip Lymbery - Why Should We Care About Nature? https://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-events/2026/march-21/why-should-we-care-about-nature, which ties in with this year’s SHTEAM theme, in the Sheldonian this Saturday at 4pm.
The absolute deadline for votes for the Oxfordshire Book Awards is Monday. Please let Elizabeth Hess know if you have read any books on the shortlists and which one you wish to vote for. Also, could all families note that library books should be returned or renewed before the end of term. There are a growing number of books that have just wandered away to unknown destinations, and quite a few boys have had a number of books signed out for a while. So, please have a really good hunt around the shelves and under the bed for these missing books. Reading for pleasure is the single most important determinant for good educational outcomes and it is the Year of Reading, so please do also encourage your sons to borrow book(s) to read over the holiday and then engage with them on their reading journey. We have a well-stocked library and we are always delighted to discuss children’s literature, especially classics and recent publications, with anyone who wishes to explore further.
Upcoming Events
Monday 23 March 2026 All Week: Eco: Great Big School Clean All Week: Pre Prep Individual Parent Meetings 17.15 Senior Recital, Auditorium (parking from 17.00) Tuesday 24 March 2026 Last day of VMT 1:1 Music Lessons (pre-prep and prep) Last day of After-school Enrichment Activities (pre-prep and prep) 9.30 Year 3 Ashmolean Museum visit to Egyptian Gallery (return 1.30) 14.00 U8&9 Hockey House Match Finals, Iffley Road Wednesday 25 March 2026 9.00 Spring Service 14.00 U11 A-D Hockey v CCCS, St Edward's 14.00 U13 (All) Pre-Season Cricket, Uni Club & Field Friday 27 March 2026 Easter House Brunch 12.00 End of term (12 noon) Saturday 28 March 2026 13.00 Choral Society/Chamber Choir rehearsal (New College Chapel) 18.00 Choral Society/Chamber Choir concert (New College Chapel) Monday 20 Apr 2026 Staff INSET Tuesday 21 Apr 2026 Staff INSET Wednesday 22 Apr 2026 Start of school term VMT 1:1 music lessons start (pre-prep and prep) After-school enrichment activities start (pre-prep and prep) 9.00 Chapel. Speaker: The Headmaster 11.50 Year 6-8 Wellbeing: How to prepare for assessments while staying happy and healthy, led by the Headmaster 17.00 Year 7 leadership evening (ends 19.00) Sunday 26 Apr 2026 Start of university term Monday 27 April 2026 All week: Year 3-8 NGRT and NGST in ICT room NCSPA Meeting, CLC Wednesday 29 Apr 2026 9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Liz Boughton, Chaplain, St Edward's School Junior Mathematics competition