Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 5 December 2025
Dear Parents, One of my friends used to have a postgraduate supervisor who was academically brilliant, world-famous in his field, but perhaps not the best at small-talk. Over pre-dinner drinks one evening, the supervisor was standing awkwardly next to my friend’s partner, finding it difficult to conjure topics for conversation. ‘So’, he said, then paused, staring at the floor, before gruffly emitting ‘got any pets?’. This was twenty or so years ago, but whenever this friend and I meet up, at some point one of us will still ask, ‘So … got any pets?’.
We have been talking about pets a lot over the past fortnight or so. This week’s artwork of the week is Charles Schulz’s ‘Peanuts’, so obviously Snoopy has made an appearance. Also, in some parts of the world, it has been Celebrate Shelter Pets Day. In a recent assembly, Emma Krebs told the boys about her rescue dog, Rolo, a lurcher who joined their family a year or so ago. In a world of designer dogs and the lucrative trade in fashionable breeds, it is nice to have dogs like Rolo around, being given another chance in life. I grew up with a rescue dog, Bruno, who both terrorised and enriched our lives in equal measure. He was definitely the dog for us, as in our first meeting he urinated up my mum’s leg. He then spent his first weeks and months with us tearing up carpets and eating any foodstuffs that hadn’t been put at a height of six feet, and even then his jumping prowess was such that he’d have a good go at getting it. The rule of ‘no dogs on the sofa’ went out the window on his first evening with us, as he nonchalantly trotted in, jumped up, and started watching the TV. But as he aged, Bruno became very much part of the family, a needy yet beautiful and fundamentally affectionate mongrel who enriched our lives beyond words.
Our school pet, Artemis, isn’t a rescue as such, being a gecko. Nor does she go for walks like Rolo. In fact, she doesn’t do a huge amount, and is rather low-maintenance – which is why she is so great to have as a school pet. Yet the boys still love her and, between her and her predecessor, Artie (Art Gecko – geddit?), they have had quite an impact on the school. Indeed, they are immortalised in a gecko gargoyle on our new Gradel building, and little transfer geckos appear in the design-work in our new dining room. If we had mascots at matches, like they do in US school sports, no doubt we would have someone in a giant gecko costume bounding up and down the touchline. Now there’s a thought …
Have a great weekend, Matt Jenkinson
On Wednesday, our Year 8 pupils applying for music scholarships to their senior schools took part in a masterclass with William Howard, one of the country’s leading pianists and founder of the Schubert Ensemble. There was plenty of useful advice, which I’m sure will be applied in time for the music scholars’ concert next term. At the other end of the school, it was lovely to hear the boys in pre-prep performing in their Winter Concert yesterday – these are the great foundations on which the rest of our prep school music builds as the boys progress from pre-prep to prep at the end of Year 2. My thanks to Tom Neal and Natalie Bath for masterminding both events, and to all our VMTs who prepare the boys so well. The video of Year 7 and 8’s recent production of Richard II is now available on the video gallery of the NCS website: www.newcollegeschool.org/video-gallery.
Our carol services will be raising funds for The Gatehouse, an Oxford charity supporting those who are homeless and vulnerably housed. They provide immediate support with hot meals, showers, clothing and company. Longer-term security and wellbeing are promoted through training, advice, workshops, and one-to-one support with case workers and counsellors. If you would like to contribute, please donate via www.justgiving.com/page/new-college-school-oxford. Please note that all boys should wear school uniform to the carol service next Wednesday morning. For those boys who have games later in the day, there will be an opportunity for them to change beforehand.
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 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.
Upcoming Events
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 Monday 05 January 2026 Staff INSET Tuesday 06 January 2026 Staff INSET Wednesday 07 January 2026 Start of Term VMT 1:1 Music Lessons Start (pre-prep and prep) After-School Enrichment Activities Start (pre-prep and prep) Chapel. Speaker: The Headmaster