Headmaster's Newsletter Friday 26th November 2021
Dear Parents,
We are now at the end of our eleventh week of term, with two weeks to go until the Christmas vacation: the time of term when fatigue has almost certainly set in, but we are not yet sufficiently close to the end to take our feet off the gas. It is the time of term when the value of ‘grit’ is perhaps at its most pertinent. ‘Grit’ is not the most beautiful word in the English language, but its clenched monosyllabicism effectively conveys the drive that the word carries. Closely allied to perseverance, it is the tenacity of grit that leads to the sleeves-up approach to learning and life that is then likely to lead to success. But ‘grit’ should not be equated with endless working, with constant stress. In fact, a 2014-15 study of four thousand British teenagers by the Harvard Graduate School of Education discovered the opposite: those who exhibited ‘grit’ – which they effectively summarized as consisting of persistence, courage and determination – ate and slept better than those who did not. ‘Grit’ thus meant more than working to the point of self-harm; it meant a determined yet judicious use of one’s time and energies.
That judiciousness then developed other praiseworthy ‘metacognitive’ characteristics like: reviewing and improving one’s own performance and progress, rather than relying on the extrinsic push and praise of others; self-assessing and setting one’s own targets, rather than expecting someone else to set the level and pace; and self-reliantly keeping an eye on one’s own energy and wellbeing, to judge when the level of application is detrimental rather than beneficial, then recalibrating one’s working practices to get the balance right. Grit, therefore, very much does not mean working oneself into the ground for long hours, through the night, with artificial chemical stimulants to keep one going. It means working hard, but having the self-awareness and self-confidence to self-diagnose when that hard work is best applied, and when stress needs to be avoided. And while there are a lot of ‘selfs’ there, they are most effectively conveyed if they are modelled by those to whom young people look for guidance, and if those people engage in an open, calm, rational and sensible discussion about them. This is all on the understanding that the benign and slightly detached oversight of the parent or teacher is better for the development of desirable character traits in the young than obsessive and tense checking up.
Effective learners have grit because they are striving for something worthwhile, they are setting the bar at a level which is ambitious but not insurmountable. One of the most powerful phrases in education is that of ‘high challenge, low threat’ – that our young learners are pushing themselves (or, indeed, being pushed) to aspire, but that aspiration is not combined with a paralysing fear of failure. To lack ambition is to accept our lot, the lot into which we have been born, and to navel-gaze our way through life. Ambition does not mean scornfully leaving our pasts behind, but it does mean looking upwards, challenging the assumption that some people are born to be in charge, and others are born to serve – and to apply our talents and our healthy work ethic to improve ourselves, step by step, until when we look back we see that those individual incremental steps constitute a sizeable leap. It is this ambition for self-improvement, combined with our grit, that motivates us to learn, to improve, to apply ourselves because of our inner drive and persistence, not because we are motivated by extrinsic factors. Indeed, ambition should not be mistaken for the desire to become a wealthy tycoon, a powerful politician, or the next name on ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’; ambition applies to all walks of life, the apparently humble as well as the superficially glamorous.
Have a great weekend,
Matt Jenkinson
Well done to all of those boys who played in our Junior Recitals on Monday. For many boys, this was the first time they had played in public; some boys were playing after just a few lessons. It was wonderful to see the variety of talent on display and for the boys to be able to perform in person to such an appreciative audience. Thanks to all my colleagues in the music department who prepared the boys so well, and to all those families who have been so supportive in helping the boys to practise at home.
Wednesday evening saw our renewed Inter-School Debate in New College, as part of our partnership work with local schools. Year 8 pupils from NCS joined with those from Cheney and Oxford Spires to take part in some professionally structured debates – one pre-prepared and one unseen – with Spires coming out victorious. The quality was the highest it has ever been, and the buzz was fantastic. My thanks to all those pupils who took part, and to Mrs Brown and Dr Gausden for masterminding and supporting the event.
You should find attached to the newsletter Parentmail the most recent edition of The Eco-nomist (geddit?). Many thanks to all those who contributed copy and to Miss Krebs for her editing. Thank you as well to those of you have supported the eco shop over the last few weeks by purchasing items. We are pleased to announce that we now have rolls of Christmas wrapping paper in stock for £3 a roll. The rolls are 5m long and made of 100% recycled paper. We have two varieties: brown with red Christmas trees or brown with green snowflakes. They will be on sale in the eco shop next Wednesday lunchtime.
A little addition to the calendar: Thursday 9 December will be Christmas Jumper Day (taste optional). All boys are warmly encouraged to take part. £2 pp will go to Save the Children – please follow the usual donation protocols for when we have home clothes days.
Good luck to the choristers who are embarking on their Christmas schedule this coming Sunday with the Advent Carol Service in New College. Information about their Christmas events can be found at https://www.newcollegechoir.com. Services are streamed at https://www.youtube.com/user/NewCollegeChoir.
We are looking forward to our Year 6 parents’ evening on Wednesday 1 December. The official start time is 18.00 though a few colleagues may be available from slightly earlier if you would like to make an early start. Parking is available, first come first served, from 17.15; please be very careful when driving into the playground in case there are still one or two boys leaving their activities or aftercare. We would very much appreciate it if parents could arrive in good time to make their way around by 20.00, to enable colleagues to get home at a sensible time. If there are any appointments which might require a longer slot than c.5 minutes, please could separate arrangements be made with individual teachers? Many thanks.
Please note that there will be no afterschool activities in the final week of term (w/c 6 December) and that instrumental lessons will finish for the term at the end of the school day on Tuesday 7 December.
From Mr Bishop: This week has been a relatively quiet week on the games fields with the conclusion of the house matches on Monday for the senior boys making for some extremely entertaining games. Once again, the boys played with real heart and pride for their respective houses. Huxley came out on top in the final beating a tough Spooner on penalties after the sides drew 2-2 in normal time. Also this week the U11 teams were in action against Sibford. I had the pleasure of watching for some of the game where the Flying Rhinos won 1-0 against a tough and much bigger Sibford side. I was particularly proud to see Hugo C and Vedant M tirelessly running to ensure they kept their hard earned 1-0 win! In the Warthogs match the boys took a 2-0 lead into the break at half time and all seemed well and under control, however the second half was a slightly different story and in the end we lost 4-2. In the last few minutes of the half our guests scored 3 quick goals, which we didn’t have time to answer. Finally, this week Mainstone and myself took the U13 first team to the IAPS National Football Finals on Sunday morning. A 6.30am meet was a difficult pill to swallow but all the players and indeed coaches were there on time and we set off for the 2.5-hour trip to Culford School. In a tough group we managed to finish well in third place, meaning qualification for the “Plate” competition. The boys played some brilliant football and scored some even better goals to achieve this. In the final group game, we held eventual runners up, Bedes School, to a 0-0 draw and came extremely close to winning this epic game in the dying seconds. In our own Plate quarter final, we played out a 0-0 draw in normal time with both Leo and Timon coming close to finding the winner. A period of extra time “golden goal” came and went and it was down to penalties. After 5 shots each the score was still level but unfortunately we had our sixth shot saved and our day was done. Each and very boy played brilliantly and the fact that NCS are now part of the top 20 football playing prep schools in the country is quite an achievement. I could not have been prouder of the following young men: Timon, Benedict {C}, Leo, Patrick, Didrik, Daniel, Carter, Harry and Albie.
Upcoming Events
Monday, 29 November 2021
ABRSM exams to take place this week
14:00 U12&13 Football Hour Match Finals, Home
Tuesday, 30 November 2021
8.50-10.10 Carol service readers' rehearsal (chapel)
Onatti Theatre Company French Play performance Y7 & 8 (all PM)
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
9.00 Form period (no chapel)
14.00 onwards Carol service practice (all PM)
18.00 Year 6 parents' evening
Thursday, 2 December 2021
14.00 Pre Prep Winter Concert, School Hall
Saturday, 4 December 2021
University Term ends
10 Music Scholars' Masterclass (Saturday Music School)
Monday, 6 December 2021
No after school activities in the last week of term
Tuesday, 7 December 2021
Final music lessons of Michaelmas term
14.15 U8 Football vs CCCS, Away
14.15 U9 Football vs CCCS, Home
Wednesday, 8 December 2021
9.00 Carol Service A in chapel
Christmas Lunch
14.00 Pre-Prep Dress Rehearsal
14.15 U11 A-E Football vs CCCS, Home
14.15 U13 A-C Football vs CCCS, Away
Thursday, 9 December 2021
14.00 Pre-Prep Nativity Play
14.00 NCSPA Christmas Fair, Sports Hall
Friday, 10 December 2021
9.00 End of term assembly
11.00 Carol Service B in Chapel
End of Term 12.00 noon