The reason I am bringing this all up this week is because the boys have been engaged in their form reviews: opportunities for them to look and think over their Orders from last half-term, discuss them with their form tutors, and see how they are getting on with their targets. The boys get about thirty sets of grades during their time in the prep school (either Orders or in their end-of-term reports) so we are very keen to educate them in the fact that this is a long learning process. It is extraordinarily rare for boys to be getting reams of 10s and ‘O’s at the start of their time here; if they were, we might wonder what the point of education is. What we want to see is a gentle upward trajectory throughout the boys’ time here, and we totally understand that such a trajectory probably won’t necessarily be a straight line at a 45-degree angle: that line has jaggedy bits sometimes (usually when the boys are hungry) – it’s the overall upward trajectory that matters, and it’s the one that we celebrate.

Have a great weekend,

Matt Jenkinson

We are looking forward to the Years 7-8 production of Julius Caesar next week. Performances are on Monday 8 November (20.00) and Wednesday 10 November (18.00) in New College Chapel. Tickets are not required for entry, but please enter via the Song Room (there will be a sign) and then sit in the stalls between the organ loft and the choir stalls. Pick-up is at 21.00 on Monday and 19.00 on Wednesday at the undercroft, which is at the bottom of the New College hall steps. There will be staff around to help guide you if you are unsure where to go.

Best of luck to all those Year 7 boys having their upcoming 13+ admissions interviews at Abingdon. I have very much enjoyed going through some mock interviews with the boys, and I am sure they will present themselves very well indeed.

Our chapel service on Wednesday 10 November will be our special Remembrance Day service. As ever, families and friends are very welcome to join us at 9.00 in chapel. The service will be slightly longer than usual, with our period of silence to remember the fallen, as well as the Act of Remembrance when we remember, in particular, those former NCS boys who have died in war. Our speaker will be Mr James Hodgson, Headmaster of Bedford School.

The NCS tuck shop reopened this week and is open to Years 3-8 every morning from 8.00-8.15. It sells a selection of healthy snacks for the boys to purchase for their morning break. Items range from 20p to 80p.

The NCS eco shop also reopened this week, selling a range of very reasonably priced eco-friendly stationery. Opening times will be every Wednesday from 12.30-12.50 for Years 3-5, and 13.30-13.50 for Years 6-8. Please do encourage your sons to take a look at our stock which includes some lovely new NCS water bottles! The eco committee is looking at improving our opportunities for recycling in school and we are intending to launch a new recycling station in the playground in the next few weeks. We are also now recycling batteries and old stationery and have purchased two new recycling bins for these items. They are located at the bottom of the stairs to the school hall. Do encourage your sons to use these. We will be sending the items we collect to Terracycle, who offer a wide range of free recycling schemes. Finally, Switch off Fortnight begins on 8 November and we are looking forward, as a school, to trying to reduce our energy consumption by switching off lights, screens, etc whenever they are not in use. Eco reps will be helping to monitor and reduce our energy usage over the fortnight.

We have received the following message from the Community Emergency Foodbank: ‘Please could you thank all those who once again, so generously contributed towards your Harvest collection of food for the Community Emergency Foodbank. At the beginning of the pandemic we had to close our three collection points at St Francis Church, Hollow Way; Barton Neighbourhood Centre and Littlemore Baptist Church. We then opened again, providing a delivery service to the homes of all those who have been referred to us by our many referring agencies. The criteria of who received our food remained the same; we provide food parcels for those in need of emergency help. There was a huge rise in numbers needing our help during this period, mainly due to the Covid 19 epidemic and the subsequent financial difficulties so many people found themselves in. The number of people being referred to us was higher than in previous years, but our new delivery service coped well with this increase. The problem with providing a delivery service was that we had no contact with those in need of our help as we were providing a Tesco style service. We were therefore delighted to be able to return to our CEF cafés at St Francis Church, Barton and Littlemore in August and meet people again and support them in other ways as well as with food. Your school’s kind donations made all the difference to very many people.’ Thank you – and thank you, too, to all those families who have sent in shoeboxes as part of our Link to Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal.

Our friendly neighbourhood parking attendants have asked us to remind parents to use their yellow parking notices, available from the office, when picking up and dropping off. Could I also request that parents pick up their children on the school side of Savile Road? Now that we have darker evenings, we want to reduce the number of children crossing the road unnecessarily, while also reducing the danger of the boys seeing their parent or carer and darting out to say hello without noticing the traffic movements around them. If it helps to reduce pedestrian congestion, do please come and stand in the gate entrance on the green playground surface. And, as ever, I am sure that parents driving their cars on Mansfield and Savile Roads will be considerate of the fact that there are lots of children and cyclists around, and the situation is inevitably made more dangerous in the months of the year when we are departing in the dark.

If you missed the inspection of the city walls at the end of last half term, you can see it on video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9LrjU5pnJ0

From Mr Bishop: I have been really pleased to welcome the boys back down to the sports fields this week. Following the half term break the boys are well rested but raring to go and get back into training and indeed matches. I have had the pleasure to see the boys working really hard with their teachers and coaches to home their skills and make sure their fitness levels are back to their best! On Wednesday afternoon we had the return fixture with Summer Fields for the boys in Years 5-8. The U11s again faced some very tough opposition but, as is always the case with this group, they fought with heart and strength right up to the final whistle. Although the results on this occasion did not go our way, we were much more competitive and the games were in the balance right up to the end. We have experienced both victory and defeat term and I have been equally impressed with the boys’ reaction whatever the outcome. I would like to congratulate Emil Y for his goalkeeping skills and, in the team that went away to Summer Fields, I’d like to say a huge well done to Victor A for his leadership of the team both on and off the pitch.

In the senior games I had the pleasure of watching the U13 A team and this was a highly charged game; physicality seemed to be the order of the day and the NCS boys rose to the challenge with bravery and commitment that always stayed on the right side of the law. They were once again expertly motivated by their captain Benedict and he worked extremely hard to make sure his team were in the right mindset throughout. At half time both teams had missed chances and the score remained 0-0, but early in the second half the SF team opened the scoring thanks to a very obscure bounce of the ball that foxed our defenders. Not to be too disappointed our boys quickly rallied and then the NCS onslaught began: we rained down shots and attacks but could not quite find the opening we deserved. However, with fifteen minutes to go we secured a penalty and Leo, calm as usual, slotted away to make the score 1-1. In the last two minutes with the score still locked at 1-1 the SF strikers exploited rare space on the right wing and scored a very good goal. I’m afraid there was not time enough to equalise on this occasion and so a 1-2 loss was difficult to swallow. I was immensely proud of each and every boy on the pitch and they are playing some really exciting football this term. We’ll put this behind us and move on to the next challenge.

The mighty B team, under Ms Cawood’s enthusiastic cheerleading, have such great team spirit and a willingness to work for each other that it’s a joy to watch them play and train as a team. This game was again a very physical game with sparks flying from the first whistle. The NCS boys were a real credit to their coaches and indeed the school with the way they played the game. Fast moving passing and moving was breathtaking to watch and the vocal NCS parents roared on their approval. These passing moves were finished off with three great goals from Gary Z and Finn L, with the last one from Josh C in the dying seconds. Not to be outdone, at the other end of the pitch Tolly was simply brilliant in goal and even saved a penalty thanks to his dynamic heroics. Another great performance was given by Ashwin, whose consistency has become the backbone of this team. Final word has to go to Jasper N who controlled the game in midfield with his calm control and accurate passing. He was voted man of the match by all who were lucky enough to see the game. A winning margin of 3-0 was just reward for such a strong team performance!

Upcoming Events

Monday, 8 November 2021

Abingdon 13+ pre-test interviews start

20.00 Julius Caesar performance, Years 7-8, chapel

Tuesday, 9 November 2021

14:00 U8 A&B Football vs Summer Fields

14:00 U9 A-C Football vs Summer Fields

Wednesday, 10 November 2021

9.00 Remembrance Day Service, Chapel. Speaker: Mr James Hodgson, Headmaster, Bedford School

14:00 U11 A-E Football vs MCS, Away

18.00 Julius Caesar performance, Years 7-8, chapel

Friday, 12 November 2021

14:00 U10&11 Football House Matches, Home

19:15 Year 7 opera trip: Rossini's The Barber of Seville with Welsh National Opera (New Theatre, Oxford). TBC.

Monday, 15 November 2021

National Anti-Bullying Week begins

14:00 U12&13 Football House Matches, Home

18:00 Pre-Prep Chorister Information Evening (Virtual)

Tuesday, 16 November 2021

14:00 U8 A-C Football v MCS, Home

14:00 U9 A-C Football v MCS, Away

Wednesday, 17 November 2021

9.00 Chapel. Speaker: Mr Alastair Chirnside, Warden, St Edward's, Oxford

8.15 School Council Meeting, Science lab

14:00 U11 A,C&E Football vs Cothill, Home

14:00 U10 A&B Football vs Cothill, Home

14:00 U11 A-C 9 Football vs Cothill, Home

17.30 Senior Recital Pt 1 (Years 6, 7 & 8), Sports Hall

Refreshments beforehand at 17.15

18.30 Senior Recital Pt 2 (Years 6, 7 & 8), Sports Hall

Refreshments beforehand at 18.15

Thursday, 18 November 2021

14:00 U8&9 Foorball House Matches, Home

16:00 U9 VI & U10 VI Chess vs Dragon, Home

Saturday, 20 November 2021

10.00 Orchestra workshop with Bjorn Bantock and Dominic Childs (Saturday Music School)