HOME
GENERAL
ADMISSIONS
SENIOR SCHOOL
JUNIOR SCHOOL
OUR COMMUNITIES
GENERAL >> News
News

Archaeological Society Trip - Sunday 27th September 2009


The Sunday excursion to Stonehenge and Durrington Walls enjoyed nearly perfect Indian summer weather which made reflection on the main findings of the Stonehenge Riverside Project both relaxing and stimulating. Public ownership of large areas of the World Heritage Site meant that we were able to have a proper field archaeology investigation of the immense extent of Durrington Walls Henge, nearby Woodhenge, long sections of The Cursus, assorted long barrows and round barrows, and most intriguingly of all the natural section of the Stonehenge Avenue as recently revealed.

 

Read and see more...


'Discover Parliament'- September 2009


Thirteen Lower 6th AS Politics pupils and two members of staff travelled to Westminster this September for an induction into the features and functions of Parliament. The trip is specifically designed by the Parliament Education Service as part of an introduction to AS Level Government and Politics.


The boys were guests at an interactive workshop that discussed why and how Parliament operates; they also had a guided tour around the Palace of Westminster and enjoyed a question and answer session with Lord Hannay of Chiswick.


Cricket Workshop - 25th September 2009

 

Indian ex-state cricketer Harmeet Vohra visited MCS last Friday to give boys from U11 to U14 teams a workshop in off-spin and leg spin bowling. Some ten boys thoroughly enjoyed an informative session. Harmeet has played alongside Indian test players such as Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Varinder Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh.


Staff v Leavers Football - 20th September 2009

 

The MCS staff team welcomed back a couple of old faces for their annual fixture against the Leavers on Sunday 20th Sept. Rev. Seward came back from his school in Kingham while Mr Saunders returned from the fleshpots of London.

 

The Leavers began brightly enough with a couple of chances on goal but were shown the importance of finishing: a brace by the Reverend put the staff 2-0 up within half an hour.

 

Read and see more...


JS Racquet Sports Success - September 2009

 

Five Junior School boys have been selected to play for Oxfordshire in a range of racquet sports this year. Krishan Badiani is an U9 county tennis player; Saahil Jayawant and Charlie Shan are U11 county A squad badminton players; Ying Lai Wu is an U13 county B squad badminton player; and Jacob Coxon plays squash at U13 level for both Oxfordshire and the South of England. We wish them well in their many tournaments.

 


Memorial service for Graham Pye

 

Graham Pye was a pupil at MCS from 1950-1959 and a governor from 1987. He died on the 12th June, after a short illness. He and his wife, Yvonne, have been tremendous supporters of the school and of the wider Oxford Community.  He received an honorary degree from the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2000.


There will be a Memorial Service for Graham on the 3rd October at Christ Church Cathedral starting at 11 am.


CCF Summer Camp - Summer 2009

 

7 boys from MCS attended CCF Central camp in Barry Buddon, a quant little training camp just ouside Dundee. They spent the week consolidating the military skills they had been taught at school over the previous year. Survival skills, shooting and an overnight exercise kept them busy for the first few days followed by two days adventurous training in the cairngorms, staying at the Queens guards barracks in Ballater. The week rounded off with the biggest assualt course they had ever seen, 17 obstacles in total, which certainly got the adrenalin pumping.

 

See more...


J3 Icebreaker Trip - 4th September 2009

 

Friday 4th of September saw all the boys in J3 taking part in activities at Youlbury Scout Camp as part of their Icebreaker Trip. The day is designed for pupils to bond and mix with others in their year group as half those taking part were new to the school. The activities enjoyed whilst at the site were Archery, Crate Stacking and Team Building exercises. The camaraderie was excellent in a day which saw dryness and even some sunshine. When the boys returned to school instead of being greeted with the usual homework activities there was even a lovely barbeque waiting for them!

 

See more...


Rowing Success - Summer 2009

 

Captain of Boats, Simon Steele, fulfilled a long-held ambition of winning gold at the National Rowing Championships at Nottingham on Sunday 19th July.  He stroked a junior quadruple scull that had in it his former GB training partner and junior Olympic oarsman Jonny Walton from Leicester Rowing Club and two boys from the Sir William Borlase School in Marlow. 


The Magdalen College School Composite, using black and red blades, were convincing winners of Sunday's final, beating a strong crew from the Windsor Boys School by over four lengths in a time of 6:58, which though not a course record was two seconds faster than the men's crew from Leander Club in the Open Quadruple Sculls.

 

Read and see more...

steele 1.jpg

Holland Trip - July 2009

 

At the start of the summer holidays, thirty 2nd and 3rd form boys travelled to Holland with the Geography department, and visited many places including the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, the Euromast and harbour in Rotterdam, and an open air museum, Zaanse Schans, with clog making and windmill demonstrations. Plenty of fun was had by all, both on the excursions and on the beach in the evenings; the sandcastle and hole digging competitions being particular highlights!


Tennis Success - 4th September 2009

 

Lower 6th Former Lawrence Best and his tennis partner won the boys under 18 doubles final at the Oxfordshire County championships last weekend.


Biology trip to South Africa - July 2009

 

On July 15th 2009, 13 boys from the 5th form and Upper and Lower 6th went to stay on a Game ranch in South Africa near Johannesburg. The ranch boasted an array of antelope including Oryx, Water Buck, Impala, Kudu and Wildebeest as well as Ostrich, Zebra and Giraffe. We also spent three days in Kruger National Park, where the boys ticked off the 'Big Five', went on a night drive through the park and watched Hyena, Jackals and Vultures devour an elephant carcass. Back on the ranch the boys took part in hunting expeditions and learnt about bush and thornveld ecology and for two weeks became fully amerced in the South African way of life. All in all, a pretty unforgettable trip!


See more...

 

P1050135.JPG

Chess Success - 5th September 2009

 

Second former Jack Bancroft won the Open Section of the Godalming Chess Tournament at the weekend, with an impressive 4½/5. Cameron Hill and Daniel d'Souza-Eva were joint runners-up, completing the MCS success at what was a strong tournament.
 


South Africa Hockey Tour - Summer 2009

 

Twenty-seven boys were accompanied by Mr Anderson, Mr Griffiths, Mr Scullard and Mr White on a hockey tour to South Africa.  After a tough start to the hockey, the boys trained hard and picked up some excellent results.  After the first three games in Johannesburg, the tour moved to Durban where the boys visited a charity in the Valley of 1000 Hills for a day of sports with the local children.  This was an immensely rewarding experience and viewed by many as the highlight of the trip.

 

Read and see more...


Toni Davis Retires - 28th August 2009

 

MCS bids a sad and fond farewell to one of its longest serving members of staff. Head Groundsman Toni Davis is retiring after 47 years of service to the school.

 

Much has changed since Toni started as a 17-year-old trainee. In the early days he had a variety of jobs from making lanes on the Cherwell for a swimming gala with rope and corks... to cleaning the choristers' shoes!

 

His first winter at the school stays in his memory as it was the coldest of the century and Toni recalls watching ice hockey being played on the river.

 

Read more...


GCSE Results 2009 - 27th August 2009

 

Congratulations to all our GCSE pupils who have achieved yet another record year of results.


A*/As have been awarded to 97.85% of the year-group.


A third of the year group achieved straight A*s.


Atri Banerjee, Timothy Foot and Adam Smith each attained  11A*s.

 

 

See more...


A-Level Results 2009 - 20th August 2009

 

Congratulations to all our Upper Sixth on achieving another year of outstanding A Level Results.

 

It's a first for the school with the number of A grades at a record 86%.


72% (60 boys) achieved at least three As - another record.


97.7% A-B grades overall (second highest ever)


Philip Davies and Alexey Marfin each attained 6 A Grades.

 

See more...


'Big Mac' at the Edinburgh Fringe - Summer 2009

 

A visit to Edinburgh's Fringe Festival in August gave fifth form  dramatists an intensive week's theatre experience.   Seven MCS boys , together with three girls from Oxford High School, produced, promoted and performed  a week's run of their own show, Big Mac - written by three of the boys, and inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth.  Festival reviewers described it as "a work of remarkable depth and maturity.highly engaging, impressive" (AllTheFestivals.com) and admired the "fabulously choreographed fight scenes" (BroadwayBaby.com).  The group also made the most of the dazzling range of other performances on offer, each watching about 20-25 plays, concerts, musicals and comedians during the week.  

 

See more...


Uganda Trip - Summer 2009

 

This summer, 8 6th formers travelled to Uganda for a month. Visiting the remote Rwenzori mountains, the boys completed an 8 day circuit, taking them to 4500m, through knee-high bogs and across stunning terrain. After visiting National Parks in the lowlands, the team moved out to Kinyere Primary school, a rural school with 400 children. The level of poverty was stark but the boys worked hard to build a goat pen for the school (as well as providing goats) and also teaching them English, Maths and Science. The trip finished with rafting grade 4 rapids on the Nile - an unforgettable experience.

 

See more...


Shooting Success - Summer 2009

 

Lower Sixth former Charles Davidmann - representing England's shooting team for the first time - has come joint first in the juniors (under 21) Home International in Northern Ireland. Sadly he lost out in the shoot off so returned home with the runners-up badge. He gets another chance shooting for England at the European Commonwealth Games which are being held on the Isle of Man in September.


Music Tour to Italy - Summer 2009

 

At the start of the holidays the Choral Society, String Orchestra and Close Harmony group went on tour to Italy. They gave a series of five performances which included singing mass in San Marco, Venice. The concerts were extremely well attended and the audiences really appreciated the quality of the musicianship shown from the boys.

 

See more...

 


 

Commemoration - July 2009

 

Commemoration took place in the university church on 4 July.  newly all leavers were invited to the service and processed out at the end of the service into Radcliffe Square.  The service began with in introit commissioned for the occasion from retiring Informator Bill Ives, and included solos for two of his former choristers.  Both the order of service, which included newly a poem read by the Captain of School, and the sermon, by the Rt Revd Professor Lord Harries of Pentregarth, drew widespread comment.  You can access the sermon by clicking here.

 

See more...


© 2011 Magdalen College School, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DZ. Tel: 01865 242191 School Emailpowered by Firefly.NET
Tools: Log in