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MCS entrepreneurs descend on Saïd Business School - December 2009
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Morocco Trip - December 2009
Four o clock in the morning after the end of the Michaelmas term saw 13 boys and the Geography department set out on the fourth annual trip to Morocco. Under the midday sun, we headed straight to the Medina of Marrakech to commence bartering in the souks of the main square. Crossing from shop to shop, returning with man bags to magic boxes, the day was a great introduction to city life in the country. Knowing that a proper bed would not be seen for a week, everyone enjoyed their well-deserved rest.
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National Preparatory Schools Rapidplay Chess Championships - December 2009
MCS players did extremely well in this very competitive national level event, which involved over 140 children from about thirty schools. We came 2nd in the team event, for the best four players from a school, a very good result as there was much strong opposition! Daniel d'Souza-Eva (JS) won the U11 section with a perfect score of 5/5 games, while Oliver Oughton (U13), Cameron Hill (U12) and Henry Phillips (U10) all came 2nd in their age groups. The winning team was Homefield School from Surrey.
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Carol Service - December 2009
Magdalen College Chapel was packed for both the carol services at the end of term. The Choir and Choral Society sang a wonderful combination of Christmas anthems from Gaudete! to Carol of the Bells. The retiring collection raised more than a thousand pounds for the David Brunton Bursary Fund and the homeless charity, Shelter.
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MCS Oxfordshire Under 14 County Rugby Champions - December 2009
MCS 41 -The Warriner School 0
On a very cold and wet afternoon, the Under 14 rugby squad travelled to a boggy Wallingford rugby club, full of expectation of capping off a great season, which saw them win ten fixtures. The opposition were physical from the off, but as ever the tackling from the MCS boys was fantastic, with Eddie Hines and Jason Yun leading the way. It wasn't long until Paul Childs found himself with the overlap to score the opening try, in what would be a fantastic first half. Giles White probably had the performance of the season in the centre, tackling everything and scoring two great tries. Charlie Pullin tirelessly kept running from the base of the scrum, Captain Will Spencer provided great service from scrum half and Andrew Tolson controlled the game superbly at fly-half. On a day where most teams would have kept the play tight in the forwards, MCS continued to throw the ball around, and both wingers saw plenty of action, with Findlay Webb producing an earthquake of a hand-off in the second half. MCS scored a sensational team try in the last minute to finish the match 41 - 0. |
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Personal Best - December 2009
Andrew Tolson has been selected for the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Junior Academy and Charlie Parker awaits news following his final trial for the Northampton Cricket Academy. Hockey player Joseph Foster has been selected for the U15 South of England squad.
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Fond Farewells. - December 2009
Head of Hockey, Ryan Anderson leaves us to return to South Africa for a period of further study and Darren Watts, Head of Junior School Sport, leaves to take up the post of Director of Sport at Repton School. We are grateful to both of them for all that they have done. |
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Christmas Lunch - December 2009
Many thanks to the catering staff who were up at 5 in the morning to produce the school's delicious Christmas lunch! All the trimmings were on offer, there was even Christmas pud. All Hands were on deck to help serve the boys. |
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Spowart scores a century! - December 2009
As the Michaelmas term came to a close Mr Spowart scored a century. This is his hundredth term at MCS and he was presented with a cake to mark the occasion to huge cheers from the boys and staff.
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70 Years On - Past meets Present - December 2009
21 Old Waynfletes who were at MCS during the Second World War returned to school to reignite their friendships and talk to pupils about their experiences whilst at school. Fascinated upper fourth boys recorded interviews with each where they recounted their stories, tales and feelings at finding themselves thrown together from all over England and Europe; mostly being taught by refugees and retired teachers. Comparisons of uniform, food and discipline were popular topics, as were the differing life style of the day and boarding pupils. A large display of photos from the archives provided a rich source to jog memories and many brought their own items to share with others. Following tours of the old 'Boarding House' they joined another 25 Old Waynfletes, all who left before 1970, for a lunch before going on to watch the first XV.
It was a splendid day, enjoyed by all, and marks the start of producing an oral history of the school that will provide a rich resource for pupils in the future. |
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NCO Success - December 2009
Congratulations to Stephen Nurse who has successfully auditioned for the National Children's Orchestra and been offered a place as a violinist.
Stephen, who will be playing in the Under 12 Orchestra, has led the second violin section (2008-2009) in the Oxfordshire Schools Orchestra. In 2008 he participated in the National Children's Orchestra 30th Anniversary concert at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, playing the violin.
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JS Carol Service - December 2009
The inaugural Junior School Carol Service took place in Magdalen College Chapel on Friday 11th December. Readings from boys and staff were interspersed with carols sung by every member of the Junior School. It was a wonderful occasion to mark the start of Christmas, made all the more special by the glorious surroundings of the Chapel. A specially commissioned carol from former Director of Music Malcolm Pearce was one of the highlights of the service.
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National British Schools Team Chess Championships - December 2009
The JS U11As lost ½-5½ to our own U18A team in this zonal semi-final tie. Junior School star of the show was Richard Woods-Rogan, who so nearly beat second former (and last year's U11 top board and SW England player) Cameron Hill. The game ended in a draw. Jacob Coxon (pictured) also pushed the other Jacob (Trefethen) to the last few minutes of the match in a tight struggle: this was a clash between JS players old and new, as Jacob Trefethen was in our first J1 intake in 2000.
Our U18As now go forward to face one of the Birmingham schools in their zonal final early next term. |
Jacob Trefethen (L6) plays Jacob Coxon (J4). |
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155 - December 2009
A new magazine is circulating the school this term - it's 155 - from the Lower Sixth's creative writing society. A pretentious name, certainly (Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets.) but the material speaks for itself.
Poetry, prose, theatre etc. all submissions are welcomed. This is the second publication of the magazine this term. The theme for December's issue is 'The Gothic'. October's theme was Hallowe'en. Click here to have a read of the latest issue.
Also published at the end of term, 'The Melting Pot' - click here. |
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Oxfordshire Cup Semi-Final - 10th December 2009
MCS 32 - Chipping Norton School 7
The MCS Under 14 rugby team continued to impress in a fiercely contested County Cup Semi-Final played on Thursday. The opposition were certainly very physical in the opening exchanges, and used their superior size advantage well. However, MCS showed good composure, with Andrew Tolson controlling the game well at fly-half, and a half-time score of 12-7 in favour of Magdalen was a fair reflection. MCS came out in the second half with a new resolve and looked to attack the space out wide immediately. As ever, Charlie Pullin took the game by the scruff of the neck in both attack and defence, and Giles White led by example finishing with four tries in the game to complete a well deserved victory. The final is this coming Wednesday at Wallingford RFC, ko 2.30pm, and I know the boys are looking to cap off a tremendous season. |
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Chess - Michaelmas 2009
MCS chess players have started the season in confident form. Both the U18A and U11A teams have reached the third round of the National Schools Team Championships, this following wins over Abingdon U18 'A' and 'B' teams. They now face each other for a place in the zonal final!
Matthew Daggitt and Ben Thorne defended their World Exchange Chess title in London in October in the second year of this new competition.
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Bell Ringing - Michaelmas 2009
Magdalen College School's boys are ringing in Christmas this year.
Mrs Pritchard and Dr Bebbington - themselves bell ringers - came up with the idea of launching the school's first ever Bell Ringing Society this term. the group is now eight boys strong.
The society started at Lincoln College because the bells are light and an easy set to learn on. The bells have been tied, meaning that the clapper cannot strike the bell, so that the group doesn't disturb Oxford with the repetitive sound as beginners try to master the technique of handling the bell!
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Robotic Visions - December 2009
On Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th December, eight boys took part in the "Robotic Visions" conference at Science Oxford Live. This conference, which is part of a national series of events, gave students a forum in which to discuss robotics and the issues which work in this field raises in the wider society. The MCS pupils debated robotics issues with other students and experts in the field from leading robotics research groups. They then delivered presentations on topics including robotics in war and whether a robot can be trusted in society to a selection of VIP guests from universities and funding bodies. They now have the opportunity to win a trip to Westminster to discuss these issues with ministers and government advisers.
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Show Jumping Success - December 2009
Clark Glasgow has had the biggest win of his career this term, winning the National 1.30 meter Open Championship Qualifier at the Addington Manor Premier League Meeting. The win was all the more notable because Clark beat the former European champion, Peter Charles by two seconds in the jump-off. British team rider, Guy Williams came third. Both Charles and Williams are professional and ranked in the top 10 in the British Show Jumping Association. The win qualifies Clark for the 1.30 National Championships at the BSJA Scope Festival and, as Clark is an amateur, it also qualifies him for the 1.30 Amateur Classics - the biggest championship for amateurs in the UK.
Clark and his horse Averal have also won BSJA classes at Warwickshire and Gloucestershire this term. |
Clark Glasgow, and Averal
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Band Night at the Carling Academy, Oxford - Friday 4th December 2009
Last night saw the 5th form take the Carling Academy by storm as 80 boys were joined by 40 girls for a night of musical entertainment.
Two 5th form bands took to the stage; Octopus Wire (Sam George, Freya Bower, John Whitty and Alex Laar) kicked off proceedings with a trademark high octane performance. This was followed by a 90 minute set from Magazine Masses which kept the crowd captivated and thoroughly entertained throughout. Tom Smith on vocals / guitar was well supported by Alex Davies on drums, Elliot Wenman on lead guitar and Alex Polywka on bass guitar. The academy staff were impressed by the quality, professionalism and sheer talent of this young quartet. There is little doubt they will be back at the Academy in the near future.
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Rugby Highlights - December 2009
MCS U14 A XV are through to the semi final of the county rugby cup, having beaten Burford 34-5. They are looking forward to their semi-final on the back of recent wins against St Edward's, Cokethorpe, Stratford and Bloxham. With a strong B & C XV this season, there is much competition for places.
MCS U12 A win six matches in a row to finish their season. After an initial loss to Warwick this competitive squad won all their remaining matches against Southampton, Stratford, Akeley Wood, The Dragon, Cokethorpe, Abingdon and Portsmouth. The team has gelled very well, playing some attractive rugby. They have scored 158 points and conceded only 44. The U12 B and C XV have also met with considerable success.
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