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End of term Hockey - Hilary 2010

 

The final day of term saw two of the most important fixtures of the hockey season; the annual battles between the Staff v Leavers and the First Team against the Old Waynfletes, at Iffley Road.

 

In the curtain raiser to the OW game, the Staff registered a solid 7-3 win against a determined Leavers team. The benefits of months of preparation saw the Staff jump to an early 3-0 lead and all looked to be plain sailing however the Leavers had other ideas and rallied to bring the score back to 3-2 at the break. Once again, the Staff took the initiative straight after half time with Messrs Newbury, Hemingway and Pahl proving particularly influential only to see the Leavers strike back again through the likes of Stevens, McGregor and Richardson. Finally though, the superior conditioning of the Staff saw off the danger and they cruised to a solid win and retain the winner's honour for another year.

 

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Football - Hilary 2010

 

The 1st XI have enjoyed a flawless season, winning all of their fixtures and impressively not conceding a single goal. The squad had a strong and experienced spine, able lead by Barney White and Sam Bourke at the centre of the defence, and new additions such as Tim Ross and Louis Angel-Scott provided stability and attacking options.


Narrow wins over local rivals have to be the highlights of the season. A close fought game against St.Edwards saw some flowing play along both wings, as well as calm and confident goalkeeping from Jamie Diserens as the team soaked up pressure in the last few minutes to hold on to a single goal advantage.


The match at Abingdon saw a cold and windy day; the team organised themselves well to hold on to 0 – 0 at half time with outstanding midfield work by Ross and Lively, and impressive movement from strikers Shaw and Paul. With the wind in the second half, we were able to steal a goal through some good work from Ed Smith; Ross neatly finished to win the match. 


One Flew Over the cuckoo's Nest - March 2010

 

Performed, directed and produced entirely by U6th formers, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest saw the oldest actors in the school treading the boards for possibly the final time, with a mixture of veteran actors and first-timers making up the ensemble. With the combined talents of the MCS Sixth Form, and several girls from Oxford High School, the cast wowed a sold-out Big School for two nights with their thrilling new take on an old classic. Rehearsed in its entirety in only six weeks, the ambitious staging, tense dialogue scenes, and black comedy of the play were all rapturously received by the audience, with special plaudits for the acting of Joe McCrudden as the iconoclastic McMurphy and Rozzi Nicholson-Lailey as the domineering Nurse Ratched, as well as the skilled direction of Peter Allen. Enjoyed immensely by the cast despite their hectic schedules, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest looks set to go down as a new height in the history of Magdalen drama, with all wishing the best for the boys and girls involved as they look set to pursue their acting careers at university and beyond.

 

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Sheldonian Concert - March 2010

 

A packed house enjoyed this year’s Choral and Orchestral concert at the Sheldonian Theatre. The concert involved over 300 performers and featured exciting performances of Altenburg’s Concerto for Seven trumpets and Timpani, Tormis’ Overture no.2, Cunningham’s Saga of the Seven Days, Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and culminating in Purcell’s wonderful Ode on St Cecilia’s day featuring a vast choir representing all members of the school community.

 

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Chess - 24th March 2010

 

Chess Grand Master Peter Wells, the MCS Chess Coach, took on some of our Junior School players in a simultaneous match yesterday. Twenty of the Junior School’s sharpest players from J2 to J4 lined up to take him on, including the unbeaten U11A team. The final score was 18 ½  - 1 ½. Daniel d’Souza Eva won what proved to be a competitive game and Jerome Gasson earned himself a draw.

 

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Junior Schools Challenge Quiz - 24th March 2010

 

Yesterday evening the Junior Schools Challenge Quiz team beat Dragon by a magnificent 690 – 220. Unfortunately there followed a very narrow defeat to eventual regional winners Aldwickbury. Well done for such sterling buzzer work to Will Hardyman (captain), Sam Martin, Charlie Baker and Shiraz Dehalvi!


OW Dinner – March 2010


OWs travel Miles to Christi


Old Waynfletes travelled from as far as South Africa and California to the annual OW Dinner this year held at Corpus Christi College, Oxford on March 19th. A champagne reception was followed by a sumptious meal in the elegant surroundings of the intimate Dining Hall, presided over by OW President, Jim Rosenthall. Speeches by the Master and the OW Sir David Madden, former Ambassador to Greece, kept the audience entertained and the laughter flowing. Afterwards many an old acquaintance was renewed and new ones made in the college bar over a drink and a share of Chairman Bill Morris’ birthday cake. 

 

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Organ Scholarship - March 2010

 

Congratulations to Joe Currie who has just been awarded an organ scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford. Joe (Grade 8 at both piano and organ) plays at school and also at All Saints Church Whytham. Joe is to read Music at Oxford. We wish him well.

 


Marathon Update - March 2010


Staff and pupils ran the Reading half marathon on Sunday.  After a cold, early start we ran into the sunshine; up hill, down hill and along for 13.1miles.  The atmosphere was amazing all day - our feet pattered past brass bands, drummers and supporters Mr Gray and Mr Lemoine. We ran alongside a giant baby, bananaman and wonderwoman....and as well as Dr Smith, Mr Skipwith and Mrs Jones-Christodoulou, running (with only two week's notice) was Mr Weir, alongside Mrs Winstone, Miss Liddiard and pupils.  Finn Stevenson somehow managed to run it in 1hour 50mins and Clark Glasgow an admirable 1hour 43mins; but we were all pipped to the post by Max Schofield, who ran it in a stonking 1hour 34mins.  Well done to all for such an impressive performance and for raising a total of nearly £6,000.  Thank you to everyone for your support.

 

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Sailing - March 2010

 

This term saw two weekends’ worth of university fixtures away at Warwick and Reading Universities; a friendly regatta against rivals Sevenoaks and local teams; the National Schools Sailing Association Championships at home; a friendly triangular away to Eton and Wellington, and the Oxford District School Sailing Association (ODSSA) Fleet Racing Regatta at home.


Magdalen embarrassed several good university teams: Birmingham 2, Edinburgh Ladies, Swansea 1, Reading 1, Portsmouth 2, Durham 1, Nottingham 1, Brunel 1 and Brunel 2 were all brushed aside. Magdalen finished both university events as winners of the silver league, securing conventional student prizes of beer and chocolate.


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Treasure Island - Hilary 2010

 

Second and Third formers  took to the strage this term with their production of Stevenson’s Treasure Island. It was a first for the Lower School who normally have to make do with parts in the Middle School summer play! The boys threw themselves into this new challenge and put on a performance – buccaneers and barnacles all - that won many plaudits. The boys pillaged their way through Devon, Bristol Docks and Skull island to cheers and boos from the audience. Well done to all involved!

 

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Maths Team Challenge Champions - 22nd March 2010

 

Four of our boys represented the school in the regional finals of the Maths Team Challenge today, held at the Exam Schools in Oxford. We managed a superb score (232/240), and won the competition outright. We will now go to the National final of the competition in London on June 21st.

 

The boys involved are Freddie Illingworth, Eddie Grogan, Stephen Jones and Alex Gunasekera.


The Examiner - Hilary 2010

 


The Examiner is new English department initiative which brings together some of the best creative and analytical writing of boys studying English for GCSE and A’level.


Have a look to see what is being covered in lessons and boys’ responses to what they read.

 

Click here to download The Examiner.


Badminton - March 2010

 


In the U19 Boys Section of the Oxfordshire Schools League, the MCS 1st VI, consisting of Matthew Daggitt, Ed James, Dale Bowers, Jamie Wickham-Jones, Kiran Bountra and Matthew Brookes beat a strong Cherwell School side by four matches to three.


Cross Country - March 2010

 

The newly-formed Cross Country squad enjoyed both team and individual success this term. James Bennington, Joe Bowness and Tom Binnie all represented Oxfordshire at National level. The U17s team recorded a string of impressive results against more experienced opposition; third place at the prestigious Wellington College Relays in early February was followed up with the runners-up spot at the County Championships at Radley. Fierce competition within the team produced many fine performances: Oskar Gordon, George Ramsay, Oscar Key and Dominic Henry were never more than a few seconds apart in many of the races, and their commitment and enthusiasm this year bodes well for the future of the club.


To read this newsletter - click here.

Art News - March 2010

 

Congratulations to Joshua Reynolds (Lower Fourth) who has won the Museum of the History of Science's 'Steampunk - the next generation' competition. His winning entry was the 'Sat Nav Albert Albert' - and it's on display at the Museum now.

 

Also on show currently in the Pitt Rivers Museum is the exhibition,
'Disguise and Dolls' where former MCS Art student James Lomax has a piece on display.


Robotic Visions - March 2010

 

Three MCS students (Thomas Boby, Sam Taylor and Ben Treloar) were selected to present their views on roboics at a Parliamentary Seminar on Tuesday 9th March. They were selected from among all the Oxfordshire students who had attended the Robotics Visions conference in Oxford last term. They were chosen to go forward and represent their views at a national robotics conference hosted by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology at the Houses of Parliament. They presented their views on the future of robotics to an audience of leading academics, representatives of industry, MPs and other VIPs. Feedback from the organisers remarked that the students "excelled at presenting their views to the parliamentarians" and were "successfully engaging their audience". This conference was one of the final events in a three year project co-ordinated by the University of the West of England and funded by the EPSRC providing a unique platform for two-way discussion and debate between young people and robotics researchers.


Oxford Sixth - March 2010

 

Just before half term the Oxford Sixth performed in Exeter Chapel. The concert was based upon two settings of “When David Heard” by Tomkins and Whitacre. The choir then took the programme to Prague and performed two concerts at venues in the city. They were extremely well received and the organisers were extremely impressed by the quality of the choir. They were then invited to sing Mass at St Vitus Cathedral before returning home. This was the first tour for The Oxford Sixth choir and was a huge success.


Fundraising for Kinyere School in Uganda - March 2010

 

Six teachers (Dr Smith, Mr Thomas, Mr Skipwith, Mrs Winstone, Mrs Jones-Christodoulou and Miss Liddiard) and three pupils (Finn Stevenson, Clark Glasgow and Max Schofield) from Magdalen College School are running a half marathon in Reading to raise money for Kinyere School in the remote region of rural southern Uganda on March 21st 2010.  Mr Spowart has also pledged to row the 13.2miles and Adam Brodie has promised to do a ‘reading’ marathon, reading 13.2 short stories!  To sponsor these efforts please visit our ‘JustGiving’ webpage. 

 

Children here lack the basic necessities we have come to expect.  Food, water, clothing and school equipment are all desperately lacking.  Your donations will go directly to those in most need - teachers and students from our school are making regular visits to the region with anything you can contribute.  Just £4 will feed one child lunch every school day for a year. 

 

Please take the opportunity to visit our fundraising page to donate some money today: www.justgiving.com/MCS-Uganda


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JS celebrate World Book Day - March 2010

To celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 4th March, a range of activities took place in the Junior School. King Arthur, Asterix, Barack Obama, The Mad Hatter and The Grinch (aka Mr Coatsworth) were all spotted wandering around School House as boys and teachers dressed up as favourite characters from books.

The previous week, award- winning author Linda Newbery came to talk to J1 about her new novel Lob based on the Green Man legend.

On the 9th and 11th March, J4 will be visiting Blackwell's bookshop for a tour and each boy will be able to purchase a book for the Junior School library.

'Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse' proved the most popular reading in our Reading Carousel, where boys chose to hear a range of stories read by members of staff.


JS Grand Concert - March 2010

The Junior School held a spectacular concert in Big School on Tuesday 2nd March, masterminded by Head of Junior School Music Miss Ellis. An ambitious programme included Saint-Saens 'The Carnival of the Animals' with award-winning J4 pupil Michael Ng at the piano, and a movement of Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor performed by Daichi Kusunoki, both accompanied by the Junior School Orchestra. Our J1 pupils demonstrated their talents on the violin and recorder after just six weeks of lessons. Memorable singing from J3, the Junior School's Choir and Chamber Choir, and ensemble performances from our guitar players and piano trio completed the evening, which also included an exhibition of artwork submitted for the Junior School House Art Competition.


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