Scholarship Success at CCCS
As ever this Year’s House Music Competition was a triumph and an extraordinary pleasure for those attending. Mr Dawson, the new Head of Music at Oundle School in Northamptonshire, and one of the largest schools in the country, was immensely impressed with the quality of the players. He congratulated me heartily but of course it is so many other people who more properly deserve the congratulations. I must point out the extraordinary efforts to which Miss Biddell has gone to, over the past fortnight, to hear all the auditions (which were in their hundreds) and then to work with the finalists. The fact that music is within the bricks and mortar of the buildings and in the soul of the school is also very much to do with Miss Biddell.
Mr Dawson provided a most useful commentary on the performers which combined enthusiasm with practical advice. As I mentioned in my speech, he coined the wonderful term “harmonically twisty turney” and introduced us to the concept of “music with the lean forward effect”, ie which commands attention and causes listeners to bend forward to hear better. The most interesting thing of all was the distinction he made between playing notes and making music and he was at pains to tell us that the boys he had heard today were making music.
The exam season is upon us again. On two days today the downstairs corridor has been silent except for the quiet sound of people speaking and listening to French. It’s as if we have ben transported to a school in Normandy. May I wish all the Form 8s all the best as they take their Common Entrance exams in the next few weeks.
We have now heard back from all our academic scholars this year and I am delighted that three of our boys obtained Academic scholarships, Ludo M-C to Abingdon and Leo R and Andrew P to Winchester. These are fabulous outcomes given the difficulty of gaining awards at these schools. Apparently over 60 pupils were selected to take the Winchester scholarship and only 14 were awarded. I am very proud of these boys and it is an unarguable sign of the fact that at Christ Church the life of the mind is fully nurtured.
I have had tea in the Pavilion on several occasions recently. It really is a fantastic building. I have often been struck by the difference between architectural plans and the buildings themselves from a practical point of view. When we were designing the Pavilion, we were trying to imagine what it would be like and how it would work and I am delighted to say that it brilliantly reflects our intentions in reality. I also find it a most harmonious building, particularly in the way it very happily sits under the surrounding trees. May I encourage you all to come and take advantage of it, particularly if it is accompanied by some Cricket watching.
I attended a lecture this week given by Sara Wheeler who has just published an autobiography of one of our former pupils Jan Morris, the famous write of place. Morris was born James Morris in 1926 – the same year as the Late Queen and one hundred years ago this year. I met Sara Wheeler afterwards and she told me that Morris had been very happy in the School, unlike at his senior school. The book is beautifully written and is worth reading, partly because Morris led such a colourful life. It was clear that CCCS made a vivid impression on the young Morris who loved singing but preferred to sit under the trees on Merton Field rather than play Cricket! For very few pupils at CCCS is that the case today. Sara Wheeler said that Morris had been an absorbing figure to write about. She ends the book with the following words: “I have often been asked whether I like Morris. It wasn’t like that at all. She was human and so am I.” Aren’t we all!
