The speaker at Cathedral Assembly today was Susan Wessels, the Second Master of Marlborough College. Before becoming a teacher, Miss Wessels was Captain of the South African Olympic Hockey team, someone then of considerable experience!

I cannot wait for the poetry recitation competition this time next week. Today I heard the Pre-Prep reciting from memory poems that they had learnt. It was extraordinary to see the way in which people who have only just learnt to read were able to memorise and recite verse. One boy had dressed himself in a head to toe cat suit complete with whiskers. As he recited the poem, he swayed to and fro like the cat he was describing. I was very touched by the way that such powerful and moving words were emerging from such a tiny person.

In the last few days I have done 18 mock interviews for boys going for interviews to senior schools. It has been a most engaging process which I have much enjoyed. I have asked each of them if there is anything in the news recently that has interested them. Every single one of them has elected to talk about President Trump, Greenland and Venezuela. Clearly these are matters which are exercising the minds of CCCS boys, and indeed, all of the boys were able to say something interesting. The most striking comment about these issues occurred at lunchtime, however, when one of the boys announced that he had “solved the issue of Greenland!” I was, of course, all ears. “Donald Trump has promised that if he takes over Greenland, he will make all residents of the island US citizens. What I would do, if I were the Danish Government, is to offer citizenship to a very large number of refugees and then see what Donald Trump would do. ” We are always encouraging our pupils to think outside the box.

Friday night is newsletter night and many of you have told me that you look forward greatly to its arrival. Given that we obviously have an enthusiastic clientele (I have even heard of regular readers in Australia), I have decided that we should include some more sections in the publication. From this issue onwards, therefore, we will have two regular articles written by a member of staff talking through their areas of responsibility, providing some explanations and thoughts about them. Hopefully this will mean that you will learn something more about the school. It should also mean that you have more varied voices. There will also be a section focussing upon our enrichment programme. In terms of enrichment, every term is unique – some activities are repeats of popular choices, but there are also new options. This term, for instance, we have started a fencing club and several of our staff are now qualified fencing instructors – for life, following a training course over the Christmas holidays! I commend these articles to you and hope that you will find them a fascinating insight into some of the varied aspects of our busy school.

The influential 20th Century German playwright Berthold Brecht was responsible for developing a theatrical technique called Verfremdungseffekt, or in English, “Alienation. ” The idea is that, throughout the course of the play, the audience should be forced to engage with the drama intellectually rather than emotionally. This was achieved by the characters stepping out of their roles to address the audience, thereby breaking what he thought was the dangerous theatrical illusion that one was watching something real rather than a dramatic performance. Brecht would have been proud of the splendid Nursery Nativity which occurred this week during which Verfremdungseffekt was much in evidence. No sooner had the curtain opened upon the glorious technicolour scene of the stable in Bethlehem, when one of the shepherds waved heartily at his parents. Meanwhile the Angel Gabriel, beaming at the audience, started to direct some of the other performers. At one point the baby Jesus was slung forwards from behind one of the character’s back, landing somewhere near the crib, and on another, the donkey had to catch up rapidly with Mary and Joseph who had already set off for Bethlehem without him. But this, I have to say, added to the charm of the occasion and I, like everyone else watching, loved this wonderful performance. Indeed, it was the first time that Nursery has performed its nativity in the Hall. The costumes were brilliantly done and all the performances were full of character and life. It was an unforgettable start to the Christmas festivities.

It was a real pleasure to be able to welcome our new chaplain this morning in the Cathedral. The
Revd Catherine Gledhorn told us all that she was delighted to be joining us and that she would enjoy
getting to know everyone. She will be coming to the Cathedral every Friday and speaking to the
Prep School every Tuesday morning and to the Pre-Prep every Thursday morning. She will be
available for pupils for pastoral support, spiritual exploration or just general chat and will be running
confirmation classes for those boys who wish to make a more formal commitment to the Church.
The late autumn sun streamed down on the Cathedral, bathing the Cotswold stone in the most
bewitching light, an utterly appropriate time to welcome her to our community. Her main job is to
be the Cathedral Succentor, the person who sings the services in the Cathedral and who helps to
organise the services that occur there. I am sure that you will all be able to meet her over the next
few weeks.