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.

We were visited today by Mr Semmence who is the Headmaster of Repton School in Derbyshire. Repton was founded in 1573 by a local landowner and knight Sir John Port who had been given the old monastery in Repton following its dissolution by Henry VIII. He had no children of his own so he founded a grammar school which would have the use of the buildings. It is still those buildings which form the core of the School which Mr Semmence runs today. Mr Semmance started by telling us the extraordinary story of what happened when the school decided to start building a new Sixth Form centre. Digging began but no sooner was it underway than construction was halted by a grizzly discovery – a corpse. The telephone call was made to the police who were round in an instant, blue lights flashing! Experts from Humberside Constabulary were called and it was quickly established that the body was not a recent one, but most likely that of a monk from the former monastery. A Roman Catholic priest has been asked to rebury the monk near where the high altar of the monastery church would have been. These are some of the hazards of having an institution based on one of the most ancient sites in England.

It’s been so lovely to be back. So many of you have taken time to ask after me – I have just been so touched and wanted to thank you all so much. But also it’s been lovely to have seen the pupils again, beaming with enthusiasm and energy. A couple of days ago I saw one of the senior boys bouncing up the street, punching the air. “What are you thinking about?” I asked. “I’m chuffed Sir!” he responded “Completely chuffed!” “Why?” I asked. Because it’s the start of a school day!” Certainly that made me feel chuffed too. Somehow I resisted the impulse to punch the air, thinking that it might be slightly undignified for a headmaster to be quite so visibly elated!

It has been rather an odd week for me. It didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t be at school this week, especially so early on in the year. But instead of all the life and energy of a vital environment, I have been living a semi-detached life, reading emails, talking to people on the phone, having online meetings and continuing to think about everything without actually physically being there.

One of the great pleasures of my week is to attend Pre-Prep Assembly which occurs every Friday. Most of the assembly is spent celebrating pupils’ work and chosen pupils are given certificates for something they have done particularly well during that week. The variety of achievements is very striking but generally the reaction to them on the part of the pupils is the same – delight! In fact these certificates have such cache that today one of the pupils following the announcement of the recipients of the certificates, asked, in a loud voice: “What about me?” Doubtless a certificate will be forthcoming shortly! I am delighted that the certificates are so sought after!