I was certainly not let down by the experiences of last week. On Sunday I attended Worcester Chapel which was full to the rafters, where I heard an Evensong bursting with life and vigour, the boys singing with real commitment and passion. The following day I went to the Cathedral, where Pembroke choir happened to be the visiting choir, and so I was able to hear the Pembroke choristers singing there. For their second service of the year to be in the Cathedral, a building very significantly bigger than the one they are used to singing in, was a real ask. However, they answered it emphatically and sung with a confidence which spoke of a choir full of promise. What a wonderful year it will be for the 50 or so of our boys who sing in college choirs.

On Wednesday, for the first time, I was responsible for a Rugby team. I had not been involved with their training and had no idea who the boys were who would be playing. I arrived on the pitch to be greeted by a fine set of young men, clearly a keen and committed band of brothers. We had one more player than our opponents, so had to have a substitute at all times. One of the number immediately volunteered to be the substitute. “That will give me an opportunity to give you some useful advice, sir!” As the match started I was very helpfully briefed by the athlete in question. After a little while he said, “Sir, if you are going to put me on, could you please give me a little warning so that I can do a warm up?” Sure enough, when the time was nigh, I gave him a two minute warning, at which point an impressive set of exercises began. I realised I was dealing with a seriously professional outfit. And indeed, as the match progressed, the opposition were blasted off the pitch with a combination of swift and powerful running, slick passing and deadly tackling. In the end we won 11 tries to 2 - a mighty victory! May I salute both them and their excellent coaches. All I did was take advice from my substitutes!

Last week I was very pleased to appoint the following as officers:

• Head of Sports: Troy  and Henry 
• Head of Carroll: Benjamin 
• Head of Sayers: Carl 
• Head of Wolsey: Hugo 
• Deputy Head Boy: Carson
• Head Boy: Trust 

I am delighted to have made these appointments and it was lovely to walk into the Cathedral this morning with Trust as he carried out his first duty as Head Boy.

Meanwhile, it was Benjamin who, on behalf of Carroll, shook my hand for having got the most generous pile of tokens representing all the merits and pluses obtained by a house over the past week. This year, for the first time, we appointed Ambassadors. These are Form 8 boys who have volunteered to represent and promote a particular subject or aspect of school life. I am delighted that so many areas of school life now have a champion.

I am now helping Mrs Fairhurst with Archery during Enrichment. As we were striding out towards the playing fields with our bows slung on our shoulders and our arrows in our quivers, we bumped into another of the Enrichment groups who were off to make the most of Oxford. Feeling rather cocky now that I had serious weaponry in my grasp, I said: “Out of the way you lot, we’ve got the weapons.” At which point one of the other group turned to me and, with a look which surprised me with its total lack of fear, replied: “We’re not scared of you – we’re armed with brains!” He’s right – human history demonstrates very clearly that our greatest strength is our brains, and I certainly won’t be making such misplaced boasts again!