I am delighted to say, though, that I managed to get back for the Carol Service. As ever, this was a memorable event, perhaps even the high point of the term. I never cease to be moved – however many times I have attended it before over the years – by the procession of choirs, all of whom have their different strengths and merits. This year I was particularly struck by the all-encompassing nature of the descants – in fact at times it was almost impossible to hear the tune itself, so glorious was the thrilling sound of the higher line – and yet never was it raucous or out of tune. To have so many people singing with such technical ability was a wonderful thing and a most inspiring way to draw the long Michaelmas term to an end.

I was struck too by the quality of the readings. For our Carol Service, we use the King James version of the Bible, i.e. the translation which was completed in 1611 under the watchful eye of King James I who wished there to be a version of the Bible in English translated by the finest scholars of the day. He also felt though that it should have a sense of grandeur and poetry which, unquestionably, it does. The passages read for Christmas are amongst the best known from the Bible and in the King James they are rendered particularly beautifully, even if they aren’t always easy to read. So I was particularly pleased that our boys made such a wonderful job of them, doing something which I think is the best sign of a good reading, that they should sound completely natural. For a little over 400 years many of these readings have been heard at this time of year in this version and there is something very special, in my opinion, in hearing them again in the way in which they have been heard in churches throughout the country over such a long period. What a treat it was.

Talking of verbal communication, it was lovely to attend Mr Farmer’s LAMDA recital on the last Wednesday evening of term. A small group of boys undertook individual solo recitals which showed a wide variety of genres. In the second half all the boys put on a version of Jack and the Beanstalk which seems to have been set, not in Mediaeval England, but in some rural part of the USA. The accents were tremendous and highly entertaining and shone a new light on that immortal rhyme, Fee, Fi, Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an ENGLISHMAN! Be he alive or be he dead, I’ll grind his bones to make my bread. I hope that the giant of this version of the story was happy to settle for the bones of an American.

I spoke to the School at my Monday morning assembly about the fall of President Assad in Syria and gave some thoughts as to why this had happened so swiftly, particularly given how fiercely contested had been the Civil War in that country which had lasted for more than a decade. In fewer days than the number of years for which the civil war had raged, the regime collapsed earlier this month. Throughout the next few days, I heard discussions between pupils about the situation in Syria – it seemed to have become a topic about which everyone was talking. I never cease to marvel about the interest taken by so many of our pupils in current affairs. It is very heartening. I am certain that many of them will keep an eye on the emerging situation over the coming few weeks.

Oxford at Christmas time is a beguiling place. The dark descends a little after 4.00 but it only has the effect of lending the streets a charm and magic often not there at other times of the year. The shop windows seem particularly enticing and the old buildings, hunched against the cold and the darkness, seem particularly bewitching. This is the time for gathering indoors round a fire to read a book or to be with one’s closest friends or relatives. It’s a time of year which I always love. I hope that you will all have a lovely Christmas with time to rest and be with family and friends. I look forward to seeing you in 2025!