Talking Head

Headmaster's blog at Newcastle School for Boys

April 11, 2016

Easter on the pistes

thumb_IMG_1294_1024

It was a pleasure to accompany our Senior School ski trip to Aprica in northern Italy during the first week of the Easter holidays.  57 varieties of boys from Years 7 to 11 – our largest group yet on the School’s fifth biennial ski trip.

Before we left, a number of parents offered staff and me their sympathy – only partly in jest – that we would be spending a week in the close company of a large group of teenage boys dually charged by the excitement of being away with their friends and the adrenaline of skiing.

Having been on a good number of such trips – at NSB and previous schools – and without wishing to appear immodest of the challenges, like many teachers, it’s something I enjoy.

I really value the opportunity these trips afford to spend time with the boys taking part in physical activity and cementing a connection that is harder to achieve in daily life during term time now as Headmaster.

There is, of course, the responsibility for other people’s children whilst undertaking a potentially hazardous activity in another country.  Nobody was more relieved than me that after six full days’ skiing with such a large group that we hadn’t had to pursue any medical consultations.  Unfortunately, I have, in the past, spent time with pupils in medical centres and hospitals in various parts of the world.

It is very satisfying to see the progress that boys make in a short period of time under their expert ski instructors.  I particularly enjoyed the morning I spent towards the end of the week with a group who had arrived in the resort as beginners.  They were all, by then, high up the mountain, skiing very competently and successfully completing their ski tests.

Our teachers ski regularly with each of our groups.  That way we can monitor their progress, the quality of instruction – usually excellent – and identify any problems.

It is always interesting to observe the dynamics of each group.  Organised by skiing experience and ability, it makes for combinations unlikely to be found elsewhere in everyday school life.  The prodigious Year 7 boy joining the advanced group made up largely of older boys or the Year 10 boy humbled alongside other younger fellow beginners.

There are the skiers who tuck in right behind their instructors.  They are usually the ones who develop the most style and technical competence.  Others hang towards the back of the group seeking their thrills in slightly less conformist ways around the margins of the piste.

Beyond the obvious enjoyment of being in the mountains, skiing and socialising, such trips help to develop the boys in other ways.  Skiing is an equipment-laden activity that requires good personal organisation and self-discipline.  Forget or lose your helmet, a pole or even a glove and you can prepare for a dull session sitting out.  Misplace a ski pass and you can’t get on the lift as well as facing the cost of its replacement.  Being late can mean that you and possibly even your group miss out.

Nothing can quite fully prepare the novice for that first morning of putting on full ski clothing and boots and traipsing with helmet, skis, poles and other paraphernalia to the nursery slope.  Yet, by the end of the week, nearly all boys manage this quite readily with limited or no prompting from teachers.  They have become more self-reliant.

School ski trips provide the introduction and opportunity for boys to explore, enjoy and develop their skiing from a relatively young age as well as develop other valuable personal skills.  Not a bad way to spend a week.

My thanks to the boys for such an enjoyable week and to the staff who made it possible: Mr Hogarth who organised the trip supported by Mrs Armstrong and Mrs Smith; and Mrs Tickner, Mr Sander, Mr Clark, Mr Waterson and Mr Newman who accompanied the trip.