Headmaster's Assembly : Tuesday 6th January 2026
Good morning everyone, a very happy new year and welcome back to College. Before I get into the assembly, I want to mention two tragic events from the holidays, one which made global news and one which made the national news here in the UK.
Good morning everyone, a very happy new year and welcome back to College. Before I get into the assembly, I want to mention two tragic events from the holidays, one which made global news and one which made the national news here in the UK.
We had the news of the fire in the Constellation night club on New Years Eve in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana.
The victims ranged in age from 14 to 39, with 15 aged under 18. The group included people of Swiss, Italian, Romanian, Turkish, Portuguese, French, and Belgian nationalities, as well as those from the UK, France and Israel. 40 young lives taken at a moment of great celebration over New Year.
And closer to home, just a few miles down the road, on Boxing Day, a house fire which took the lives of three members of the Shearman family, including two young children and their mother, with the father Tom, a serving police officer, unable to rescue them – the family was known to some of us and as a community our thoughts are collectively with all of those taken by such tragic events which are impossible for any of us to fathom. May they rest in peace.
Life is incredible precious and fragile at the same time – we must savour it whilst we can.
This time last year I asked you a quiz question: What do these (mostly very) famous individuals have in common?
The answer was that they all had become world champions in their respective sports/fields at the age of 17.
One year on, and only one of them has retained their title for the second year in a row at the age of 18 – that’s right, it’s Luke “the Nuke” Littler, newly crowned World Darts Champion 2025/26 who I watched take the trophy at Ally Pally a few days ago from the comfort of my sitting room…a few years ago perhaps wishing I were one of the crowd dressed as a smurf or maybe a gladiator, cheering on the players…but now, very happy to watch from my sofa.
Last year, I recounted how I was struck by his humility at such a young age – a clear acknowledgement that he was merely joining a pantheon of former champions. Shortly after winning the title, he made it clear that he would never admit that he was the best and this suggested a deep-seated sense of self-awareness and level of grounding beyond his years.
This year was no different. Despite his growing fame and popularity, things have not gone to his head. And having thrashed his Dutch opponent, he promised that his latest success – and the £1m first prize, a record for his sport – would not change him.
In the post match interview he said: “I’m just me as you see me – outside of the darts, inside of the darts, I’ll never change,”. “This is how I am. Even my mum and dad, from the first worlds were saying to me, ‘don’t change anything, just be yourself’. That’s how it’s going to be.”
Sound advice indeed for us wannabe world darts champions. But less flippantly, there is a message for us all in there – I might call this a bit of philosophy according to Luke. Staying true to oneself despite the trappings of fame and fortune, remaining faithful to one’s core values…this is very much what Littler was referring to. Not treating others differently because of his change of status and still valuing the things that matter – one’s parents, family, relationships – staying grounded. After his win, for instance, he also admitted that he had forgotten to eat until he arrived at Alexandra Palace, when he fuelled himself for the final with a margherita pizza….hardly the £500 gold leaf wagyu beef steaks and magnums of Cristal champagne favoured by his footballing equivalents. Ultimately, Littler could also be any kid from any street in any town which is part of what makes him uniquely special.
I think we have time for one last quiz – what do all the people on the board have in common?
A tough one – they are/were all leaders of countries which the US Government has actively deposed…some directly, some through the orchestration of coups.
We have:
The events of the last few days are incredibly interesting and having not had good reason to talk about Donald Trump for some time, he has presented us with lots to think about.
I don’t have time here to go into much detail or debate about the Venezuela situation but I will just suggest a few things to think about and to leave you with. In a way, this is perhaps a ‘welcome’ return to good old fashioned military and resource imperialism – Venezuela is not an Islamic country, it has not attacked US assets in the name of terrorism, and it is on its doorstep. Venezuela should be one of the world’s wealthiest states – it has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, more than Saudi Arabia – 17% of the total. Something has gone wrong. Years of corruption, chronic underinvestment and dictatorship have taken their toll.
Should we welcome the return of US influence over failed states?
Where is China in all of this?
What right do states have to violate the sovereignty of other states? Is the UN all but dead when it comes to policing conflict? What role for Europe?
Lots to think about – please take an interest. Fascinating pictures and scenes from the US court trial yesterday.
Now I haven’t yet once mentioned new years resolutions. I haven’t really made any this year save for to do three things:
On the last point, we enter the national year of reading and please take this as a very soft launch of things to come this year at Wycliffe relating to reading.
Have a very good term – January and February are tough months – but spring is on the way and let’s remember to look after one another.
Dear Rendcomb Families,
We are deeply saddened by the news that Rendcomb will close at the end of the academic year. Our thoughts are with all the pupils, families, staff and alumni of Rendcomb college at such a difficult time.
We are honoured to have been invited to work in partnership with Rendcomb in supporting families and pupils as you consider your next steps. We understand the care, sensitivity, clarity and respect you need during this transition and the Wycliffe community will work in collaboration and compassion with each individual family.
If you would like to arrange a personal and confidential conversation with our Admissions Team, please contact admissions@wycliffe.co.uk or What's App 07968 423609
