Fathers’ Breakfast

All Dragon fathers are reminded that the annual Fathers’ Breakfast is on Saturday 18 September at 8.30 a.m. If you have not yet replied and would like to have breakfast by the river next Saturday, please could you contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   in the Events Office.

For RC Children

In recent years Roman Catholic children have been attending The Oratory in St. Giles, Oxford, as part of their Catholic education.

From September 2010 these children will attend the Blackfriars Church, also in St Giles, where the family service starts at 9.30 a.m. on a Sunday. We believe this service is appropriate for children and will help Dragon pupils to find the experience of going to Mass on a Sunday to be enjoyable and rewarding. During this service there will also be an opportunity for your son or daughter to attend catechism classes in preparation for the Sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , School Chaplain, by 15 September if you would like your child to attend these classes.

As at The Oratory, pupils will be accompanied by a duty member of staff but you will be most welcome to attend the service at Blackfriars with your children. The school is very grateful for the support given by The Oratory over the past few years.

French Rugby

After 12 exhilarating days based in Castres in the South of France, the rugby tourists returned last Sunday, bronzed, battle hardened and raring to start the domestic season. On the pitch the French teams were sometimes too big and too strong but the Dragon nonetheless took on several top youth teams including top 14 side Castres Olympique and the current European champions Stade Toulousain. Our players improved with every game and narrowed the margins of defeat to culminate in a thrilling last gasp win over Avirons Castres 20-15 (2 tries from Alex Bruce and one a piece from Rupert Elmhirst and Sam Way).

The tour began with 4 nights hosted by French families and the Dragons were wonderful ambassadors, their hosts declaring them excellent company and finding any language barriers were soon overcome. Thereafter the tourists were based in a converted mill in picturesque Burlats from where they found time to visit Albi Cathedral, take a boat through medieval Castres, visit a water park, go mountain biking, do tenpin bowling, kayak 7km along the river Agout, walk through the beautiful mountains, and explore the local cuisine (including rabbit!). Staff hugely enjoyed the company of the Dragons on tour and the children were excellent advertisements for the school on and off the pitch. We hope that the skills and teamwork developed over the Channel will stand us in very good stead for the coming season.

London Chamber Orchestra Concert

Helen & Douglas House hospice and the London Chamber Orchestra invite Dragon School parents to join them for the opening concert of the LCO's 90th Anniversary Season on 30 September at 7.30pm. The programme includes music from Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms and has been organised in support of Helen & Douglas House, celebrating hospice care for children and young adults in the UK and Japan. The concert will open with the premiere of a new anthem written especially for the occasion by Japanese composer Masanori Katoh, based on a poem written by a mother whose daughter came to Helen & Douglas House. The anthem will be performed by the Dragon School choir.

Tickets are £60, including the best seats in the house, interval drinks and a post concert reception. For more information click here or contact Kim Hall on 01865 799150 or by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Did You See?

Over the summer, the Dragon was in the news. The Summer Dragons programme was featured in both the local Oxford papers, please click hereto see the Oxford Times article and our philanthropy teaching was highlighted in The Economist, please click here to view.

Annual Oxford Lecture

Hugh Williams-Preece (OD 1983) will give an inspirational talk entitled ‘Staying the Distance’ on Thursday 30 September in the Lynam Hall. Earlier this year Hugh completed 50 marathons in 50 days, only the second person ever to have accomplished such an astonishing feat. The talk will be followed by drinks and canapés, tickets are available at £10 each and all are welcome. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   in the Events Office.

Any Dragon Bookworms?

The Oxford Learning Partnership (the outreach programme for the University of Oxford) is offering the chance for your child to participate in a challenging critical reading online masterclass. This is designed for very able students and will involve working with literary academics. The course for 11-14 year olds runs from 25-29 October and the course for 7-10 year olds runs from 27-30 December. If you are interested, please click here. There are only 50 places per course, so early registration is advised.

Boarder Family BBQ

All boarding parents are invited to a BBQ on School House Lawn from 12.00 noon on Sunday 19 September. This is the first open weekend of term and it will be a good opportunity to meet other parents. Please feel free to bring along your immediate family to this function which provides lunch for both visitors and boarders. After lunch, those boarders staying at school will be involved in a carousel of swimming, table tennis, art, cooking, games on the fields and the astros. You are most welcome to stay on and join in with these or can of course take your sons and daughters out for the rest of the day. If you do intend to join us for lunch and have not already responded, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   to let him know how many of you there will be so that we can give numbers to our catering department. We hope the sun will shine but if the weather is not kind then the event will be held in the School Dining Room. As always on Sundays, all parents and visitors are also invited to the Service in the Lynam Hall starting at 10am. Thanks to those who have replied already, there is no need to do so again.

Moselle Music

For many of our young wind, string and percussionists the concert tour to the Moselle in July was the highlight of the summer (see main picture). Leaving early on a Sunday morning were the Dragonetti Strings, String Quartet, Concert Band and Big Band and Saxophone Quintet - 56 musicians in total - who travelled to Germany in a double decker coach, complete with a trailer full of instruments! The tour gave the young musicians an opportunity to perform to a wider audience at some stunning venues, to develop confidence and hone their musical skills. The standard of all the ensembles rose to a new high during the tour which also included enjoyable activities in addition to the busy schedule of concerts. Pupils and staff had time to enjoy a session at a bowling alley, a river cruise on the Moselle, a guided tour of a vineyard and also visited Beethoven’s house in Bonn. Mr Smith would like to thank all the musicians and staff who helped the trip to be a great success. 

Holland Hockey

This summer, 17 A and B Block girls embarked on a pre-season hockey tour to Noordwijk, Holland. The girls trained each morning with Dutch coaches and played matches against local opposition in the evenings. As the Dutch are one of the top nations in the world for hockey, the girls had superb coaching and high quality matches that challenged them yet inspired them for the start of the season. The girls beat Zandvoort HC 2-0, drew with a strong Overbos HC 2-2 and lost their last game to MHV Evergreen 1-0. The team has learnt a lot from the tour and it is hoped this could be a great start to a successful season ahead.