News & Diary
Winchester Weekly – 13th January 2026
Dear parents,
Welcome to Common Time. I hope you all had an enjoyable and restful break.
Weekend Sign-out
WEEKEND ARRANGEMENTS FOR BOARDERS (17th-18th January)
Details for this weekend can be found via the link below.
Please access the Parent Portal via the link below to inform us of your child’s plans for this weekend by 23:00 on Thursday 4th December. Log in, select ‘Interactive’ and ‘Weekend Sign-out’ to complete the form.
EXEAT ARRANGEMENTS FOR BOARDERS (23rd-25th January 2026)
In preparation for exeat, all parents of boarders should complete the Exeat Arrangements form, which is also accessed via the same route on the Parent Portal; under ‘Exeat Arrangements’. Please complete the form at your earliest convenience. Thank you to those parents who have already done this.
APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE – a courteous reminder
We ask for as much notice as possible to consider requests for special leave. This allows us to consider them in a fair, consistent and timely manner. In this vein, sometimes we will need to ask for additional information, and it can be difficult to process this at short notice. Requests should be emailed to the Second Master ([email protected]) and additional guidance can be found in section 7 of the school’s Attendance Policy. Thank you for your continued support with this.
To access some of these events, you may need to be a registered user of the Winchester College Society website and logged in.
Parents Drinks in London – 12th February 2026:
Parents are invited by Winchester College Society to join us for drinks at the Cavalry and Guards Club, London on Thursday 12th February.
Online Div Hour – 27th January:
Parents are invited to take part in an unusually interactive session on CATALYST’s own learning platform where we will explore the meeting point of language, machine learning, and the ways in which AI produces meaning. It is designed as an immersive experience and for maximum interaction, participation is limited to 25. We have shaped the two sessions to honour the spirit of Div: disciplined inquiry; intellectual play; and the pleasure of thinking with others. It is also a chance to see how CATALYST has adapted that same ethos for a global cohort of young students. This will not be a webinar, nor something to join on a phone while travelling.
Full details, including an explanatory video message are included in the sign-up information.
Past Parents’ Dinner – 6th March:
We are delighted to be hosting our inaugural Past Parents’ Dinner, and we would love to welcome back parents of OWs who would like to reminisce over drinks and dinner in our mediaeval buildings. Tickets are now on sale.
The evening will start with drinks in School before we move to College Hall for dinner.
We do hope you will be able to join us.
Hong Kong Gala Dinner, Monday 23rd March, 18:00-22:00, The Aberdeen Marina Club
You are invited to join The Hong Kong Friends of Winchester College and the OW Hong Kong Guild at a Gala Dinner on Monday 23rd March 2026. The Headmaster of Winchester College, Ms Elizabeth Stone will be the guest of honour, accompanied by Mr Adam Rattray, Div don & Head of Art History and Mrs Melanie Bushell, Director of Development.
The evening offers an opportunity for the Wykehamical Community, including prospective parents, to come together and celebrate. At Winchester nothing symbolises the pursuit of original thinking like Div and so there will also be a chance to experience or indeed relive a Div lesson, led by Adam Rattray.
Parents are very welcome to join us for College events. Upcoming events, including the Spring Lecture Series (link below) are highlighted in the newsletter.
Studium
All parents are invited to Studium, a day of lectures from dons, OWs and luminaries from various sectors, which takes place on 21st January 2026.
Please book by filling in the form below.
2026 Charity Calendar
If you missed the charity stall at Illuminā it is not too late to order a 2026 Charity Calendar!
Calendars cost £15 on blue bills and will be delivered to your child’s boarding house.
They feature photographs of the College taken by current pupils (and all term and exeat dates for the year).
To order one, please fill in the form below.
Below are links to photographs taken at the Short Half Commendā at the end of last term.
The pictures were taken by Jim Pascoe and are free to download.
To order a printed and framed version of a photo, please contact Jim directly on [email protected].
Over the Christmas holidays, Winchester College Boat Club enjoyed a highly anticipated trip to Avis, Portugal. The trip had a delayed start due to a four-hour wait in Lisbon Airport, but, fortunately, the hotel was well prepared with food once the team eventually arrived. Training started promptly the next morning, and throughout the week crews achieved distances of up to 130km.
Everyone mixed around between the fours and the pairs with plenty of long, scenic sunset paddles as well as some highly contested time trial racing. Two fours were established for races later in the season, allowing time for crews to become comfortable in their respective boats, which should ensure some successes later this year.
The camp ended with some comedic relief, with everyone enjoying Secret Santa gift giving and a festive quiz. The club looks forward to the Head Racing season with potential for some great results.
Over the Christmas break, nine of our pupils travelled to the Estonian capital of Tallinn for a Russian department trip.
The group enjoyed participating in Russian lessons at a language centre, visiting a local school, seeing the beautiful Old Town, Christmas market, and Peter the Great’s house.
They also turned their hands to painting marzipan figurines, preparing dumplings and even dazzled the locals with their seasonal ice skating at the rink in Tallinn.
Wykeham Day & Parents Summer Drink Party
All parents are warmly invited to save the dates of Friday 12th June and Saturday 13th June for Wykeham Day and the Parents Summer Drinks Party.
During the Christmas break, Pengxiao participated in the XII Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival.
The event attracted about 400 adult and junior players from around the world.
Pengxiao played outstandingly and won the Junior U16 Blitz Champion title.
Congratulations, Pengxiao!
