With a few days to go until Leave-out, the Headmaster shares her thoughts on artificial intelligence and its potential impact on education, Oxbridge offers and the much-anticipated Winchester College Football XVs.
Wishing parents, pupils and all those across the school community a very good break.
Events
What's On
Parents are welcome to join us for College events. Events taking place this week are highlighted here, but please find the full schedule at the link below.
Academic
Cracking codes with Computer Science
Three years after the subject was introduced at Winchester, Computer Science pupils are already acheiving great success in competitions.
The school's team, 'The Stap Moners', led by Yuyao (H) entered this year's National Cipher Challenge, hosted by The School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Southampton. The team earned a Silver Medal and will attend a ceremony at Bletchley Park to receive their medal and certificate.
Elsewhere, Oliver (X) has been invited to compete in the final of the Oxford University Coding Challenge after recording a top 10% score in the UK Bebras Challenge, a national competition.
Victor (I) and Oliver also both received gold awards in the British Algorithmic Olympiad. Victor scored highest in the school, and he has been invited to the final.
Congratulations to all those involved, and best of luck to Oliver and Victor in their respective finals.
Music
Concerto Competition Final
Two pianists and two cellists made up the finalists for this year's Concerto Competition, which took place Sunday 4 February and was judged by the distinguished cellist, and Old Wykehamist, Adrian Brendel.
Proceedings began with an elegant rendition by Alexander (X) of Bach's Concerto in D Minor. This was followed by Boccherini's Cello Concerto in B flat, in which Orlando (C) showed his mastery of the 4+ octave range of the cello. Schumann's Concerto in A Minor Op. 54 was stylishly played by Asher (E). The last concerto, Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No.2 Op. 107, was performed by Austin (G), and his virtuosic playing won him the competition.
You can view the full gallery of photos from the performances via the link below and using the password provided in your email.
Academic
JP Recita Final
JP pupils packed into QEII on Saturday night to support the finalists of the Recita competition.
Highlights included Abir's (I) witty selection from 'The Lay of St Cuthbert', two battling performances of 'Funeral Blues', and an emotionally powerful rendition of Auden's 'Refugee Blues' by Max (X).
Edward (F) won the day with his lively and engaging performance of 'Mythologies' by David Lehman, with Theo (A) a close second for his crystal clear version of Frost's popular 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening'. Jaden (A) received an honourable mention for his precise understanding of the complex 'These Myriad Days, These Many Thousand Hours' (John Masefield).
You can view the full gallery of photos from the performances via the link below and using the password provided in your email.
CCF
Air Trophy Competition 2024
On Sunday, 4 February, Winchester College CCF, together with the other 16 squadrons, had the opportunity to take part in the Air Trophy Competition 2024 organised at RAF Blandford Camp.
The College cadets prepared for many weeks leading up to the competition and, through team work and perseverance, successfully completed the tasks, including drill, first aid, RAF knowledge, air craft recognition, air rifle shooting and more.
During certain stages, they had to regroup and make strategic decisions about who would be responsible for completing it correctly, which helped them score more points. This approach showed our cadets how important it is to make prudent decisions and use their team resources correctly.
The results of the competition will be released later in the year, but participating was an unforgettable experience for our students and confirmed the Cadets' belief in their own strength.
Sport
Sport Report
This week's report recaps the ISFA Trophy Quarter-Final, basketball against Bradfield College, away netball and swimming fixtures at Canford School, rowing, rackets and more.
Sport
Badminton at Charterhouse
Winchester College's highest-ranked badminton players travelled to Charterhouse School on Thursday 1 February and excelled in the inaugural inter-school tournament.
The 1st pair of JohnPaul (E) and Ayson (C) and the 2nd pair of Yuyao (H) and Ben (A) won all their doubles games, beating Charterhouse, Wellington College, Epsom College, Christ's Hospital, Reed's School and Tiffin School.
The quality of the 1st pair was exceptional at times, having fused together so well in transcending the age gap (JohnPaul in VIBk1 and Ayson JP) and overcoming an especially professional county-level player in one match.
The boys were excellent ambassadors for the sport and school.
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