10th May 2022
Winchester Weekly
Mental Health Awareness Week
The theme for this year's Mental Health Awareness Week is loneliness, something that has acutely impacted young people during the pandemic. Looking after our mental wellbeing and connecting to others around us will be the focus of the week across the school.
In Tutor Hours, pupils will be reflecting on how COVID-19, amongst other challenges, might have impacted our connections – to families, to our communities, and to ourselves – and how those connections can enrich our lives and make them more meaningful. Mob Lib will have displays packed full of powerful reading exploring the same ideas. Mr Sparkes’ Chapel address will explore the idea of ‘Ubuntu’ – an Nguni Bantu term which insists that our humanness is strengthened by our larger networks and connection to others and the world around us.
For staff, we held a ‘learning lunch’ for all colleagues today, to explore the significance of connection – to ourselves, to others, and to our wider community – in generating a sense of wellbeing and fulfilment in our lives.
Drug & Alcohol Workshop
A reminder that we are also hosting a parent webinar with the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation on Monday 16 May, 1900-2030, where Fiona Spargo-Mabbs will talk about helping young people reduce the harms of drugs and alcohol. To register for the webinar, please follow the link below.
Sustainability on Show
On Thursday 5 May, an audience of over 300 gathered in Flint Court for Resilience 2022, a sustainable fashion show in aid of local children’s charity Naomi House & Jacksplace. The event grew out of the College's pupil-led Sustainable Fashion Society, whose members include students from St Swithun's School, and a new collaboration with Peter Symonds College to bring the project to fruition.
Natural History Partnerships
Rhino Conservation
Natural History Fellow Eve Cavey hosted an event with rhino conservation expert, Amanda Smith, who works with Africa-based charities protecting these endangered animals.
Members of the Natural History Society were joined for Amanda's talk by Year 10 students from one of our partner schools, Park Community School in Havant. Eve also led a workshop with the visiting students on the ecology of the animals.
Learning
Widening Perspectives
John Stuart Mill said, “He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that,” and that we should seek out conflicting views “from persons who actually believe them.”
Head of Economics, Michael Marcas, introduces Widening Perspectives, a new initiative to promote understanding, empathy and tolerance of diverse perspectives within the student body. Upcoming events include speakers Rosalind Miles, a feminist author; Lisa Hill, an activist in Extinction Rebellion; Shaan Khan, from GIRES, a charity which campaigns for trans and gender nonconforming communities; and Giovanni Rose, a young black poet from Tottenham who won the Foyle Young Poet of the Year.
Sport
Summer Season
Parents are welcome to spectate at sports events, including two athletics events next week - Athlā, the inter-house competition on Thursday 19 May from 1430, and a match with four other schools on Saturday 21 May at 1400. Both events will take place at Winchester University Athletics Track, Bar End, Winchester, SO23 0QA. Please note that parking for this venue is at Barfield Close Park and Ride, SO23 9SQ, or a 15 minute walk from College.
Sailing
Four of our sailors - Rupert Balmain (MP, Beloe's), Nestor Montagu (MP, Cook's), Luke Edwards (JP, Beloe's) and Alex Parkinson (JP, Phil's) brought home the silverware in the RS Feva fleet at the BSDRA Western Area championships on Saturday. Their win in this event was resounding: they only lost one race out of the ten they sailed, with the next closest team only winning half of their races.
Cricket
Highlights so far include comfortable victories for Lords over King Edward VI School, Southampton, and Portsmouth Grammar School, and a National T20 victory on Sunday against Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. JP pupil James Kennedy (Kenny's) scored a century on his debut, and Amaar Malik (MP, Hopper's) has hit successive 50s in his first two matches.
Tennis, Rowing & Athletics
The 1st VI tennis team continue their unbeaten run, stretching across all of last season and the first two matches of this term. The rowers are preparing for the forthcoming National Schools’ Regatta, and the athletes were in action last weekend for the first time this term with some fine performances up at Dauntsey’s.
Pupil launches new Climate Newsletter
A member of Sustainability Society, Oscar Mitcham (VI Book 2, Trant's), saw a need for the distribution of digestible information on climate change, and so took the initiative to start his own blog on the subject, Climate Newsletter for Winchester College.
Collegeman Physicist Selected for Canada
Congratulations to Jona Cordonier Gehring (V Book, College) who has been selected to participate in the International Summer School for Young Physicists hosted by the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada.
This is a highly competitive course run by one of the leading centres for theoretical physics research in the world. Jona showed incredible determination and ability in the application process and can look forward to two weeks during the summer learning more about quantum mechanics, special and general relativity, black holes and cosmology.
Mr Matt Rogers, Head of Physics
Schools' Challenge National Finals
The Winchester General Knowledge team travelled to Tonbridge School on the last Sunday of the Easter holidays to compete in the National Finals of Schools’ Challenge. The standard of quizzing was high: no doubt we were in the presence of several future stars of University Challenge. We won our quarter-final match against KES Birmingham 590-460, but were vanquished in the semi-final against Westminster (the eventual winner) in what was an exceptionally high-scoring round (1270-790). Overall, we were the third-best performing team – a pleasing result for our first year of taking part.
Well done to the team - captain Ollie Reynolds (VI Book 1, College), and Edward Thomson (Middle Part, College), Harry Latimer (Middle Part, College), Arthur King (VI Book 1, College) and James Hunter (VI Book 2, Beloe's).
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