From the Second Master
Welcome back to the second half of Common Time at Winchester, where Spring has very much arrived. Thank you to our Head of Biology, Mr King, for this banner photo of crocuses in Beloe's garden.
On the very busy Thursday before Leave-out, in addition to badminton, fencing and hockey fixtures, the Rugby 7s had their first training session and Winchester competed in its first ever Netball game, both at Canford. You can read the full Sports Report via the link below.
Weekend Arrangements for Boarders (25 & 26 February)
Details for this weekend can be found here. Please access the Parent Portal via the link below to inform us of your child’s plans for this weekend by 2300 on Thursday 23 February. Log in, select 'Interactive Forms' and 'Weekend Sign-out' to complete the form.
Sustainability
Tree Planting
In mid-February, Eve Cavey led the second tranche of the Elizabeth Project on St. Elizabeth Meads, with staff and pupils planting 480 trees, including a wide variety of native species, such as disease-resistent elm and wild service.
This concludes the College's first carbon offset and tree-planting program and was part of The Queen's Green Canopy, and the South Downs National Park's Trees for Downs project, partly funded by Southern Co-op.
Academic
Computational Challenge
Andrew French, Physics and Computer Science don, is leading the British Physics Olympiad's seminar course, which helps pupils prepare for the 2023 Computational Challenge. The course is open to all and free to join. 600 students from Winchester and across the world currently attend the weekly sessions online.
Last year Winchester pupil, Vinson Pang (College) very narrowly missed out on the Top Five with his excellent interpretation of the Atmospheric Physics Challenge. Pupils are being encouraged to take part in the 2023 Challenge, which will be released just before Easter.
Academic
French Debating
On Tuesday 7 February, four VIth Book pupils competed in the finals of the Central London French Debating Competition. The finals featured the ten best teams out of the fifty that had entered the initial qualifying round.
Winchester was the only school with two teams in the final round and both made it to the Silver Final (third place play-off), resulting in what the judges termed a rare ‘lutte fratricide’, with teams from the same school pitted against each other. Ultimately William (VIBk2, Furley's) and Mario (VIBk2, Toye's) succeeded in narrowly overcoming Lucas (VIBk1, College) and George (VIBk1, Kenny's) to take third place. Congratulations to both pairs on finishing third and fourth in this prestigious and extremely challenging competition.
Academic
Classics Trip to Rome
Nineteen pupils visited Rome over Leave-out, led by the Classics deparment. The trip covered the must-see classical sites of the city as well as a couple of less-visited gems, including the Basilica of San Clemente with its underground Mithraeum, and Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli.
Drama
Cook's House Play
In the first week of February, audiences gathered for the Cook's House play.
Led by directors Luke Paviour and Jeshaiah Murray, the cast and crew worked rapidly to put together an entertaining and slick version of Robert Scott’s A Butler Did It! with just three weeks to prepare their performance.
Charity
24-Hour Music Event
Starting at 19:20 on 18 March, 24 hours of music will be played to raise money for charity. This pupil-led event will raise funds for Winchester Action on Climate Change, which works to help decarbonise Winchester district by working with Winchester council. This is the new local charity that the school is supporting, following a vote by pupils.
65 pupils and staff have signed up to perform, playing a variety of genres and instruments. Parents are invited to watch their children perform from 10:00 on 19 March in Music School. A schedule detailing the performances will be shared in advance. One highlight will be the mini organ concert taking place in Chapel from 13:00 - 14:30. A variety of Winchester watercolour prints and merchandise will also be on sale.
In light of recent events, the Charities Committee has also decided to fundraise for the Turkey and Syria earthquake appeal. Donations would be greatly appreciated and can be made via the sponsorship link below.
Community
Maths Summer School
The College is once again running its Maths Summer School: a residential course open to Year 12 students from maintained sector schools who are considering studying maths at university.
It provides an opportunity to explore stretching mathematical content on our beautiful campus, with a small group of like-minded young people. The course is led by our maths dons, supported by undergraduate and graduate students from leading universities. Please do share the information, via the link below, if you know someone who may be interested in attending.
Outreach
Primary Schools Day
Our annual Primary Schools Day was held on Wednesday 8 February, based on the theme of ‘Food and Farming’.
Pupils from Stanmore Primary School enjoyed a day of activities ranging from sustainable food preparation with the College chefs to raising their pulses on the Boat Club ergometers.
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