What a fantastic end to a fantastic session across all campuses with Oxford Royale Academy! As we say goodbye to session 3 students, and shuffle into session 4 overnight, we thought we’d give you a consolidated update of some highlights since the students arrived two weeks ago. Every one of our summer school courses includes a packed extra-curricular schedule of activities, seminars and parties, as well as academically and culturally enriching trips and lectures, and we’ve been following it all in our blogs!
It wouldn’t be an ORA Summer without a summer party! The students across all campuses have let their hair down with themed parties- Caribbean, 1980’s, Wizard but to name a few! Students at Queen’s, Balliol and St Catz Colleges in Oxford celebrated with a ‘Vintage Circus’ Themed party. The party took place at the stunning Kingston Bagpuize stately home, and once again the British summer sun provided a splendid backdrop for the event, as you can see from the photos! For the students over in Scotland, to celebrate the end of the first week of lessons, the students enjoyed a slightly unusual party in that it involved some fun problem-solving challenges and games, including musical bingo, relay races involving transferring M&Ms from one bowl to another using only straws, practising chop stick skills and completing an obstacle course around the college.
Across all campuses in the UK, students got the chance to visit London to see some of the most popular sights, walk around museums, do a spot of shopping and, the highlight for all, to see a musical on the West End! The students at Queen’s college Oxford (or rather, the Dancing Queens), were delighted to watch the on stage version of Mamma Mia, dancing and singing along to some of ABBA’s classic hits. Students at St Catharine’s in Cambridge had the chance to see the hottest show in town, Kinky Boots! With songs by Grammy® and Tony® winning pop icon Cyndi Lauper, this fabulous musical celebration is about the friendships we discover, and the belief that you can change the world when you change your mind- hopefully something which all ORA students can relate to following their 2 week stay with us. Other shows seen by ORA students in session 3 include Aladdin (Imperial college London) and School of Rock (St Catherine’s College Oxford) .
Session 3 of 2018 saw the first instalment of the Oxford Royale Academy Great Debate, which brought students together from ORA’s campuses at St Catherine’s College, the Queen’s College, and Balliol College, Oxford for a debate at the historic Sheldonian Theatre. You can read more about the event on our blog post here. Across in Cambridge, the students from both colleges, Clare and St Catharine’s, went head to head over the question: Will the invention of artificial superintelligence jeopardise the existence of the human race? Each campus nominated 4 speakers, with Clare arguing against the proposition, and St Catharine’s arguing for it. The guest speaker, Shahar Avin (who works for the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk) opened with a brief discussion of the topic. St Catharine’s then opened proceedings. After much debate, Sahar eventually awarded Clare the winning prize. Congratulations to Clare for winning this stimulating debate!
As mentioned in one of our previous blogs, ORA students at Balliol and the Queen’s college headed to the world-famous Oxford University Sports Centre on the Iffley Road – the very place, in fact, where Sir Roger Bannister ran the first 4-minute mile – where they followed in Sir Roger’s footsteps by taking to the track themselves in a variety of events. These events included egg and spoon race, sack jumping, and 100m sprints! All campuses get the chance to participate in Sports Day events, so be sure to keep your eyes out for more photos and updates!
England has some absolutely stunning stately homes, which is why we don’t want our students to visit the UK without having seen some of them. This week, St Peter’s College students took a trip to Blenheim Palace: the grand country pile that is at once a family home, mausoleum, and national monument (to the 1704 Battle of Blenheim). It is also known for being the birthplace and ancestral home of Winston Churchill, the legendary wartime British Prime Minister. Students gloried in the vast and perfectly-manicured palace gardens, finding dreamy calm down at the lake, and racing each other through the stylistic hedge maze in the pleasure garden. Waddeston Manor was also a pleasant experience for students at St Hugh’s College in Oxford. Here, they visited the home built for Baron De Rothschild in the 1870s. They toured around the formidable chateau which was constructed in the French Renaissance style, to show off the Baron’s fabulous collection of art, furniture, porcelain, textiles, books and clocks. The landscaped grounds of the manor are filled with flowers, sculptures, fountains, fabulous vistas and ancient trees, which the students absolutely loved and admired for their afternoon off from studying.
Excited new arrivals at St Mary’s Ascot had a wonderful trip to see Windsor Castle in the sunshine earlier this week, which was a real highlight for them- being able to see where Megan and Harry recently tied the knot. The students got stuck in to the scavenger hunt, and even wowed at the guards who protect the castle and their peculiar hats!
Students studying at LMH in Oxford took in 11 centuries of British history last week as they travelled northwards to Warwick Castle. First built as a motte-and-bailey fort by William the Conqueror in 1068, the castle came into its own in the mid-13th century, when the stone castle was constructed for the seventh Earl of Warwick. Everyone made the most of their time at the castle, walking along the ramparts, watching a trebuchet demonstration, and getting lost in time in the Horrible Histories maze, where they contended with Stormin’ Normans, Vicious Vikings, and all manner of horrors from the Measly Middle Ages, to reach the centre.
Graduations across all campuses took place last night, giving students the chance to say farewell to their new friends and to receive their certificates to mark the end of their academic programme. Check out Monday’s post to see the photos. It really has been a pleasure having the students at St Andrews, Oxford, London, Cambridge, Ascot and Stanford these past two weeks and we wish them every success. We hope to see everyone again next year!
