Another cohort is leaving Lady Margaret Hall this week and as we wave them goodbye we’d like to say a huge thank you to all the amazing staff who have worked tirelessly to make this session a good one. We hope that the students have loved their time here as much as we’ve loved having them here and we’ll sorely miss the brightness and energy they brought to campus.
The classes this session have always been full of vibrancy and life as the students took creative and active approaches to their lessons. Our Introduction to Medicine students got physical with their learning in a human-scale demonstration of insulin production and by role-playing casualties to practice first aid. The Introduction to Architecture class were inspired by the beautiful buildings of Oxford and put all their wonderful ideas together in a city making project. Meanwhile our Introduction to Engineering students took a sweeter route to their syllabus, putting their skills to the test by building models out of spaghetti and marshmallows.
Our cohort’s learning wasn’t just confined to the classroom. Some wonderful guest speakers and masterclasses provided our students with valuable insight and specialist skills. Alex Holmes helped our students to remember that what makes them different should be celebrated while Alex Staniforth encouraged them not to think of initial failure as the end of the road. In their masterclasses, students let their creativity loose making soaps and polished their eye for detail with a CSI-style forensics workshop.
The counsellors have also shared their rich expertise with the students, putting on talks about how to apply to Oxford University and how to write great personal statements. It’s been great to see everyone so excited by the potential their future holds!
When they weren’t studying, the students had plenty of enrichment and social activities to keep them busy. Over the session, the students headed out into Oxford several times to try some famous punting, check out the sights, or catch a movie. Football games, friendship bracelets, and Henna have helped consolidate friendships in the best way as our students have bonded in their free time. The best thing about the social time at Lady Margaret’s this session is how much of it has been spent with the St Hugh’s cohort. From the competitive sports day where the two colleges battled it out to the laughter filled parties and talent show, the two groups have grown very close over the session. We have high hopes for some of them staying in contact after the session ends!
Of course the session wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to London. The students were overjoyed by the chance to visit the Natural History Museum and Kensington Palace, soaking up as much knowledge and culture as possible. The Oxford-based excursions may have been smaller scale but they were no less enjoyable with the students particularly happy to see some of the places Harry Potter was filmed.
The whole session was finished off in fabulous style with a well-deserved graduation ceremony where all our students could celebrate their numerous achievements over the session. A hollywood-themed party to end the evening left the students feeling like superstars.
We’d just like to say one more enormous well done to all the fantastic students who graduated this session. We know you’ve all got bright futures ahead of you and we hope to see some of you back in a few years time for our 16-18 programmes!