26 March 2020
In the first half of term, Head Girl Sarah announced in assembly the launch of an essay writing competition. The competition was open to all students and there was something to interest everyone as essay topics were offered on the theme of 10 subjects: classics, computer science, English, geography, history, languages, politics, psychology, science and theology. In each category two questions were posed – one for students in Years 7-10 (with a 750 word limit) and one for Year 11 and the Sixth Form (with a 1,000 word limit). The deadline for entries was the Wednesday after half term.
The judging panel comprised Sarah and our Deputy Head girls, Canaan, Lily and Tara. They were extremely impressed by the quality of the entries and delighted to announce the winners, as follows:
In the Year 7-10 section, the winner was Tabitha (Year 7) who wrote about ‘A time when science changed its mind’. The runner up was Tona (Year 10) who chose to discuss the psychology topic, ‘Humans are nothing more than the brains inside their skulls’.
The winning essay in the Year 11 and Sixth Form section was Sofia (Lower Sixth) who tackled the following theology question: Karl Marx once said ‘Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.’ Is such a characterisation of religion fair? Milly (Year 11) gained the runner up spot responding to the history topic: ‘The descendants of slaves should receive compensation for their ancestors’ suffering.’ Discuss.
Well done to all participants for tackling some weighty questions and congratulations to the winners whose prizes are very well deserved.