Page 8 - Bloxhamist 2017-2018

ACADEMIC

Keats’ Poetry Seminar points in their strongest round. There is
also the opportunity to win spot prizes,
both as a team and individually. Twenty-
In March, a group of Sixth Formers joined seven teams took part and both Bloxham
a series of lectures about the Romantic teams finished in the first half of the
poet John Keats, enjoying spending the day table, winning individual and team spot
among fellow English students and poetry prizes. Everyone enjoyed the competitive
enthusiasts from all over the country. atmosphere and the chance to test their
The highlight was the enigmatic first literary knowledge. SS
speaker, Dr John McRae of Nottingham What the stage should have looked like!
University, whose unabashed passion and
keen insight taught us that not all heroes A Streetcar Named our expectations. However, once the
drama began, with the actors sat facing
wear capes: some of them prefer socks and
sandals. AG Desire the audience, the full intensity of the
script took centre stage. The protagonist,
Blanche, was played with such fervour
Kids’ Lit Quiz In May, a group of Upper Sixth students that we were gripped. Yes, having
went to the Oxford Playhouse to see
a modern production of this text. someone reading the stage directions did
somewhat break the tension at times, but
In November, two teams of Exham Unfortunately, there were technical issues the actors responded fantastically well,
students went to Cokethorpe School with the set but we decided to see the delivering a mesmerising performance.
to take part in the regional heat of production anyway, as a stripped-down
the international Kids’ Lit Quiz. The text reading. The students were amazing and
appreciated the opportunity for a stage
competition involves ten rounds of ten
questions on a theme and teams have We were greeted on arrival by a simple production, although disappointed not to
have experienced the full theatrical event.
an opportunity to play a joker for double line of chairs on stage. This lowered CJS

matHs

During this year’s Maths Week,
Sixth Form mathematicians enjoyed
watching Hidden Figures, a film
about some brilliant African-
American mathematicians working
at NASA. There were also lunchtime
puzzles for Exham, whilst Fourth
Formers Adam Wales, Murray
Douglas, George King and Charlie
Yates took part in the Maths Feast
held by the Further Maths Support
Network at Milton Keynes. They won
one round, and found the competition
an enjoyable experience.

Students from the Fourth and
Fifth Form also took part in the
Intermediate Mathematics Challenge.
Harry Zhang and Adam Wales
achieved gold, along with a medal
hoard of silvers (to Yurun Chen,
Grace Hopkins, Jacob Bright, Emma
Davies, Harry Fellingham, Venetia
Moir, Marcus Rowland, Jemima
Smith, George King, Mark Davies, Ben
Stinton and Florence Krajewski) and
bronzes (to George Urquhart, Cordelia
Gao, Toby Affleck, Ivan Wang, Toby
Levene and George Baker). Congratulations to Fourth Form student
JLHM Ivan Wang who was crowned British Youth
Go Open Champion, for a consecutive year,
after taking part in the 2017 British Youth
Go Championship in November
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