This year, with the introduction of our new Behaviour and Rewards system, we have introduced the Head’s Award which is given to students who have made exceptional contributions to school life, through excellent individual work, personal achievement or an exceptional one-off act.
Huge congratulations to the following students who have received a Head’s Award the second half of Spring Term:
- Alison C & Ipek D (Year 10) – Thank you for stepping up when we needed help with the Virtual Medicine Conference. The questions you put through to the hosts were thoughtful, well chosen and of great help to the Year 12 hosts!
- Jessica K, Ahyoung K & Anjali R (Year 12) – Thank you for not only hosting our Virtual Medicine Conference, but for also making a difference in the planning by regularly attending meetings and by being involved in the shaping of the event. You truly made a difference!
- Naomi C, Maddie D, Anoushka K, Anna M, Toddy O, Arya V & Rhiannon W (Year 12) – Thank you for hosting our Virtual Medicine Conference. You demonstrated resilience, confidence under pressure and truly made a difference.
- Sidra M (Year 11) – Having won our group final of the GDST Chrystall Prize for public speaking, Sidra went on to gain second place in the final at Sheffield High School. This is an outstanding achievement in a prestigious and challenging competition.
- Hannah C (Year 8), Emily B & Sophia T (Year 8) – Huge congratulations to all students who participated in the GDST Spelling Bee for British Science Week. Emily, Sophia and Hannah were selected for the Grand final, pitting their speed and accuracy with spelling science terms against the other GDST schools. We are so proud of how they performed, with OHS coming a wonderful second place overall. Sophia and Hannah were also awarded joint third place prizes for individual performances.
- Serena K (Year 12) – Serena was an excellent representative for OHS at the Women of the World event on 10th March. She was confident and composed on stage – an exceptional role model.
- Aneesa Z (Year 7) – Aneesa entered the Centre for Personalised Medicine Art Competition 2022-2023 this term after this was advertised to students as an extra competition they might be interested in. The standard for the competition was exceptionally high. A panel of 6 judges assessed the artwork in terms of their relevance to measurements in health and disease, originality and artistry. Aneesa’s entry, ‘A Lifetime of Measurements’, thoroughly impressed the judges, with their comments stating how they “loved how it conveyed the use of measurements throughout a lifetime, and the idea of the digital twin. It’s a beautiful piece and we really enjoyed how it invites the viewer to reflect on so many different aspects of measurements in health and disease”. This was a really thought-provoking piece and resulted in her winning the competition. The competition organisers will be sharing some of the best entries from the competition online over the next few weeks and are making plans for exhibiting the best competition entries in Oxford over the course of the year – watch this space! Aneesa was awarded a certificate and £100 prize.
- Mysha B (Year 11) – She had two fabulous days at the eventing championships where she was riding in the Advanced Medium Gold class and Free Style Advanced Medium Gold class against some formidable competition, the vast majority of which were Grand Prix riders at least double, if not triple or more, her age. With courage and determination she took on this challenge and got placed in both classes coming 7th in the Freestyle Music Advanced Medium class and 9th in the Advanced Medium class. Her score of 69.5% in the Free Style class might even land her a wild card entry for the Winter National Championships this year.
- Amelie D (Year 7) – Amelie was incredibly brave and gave an excellent speech in front of our prospective parents at Take Another Look.
- Haley W (Year 12) – Haley has achieved her FTCL diploma in harp playing, and is now a Fellow of Trinity College London. This is the highest level of performance exam that exists in Music, and is comparable to the standard expected in the practical exams of a postgraduate course at Music College. Haley had to give a 45 minute recital to pass the diploma, and was required to perform at a fully professional standard.
- Phyllida W (Year 10) – When it became clear that Dr Ord’s team of Careers Assistants was struggling to get all cake gift boxes to panellists, Phyllida happened to be standing behind Dr Ord. After initial reluctance, Phyllida displayed not only kindness, but resilience and tremendous collaborative skills, running cake boxes to panel sessions, taking panellists to and from sessions, hosting guests in the dining hall and being continuously available all evening to offer more support. Wow! Thank you!
- Alex N (Year 12) – Alex not only helped plan and organise our annual Careers and Higher Education Event but became Dr Ord’s right hand showing tremendous amounts of problem solving and independent thinking skills getting cake boxes to panellists and leading a team of student volunteers. Thank you for all you did to help make this event a success!
- Rebecca W (Year 12) – Rebecca not only helped plan and organise the annual Careers Event as Careers Assistant but impressed on the night with her hosting skills and calm confidence. Thank you for your wonderful contribution to our event!
- Emma L (Year 8) & Mia X (Year 7) – Mia and Emma were joint winners of the Cecil Aron Cup at the Oxford Music Festival, for their respective performances on the flute. This is the top award for under 15 woodwind performers across the whole festival, in which outstanding musicians from across the region compete.
- Charlotte C (Year 8), Amalie L (Year 10), Bea B (Year 11) & Emily C (Year 10) – For participating in the final of the English Schools Cross Country – this event brings together the best athletes in each of the 46 Counties in England to compete for the honour of being the best in the country. We had a record number of students this year qualify for this event and it was amazing to see their results from the weekend.
- Mia X (Year 7) successfully auditioned for a place in the National Children’s Orchestra on the flute. The flute section is one of the most competitive to get into, and there are always far more applicants than there are places, so to gain a flute seat in this orchestra is an outstanding achievement.
- Linzi C (Year 7) – For successfully auditioning for a place in the National Children’s Orchestra. This is a one of the highest-standard groups for musicians under the age of 14, and getting in reflects the work Linzi has put into developing her musicianship and violin technique.
- Hailey W (Year 9) – For successfully auditioned for a place at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. This is a Saturday music school where some of the most outstanding under-18 musicians in the country go for their lessons. Hailey will be studying percussion there, and will also be playing in their orchestra and percussion ensemble.
- Mysha B (Year 11) – Who had two fabulous days at the eventing championships where she was riding in the Advanced Medium Gold class and Free Style Advanced Medium Gold class against some formidable competition, the vast majority of which were Grand Prix riders at least double, if not triple or more, Mysha’s age. With courage and determination, Mysha took on this challenge and placed in both classes, coming 7th in the Freestyle Music Advanced Medium class and 9th in the Advanced Medium class. Her score of 69.5% in the Free Style class might even land her a wild card entry for the Winter National Championships this year.
- Olivia R (Year 8) – For successfully auditioned for the National Schools Symphony Orchestra, and been admitted to their most advanced group. This is an orchestra in which students from all over the country compete for places, and the minimum age is normally 13 (which Olivia will reach in a little while)!
- Shaan B (Year 12), Nathalie E (Year 12), Avleen S (Year 12), Maya R (Year 11), Tessa G (Year 11), Lirit M (Year 11) & Claudia B (Year 13) – For their contributions to this year’s Neurodiversity Celebration Week. You have raised awareness and understanding of neurodiversity amongst the students and staff of Oxford High School and been a leader and role model to many. Teachers were in awe of your ability to speak so fluently, confidently and knowledgeably – with no notes! – in the whole school assembly. And, although it has been only a couple of days since you led the Year 7, 8, and 9 PSHCE Question & Answer sessions, NASH has already had several younger students approach us to share, for the first time, their suspicions that they too may be neurodivergent. It’s incredible what your willingness to speak to, and listen to, your fellow students has accomplished in just five days.