Head’s Awards are given for exceptional performances both inside and outside of school. Congratulations to the following students:
Aarya C (year 12) was awarded a commendation in the Rex Nettleford Essay Prize 2024. There were a large number of submissions for the prizes, and the standard was very high for there to be just two winners, so the judges decided to commend those who were amongst the very best. Aarya was invited to attend the annual lecture on Colonialism and its Legacies at Oriel College, where she was presented with the Commendation
Kate L (year 7) is involved in a photography club and has had her photographs displayed in the Westgate Centre, Oxford.
Chak Kwan Alvina C (year 10) took part in this year’s Queen’s College Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators by submitting an entry for Italian. Alvina decided to take on the challenge during the February half-term and translated a passage from an Italian novel into English with resilience and curiosity. Congratulations on being commended for your Italian entry in the South-East area. Over 16,000 students participated in the prize in 2024 and over 3,600 entries were judged altogether, so this is a fantastic achievement. Bravissima!
Tessa G (year 12), Lirit M (year 12), Africa H (year 12) and Gabrielle G (year 12) for the outreach work they have done this year for the Neurodiversity & Academic Support Hub. Their speeches to the whole school during Neurodiversity Celebration Week were informative and moving.
Lexi C (year 9) successfully auditioned for a place at the Junior department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, one of the country’s leading music conservatoires.
Rahee P (year 7) has been selected as one of fifteen writers for the Daunt Books Short Story Anthology 2024: a terrific accomplishment!
Alice Z’s (year 9) terrific short story ‘2056’ has won the Young Adult category in the Oxfordshire Libraries ebook Short Story Competition. Alice’s story will be published on the Libby app as an ebook and audiobook on 3rd June.
Yuen Kiu L (year 11) and Yolanda C (year 10) have obtained a certificate of merit in the Pink Kangaroo (the follow-on round to the Intermediate Maths Challenge), which is awarded to the top 25% of participants.
Annabelle S (year 9) has been selected to play for the French national netball team.
Emily C (year 11) is an established squash star at junior level and last year won the British and English Championship Under 17 titles. Her 2023 form saw her selected to represent England at the European Under 19 Championships this month and earn the Female Rising Star of the Year award.
Cecily W (year 12) receives a Head’s Award for her U17 England European football success – with a silver medal. The England Women’s squad made history this week, reaching England’s first ever Women’s Under 17 UEFA European final against Spain. Their victory in the semi-final against Poland secured their place at the 2024 FIFA Under 17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic this October.
Cass W (year 12) was a finalist for a Philosophy Prize in the Northeastern University London essay competition – and has been awarded a £1000 scholarship if she takes up an undergraduate place with them. Cass also won Best Researched Delegate in WESTMUN (Westminster Model United Nations) held at the University of Westminster and Best Delegate in Europe’s biggest MUN conference (London International MUN: High School Edition) where she was awarded a Daniel Page Scholarship to attend the LIMUN university conference hosted by King’s College, London in 2025. Undergraduates from KCL, UCL, and QMUL chaired the panels, hosted the event and judged the awards. There were approximately 400 high school students in attendance and only 15 students were awarded Best Delegate Awards (1 delegate from each of the panels).
Bea Z (year 12) competed in the international Cheerleading World championships. Their team had to qualify for the finals where only the top 3 teams from each country get through and ended up achieving 6th in the world at finals out of 27 teams in a very tough category.
Following her success earlier in the year Mysha B (year 12) was selected by British Dressage to represent Great Britain at the Hickstead CDI.
We were excited to learn recently that there were two OHS winners of the GDST Laurie Magnus Poetry Prize. The poems were judged by Croydon High School alumna and author Georgina Day. The winner of the Year 7, 8 & 9 category for her poem The Brooch is Anjali K (year 8). And the winner of the Year 10 & 11 category for her poem “ ” is Beatrice L (year 10). The judges commented that Anjali’s poem was technically very well thought out, and said that Beatrice’s poem was ‘such a stand out’.