A Day Filled with History and Inspiration in Oxford
Last Tuesday, a group of Year Ten pupils visited Oxford, as part of an Academic Enrichment trip. On arrival, pupils were met by Jack a tour guide and History teacher at the University of Oxford, who showed them important parts of the city; including the Bodleian Library, Divinity School and the Radcliffe Camera.
Jack was very knowledgeable about the history of the University, and the city, and was also able to tell pupils some of the more colourful history of the two, pointing out Harry Potter filming locations, inspirations for His Dark Materials and Narnia as well as important and influential people and their dealings in the area. Jack also showed the pupils All Souls College, the only college in Oxford not to accept undergraduates, and told of the ‘hardest exam in the world’, that must be sat before acceptance. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see and experience these parts of the University. They were able to ask Jack about the application process for Oxford, and what it is like to be a student there.
After their tour, the pupils visited the Ashmolean Museum, for a session on ‘Learning through Objects’, where they were able to handle some Stone Age tools and Ancient Egyptian artefacts, getting used to the idea that sometimes items needed to be held and examined to understand their providence fully. Then they were shown some of the Museum’s treasures, including the lantern Guy Fawkes was caught with under the Houses of Parliament, and Chief Powhatan’s cloak, father of Pocahontas.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip which encouraged the pupils to think about their futures and explore different further education directions they might want to pursue.