Sunday, 18 August 2013
Goodbye!
We said goodbye to our final summer school for the year on Saturday! We have loved having all of our students here and hope that they have enjoyed their time in Oxford, learnt new skills and made lasting friendships. Thanks to everyone for making the summer school such a great place, and keep in touch!
Final Day
Today was the final full day of the final summer school; a sad day for staff and students alike! In the morning students had individual tutorials, where they recieved final feedback on their work over the summer school. This was an opportunity to ask any final questions they may have had.
In the afternoon students had their final afternoon seminars in their chosen topics : Life as a Junior Doctor, Ethics and Philosophy, Current Affairs, Creative Writing and Environmental Studies.
This was followed by a barbeque in the garden. Despite rainy weather for most of the past week the sun came out just in time for our activities this evening! After the barbeque it was time for mocktails and the graduation ceremony with all of the staff. The summer school got the staff a lovely meerkat card which included all of the team as meerkats as well as chocolates which listed what students loved and hated about their time here (sorry guys, we'd change the rainy weather if we could!).
After this students had their "bop" - Oxford slang for a party. These are held in Oxford colleges several times a term and are usually themed. Classics dances like limbo and the macarena were popular, as well as a special summer school dance which involved lots of bopping and shimmying... Whilst some of the guys were a bit reluctant to join in the dancing, house mistress Sandra encouraged them and we saw some excellent moves from Aly and Ionut!
In the afternoon students had their final afternoon seminars in their chosen topics : Life as a Junior Doctor, Ethics and Philosophy, Current Affairs, Creative Writing and Environmental Studies.
This was followed by a barbeque in the garden. Despite rainy weather for most of the past week the sun came out just in time for our activities this evening! After the barbeque it was time for mocktails and the graduation ceremony with all of the staff. The summer school got the staff a lovely meerkat card which included all of the team as meerkats as well as chocolates which listed what students loved and hated about their time here (sorry guys, we'd change the rainy weather if we could!).
After this students had their "bop" - Oxford slang for a party. These are held in Oxford colleges several times a term and are usually themed. Classics dances like limbo and the macarena were popular, as well as a special summer school dance which involved lots of bopping and shimmying... Whilst some of the guys were a bit reluctant to join in the dancing, house mistress Sandra encouraged them and we saw some excellent moves from Aly and Ionut!
Friday, 16 August 2013
Blenheim Palace
After a morning of tutorials, students found themselves in altogether more grandiose surroundings, as we took a trip to Blenheim Palace. This historic country
house is home to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, as well as being
the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
The palace boasts a maze, huge landscaped grounds -complete with a a mini-train to tour them- and many, many swans.
A guided tour of the Palace was available, which included the room where Winston Churchill was born, and numerous beautifully decorated rooms. These were filled with priceless antique furniture and had impressive paintings from masters such as van Dyck adorning the walls.
After Blenheim students had Morroccan meze at a restaurant on the popular student shopping and dining area of Cowley road.
This was followed by a "Balloon Debate" back at the accommodation. During this students argued why things such as Harry Potter, Leg Hair and Nutella should remain in a falling balloon which must lose weight to prevent going down. Kyra, Gia, Ylva and Lizzie were the finalists, and all came up with very convincing and entertaining defences for their topics! In the end Kyra and Lizzie were crowned joint winners for their arguments in favour of keeping goths and the male nipple on the balloon!
The palace boasts a maze, huge landscaped grounds -complete with a a mini-train to tour them- and many, many swans.
A guided tour of the Palace was available, which included the room where Winston Churchill was born, and numerous beautifully decorated rooms. These were filled with priceless antique furniture and had impressive paintings from masters such as van Dyck adorning the walls.
After Blenheim students had Morroccan meze at a restaurant on the popular student shopping and dining area of Cowley road.
This was followed by a "Balloon Debate" back at the accommodation. During this students argued why things such as Harry Potter, Leg Hair and Nutella should remain in a falling balloon which must lose weight to prevent going down. Kyra, Gia, Ylva and Lizzie were the finalists, and all came up with very convincing and entertaining defences for their topics! In the end Kyra and Lizzie were crowned joint winners for their arguments in favour of keeping goths and the male nipple on the balloon!
Punting and Play!
Students were able to test out their punting abilities for themselves today! After diligent observations of their guides in Cambridge, some were excited to give it a go themselves and others were much more concerned about falling in!
Obstacles such as falling ducks, trees and Lily going overboard challenged Anna, Gia and Becky's boat however they were rescued by Ali who took over punting for them. Lily was unfortunate enough to fall in the river, however given the rain and the shallow depth of the water, she probably didn't get much wetter than anyone else!
After that it was time for a meal at local favourite Will's deli, providing healthy food cooked from scratch.
Next it was time for students to make their way to Wadham to see The Merry Wives of Windsor in the gardens. The play adapted the original to be set in an English country fete, with an interesting mix of modern references and original text. Students found it very entertaining, particularly Aly and Umer!
Obstacles such as falling ducks, trees and Lily going overboard challenged Anna, Gia and Becky's boat however they were rescued by Ali who took over punting for them. Lily was unfortunate enough to fall in the river, however given the rain and the shallow depth of the water, she probably didn't get much wetter than anyone else!
After that it was time for a meal at local favourite Will's deli, providing healthy food cooked from scratch.
Next it was time for students to make their way to Wadham to see The Merry Wives of Windsor in the gardens. The play adapted the original to be set in an English country fete, with an interesting mix of modern references and original text. Students found it very entertaining, particularly Aly and Umer!
Monday, 12 August 2013
Workshops, workshops, workshops!
Monday was a day of learning many new skills!! Students had presentation, interview skills and a careers workshop today.
In the presentation skills work shop.... In the presentation skills workshop students were challenged to design a radio station, including the concept, business model, average day's programming and even a jingle! The prize of fudge from The Fudge Kitchen was well earnt by the winning teams!
The interview skills workshop was run by an experienced human resourcer who has interviewed hundreds of candidates. Questions such as "who are you?" and "what is your greatest fault?" are very difficult to answer on the spot, yet often come up in interviews for a wide range of jobs. Students were encouraged to explore who they are as potential employees and students, as well as what makes them special.
Questions requiring candidates to give evidence of possessing a particular skill or experience, such as "give me an example of when you worked in a team were also explored. The workshop will prove very useful for upcoming university interviews, as well as job and internship interviews in the future.
That evening students enjoyed Thai food in the garden followed by a careers seminar run by an advisor for the Oxford University careers service. Students were encouraged to explore the wide range of careers in existence by listing the different jobs related to household objects such as a music album or bottle of weed killer. Students were then given questions asked by top consulting firms and challenged to tackle them in groups. They did very well to come up with answers to tough questions quickly - for example coming up with the next date composed entirely of numbers which did not repeat themselves!
The main task of the session was designed to mimic "assessment centre" type of tasks, where job candidates are given tasks to complete in groups and assessed on how they work as a team. Students were challenged to build a tower as cheaply as possible, with a minimum height of 60cm, able to hold withstand a weight being placed on top of it. We had some ingenious designs from students, as they all were experienced tower-builders after their spaghetti and marshmallow towers made on the first night of the summer school!
In the presentation skills work shop.... In the presentation skills workshop students were challenged to design a radio station, including the concept, business model, average day's programming and even a jingle! The prize of fudge from The Fudge Kitchen was well earnt by the winning teams!
The interview skills workshop was run by an experienced human resourcer who has interviewed hundreds of candidates. Questions such as "who are you?" and "what is your greatest fault?" are very difficult to answer on the spot, yet often come up in interviews for a wide range of jobs. Students were encouraged to explore who they are as potential employees and students, as well as what makes them special.
Questions requiring candidates to give evidence of possessing a particular skill or experience, such as "give me an example of when you worked in a team were also explored. The workshop will prove very useful for upcoming university interviews, as well as job and internship interviews in the future.
That evening students enjoyed Thai food in the garden followed by a careers seminar run by an advisor for the Oxford University careers service. Students were encouraged to explore the wide range of careers in existence by listing the different jobs related to household objects such as a music album or bottle of weed killer. Students were then given questions asked by top consulting firms and challenged to tackle them in groups. They did very well to come up with answers to tough questions quickly - for example coming up with the next date composed entirely of numbers which did not repeat themselves!
The main task of the session was designed to mimic "assessment centre" type of tasks, where job candidates are given tasks to complete in groups and assessed on how they work as a team. Students were challenged to build a tower as cheaply as possible, with a minimum height of 60cm, able to hold withstand a weight being placed on top of it. We had some ingenious designs from students, as they all were experienced tower-builders after their spaghetti and marshmallow towers made on the first night of the summer school!
Photo Scavenger Hunt
This sunday morning was definitely restful for many of the students! The busy days have taken their toll on Umer and Aly as this photo demonstrates...
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A traditional sunday dinner at the mitre followed Afternoon seminars in Philosophy and Ethics, Life as a Junior Doctor, Current Affairs,Creative Writing and Environmental Studies.
After dinner, students participated in a photo scavenger hunt. Challenges included fitting as many people as possible in a red phone box, human pyramids in front of Oxford landmarks, and a photo that summarised their time at the summer school. We had some excellent shots, some of which will be included in the blog shortly!
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A traditional sunday dinner at the mitre followed Afternoon seminars in Philosophy and Ethics, Life as a Junior Doctor, Current Affairs,Creative Writing and Environmental Studies.
After dinner, students participated in a photo scavenger hunt. Challenges included fitting as many people as possible in a red phone box, human pyramids in front of Oxford landmarks, and a photo that summarised their time at the summer school. We had some excellent shots, some of which will be included in the blog shortly!
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Lateral thinking and film night
Students had individual tutorials today where they were able to have one-on-one sessions tailored to them and their interests.
In the afternoon students participated in lateral thinking workshops - challenging them to think laterally through a variety of games and exercises. Interestingly many students first thought that lateral thinking was thinking logically to solve complex problems - by the end of the workshop they learnt that lateral thinking more involved thinking creatively or differently about a problem.
Students played games, including the scissors game, where students had to figure out a rule as to when the words "crossed" or "uncrossed" were correct or incorrect. Talking about these differences revealed that those who struggled to find the rule were often over-thinking or looking for a complicated pattern when the rule was actually very simple. It showed how even coming up with a clever way of tackling a plan can be unhelpful, and highlighted the importance of recognising the need to change strategy sometimes.
Ximena and Daniel stood out in terms of how well they tackled the challenges. They showed excellent creative thinking and problem solving!
In the afternoon students participated in lateral thinking workshops - challenging them to think laterally through a variety of games and exercises. Interestingly many students first thought that lateral thinking was thinking logically to solve complex problems - by the end of the workshop they learnt that lateral thinking more involved thinking creatively or differently about a problem.
Students played games, including the scissors game, where students had to figure out a rule as to when the words "crossed" or "uncrossed" were correct or incorrect. Talking about these differences revealed that those who struggled to find the rule were often over-thinking or looking for a complicated pattern when the rule was actually very simple. It showed how even coming up with a clever way of tackling a plan can be unhelpful, and highlighted the importance of recognising the need to change strategy sometimes.
Ximena and Daniel stood out in terms of how well they tackled the challenges. They showed excellent creative thinking and problem solving!
A special workshop on terrorism was
available for particulary interested students – mainly those with
an interest in history/politics. In the terrorism workshop students
were challenged to explore the issue in an academic way, exploring
case studies, definitions and how we view terrorism versus other forms of violent action.
In the evening students enjoyed
traditional fish n chips, followed by a chilled out film night, with horror films on show as well as Mean Girls for the easily frightened!
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