“If you want to be there, we want you to be there, and we will do our best to put you there.”
A few very hard-working, dedicated and inspired students have had the opportunity to visit and chat with members of Winchester College. The first interaction was a tour of the college in which the students got to visit and understand what each area of the grounds are for. The college is over 600 years old, and was built in 1382, making it the oldest in the country. The décor is very old but somehow new and clean looking. A lot of the students said that it reminded them of Hogwarts from J.K Rowlings Harry Potter and I would highly agree. There was a chapel with tinted windows and a massive organ with large pipes. The organ must sound angelic when played, as it is described as “the king of instruments”. There was a large hall with paintings of many important people who were part of the evolution of Winchester College. The fields and courtyards had very well-conditioned grass, showing the etiquette of the college; ensuring a clean and safe environment for people to roam and learn.
Since our tour, Redbridge has had three visits from Winchester College. Two of the visits were Maths talks/workshops hosted by Jakub, who works at Winchester College. Jakub is very experienced within the world of Maths and gave the students some difficult questions and theories to figure out. The students seemed very interested in the different rules and concepts that Maths has. One in particular was the question of the “largest prime number”, which was found in late December of 2017 by Jonathan Pace.
The final visit was discussion on the bursaries that Winchester College offers to upcoming students. James said, “If you want to be there, we want you to be there, and we will do our best to put you there.” The college offers 50%, 100% and 110% bursaries. These are offered to cover the cost of the college and even travel if needed. The cost for boarding pupils is roughly £46,000 per year (£15,000 per term). The cost for day pupils is £34,000 per year (£11,000 per term). This is obviously very expensive and difficult for some to afford, so the bursaries can be a huge help.
Overall the visits to and from Winchester College have been a great success for both places of education, and very beneficial to the students of Redbridge.
By L. Lovell, Year 10
