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Royal Society of Chemistry’s Top of the Bench Competition
In November, St Paul’s hosted 12 schools for a Downland section heat of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Top of the Bench competition.
The SPS team of Kieran Mang (Fourth Form), Matthew Figueroa Duque (Fourth Form), Jake Hope (Fifth Form) and Dev Patel (Sixth Form) won the event, beating a strong field that included SPGS and Ashcroft Technology Academy – perennially tough competitors in this competition. Kieran was the only pupil from entire field of 52 who scored full marks on a component. Sadly, the SPS team were 1.5 marks away from claiming the lead over schools in the Downland section heats, and so won’t get the chance to repeat their 2023 trip to the national finals.
Model United Nations Conference
A team of 12 Paulines attended the Model United Nations Conference at London Oratory School, representing the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Rory Todd (Lower Eighth) won the prize for Best Delegate on the Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee, Dermot Christmas (Lower Eighth) was selected as most Highly Commended Delegate on the UN Office on Drugs and Crime committee, and Henrik Helsen (Lower Eighth) won Best Delegate for his work on the Special Political and Decolonization Committee. Dermot and Henrik, along with fellow delegate Charles Beaufour (Lower Eighth), also won the prize for Best Delegation at the General Assembly, where their resolution in response to the ‘crisis’ topic (the discovery of oil on the Falkland Islands) was debated and passed with a solid majority.
Modern Foreign Languages Literature Masterclass
In October, 50 pupils from SPS and SPGS attended the Modern Languages Literary Criticism masterclass. The MFL department was pleased to welcome Oxford PhD student, Javaria Abbasi, who led an insightful introductory discussion into key ideas of literary criticism.
Pupils were then set a task in language-specific groups to work together to delve deeper into the context and meaning of the chosen works. The evening was a huge success and the analysis that the pupils achieved at the end of the session was impressive.
The Non-Trivial Fellowship Awards
The Fellowship helps teenagers start research or entrepreneurial projects to tackle the world’s most pressing problems – this year there were over 20,000 applications for the 100 places. Many congratulations to Xavi Costafreda-Fu (Lower Eighth) who was a member of the winning team for their project ‘Setting a High Standard for Frontier Model Security’.
European Languages Week
This year’s European Week of Languages sought to celebrate and promote a quite simple notion: that the study and enjoyment of other languages and cultures enriches our daily lives and provides unique perspectives and opportunities. The week of events and competitions at St Paul’s was an uplifting and joyous celebration of language-learning and European culture, both modern and ancient. Pupils threw themselves into the exciting range of activities on offer with great enthusiasm and curiosity.
Here is a taster of the events and competitions throughout the week:
- Latin Wordle
- House Pétanque
- Pupils vs Languages Teachers University Challenge
- Introduction to Ukrainian Lesson with Ms Gaidamaschuk
- Introduction to Modern Greek Lesson with Ms Gaidamaschuk
- Introduction to Portuguese Lesson with Miss Lapaire-Adumekwe
- Introduction to Canadian French with Mr Tofts
- Introduction to Mandarin with Jane Zheng (Head of Chinese SPGS)
- Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Lesson with Mr Taylor
- Introduction to World Heritage Sites of Spain with Mr Davies
- Classical Athletics Workshop
- Fourth Form House Languages Passports Competition
- Fourth Form Italian Gelato Workshop
- Fourth Form Spanish Escape Room
- Fourth Form Spanish Quiz
- Fourth Form Spanish Churros Breakfast
- Fourth Form German Escape Room
- Fifth Form Italian Sicilian Cannoli Workshop
- Fifth Form Languages Escape Room
- Sixth Form Italian Tiramisù Workshop
- Sixth Form German Poetry Workshop
- Talk on Spanish Horror Films with Mrs Lapaire-Adumekwe
- Italian Slapzi tournament
- Eighth Form German Breakfast
- Classical Bake Off
- Iberian Gastronomic Experience
Essay Success Across the Board
Esa Dhanani (Upper Eighth) – shortlisted for the John Locke Essay Prize, received a Commendation for his essay titled Whether Britain was economically enriched or impoverished by its Empire.
Aditya Swamy (Sixth Form) and Philip Barahona (Upper Eighth) – shortlisted in the Economics Category of the John Locke Institute 2023 Global Essay Prize.
Mustapha Sadiq (Upper Eighth) – shortlisted for the Psychology Category of the John Locke Institute 2023 Global Essay Prize.
Eshan Hall (Upper Eighth) – shortlisted for the Law Category of the John Locke Institute 2023 Global Essay Prize.
Samuel Grosz (Upper Eighth) – shortlisted from over 750 entries in the Marshall Society Essay Competition at the University of Cambridge. The annual Economics essay competition, marked by panellists at the university, comprised questions this year that were some of the most challenging in the competition’s history.
Dermot Christmas (Lower Eighth) – submitted two entries to the Historical Association Young Historian Awards. His essay entitled Assess the significant of Gustav Stresemann on Germany won a main prize in the GCSE Modern World Essay category. He was also recognised for his second essay The History of All Hallows up to the end of the Tudor Age, which was entered into the GCSE Local History Essay category.
Rayn Lakha (Upper Eighth) – won Best Essay for the Question in the Homerton College Essay Competition. The theme was ‘Building a Sustainable and Healthy World’. Rayn is working with teachers to implement a form of the initiative in the Fourth Form curriculum.
Fergus Walsh (Upper Eighth) – received second prize for his essay on Changes to Hungarian Language and Literature as a result of the 1848 Revolution in the St Hugh’s College, Oxford’s Julia Wood Prize for History.
Charlie White, Luke Leventis and Alexander Tonkin (Upper Eighth) – all Highly Commended in the St Hugh’s College, Oxford’s Julia Wood Prize for History.
Philosophy in Action
Philosophy and Politics students attended the How The Light Gets In Philosophy Festival in Hampstead Heath this term. They were treated to a extraordinary array of ideas, debates and talks, from the future of AI, to the origins of life, to the current problems with democracy, to how to solve the climate crisis, as well as seeing an array of politicians and philosophers.
Additionally, the inaugural issue of the SPS Philosophy magazine, New Wave, was published this term. This issue takes a look at how philosophy and television might come together and analyses several films that explore the nature of free will. Well done to all the contributors, but especially to Lucian Mandic (Upper Eighth) and Elwen Cameron (Upper Eighth) for their editorial work. You can read the magazine here.
Authors Publishing Books
Esa Dhanani (Upper Eighth) and his younger brother put together a book, The Fantastical World of Sindhi Folklore, a re-telling of classic folktales from the Pakistani province Sindh. All funds from sale of the book go towards the 2022 flood relief initiative with the Citizen’s Foundation.
Tristan Buckley (Lower Eighth) also published a book over half term, which is now available on Amazon. Tristan’s book, ‘An Introduction To Carbon Markets’, provides an overview of Carbon Markets and the different ways that carbon is removed from the atmosphere. Tristan also showcases his comprehensive understanding of what these carbon markets are and how they will help reach 2050 climate goals, as well as highlighting the challenges that companies may face as they try to create carbon offset projects in developing countries.
GeoSoc Hosts Sustainability Panel Discussion
The school’s Geography Society (GeogSoc) hosted a fantastic panel discussion on sustainability this term, featuring inspiring speeches by representatives from key companies in the sustainable retail and sustainable finance sectors and a great talk by some of the school’s green entrepreneurs.
The event was held in the comfortable venue of the Dorfman Theatre and was attended by students, parents and staff, and those of us involved in the school’s Eco Society (EcoSoc) particularly cherished the opportunity to hear from industry leaders in the various areas of sustainability. Upper Eighth students Varen Gowda and Luxsigan Vamadevan started the conference with the exciting story of their sustainable wallet business, Carteras, an award-winning enterprise that uses recycled denim to manufacture high-quality products.
