Each year travel scholarships are awarded to Oundle School pupils to encourage a spirit of adventure, exploration and physical challenge. This year the School’s Adventure Awards Committee considered applications and presentations made by twelve different groups involving forty pupils from the Lower Sixth Form who proposed an astonishingly wide variety of exciting, inspiring and sometimes quite quirky travel adventures.
Six winners were chosen and these ranged from the most physically and technically demanding trip to the Dolomites to independently undertaking some tough and challenging climbing routes to a politically-inspired journey through London.
The Angus Award, funded in memory of a former pupil, Dr W B G Angus was awarded to John Stubbs (16), Harry Stansfeld (17) and Andrea Veronesse (16) for their ‘Climbing in the Dolomites’ trip.
The John Graham Travel Scholarship for travel and photography, in memory of former pupil, R. J. P. Graham, was given to Sophie Crowe (16), Lucy James (16) and Olivia Buchan (16) for their ‘In the Shadow of Vesuvius’ trip
The Grocers’ Award, funded by the School and encompassing activities which may be of a more general or academic nature than other awards was shared between:
Stefan Rogers-Coltman (17), George Birks (17) and Callum Rough (16) for their ‘Exploring Science in Holland’ trip; Charlotte Napier (16), Lucy Varley (17), Imogen Mallinson (16), Thea Smith (17) and Lucy-Baker Cresswell (17) for their ‘Political Extravanganza in London’ and Cara Nicholson (16), Isabel Myers (17), Catherine Warner (16) and Isobel Warner (16) for ‘The Adventures of the Three Musketeers and D’Artagnan’.
Finally the Kitts Travel Scholarship, funded by Kitts Travel Agents of Oundle, for trips to any foreign country, was won by Anneka Shah (16), Alice Etheridge (16), Rebecca Baker-Munton (17) for their ‘Journey through the City of Music – Vienna’
Teacher, Thomasin Harris, commented, “The group that impressed us the most was the Science trip to Amsterdam where the boys will be cycling around some of the city’s science centres. All are real science enthusiasts and spoke very passionately about their desire to study science at university as well as to approach science from a perspective beyond the classroom.
This year’s Adventure Awards showed a more academic and intellectual focus than we have seen for some years. All the presentations were impressive, both in their organisation, and the ambition of the pupils. It was great to see so much enthusiasm for making the links between subjects studied at School, trips to deepen their understanding and to go on to pursue their chosen course at university.”