Inside the Foreign Office

Lower Sixth student Meichun Li has been bolstering her AS level study of British politics with some first-hand experience: last week, she spent a day shadowing Labour MP Chris Bryant – Minister of State for Europe and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

During her day of shadowing, Meichun observed Bryant meeting the Foreign Minister of Kosovo and the Foreign Secretary David Milliband, as well as addressing the Scottish parliament via video-linkup on the subject of the Lisbon Treaty.

What struck Meichun about the Foreign Office? 'It's a really busy environment – everybody was working very hard, and I was impressed by the passionate attitude of the people who work there: they really enjoy working for the Foreign Office.'

Meichun is studying Economics, Politics, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths, and hopes to go onto a degree in Economics at university. Ultimately, she thinks she might like to work for an NGO in an area related to economic policy. And she's enjoying her time at d'Overbroeck's so far:

'It's really energetic. I feel like it's a creative place – it gives you inspiration.'

Fun running for Sport Relief

On Thursday 4 March, a cohort of d'Overbroeck's students and staff headed to Cutteslowe Park to run the College Sport Relief fun run.

19 participants – from experienced runners to first-timers – ran a total of 78 miles between them, with everyone running at least three miles. And many were wearing fancy dress for the occasion.

All together, the fun-runners raised a total of £577.85 for Sport Relief.

Here's a slideshow of photos from the run, with a list of the winners below.




Winners

5 mile race
1st place (women's) — Susanne Kreitz
1st place (men's) — Olly van Biervliet and Charlie Bennet (joint)

3 mile race
1st place (men's) — Simon Wilkinson
1st place (women's) — Clare Cameron

Best fancy dress
Women's — Rhiannon Lewis
Men's — Elliot Fisher and Dulith Wanigasekera

Top fund-raiser
Ben Calnan (total of £95)

Words by Johny Richards
Photos by Hannah Johnson

Photo of the month: Samuel Unwin

March's photo of the month is this eyecatchingly geometric image by Lower Sixth student Samuel Unwin.


Alongside AS level Photography, Samuel is also studying Biology, Music Technology and Business Studies – and has appeared before on these news pages as one member of our high-flying Global Enterprise Week team.

Samuel decided to do Photography A level because he was already keenly interested in photography and wanted to learn more – particularly about the technical side of things, including dark room work. And he's not regreted his decision: 'Everyone is very friendly and supportive ... we all share ideas and appreciate each other's work.'



'In photography you never know what you'll find', he says, so likes to take a very open-minded approach to his work, always on the lookout for new photographic opportunities.

And how has he enjoyed his Sixth Form so far: 'I love d'Overbroeck's. It's the people who make it what it is – the friendly atmosphere continues to amaze me.'

Visit Samuel Unwin's online photo gallery.

An eerie trip to Wonderland

Last week's performance of Alice in Wonderland was produced, directed and acted exclusively by Sixth Form students.

In his famous novel, Lewis Carroll admirably recreates the surreal and arbitrary nature of dreams, in which connections need not always be logical and the usual laws of cause and effect are suspended.


Taking its cue from this, the production emphasised the kaleidoscopic, dreamlike nature of Alice's adventures. At times, the dream in question seemed disconcertingly close to a Freudian nightmare, with a number of menacingly intense performances, spartan set design and music/sound (composed and recorded by Sixth Former Gidon Fineman) that veered from cacophony to eery atmospherics to maniacal jubilance. However there was also some light relief in the form of several entertainingly unhinged cameo performances.


Pacey, energetic and imaginative, the production succeeded in leaving the audience themselves feeling a little as if they – like Alice – had just emerged from a mesmerising dream ...

Below, you'll find a slideshow of photos taken at the dress rehearsal and performance.



Watch the slideshow on Flickr

'A river ain't too much to love' – AS Geography fieldwork

On Wednesday February 24th, 22 keen AS students – together with Kate, our Head of Geography, and Hannah, our Social Organiser – set off to Juniper Hall field centre near Guildford. The weather was cool and wet but the mood happy and purposeful.


Day 1
In the afternoon, the students collected data regarding flood risk management. This involved the collection of land use data and percentage use of the land within selected sample sites. In the evening the results were processed using GIS to show the flood risk hazard on the floodplain of the River Wey in Guildford.



Day 2
After a class-based session giving background information of river channel changes, students went to three different sites on the River Tillingbourne to collect data such as river width, depth, velocity and gradient. This was a long and very wet day but everyone worked hard and with enthusiasm against the demands of the British weather. Write ups in the evening involved graph and analysis work to see the patterns and changes from source to mouth. A major Charades tournament followed, on the combined theme of film and geography. So teams found themselves acting out some challenging terms – 'sub-aerial weathering' and 'the Holderness Coastline', for instance!

Day 3
Morning involved work in the centre grounds to assess the changes made to interception and infiltration with different land uses and vegetation types. Form this, storm hydrographs could then be produced and analysed.



Arriving back at d'Overbroeck's on Friday afternoon were 22 tired and muddy students – hopefully equipped with more geography skills and knowledge to take with them into the summer exams.

A successful and fun trip was had by all – including Hannah, who is now a first-class geographer, though still a city girl at heart.

– Report written by Kate Palmer, Head of Geography

Below, a slideshow of more photos from the trip (see slideshow on Flickr)

Alice in Wonderland - whetting your appetite for next week's shows

With only a week to go before our Sixth Form production of Alice in Wonderland, we thought we'd post this quick video interview with Daisy Grieve and Emma Gonnella – the two Sixth Form students who are directing the production (you may remember our first interview with Daisy and Emma back in October).

— So, without further ado, over to Emma and Daisy to give you a taste of what to expect, and tell you why you should book tickets to come along (if you haven't already)...




(If the video above isn't displaying, here's a link to watch it on YouTube).

To recap, the performances of Alice will be on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 March at 7pm, at the OFS Theatre in Oxford. To book tickets (£5 for adults; £3 for children/students), please telephone 01865 310000 or email us. Hurry, as both nights are filling up quickly ...

MG Harris on writing a bestselling novel - Sixth Form Speaker Programme

Do you have a novel in you? How do you make sure yours is the manuscript that the literary agent actually bothers to read? What do Aristotle and Hollywood have in common – and how could they both help you come up with a bestseller?

Yesterday, as part of our Speaker Programme, we were visited by MG Harris, bestselling author of The Joshua Files, a series of books for young adults.


MG described writing her first novel in the aftermath of a skiing accident, and (subsequently) the conception and creation of The Joshua Files. She spoke particularly about the challenges of finding a literary agent and getting published – and outlined the approach that had finally worked for her: targeting and researching a specific agent and tailoring her manuscript to grab his attention.

Plot, she argued, was the most demanding (and easily neglected) aspect of the writer's craft: she spends weeks honing her narrative, ratcheting up the tension in key scenes, devoting attention to characters' motivations and the consequences of each plot device. And she pointed out that the qualities identified by Aristotle as essential to a compelling drama – all the way back in Ancient Greece – remain virtually unchanged in the modern Hollywood blockbuster.

You can read more about MG Harris on her blog, or visit the Joshua Files website.