YEAR 11 ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME
GCSEs were cancelled but Year 11 had to sit a series of internal tests . Afterwards , the school provided a programme to help them reconnect to learning for the love of learning .
This year has been an interesting experience for Year 11 , to say the least . With the pandemic and our GCSEs coinciding , it was certainly a challenge . Although the lockdown was far from ideal , it did have some positive effects ; it made us more resilient as a year group , forced us to learn how to adapt and provided us with the often overlooked substance of ‘ grit ’ – the importance of which was highlighted by Mr Elzinga in an assembly . These are all invaluable skills , which will no doubt help us in later life . However , with so much time spent away from school and so much time at school being dedicated to exams ( required by the exam boards to provide evidence for our grades ), it felt as though we had little time to pursue learning for the love of learning , which was where the enrichment programme came in .
This two-week programme gave us tasters in our chosen IB subjects , the chance to participate in sports and the chance to try something new . The definitive feature of the week was the personal projects . We were thrilled by the freedom that came with them ; the school was letting us research our own projects on whatever ( and I mean whatever ) we wanted ! For many of us , this restored a love of learning after the somewhat tedious preparation for the exams . The final projects were shown on the last day in the science centre . There was many a gasp in response to the ‘ crisp packet dress ’ ( yes , you read it right , a dress made of crisp packets ) modelled by talented designer Emilia Wood ( pictured right ). Another project that sparked a reaction was mine : The History of The Bra . I thoroughly enjoyed researching this as I came across many unexpected pieces of information such as the fact that men , as well as women , would wear corsets in order to flatten their stomachs and give the impression of a slimmer build . Other unusual and unexpected projects included Personality , and what contributes to forming it , by Adam Record , Juliette Olley , Raphael Burghgraeve and Romilly Ashworth ; The Cuban Missile Crisis and its significance , by Charlie Brindley and James T Murray ; a choose-yourown-path horror story by Isla Bhatnagar and Gajan Sivayogan ; a coded game by Betrys Galloni and Oliver Campbell ; and a music album by Emma Birt and Erika Chan .
The taster subjects I chose were History , English , Modern Languages and Maths . My favourite History session was the one where we researched in the school archives ; a fascinating and surreal two hours looking at students who seemed so distant and yet were photographed in the very place we were sitting ! The Sennockian from the Cold War was certainly bleak , and it made me think of how us students , this piece , you readers , will become part of the school ’ s history – a comforting and bizarre thought .
English was an insightful course too , during which we explored the theme of families , what it means , why it means different things to different individuals , how age and generational differences impact relationships
14 A FUNNY OLD YEAR