THE WYKEHAM JOURNAL 2023
Curious people seek schools that grow their curiosity . Oscar Mitcham ( H , 2018-23 ) arrived at Winchester by just this route . Oscar asks questions , a lot of questions . He was at school near the family home in Edinburgh and the school agreed that he needed , as he puts it , ‘ the opportunity for tangents ’. His parents were considering a Scottish school such as Fettes , but looked wider for a school where ‘ I could be curious ’. Winchester passed Oscar ’ s test : the don who interviewed him ‘ gave the impression of being able to answer questions ’.
A bursary was needed . Winchester today has one of the most comprehensive bursary schemes in the country . This year 20 % of the school ’ s 728 pupils will receive bursary support . 74 pupils receive support of more than 50 % of their fees ; 19 of those receive 100 %. The average bursary award is 72 %.
Equipped with a place and a 75 % bursary , Oscar seized the chances to satisfy his inquiring and enterprising mind . He found Winchester ’ s approach an engine of opportunity . Dons , he quickly realised , encouraged discussion well beyond the curriculum . ‘ They are used to pupils who want to involve themselves further in a subject , beyond the bits they get to teach you . They might say “ I can ’ t cover this topic , but you could go and build a little ( computer ) programme to look at it ”.’ He would recommend Winchester , but only to those prepared to respond to what the school offers . ‘ It ’ s not a place for people who want everything laid out for them ,’ he says . ‘ There are loads of opportunities to take things further . But they ’ re not always laid out on a platter ; you have to do the work .’
And he did . On his way to achieving four A * grades in his A-levels , and one more A * for his Extended Project Qualification ( EPQ ), Oscar was co-president of the Sustainability Society and founded the Go Society ; sat the Grade 8 guitar exam ; took part in a community service rewilding project ; was co-president of Equality Society ; wrote a blog on climate ( www . climatesoup . co . uk ); practised aikido and karate and campaigned against the planned extraction of oil in Hampshire . What he calls on his website his ‘ smaller projects ’ include things like ‘ live boids simulation made with godot ’ and a ‘ MENACE-style hexapawn algorithm ’. MENACE , in case you ’ re wondering , stands for Matchbox Educable Noughts and Crosses Engine .
By the end of the year £ 40m
will have been spent in bursary support since 2005
School photo taken in JP
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