One of the biggest events in my calendar is the Dance Show and last year I was privileged to perform a solo which will forever be one of my favourite memories. This year I have taken on the role of Dance Captain, alongside one of my best friends, and it has been a pleasure to see pupils in the younger years joining Dance and gaining confidence in themselves as we prepare for the annual show.
All these experiences have given me skills that I might not have learnt in the classroom; things like leadership, teamwork and the confidence to stand up and perform in front of large audiences.
I HAVE BEEN SUPPORTED BY TEACHERS WHO TRULY KNOW AND LOVE THEIR SUBJECTS.
From an academic point of view, I have been supported by teachers who truly know and love their subjects. Moving into the Sixth Form I decided to take the IB which means taking six subjects, writing an Extended Essay and studying Theory of Knowledge. From someone who struggled to narrow down GCSE choices, the chance to keep Maths, French and English going while also focusing on Biology, Chemistry and Psychology as my Higher Level subjects made it the right personal choice.
Psychology was a new subject for me which I was unsure about at first. However, after being promised by a number of teachers that I was going to love it and researching what looked like an interesting course outline, I decided to go for it. I have not looked back since and have secured an offer from Oxford to study the subject at university. The teachers really know us as pupils and I was happy to trust them when they felt I was going to love Psychology.
IT IS QUITE EASY TO GET STUCK IN THE ‘BRADFIELD BUBBLE’. WE ARE ENCOURAGED TO FIND WAYS OF BREAKING OUT OF IT.
Beyond this, my teachers have been there to support me and further my understanding of a topic or to help expand my knowledge beyond the syllabus. Alongside my Scholar Mentors and Tutors, they have encouraged me to join, and run, some of the many academic societies. I have been a part of Psychology society and STEM@Lunch where the teachers have always been up for a bit of extra work in their subjects.
With so many opportunities to get involved, it is quite easy to get stuck in the ‘Bradfield Bubble’ as we call it. We are all, however, encouraged to find ways of breaking out of it and I have been involved in a number of initiatives. I have Skyped children in Nairobi to teach them English, entered external essay competitions and, most recently, a group of us entered the United Nations Global Goals competition which challenged pupils around the world to start a project geared towards their sustainability goals. We chose to help protect our environment and so The Phoenix Project was born; an online shop, reselling old clothes to reduce the impact of the fast fashion industry. Through our work within the College, and then later when we grew on a national scale, we won the title of Social Media Champions. We have continued to run the project alongside our other commitments despite the competition being over.
