Just over a week ago, Mr Churm (Faculty Leader for RS) welcomed 21 Year 11 students and their families into school for the first Polymaths Awards Evening. A Polymath is somebody who is interested in learning or researching a wide range of subjects in great detail, Wikipedia states "A polymath is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems."
Mr Churm explained that he started each session with a myth, or a subject matter for the Polymaths to debate, covering a wide range of topics including philosophy, politics, space, psychology, sport and inventions. The Polymath club has been running for a year, and the boys have also researched topics for their own presentations and essays. Mr Churm gave an Award to all who had attended, with a sweet treat of their choice. Some of the boys achieved additional awards, 5 received the Bronze Award, 5 received the Silver Award, and another 5 received a Gold Award. These additional Awards were to recognise the amount of extra work that had been done by the boys, and their reward included a copy of the Mythology book they had used in the sessions.
The Awards will show to colleges and/or employers that they have a love of learning and have developed skills in communication and research. There were 2 key aims to running the Polymaths club, to learn about lots of different subjects to explore academic areas for potential future study or work, and to have fun with learning just for the sake of it.
Mr Churm writes, "I'm very proud of them all for their maturity and commitment to the programme and I have learnt as much from them as they have from me; it's been a privilege to work with them all and was fantastic to see so many of them sharing with parents, staff and peers at the Awards Evening."
Some of the boys attending the Awards evening presented their work to the audience - Lucas read from his essay on mental health; Max introduced his film on the history of Brexit; James, Toby and Andrew shared their presentation on Ancient Egypt and the Renaissance; Ryan gave a speech about how he had benefited from the programme; Ryan and Harry performed the 'Polymaths Symphony' on bongos and tongue drum, a special composition!
Mr Churm also asked fellow staff members, on the following day, to please congratulate the boys on their bravery and skill in presenting to an audience of their peers, parents and staff at the awards evening on the previous night. He states, "They did our school very proud". Special well done to Lucas, Max, James, Andrew, Toby, Ryan and Harry.
Mr Waller concluded the Awards Celebration with a few words about how these boys are the next generation of Scientists, Engineers, Mathematicians, Scholars, etc. They will be the ones responsible for advancing technologies and developing our society. It was a very special night and showed how talented our students are, we can't wait to see what the future holds for them. Congratulations to all!
A selection of photos can be seen below -
Polymaths 2022
.jpg)
