Lower School Projects

The Project launched following fascinating talks from experts in the Autumn Term on Equality and Diversity, Literature, Digital Footprint and Philosophy, and pupils could choose to base their projects on these topics, or venture into other areas of interest. A number of pupils have taken inspiration from these talks with themes as diverse as ‘Literature and the Hero’s Journey’, a philosophical discussion of ‘How do your actions define you?’, and a talk about understanding your digital footprint.

The Project provides opportunity for pupils to express their own passions and interests by exploring a topic of their choosing and, ultimately, creating a final piece of work in any medium, ranging from traditional written essays, to artworks, poems, science experiments and design & engineering builds.

Following an exciting assembly where the project launched, pupils used a number of suggested resources such as oxplore.org to research their ideas, and previous Lower School Project winners were invited to display and describe their previous projects to provide a great source of inspiration and advice to pupils embarking on the project this year.

This year’s Lower School Project provided a fun and fascinating focus for pupils, especially while they were at home during our remote learning period in the winter lockdown. Pupils used their timetabled enrichment periods to work on the projects and were encouraged to use ‘off-screen’ time to research and create their projects at home.

The standard of submissions received was amazingly high, and it was wonderful to see the projects coming into school after the long period of virtual learning. Richard Harvey, Head of Lower School and Rebecca Evans, Senior Deputy Head, had the tricky task of shortlisting the entries, and The Head, Rowena Cole had the even trickier task of choosing the winners!

Richard Harvey, Head of Lower School commented: ‘I have been amazed by the level of quality and effort that each and every project produced contained. Lower School pupils have gone above and beyond in terms of creativity and ingenuity in creating their final pieces and the range of projects, from the Black Lives Matter movement to the mental health benefits of owning a dog, was simply staggering.

I hope that every pupil that submitted a project is proud of their efforts, and it was almost impossible to pick winners from the year groups. Lower School projects will continue to be a cornerstone of our enrichment programme and I look forward to seeing what will be produced in the future.’

During a recent enrichment session, pupils were invited to present their projects to Lower School via a Teams assembly, and every project was put on display for pupils and staff to view in the dance studio. Records of pupils’ work, and achievement is recorded in their Lower School Diploma and will be celebrated at Prize Giving.

The Head, Rowena Cole, was given the challenging and exciting task of choosing the final placings for the project, which were as follows:

Lower Third

First – Holly (‘Obesity in Kids’)

For my Lower School Project this year I chose to do ‘Obesity in Kids’ because it is a serious matter that needs to be addressed. This is a growing problem which affects the global population.   

Obesity can affect children in many ways, and we must make people aware of the positives and negatives of children’s nutrition and the importance of exercise. It is very important to get the support of schools, government, parents etc. so we can stop the trend of increasing obesity in children. Two of my close friends are Type 1 diabetic, and it has highlighted even more to me the importance of nutrition and managing sugar intake. 

Joint Second – Georgia – ‘London Landmarks Through the Ages’ and Sam (‘Racism in Sport’)

Highly Commended – Nina, Eva, Jack, Daisy, Bibi and Ruby.

Upper Third

First – Radha (‘Protest Lens’)

For my Lower School Project, Protest Lens I decided to compare the recent US senate protests and the Hong Kong protests of 2019.I love how these protests are so similar yet, in half century, we may only be able to gather evidence on one of these scenes. Making my project a time capsule. 

For Protest Lens I have selected the most powerful images from the Hong Kong and US protests and collaged them side by side into the form of a camera. The images revolve around the US senate and the LegCo. On either side you can see both figures that lead each of the protests. A Hong Konger stands up on a desk in front of a defaced Hong Kong/ China logo. On the other side there is a US protestor dressed in an animal skin hat and cow horns, his face is painted with the US flag. He is shouting angrily at the camera. Mounted to the top of the camera is a flash that can be activated by tapping on it, it is reminiscent of a CCTV camera. 

As media feeds take over our lives, we must protect our access to non-biased news in Western democratic countries and work to bring awareness to those who live with government censored news feeds.

Protest Lens is a time capsule that one day may be illegal to show in countries around the world.

Joint Second – Will (Soap making for a charity called ‘Kissing it Better’), Emma (‘Reclaim the Streets’) and Adam (Boat Model).

Highly Commended – Adam A, Petra & Bella, Heidi, Jemima, Chloe, Sophie, Niamh, and Lila.