A team of 10s pupils were the first Harrodians to take part in the Winton Cup; a Prep School Humanities Competition held at Stowe School.
This year the theme for the competition was Climate Ambition and there were a variety of activities for pupils to appreciate how, through exploration of the humanities, they could learn to think creatively about climate issues.
A guest speaker – Dr Amy Munro-Faure, Sustainability Co-ordinator at Cambridge University – welcomed everyone and explained the theme for the day. In groups, the children took part in five different workshops. In the politics session, they practised proposing new policies for addressing climate change and convincing others to pass these as laws. Leon (10SLA) was thrilled to have the chance to debate and was even more excited to see his friend, Xavi (10AMO), playing the role of the Speaker of the House of Commons!
In Geography, they investigated the causes and impacts of climate change, as well as examining potential solutions to tackle the Climate Emergency. Meanwhile in History of Art, the children looked at the power of art to protest and call people to action. Basing their work on examples of painting and sculpture that respond to nature and the climate crisis, pupils were challenged to create their own persuasive artwork to bring attention and awareness to the climate topic. This was Theo's (10CEA) favourite activity because he enjoyed the creative element - designing and creating a poster but also making a short film about the process.
In Philosophy and Religious Studies, the children looked at different ways to approach problems generated by climate change and explored a range of different philosophical and religious perspectives, including utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and stewardship. In History, they learnt about the environmental movement and the story of its relative success in changing public perception of the world around us. They also looked at how European food was brought over to South America and vice versa, as part of Christopher Columbus's exploration.
There were other highlights too. Chloe (10AMO) told me she enjoyed the chance to work with pupils from other schools whilst Mia loved seeing all the different areas of Stowe School, including the boarding houses and dormitories from afar! All of them said that the competition had helped them to understand how the different subjects in humanities connect and overlap. When asked if they would recommend the Winton Cup to next year's 10s pupils, they replied with a resounding 'yes!'
Meanwhile Miss McArthur from the Geography department is thrilled with the success of Harrodian's first Winton Cup outing. "Taking part in the Winton Cup competition gave our keen humanities pupils a chance to shine and as it was such a success, we are hoping to repeat it again next year," she enthuses.
Taking part in the Winton Cup competition gave our keen humanities pupils a chance to shine and as it was such a success, we are hoping to repeat it again next year.
Miss McArthur, Teacher of Geography
Although our 10s team lost out on winning the Winton Cup this time round, there was no doubt that they rose to the challenge and were a credit to Harrodian.
