Sixth Form News

Students got an insight into careers within the NHS on Thursday, 11 May, when The Bicester School welcomed consultant stroke physician Professor Gary Ford in to speak.

Professor Ford drew on his 40 years’ experience in the NHS, from medical training through to working as a stroke doctor to leading national research and innovation programmes, in a talk to Sixth Formers and some Year 10s.

The professor is one of more than 100 senior leaders who are going back to school to talk about health service careers as part of events to mark the 75th birthday of the NHS this summer.

He has been involved in many service innovations in UK stroke care in the last 20 years, including developing the first thrombolysis protocol for acute stroke in England and the Face Arm Speech Test (FAST).

After his talk, students had lots of insightful questions. One Year 12 student said: “I hadn’t realised what a large proportion of society is affected by strokes,” while another said: “It helped us understand why people have strokes and how to spot the signals and what to do if you ever witnessed someone having a stroke. It was also good to hear about a career in a niche part of medicine and the NHS in general.”

A Year 10 student said: “It was really interesting to hear from an expert about the work they do, it has made me think about my options for the future,” while another said: “I was interested to see how many different types of job there are, and how they all work together to help people.”

Professor Ford said he enjoyed visiting the school. “I was pleased to have the opportunity to share my career journey and experiences working in the NHS for 40 years and the developments that have taken place in stroke care,” he said. “I hope it inspired the students to take a closer look at the wide range of NHS careers.”

• Professor Gary Ford is Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Academic Health Science Network, Consultant Stroke Physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Professor of Stroke Medicine at Oxford University. He is current Chair of the AHSN Network of 15 AHSNs across England. Gary was awarded a CBE in 2013 for services to research in stroke medicine. He is a non-executive Director at NICE and a member of the NIHR Strategy Board. In 2018 Gary was identified as one of seven NIHR research legends whose work has transformed care in the NHS.

On Friday, November 5, two teams of Year 13 students attended The Cherwell Democracy Challenge, held in the Council Chamber at Bodicote House, where they competed against three other schools in a series of debates.

The Cherwell Democracy Challenge is designed to promote debate, discussion and democracy and to help encourage and equip young people for the future.

The day was structured with three rounds of debate, two rounds of which all teams compete and a final where the two highest scoring teams from rounds one and two go head-to-head. Teams were given the chance to prepare for the first two debates, however, we did not know whether we would be arguing for or against until 15 minutes before the debate.

The two motions for the first two rounds were:

Round one: This house believes that the Insulate Britain protests are an effective form of political action.

Round two: This house believes that humanity should fear advances in artificial intelligence.

Teams were randomly drawn, and we ended up with round two being a TBS face off!

While the finalists prepared for their debate, we got a chance to ask the judges about their jobs and what they do daily. Some judges included Lord Tim Boswell, and directors from our local Bicester Village.

While we didn’t win, we all had a very fun experience and developed lots of skills such as confidence, the ability to plan under pressure and public speaking.

Ellenis Panter

This year in the Sixth Form, as a way of giving back to our community, we’ve held a few charity events.

One was a charity raffle where local businesses donated prizes to aid our efforts. All the profits went to the British Exploring Society, a charity dedicated to helping vulnerable young people build self-belief, resilience and courage. Thank you to our prize donors, including our local Tesco, Dominos, Prezzo, Rebound Revolution, Cole’s Books, Leisure Centre, the Bicester Health and Golf Spa, and also Miss Bennet for her amazing cupcakes!

We also held a clothes swap, in partnership with the charity SwopItUp. Here we were able to allow sixth formers the opportunity to learn more about the implications of fast fashion on the environment and introduce ways to combat climate change.

A more recent endeavour was the bake sale for #HellowYellow for YoungMinds. The bake sale, as always, had a fantastic turnout with those millionaire bites being the star of the show, and we managed to raise £60 for the charity.

Thank you to all our lovely sixth formers for taking part and/or helping in the events and the Sixth Form team for supporting us along the way.

Sofia Antunes Trabuco

During our enrichment day on study skills, we had many interactive sessions from subject teachers on skills such as effective revision techniques, how to prioritise our time and interleaving topics.

This was particularly beneficial as current Year 13 students have had no experience of taking actual exams due to Covid 19.

Implementing these skills into our daily lessons has been very practical and many students have noticed a clear difference in their exam technique as well as in their revision technique.

Eliza Stokoe

With an increasing number of students from the Bicester School Sixth Form having an interest in playing chess, it was evident that a tournament was needed to truly determine who the best player was! The tournament was limited to 32 players and played as a double-elimination-style tournament.

The stakes were high, and there was a growing number of spectators after every single game.

As news had spread throughout the school, interest of a chess club in the lower years generated, and a new chess club has since been established as well for the KS3s and KS4s.

This chess tournament has brought the entire Sixth Form community together and we hope to host more soon.

Selina Antunes Trabuco

This enrichment day focused on the cultural experiences available to us in the city of Oxford. With an extensive range of museums, art galleries and landmarks we had plenty to explore throughout the day. We started with a short walking tour led by members of the Sixth Form team, which highlighted several important cultural buildings and structures, such as The Sheldonian Theatre designed by architect Christopher Wren and built 1664-1669.

Another stop on our tour was the Martyrs Memorial in the middle of Broad Street, made to display the point where three Protestants (Crawley, Ridley, and Latimer) were burnt at the stake during the reign of Queen Mary.

After our group walking tour, we were able to split into smaller groups and visit several culture sites which included The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum, Modern Art Oxford and Blackwells’ Bookstore. Students were able to choose which sites to visit with many of us going to all of them.

Many students were highly engaged when walking around the museums and enjoyed learning about different topics of history, from the Egyptians to the evolution of humans.

Caitlin Laverick

On Friday November 19, a number of the Sixth Form students came together for a netball match against the teachers for Children In Need.

There was a total of 19 students who turned up to play in this one match. It was a very close match with constant substitutions and no end of quarters or breaks, but on this occasion, the teachers won 14-13.

It was an incredibly fun experience to see both students and teachers so competitive to win and hopefully there will be a rematch where the students can claim the win!

Chloe Wood

On a recent art trip, we visited the Royal Academy of Arts in London. This was a great experience as we saw a range of different art creations and styles that really stood out to me.

As an artist, it was really useful to see the pieces in person, as I have never experienced this before. Every piece has an individual style and you can see the processes that have taken place.

Furthermore, a major inspiration for me was the architecture section as it directly links to my project. I was inspired by the many different ideas and media used, which I could potentially use to improve my own work such as: collages, 3D models and incorporating different perspective points.

This trip has definitely benefited my artwork, inspired creative ideas and has given me an insight into how I could exhibit my own art in a gallery, a potential path for me in future.

Millie Smith

On Wednesday 5th May, our Year 12 A-Level Philosophy & Ethics class (including Mr Tridgell) had the fortunate opportunity to meet an exceptional philosopher, one of which we’ve studied in class! This meeting took place over a Zoom call organised by the delightful Miss Arnold, who’s previously had the pleasure of meeting Mr Swinburne in person. We were very thankful for such an unexpected yet compelling meeting.

For some context, Richard Swinburne is a remarkable British philosopher, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and a devout Christian. He has contributed greatly to one of the most significant philosophical debates of all time- proving the existence of God. For any bookworms out there, his most acknowledged piece of work is The Existence of God (1979). This will certainly open a door into the wonderful world of philosophy, which we were lucky enough to speak about with Mr Swinburne!

Before the meeting, we were asked to form some questions to ask Richard Swinburne. This led to fascinating and deep explanations into his opinions on topics such as the problem of evil, whether we can trust religious experiences, beliefs about the afterlife, the way that our universe was designed by God, and what influences somebody to become a Christian. One student asked, “have any of your opinions changed over time?”, to which Mr Swinburne replied to with a thorough response; he discussed the importance of his commitment to Christianity, his unchanging opinion towards the existence of God, and the way that as a philosopher, it is important to stick to your arguments.

From the existence of a Christian God to understanding why there is evil in our world, studying Philosophy & Ethics allows us to dig deeper into many fascinating and prodigious topics. Our meeting with Richard Swinburne provided an insightful and personal discussion which certainly helped our class understand his work (as well as our subject) in even more depth. We are immensely grateful for this opportunity.

Written by Sinea Taylor, Year 12 student

On Wednesday 5th May, our Year 12 A-Level Philosophy & Ethics class, thanks to the wonderful Miss Arnold and a delighted Mr Tridgell we had the immeasurable opportunity of meeting a hugely famous philosopher know as Richard Swinburne, who is one of the key thinkers in our course, his cumulative argument and his own version of the teleological argument are just some a few of his arguments that we study.

The meeting took place via Zoom organised by the delightful Miss Arnold, who’s previously had the pleasure of meeting Mr Swinburne in person. We were very thankful for such a unexpected but engaging experience with Mr Swinburne himself! It was a real honour to ask him about his work and enquire further into his beliefs and arguments.

Richard Swinburne is a remarkable British philosopher, He is a professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and a devout Christian. He has also contributed massively to one of the most significant philosophical debates of all time, proving the existence of God. His most acknowledged book is The Existence of God written in 1979. A highly recommended read for anyone interested in Philosophy, reading or both! It was lovely to hear him speak so fondly of his works as well as getting the chance to meet him.

Before the meeting, we were asked to think of some questions to ask Mr Swinburne ending up in a rather fascinating conversation about into his opinions on topics such as the problem of evil, whether we can trust religious experiences, beliefs about the afterlife, what influences somebody to become a Christian, and the way our universe has defined us and how the teleological argument is the most logical argument for Gods existence with Swinburne pointing out that that Anselms Ontological argument was “irrelevant!” Mr Swinburne replied to my question “Have any of your opinions changed over time?”, with a thorough response; he discussed the importance of his commitment to Christianity, his unwavering opinion towards the existence of God, but also how he once believed that God was transcendent but now believes him to everlasting. However overall he was convinced of staying true to his initial arguments.

Studying Philosophy & Ethics at A levels allows us to dig deeper into many enlightening and fantastical topics. Our meeting with Richard Swinburne provided an insightful and personal discussion which certainly helped our class understand his work and beliefs in even greater detail. We are immensely grateful for our teachers and Mr Swinburne for a such a cracking opportunity.

Written by Chloe Albert, Year 12 student