2011-12

 RS students from Years 12 and 13 joined hundreds of other 6th Formers at a Philosophy of Religion conference on February 3rd. Oxford Town Hall was filled to capacity to hear the eminent  Dr Peter Vardy and Professor Alister McGrath talk on key subjects such as the God of the Philosophers, miracles, death and eternal

On Tuesday 31st of February, after school, French students ranging from Year 10 to Year 13 had the pleasure to attend Mrs Greenwood`s lecture about the famous French luxury goods business conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (MHLV) whose chairman, Mr Bernard Arnault is the richest man in Europe and the 4th in the world, just

Emma Bridgewater returned to OHS, her old school, to talk to our students about doing and creating, drawing on her own experience of setting up her company when she was still a young English Literature graduate with only £400 in the bank. She found it tough to enter the male-dominated world of manufacturing but succeeded

It is not often you meet a man who speaks over a dozen languages fluently, and for any student with a passion for learning languages, this was a truly inspirational lecture. Even before the talk began, we witnessed Adrian Bullock explain his coffee preferences to Dr Liu in Mandarin, greet Mrs Solovyova in Russian and engage

Author Matt Dickinson visited Oxford High School on Thursday 2nd February to talk about his new book, Mortal Chaos, and his adventures as a filmmaker for National Geographic Channel.  The students were gripped by his tales of daring on icy surfaces.  The book was actually published (by OUP) that same day, so girls were able

The Y13 Spanish group have clearly been so inspired by the play they are studying (Federico García Lorca’s Bodas de Sangre) that two of them felt compelled to make a cake that depicted the main themes of the play: the yellow and white flowers (edible!) represent death and purity, Muerte (Death) is cheerfully spelt out

Nineteen Year 11 to Year 13 students went on an Economics and Politics students week long trip to Brussels and Frankfurt.  They explored how small and large businesses operated from a chocolate factory in Brussels to a brewery in Leuven.  The students particularly enjoyed the chance to make chocolates at the Chocolaterie Duval.  They also

Why do we want to put on and watch this play, four hundred years after it was first written and performed?  Maybe it’s because its obsessions remain our own. Flamineo and Vittoria’s dying rejection of the court, with its flattery and its malice, express our own contemporary mistrust of the fawning and viciousness of government

Nineteen Year 11 to Year 13 students went on a Politics and Economics trip to Brussels and Frankfurt for a week after the end of the autumn term.  Students enjoyed the chance to visit the key EU institutions of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in Brussels as well as

Five Year 13 students spent the term preparing a presentation which four of them then gave at Unipart in Cowley to a representative of the Bank of England, mirroring the Bank of England’s decision in setting interest rates.  This involved a 15 minute presentation followed by questions from a panel of judges.  Well done to

The AS Politics students had an exciting Politics conference in London.  They heard from Sir George Young MP, The Speaker Bercow, Simon Hughes MP, Alan Duncan MP, Nigel Farage MEP, Tony Benn and Jonathan Edwards MP.  All of them gave interesting and different speeches with particular favourites being Tony Benn (now aged 86) and Simon

During half-term Miss Derrick, Miss Stewart and Mr & Mrs Bennett accompanied thirty girls on a wonderful tour of the Greek sites of Sicily. Our days were very busy – our courier Mario could not believe how much we planned to do, and did! Our itinerary, from Friday to Thursday, was: Catania and Acireale (very

The Year 12 and 13 Economics students heard a variety of eminent economists speak in London near the end of term.  Highlights included talks from Alistair Darling MP, Tim Harford, author of “The Undercover Economist”, Larry Elliott of the Guardian, Carl Emmerson, of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Douglas Carswell MP, George Buckley of Deutsche

On the 2nd of December the U15 Hockey Squad set off to our home ground, Banbury Road North, for our Oxfordshire Hockey Tournament.  Our first match was against Headington, so we knew we would have to start strong, which we did. Jenny Dingwall (10G) scored to take us into the lead, which we maintained for

We are pleased to announce that, following an extensive external assessment, Oxford High School has been awarded the prestigious ICT Mark. The award recognises the school’s success in developing the strategic use of ICT in both administration and across the curriculum. It is also evidence that we have undergone an extensive and thorough review of

The theme for the French Day this year was impressionism (23rd November 2011). Following on from their lecture at the Courtauld Institute, our Year 13 French students started the festivities with an assembly about the representation of women by impressionist painters like Degas and Manet. Other activities about impressionism were organised in all the French

The U16 hockey team, captained by Caitlin Bailey-Williams (11S) went to the regional hockey heats on Thursday 17th November and, despite a horrifically early start, stepped up to the challenge. Our first game was against St Claire’s and we went out very strong, with Hannah Spiro (11S) scoring quickly.  Two more goals made the final

Sixth Form Philosophy students attended a conference at St Edward’s School this November. The conference was organised by the A-level Philosophy Departments of Oxford High School, St Edward’s School and Magdalen College School. We organised the conference specifically for sixth formers following the AQA Philosophy specification. Students heard lectures given by Professor Adrian Moore (Oxford University), Dr Anita

Congratulations to Nisha Hare (Year 10) who was selected as Oxford High School ‘Y9 Scientist of the Year (2011)’. Nisha represented the school at an award ceremony at the beginning of November. Another girl in Year 13 attended a similar ceremony becoming Oxford High School’s ‘Chemist of the Year’; she is currently applying for Natural Sciences at

Mission Earth, the environmental board game from last year’s Young Enterprise company, Cosmic, is now on sale in the shops. They sold 50 games in the run up to and during Open Evening. It is available on Amazon and in leading toy shops in Oxford but check first in case it has again sold out.

Directed by Mr Hypher and Mrs Redston Mr Hypher (Head of Physics) and Mrs Redston (Teacher of English) skilfully directed this beautifully staged piece of ‘Macbeth’ with a cast of Year 8s and Year 9s. The reduced half hour play was part of a festival and OHS joined with three other schools to celebrate Shakespeare.

Over 50 students and staff were engaged in a lively and interesting discussion with Andrew Smith (Labour MP for Oxford East). He spoke about the role of an MP, the current political situation and the relationship between government and parliament. Many of the students then asked a wide range of questions covering how easy it

This year was another high-turnout election on Open Evening and one which involved 5 recounts for second place! The result was as follows: Carola Binney Conservative 83 votes Georgia Cahill Green 168 votes Rachel Carter Labour 82 votes Claudia Forsyth UK Independence Party 29 votes Flora Shaw Liberal Democrat 50 votes Georgia Cahill was, therefore,

Mrs Nikki Newhouse spoke to The Year 12 and 13 Psychology students about how she has combined her previous career in publishing with her more recent research in Psychology, to become Editor of “Psych-Talk” (A British Psychological Society publication for Psychology students). She discussed how to write an engaging Psychology article, relevant to a wide

On Wednesday, October 19th, the A2 French classes, accompanied by Mme. Liebrecht and Mme. Harskin, travelled to London to study French paintings, in French. At the Courtauld Institute, our excellent lecturer gave an introduction to the Impressionist movement and a detailed interpretation of several works in the collection, including Manet’s ‘Déjeuner sur l’herbe’. The girls

Welcome to Pompeii! Girls in Year 8 have been rehearsing plays from the Cambridge Latin Course. We have had an angry barber, a talented painter and a dishonest Greek merchant – all speaking with beautiful Latin accents. Sheets added the final ‘authentic’ touch as they performed in the beautiful new drama studio.

Following their success coming 2nd last year, the OHS Senior Squad managed to do one better and win in the GDST Swimming Rally this year held at Northampton High School. The gala began with the individual events, with Achieng Ajulu-Bushell (13H) winning not only the 100 Individual Medley, but also the 50 Breaststroke, setting a new GDST

Congratulations to the 1st XI Hockey Squad captained by Beth Warne (13G) who won the GDST Hockey Rally held at Milton Keynes Hockey Club on Thursday 13th October. The side lost their first group game against Central Newcastle 0-1 but were then undefeated for the rest of the tournament and played some very impressive hockey. The squad

Year 8 On Friday the 7th October the Junior Cross Country Team ran 2500 metres at Cokethorpe School. The runners were Sally Berry (8O), Elise Pollock (8S), Scarlett Morgan (8O), Eleanor McNally (8O), Leah Tillman-Morris (8S) and Hannah Compton (8H). Overall, our team did very well. Out of 36 runners Eleanor Mcnally came 3rd, Scarlett

As part of the “Perspectives Françaises” French lectures, the department would like to thank Dr Maxime Goergen (currently lecturer in 19th Century French literature at Boulder University, Colorado) for his inspiring lecture on the evolution of French society and literature from the 18th until the 21st century which took place after school on Wednesday 5th

We were delighted to be able to help organise this event again.  This was a highlight of the year, as it was an opportunity for around 150 students and teachers from local schools (Bartholomew, Headington, Lord Williams, Cheney, Cherwell, Abingdon-Witney College, Oxford High School) to meet with psychologists and find out about the latest developments

On Wednesday 28th September all of Year 8 enjoyed a trip to the Pitt Rivers museum and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. This was part of a ‘connected curriculum’ day where Art, English, and Religious Studies came together. The girls walked down to the museums through the parks in glorious sunshine and began

On Thursday 15th September, Year 10 had an enrichment day for “One Day Film School.” This was a joint pastoral/ English initiative, paid for by the Annual Fund. The Year 10 students thoroughly enjoyed the day, from learning to fight each other in the morning (it didn’t hurt- honest!) via the history of film, to

This year we chose a new venue for our annual Y13 study weekend – the Medway district of Kent, famed for its connections with Dickens, and its proximity to Chaucer’s Pilgrims’ Way. On a sunny Friday afternoon, we wondered at the romance of Rochester’s Restoration House (Satis House in Great Expectations), and shared our thoughts

In September 2011, Professor Ulrike Tillman led a fascinating introductory workshop for Years 11, 12 and 13, taking us from the roots of early topology in Euler’s Bridges of Konigsberg problem (see on Wikipedia), to a more modern way of looking at this kind of problem and how topology can be used in everyday situations.

‘a remarkably unpressurised environment in which to excel’ New Head Judith Carlisle has certainly landed on her feet at first-class Oxford High. No major changes are planned and she tells us that she’s spent most of her time so far ‘listening a great deal’ and deciding how to move forward with what is already a

Today’s Sutton Trust report on progression to top selecting universities over the last three years places Oxford High School third in a list of 100 elite schools with high success rates at the most selective universities in the UK. Nearly 40% of current Year 13 students have offers from Oxford and Cambridge and 97% are

The Year 9s are studying Roman Britain this term in Latin and so we travelled down to the south coast to visit the palace of our very own King Cogidubnus. Fishbourne palace is a valuable site as many mosaics remain and part of the garden has been replanted in the way that archaeologists thought it

This year the Year 12 Greek students are studying Xenophon’s Anabasis, an account of the Ten Thousand Greek mercenary soldiers and their travels and battles into and then out of Persia. Westerners invading Iraq? How could a classical text be more relevant! In Oxford we are lucky enough to have one of the authorities on

Record-breaking GCSE Results Girls at Oxford High School are again celebrating record-breaking results as they receive their GCSE grades. 71.41% of all grades are A*, 92.88% are A/A* and more than half of the students have achieved 10 or more A*/ A grades. My congratulations go to each of these super students. I am so