President’s Prizegiving

Thirteen Upper Sixth students took a trip across the bridge this afternoon to Magdalen College to meet the president of the college and receive their prizes for outstanding Waynflete projects. Of the 150-odd Lower Sixth who do the Waynflete project, these students were chosen by external academics as the best in their respective fields. Beyond this, two pupils’ projects are chosen as the best from the whole cohort – this year these students were William Giles for his project: ‘The Enigma: an exploration into its history, configuration and cryptanalysis’ and Louisa McDonald for her project discussing if ‘the limits of thought is synonymous to those of the language in which they are expressed’.(The full list of projects and winners listed below)

The Waynflete Project is an independent research project that almost every student completes during their Lower Sixth. Projects are loosely divided into faculties with projects ranging this year from the poetic development of Adrienne Rich (Flo Winkley) to the possible use of extremophiles (Alexandra Kondakova) to the future of web browsing, with many studies every year intersecting several faculties. The unique freedom of the Waynflete Project allows for students to explore any topic that interests them with the duel support of the school and its faculty and a body of external tutors who specialise in the topics their tutee is studying.

Congratulations to everybody who completed a Waynflete project this year and especial congratulations to today’s winners – the variety, depth, and fascination that went into their projects was astounding.

Joint Winners

W. F. Giles (Faculty of Mathematics)

L. E. McDonald (Faculty of Humanities)

Faculty of Biology

H. J. London: Astrobiology: where should we be looking for extra-terrestrial life in our solar system?

A. Kondakova: Why do tardigrades die hard?

Faculty of English

F. I. G. Winkley: To what extent does the portrayal of experience in Rich’s early poetry develop an evocation of grief?

Faculty of Humanities

L.E. McDonald: Are the limits of thought synonymous to those of the language in which they are expressed?

D.W. D. Phillips: Do high potential learners require less emotional and social relationship support?

Faculty of Mathematics

W. F. Giles: The Enigma: an exploration into its history, configuration and cryptanalysis

Faculty of Physical Sciences

E.C. Corker:Can materials technology offer increased thermal efficiency in automobile engines?

N.Thatte: How can quantum entanglement be applied to cryptography?

Faculty of Practical Science

J.Y. Feng: Made to measure: the future of personalised prostheses

M.D. Staveley-Taylor: Is HTTP/2 the future of web browsing?

Faculty of Psychology

H. D. P. Andrews:To what extent can a polyphasic sleep cycle be applied to our society?

B.A. Rhydderch: How can endowment and status quo effects operate together?