Last Thursday, Mr Churm (Faculty Leader for RS) welcomed 24 Year 11 students and their families into school for the second Polymaths Awards Evening. A Polymath is somebody who is interested in learning or researching a wide range of subjects in great detail, Wikipedia states "A polymath is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems."
Mr Churm explained that he started each session with a myth, or a subject matter for the Polymaths to debate, covering a wide range of topics including philosophy, politics, space, psychology, sport and inventions. Mr Churm used the myth of Thor's hammer, to explain how they should use their wide knowledge for good, and go out to change the world through what they know and who they are.
The Polymaths club has been running for 2 years now, this is the second group of boys to complete the Polymaths programme, having researched topics for their own presentations and essays. Mr Churm gave an Award to all who had attended, and some of the boys achieved additional awards, 8 received the Bronze Award, 7 received the Silver Award, and another 6 received a Gold Award. These additional Awards were to recognise the amount of extra work that had been done by the boys, and their reward included a book that they chose from a selection available.
The Awards will show to colleges and/or employers that they have a love of learning and have developed skills in communication and research. There were 2 key aims to running the Polymaths club, to learn about lots of different subjects to explore academic areas for potential future study or work, and to have fun with learning just for the sake of it.
Mr Churm writes, "I am so very proud of all of this year's polymaths. Their dedication to learning and teaching others has been incredible and has truly inspired me to become a better polymath too. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with them and learning from them. I know that they will all go on to achieving great things, and want them to keep being curious about the world. They give me hope for the future because of their knowledge, commitment and character. It's been a privilege to help them all to see that learning is fun and I'm going to miss our exciting sessions. They are an amazing group of people. A special thanks to Jacob, James, Alfred, Leon and Will for presenting on the night, and also working so hard to prepare and set up before hand (along with help from Lewis and Boon). It couldn't have happened without them."
Some of the boys attending the Awards evening presented their work to the audience - Jacob read from his essay on Fireplaces; James spoke on the topic of Bionics; Alfred shared his presentation on Crows and Leon spoke about his love of Music, including an amazing drum solo as an example. Will did a speech about the benefits of being a polymath, including discovering subjects that he wants to study at college and getting to know the other Polymaths better and building friendships.
Mr Waller concluded the Awards Celebration with a few words about how these boys are the next generation of Scientists, Engineers, Mathematicians, Scholars, etc. They will be the ones responsible for advancing technologies and developing our society. It was a very special night and showed how talented our students are, we can't wait to see what the future holds for them. Congratulations to all!
A selection of photos can be seen below -
Polymaths 2023 - 2024
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