The Dreaming Spires inspire....

On Thursday, 11^th October the whole of Year 12and a selection of girls from Year 11 spent the day amongst the 'dreaming spires' of Oxford University, visiting Worcester College in the morning and the Ashmolean museum in the afternoon.

Worcester College, an amalgamation of pretty 15^th century cottages and imposing 18^th and 21^st century architecture, is set in 26 acres of stunning gardens and grounds and yet is only a 5 minute walk from the city centre.

On arrival we assembled in the very grand Hall for refreshments before listening to a talk from the college’s admissions tutor on the admissions process and the benefits of studying in a collegiate university, centred around the tutorial system.

There then followed tours of the college buildings: the JCR, the grounds, libraries and chapel, by current under-graduates. This afforded our girls the valuable opportunity to hear first-hand about life in an Oxford college, the admissions process and so on, from those very close in age and experience.

After a sumptuous lunch in Hall, we strolled up to the Ashmolean for a whistle stop tour of this bright, airy and diverse museum. The energetic lady who showed us around, spent no longer than 10 minutes in each gallery, engaging the girls in a wide variety of exercises, to make the experience a very memorable one.  At one point she got us all to sketch an artefact blindfold with our ‘wrong’ hand…surprisingly some of the sketches were very impressive!

Before catching the coach back to Twickenham, the students had an hour or so to explore Oxford and many had a race to see how many other colleges they could gain entry to. I think the winner saw 6!

All the students were very enthused by the day. Here are some quotes from them:

‘Oxford University really gave us a goal to reach for. The town and university were amazing and it was really worth the trip’ (Amrita and Roisin- Year 11)

‘(The) Oxford (trip) was a really interesting and informative experience. It really opened our eyes to the wide range of university choices we have, with Oxford being a possible option. Being able to see and explore the college was very valuable and we had the chance to feel the atmosphere there. This will be useful when we come to comparing other universities later.’ (Aneet, Heetashi, D’Nelle and Anisha- Year 12)

‘It was fantastic to explore an Oxford college and get an insight into collegiate universities. I found the day helpful and inspiring’. (Serena- Year 11)

So you want to be a Doctor....

On Thursday, 4^th October, the Siena Society was treated to an astonishingly thorough and informative talk about the training and working life of a General Practitioner.

Dr Lynch, a mother of a girl at St Catherine’s, not only spoke about the reasons for becoming a doctor: the wide range of careers opportunities and the stimulating and rewarding nature of the work; but she also gave some good reasons why not to become a doctor, including the long hours and stress associated with such a demanding career.

She went on to detail the extensive training required: a 5 Year Medical degree, followed by 2 years as a trainee doctor then either a further 3 years speciality training to become a GP, or 10 years to become a consultant. Quite a commitment!

It was fascinating to hear about Dr Lynch’s own career development: she spent a period in the Endocrinology unit in Bagdad hospital during the Iran-Iraq war, avoiding SCUD missiles, then to Dublin and Sheffield for her GP trainee years before settling in Hanworth which is where she currently practises.

In explaining why she chose to be a GP and not a hospital doctor, Dr Lynch stated: ‘In a GP practice, people stay, diseases come and go. In hospitals, diseases stay but people come and go’. This seemed a particularly neat way of summing up the differences.

Dr Lynch concluded her talk by explaining the highly competitive nature of applying for a Medicine degree: not only will you need a minimum of 3 As at A level, but even then a student’s application has to stand out to beat the mathematical odds of being offered a place at medical school: 3 applicants to 1 place.

The St Catherine’s girls could not have received a more engaging and informative talk about Medicine and life as a doctor. We are very grateful to Dr Lynch for giving up her precious time to come and talk to us.