Page 21 - Headingtonian Magazine 2017

POETRY FOR PEACE WINNERS
Shakira Morar and Tamsin Rodgers, both in U6, are two of five winners in this year’s Poetry for Peace 2016 competition. The Poetry for Peace Competition was an Arts Council funded project aimed at building links between the English and Arabic-speaking communities in Oxford. It saw young people taking part in workshops at the Ashmolean Museum led by poets and producing a piece of poetry inspired by artefacts there. Shakira also won the Best Overall Poem with her poem about a 4,000 year old cracked jug. Her poem was made into a film by the Poetry Society and was shown on World Poetry Day. The five winning poems have been translated into Arabic and will be published in a poetry anthology by the Foreign Office.
AQILA
WRITING AWARDS
Each year, the Deddington Festival Writing Competition celebrates the creativity and imagination of young people in Oxfordshire. This year’s competition was sponsored by Waterstones and focused on the theme ‘A fork in the road’.
Attracting a large number of entries, Headington girls came out on top with a
raft of awards and commendations which
is a fantastic achievement amidst tough competition. In a clean sweep in the Key Stage 4 category, Vita Leone took first prize for her story ‘Not Around Any Longer’, whilst Xixi Bollen was placed fourth; and Georgia Thorne took joint first prize for her poem ‘The Alarm Clock’. In the Key Stage 3 poetry competition Georgia MacFarlane took second prize with her poem ‘A Fork in the Road’. The shortlisted entries have been published in a book.
Vita, U5 said “Inspired by Jane Austen, I wrote my short story in the form of three letters to tell a story about someone making a choice. I was very happy to be able to take part in the competition as it is such a great opportunity to put your writing out there and have professional authors read and critique it!”
PRIZE FOR GIFTED LAW STUDENT
Sixth former Zhi Lin Ooi has been commended for an ‘outstanding’ essay following this year’s High Sheriff’s Law Lecture. The lecture was on the subject
‘A Matter of Life and Death. Should anyone have the right to decide? If so, who?’ and
Zhi Lin’s entry was judged by Oxford’s Law Faculty to be outstanding. Her £100 prize was presented to her by the current High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, Sarah Taylor, at Oxford law firm Freeths.
Kate Cygan, Joy Chow, Sabine Tang, Hannah Anson, Sophie Chan, Sabina Siu, Christy Au and Caitlin Burns.
Some of Headington’s most talented young writers, journalists and designers swept
the board at the Shine Media Awards in June 2016. A team of 21 girls wrote, edited, designed and published the magazine Aqila.
This fantastic piece of work was pitted against impressive publications from all over the country and stole the show with seven nominations, three highly commended prizes (Best Magazine Cover, Best Design and Layout, Best Community Initiative) and two of the big prizes: Best Overall Editorial Content and Best Magazine 2016.
The judges said: “Excellent original
content throughout including editorial
use of imagery: cohesive, imaginative
and investigative writing. This is a bold publication produced entirely by students – a deserving winner.”
Their prize included spending a day at the headquarters of the Times Educational Supplement, meeting and gaining valuable advice from the Editor, Deputy-Editor and leading journalists.
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