PUBLISHED 24 June 2023
Each year, students are nominated for a United Learning award, and this year I am delighted to announce that we have had two students who have been successful winning a National Best in Everyone Award. These awards celebrate the outstanding performance of students across United Learning and I am delighted to announce Pippa in Year 12, our Head Student, has won the award for English Literature. Here is what Head of English, John Bridges wrote about Pippa.
Pippa’s diverse literary tastes are all-embracing. She has covered traditional classical ground, taking in works by Hardy and Austen, modern classics such as Smith’s White Teeth and Jackson’s The Underground Man, as well as diverse seminal texts such as To the Lighthouse and Dubliners.
Sitting alongside Pippa’s founding of AKS’s Classical Literature Society from September 2022, she reads with Prep School students, enjoys weekly discussions on Chaucer, and has compiled an Inquiry Project on feminism and the Gothic. Additionally, she has recently submitted an article for emagazine on ‘The Importance of Geography in Death of a Salesman’, soon to be published.
Pippa’s impetus comes from beyond texts taught at A Level; she has gained much from a MOOC centred upon Wordsworth and gleaned critical value from ‘Anti-Racist Shakespeare’ webinars offered by Shakespeare’s Globe, a venue she will engage with this coming summer.
Pippa’s writing is focused on the academic, though she has written an unpublished novella, The Signatures of Love, prompted by short stories crafted for a daily writing challenge. She has an ever-evolving list of annotated conversation snippets and descriptive extracts which averages at over 20,000 words every five months - testimony to what spurs her literary and creative drive.
Priyanka in Year 11 was our other very deserving winner, she has won the Best in Everyone National Award for Leadership and Service Award with her work with ‘Bring Me Sunshine’. This is what Mrs Culpan had to say about Priyanka.
Priyanka is a caring young lady with a self-less attitude and a passion for those less fortunate than herself.
She understands the social isolation many elderly and vulnerable people find themselves in, especially since the pandemic began, and she made it her mission to restore Bring Me Sunshine to a service group which cares for and is considerate of the most vulnerable members of our society.
She has grown in confidence and has learned new leadership skills since taking on this challenging role. She guides and supports younger members of the group to feel valued and essential to the success of Bring Me Sunshine.
Priyanka's passion for the direction of this group, its continued grown and success, as well as its members' fulfilment, is evident whenever she speaks about her role. For such a young woman, this is a truly remarkable attitude.
With Priyanka at the helm, Bring Me Sunshine is in more than capable hands.
Both students were awarded their awards in June at a ceremony at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham. We are very proud of them and all they have achieved.
