AKS Lytham is delighted to celebrate the winners of this year’s Sixth Form Essay Writing Competition, which has once again showcased the impressive creativity, curiosity and intellectual ambition of students across the school.
Now in its third year, the competition provides students with the opportunity to explore challenging questions beyond the classroom, encouraging them to develop their ideas, express their opinions and engage critically with the world around them.
This year, students were invited to take part in competitions across a range of subjects, with each challenge designed to encourage independent thought and original responses.
The English Language competition challenged students to consider how and why the English language continues to evolve:
“Young people are the main driving force behind changes in the English language.”
The winner was Sarah Abreu, a Year 10 student at St George’s School. Mrs Mayhew, the Head of English was impressed by Sarah’s creativity and engaging response, that demonstrated a thoughtful understanding of language change and the influence of younger generations.
The History competition posed a question which has challenged historians, politicians and societies for generations:
“Do you agree with the claim that we do not learn from history?”
The competition encouraged students to consider historical events from different perspectives and to assess whether lessons from the past genuinely influence the decisions we make today.
The winner was AKS’ own Gabriella Rose in Year 10. Gabriella’s response demonstrated impressive historical understanding alongside a willingness to engage with a complex and thought-provoking question, which thoroughly impressed Miss Jenkinson, Head of History.
For Sociology, students were given the opportunity to take a more creative approach. The challenge was to create a video essay about a social protest song and explain why you think it is significant.
Eli Dunn, Year 10, at AKS Lytham, was the winner, choosing the traditional folk song “The Digger’s Song” as the focus of his video essay. Mr Maund the Head of Sociology, and the Head of Sixth Form was taken aback by Eli’s nuanced understanding of the 17th century English ballad. Eli explored the song's significance as a form of social protest, demonstrating how music can provide a powerful way of communicating ideas, challenging inequality and giving a voice to those seeking social change.
The standard of entries this year was once again extremely impressive, and the competition highlighted the enthusiasm of our students for exploring ideas beyond the confines of the curriculum.
“Although the winners came from Year 10”, commented Mr Maund, “the competition reflects an important aspect of the AKS Sixth Form ethos: encouraging students to become independent thinkers who are willing to question, investigate and develop their own ideas.”
Competitions such as this allow students to experience the kind of intellectual freedom and academic challenge that lies at the heart of AKS Sixth Form study. They also provide an opportunity to discover new interests and develop skills in research, communication, critical thinking and independent learning.
We would like to offer our warmest congratulations to Sarah, Gabriella and Eli on their outstanding achievements, and thank everyone who took part in this year's competition.
We look forward to seeing the competition continue to grow in the years ahead.