If Mr. Bean can make it here, you can too...

Inspired to Learn * Encouraged to Explore * Empowered to Lead

Brimmer and May’s new motto outlines the ways our students will be ready to engage with the world and the habits of mind needed to effect positive change in whichever communities they will join in the future. All of the school’s signature programs across all divisions act in service of these ideals. The Lower School Buddy Program shows the importance of leading by example and looking out for those who may be a little more fragile or less experienced. The entire 6th and 8th grades right now are in the midst of an entire week devoted to exploring new ideas and studying fields outside of their regular curriculum (oddly enough it’s called “Exploration Week”). Today’s England Winterim experience created a palpable sense of the first part of the motto, and Ms. Pendergast may want to brush up on the application process to the oldest English-speaking university in the world.

There has been an place of higher learning at Oxford since AD 1167, and obviously the university’s reputation far exceeds any words I can muster up to describe it. Currently there are 38 colleges that fall under the “umbrella” of Oxford University, and the students had an inspiring tour through a couple of those institutions. We met Heidi, our wonderful local guide, at the Martyr’s Memorial (a structure honoring a couple of Protestants that Bloody Mary executed for daring to stay true to their faith), and she led us to the spot where the martyrs were actually burned at the stake. In fact, a ninth-grade history student (Libby Foley) was able to answer some of Heidi’s questions about Henry VIII and his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth I… Ms. Neely would be proud!

Heidi then took us into Balliol College and explained then process of how students are assigned to various colleges in the university and generally described how the “umbrella” system worked. In order to keep the young ones interested and engaged, Heidi expertly wove stories of famous Oxford students (who knew that Rowan Atkinson… MR. BEAN!!!… went to Queens College in Oxford), pointed out buildings that were used in the filming of the Harry Potter movies and other films, and showed landmarks that served as inspiration for famous authors who completed their most notable works while studying/teaching at the university. Students became visibly excited when surrounded by the possibilities that passionate study could bring them. One student (noted bibliophile Cora Williams) remarked repeatedly that she felt faint from her excitement and started asking what courses at Brimmer she would need to take in order to apply to Oxford. 

As if the students needed more inspiration to expand their educational opportunities, Heidi made a special detour to visit a lesser-known and much smaller college in the university. For one year, Lincoln College was the intellectual home for someone to whom the students have gotten to know much better during this trip: Ms. Smith. She shared many fond memories of her time and encouraged the students to think about the process of writing and how even the greatest of writers and thinkers used their everyday encounters as muses for their creations. 

After we said goodbye to Heidi, the students had a large block of free time, and for the first time in my chaperoning career that I can remember, the students did not immediately head for food and/or shopping. The students chose to go back to the wonderful, exciting places they learned about from Heidi… some students went to the Balliol College dining hall (it served as one of the inspirations for the dining hall at Hogwarts), some to the Museum of the History of Science (to see Einstein’s original blackboard), some to Blackwell’s (a favorite bookstore of Ms. Smith), and some came with me to the Ashmolean Museum (a wonderful collection of artifacts from the ancient world).

Programs like Winterim shift education from an extrinsic model to an internal one, and today was a perfect example of why they make Brimmer such a special place. As we were driving away from Oxford, Gareth asked the students how many of them want to come back and study, and there was a vigorous affirmative reply… what better goals could we ask for?

Tomorrow we have a tour of the beautiful town of Bath in the morning, and we head to Stratford for the performance at the Royal Shakepeare Company. It will be a busy day, but I will try to post something on the bus ride back from the show. I hope you all have a great weekend! 

Heidi pointing out where the Oxford Martyrs were burned alive 

It was right there, actually

In the courtyard at Balliol College. It is a big no-no to walk on the  grass; Heidi said that at some colleges, it is a 50 pound-sterling fine

Heidi explaining how one gets to Oxford.

Showing the students the Balliol College Dining Hall. It was closed in the morning, but some students doubled back in the afternoon.

Balliol College has only been open to women for about forty years. This installation celebrates the welcoming of women to the college.

At the Bodleian Library. Think Library of Congress, but for all written material published in the history of the United Kingdom.

One of Ms. Smith's classrooms while studying at Oxford.

The building behind the students was used to film the infirmary scenes in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Another stop on the tour... A STRIKINGLY BEAUTIFUL STOP, THAT IS!

The lamppost that served as inspiration for C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. When Lucie Pevensie first  enters Narnia, she sees a lone lamppost in a snowstorm. This is a lone lamppost in a quiet alley over which Lewis worked at the university.

The lamppost is right next to a decorative satyr that served as inspiration for Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The students audibly squealed with delight at this stop on the tour.

Ms. Smith and Lincoln College

Ms. Smith's room at Oxford was one of the ones under that tower

The Dining Hall at Balliol College