Trinity Extension Award winners

Before half term, the winners of the Trinity Extension Award (TEA) were announced and all entrants celebrated at an afterschool BBQ and prizegiving event. The TEA is an academic project competition for academic scholars, but open to everyone in the Lower and Middle School, where students can choose a topic they are personally interested or passionate about.  

This year’s theme was ‘Intellectual Risk Taking’, inspired by the Habits of Scholarliness as set out by Professor Sandra Kaplan. Students could submit an essay – needing to demonstrate research, creativity, argument and judgement – or an artefact but must show skill, creativity, research and critical analysis, reflection on creative process. They also needed to include full references! 

First prizes were awarded to JBug Edward and Fourth Year Alan; second prizes were won by Second Jamie and Third Year Arthur; third prize was awarded to JBug Adam and Third Year Sze Hang – congratulations! 

Mr Halliday, Head of Academic Scholarship, said, “The theme of this year’s Trinity Extension Award gave rise to all kinds of amazing projects from students including paintings depicting the risks taken by migrations as they journey to the UK, a model of Alan Turning’s bombe machine and an essay looking at the risks taken by individuals in communities facing political oppression. It was great to see so many students taking significant risks in their projects, whether this was discussing the importance of better understanding of the medical treatment of pregnant women or the challenges faced by scientists when going against social norms.  

“We were really pleased to receive 163 entries this year, which is 27% of all students in the Junior to Fourth Years, and I must give particular credit to the thirty-five students who entered the TEA but are not Academic Scholars. It is brilliant to see so many students moving beyond the confines of the curriculum and become free thinking scholars.  

“This kind of project will stand them in great stead as they enter essay competitions and complete this Extended Project Qualification or Sixth Form Project in the coming years. Well done to everyone.” 

JBug Edward won first prize for the Lower School with his essay ‘Risk and Reward: How bold decisions shaped modern medicine’. He said, “I feel proud to have won the TEA Award. After reading the book 100 People Who Made History, I was inspired to write about medical innovations, as I learned about Marie Curie and Edward Jenner. It made me realise how great the risks were that they took and how much they contributed to modern medicine. I enjoyed the process of researching famous scientists and doctors. Writing this essay has boosted my confidence in writing essays in the future.” 

Second year Jamie won second prize in the Lower School, discussing ‘Is deep-sea exploration worth the risk?’. He said, “Coming second was an exciting and really nice way to end the half term, especially after the extended periods of work and research put into writing the essay. I was really happy to have achieved what I had I am grateful for the advice and guidance, provided by the school, in practising a skill that I will certainly use in the future. 

“To choose my topic, I wanted to research possible themes on the idea of “Intellectual Risk Taking” while also keeping it close to what I enjoy and would really like to find out more on. As I have always loved the deep sea and the exploration aspects of the ocean and its creatures, I decided to do my TEA on whether Deep-sea exploration is worth the risks. What fuelled me to choose this topic, however, was mainly down to having watched a lot of programmes on the deep sea and on exploration, including news of the recent Titan tragedy. 

“Throughout the process of researching, writing, editing, and finalising, I learnt a lot of new techniques to write academically as well as cite sources and compose bibliographies. These skills will be really beneficial, and I know that they will help me produce better essays in the future.” 

Third Year Arthur won second prize in the Middle School, with his essay ‘Is risk-taking vital to understanding how to treat pregnant women?’. He says, “It was very hard to decide on a topic as the theme of intellectual risk taking is so vast and expansive and it‘s hard to pin it down to one single example. After lots of research and discussion with others I decided on the theme of how risk taking is vital to the equitable medical treatment of pregnant women. I learnt how to find academic research papers and how to reference them. This was a challenge, but I think that I got it in the end. When I won, I was very happy, because I wasn’t expecting it. After winning I realised that even though I won, it wasn’t about the destination, but the journey and lessons you learn along the way.” 

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The TEA is part of the broader scholars’ programme in which we look to support our most able students to stretch themselves beyond the curriculum through facilitating engaging and thought-provoking opportunities.