Oakham’s innovative Academic Cornerstone Course (ACC) culminated this week with the announcement of the ACC Challenge award winners.
Pupils had been challenged to take part in a series of complex tasks and activities over three days – to enable them to put into practice some of the skills and knowledge they had learnt in the six key areas (the cornerstones of Numeracy, Literacy, Communication, Critical thinking and analysis, Creativity, and Leadership in a changing world).
“We very much wanted to bring our pupils’ learning to life, for them to really think about and then apply what they had learnt during their ACC lectures and sessions,” says Dr Dudin, Oakham’s Deputy Head (Academic). “We didn’t want them to think that what they had learnt was too academic or abstract – instead to know, from experience, that they are now better equipped with tangible skills that can be applied to real-life scenarios. It’s important for pupils to recognise that Literacy doesn’t just mean English, and Numeracy doesn’t just mean Maths; these are much broader concepts that play an important role in their future.”
The ACC Challenge saw pupils complete three main tasks, and a range of urgent tasks – all under the guise of leading an independent school. Pupils were asked to walk in Mr Price’s footsteps – undertaking some of the tasks he might tackle as Headmaster and challenging themselves to use some of the skills they have learnt during the ACC.
“We were hugely impressed with the response to the ACC Challenge,” says Dr Dudin. “We were blown away by the quality of the work pupils managed to achieve, as the tasks aimed to push them out of their comfort zone and put them under some pressure to really think about applying the skills and knowledge they have learnt.”
There were 15 winners in total, all of whom won a small prize for managing the tasks incredibly well and scoring nearly full marks across the board. “It was really hard to separate the winners,” concludes Dr Dudin. “The top five pupils showed a great consistency in their approach to the challenge and the application of the skills and knowledge they had acquired over the ACC. Through their work they demonstrated a professionalism beyond their years.”
Top 5 Pupils
Alex McNulty
Immi O’Neill
Tash Erdmann
Grace Fadden
Wilby Toothill
Runners-up
India Clarke
Millie Burgess
Matthew Everall
Archie Bagshaw
Mia Brendel
Tom Sentance
Arabella Wood-Collins
Sid Banerjee
Tabitha Crooke
Jemima Hart
