A nerve-wracking, move-busting and game-changing week at ORA.

Week 2 of Oxford Royale Summer Schools’s summer school 2017 is on it’s way out.
Though the weather hasn’t been as kind as the first week (in fact we could argue it’s been downright evil) there has been no dampening of students’ spirits.
Teachers and students swapped roles as the week began, with one Mathematics student assisting his teacher during a class and earning himself a standing ovation from his fellows.

A speed debating workshop was devised to get the students’ brains working on quick-fire retorts, whilst Engineering students got to play…excuse us, work…with a toy cannon in the grounds.
Chemistry students were lucky enough to visit the Natural History Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum, to view a variety of skulls, belonging to both animals and humans (they’re old ones, we promise.)
But it was the Medical Preparation students who had the most nerve-wracking experience of all. They were whisked away to Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London, where they spent the day being trained in the finer points of catheterisation, blood pressure taking, and pulse rates, amongst a host of other worthy clinical skills.

Then followed the scintillating ORACLE event, where students listened, fascinated, to three guest speakers. James Bradley, founder of digital media and marketing company We Love Social; Emily Penn, ocean advocate and founder of Pangaea Explorations and EXXpedition; and Kyle Grant, DPhil student in Plant Sciences at Oxford, in collaboration with NASA.
But it hasn’t all been classrooms and museums. Students visited the famous Hampton Court Palace this week; home of the 16th century royal court of King Henry VIII, and site of that infamous monarch’s many romantic and matrimonial intrigues. They explored the Palace’s famous maze, enjoying getting thoroughly lost before being retrieved by diligent Counsellors. But the highlight of this trip was definitely a visit to William III’s private chocolate kitchen, which remained undiscovered until 2014, disguised as a storeroom for flower pots!

The week was rounded off nicely with ORA’s Got Talent! An extravaganza of move-busting, vocal-chord-stretching, rapping, and mind-reading. Even we’re not too sure how that last one was managed. But all in all, another fabulous week, despite the rain. Now we’re looking forward to the first Graduation event of the summer!
If you would like to join us later in the summer, secure one of our last course places today!
Images: ORA