News & Diary
Winchester Weekly – 12th May 2026
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Last Thursday, eight Sixth Book pupils made the journey to Oxford for a day of Classics-focused visits and exploration. The pupils are considering university applications in Classics and related subjects, and were keen to experience Oxford life first-hand.
The group met with the Classics tutor at Exeter College, had the rare privilege of handling ancient Greek vases at the Classics Faculty building, and explored the treasures of the Ashmolean Museum. The afternoon was spent wandering through several of Oxford’s beautiful colleges, soaking up the atmosphere that makes the city so special.
One of the highlights of the day was how frequently the pupils found themselves crossing paths with Old Wykehamists now reading Classics at Oxford, a lovely reminder of just how well-trodden this path is from Winchester.
They rounded off the evening with dinner at Franco Manca, joined by a few more OWs, before making their way back to Winchester.
A new exhibition has opened at Winchester College’s Treasury museum, curated entirely by Sixth Book Classicists Nye (Coll), Ottilie (K), Seb (A), Freddie, (C) Bryan and William (both E). Working alongside staff, they researched, selected and interpreted the objects on display in Collecting and Connoisseurship: Winchester’s Greek Vases in Context; an exploration of the College’s own Greek vase collection, most of which was acquired in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
It is a fine example of the object-based learning that underpins so much of what we do here, pupils engaging directly with extraordinary ancient artefacts to develop a richer understanding of the past and new ways of interpreting it.
Well done to all!
Music School Hall hosted the final of the Kirby Prize on Sunday evening, with an impressive and diverse range of original compositions from pupil composers across the school, from MP to VIBk1.
The breadth of imagination on display was striking, with entries ranging from a piano trio depicting a wild night of partying to dance music to deeply introspective works for solo piano. Congratulations to James (G) and Barack (Coll), who won the Junior and Senior Prizes respectively!
This year’s adjudicator, Dr Luke Lewis of New College Oxford, spent the afternoon in individual workshops with each composer before an adjudication in which he spoke of the privilege of hearing such compelling performances from composers of such distinct interest and personality, and his excitement to hear more from them in the future.
Well done to all those who took part!
