News & Diary
Winchester Weekly – 17th March 2026
To access some of these events, you may need to be a registered user of the Winchester College Society website and logged in
As term draws to a close, so too does the Winkies season, and this year, so far, has been the year of Commoners.
Two VIs games were held this past Saturday. The boys took to the canvas first, followed by the girls, both ending with Commoner wins.
It’s the first time the Ali Pot has been lifted by Commoners, who dominated early on and withstood an OTH comeback in the second half to clinch the win.
The last fixture between the two teams took place this afternoon, both teams were unable to break the deadlock in the JP Long Game, which ended 43-43.
So, an unbeaten season for Commoners. How will the Tutor’s Houses respond? We can’t wait for next season already!
Highlights from a back and forth Girls VIs!
Around 80 competitors from six schools took part in the HMC Judo Championships. Winchester’s 19-strong squad, most with under a year’s training, punched well above their weight, winning more than half their fights to finish third overall, just one point behind the more experienced Whitgift team. Harrow, who brought the biggest team, took first place.
The boys showed real resilience and maturity throughout, handling both victory and defeat with composure. They returned home with several silver and bronze medals. Special recognition goes to Danny (D), who won his division outright, securing all four of his bouts by Ippon, judo’s maximum score.
The Kenneth Clark Prize Final took place on Friday 13th March in New Hall, with six finalists delivering spoken analyses of chosen artworks before adjudicator Jo Baring, Director of the Ingram Collection.
Works ranged across five centuries, from Hieronymus Bosch and Albrecht Altdorfer to Salvador Dalí, Judy Chicago and Jackson Pollock.
At the end of the night, it was Thomas (K) who took Gold for his analysis of the enigmatic War Elephant, attributed to Bosch.
Thomas (H) claimed Silver for his examination of Altdorfer’s The Battle of Alexander at Issus; and Anna (D) earned Bronze for her exploration of Judy Chicago’s feminist installation The Dinner Party.
Congratulations to the medallists and all entrants!
Cantores Episcopi will be performing at a concert on Wednesday 29th April at the Church of the Hospital of St Cross, in support of the Hampshire Medical Fund.
The event committee includes several past and current parents, who would be delighted to see a good turnout from the Wykehamical community. Please follow the link to book tickets.
The Hampshire Medical Fund is a charity that raises money to fund cutting-edge medical equipment for the NHS hospital in Winchester, equipment that sits beyond standard NHS budgets but makes a huge difference to diagnosis, treatment and patient outcomes.
Daniel Benton, past parent and Chairman of the Hampshire Medical Fund says: “A lot of Winchester’s pupils, families and staff will benefit from the work of the Hampshire Medical Fund at some point, if they haven’t already. This is therefore a wonderful charity to be involved with. Do come along in April and support us.”
On the first day of Exeat, 10 keen Wykehamists travelled to Tonbridge School for the annual Tonbridge Science Conference.
The theme this year was ‘From classroom curiosity to world-changing science’, and included keynote presentations on gravitational wave detection, upscaling science in the petrochemical industry, and molecular pharmacology.
The Wykehamist team gave 8 presentations on fields ranging from ‘The science of singing’ to ‘Quantum computing’, as well as participating in a poster presentation.
On 8th February, Winchester’s RAF Air Trophy team travelled to RAF Halton to compete against sections from other schools in the South West. The competition spanned several specialised components: air rifle shooting, cyber (involving aircraft recognition and encryption), first aid with real actors, a SpaceX-inspired space docking simulation, drill, and a blindfolded command task testing leadership and teamwork.
The team’s preparation shone through, and their drill display was praised by Squadron Leader Hughes as among the best he’d seen from Winchester in years.
They finished 8th out of 45, a significant improvement on previous years, and celebrated with a well-earned McDonald’s on the way home.
Congratulations to all the cadets who took part!
Eight teams pitched circular economy business ideas at the Makyth Ventures Ignite Final, whittled down from 26 entries after nine weeks of preparation led by our Head of Careers.
Winchester’s four teams impressed: 2Gift proposed reusable fabric gift-wrapping; ReBrick turned plastic waste into construction bricks; Renero presented a reusable water bottle and rewards scheme; and Stitched offered a textile upcycling incentive. External entries from St. Swithun’s, St Mary’s Ascot and King Edward VI, Southampton set an equally high bar.
Four Old Wykehamist judges, spanning AI, engineering, e-commerce and sustainability, brought real commercial rigour to proceedings, with winners receiving bespoke mentoring.
In the end, King Edward VI’s Kes2Go were crowned champions for their bagasse lunch container, made from sugarcane waste, which allows schools to serve hot meals outdoors before being composted back into school gardens, an elegantly circular solution and a fitting winner.
Congratulations to all teams who took part!
