A very wet and challenging Challenge Day
A very wet and challenging Challenge Day
Sunday, 7 February 2010
This morning was different. The young men and women who assembled in our canteen were (mostly) not our own students, but applicants who were waiting for the start of Challenge Day.
January’s aptitude test was the academic filter of our admissions process, and it was used as the main criterion to short-list the initial number of applicants from 500 to the 300 who were invited to attend Challenge Day.
Challenge Day today was our non-academic filter. It will be used to reduce the numbers from 300 further to a short-list of 100 applicants. These 100 students will be invited to attend panel interviews next month, the results of which will determine the offers of places. In percentage terms, today’s Challenge Day was a finer filter than the aptitude test.
In order to complete the challenges of Challenge Day, the students were divided into small groups to complete various tasks. These tasks involved engaging in problem-solving exercises, interviews, discussions, performances and so on, all under the watchful eyes of a trained team of assessors, mostly UWC graduates.
Unfortunately, the rain became more and more torrential as the day proceeded, easing only in the late afternoon, so several activities had to be moved inside. Furthermore, the group performances at the end of the day had to be held in the Sports Centre rather than in the much more atmospheric central courtyard as we had hoped.
At the end of the day, as the performances came to a close, I farewelled the students in another short speech, including asking them whether they had enjoyed the day. The roars of approval and thanks were deafening, and the ocean of happy faces as the students waved goodbye was a sheer delight to experience.
During the day I visited the groups as they undertook their various tasks, and took some photographs as a record. To see a sample of 72 of these photos, please go to the Challenge Day 2010 gallery by clicking HERE.
The view through my office window today, Challenge Day, 2010