SJC Inspire Magazine

Degree Day – 14th September 2019

Below is a selection of photos from the Degree Day held at St John’s on 14th September 2019. Congratulations to all of our students who graduated at this ceremony – and welcome to our alumni community! If you would like a photo or photos removed from this gallery, please contact communications@sjc.ox.ac.uk. Please provide the identification…

Year 12 & 13 Theology Study Day

This October, St John’s is holding a Theology Study Day for KS5 students and their teachers on Saturday 5th October. The Study Day is open to all UK students currently studying in Year 12 or 13 (or equivalent). Study days give pupils a taste of what it is like to live and study as an…

Protected: Year 11 Research Project Videos

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Protected: Year 12 Research Project Videos

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Year 12 Research Project Posters

As part of their Summer School at St John’s, Year 12 pupils spent a day completing an audio-visual research project. The task: to create a poster and short video on one of three questions. What is the value of social media? Should cars be banned from the city centre? What is the best way of…

Year 11 Research Project Posters

On the second day of their Summer School at St John’s, our Year 11 participants had a day devoted to an audio-visual research project! The aim of the day was to produce a poster and a video dealing with one of the questions below: What is the value of social media? Should cars be banned…

Year 11 Summer School Timetable

With a research project, lectures, and chance to explore the city of Oxford, our Year 11 Summer School participants are all set to have a fun and informative few days at St John’s! Find out more about the activities they’ll be taking part in with the timetables below: View the full timetable here.

Year 12 Summer School Timetable

Our Year 12 participants have a packed schedule of workshops, lectures and activities! Discover more about what they’re doing as part of this year’s Summer School by taking a look at the timetables below: View the full timetable here.

Winning Year 12 Research Posters

We received some excellent research posters that were submitted as part of the Inspire Programme Summer Schools! We’ve really enjoyed looking through all of the Year 12 submissions and finding out more about the wide variety of topics they cover – and below we’re pleased to announce the winning posters… WINNER Dhara Doshi RUNNERS UP…

Did volcanoes kill the dinosaurs?

It’s the age-old question – how did the dinosaurs die out? What if volcanic activity was responsible for their extinction? And are we heading for another mass-extinction today? Step back 66 million years and try to uncover the answers to these questions and the big one – did volcanoes kill the dinosaurs..? Probably yes! After…

What’s the price on your head?

How much would you spend to save a life? How do you make that decision? It’s much more complicated than you think… Read on to discover the difficult implications of putting a monetary value on saving lives. When Nevado del Ruiz erupted in Columbia in 1985, about 23,000 people died as a result. If you…

What we can learn from the archive of a Pompeian banker family

One result of the eruption of Vesuvius is that we have an excellently preserved snapshot of Roman life in AD 79, meaning historians can build an amazing picture of what life at this time was really like! Discover how even the tiniest of details uncovered by historians can give us a fascinating insight into the…

What is the power of a volcano?

Volcanoes aren’t always about eruptions and the catastrophic natural disasters we often see in the news. Many people live close to volcanoes and face other hardships and issues even aside from the possibility of an eruption – so what is life like for them? Think for a moment about a volcanic eruption you have studied…

Telling the time with volcanoes

It’s not all gushing lava and pyroclastic flows – sometimes the excitement of volcanoes lasts long after they erupt, in the form of radioactive rocks! Find out how radioactive decay and preserved ash can be used to date volcanic eruptions… Dating volcanic eruptions For geographers and geologists, one of the most obvious questions to ask…

I came, I saw, I ate fried dormice

What’s the connection between volcanoes and food? Archaeological discoveries (including preserved food remains from thousands of years ago!) can give us an amazing glimpse into the dining rooms of the Roman Empire. Take a look at artefacts from Pompeii and beyond to see if you’d have enjoyed some of the delicacies they were used for……

The power of Vesuvius in the ancient world

The eruption of Vesuvius has led to an interesting combination of destruction and preservation… Although the volcano buried the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, this means they are very well preserved. But recently they’ve come under threat from more destruction thanks to human activity. So what should we do next? Should we just preserve what’s…

Eruptions and transformations: volcanoes in poetry and songs

Volcanoes, plate tectonics and Roman gods – not necessarily your standard subjects for poems or songs… Read on to discover where the word ‘volcano’ comes from, and what volcanoes have come to signify in literature and music – and have a go at writing your own volcano-inspired poetry! Volcanoes take their name from Vulcan, the…

The power of volcanoes in art

What can volcanoes signify in art? Sometimes the aim is just to show volcanoes informatively, some artists want to explore their cultural significance, whilst on some occasions they’ve even been used symbolically. Volcanoes aren’t always just there to look spectacular – delve into their deeper meanings, and you might never look at them in the…

Year 12 Summer School – Research Posters

We have had a fantastic selection of research posters submitted by students as part of the Inspire Programme Summer Schools. Listed below are all of the Year 12 posters, covering a huge variety of subjects, from Genetics to Graph Theory. All of the posters have been completed to a high standard – very well done…

Quiz: What is the power of a volcano?

So you’ve found out plenty of things about volcanoes, from the dinosaurs and the eruption of Vesuvius, to planning for future natural disasters and responding to eruptions through poetry and songs. Now’s your chance to test yourself on what you’ve learned! Take this short quiz to see what you can remember… Good luck!

Successful Open Days at St John’s

We were delighted to welcome over 5000 visitors to St John’s on 3rd and 4th July for the first Open Days of 2019. Prospective students, along with their parents and carers, were taken on tours of the college with our brilliant Student Ambassadors, had the chance to sample lunch in Hall, and also met our…

St John’s runs first State School Study Day in Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

St John’s continues to offer study days for state school applicants in different disciplines. This study day in Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, run on 8 June for the first time by St John’s, was attended by 55 Year 12 pupils from 31 state schools across the UK. Pupils travelled from as far as Plymouth and…

Protected: Evolution, ecology and volcanoes

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Progress on Access and Admissions

The President of St John’s College, Professor Maggie Snowling, wrote about an exciting Summer term for access and admissions at Oxford: I have had the privilege of chairing the Admissions Committee on behalf of the collegiate University as well as the working group developing major initiatives to enable Oxford to reach the stretching targets required…

St John’s College’s first ever study day in Maths

On Saturday 18th May 2019, we were delighted to welcome 61 Year 12 students from state schools across the UK. The day began with a talk about Oxford admissions given by Alexander Lawrence from the college’s Access and Outreach team. Afterwards, Mathematics tutors Dr David Seifert and Dr Tom Crawford discussed the MAT test, which…

Easter Challenge Winners

Winner Matyl K, The Sacred Heart Language College It is evident that the video game industry is the fastest growing industry from $10 billion in 1990 to almost $135 billion in 2018. Arguably, this is a result of their ability to engage and transfix people, achieved by the emotional reward that they offer: feelings of…

A busy Hilary Term for Access

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‘Mythology in the Ancient World’ at the Classics Study Afternoon

On 25th April, 58 school pupils all the way from Scotland to the South Coast of England came to St John’s to enjoy our annual Classics Study Afternoon. All of the students had entered the annual St John’s Classics & Ancient History Essay Competition, which is open to all students currently studying in Year 12…

Year 11 Inspire – Issue 6 “What makes a successful video game? Final Challenge”

In this final issue of Year 11 Inspire, we want you to tell us what makes a successful video game. There is a chance to win a £50 amazon gift voucher! Please follow this link for Issue 6 “What makes a successful video game? Final challenge” Easter Holiday Challenge Terms and Conditions

Making money from video games

This week we asked you to think about the question: What would be the advantages and disadvantages of giving a video game away for free? Very well done to everyone who sent us their answers. Here are the best responses we received: Overall Winner Jay K (Greenford High School) Personally, I believe that giving video…

Year 11 Inspire – Issue 5 “How to make money from video games”

In the fifth edition of Year 11 Inspire, we will be thinking about the economic value of video games. We will be hearing from St John’s economics tutor, Dr Kate Doornik, about how free games such as Fortnite can be incredibly lucrative, and looking at issues surrounding copyrights. Please follow this link for Issue 5…

Year 11 Inspire – Summer School

We are running a summer school our Year 11 Inspire Programme students on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th August 2019. This is an excellent opportunity to see what being an Oxford student might be like! For full details, please see our flyer: If you would like to attend, please complete an application form and return it…

Should violent games be banned?

Some of the most popular video games contain high levels of violence – Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption – to name a few. In Issue 4 “What can we learn from video games?”, we asked our students to consider whether the content of video games should be more strictly regulated. Here…

Year 11 Inspire – Issue 4 “What can we learn from video games?”

In this fourth edition of Year 11 Inspire, we will be considering what we might be able to learn from video games. We will be hearing from Oxford historian Dr Philippa Byrne about the historical significance, and discussing the role of violence in video games. We will also be challenging you to think how video…

Turtle Academy Programming Challenge

Well done to everyone who participated in our Turtle Academy Programming Challenge as part of Year 11 Inspire’s third issue “Design your own video game”. Turtle Academy is a simple-to-use website providing free lessons in basic computer programming. Using the LOGO language, you can create amazing shapes and patterns – give it a try! Here…

Year 11 Inspire – Issue 3 “Design your own video game”

In the third edition of Year 11 Inspire, you will be thinking about designing your own video game. We will be hearing from James Hyde, a games designer himself who works for Creative Assembly in Horsham, West Sussex, and using Flowlab to get some insight into how computer programmes are generated. Please follow this link…

St John’s College launches innovative pre-GCSE Inspire Programme

St John’s is excited to announce the creation of a new in-depth programme aimed at highly-able, pre-GSCE state school students in the College’s link regions of Ealing and Harrow. It will launch in September 2019 for 40 teachers and 400 students at the start of Year 9 (13-year-olds) and will run until the end of…

Year 11 Inspire – Issue 2 “Building Characters and Worlds”

In the second issue of Year 11 Inspire, we will be looking at how designers and developers use language to build characters and worlds inside their video games. We will be hearing from St John’s English Tutor, Professor Carolyne Larrington and Oxford Graduate in Linguistics, Maren Fichter. Please follow this link for Issue 2 “Building…

Year 11 Inspire – Issue 1 “Are video games bad for you?”

In this first issue, we will look at whether video games can be considered bad for you, and will ask the question: “Is it possible to become addicted to video games?” We will hear from former St John’s English student Dr Tom Chatfield, and there will be articles, quizzes and challenges to try. Please follow…

Year 11 Inspire – Welcome to the programme!

30 minutes a week to help get you ready for university. A warm welcome to everyone who has signed up for our Year 11 Inspire Programme! This programme aims to provide you with opportunities to pursue your academic interests, to develop your study skills, and to encourage you to become more confident in your abilities….

Candy Crush Challenge

Well done to all of our Year 11 Inspire students, who have been battling hard in this week’s challenge: Candy Crush! How to play Candidates were asked to play Candy Crush on their devices for 15-30 minutes, then take a screenshot of their highest scores and e-mail it to inspire@sjc.ox.ac.uk. The top three contestants on…

Lively Autumn Term for St John’s Access and Outreach Office

Members of the Access and Outreach Office at St John’s College have had a brilliant start to the academic year, having either run or attended a total of 24 events both at St John’s and at schools and colleges across the linked regions of East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, Ealing and Harrow. Not…

A hands-on Theology Study Day

On Saturday 6th October, Professor Katherine Southwood and the St John’s Access and Outreach team hosted a Theology Study Day for students from a variety of backgrounds. The Theology Study Day offered A-Level students an insight into the Theology course at the University of Oxford and focused primarily on biblical studies and religious literacy, with…

Exploring the treasures of St John’s College library on a school access visit

A group of students from the Sacred Heart Language College in Harrow had an exciting opportunity to explore the treasures of the college library, and try their hand at calligraphy, during a school visit day on 31st October. The interactive afternoon session, led by the College Librarian and specialist in medieval literature Dr Petra Hofmann,…

The Inspire Programme celebrates its first birthday

St John’s is delighted to be celebrating the first birthday of its innovative Inspire Programme. This dynamic outreach initiative is focused on non-selective state schools in our link regions of the London Boroughs of Ealing and Harrow, and consists of a carefully structured programme for students from Years 9 to 13. Over these five years,…

Issue 1: How to design a successful video game: Contents

How to design a successful video game A message from the Editor Photo competition: video games Vote: Is video game addiction a mental disorder? Articles Computer Science Maths in video games Economics How to earn billions by giving something away for free English A good story is key History What can we learn from video…

7 Ways Games Reward the Brain

Dr Tom Chatfield, an ex-ST John’s English student is a British writer, broadcaster and tech philosopher. He is a columnist for the BBC, international commentator and TED Global speaker, and he has worked as a writer and consultant with some of the world’s leading technology firms. See below for what Tom has to say about rewards […]

The Physics of Sandcastles and Ladders

We invite any aspiring physicists to try their hand at these physics problems dealing with light, atoms and force: Estimate the number of visible photons leaving a 60W light bulb per second. How big would a sandcastle be if you made it from the same number of grains of sand as there are atoms in…

Meet Dan, 3rd Year Maths

Dan is a third year maths student currently studying at St John’s. Here he talks about discovering maths at an Open Day and some of his favourite things he’s learned so far at university… Produced by Tom Crawford.