The winners of this year’s History competition for schools have been announced. The winner of the Years 7-9 Group prize is Wyvern College. There were joint winners for the Years 7-9 Individual prize: Mason Osborne of Perins School and Ben Wasenczuk of Toynbee School. Mason and Ben are both in Year 9 at their schools and each received £100. They were presented with their winning certificates by Nigel Atkinson, H.M. Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, at a presentation ceremony held at the Lord-Lieutenants offices at Serle’s House in Hampshire attended by their families and teachers. Wyvern College have £300 in prize money which will be put towards resources for their History Department. They will be awarded their trophy at a special ceremony later in June.
MASON OSBORNE from Perins School: JOINT WINNER IN THE INDIVIDUAL YEARS 7-9 CATEGORY. (Won £100 plus a winner’s certificate)
Mason’s entry was an impressive PowerPoint presentation on ‘The Secret Life of Henry Perin’. Mason’s PowerPoint gave a lot of information about the life of Henry Perin, his work for the local town of Alresford and linked elements of Perins’ life with Perins School. The ‘secret life’ bit of the presentation explored how Henry Perin had made his wealth and did so through a good use of archives (at the Hampshire Record Office and the National Archives at Kew) and with some elements of witty humour. Mason’s project demonstrated a very good use of archives.
BEN WASENCZUK from Toynbee School: JOINT WINNER IN THE INDIVIDUAL YEARS 7-9 CATEGORY. (Won £100 plus a winner’s certificate)
Ben’s entry was an excellent PowerPoint presentation on the lives of his great grandparents, weaving their stories together using of an impressive range of family archives, with a particular focus on their experiences leading up to, during and in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. These included family photographs and photographs of extracts from birth certificates, enlistment papers and other military records, marriage certificates, medals and medal citations, hospital records, discharge papers, letters and diaries.
WYVERN COLLEGE: WINNER OF THE GROUP YEARS 7-9 CATEGORY
Wyvern College produced an exciting project on the history of Fair Oak, Eastleigh, which has involved Year 7 & 8 students in the school’s History Club researching the history of Fair Oak and, in particular, in talking to elderly residents of Fair Oak to record their memories of life there in the Second World War and subsequently. The project is called “When You Were Me” and is aimed at celebrating local history. The project seeks to foster connections across different generations, combat loneliness, and inspire the students to explore the history of their area. The project is ongoing, the students have already had meetings with older residents, getting them to talk about their memories, recording them for posterity and mounting an exhibition. The group’s winning entry has won £300 for the school’s history resources and the winning team will be presented with their trophy on 6 June at a special event in the Fountain Café where the students will be meeting elderly residents there to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day.
The panel of judges commented: The judges were very impressed indeed by this project. Although the project is ongoing, what has already been achieved is very good. The information is presented in a very clear and engaging. The interaction between the students and older local residents was lovely to see as is the fact that the students are learning about what life was like for them in years gone by and that they are preserving their stories and views for posterity. The panel found the project inspiring and creative.
The competition for the next academic year will be launched in September. The deadline for entries will be Friday 14th March 2025. More information will be published when the new competition is launched.