We are very proud to announce that two students, Gabby (a former student) and Noemi (a current student), have received prestigious awards for their poems, which were selected to be in the top 100 2023 Foyle’s Young Poets of The Year Award, which is the most prestigious poetry award for young people. You can read copies of their poems attached below. They attended an exclusive event in London, at Shakespeare's Globe. 

Gabby shares her heartfelt and passionate reflections with us in the following article:

Over the last year, Mudra in Year 8 has achieved some outstanding success at the National Level Badminton competitions.   

At the U13 English National Championships held on 18th and 19th November at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, she won a Gold medal in the Girls Doubles, a Silver medal in the Girls Singles and a Bronze medal in the Mixed Doubles.

On 2nd and 3rd December, at the Yonex West of Scotland U13 and U17 Junior Championships held at Sir Craig Reedie Badminton Centre, Glasgow, Mudra won a Gold medal in the Girls Doubles in the U13 category, a Gold medal in the Mixed Doubles in the U13 category and reached the quarter-finals in the Girls Singles U17 category.

From the 15th to 20th October, I attended the Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville, Alabama, a course designed to allow students to experience real-world, hands-on activities in aerospace, astronautics, engineering, computing, and other STEM-based activities while also developing our leadership skills.

On Saturday 14th October, I was invited to the Arc Centre in Winchester for the award ceremony and announcement of the winners of the Hampshire Young Poets Competition 2023 run by Hampshire Cultural Trust and Winchester Poetry Festival

The theme this year was ‘Home.’ I entered this competition back in July with my poem, ‘three boys’ inspired by my dad’s childhood home which I have visited on occasion during trips to India. 

I recently had the great privilege of visiting Oxford University for the awards ceremony of the John Locke essay competition, where I received a commendation. With over 19,000 participants globally, I wrote an economics essay titled ‘What would happen if we banned billionaires?’ A question which intrigued me as billionaires have a profound impact on the economy even in ways that may not seem related, such as their influence on politics.   

For two weeks in the summer, I attended World Youth Day, with support from the Kendrick Travel Bursary. I fund raised for the trip and the money I received from the grant ensured I could reach my target. World Youth Day is a global gathering of Catholic young people that happens every few years and, despite its name, it actually takes place over two weeks and culminates in a huge Mass. In Portugal this year, there were around 2 million of us and experiencing this universal joy of faith, exceeded all my expectations.