Skip to content ↓

    • Financial Times Summer Reading Challenge

    Over the holidays, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to take part in the Financial Times-AverPoint summer reading challenge. The challenge works as follows: over several weeks, your news consumption is tracked by a browser extension called AverPoint, which gives you targets to meet each week in order to move up to the next level of the challenge – targets include the number of articles read, the number of different news sources consulted, and saving facts you deem noteworthy.

    This year’s challenge also included a short essay competition on the theme of remilitarisation for participants who had reached the top level – I was in third place in this competition and in the challenge overall.

    The reading challenge helped me stay in touch with global events, especially since reading both local and foreign newspapers is encouraged.  Lists of credible suggestions are available on the AverPoint website, but all participants were also invited to a webinar with a Financial Times journalist, Charles Clover, a Financial Times Defence and Security Correspondent.  He gave an intriguing talk on Europe’s current remilitarisation and the geopolitical tensions within NATO, with plenty of time for student questions at the end.

    I would strongly encourage any student, no matter what your subject interests, to take part in future challenges – there are three or four per year. To do so, first sign up for a free Financial Times account via this link: https://professional.ft.com/en-gb/services/professional-subscriptions/secondary-education/. Please note that you must be connected to the school Wi-Fi in order to receive your registration link. Once you have an account, make sure to sign up to the weekly FT Schools newsletter, which will highlight this challenge and other competitions for you. Even outside of challenges, I have found the AverPoint extension very helpful with facts for my economics schoolwork.  Here is the link to their website in case you would like to give it a go: https://www.averpoint.com/home/intro.

    Maria - Year 13