BRIGHT SPARKS SHINE IN GLOBAL QUIZ SHOWDOWN

Four literature lovers from Year 8 earned an amazing accolade of third place in the World Kids Lit Quiz Final in July 2008.

Sherna Adenwalla, Eleanor Barton, Bethan Candlin and Eleanor Matthews travelled to Oxford on July 7^th for a week of activities, including meeting famous authors, attending a celebration dinner, touring the sites of Oxford where the Harry Potter film series was produced, and meeting other keen readers from around the world.

There was also time to take a punt down the River Cherwell, an experience the pupils will not soon forget!

The final took place on July 10 Th, in the glamorous surroundings of the Oxford Playhouse theatre. After a nervous start, Bethan Candlin swooped to put Whitchurch on the scoreboard, and passed the baton to Sherna, who then produced the outstanding individual performance of the final in round two. With Bethan then identifying two novels from their opening sentences, and Eleanor Matthews recognising famous illustrators and comic animals, the team held the lead after rounds 2, 3 6 and 7 of the ten round final.

This was all the more remarkable, given that the competition consisted of schools from China, South Africa, England, Scotland, Ireland, and the UK Champions from Arnold House School, London.

Arnold House narrowly took the overall victory, and the penultimate question saw Whitchurch just miss out on second place. This achievement was all the more impressive given that Whitchurch was the only state school to reach the World Final.

Events reached a climax on Thursday night at the Gala Dinner at Oxford’s Town Hall, where a poem in tribute to their favourite book, ‘Journey to the River Sea’ By Eva Ibbotson, performed by Sherna and Bethan, brought the house down, showing that Whitchurch had by far the hardest-working team in the event.

Quizmaster Wayne Mills, a professor of Children’s Literature, noted that they were by far ‘the most improved team’ in the Final.

Based on this showing, it might not be the only time that these immensely gifted students and book- lover get to sample life in Oxford.