It has been a successful week on the Hill for general knowledge quizzing! Our 1st IV have reached the last-16 in the senior division of this year’s Schools Challenge competition by beating Westminster School 550 points to 410. Westminster have had an impressive record over recent years, having won or been runners-up on several occasions. Therefore, the victory is all the more noteworthy.
This is the first time that any of our senior teams has progressed so far in the tournament. Last year, the 1st IV were knocked out in the second round by the eventual national champions, Winchester College. To date, our best performance over 14 years of taking part was from our U15 IV, who managed to achieve 10th position nationally in the intermediate division of the competition last year.
The 1st IV’s results so far:
- First Round: Kingham Hill 380 - Bedford School 330
- Second Round: Kingham Hill 480 - King Edward’s Camp Hill Boys 370
- Third Round: Kingham Hill 550 - Westminster School 410
Our U13 IV and 2nd IV are both still in the junior and senior Plate competitions of Schools Challenge respectively, and we wish all teams the very best for the next round, which will be played after half term.
General knowledge quizzing is a popular activity on the Hill, having been coached by Head of Octagon, Mr Williams, who is an accomplished quizzer in his own right. Having reached the quarter-finals with Manchester in the 1997-1998 series of University Challenge, won an episode of The Chase and appeared as a grand finalist on Mastermind, our quizzers are in capable hands. As he often points out, speed on the buzzer is the key to success: it is a skill refined in weekly Quiz Club sessions which are offered as part of a varied Co-Curricular Programme.