The Medawar Centre

The Peter Medawar Centre, named after Nobel Prize winning scientist Sir Peter Medawar, was opened by his widow, Jean, Lady Medawar, in October 1996 and occupies a central position in the school, namely the ground floor rooms of A House.

The Medawar Centre's facilities are primarily for the use of Academic Award-holders, though those who sat the Scholarship but did not gain an award are welcome, too, and are often amongst its keenest users.

Its central position in Court makes the Centre readily accessible during Break, after meals and in study periods as a place to work, read the newspapers and journals, or sit and talk.

The aim of the Centre is to foster intellectual pursuits, independent learning and research; to provide an opportunity to go beyond the subject specifications and test out ideas in a forum beyond the classroom.

Those who are pursuing different academic paths are able to meet in a shared intellectual context. The rooms are particularly heavily used for revision during the examination season, providing a space for shared study and discussion not usually available elsewhere.

We are pleased that the Junior Scholarship candidates make the Centre their base during early March and welcome prospective Sixth Formers in the Michaelmas Term.

Facilities

The Centre boasts a Seminar Room (also used for some Sixth Form teaching), a computer suite, a kitchen, the Well, and a large meeting / work space known as the Reading Room. There is also a smaller Committee Room furnished for less formal gatherings.

Work by the Art Scholars and others is often on display in the Well, as is poetry and other shorter pieces of Creative Writing. A wide range of newspapers and journals are available, alongside the College's own student publications, Piccalilli and The Heretick.

Societies in the Medawar

Many of the College's societies meet in the Medawar, including the Literary, Poetry and Babel Societies, Cercle Francais, the Deutsch Club, the History Book Review and the Contemporary Book Group. It is also where many of the debating workshops and competitions take place. These activities are obviously open to a wider audience than just Academic Award-holders.

There are also regular meetings of the Davis Society (two or three times a term), for the scholars in each Lower School year group, and the Lower Sixth Review Society meets at similar intervals. These meetings are all student led, as is the Essay Society for the Upper Sixth scholars, which meets in the more comfortable surroundings of the Master's Lodge.