Students awarded sponsorship to fund trip to Russia

Two students at Stamford School have each been awarded sponsorship of £400, which they will use to help fund a trip to Russia.Ted Genever and Fabian Darbost, both in Year 9, are studying Russian at Stamford. They were selected to receive the funding after a competitive process that required them to produce a report on the country, and complete a one-to-one interview to assess their knowledge of their chosen topic.The awards are designed to increase understanding of Russian culture, business, history and politics, and to give young people an insight into one of the world’s most powerful nations.The funding was generously donated by Richard Wallace, himself an Old Stamfordian, who studied Russian Language and Literature at Birmingham University, and who has spent twenty years working in Anglo-Russian relations and international trade.Richard said: “It is vital that the next generation understands our relationship with Russia, which is and will remain one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world.  It’s incredibly important that students study other languages and cultures, and develop the skills to think about how we relate to other nations, and work with them in every area of our lives.”Caroline Wray, Head of Russian at Stamford School, said: “Trips and exchanges add a tremendous amount to the study of languages – without them, students are learning in a vacuum. It has also been extremely valuable for the pupils to have to complete such a rigorous assessment as part of their funding bid: that assessment has been a useful experience in its own right, and has introduced them to the research, presentation and interview skills that they will require in their professional lives.”Stamford School runs an annual exchange trip to Russia, which is now in its 25^th consecutive year.  Russian is thriving at the Stamford Endowed Schools as a whole: 21 students completed GCSE Russian in 2018, and 100% of students achieved A*-B at A Level.