Sunday, 18 September

We arrived at around 6pm and went straight to Queen’s college (a different college to where we were staying) to have dinner; there we met the other Baraza leaders from the host schools. At the dinner the Head of Round Square gave us a talk about what being a Baraza leader means, the basis of Round Square. At the end of the talk they gave us a badge, a small crystal globe and a sweatshirt as mementos from the conference. At the time the dinner ended, we had a moment of silence out of respect for the late Queen. 

Monday, 19 September

Some of the Felsted students had an early morning (waking up at 4am) in order to welcome all the delegates that were arriving at both Heathrow and Gatwick airports from different countries. Meanwhile at Oxford, we had breakfast at our college and organised everything for the arrivals: we prepared lanyards for everyone (200 people), tote bags with some snacks, a Round Square pen, a Round Square notebook and a map of Oxford. People started arriving at around 12 pm, we welcomed them with big smiles and we guided them to their rooms. At 4 pm, when most of the delegates had arrived, we did a big ice breaker so everyone staying at the college could get to know each other. We introduced ourselves, played Splat and a big game of rock, paper, scissors. After dinner, Mr Townsend gave a brief talk and we were ready for the next day to start. 

Tuesday, 20 September

In the morning we went to the theatre where all of the schools were meeting. They did a big introduction of all the schools that were there from all over the world. We had another minute of silence for the Queen and sang the National Anthem for King Charles III, finishing with a talk from the Head of Round Square, officially initiating the conference. Everyone went back to their colleges; there we led the first official Baraza meeting with our designated groups. We did some ice breakers and played some games, including ‘Who Am I?’, ‘2 Truths and 1 Lie’  and ‘Charades’. In the evening, half of the delegates (and Felsted students) went to the University Church to participate in and learn how to do a Ceilidh with delegates from the other colleges. This was an opportunity for us to meet so many other people. The other half of the college went to the New Theatre to watch a Cultural Performance (a talent show where each school participating in the conference entered a group), which allowed us to see talents from every culture at the conference. Both evening activities were agreed to be fun and very interesting! 

Wednesday, 21 September 

Everyone was up bright and early to enjoy the delicious breakfast offered by the catering team at St Peters’ College. Wednesday was the fullest day of the conference, packed with speeches, Baraza discussions (democracy meetings where we discussed our opinions on the ‘Take Less: Be More’ theme of the conference) and either the Ceilidh or the Cultural Performance. We listened to speeches by Sir Dieter Helm (an OF, alumni of the University of Oxford and a lecturer of Economics at the University of Oxford), Emily Penn (ocean advocate and skipper, founder of eXXpedition) and Ben Fogle (award-winning broadcaster and presenter). Every single delegate mentioned in their Baraza discussions that they enjoyed each speech! 

Thursday, 22 September

Felsted students who didn’t participate in the first part of the conference in Oxford, could participate in the second part held in Felsted where we had adventure days, a mini House Shout and sustainable fashion workshops - ending the conference with a Disco! Firstly, we had lunch which was followed by a team building activity. Straight after that we started rehearsing for House Shout and we were split into two groups of girls and one of boys. The boys' group did not get very far in the rehearsal, but we’re pretty sure that they had a lot of fun. Afterwards, we went to the Grignon Hall to listen to a speech by Daniel Cohen Stuart, CEO of a sustainable clothing company based in the Netherlands called ‘Ragnarøk’. We then enjoyed dinner in the LRH before doing a sustainable clothing activity in the Sports Hall in small groups.

Friday, 23 September

On Friday, after a good breakfast and giving some packed lunches to all the students and teachers, we headed to the coaches for a twenty minute ride to Spains Hall Estate. The visit to a nature reserve of the Wilderness Foundation was informative and a very interesting insight in their work. The students had the occasion to do different activities in order to help the foundation, such as shovelling wood chips in order to create hedgerows, building shelters for bugs and seeing the habitat that beavers have created. 

Saturday, 24 September

This day started off with a filling breakfast, preparing us for an adventure-packed day. We gave everyone a packed lunch before heading off, either to Mersea or Danbury Outdoors. There we were split into smaller groups and did high-ropes, climbing, archery and an adventure course. After a tiring day, we all headed back to Felsted to have our final dinner together and enjoyed a disco in the Hunt Theatre, ending with a farewell song. Everyone agrees that this was a 'once in a lifetime' experience and we’ve all made friends for life.