Enrichment Evenings

Inspirational Evenings

It has been another fine year for the Girls’ Division series of public enrichment lectures, which were once again well attended by pupils, staff and members of the local community alike. Several of the evening events saw pupils from nearby state schools come along to absorb the messages from Arts and Sciences speakers.

The year drew to a close with a celebration of creativity in the form of the annual Poetry Festival. Young poets from all age groups read their own work alongside acclaimed poet Liz Berry, who entertained the audience with a wide selection of joyful and cheerful poems from her award-winning book ‘Black Country’ and her pamphlets ‘Patron Saint of School Girls’ and ‘The Republic of Motherhood’. The final Sciences event of this academic year took place in the same week and saw science communicator Dr Pete Edwards from Durham University explore ‘The Dark Side of the Universe’. He discussed what we know, and more importantly what we don’t yet know, about dark matter and dark energy in an accessible and fascinating lecture which also touched upon the Big Bang, Einstein’s theory of relativity, gravitational lensing, the cosmic microwave background and the structure of the early universe. In the Spring Term, Tim Bouverie offered his insights into how the policy of appeasement failed in the run up to the Second World War. A political journalist turned author, Tim’s address was based on his first book ‘Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War’ which was launched just days after his visit. He gave an eye-opening overview of the 1920s and ’30s and drew strikingly relevant lessons from the failures of the politicians of that time. His talk followed an inspiring address from Dr Emily Grossman, who explored the challenges she has faced as a woman in science and discussed the importance of combating stereotypes, and a valuable lecture about careers in law from barrister Sophie Cartwright. Earlier in the year, the Girls’ Division hosted talks from leading entrepreneur Jo Fairley on ‘The Rollercoaster Story of Green & Black’s’, Old Girl Dr Joyce Tyldesley on our collective obsession with Queen Nefertiti, and Dr Jack Heal on synthetic biology or the human engineering of biological systems.

Dr Pete Edwards exploring ‘The Dark Side of the Universe’

Tim Bouverie addressing the Great Hall