GET TO KNOW THE NEW SCHOOL CAPTAINS | PG 5

Hi! I am Suleman, the new School Captain of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School. My best time at Vesey so far was last Summer when we played rounders and were treated to ice cream on the last day. Favourite food? I mean, the only thing better than a refreshing ice cream has to be my grandmother’s chicken curry and rice, which is so delicious I’d even consider resigning just to take a bite (just kidding... I hope!).

I applied to this role in order to push my limits and develop myself into an experienced and skilled individual, and because I want to make a change in our school and improve the experience for every student here. My plans for next year revolve around the 3 L’s: to support Learning, increase Laughter and build Life skills. I will strive to unite the school, to be the best School Captain I can, and to leave a proud and positive legacy behind!

Hello, my name is Harry and I am a Deputy School Captain for 2022-23. During my 6 years here at Vesey I have thrown myself at every challenge, representing the school at all of our 3 major sports alongside academic events. I was encouraged to take this role as it offers me a chance to give back to this school which has given me so many opportunities such as the Cricket Tour of Sri Lanka. Through my time with this responsibility I hope to further the inclusivity of extra-curricular activities available here and support the house co-ordinators in reinvigorating the system here.

Hi everyone! My name is Millie and I am one of the new deputy school captains. My favourite food is biscuits, specifically bourbon biscuits, just in case anyone is interested! I have had so many opportunities and experiences since joining Vesey, but one of my highlights would definitely be when we went to London for an art trip. I had never been to London before so I enjoyed experiencing this new city, and it was great to look around the galleries. The reason I applied for this role is because I want to be able to make a significant impact on the Vesey community, whilst also trying to better myself as a person. Now that I have this role, I would like to create a greater support network for those who want to study arts or humanities post-18 as this is something that can be improved upon at our school. Also, I would like to create more methods of supporting the year 12s as they write their personal statements and prepare to apply to universities or apprenticeships.

Back row, from left to right: Suleman, Harry Front row, from left to right: Darlina, Millie

- Adeola, Year 12 I am enjoying studying my chosen A-Level subjects of Physics, Chemistry, and Maths. Every lesson is fascinating and I am learning to see the world in a different light. I found myself curious to learn more about the subjects outside the boundaries of my specification.

In 2021, with the help of my teachers, I was able to find a group of like-minded people who were interested in the STEM industry called the Stemettes Society (https://stemettes.org). The society comprises of girls, young women, and non-binary people aged 5-25 who have an interest in STEM. The society provides a great opportunity for meeting other people through mentoring and taking part in STEM programmes and events.

In the September of 2021, I had the chance to take part in a 6month mentorship with Mercedes F1 AMG Petronas partnered with The Stemettes Society. I attended online networking events and had regular meetings with my mentor, an engineer at Mercedes, and she offered me a lot of advice about my future steps and skills needed to progress into a STEM career.

As well as this, I was invited to attend the Extreme E finals race in Dorset in December 2021, an off-roading motorsport competition created to help develop a more sustainable racing experience in an industry known for producing gas-guzzling cars and lots of carbon gases.

I was able to see how the world of Racing was starting to develop more sustainable fuels in the face of climate change. The Extreme E cars use hydrogen fuel which is generated from water and solar energy and is then used to charge the vehicles, allowing for a sustainable off-the-grid power generation.

I was inspired by all the work that went into the competition, and seeing the larger-than-life, futuristic cars up close allowed me to see all the important engineering that takes place in the working and performance of the cars. I also met inspirational people like Stephanie Travers, the trackside fluid engineer for Petronas and the first black woman to stand on the winner's podium in F1’s 70-year history, and engineers and the drivers of Lewis Hamilton’s amazing X44 team. I also got star-struck when I got to take a picture with Jenson Button. The mentorship also included a site visit and tour of the Mercedes F1 Factory in Brackley in May 2022. I saw the offices and labs and some of the past F1 cars and trophies. It was an amazing experience.

The mentoring programme has been incredible. I also took part in a week’s virtual work experience with Bank of America in October 2021 where I learnt about the meaningful work that quantitative analysts do. I was fascinated to see how they used mathematics and skills similar to what I was studying at A-level but at an advanced and enhanced level to make informative graphs and data sets that show so much research and information.