The Excellence Newsletter Summer Term 2022 Dear Parents, We are pleased to share with you the Summer 2022 Excellence Newsletter and Excellence Programme. Whilst this is a busy term for many pupils, with some taking external examinations or end of year exams, we are still looking forward to a full Summer Programme. Extra-curricular academic enrichment is still very important for our pupils, enabling them to expand their horizons and grow beyond the curriculum. We are particularly excited about our Summer Science lecture, open to pupils and parents, that will take place in May. The lecture, will be given by Prof Hugh Montgomery OBE on the topic of Climate Change Messaging. We look forward to welcoming many of you there, please see further details below. We encourage pupils and parents to review the Excellence Programme together and select which events to attend and which competitions to enter. As a reminder, the Excellence Programme includes an array of optional talks and events that pupils can choose to attend for their academic enrichment. The talks listed in this Newsletter are the talks that all pupils, from the relevant year groups, will be invited to hear.
Yours sincerely, Dr F Weinberg FRW@johnlyon.org
GUEST SPEAKERS Diplomacy and writing | YEARS 7, 8 & 9
Mr Amish Tripathi Wednesday 8th June 11.15am Amish is an author, columnist and diplomat working for the High Commission of India. Amish became the Director of The Nehru Centre in London in October 2019 and has been listed among the 50 most powerful Indians by India’s Today Magazine in 2019. Amish published his first book in 2010 and has written seven books till date. His books have sold five million copies and have been translated into ten Indian and nine international languages. Amish is an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta. He worked for 14 years in the financial services industry before turning to writing.
Parkinson’s Disease and Medical Research| YEARS 10 & L6
Prof David Dexter Monday 20th June 8.50am David is an Associate Research Director at Parkinson’s UK and Professor of Neuropharmacology at Imperial College London. David founded Parkinson’s UK Brain Bank that contributed to new drug discovery, advancing scientific development with a clinically acclaimed global tissue resource. David has played a key role in drug discovery, identifying three of the six recognised processes which are thought to cause Parkinson’s, and clinically testing iron chelators to slow Parkinson’s. David has published extensively and regularly presents at international Neuroscience and Parkinson’s conferences.
Material Engineering | YEARS 9 & 10
Prof Alexandra Porter Tuesday 5th July 11.15am Alexandra holds and MEng from Oxford University, and a PhD from Cambridge University in Biomedical Materials. Alexandra has pursued a successful career in Material engineering. Her current interest is to develop novel methodologies to image nanoparticles within cellular compartments using novel TEM techniques such as 3-D electron tomography and energy-filtered TEM. The overall goal of this work is to understand the impact of synthetic nanoparticles on human health and the environment.
INAUGURAL PATANI SCIENCE LECTURE OPEN TO PUPILS AND THEIR FAMILIES Thursday 12th May 7pm - BCH We are delighted to be hosting Professor Hugh Montgomery to speak about the topic of Climate Change Messaging Hugh is a Consultant Intensivist; UCL Professor of Intensive Care Medicine. He directs the Centre for Human Health and Performance, has published over 550 scientific articles and has won more than eight national and international awards. Hugh co-chaired two Lancet Commissions on Human Health and Climate Change, and now co-chairs the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change. He has written and lectured extensively; briefed policymakers, advises corporates, co-leads the UCL MSc module; was appointed ‘London Leader’ by Greater London Authority’s Sustainable Development Commission, attended international ‘COP’ negotiations; led the children’s climate education ‘Project Genie’; and co-led the 2020 ITV documentary ‘Floods and Climate Change’ (2020). Hugh was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to intensive care medicine and climate change.
The Patani Lecture Series is being enabled as part of a very generous donation from the Patani family, in loving memory of former pharmacist Dinesh Patani, and is designed to enthuse and stretch aspiring John Lyon scientists. As part of the donation, the school has also received state-of-the-art science equipment, which is being used and will be used for many years to come.
To book tickets please use this link Patani Lecture Tickets