Oakhamians have enjoyed a series of inspiring talks over the past term from OOs and other specialists in their field, who have very generously given their time to speak about their lives and careers.
Pupils in Forms 2–7 attended a live online talk from Zigi Shipper BEM and his daughter Michelle Richman from the Holocaust Educational Trust about his life story as a Holocaust survivor experience. It was a great honour to invite Zigi and Michelle to talk to our students so that they can understand the atrocities caused by hatred and genocide, encouraging future generations to prevent this from ever happening again.
Form 6 pupils interested in pursuing medical courses attended two DocSoc talks: they listened to OO Dr Navin Leanage (07), junior registrar (ST3) in emergency medicine, give his perspective on the A&E ward during the current pandemic and more recently learned about the work of a GP from Dr Harpreet Sehmi MRCGP, GP partner at Eskdaill Medical Centre, Kettering.
Form 6 Critical and Contextual Studies pupils welcomed a series of wonderful guest speakers, who spoke to them about their work in the world of art. Artist Ann-Marie James gave a talk about her career from leaving school to becoming a successful exhibiting artist; Andrew Gillespie, artist, curator and lecturer, spoke about introducing the idea of the artist-run gallery space and how this works for the artist as well as the way it relates to the general public; London-based artist Charley Peters, who is also a writer on abstract painting, an independent curator, and Course Leader on MA Illustration and Visual Media at London College of Communication, told pupils about her creative process as an artist. Andrea Iouannou, who is currently Senior Philanthropy Manager at the Southbank Centre in London, explained how galleries are funded, working with donors and the art market.
The Matthews Society moved online with two talks from OOs: OO Ella Norgaard Morton (16), former Matthews Society President and now a medical student at the University of Manchester spoke about the gender bias in medicine and Gwyneth Cook (OO 17) who is currently in her final year at the University of St Andrews reading Philosophy and English explored the topic of ‘the Male Gaze’ in Art.
In addition to our live online events, pupils could access a series of recorded talks during our virtual Careers Week made by industry experts designed to provide them with an insight into different careers and some top tips for their future job applications. The talks ranged from careers in engineering, fashion, media and finance to guidance on how to write the perfect CV and shine in a job interview.
