Looking to the Future at Downe House

In this blog post, Mr Matt Godfrey (Deputy Head) introduces two special guests who will be leading Break Out Sessions at this year’s Academic Conference at Downe House.

We are thrilled to have secured a terrific line-up of guest speakers at our Academic Conference on June 18. They will speak alongside our keynote speaker, The Rt Hon Lord Gove, in what will be a truly inspiring and thought-provoking event.

Our theme this year is Transforming Tradition, and two of our speakers – Chloe Combi and Jane Basnett – will share fascinating insights and practical tips about how schools need to adapt in the coming years.

Chloe Combi is a best-selling author, speaker, researcher and futurist who is well known for her insights into Gen A and Gen Z’s future: their challenges, opportunities and mindset.

In the lead up to the publication of her book on Gen-A, Chloe has been looking towards the next ten years and asking: what is in store for the two youngest generations? Looking at the future of work, culture and society, Chloe’s session will reflect on her research and she will share the challenges facing young people (ages 8-22) and consider how to best prepare for the changes coming in school, higher education, work culture, the online world and wider society in general.

In short, Chloe will consider the underlying question of how we can prepare young people, but also: how can we make things better? How can we future-proof in these uncertain times?

Jane Basnett is Director of Digital Learning at Downe House School, and a multi-time published academic author on numerous topics related to AI and digital learning in education. Her insightful articles and expert commentary are regularly published across national media including Sky News, The Financial Times (FT.com), The Daily Telegraph, iPaper and Metro as well as in technology industry publications like The AI Journal and Tech For Good. Her recent study: ‘Artificial Intelligence – A Student Perspective’ which surveyed more than 1,000 students in state and private schools across the country on their perceptions around AI, has gained widespread media coverage in more than 120 publications across the UK to date.

Jane is an advocate for transformative learning experiences and excels in leveraging a range of digital tools to foster collaboration, enhance communication, and inspire creativity, in student-centred classrooms that empower learners to actively engage with the material and each other.

Passionate about the future of education, Jane will consider AI’s potential to transform learning and will give practical insight into preparing students for the challenges of a digital world. Jaane has recently published the findings of an extensive survey of school children which has gleaned fascinating insights into the ways they think about and use AI and technology.

Book your place here.