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, as we consider how can schools adapt and innovate to thrive in the future? In a time of rapid change—social, technological, environmental—this question could not be more timely.
Two senior educationalists who will speak on this theme are HMC Heads Fionnuala Kennedy and Alastair Chirnside.
Fionnuala is Head of Wimbledon High School, a leading academic all girls’ day school in London. With over 20 years’ experience in the UK independent education sector, she has led on whole-school, future-focused, innovative change. She studied English at Oxford University, where she was also a choral scholar, and singing and literature remain major passions.
Fionnuala will talk about the groundbreaking work her school is engaged in with the women’s prison HMP Downview, as they work alongside them to better outcomes for all girls and women, even those considered less worthy or deserving. She will ask: what are the benefits and challenges? And, in a post-VAT world, how do we engage parents with the genuine need for this kind of work in our schools?
Alastair has been the Warden of St Edward’s School in Oxford since September 2021. He started his career as a fund manager with Schroders in London before gaining his first teaching job at Eton; in 2016 he became Director of Studies at Harrow, where he was then appointed Deputy Head Master in April 2019.
Alastair will explain how recent curriculum reform at his school could serve as a paradigm in a national context. He will consider how a school’s curriculum can and should instil in young people the knowledge, skills and attitudes which they will need for future study and for their working lives, reflecting along the way on the importance of guarding against exclusivity and separateness in the independent sector.
We’re looking forwarding to hearing Fionnuala and Alastair as they delve deeper into these key topics on the 18 June.
Read more about the Academic Conference here.
Mr Matt Godfrey
godfreym@downehouse.net
