Festival of Ideas 2023 - Conference on Imagine programme

Conference on Imagine

Wednesday 28 June 2023

Patrick Garvey is a co-founder of award-winning Amsterdam based Creative Innovation Consultancy We Are Pi. He has created ground-breaking international work for brands like Nike, Heineken, LEGO, TED Conferences, Emirates Airlines, Honda, Coca-Cola, and entertainment for Channel 4, Guardian, and the BBC. We Are Pi has been named International Small Agency of the Year three years in a row.

The Festival of Ideas is going to be an extraordinary week of school. The theme this year is ‘Imagine’. Throughout the festival, we will celebrate students’ work, encourage them to think creatively and introduce them to new, exciting ideas.

During the week, there will be cross department involvement, our Summer Concert and Lower School Production: ‘Lord of the Flies’. These are some of our biggest events of the year, celebrating the students’ creativity and artistic talent.

These events are joined by our Imagine Conference. During this, students will hear from celebrated poet, Mr Gee; old boy and founder of advertising agency WE ARE PI, Patrick Garvey and Yahoo Top 50 Future Leaders in Finance, Abisola Barber. We aim to invite leaders from different fields to respond to our theme: ‘Imagine’. This prompts a rich and creative panel discussion between disciplines that don’t often share a stage.

The Festival of Ideas is a time for the whole school community to celebrate the achievements of our pupils in different disciplines. Students who have completed a Lower and Middle School Project, Sixth Form Project or EPQ will deliver short presentations to tutor groups on the topics they have researched, and Fourth Year Academic Scholars have set challenges for each year group to complete during the week.

As well as opportunities outside the classroom, students will be treated to wider learning by their teachers and workshops. Adding to our termly field day on Friday, the whole school is going off-timetable on Thursday to complete workshops in areas that go beyond the taught curriculum.

We hope that all students we throw themselves into the festival and join in with as much as they can! Every child should be inspired by something they see or do in the week, and who knows, maybe have an idea that turns into a reality.

Professor Julian Ma is the Hotung Chair of Molecular Immunology and Director of the Institute for Infection and Immunity at St. George’s, University of London. He also holds honorary Consultant appointments in Oral Medicine at King’s College London and in Infection and Immunity at St. George’s University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust.

Julian leads a research group developing vaccines and antibodies expressed in plants, focusing on global infectious diseases affecting the poor in developing regions, including HIV, rabies, Ebola and TB. Julian has led a number of major international research programmes notably performing the first ever clinical safety trial in humans of an HIV antibody produced in tobacco plants.

THE SPEAKERS Abisola Barber is a Director for a Global Corporate, Investment & Consumer Bank. Leveraging her background as a former Chief Operating Officer within Global Markets, Abisola drives cross-departmental collaboration as she leads on Transformational and product risk management to enhance operational effectiveness, whilst championing strong conduct, culture, and colleague development. At only 30 years old and a multi-award winning Professional recognised by the Financial Times, Yahoo Finance and The Black British Business Awards for her trailblazing career and pioneering work in Diversity and Inclusion, Abisola is an Independent Board Member for the University of York’s governing council, and Advisory Board Member for the School for Business and Society at the University of York.

Mr Gee has been a veteran on the UK’s Live poetry scene for over two decades. His work has been featured in the Times, The Guardian & the New Statesman. He’s presented several radio series: “Bespoken Word”, “Rhyme & Reason” & “Poetic Justice” all on BBC Radio 4, the latter of which focused on the extensive rehabilitation work that he does in prisons. Mr Gee’s currently an advisor for the Prison Mentor & Trainee charity “Switchback” and a trustee for the Street Art charity Paint the Change. His poetry has been used to launch the 2023 FA Cup Finals and the 2021 Euros.

6:00pm

Introduction from Mr Petty

6:05 pm

Paddy Garvey

6:25 pm

Professor Julian Ma

6:50 pm

Abisola Barber

7:05 pm Interval

7:30 pm

Mr Gee Q&A session

8:00 pm

Event finishes