Guest Speakers Archives - Heathfield School

Founder’s Day

Nik Mackey — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:44:01 +0000

Students and staff celebrated Heathfield’s 125^th Founder’s Day on Friday 2 February. Events commenced with a gripping talk from Ben Heason, professional climber, who talked about his life-long passion for climbing which culminated with him leading the first team to successfully ascend the highest waterfall in the world – Angel Falls in Venezuela, which stands at 3,212ft high. An energetic whole school House challenge followed with a well-deserved House tea where students enjoyed the delicious 125 Heathfield cake. Founder’s Day Chapel was followed by a closely fought House Tug of War with Seacole emerging as the triumphant House. After a superb supper for which the students had chosen the menu, the day was wrapped up by evening entertainment organised by the students.

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Founder’s Day

Heathfield — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 15:18:21 +0000

We celebrated Founder’s Day on Friday 3rd February beginning with a special Chapel service for the whole school.

Girls then returned to their House tutor groups to compete in a Treasure Hunt with clues placed all over the school and grounds.

An inspiring talk for the whole school was given from Heather Fisher sports personality and internationally renowned England rugby player. Sharing her story and numerous setbacks she encouraged girls to work hard, be brave and believe in yourself.

After Tutor tea, competition heightened at the Inter-House Founder’s Day Challenge Tug of War which was won by de Valois.

Hilarious evening entertainment with a staff-led show ended a wonderful day of celebration.

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Guest Speaker: Andrew Steel

Heathfield — Mon, 30 Jan 2023 12:56:26 +0000

On Wednesday 18 January, Heathfield Careers and Outreach department welcomed Andrew Steel, Global Group Head (CEO), Sustainable Fitch. Andrew works in sustainable finance and spoke about the Environment, Net Zero and Investments. The topics discussed were how we can apply our knowledge to find solutions for complex problems. Also, how our increasing population, consumption and globalisation has contributed to global warming and what we can all do as individuals to help reduce this.

The discussion on the environment showed the ‘green’ sector as growing rapidly, especially green investment. The talk was attended by all year groups. They enjoyed asking lots of questions, everything from technology solutions to macroeconomics.

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Guest Speaker, Baroness Lynda Chalker

Heathfield — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 11:02:12 +0000

The Careers and Outreach Department welcomed Baroness Lynda Chalker as part of the Heathfield speaker programme. Heathfield students and students from Eton College asked multiple questions and really enjoyed the session.

Baroness Chalker was UK Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, holding responsibility for Africa and the Commonwealth and then also for Overseas Development. She has been a member of the Lower and Upper Houses of the UK Parliament for over forty years. She was first elected in 1974 as MP for Wallasey and was made a Life Peer in 1992.

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First Speaker of the Academic Year: Dr Helen Pankhurst

Heathfield — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:15:16 +0000

The first talk of this academic year, Women’s Rights: Past, Present & Future, is always special and we could not have chosen a better speaker than Dr Helen Pankhurst. Dr Pankhurst is the great granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and granddaughter of Sylvia Pankhurst, the leaders of the Suffragettes, without whom women would not have achieved the vote in 1918 (limited) and 1928. Dr Pankhurst, from an extensive line of activists (her grandfather was an Italian Anarchist), is an activist in her own right. She is a Senior Advisor to CARE International UK, a major international humanitarian agency.

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Polar Explorer, Mr Robert Swan

Heathfield — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 11:29:52 +0000

On 11 March, Form III were treated to a talk by Polar explorer, Robert Swan. Robert is the first person in history to walk to both the North Pole and the South Pole and, after seeing the effects of climate change, he now dedicates himself to protecting Antarctica and the planet. He has founded the organisation the 2041 Foundation. 2041 is the year that the current Antarctica Treaty ends, and the future of this last wilderness will be decided.

Robert talked about his previous expeditions following in the footsteps of Amundson and Scott in walking to the South Pole and his delight in beating the Norwegians to the North Pole. His next expedition with son Barney is called Undaunted and he is aiming to cross the entire continent completing what he set out to do 35 years earlier. The theme of his talk was very much about how individuals have the power to achieve their goals, whatever they may be, through perseverance, determination and commitment.

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Founder’s Day

Heathfield — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 10:35:29 +0000

We welcomed Founder’s Day Guest Speaker award-winning journalist Alexis Bowater to talk to the whole school about her work, researching Nancy Astor and the hurdles she faced as a driving force behind the statue of Lady Astor in Plymouth.

Lady Astor opened the door for female politicians, the first woman MP to take a seat in the House of Commons, she overcame prejudice and hostility to strive for equality and fairness and in doing so, she blazed a trail which is still being followed today.

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Drama Workshop with Actor Joanna Riding

Heathfield — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 14:54:58 +0000

On January 12, the Drama Department had the pleasure of welcoming double Olivier Award winning actress Joanna Riding for an afternoon of Musical Theatre exploration. Most recently seen in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s production of ‘Carousel’, and as Sally in the National Theatre’s production of ‘Follies’, Joanna won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayals of Eliza in ‘My Fair Lady’ at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2003, and as Julie Jordan in the National Theatre’s production of ‘Carousel’ in 1993.

Students from Form II to Lower Sixth had the opportunity to perform for Joanna and work with her on developing their skills and exploring the context of their chosen songs. From experimenting with development of song through monologue to the ways in which changes in physicality and body language can have an impact on the song’s intention, our students gained a great deal from the experience which they will be able to apply to their future performances. Joanna remained with us into the evening to share her insights into a career in the theatre industry and her ‘Top Tips’ for starting out in her talk ‘An Actor’s Life’. Joanna also gave time to our students who are considering applying to Drama School post A-level, advising on what to prepare to best showcase their talents.

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Award Winning Theatre & Film Director Visit

Heathfield — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 11:57:16 +0000

On 17 November, we had the pleasure of welcoming award-winning theatre and film director, Sean Mathias, to dine with us.

Sean is known for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions all over the world, from the West End and Broadway to Los Angeles and Sydney. Sean won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director in 1992 and the Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes film festival for his film Bent, starring Sir Ian McKellan amongst many other established actors. Sean has just finished the summer season at the Theatre Royal in Windsor with Hamlet and The Cherry Orchard. Sean is in the studio editing the film of Hamlet.

The Drama Scholars were invited to this informal dinner, and Sean brought his Assistant Director, Sophie Drake. This gave the students an opportunity to speak to someone at the beginning of her career, as well as having the privilege to hear from such an incredibly talented and influential director.

Our next Careers and Outreach event is The Making of Lapland, by the founders of Lapland UK, Mike and Alison Battle, at 7.30pm on 1 December. All parents are welcome to attend.

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