Able and Aspiring Lectures

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The More Able lectures are designed to further develop the knowledge and skills of our most able students. They are open to all year groups, including year 12 and 13 and are delivered by members of staff, individuals from outside agencies and the parents and carers of our school community.

These talks are conducted on a variety of different topics, inside and outside of the normal curriculum and are a fantastic opportunity for our students to broaden their knowledge whilst giving them an experience of what higher education will look like. Students are given a note book to take notes in, on their own accord, and are encouraged to participate and ask questions throughout.

Examples of talks we have had in the past include;

• 'Counting and beyond' where Mr Elliot took students through degree level counting and being able to use a formula to speed this process up
• 'Big Data' where Mr Surridge-Taylor introduced students to how computers and larger agencies use our data and what this means for the 21st century person
• 'The Brain' where Dr Simon Paine showed students how to dissect a brain but also talked about how our brain works and how he, as a doctor, diagnoses brain diseases and problems
• 'Metaphysics' where Miss Jones talked to students about the science behind existence

Our lectures are in The Concert Hall in the college building and are held on a Wednesday from 3.15 to 4.15pm.

Please note that our lectures take place across three half terms of the academic year 22/23 and are as follows:

Half term 2 - Monday 6th November - Friday 15th December

Half term 4 - Monday 19th February - Thursday 28th March

Half term 6 - Monday 3rd June - Thursday 25th July

The third half terms talks are as follows:

Thursday 29th February Dr Julian Onions (Professor of Astrophysics University of Nottingham) –
Black Holes - are they really that bad?
Black holes have got a pretty bad rap from films and books, being looked on as terrifying objects that suck spaceships and astronauts to their doom.
Are they really that bad? How are they made? Can you escape from one?

Wednesday 13th March Dr Henry Fell (Professor of Geography and Bimolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham) – Plagues

Wednesday 20th March Dr Grace Thorne (Clinical Psychologist in Major Trauma) – ‘Brain Evolution and How it Causes Anxiety’

I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Miss Coates