Academic Enrichment CO N TI N UED
Peer M entoring
Mentoring
In the Lower Sixth, I was paired with Max to help
him prepare for GCSEs. I didn’t know him well at the
time and was told he was finding certain areas of
Chemistry and Maths challenging.
Over the following months I met with Max regularly
in a very informal setting, going through questions
and past papers that he chose. It was a pleasure
watching him grasp many concepts that he hadn’t
fully understood originally, and come out of his exams
with pleasing grades.
I also benefited greatly from the experience, as
teaching helped me deepen my understanding of the
subjects. I also made a really good mate to whom
I now speak on a regular basis.
Curtis French, Upper Sixth
Sally Nicholls:
Things a Bright Girl Can Do
Sally Nicholls, author of Ways to Live Forever,
visited in January to give an inspiring talk about
suffragettes and their actions. Her focus was on
those women who took direct action to further
their cause.
I found the story of how the government had
refused to hold law-breaking suffragettes as political
prisoners – motivating them to hunger strike –
particularly shocking. To help us fully understand
the horror of the brutality these women endured,
Ms Nicholls played two short clips of women
talking about their experiences when fighting for
their right to vote. They vividly described how they
were forcibly fed during a hunger fast and how
unsympathetic the police were during the protests.
The latter half of the talk outlined the plot of her
new book, Things a Bright Girl Can Do, which follows
three girls in 1914 from very different backgrounds,
brought together by the fight for gender equality.
The book focuses on the pressure felt by the
government in the build-up to the First World
War, as the role of women became increasingly
influential.
Henry Hollingworth, Year 9
12
ACADEMIC REVIEW
Professor Paul Freemont
What if you could use DNA as a digital storage hard
drive? What if you could genetically modify probiotic
bacteria to make them detect cancer cells in the
body? What if you could reprogramme cells so they
start producing anti-malarial drugs?
These are the questions Professor Paul Freemont
(of Imperial College London) asked pupils, parents
and teachers, when he came to deliver a fascinating
lecture about some of the most cutting-edge
developments in synthetic biology. This is a new
field that involves applying engineering principles to
biological systems; or, as Professor Freemont put it,
‘treating DNA as a programmable language’, which
would, if perfected, revolutionise the efficiency of
diagnostics and healthcare.
Professor Freemont ended by emphasising that the
limits of synthetic biology are not technological, but
societal, in that the applications and utility of the
technology must be understood and accepted by
the general public in order for it to have a significant
impact in the future.
Juliette Imbert, Lower Sixth
Studying with a mentor
Every year we train academic
mentors to support younger
pupils in their studies.
This scheme is run through the Learning Support
department and aims to provide both mentors and
mentees with valuable lifelong learning skills while
galvanising their confidence in their own abilities.
Each year over 80 Sixth Formers offer academic
support during tutor time, break or after school.
These sessions provide informal support, yield
confidence-building relationships and often result
in new friendships.
I’ve always struggled with the three sciences,
so receiving extra help during my IGCSEs was
undoubtedly going to be beneficial. However the
special thing about the mentoring programme is that
you receive this help from a Lower Sixth student who
is taking these subjects for their IB. This allowed me
to gain invaluable help, including revision tips and
exam technique.
Having a fellow student as your mentor means that
the sessions are extremely informal, which made
them enjoyable. I can honestly say that without the
help of Curtis, my mentor, I would not have had as
much confidence and knowledge as I did going into
my GCSEs.
SEVENOAKS SCHOOL 2017-2018
Max Doll, Lower Sixth
13