Claudia Carpenter
Claudia left SHSK in 2021 to read History and Politics at the University of Edinburgh, graduating this year with a first-class honours degree (Master of Arts, History and Politics). She has undertaken internships with the Liberal Democrats and House of Commons and is now working as a Policy Caseworker to Layla Moran MP.
Matthew Barber
Matthew is the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) covering Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire and acts as the voice of the public, representing two and a half million people. He served as Deputy PCC from 2017 to 2021, during which time he took on the chairmanship of the Local Criminal Justice Board and previously served on the Vale of White Horse District Council and was Leader of the Council up to 2018. He has been a director of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership as well as Chairman of Vale4Business and a Board Member of Science Vale and is involved in various charitable organisations.
Dr Matthew Rumbold
Dr Matthew Rumbold is an English lecturer from Rhodes University in South Africa, then researcher at Warwick University and now lectures at Radley College.
Professor Alison Atkinson
Alison is Group Director – Projects & Development at Anglo American and has vast experience of leading large technology-based organisations such as her role as CEO of AWE, an organisation with a critical mission to support the defence and security of the UK and previously at Halcrow, the global engineering consultancy. A champion for diversity in science and engineering, Alison was voted the sixth most ‘Influential Female Engineer in the UK and Europe’ by the Financial Times and will impart her wisdom and advice to our students on navigating a career path in predominantly male industries.
Professor Sarah Sharples
Sarah is Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Science & Engineering at The University of Manchester. She joined Manchester from the University of Nottingham, where she held senior roles including Pro-Vice-Chancellor for EDI and People.
A Professor of Human Factors, she has been Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Transport, focusing on automated vehicles, future fuels, and emerging tech. Her research explores people-technology interaction in complex systems across transport, manufacturing and healthcare.
Four students give their thoughts and takeaways from the lectures:
Tuesday – Mr Matthew Barber
I found the lecture by Matthew Barber really engaging, his experience of being a Police and Crime Commissioner gave insight not just into his role as a politician but also into the realities faced by police officers, where he gave examples of the more horrific crimes and how they support officers who deal with them. He gave a really good explanation of the importance and methods of improving the relationship between the public and police, and within this he touched upon failings in the police department that need to be addressed. He also explained his political role, and this linked nicely with modern politics and expected reforms, which gave a good overview of the breadth of his role.
Wednesday – Dr Matthew Rumbold
Dr Matthew Rumbold’s lecture was incredibly fascinating. It linked surprisingly well to what we have been studying in Philosophy A level and it was great to see concepts we studied in class being used in the real world, about the hard problem of consciousness and qualia. I found it interesting to hear his perspective on how literature can help us to understand personal experience and qualia in a way that science cannot, despite being able to give us the facts, as this is not something I had thought of before and I will be thinking about it next time I read a fiction book!
Thursday – Mrs Alison Atkinson
The talk by Mrs Alison Atkison was really inspiring as she spoke about how she has pursued a very successful career in a male-dominated field. This helped me to see that anything is possible if you work hard and leave your options open. The passion with which she spoke about her job demonstrated to me that you can be the best of the best, loving your job and working hard, whilst maintaining a well-balanced life outside of the workplace.
Friday – Professor Sarah Sharples
The talk given by Dr Sharples was an insightful talk where we got to listen to Dr Sharples’ advice about going into the workforce whilst also not neglecting your own personal life on the side and, most importantly, making sure to do what you love. I found the talk engaging and useful, especially as we’re going into our final year of A levels and looking at what the future will bring for us. Also, her advice, helped add to my perspective of life beyond school.
