The School has been enjoying its first Benenden STEM Month, a month-long celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, showcasing its value and intrigue through a range of activities and events in partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Beginning with a partnership launch with Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Regional Fundraising Officer Ellie Horswill, the School has gone on to feature talks from major figures in the contemporary STEM world as part of the programme.
First, the School hosted Baroness Dido Harding, Chairwoman of NHS Improvement and recent head of the controversial NHS Test and Trace programme. Next was Alex Evans, Managing Director, Head of Telecoms, Media and Technology Investment Banking in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Barclays, before finally, the School will be joined by billionaire businesswoman and Chairperson of HCL Technologies, Roshni Nadar, the first woman to lead a listed IT company in India.
Four pupils also had the opportunity to give their own talks at the Tonbridge Science Conference, offering presentations that showcased their independent STEM research to fellow students and staff from around 15 Science-leading schools.
A variety of interactive STEM workshops were held during lunchtimes, including a cuttlefish dissection, drone-flying and slime-making. Students across the School then took part in the Inter-House STEM Sprint, a relay-style physical and intellectual test that saw teams compete against the clock and race to answer challenging STEM questions. An organised Astronomy Evening gave pupils a chance to try their hand at stargazing, using a hi-tech telescope to bring the mysteries of space to their laptop screen.
The varied and well-received programme across the last month has evidenced our students’ devotion to STEM, as well as inspiring a few others to delve deeper into the related subjects, and it is anticipated that this will be made an annual event.
