Nearly 2500 local primary and secondary pupils visited our annual STEM Week, taking part in a range of superb talks, demonstrations and hands-on workshops over the past five days.
This year’s theme, Curiosity: What’s Your Question?, encouraged everyone to view curiosity as the starting point of discovery. Throughout the week, students were invited to ask thoughtful questions, consider different perspectives and reflect on how curiosity shapes learning. Highlights have included Royal Institution shows involving a ‘radioactive’ banana and rocket launches. Our visitors also had the opportunity to make their own putty, dissect a squid and explore static electricity – all very popular activities.
We also welcomed Professor Jack Stilgoe (OS 1995) back to Sevenoaks as part of STEM Week. Professor Stilgoe spoke to the Lower Sixth, unpacking the legal and moral dilemmas at the heart of our automated future. He also gave a seminar on the politics and ethics of science.
In the evening, Professor Stilgoe gave an open lecture: How to think about new technologies, from self-driving cars to ChatGPT. He examined questions of responsibility in risk management and the positive and negative impacts of technology.
