On Monday 15th September, the College was delighted to host a third ‘Special Interest Day’ in partnership with u3a in Kennet, our local branch of the University of the Third Age. The theme for the day was Global Tipping Points, which was selected to open up a broad range of themes which might appeal to young and old alike. Together with members of u3a in Kennet and other local u3a branches, the Memorial Hall hosted College Sixth Formers and pupils from Lydiard Park Academy and Swindon Academy.
The four main speakers for the day included our own Chair of Council, Heidi Venamore PSM, who spoke on whether the Middle East was at a tipping point, drawing on her extensive personal experience and giving a view which was, happily, rather more positive than the Western media might have us believe. Professor David Waltham spoke on What do ice-ages tell us about climate tipping points? and Sir Muir Gray addressed tipping points in longevity in his talk on Super-ageing. AI was a prominent theme of the day, with Dr Jeremy Wyatt speaking on the benefits of AI in healthcare, and two Upper Sixth Marlburians tackling the same area – Charlie A-S on The Age of AI and Bo G enlightening us on AI composition in her talk entitled From Bach to Bots. As in previous years, these pupil TED-style talks were very well and generously received, prompting many questions from the audience. Johnny C-D spoke on whether we are at a tipping point in the reversal of global free trade and Tadgh F, in his talk entitled Chasing the Sun, made the case for a tipping point in the economics of how we head for net zero to facilitate the further development of fusion. We were delighted that Hannen E, a Year 12 pupil at Swindon Academy, joined the line-up to speak on possible tipping points in international aid.
This was, then, a highly thought-provoking day, and one which was shared in a spirit of learning and enquiry across both different generations and different school sectors.
Jimmy Scragg
Deputy Head, Co-Curriculum and Outreach
