Clever Clogs Conference 2018

'The definition of cool is clever' - so began the school's second Clever Clogs Conference on Thursday 8th February, organised by our Student Leadership Team...

The day kicked off with 'Bigger Think' sessions, where the school split up in to smaller groups of mixed years to tackle a number of challenges, riddles and pressing questions (such as If gender is a social construct, why do we need feminism?). Girls were then free to explore the Research Fair, where students explained to their peers what they had recently been studying - whether in the Extended Project Qualification, or as part of our scholarship programme, for example:  The impact of Western literature in Iran; Can I teach classical language and mythology using my Harry Potter app?; Military medicine... 

A range of symposia (or as we call it here at WHS, Wimposia!) followed under titles such as Medical imaging - why medicine needs physics; Graphic novels and empathy; Can I learn to be positive? and much more!

After a lunch filled with fringe activities and brain food, we welcomed Pinky Lilani, Founder of Women of the Future, who gave students an inspirational talk about how they can unlock their true potential to make a difference. Filled with wonderful anecdotes and inspiring words, the girls were left truly motivated.

It wouldn't be a true Clever Clogs Conference without seeing the teachers properly challenged, which we most certainly did during Locked Room. Small teams of teachers were 'locked' in rooms and tasked to 'escape' them through cracking a number of challenges within a 30 minute time frame. Luckily, they managed to escape with a whopping 13 minutes remaining! Clever Clogs Qi (or Wi), new to 2018, concluded the day as we saw Mr Addis take on the role of Quizmaster, putting the teams through their paces and having a lot of fun along the way...

Overall, a day to remember, filled with 'lightbulb' moments and Wimbledonian spirit thanks to our wonderful Head Girl Team. A total of £3178.55 has been raised as a school, with each form group leading a number of fundraising activities which will go towards the Making the World Cleverer initiative devised by our Student Leadership Team. The idea of this initiative is that each form will forge a close, personal bond and sponsor a girl's education for a year, writing her letters, receiving updates and tracking her development. Wonderful news to end the day. Have a look at the photos below...