By Matilda M, Year 10 Journalist Lead

Year 10’s enrichment week started off with Futures Day. Students walked over to the sixth form building, and were introduced to current sixth formers. We discussed the A levels we wanted to take and what life at NHEHS sixth form was like. It was really interesting to hear what the sixth formers had to say to us. They told us about the structure of your day, what taking an extra A-level or EPQ was like and about special opportunities you have in sixth form: it was very enlightening.

Next, we travelled back to the main building, and gathered in the Recital Hall to listen to a talk by futurist Chloe Combi. Chloe discussed feminism and how women face challenges in the workplace. She talked about women in the workplace, and how to challenge stereotypical gender roles or assumptions women face day to day. She engaged with us in numerous ways, asking us what we thought specific words meant and our views, also asking us to create our ideal businesses and what rules we would implement in the workplace. We had six large white boards with different headers, with questions about how we can make a change in the workplace and what our idealistic scenario would involve. This included how many holiday workers were allowed, and what we would name our businesses.

After the talk, we heard from Mrs Collins, Director of University Admissions, explain about our university applications. She encouraged us to explore different career paths and asked us to pick up hobbies which we had somewhat lost, such as reading and how this would help us in the future. We also briefly discussed international universities, where we could find out more about them, how to apply for them, as well as what you need to apply for them.

Overall, the day was very helpful for understanding what our future could be like and how many factors contribute to it, and what we could do right now or at least start thinking about to help open us up to new possibilities.