Futurescope was born in the 2016/17 academic year. The brainchild of Jake Lynn, who at the time was Head of Media Studies at Alice Smith, Futurescope was initially a teaching and learning project wherein students from Years 10-13 volunteered to research, prepare and deliver a TED-style talk of around ten minutes on a topic of their choice.
Although staff were available for students throughout the process, Futurescope prioritised and developed independent learning for participants, who as the sole experts in their chosen topic were almost entirely responsible for constructing a talk that would be at once informative and engaging for an audience of fellow students and select adults.
The first Futurescope in February 2017 showed everyone in the Alice Smith community that the event was so much more than an isolated teaching and learning project. Not only was the audience dumbstruck by the quality and variety of talks, the speakers themselves were clearly empowered by the independence and public speaking engendered by the project. The project was expanded in to include our Year 9 students and is now eagerly anticipated each year in Term 2.
Under normal circumstances these talks are delivered over the course of a day in the lecture theatre but this year Futurescope has, by necessity, moved online, with students recording their talks themselves from home. The level and quality of the talks received so far continues to show our students' passion for their chosen subjects as well as their resilience and creativity despite the limitations the MCO has placed on us. With a few more days to go before this year's final submission date we are looking forward to some great talks!
You can take a look at previous years talks on the Futurescope website from Black Holes to K-Pop and from OCD to The Power of Languages there is a huge range.
We'll be highlighting this year's talks in the coming weeks on our social channels so don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
