Pupils at a Norfolk secondary school were instrumental in setting up a programme to network with inspirational women during lunch breaks.
Ormiston Victory Academy has been inviting a series of professional women to talk about their respective fields during working lunches, offering career tips and advice, with a particular focus on issues affecting women.
The sessions were introduced after a group of year 10 girls asked to hear about prominent women’s specific experiences, following media revelations around equal pay and harassment in the workplace.
So far guests have included academics, public servants, business leaders and a patent attorney, and there are visits from a consultant paediatric orthopaedic surgeon and a detective superintendent in the pipeline.
“It has been fantastic welcoming all of the special guests we’ve had so far in this series of talks, and our year 10 girls have shown such initiative in helping us to get this going,” said principal Naomi Palmer. “Talks like this are so important to inspire students to achieve their full potential and show them that no dream is impossible, if they put their mind to it.”
Main picture: Patent attorney Kathryn Whyte, left, with students
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