Photo - Alumnae, Amanda Marlow and Alice Jenkins

Towards the end of half-term, we welcomed members of the BGS community who delivered inspiring talks to our students.

On Wednesday 1st February, two alumnae visited the school to give a talk on politics to the Sixth Form cohort. Aimee King (Upper Sixth) reflected on the visit: “Amanda Marlow (BHS 1987), the Conservative Mayor of Milton Keynes and Alice Jenkins (DAHS 2007), a Milton Keynes Conservative Councillor, delivered a very inspiring talk on their emergence into politics. Despite moving into successful careers and being high achievers, they are still keen to be involved in BGS life. 

“Alice Jenkins explained her experiences at school and studying Politics at Durham University. Alice had always been interested in politics and shared with students the activities of her day-to-day life as a councillor and is a "champion of causes in her local ward". Alice encouraged us to think about how even seemingly smaller and often local issues, can have an impact on people's daily lives.  

“Amanda Marlow spoke passionately about her origins of wanting to make a difference, how it was not originally her plan but when campaigning about something very important to her, this became her life. Amanda is very interested in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and is "keen to make a difference to the lives of those who need someone to fight their corner for them". Amanda shared with the students how she was the first Milton Keynes Mayor to announce the queen's death, and coping with such a once in a lifetime event.”

On Friday 3rd February, we were delighted to welcome police officers, alumna and parent, Chief Inspector Rebecca Rowley-Smith (DAHS 1992) and Detective Inspector Jenny Riddy into school for a chat about the different career paths you can take within the Police, as well as the different entry routes on offer. It was really interesting to hear all about Rebecca and Jenny’s experiences, the many challenges and situations you can experience, as well as discussing some of the pertinent topics that affect modern policing today.

Rebecca is Head of the Armed Policing Unit for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire forces and Jenny’s detective work is focused on serious domestic violence in the Bedfordshire force. It was a really insightful talk understanding how much the pair enjoyed their jobs, which is underpinned by their own personal commitment to public duty.