TEDx Nottingham Girls’ GDST

Nottingham Girls’ look at what humanity can bring to the greater good at their first TEDx event.

In May 2023, the GDST ran its third TEDx event, this time hosted by Nottingham Girls’ High School. Entitled ‘What can our Humanity bring to the Greater Good’ the event featured speakers from the school community including staff, students and alumnae, as well as performances by the Chamber Choir and the Hubbub Theatre Company.

Nottingham Girls’ Sixth Form students showed great confidence and maturity at such a big event. This included the MC for the evening, Aminah from Year 12, who introduced each section theme, and shared her own thoughts on humanity.

“When I think of what humanity brings to the greater good, the first thing that comes to mind is empathy . . one of the most important skills we can possess and show to each other as human beings.”

The first theme was ‘Community: Building Safe Spaces with a Shared Purpose’, with the school’s Head, Julie Keller, delivering the first talk.

“We must educate girls to lead but be in control of their choices and demonstrate how well-being completely sits with this.”

As leader of Nottingham Girls’ she talked about her views on redefining leadership and how good leaders should incorporate wellbeing and choice.

Watch Julie Keller talk ‘Leadership Redefined’

Sixth Form student Feizah spoke about decolonising the curriculum and how we should and could make education more inclusive:

“Every shift in the political climate, every development on the global stage affects individuals differently – be that due to their sexuality, gender, race or economic background – and it’s essential that we’re willing to reflect these changes within the curriculum.”

Watch Feizah Bhatti talk ‘Decolonising the Curriculum’

The Hubbub Theatre Company with ‘The (not so) Quiet Revolution of Kindness.’ Hubbub, delivered their message of inclusivity in a creative and theatrical fashion to a warmly receptive audience. Hubbub is one of the UK’s leading learning disability theatre company whose mission is to help learning disabled people overcome barriers that prevent them from accessing creative opportunities at all levels.

Watch the Hubbub Theatre Company and The Not So Quiet Revolution below

 

The second theme was Connection: ‘Overcoming Division through a United Dialogue’ which was introduced by Claire Bale, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for the Girls’ Day School Trust.

“We all have the power to connect more deeply with the world around us. A world that needs positive change.”

Claire’s regular appearances on local TV and radio, together with her anti-racist blog, help her to deliver a message that is very close to her heart.

Watch Claire Bale’s talk ‘Between the Pages – The Power of Connection’

This was followed by another Sixth Form speaker, Ela, who did an incredible job of talking about an often-avoided subject – periods. Ela highlighted issues such as period poverty and the stigma attached to menstruation and demonstrated what she is doing to change this and how others could support

Watch Ela Kocacik’s talk ‘Why are Periods so Gross?’

The third theme was ‘Creativity: ‘The Irreplaceable Human Superpower’ and the next speaker was an alumna from Nottingham Girls’.

“Practise embracing failure and learn from your mistakes, and through this you will develop deep empathy for others and in today’s world, that really makes a difference.”

Sudha Kheterpa had an amazing past career playing percussion with Faithless and The Spice Girls among others. Sudha is now an entrepreneur and an experienced TEDx speaker in her own right.

Watch Sudha Kheterpa’s talk ‘Unleashing Your Creative Potential: 3 Simple Hacks’

The fourth and final theme was ‘Courage: Overcoming Convention with Conviction’ and the concluding speaker, Summaya Mughal. Summaya is a Senior BBC TV/Radio Presenter, Journalist, Actor-Musician and award-winning Podcast host of ‘Brown Gal Can’t Swim’; she’s also a Notingham Girls’ alumna. Summaya gave a humorous yet very moving talk about her life here as a Pakistani Muslim woman and having the courage of her convictions when making life and career choices.

Watch Summaya Mughal’s talk ‘Realising the Power of your Gift | Summaya Mugha’

 

What can our Humanity bring to the Greater Good?

This concluded the wonderful event which also included fantastic musical performances from The Rhythm of Life by Nottingham Girls’ Chamber Choir and an incredible performance of Blackbird by The Beatles on the electronic harp by Emily Treas, a Musician in Residence. It was such an inspiring evening and we are so grateful to all of our speakers, performers and guests.

Our humanity clearly brings a lot to the greater good in so many different and varied ways through community, connection, creativity and courage. We’re all unique but our humanity is what we all have in common. Used in the right way, this ‘superpower’ we all possess can help the world become a better place and it is without doubt, irreplaceable.

 

GDST TEDx events

TEDx Nottingham Girls GDST was the third TEDx event hosted and run by a GDST school and there are exciting plans to run further events in the future. The previous TEDx event, held at Sutton High School, explored the importance of encouraging girls to separate their own identities from the collective, so that they can learn to thrive as their true selves.

Find out more about TEDx Sutton High School GDST