We were delighted to welcome Laura Ellis, Head of Technology Forecasting at the BBC, for an inspiring and wide-ranging visit to Barney.
Laura began by working with our Sixth Form Digital Media, Film Studies and Media Studies students, exploring the rapidly evolving impact of AI on the creative industries — challenging them to think critically about how technology can both enhance and disrupt creativity.
She also addressed our Year 9–11 Academic Enrichment group, sharing her journey into journalism, how she came to lead technology forecasting at the BBC, and stimulating a thought-provoking debate on the influence of TikTok and algorithm-driven content.
Our Barney Teaching Innovation Group benefited from her contribution to a rich discussion on the future of AI in education, prompting valuable reflection on how we adapt our teaching in response to these changes and helping us in building towards our planned inter-school AI seminar. Laura also visited our Prep School to see the exciting new Barnyvation maker-space and contributed her thoughts as to how this might be enhanced.
The visit culminated in our annual Academic Enrichment Dinner for Years 9 to 13, where Laura delivered a stimulating keynote speech, encouraging students to think carefully, question confidently, and engage thoughtfully with the technological future ahead of them. She also participated in the Dinner Design Challenge to come up with technological problems and solutions for 2036 resulting in products ranging from “iSnitch” to help police social media companies to “TrueTok” to counter deep fakes.
We were also pleased to help facilitate additional visits for Laura to South Durham UTC and Teesdale School during her stay in Barnard Castle, extending the impact of her expertise across the wider educational community.
We are hugely grateful to Laura for her time, insight, and generosity. Her visit has given real impetus to Barney as we continue to prepare our students — and ourselves — to adapt intelligently and confidently to the rapidly developing technological changes shaping education and society.
