First up, we had Mrs Shradha Shah, a Senior Embedded Software Engineer at Secure Thingz Ltd., based here in Cambridge. She spoke about her work in software engineering and coding related to cryptography and security in Internet connected devices. This provided the pupils with a wider perspective on how the digital skills that they learn in school are applied in the real world of work. They also gained a unique insight into the complex security systems that keep us and our data safe every time we use our digital devices - things that we all tend to take for granted. 

Our second speaker, Mr Kasra Saeb-Parsy, a Consultant Urological Surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, spoke about his work as a doctor and gave some tips on how to pursue a career in medicine. A key message was that modern medicine needs people from a variety of backgrounds and with different skills and that, while a solid grounding in science subjects was still important, other attributes like social skills and artistic ability were also increasingly prized in potential doctors. Above all, hard work, dedication and resilience were the key to success in a medical career. The pupils were keen to ask questions and showed lots of excitement in handling medical exhibits like plaster casts and various bones which were passed round and in volunteering to ‘revive’ a resuscitation manikin.

We are extremely grateful to these parents who have given so generously of their time to come in and inspire our pupils, and we are looking forward to an exciting line-up of speakers in spring term. If you are interested in presenting a talk about what you do in your work or something you are particularly passionate about, our pupils would love to hear from you. Please contact Mr West at: rgw@stephenperse.com