Our Academic Lecture Programme this term has once again provided sixth formers with the opportunity to expand their knowledge in a variety of interesting subject matters.
The programme offers Year 12 the chance to hear from experts in their field and to help bridge the gap between school and university level study.
In the latest lecture, pupils in Year 12 learned about the surprising impacts of the Covid 19 pandemic on how and what we eat in a fascinating talk by one of the UK's leading nutritional experts.
Ex-Queen's girl Alex Williams revealed - as part of the Queen's Academic Lecture programme - how the pandemic and its lockdowns led to serious consequences in the area of 'food security'. This means people's access to food and its affordability.
'People think that nutrition is all about personal decisions such as what we choose to buy, how much we exercise etc," said Alex who is based in London but is now working with a research team at Cambridge University.
"In fact there are major social determinants of our health and inequality of education, wealth and housing plays a huge part in all of this."
Alex outlined how up to 20% of people in the UK are classified as food insecure - meaning they do not have the resources to meet their dietary and nutritional needs. The situation only got worse during the pandemic.
"We estimate that the number of adults who are food insecure quadrupled over lockdown. The Marcus Rashford campaign was a very much a reaction to all of this with its plan to extend free school meals."
As well as doing big-scale research, Alex also works as a nutritionist helping individuals one-to-one and her latest project seeks to support those with polycystic ovary syndrome. Alex very generously offered advice and even work opportunities to any girls in Year 12 who might be interested in nutrition as a future career.
The previous lecture gave girls the chance to learn about the many and sophisticated ways in which companies identify and target consumers in a talk from one of the UK's leading business researchers.
Dr Helen Millward, a lecturer from Keele Business School, revealed the complexity behind promoting products and services effectively and how firms use multiple strategies to 'home in' on potential buyers so they know their promotion resources are not being wasted.
'Marketeers usually target consumers through segmentation, often identifying consumers who have shared interests and needs," said Helen.
"Consumers can be segmented geographically or according to age or lifestyle characteristics - a company will then need different marketing strategies for all of these groups."
Dr Millward's talk covered approaches to selling both products and services and introduced some key business concepts such as the difference between the price of an item and its actual value to who is purchasing it. She also offered Year 12's the chance to discuss their own ideas and experiences of being in the marketplace.