The Queen’s Holdich Society was developed to provide a forum for academic enrichment and inspiration.
The pupil lecture programme is a popular way to develop girls’ critical thinking and intellectual dexterity.
External speakers are invited to attend, and members of the teaching staff also give presentations that are designed to inspire debate and challenge students to think in an interdisciplinary manner about intellectual ideas.
This week, Eleanor Lloyd-Brown in Year 12 gave a presentation on the identity of Jack the Ripper - a topic that has fascinated historians both amateur and professional since the crimes first took place over one hundred years ago.
Eleanor’s own interest in the case stems from her study of GCSE history and she has continued to broaden her knowledge on the case and the surrounding hysteria since. Eleanor chose to focus this particular talk on three of the possible suspects, although there are, of course, many more. Eleanor gave an excellent profile of each and was also able, when questioned by the panel, to explain who she thought the most likely to have committed the crime and why.
The open-floor discussion held at the close of the presentation also opened up some very interesting ideas about modern policing methods, social and moral panic and the class divisions of late-Victorian England. It was a most thought-provoking session and Eleanor was commended for her efforts to shed a little more light onto this dark episode in our history.