Lecture Series launched by Dr Broadbent - Sydenham High School

Lecture Series launched by Dr Broadbent

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Friday 22 March saw over 300 pupils gather to hear from Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Dr Broadbent, describe the function of the Bank of England, such as ensuring that banks are safe and inflation is stable, and talk about choosing a career path. Dr Broadbent began by explaining that a central bank is designed to preserve the value of and safety of money and how important it is as a central clearer to facilitate the smooth distribution of payments from consumers to banks. He explained that most money is held as deposits rather than the physical coins and notes that you might imagine represent most of the money in the country and introduced the fact that a new character will be appearing on the £50 note very soon!

Dr Broadbent then went on to discuss his thoughts on career paths and his belief that it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a plan, using several quotes as examples, including: “Everyone has a plan till he gets punched in the mouth.” (Mike Tyson). He advised everyone to follow things that they are interested in and see where it leads – he particularly endorsed studying economics!

The session concluded with a challenging Q&A section led by a panel of sixth formers who had prepared their own questions as well as reading questions sent in by pupils in the lower years. Topics included Brexit’s impact on the economy, how he would manage Venezuela’s economy, the gender pay gap at the Bank of England, China, the treatment of women and ethnic minorities in the banking industry and many more. After his grilling, Dr Broadbent spoke to a small group of scholars over afternoon tea, where they were able to ask further questions and find about more about his job.

Dr Broadbent launched our Lecture Series, which will see prominent speakers across a range of industries speak to our pupils each term. We hope that exposure to a range of experts will broaden the aspirations of our ever-ambitious pupils.

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