The chilling effect of censorship

26th November 2021

A defining feature of all authoritarian governments and ideologies, censorship is hardly a new phenomenon. Just take a cursory glance at history, and you will find countless examples of people imposing censorship as a means of thought control, often with devastating consequences. It comes as no surprise that freedom of expression is often seen as the hallmark of a civilised society – and for good reason. The suppression of dissenting opinion invariably paves the way for further abuses of human rights, and betrays the values of democracy.

The chilling effect of censorship

Civil Discourse – an interview with Ms Kennedy

26th November 2021

Having read Ms Kennedy’s WimLearn article on civil discourse (which is really rather good – click here to read it), and with this week marking the launch of the civil discourse programme at WHS, I thought I’d quiz our headteacher on what ‘authentic encounters between enquiring hearts and minds’ really means. We touch on teachers at WHS, culture wars, feminism, ad hominin, the state of the British press and of course, the infamous “school of woke” comment, courtesy of Giles Coren. What struck me throughout our conversation was this concept of a ‘dialogue’; that the problem is really us jumping at each other’s throats when we disagree or feel offended at something. It is this that obstructs constructive, useful and mutually respectful conversations. ‘There’s more that connects us than divides us’, as Jo Cox, head of co-curricular at WHS, reminds us at the end of this interview.

Civil Discourse – an interview with Ms Kennedy

Proud to be

26th November 2021

Thirty years ago, my grandfather, the first person in my family to have acquired university level education, came to England to work for the Angolan Embassy. In doing so, he opened doors and created opportunities for my mother, and now myself, to have a high-quality education.

Proud to be