Kingham Lecture Series

Forthcoming lectures 

Kris Akabusi

Wednesday, 19th June 2024

In an Olympic year, we are very much looking forward to hearing from Mr Kriss Akabusi who will be speaking about his career and the life lessons he has learned from it. For some parents and staff this will take us on a trip down memory lane, but there will also be some challenging lessons for everyone as they hear about the life of a high profile sports person. 

Details of how to book will be published here nearer to the time of the event.

Past lectures 

Cat Hemings

Wednesday, 27th March 2024

We're excited to welcome Assistant Chief Officer Cat Hemings to our upcoming Kingham Hill Lecture Series. She oversees custody, criminal justice, strategy, and transformation, and holds a prominent role as the national policing lead for women offenders.

After the murder of Sarah Everard, public trust in the police is at a low. More people are asking are they fair, do they care, and what does it mean for my personal safety? The most controversial public service is at a turning point - this talk will explore what’s happening and why it really should matter to you. This is linked to International Women’s day which is on Friday.

Tom Avery

We are thrilled to have intrepid explorer Tom Avery join us for the next date in our Kingham Hill Lecture Series.  A pioneering polar adventurer, climber and ski mountaineer, Tom is one of the UK's foremost explorers. He has led trailblazing expeditions to all seven continents, but it is perhaps for his record-breaking polar journeys that he is best known. The Sunday Times has said of him: "Avery is shaping up to join the ranks of such British immortals as Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Dame Ellen MacArthur". 

Dominic Sandbrook

The Kingham Hill Lecture Series returns on Wednesday 27th September as we welcome respected author and historian Dominic Sandbrook. 

You will recognise him from many recent BBC documentaries concerning 20th Century history, particularly The 70s, The 80s and Let Us Entertain You.  He is the author of eight modern history books as well as a series of historical novels, The Adventures in Time.  He is also a regular writer for the Daily Mail and The Sunday Times.  Alongside his freelance writing, Dominic is also a Visiting Professor at King’s College London.  He presents the podcast The Rest Is History with fellow historian Tom Holland.

In partnership with the Borzoi Bookshop in Chipping Norton, there will also be an opportunity to buy some of his books and we will be in touch with parents shortly with details of how you can secure your signed copy at discounted prices.

The Lecture will take place at 1930 in the Performing Arts Centre.

Addicted to Adventure

In a full and varied life, Rev'd Bob Shepton has been a Royal Marines officer, a youth leader in the east end of London, and a Chaplain at two schools.  He served at KHS from 1980-1992. As an experienced Arctic explorer he brought his love of adventure to Kingham and encouraged pupils through outdoor pursuits. He built a world class obstacle course in the wooded area behind Greenwich and Severn and for years the school  competed (and usually won) the annual skills competition at Longmoor. Bob has a sailing boat and led pupils on various expeditions during the holidays. Kingham was the first school to cross the Atlantic, as well as the first school to sail around the world.  A documentary from that time can be viewed here. He will be sharing stories from those trips and his message of ‘no risk, no reward, no life’.

update:  to view a recording of the lecture, please click here.

An Unexpected Journey

Take one agnostic surgeon and a London art dealer and come along to hear how thirty years later they find themselves as a Vicar and charity founder, buying a bank, delivering 46,000 meals during covid, and building wardrobes with the ex-Prime Minister!   It's a story of contrasts - how we live in the most beautiful countryside, full of wealth and opportunity and yet hidden amongst this is the most deprived neighbourhood in West Oxfordshire where families and individuals are failing to thrive. We would love you to come and join us to hear how this - with the help of the Kingham Hill family - is changing.