Secondary (and primary schools where appropriate) are warmly encouraged to bring groups of pupils to events in the main programme. There are discounts for groups, a free staff ticket with every ten pupils and the chance to hear from major poets and writers and ask them questions.  Plus the excitement of being able to talk to leading scientists, mathematicians, politicians and sports people.

Events relevant to the Curriculum

Each year we have events which link to the GCSE and A Level curricula.

Here are some of examples from the 2011 Festival of events that were of particular interest to Secondary schools.

English

Simon Callow on Charles Dickens

Claire Tomalin on Charles Dickens

Gerald Dickens- performance of ‘Here Comes Mr Dickens’

Katherine Frank on  Daniel Defoe and  the ‘real’ Robinson Crusoe

David Crystal on the 100 most important English words

Guided Reading Group exploring Laurence Sterne’s: Tristram Shandy

Professor John Sutherland on the lives of important novelists

Novelists discussing their work include:

Alan Hollinghurst  Mark Haddon Tessa Hadley and Jane Rogers

Justin Cartwright  Patricia Duncker  Tim Binding Julie Myerson

David Nobbs  Michael Symmons Roberts and Paul Farley

Alex Wheatle  Michael Arditti Niall Griffiths  Moni Mohsin

Aamer Hussein  Roopa Farooki   Sunjeev Sahota    Janice Galloway

Poetry

Simon Armitage

Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze:

Aiofe Mannix

Liz Lochhead

Victor Rodríguez Núñez- Cuba’s leading poet

Ian McMillan

John Cooper Clark

Exploration of the work of Pakistan’s leading poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Matthew Hollis on WWI poet, Edward Thomas

Multilingual Mushaira with English translations

The Milton Consort perform work by John Donne

The Fetch Theatre Company with a puppet performance bringing to life 24 hours on a street in Lahaore through poetry by Mazhar Tirmazi 

Young People’s writers (12+)

Kevin Crossley-Holland

David Almond talks about The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean

Melvyn Burgess talks about Kill All Enemies

Meg Rosoff talks about There is No Dog

Martyn Bedford talks about Flip

Jennifer Donnelly talks about Revolution

Economics and Business Studies

Evan Davis on British manufacturing and industry

Lord Digby Jones on what we need to do to ‘Fix Britain’

Tim Harford on why adapting is important and how success always starts with failure

History

Lizzie Collingham on  World War II and the battle for food

Prof. Matthew Cobb on the French Resistance

Professor Sir Ian Kershaw and Frederick Taylor on the end of Nazi Germany and the country’s ultimate economic recovery

Hilary Spurling on the American writer Pearl Buck who opened up China before and during the Maoist era to the West

Roy Hattersley on Lloyd George

Prof. Sheila Rowbotham on women’s history in the UK and USA 1880-1920

Richard Gott talks about the British Empire in terms of resistance, repression and revolt

C.P. Belliappa talks about Victoria Gowramma: The Victorian ‘lost Princess of Coorg’

Jane Brown talks about 18^th century landscape designer ‘Capability’ Brown

John Cooper on the Queen’s Agent: Francis Walsingham at the Court of Elizabeth I

Simon Scarrow talks about his fictionalised account of a Roman legion

Politics and Sociology

Anne Oakley on Barbara Wootton, Social Scientist and one of the architects of the Welfare State

Nigel Lawson on his time as Margaret Thatcher’s Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chris Mullin on his time in government 2005–2010

Noel Brehony and Paul Moorcraft on understanding the Arab Spring

Sir Roy Strong: Visions of England

Melissa Benn on what she sees as the ‘Battle for Britain’s Education’R.E.

Melvyn Bragg talks about the radical Impact of the King James Bible 1611-2011

Professor Graham Parry talks about the importance of translator, Lancelot Andrewes

Patrick Wildgust talks about Laurence Sterne’s sermons

Science

Professor Matthew Cox and Dr Robert Appleby discuss how their important discoveries have been turned into short stories Science writer Philip Ball on the issues around the artificial creation of human life

Adam Hart-Davis on the science of ‘time’

Chris Stringer (Director of the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project) on the origin of our species

Geography

Yvette Huddleston and Walter Swan on the Yorkshire Dales

Tim Smith & Irna Quereshi on The Grand Trunk Road – from  Delhi to the Khyber Pass

Music

Colin Grant on Bob Marleyand the Wailers

Andy Kershaw on his life and work

Mark Radcliffe on his life and key northern music moments from the 1950s to the present

John Spurling & pianist Richard Kenwood Herriott on Franz Liszt with musical illustrations

Media Studies and Film

Francine Stock on a fim history- key film moments and how film has shaped us

Peter Conradi and Mark Logue on the true story behind The King’s Speech

Dorothy Byrne – Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4- Are all Journalists Crooks?

Art and Design

Fiona MacCarthy on Edward Burne-Jones, the last Pre-Raphaelite

Simon Garfield on the history of fonts

Food Tech

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on ways to cook vegetables

Pen Vogler History of Food

Sport Science

Anthony Clavane and Jason Cowley on football and culture

Alastair Hignell on his career in rugby and cricket and as a sports commentator

Climber Joe Simpson on his new novel about climbing

Wade Davis on the mountaineer Geroge Mallory

Explorer Sir Raulph Fiennes on his heroes

Colin Speakman on the history of walking