Shadow Attorney General and former director of the charity Liberty,
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, instantly recognisable for her appearances on
such political programmes as Question Time and renowned for her long
standing work on the protection of human rights, had a hall of more than
380 of our students captivated on Friday 2nd February 2018 as she delivered
her lecture.
In her highly personable style, Baroness Chakrabarti recounted her time at
school and university and reminded students that it was important to have
aspirations for their futures and to take every opportunity that comes
their way. Baroness Chakrabarti then continued by exploring her route into
the legal profession and went into depth about her experiences as a civil
servant at the Home Office, her time as a barrister and her role as
Director of Liberty where she recounted a number of the human rights cases
that she had to deal with in this role.
Baroness Chakrabarti, who entered the House of Lords in 2016 as a Labour
peer, finished her talk by explaining why she was drawn into politics late
in life and why she believes it is important that all students take an
interest in current affairs and policy debates.
Baroness Chakrabarti gave a considerable amount of time for Oaks Park
students to ask questions, with topics ranging from the position of the
unelected second chamber through to the impacts of Brexit being discussed.
Baroness Chakrabarti ended her talk by explaining how pleased she was of
the calibre of questions asked by Oaks Park High School students. The
students were extremely privileged to have heard Baroness Chakrabarti
speak, with one Year 11 student saying, “The Baroness was just so normal.
It was great to be able to hear such an inspirational woman speak about how
one can overcome challenges and still achieve their potential.” As always
our students were excellently behaved and were an absolute credit to the
school.
