BOLD VOICE

BOLD VOICE

Warminster Schools’ home grown ‘Bold Voice’.

It’s always a pleasure welcoming past pupils back to Warminster and this week our Upper Sixth spent the day with Natasha Eeles (0V13).  Tash joined Warminster School as an eager Year 4 prep pupil, convinced that she had arrived at Hogwarts but a little perplexed to discover there were no 'Defence against the Dark Arts' lessons scheduled in her timetable! Fortunately she quickly realised her school day was packed with far more relevant subjects and she left Warminster 10 years later. Mrs Rogers recalls a natural organiser, “I remember Tash bursting into my office shortly before Enrichment Day and smiling, “It’s all sorted Mrs Rogers!”.  It’s been fascinating to watch her progress and witness the same passion and energy we saw all those years ago, encouraged here at school now translated into her adult life.”

Tash recalls, “Looking back, Warminster School proved to be the ideal springboard for me to embark on my current career; setting up my own business, juggling academic work with financial acumen, and having the confidence to ‘find my voice’.  All of this stems from the strong, secure grounding, both pastoral and academic, that I was fortunate enough to receive at school.”

Fast forward 16 years (from her early prep days) and Tash returned to Warminster having completed a History Degree at Bristol University, closely followed by an MSc in Gender & International Relations. Her latest studies inspired her to set up ‘Bold Voices’ and she has spent the past year delivering presentations and workshops on gender equality in schools and universities.  Tash explains, “It is imperative for young people to understand how issues of gender impact on their futures as they take these crucial first steps forward into further education and employment. It has been truly wonderful to be welcomed back to Warminster School and to be given the opportunity to encourage this next generation of pupils to find their own voices and to speak out on such an important and relevant global issue”.

During her day with the Upper Sixth, Tash delivered a series of thought provoking workshops to small groups of pupils. The groups considered case studies, deliberated on the notion of a ‘gender lens’, formulated and debated the feasibility of an ‘equality scale’, and learnt how language affects our understanding and perception of gender issues.  Hattie Dunn, School Prefect, commented, “It was interesting to see what opinions we each had and how they often contradicted each other. Many of us assumed we had set ideas on what we thought about the topics that were up for discussion, however, it was surprising how our minds were opened wider to see a bigger picture, altering our views in many instances.  Thank you so much Tash, for such a thought provoking day.”