This week, the Olympic rower James Lindsay-Fynn discussed his journey from boyhood rowing to global super athlete. After hearing about the balance between juggling a fulltime job in finance in Canary Wharf, being a father and training for the Olympics, the girls thought that their daily school routine wasn’t so bad after all! Mr Lindsay-Fynn left Year 6 with some poignant messages to take with them from the talk: the essence of a healthy balance between work and play, not dwelling on regrets in life, and finally the pursuit of a passion. The class was delighted to hear that not listening to one’s parents and following your own dream was of utmost importance. The presentation ended with a superb video of the 2007 World Rowing Championships.

The following morning saw Mr and Mrs Pollan deliver a show stopping talk on Investment Banking. Mr and Mrs Pollan presented their journey from university in Madrid to London, where they work for J.P. Morgan and Citi Group. Again, the emphasis of work life balance was instrumental throughout the talk. Finally, the girls were tasked with the challenge of a trading game involving $200 and eight shares of Apple Technology at $25 per share. The class was put into three trading teams which had to decide whether they would buy or sell their shares dependent upon varying factors. It was a high tempo game with girls shouting ‘BUY, SELL, BUY, SELL!’ amongst themselves.

Mr Russell, Year 6 Class Teacher