The school’s Aspire group led by Ms Grey and Ms Kelly were fortunate to receive a visit from Sir Kenneth Olisa, currently Lord Lieutenant for Greater London. Born in Nottingham in 1951 of a Nigerian father and a British mother, Olisa's technology career commenced in the 1970s at IBM after he won a scholarship while an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge.  Olisa founded Interregnum, the technology merchant bank and has considerable public company board-level experience on both sides of the Atlantic. He was the first British-born black man to serve on the Board of a major UK public company. Sir Kenneth become a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to Business and Philanthropy. He is also a Patron of several charities including: School-Home Support (SHS), a charity helping disadvantaged children and young people overcome barriers to education such as poverty, domestic abuse and housing issues and the Black Cultural Archives, a national heritage centre dedicated to collecting, preserving and celebrating the histories of African and Caribbean people in Britain. In 2019, he was appointed President of London Youth.

In an inspirational address Sir Ken spoke of his humble origins in Nottingham and of the smile and joy in life which has accompanied all his endeavours. He advised the audience to develop a compass in life, with these points of focus:
You can’t imagine what life will be like in 40 years
It’s your life, make the most of it
Always be you, never become a stereotype
Accept the kindness of strangers
Self-pity is massively corrosive
It’s not just about you.
 
Sir Ken’s optimistic and inspiring address was well received by the audience from all year groups on the last day of half term and we all came away refreshed and energised ready to make the most of the half-term break after the rigours of the previous weeks.