By Ben Bradberry, 6.2

Over the past week, I have been joined by three other students in virtually attending the Round Square International Conference. This is an annual conference held with the goal of engaging students in prominent social issues that will effect the world they grow up in, with this year being focused on the topic of ‘Blue Skies and Brave Conversations’. Over the course of four days, we learnt about topics ranging from ethical leadership to the variety of identities that are attributed to people.
 
The conference was made up of three main sections. Each day, student delegates met with representatives of other school to discuss how our schools address the issues being discussed by each days topic. While this was happening, there were also cultural performance from schools or short documentaries to broaden the perspectives of students. From here, we went on to watch a discussion between keynote speakers, where they were questioned by students on how they view the various topics of discussion. Lastly, we joined other schools in smaller Zoom meetings so that individual students could voice their opinions on what was discussed and engage in a productive conversation on how we can improve the world we live in.
 
Ultimately, it has been an immensely enlightening experience as I personally have learned far more than I could ever have expected to. The goal of these conferences is to innovate how students learn, and I’m sure that the other delegates from Bedales can confirm that this year’s conference has succeeded. From learning about how other cultures operate to the way the world should run, we have all taken a lot from the past week and have gained an equal number of ideas to think about.