Loreto is keen to promote teaching and learning beyond the bounds of the traditional classroom setting and we are fortunate to be able to welcome a wide range of guest speakers and presenters from all areas of academic and creative life. In this context we were delighted to host an exciting visit from the high-profile Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, in December. Shami gave a lecture on the Human Rights Act, followed by a fascinating and lively question and answer session, to an audience of two hundred law and politics students from Loreto and invited guests from local colleges and Priestnall High School. Topics ranged from the war in Syria to freedom of speech, and from euthanasia to discrimination.

Thirty law students then took part in an extended seminar with Shami, covering her legal career at the Home Office, public interest work, legal aid and secret courts, amongst a wide range of topics. This fantastic opportunity to work with a figure of Shami’s national pre-eminence will doubtless have inspired many of our students who might be thinking of pursuing a career in law or politics. The Law Department is now looking forward to working on a further project with Liberty and Manchester University on Human Rights.