FRESH from her announcement that she is to step down from human rights campaigning group Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti visited Bedales School to deliver the third annual global awareness lecture.

Shami, who worked as in-house counsel and then director of Liberty having joined in 2001, spoke to a packed hall at the school about her 2014 book, On Liberty, drawing on her work in high-profile campaigns during her time in the organisation.

Bedales, based in Steep, is unique in the UK, making global awareness part of the core curriculum rather than simply an “extra” and students examine issues of poverty, equality, social justice, and human rights.

And students seized the opportunity to ask questions.

Bedales headteacher Keith Budge said Shami “gave as fluent, clear and compelling a case for human rights and civil liberties as most of us are likely to hear”.