LUCKLEY LIFE
18 MARCH 2022
NEWS FROM LUCKLEY HOUSE SCHOOL
CHAOS IN THE CLASSROOM We were delighted to be able to offer prospective students in Years 7 and 8 the opportunity to meet with students currently in these year groups at Luckley as part of a taster day on Monday 7 March. The day itself was focused around the theme of chaos, as we used the opening to the novel “Mortal Chaos” by Matt Dickinson as our inspiration. Students were invited to partake in a range of activities which involved creative writing, critical thinking, chaos in music composition and in science experiments. For the afternoon, we were honoured to have author, adventurer and film-maker Matt Dickinson in school to meet the students and talk to them about his life and experiences in these very different fields. He ran a fabulous workshop with the students, answered lots of interesting and thoughtful questions about his life and work and signed copies of his books for them. Matt then followed this with a fascinating talk to parents and students after school in which he shared photos and videos of his climbs up Mount Everest as well as insights into his film-making life and work as a writer of fiction for both children and young adult readers.
WORLD BOOK DAY Congratulations to all of the wonderful prize winners for our various World Book Day competitions. We were overwhelmed by how many students entered the different competitions and delighted by the standard of entries in the Literary Cakes Competition, which seems to get harder to judge every year. Huge congratulations to the following winners: Best Collaboration Bailey, Lizzie and Bea – Alice in Wonderland Best Interpretation of a Book Cover Boh and Jess C – Geek Girl Best Character Hannah D – Mr Tickle Best Staff Entry Dr Ross – Mrs Tiggywinkle Overall Best Winner Hannah, Amelia and Lucy – His Dark Materials – The Book of Dust
INTERMEDIATE MATHS CHALLENGE Top set Year 9, 10 and 11 maths students recently took part in the national UKMT Intermediate Mathematical Challenge. The challenge encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency to solve interesting problems. To recognise the highest performers in the challenge, the top scoring 50% of participants are awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates in the ratio 3:2:1. Around 8,000 students are also invited to the next round (Year 9 – Grey Kangaroo and Year 10-11 – Pink Kangaroo). We had some fantastic results this year and students should be commended for their efforts. • 23 Bronze certificates • 14 Silver certificates • 4 Gold certificates Special mention goes to Year 9 students Peter C, Lottie F-S and Emma S as they have qualified for the Grey Kangaroo round. From Year 10 and 11 - Imogen H, Kofi E, Georgia C-B and Dylan M-H all achieved a Gold certificate and have qualified for the Pink Kangaroo round. Top sets in Year 7 and 8 will be taking part in the Junior Maths Challenge in April. If your child is interested in trying previous junior challenges please go to www.ukmt. org.uk/competitions/solo/juniormathematical-challenge/archive.
The House Reading Quiz was won by Blake, with Cornish coming a close second, followed by Randle and Galloway. A number of students managed to work out the Literary Pairs by tracking down staff wearing badges with their designated characters on them and were avidly interrogating any teachers they encountered about who they were paired with. As ever, this was a wonderful week of celebrating the incredibly important role which books have in our lives and we look forward to many more events to celebrate books, reading and creativity in the future.
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LUCKLEY LIFE
18 MARCH 2022
NEWS FROM LUCKLEY HOUSE SCHOOL
WE’RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD, THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ What outstanding performances from our very own Luckley cast, crew and musicians. We watched with pride as students from all year groups came together to provide an evening of fantasy and fabulous entertainment in this adaptation by John Kane for the Royal Shakespeare Company of a classic favourite, The Wizard of Oz. As we travelled the yellow brick road with Dorothy, Toto and friends you may have thought you were sitting in one of London’s West End theatres. There was singing, dancing, acting and awe-inspiring lead performances delivered with strength, discipline and precision. The couple sitting on my right could not help but marvel at the sheer talent and professionalism of our students and crew. Our audiences were captivated by this intricate production with pyrotechnics, stunning sets and costumes plus a full live orchestra. If we were not jigging in our seats we were jumping out of them. Scene changes were executed seamlessly and this theatrical production did not disappoint for a minute. It was a tremendous effort by all involved with one matinée and four evening performances delivered exquisitely over the space of one week. To our cast, our crew and especially to our Director, Esther Brown, Musical Director, Janice Ellwood, Choreographer, Rachel Kempton and Technical Director, Oliver Bamber, we thank you for your faith in our students’ abilities and for reigniting a sense of youth within us all. Also, a big thank you to all our Luckley parents, grandparents, friends, staff and alumni who provided the perfect audience to encourage and excite our performers. It made all the difference. Sarah Francis, Development Manager
BERKSHIRE YOUNG SINGER OF THE YEAR FINAL
WOODLEY FESTIVAL
Last Sunday Sarah-Jane B and Chloe G sang in the final of the Berkshire Young Singer of the Year Competition. They were one of the final six performers in their category, all under 18 years. Sarah-Jane gave a fantastic performance and received a highly commended in her Music Theatre Section. This was a fantastic result, particularly as she was up against 18 year olds at age only 14. Chloe went on to win the Folk Section. Well done to both girls on their outstanding achievements.
The Chamber Choir performed in the Woodley Festival on the Saturday evening and were awarded the Walker Cup. The small ensemble of 12 singers sang arrangements of The Sound of Silence (Paul Simon) and All of Me (John Legend). Their performance was very musical and expressive containing beautiful solo moments for all members of the choir.
PANGBOURNE PIANO FESTIVAL On Saturday 5 March three of our young pianists participated in the Pangbourne Piano festival. Sylvia L, James J and Sarah-Jane B gave fabulous performances and received excellent feedback from the adjudicator. It was a great experience. Well done!
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LUCKLEY LIFE
18 MARCH 2022
NEWS FROM LUCKLEY HOUSE SCHOOL
ECO LITTER PICK
GEOGRAPHERS EXPLORE
On Tuesday 8 March, the Eco-Schools committee carried out a litter pick and collected 10kg of rubbish (two bags full) from all around the school grounds.
On Sunday 6 March my three intrepid Year 12 Geographers, along with myself and Miss Hughes, headed down to Swanage on the Isle of Purbeck to do some A level fieldwork! Over the three days we studied beaches, coastal management, sand dunes, urban deprivation and the regeneration of Poole high street.
We found that the most common things left around the school grounds were plastic bottles and chocolate bar wrappers, so remember to buy your own reusable water bottle to help the environment, and throw away your rubbish when you are done with it! The Eco-Schools Committee is holding an early Earth Day fundraising event on Monday 28 March. We are raising funds for Eco-Schools, in order to support our progress in achieving our Green Flag award, and to raise money to develop the new School Wildlife Garden.
The weather was cracking as you can see from the photos and our tutor Barry Cullimore was brilliant and really engaged Lucy, Aryan and Tim. All three agreed that they had enjoyed the trip and learnt a lot about the process of a fieldwork investigation and the kind of data they will collect, and how, when it comes to their Non-Exam Assessment part of the course. Overall a great trip and good to put the classroom theory into practice!
ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS AT LYMINGTON RUSHMOOR We were delighted to have Ellie from Lymington Rushmore visit assembly this week and tell us about their summer activity holidays. Luckley House has had links with Lymington Rushmore for many years and over this time lots of students have gone on these holidays and had a wonderful time. They also run two Easter revision holidays for those in years 11 – 13. They still have some spaces on most of the holidays, so do visit their website www.lymingtonrushmore.org to find out more. We also have brochures in school, so do ask your son or daughter to pick one up from reception if you would like to have a look, or speak to Mrs Matsuya for more information
Mr Samson, Head of Geography
SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE
As part of our Earth Day Fundraiser, we willl be holding a second hand book sale at lunch and we would be really grateful for any books you are able to donate for this. The books can be of any genre and appropriate for any age group as students will be able to buy books for both themselves and for friends and family members. Please drop any books for donation off at the front office by Monday 28 March. Isobel Buck, on behalf of the Eco-Schools committee
WWW.LUCKLEYHOUSESCHOOL.ORG 0118 978 4175
Thank you to our school community for donating more than 80 sleeping bags to send over to Ukraine. Find out more about this project and other oppotunities to support via the Kerith Centre in Bracknell. www.kerith.church/ukraineappeal
LUCKLEY LIFE
18 MARCH 2022
NEWS FROM LUCKLEY HOUSE SCHOOL
SPORTS ROUND-UP Progress, progress, progress… RUGBY
We have been really impressed with all of our pupils with how they continue to embrace the challenges we set them and ultimately believe in our individual mantra of 11 teams of one, rather than one team of 11; this is really paying dividends across all of the year groups. The Year 7 & 8 rugby team continue to impress week on week with their bravery in the tackle, resilience at the breakdown and strong running with ball in hand. Particular highlights are Noah B (Year 7) and Marcus C (Year 8) who take their try scoring tally into double figures with their quick feet. Jayden B, Rory A (both Year 8), and Elijah K (Year 7) have shown outstanding tenacity in the tackle, especially the latter with it being his first season of rugby.
FOOTBALL The upper school has been developing equally well with their football. Highlights include Jacob M (Year 9) scoring a brace against St Joseph’s college and Ellis R showing great composure on the ball at the heart of the defence. Year 10 and 11 students continue to do well in their league fixtures, with Jake F and Isaac L (Year 11) being standout performers in games against Leighton Park, St Joseph’s College and Holme Grange. Our Senior first XI have a very exciting ‘under the lights’ game on 28 March against St Joseph’s College at Lowther Road, the home of Wokingham and Emmbrook FC. Kick-off is at 18:30 and we would love as many pupils and parents as possible to come and cheer the boys on.
CRICKET
The U13s and U15s have been competing in our inaugural indoor cricket league this term. There has been some great play by all our players and this has been great preparation for the summer term where we already have lots of cricket fixtures in the diary. Matt Humphrey, Director of Sport
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NETBALL
This week saw the first ever U18 mixed netball tournament hosted here at Luckley. The sun was shining and good fun was had by all! We are sure, due to its popularity, this will become an annual event. A special mention to Sam W (Year 13) for his spectacular header of the ball! It has been a busy couple of weeks of fixtures for the girls, with some good games for the U14 A and B netball teams against Heathfield, a win and a draw against Sherfield for the U12s and U13 netball teams, and for the U15s also against Sherfield. There have been some pleasing score lines, but more importantly I have been impressed with the attitude and perseverance of our players on the court. The girls have been great ambassadors for Luckley. Special mentions to Erin H and Anya R for representing not only their year groups but also the years above in competitive fixtures. Also a special mention to Sophia H for her outstanding shooting in the recent match against Heathfield. Kirstie Hobson, Head of Girls PE
ISA NETBALL U14 TOURNAMENT On Tuesday 1 March Mrs Hobson and I took the U14 Netball team to an ISA tournament at Nottingham Trent. The team was: Caitlin H, Imogen H, Anya R, Erin H, Alice Wr, Millie , Nina A, Evie R and Maddie V. The tournament started off with the team playing three games to determine whether they would play in the cup, plate, trophy or bowl competition.
The team played exceptionally well in this and won two out of the three games. The girls worked very well together on court using each players strength to keep or turn over the ball. The shooters (Caitlin, Nina and Evie) held their own and remained composed and scored an impressive 17 goals between the two games. This would not have been possible without the other players working hard to get the ball up the court. The team came second in this section of the tournament securing a place in the plate. They played well and it was impressive to see the girls pull together and find the extra strength they needed to get through to the final of the plate. The final match was a strong game as both sides were driven to win. The Luckley team worked very hard to keep possession of the ball but unfortunately didn’t win. This meant that they came 2nd overall in the plate, which in itself is amazing and the team should be very proud of themselves. Mrs Hobson and I would like to thank all the players for all of their hard work and sportsmanship throughout the whole tournament and they fully deserved the success. Jenny Hayden, PE Teacher
LUCKLEY LIFE NEWS FROM LUCKLEY HOUSE SCHOOL
WWW.LUCKLEYHOUSESCHOOL.ORG 0118 978 4175
18 MARCH 2022