DECEMBER 2021
LGGS Season’s Greetings
WELCOME Dear parents and students As we approach the end of this busy term I would like to thank you all for your support and hope that you are able to have a relaxing break.
This term has seen some fantastic achievements by individual LGGS students. I would like to start by mentioning Year 10 student Faatimah Ali. Faatimah has been awarded the prestigious RSG Young Geographer of the Year Award. We are very
proud of her. You can read about her fantastic success in this newsletter. A number of our students contributed to the 16 days of activism against gender based violence project in November. Special mention to Year 13 student Elissa Logan who composed a song. It was played at the ‘Reclaim the Night’ rally and as part of a webinar. We are saying good bye to two very special members of staff this Christmas. Mrs Garnett our SENCo is leaving after eight years at LGGS. She has fully developed the role and put in place valuable support for many
Our new achievement awards which teachers give every half term have proved to be very popular as a way of rewarding commitment and enthusiasm. My Headteacher Awards of the term go to the following students who have impressed me greatly with their amazing personal qualities. They are: Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11
Kate McNamara Kenzie McCrum Husna Patel Sylvie Maxwell Manal Faisal
students and their families. We wish her and her family all the very best. Miss Jolleys, who many of you will know, is taking over the role of SENCo.
Ms Lapping is retiring at the end of term. She has been a key member of the English department for ten years and inspired many students, particularly with her interest in creative writing. Ms Lapping intends to resume her own academic interests and we wish her all the very best. Her classes are already being taught by Miss Burgess who will be continuing at LGGS.
Mrs J Cahalin Headteacher
THE SUNDAY TIMES PARENTPOWER RECOGNITION We were really pleased that the achievement of LGGS students has been recognised again in the Sunday Times ParentPower rankings.
These were based not on the 2021 results at A-level and GCSE (which were teacher assessed) but an average of the results from 20172019. LGGS was placed 39th in the top 100 schools, the only school in Lancashire to be in the top 50 and 4th best school in the North West. Many congratulations and thanks to our students and staff for all their hard work, and also to all the LGGS parents for their support.
TOP TEN SCHOOLS IN THE NORTH WEST OF ENGLAND 1 Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
6 Wirrel Grammar School for Girls, Bebington
2 The Blue Coat School, Liverpool
7 Lancaster Royal Grammar School
3 Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
8 Sale Grammar School
4 Lancaster Girls’ Grammar School
9 West Kirby Grammar School
5 Loreto Grammar School, Altrincham
10 St Ambridge College, Altrincham
STUDENT AWARDS As we approach the end of the first term staff have been busy selecting students for their end of term awards. All students in Year 7 - Year 11 will have had a chance to receive these awards in the subjects they study. In addition to this we have our first Headteacher’s awards for a
‘student of the term’ from each of the year groups, see Mrs Cahalin’s welcome page. These students will be receiving a certificate through the post so the achievement can be celebrated. It has been really encouraging to see all the positive contributions students
are making in their lessons. Please check Edulink to see if you are one of the families that can celebrate some of the end of term awards. A big thank you to all staff and students for their involvement in this new system. Mr Green, Assistant Head
DUKE OF EDINBURGH Our Gold Duke of Edinburgh team have been amazingly resilient, adventuring in all weathers this half term. The 18 students from Year 13 have completing two practice days around Silverdale as well as their 4 day qualifying expedition in early October around the Yorkshire Dales.
The Silverdale trip brought sun, sea views and also a few torrential downpours, which allowed for the traditional soggy picnics sheltered under trees in full waterproofs. This was a great opportunity to test out new equipment and hone navigation skills, especially for those who unintentionally did an extra lap of Warton Crag, just to really appreciate those stunning views. The Malham trip started with a train ride out to Clapham and some beautiful rainbows stretching across the horizon. The gold at the end of those rainbows was the welcome relief from the weather at Horton In Ribblesdale bunkhouse for our first night. Then it was back out into the atrocious wet and windy weather for 3 more days walking and 2 nights in tents as they completed a circular walk of over 40 miles, taking in the highlights of the area including Malham Tarn and the Ribblehead Viaduct, before arriving at Giggleswick station on the Sunday. Despite the rain, the days were filled with singing, smiles and laughter. We were all so impressed with how the students pulled together to support each other.
Well done Year 13! We can’t wait to welcome the new Year 12 onto the Gold DofE, sign up information will be emailed out in November, please contact n.williams@lggs.lancs.sch.uk if you have any questions in the meantime. In October, 80 Year 11's completed their Bronze Expedition around the Lancaster area. The 2-day expedition brought some tired legs, but lots of laughter, beautiful scenery, sunshine and wonderful memories. Students demonstrated their navigational, and map reading skills, as well as teamwork and resilience. They showed much grit and determination, pulling together to support each other. Hot Chocolates and soups were much appreciated after putting tents up at the end of a long day! We are looking forward to welcoming current Year 10 onto the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Year 10 interested in joining the Duke of Edinburgh programme should see information in a recent letter home on ParentPay or if you need further information by contacting r.jolleys@lggs.lancs.sch.uk.
REMEMBRANCE DAY For this year’s Remembrance Day the History Society produced a PowerPoint to be played during Form time, whilst Year 13 students volunteered to sell poppies in classrooms around school. Students were encouraged to show their support for those lost during conflict by: posting a picture of a poppy on their social media page, printing off the Poppy Appeals’ posters to display in their window and pausing for a 2 minute silence.
SET THE BAR We were delighted to hear of the success of former LGGS student Nicola Gray. Nicola was a student at LGGS in the 1980s and secured a place at Oxford to read Law. She was ‘called to the Bar’ in 1991 and eventually moved to a prestigious set of Chambers, 1 Hare Court, Temple, London, practicing as a Family Law Barrister. In 2020 she applied to ‘take silk’ and was successful, receiving from Dominic Raab, The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, her ‘Letters Patent’ appointing her QC in Westminster Hall, London on November 1st 2021 Many congratulations to Nicola and well done on her achievements, obtained by hard work and dedication. The inserted photo is taken in Westminster Hall just after she received her ‘Letters Patent’.
REMAPPING OUR LIVES Last year as part of the Year 9 curriculum we set the pupils the task of completing a presentation for the Royal Geographical Society’s ‘Young Geographer of the Year’ competition. The theme was 'Remapping our lives' and they were asked to create an A3 presentation which revealed how their lives had been shaped by the COVID pandemic.
They were asked to find and annotate maps which illustrated and described which local, human and physical features they and their family used during the pandemic, why some places were especially important to young people, the places they couldn’t visit and why, if the pandemic has led to them experiencing any new places in their local area and how the pandemic changed their geographical understanding of their local area. The standard of entries is always very high and schools from across the world take part. Faatimah Ali, now in Year 10 was declared winner for the KS3 category. An outstanding achievement. Well done! Mrs K Shaw
Read more
ARTIST OF THE WEEK This year we have been celebrating the work of our talented Art students by selecting an Artist of the Week. Please find below a couple of examples of their terrific work. Ms C Nickel, Head of Art.
GENDER BASED ARTISTS OF THE WEEK During this tear we launched a task for students in Year 9 and above to submit an entry to represent gender-based violence. It runs alongside 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. We were amazed at the quality and message in the pieces created.
The work was paired with a series of events across Lancaster over a period of 16 days, including an exhibition displayed at the Gregson Centre. Please find the images, some with written descriptions of their interpretation included, all were submitted by the students.
HEALTH DAY AT LGGS This week gave the students an opportunity to switch off from academic work and to relax and be create during Health Day. You can tell from the students’ faces, just how much they enjoyed the day.
WREATH MAKING
BAKING CHRISTMAS THEMED TREATS
A THEATRICAL PRODUCTION
A FESTIVE LINOCUT CHRISTMAS CARD
SEASONAL GREETINGS FROM LGGS ENGLISH DEPARTMENT Just one book of the month for most year groups this time around, owing to the shorter amount of time we will be in school. I have added a bit more information about each novel so do please share.
With the help of BookTrust, the UK’s largest children’s reading charity, the Library once again purchased a fiction book for every Year 7 student. With a wide range of genres to choose from there was something for everyone as well as being encouraged to read as many of the titles as possible by swapping with others. They students also have access to the whole collection through the Library. This is the 11th year we have joined the scheme and as you can see from the photos, the books proved as popular as ever. Mrs K Edge, Librarian
CHRISTMAS POST BOX Two of our enterprising Year 7 students, Millie Borwick and Evie Hemingway came up with the idea to run a Christmas card posting service from the library. With help from Miss Whittle. Their post box looked amazing and was a huge hit!
CHRISTMAS IN THE LIBRARY Our fabulous team of librarians with the new Library Christmas tree, kindly donated by Miss Clapham’s Nana. The Student Librarians painstakingly cut out piles of baubles for students to decorate and personalise with their favourite book characters, which proved extremely popular. YEAR 8’S Weronika Strugala Auguste Sarakauskaite Jumana Elbana Asiya Desai Tara Bose Miller YEAR 9’S Faye Soetanto Isla Slater Evelyn Leong-Smith Lorna Yates
REINDEER RUSH Last year, local schools helped raise an amazing £15000 for St John’s Hospice by taking part in an Elf Run. LGGS proudly raised nearly £2,093 of this total in a virtual event. This year, we supported their 2021 seasonal sponsored run, Reindeer Rush, in a bid to top this mammoth total! This is a sponsored 4km run or walk that had two options: OPTION 1: To attend the LGGS Reindeer Run Wednesday 15th December 12.30 -1.10pm. OPTION 2: Run or walk a distance and location of your choice, between Saturday 11th to Sunday 19th December 2021 with family/friends. The deadline for entry was 6th December. Pupils taking part will achieve a House Point for their participation and can send a photo to e.coates@lggs.lancs.sch.uk whilst on their run or after (in full festive outfit of course) to go into the sports newsletter! All donations should be made online via our own LGGS JustGiving page. So even if you are unable to take part, you can still support us by making a donation online - click JustGiving. Best wishes, Miss L Sharples Email: l.sharples@lggs.lancs.sch.uk
CHARITY TEAM EVENTS THIS HALF-TERM The Charity Team have been extremely busy this half-term, organising the Children in Need event, a Step Counting fund raiser and the final event of this term was the ever popular Christmas Jumper charity event. Thank you to everyone who took part. All money donated goes to ‘Save the Children’ and you can still make a donation on our website: Donate here The Children in Need event raised an impressive £1534!
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed.
SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY Sixth Form students have also supported Project Shoebox. For many years now we have been supporting the local women’s refuge at this time of year, with students putting together boxes of toiletries and a few small luxuries to raise the spirits of those who have had to leave their homes in times of great personal difficulty. We know how much difference it makes for them to receive these gifts, especially at this time of year. Thank you also to the Year 12 students who take baking as their Wellbeing option. They made great
numbers of delicious mince pies for the St John’s Hospice Christmas events - these were very grateful received by the staff at the Hospice. Thanks also to those students whose small change funded the baking enterprise!
We hope you have a relaxing break
SIXTH FORM AT LGGS … DATES FOR YOUR DIARY SIXTH FORM TASTER DAY: Friday 28th January 2022 CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Wednesday 2nd February 2022
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