LGGS Update - July 2023

As you will see in this newsletter, it has been a really busy end to the year. I have been incredibly proud to see the achievements, successes, and contributions of students both inside and outside of school.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to pass on a heartfelt thank you to all members of the school community for welcoming me to the school. It has been a pleasure to get to know the school, students and staff over the last term and I am looking forward to celebrating the success of our Year 11 and Year 13 students over the summer as they receive their exam results.

Thank you to all the LGGS parents too. Your support of your children during this year

THE WHOLE SCHOOL COMMUNITY WISHES YEAR 13 LEAVERS ALLTHE VERY BEST FOR THEIR FUTURE

Photographs by: www.laurencejohnson.co.uk

BEST WISHES TO OUR 2023 LEAVERS

Towards the end of June, Year 13 students were able to celebrate the end of their LGGS Sixth Form experience with the Leavers’ Ball. The year group have never ceased to impress us with their resolve to succeed, their kindness, and their care for each other. It has been a privilege to work with this group of students over the last two years, and we wish them all the very best for the future as they move on to pastures new, knowing that they are now ready to take on the world beyond LGGS. We also hope that they will keep in touch with us in the years to come.

All the very best Year 13! Ms Dobson and all the Sixth Form Team.

After joining LGGS Sixth Form from a different school, I was welcomed into a new and friendly environment. I feel a real sense of belonging at LGGS, have made many friends in my time here and have been supported throughout my studies and university application process.

Madison

Leaving school is our first step into the real world. Although it will always be scary, there is no better place than LGGS to prepare you for it. In our small world, we are nurtured into the best versions of ourselves by not just the staff but also the students. Little did we know that those were some of the best days of our life. LGGS is more than a school; it is a family.

Tirtha

During the last two years, I have grown and achieved so much on both an academic and personal level - exceeding even my own expectations. This is, no doubt, due to the guidance that I have received from the Sixth Form team who have been very generous with their time and advice. I don’t think it is possible for anywhere to have a more inclusive and welcoming environment; I feel immensely privileged to have been part of the LGGS Sixth form community, and am sorry that my time here has come to an end. I will stay in touch!

Anna

I am glad that I had the honour of attending such a place that has helped me to mature and become confident enough to achieve things I would never have thought of otherwise. Go LGGS! :)

Eshaal

YOU CAN VIEW MORE PICTURES ON OUR SCHOOL WEBSITE

STAY IN TOUCH

LGGS ALUMNAE SITE

YOU CAN NOW STAY IN TOUCH WITH SCHOOL & EACH OTHER ... REGISTER HERE

CALLING FORMER STUDENTS

Future First Alumnae Site is not just for 2023 Leavers … if you’re a former LGGS student, we would love to hear from you and share your news.

Your experiences since leaving LGGS could help to motivate and inspire our current students to feel more confident in making decisions about their future. Joining our alumnae network enables you to stay connected with

LancasterGirls’ GrammarSchool

our school community. We’ve partnered with the national education charity Future First, who specialise in helping schools to stay connected with their former students. You can enjoy interaction with friends and find out how everyone is doing or you can choose to help - perhaps by acting as a career and education role model, provide work experience, become a mentor in person or online, or help with donations, fundraising or even apply to become an LGGS governor.

It doesn’t matter when you left us, whether you’re in further education or

employment, whether you still live nearby or further afield. We hope you will join us.

‘Future First enables you to share your adventures since leaving school and to reconnect with an encouraging and supportive network of friends and peers from your time as a student at LGGS.’

Mr Chris Beard, Headteacher REGISTER HERE

MOTHER TONGUE, OTHER TONGUE

Our LGGS finalists enjoyed multilingual poetry workshops from up and coming writers at the Manchester Poetry Library. The overall winners were awarded prizes by Malika Booker, a British poet of Guyanese and Grenadian parentage. Malika has been shortlisted for the Seamus Heaney Centre prize for best first full collection published in the UK and Ireland and was also the inaugural Poet In Residence at the RSC. Malika’s work is included in

the OCR GCSE English Literature syllabus!

Thirty seven schools from the North West submitted poems in 47 languages! With over 1000 entries, we were

LIVERPOOL MUSEUM INS

As someone who is passionate about history but unsure what historical career to go into, the opportunity to attend a virtual insight day was very helpful as it gave me an understanding of the various roles within a museum and the responsibilities and characteristics each one requires. We heard from various employees, including Adam who ran the event. He explained how museums build community and help everyone learn in a fun, engaging and interactive way. As a learning facilitator he requires good communication, event planning and technology skills.

Ben, who works in the living centre, looks after the insects, fish and various other animals in the museum’s aquarium and bug house. I never considered that a museum could have living exhibits.

Iris, is a curator with ‘Curating for Change’, which is an organisation that helps deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people enter curating careers. Her aim is to make museums more accessible for anyone with any form of disability. She showed us what needs to be considered when designing and preparing an exhibition, to make sure that it is accessible.

Neve, an events sales executive, has organised both public and private events. She

presented to them. Our winning students were:

Lojain Gengehy (Year 9, Arabic), Parnika Ganguli (Year 10, Bengali), Ellie O’Hare (Year 11,

told us that she was once given a £10,000 budget just for flowers! She said that to be an events sales executive you need good financial management and budgeting skills as well as business knowledge.

Finally, we heard from John-Paul, who is an intern. John-Paul did some myth-busting regarding working at a museum. He emphasised the fact that you don’t need a degree to work at a museum. People come to work at the museum with varying levels and types of qualifications, but he said that it was this diversity that made the team so strong.

Honey Gott, Year 11.

READING FOR PLEASURE

S.T.E.M. CHALLENGES

On Wednesday, the 7th of June, six Year 8 students from STEM club attended the Faraday challenge in Lancaster University.

It was a national challenge with a leader board, for which you had to get over 90 points to reach. Though we did not win, it was a great learning experience and we had tons of fun! It was a practical challenge and we had to work together to create a device that would help the future use of drones within a budget of 120 Faradays. Our team put together a plan to

create a safe, accessible charging pad, and in a few hours we had a working circuit, with LEDs and buzzers. To get marks, we had to present our prototype to an audience of the opposing schools and the judges, and describe how we made it and any problems we faced. Although we didn’t walk out with the trophy, we left with a goodie bag and an unforgettable and fun experience. I would definitely do it again if I could, and we really can’t wait for any future competitions!

Kanmani Jayaprakash, Year 8

A few Year 7 students were chosen to go on an exciting trip to Lancaster University, Engineering Department. We were given a challenge to built a range of unique robots, in a small and exiting competition against local high schools. We even got a tour by students and staff, who specialise in this field. We all had a go at controlling robots and then used a website called ‘Spike’ to build our own. It was great fun and we also made a presentation about our robot, which we named Bob.

Throughout the day we all had tasks, like programmers, builders and presenters. We tested our robots, to see if they had met the success criteria, and luckily Lancaster Girls’ Grammar created one of the best, and we were also given an award for best

communication. Overall, we all had an amazing day out, and learned so much and saw so much. Now all 6 of us have a clear vision of what it is like to be an engineer and all the fabulous things that they can do to change the world!

Aisha Anwar & Evie Cavanagh, Year 7

CRIME CRACKERS … MATHS CHALLENGE

Crime Crackers is a maths-based event run by the Lancaster University Management School (LUMS). A group of LGGS students were invited to participate in this mindengaging, puzzle-solving ‘workshop’, intended to further our knowledge in the mathematical field, and hopefully have a positive impact on our plans for studying Maths post-16. Indeed, it did! It was wonderfully organised, and explained in such a way it would have been difficult to misunderstand the aim of the task. There were quite a few instructions; however, it is all written on a sheet so you can always refer back to it if needed. Overall, the task was thoroughly thought through, and this effort was evident once we started the challenge.

When we first arrived, we were given a few questions to get our minds thinking, but also see a brief synopsis of what was yet to come. The questions did start out easy but escalated quite quickly. As challenging as it may have been, it was interesting to see how the final outcome came together. Working through the problems was really

entertaining, while we waited for other schools to arrive. Fortunately, we were informed that this was simply a starter, and the ‘solving the crime”’ segment (as they called it) would not have questions as mind boggling as these, which brought a wave of relief. The main task was then explained to us: we were required to work in teams of four, and each team received 3 ‘taxi tokens’, a tick list to see which places you had ‘visited’, and a sheet to write all the names you had come across and any important details. You could use your taxi tokens in exchange for a puzzle dedicated to a specific location listed on the sheet. You would then solve the puzzle. If you got this correct, you would receive a clue and a taxi token for your team in return. These clues would help distinguish the criminal. If you could not solve the puzzle, you could use another taxi token to get a hint. Technically, at any one point, your team could have been working on 3 puzzles, assuming no hints were needed. After the time limit expired, no more clues were given out, and we were given another sheet to

compile all the suspicious details we had gathered, and determine who was the criminal. The entire experience was very beneficial in every aspect, and I would highly recommend future Year 9s to attend ‘Crime

Crackers’, especially if Maths is already part of their plans for studies post-16 - this ‘workshop’ is perfect in preparing you to take Maths further!

Zoya

When the time was up, we had to gather information from all the clues to write up a crime report and judge one of the suspects as guilty. One of the teams from our school guessed the correct suspect and were the runner ups of the competition due to their successful and detailed crime report. Aside from the problem solving, we were also told about what doing Maths means after GSCE. This really widened my perspective, and I learnt a lot about the different job opportunities that taking Maths has to offer. Overall, this event was a great experience and I really enjoyed myself.

Harnoor

Take care everyone from all the PE Department. Have a great summer and don't forget to let us know of all your summer sporting successes.

JUNIOR TOTALS INTER TOTALS

SPORTS DAY A

1st Perpignan

2nd Lublin

3rd Aalborg

4th Rendsburg

SENIOR TOTALS

SPORTS DAY

1st Aalborg

2nd Perpignan

3rd Lublin

3rd Rendsburg

SPORTS DAY B

1st Lublin

2nd Rendsburg

3rd Aalborg

4th Perpignan

FINALTOTALS

SPORTS DAY A

1st Lublin

2nd Aalborg

3rd Rendsburg

4th Perpignan

SPORTS DAY OVERALL TOTAL

1st Aalborg 507

2nd Lublin 487

3rd Rendsburg 465

4th Perpignan 419

SPORTS DAY B

1st Aalborg

2nd Rendsburg

3rd Lublin

4th Perpignan

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE SPORTS DAY PICTURES

6K MIDSUMMER SUPPER RUN

Another success with amazing weather and an incredible turn-out. Thank you so much everyone for supporting us once again. Miss Sharples and all the PE Department. Full results are onlines

Student Achievement Awards may be earned throughout the year for the excellent completion of classwork or homework, for initiative and teamwork, the demonstration of leadership skills, or for helping others. Each student is automatically enrolled on the scheme and those who have earned enough awards are presented with a certificate at the end of the academic year. This year, we are very proud to announce that a staggering 76 students achieved 100-124 points and shall be presented with a Bronze certificate. The Silver, which consists of 125149 points, was achieved by 39 students, 26 achieved Gold

(150-174 points), and 23 students reached a Platinum certificate with a total above 175 points! Well done to you all for your effort.

To those who came close, there is always next academic year.

Mr David Green, Assistant Headteacher

LGGS PRESENTS

During June we welcomed family, friends, staff and students to our Art Department for a viewing of LGGS students’ GCSE and A-level artwork. offers students the opportunity to present their work in a professional display setting.

‘The variety of styles and quality of the artwork was plainly visible and the feedback has been phenomenon. It was a truly exceptional exhibition and we wish all our students best wishes for August and beyond.’ Ms Claire Nickell and all the Art Department.

GREEK TRAGEGY

Originally written in 441 BCE by playwright Sophocles, Antigone is a timeless Greek tragedy that serves as a stark reminder of how pride often leads to downfall.

When adapting Antigone, we decided to set it during the Vietnam war in an American base on the frontlines during the 1960s-70s. Much like the beginning of Antigone, the Vietnam war involved the two states of North and South Vietnam in conflict, with the controversial involvement of the USA.

Thank you to everyone who turned up to support the event. We hope you enjoyed the evening. Year 12 Drama Class and Miss Alina Woodhouse

THE CAST & CREW

Antigone: Lola Sears, Ismene/Ensemble: Lucy Smith , Creon: Hannah Coldwell, Chorus Leader: Oriana Morris, Sentry/Ensemble: Alice Sanderson, Haemon/Ensemble: Charlotte Mason, Tiresias/Eurydice: Evangeline Diep, The Messenger: Mr Flory, Set/Sound/Lighting: Isabel Street

Directors: Year 12 Drama Class and Miss Woodhouse

LIVE THEATRE

The Spanish department were delighted to welcome back former LGGS student, Kira Browne. Kira left LGGS in 2013 having studied Biology, Chemistry, French and Spanish at A-level and she went onto study Spanish, Catalán and Italian at Durham, embracing opportunities to live all over the world, from Italy to Peru, via Finland! More recently she has been living and working in Spain, firstly as an English language teaching assistant in Castellón and then as a waitress in the flamenco capital of the world, Seville, so that she could fulfil her ultimate dream of learning to dance, and very much master, flamenco. Having ended her time in Spain with an epic three-month cycle tour across France, Spain and Italy, taking in the Pyrenees en route, Kira has now returned back to the UK to begin a PGCE to become a Primary School teacher. With two days of excess energy and window of 48 hours of time to fill, Kira very kindly offered to come to LGGS to give our students an end of term treat. This week, four classes of lucky students from Years 8, 9 and 12 have been privileged to experience

flamenco workshops with Kira, and to hear her talk about her experiences of language learning and living and working abroad. Pupils learnt a flamenco dance choreographed by Kira herself, based on the 'tango' style of flamenco (unrelated to Argentine tango), and got to try out their skills with castanets and a mantón; a beautifully woven piece of fabric used by flamenco dancers to add that extra flair. Learning languages can give you wings, and Kira has certainly flown with hers.

¡Mil veces gracias, Kira!

Ms Kate Whitehouse, Head of MFL

COLLABORATION

We split LGGS and CCGS students together in to three groups - orchestra, choir and dance. The orchestra focussed

welcomed 52 Performing Arts students and 6 staff from Central Coast Grammar School, Australia, who stopped off in Lancaster as part of their two week tour of the UK. Having already been immersed in West End theatre in London and Shakespeare in Stratford, they headed up the M6 to visit LGGS and the Dukes Theatre.

‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and the classic ‘Blue Danube’, with Mr Swannell and Mr Chris Hunt (Music teacher at CCGS) sharing baton duties. The choir worked with Helen Latham and Anna Beijeman (accompanist from CCGS) on ‘One Day More’ from Les Mis’ and ‘You'll Be Found’ from ‘Dear Evan Hanson’. The dancers with visiting choreographer Megan Alder Cox created a completely original piece. All the students worked extremely hard throughout the day, and it was amazing to see students who had never met until that

After a quick refuelling at one of Lancaster's eateries, the students returned to LGGS to perform in front of an audience of family and friends. The concert was a real success and it was amazing how, after such a short time together, the students managed to produce such a polished performance. Particularly impressive were the dancers who literally had 5 hours to produce a piece from scratch.

A huge thanks to all staff involved and particularly to my good friend Lee Fleming (Head of Performing Arts at CCGS), who organised the tour and initiated the idea to work with LGGS. We have even been asked to make a return visit to Central Coast watch this space!

Mr Paul Swannell

MUSIC FESTIVAL

The results for the 2023 Music Festival are as follows:

4th Rendsburg with 165 house points

3rd Lublin with 177 points

2nd Aalborg with 178 points

1st Perpignan with 182 points

Well done everyone for all the hard work and effort which, once again, ensured that this impressive annual event could be enjoyed by our school community.

Mr Paul Swannell

YOUNG MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

We held the Grand Final of the LGGS Young Musician of the Year (YMOTY) competition this term.

The YMOTY initiative was launched in 2017 and has been a great success, showcasing the talent of LGGS musicians of all ages and abilities.

A series of preliminary 'rounds' were held during lunchtimes in front of a panel of staff and senior students, with our juniors (Years 7 - 9) and seniors (Years 10 -13) performing in the following categories: Strings, Woodwind, Brass, Drums/Percussion, Guitar, Voice and Piano. From these categories, the winners and 'judge's wild-cards' were invited to perform ay the Grand Final. The evening was a great success and our guest judge, Clare Douglas, did a fabulous job of offering plenty of encouraging advice as well as some expert guidance. The quality of performances was truly wonderful and an absolute credit to

LGGS. We hope you enjoy watching the performances as much as we did. The final placings were as follows:

Junior Category

1st place - Renay Harper

2nd place - Isla Roberts

3rd place - Amelia Hayes-Picton

Senior Category

1st place - Iona Munford

2nd place - Emily Argall

3rd place - Alessia Giudici

WATCH THE PERFORMANCES

Mr Paul Swannell

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

Year 7 visited Jodrell Bank this month and as well as learning all about the world-famous Lovell radio telescope they also learnt about the wider science carried out on site and also the formation of the universe. The pictures speak for themselves and you can see just how much Year 7 enjoyed the experience.

WHOLE SCHOOL PICTURE

The Whole School & Sixth Form group photograph was taken earlier this term, if you wish to have a copy please use the link below, and your email address when prompted, to view and order a print via the Gillman & Soame website: www.gsimagebank.co.uk/lggs/t/jhw6zq20233

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact Gillman & Soame directly: Email: enquiries@gillmanandsoame.co.uk Telephone: 01869 328200.