HISTORY SOCIETY

LGGS History Society has enjoyed a busy time recently. In February, one of our own Year 12 historians, Ella Rose, held a lunchtime talk and presentation focused on 'Rationing in the Second World War'. Ella's knowledge and understanding of this topic had been captured and developed by her involvement with a production and project with The Dukes theatre in Lancaster and further developed by her own independent research.

Students also enjoyed a talk from Dr Robert Godwin, University College of London, who visited us in March and delivered a lunchtime lecture about his book 'Spain: the Centre of the World, 1519-1682' (2015). This lecture was a particular compliment to A-level historians who study 'Spain, 1469-1598: a Golden Age?' as part of their A-level History course.

Most recently on the 22nd of March, Dr Selina Patel Nascimento, Lancaster University, visited us to deliver a thoughtprovoking talk on her specialist area of research and expertise on the Aztec Empire, 'Encounters or eradication? Azteca perspectives on the Spanish Conquest of Mesoamerica'. Dr Patel Nascimento will hopefully also shortly be working with LGGS Personal Development & Citizenship Department on an exciting and innovative project, looking at incorporating historic perspectives and context into the teaching of contemporary issues such as gender inequality, prejudice and violence. Mr Harry Yearnshire, Head of History

The History department is currently part way through the process of selecting the new LGGS History Society leadership roles for 2023-4. Year 12 historians can apply for these roles and have been given details of the process recently. We will update you with the details of our new team in the next newsletter.

Charity Event

Macbeth is a play written by William Shakespeare and set in 11th century Scotland. It tells the story of Macbeth, a Thane and Soldier, who is told by three witches that he will become King.

Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth plots to murder King Duncan so that he can take the throne. But what ends up in store for the Thane of Glamis and now Cawdor too? We chose this play because we are all interested in

Charity Event

Shakespeare and thought it would be a good play to turn into a school production, due to the many parts and interesting themes - loyalty, guilt, innocence and fate. We all shared a hand in directing the play whilst also taking on individual roles. I was responsible for hair, makeup and sound, Jayden Curtis’ role was to create props and to prompt the actors, and Gloria Goncalves Almeida was in charge of costume and lighting. As a team, we selected the cast and made the decision to run for two nights rather than one. The first night we chose two Year 9 students to play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and on the second night, a different cast - this time with Year 7 students in the lead roles.

We made the decision that any money made from the sale of tickets for our performance should go to the Lottie’s Fund. The Dukes Theatre bursary initiative offers young people the opportunity to take part in Dukes Youth Theatre productions and we are very pleased to have raised £262.20 towards this scheme. We chose this, as it is a charity very close to our hearts and one that we all strongly wanted to support.

We are very proud of our actors and hope to do it again next year. Long live Macbeth!

Olivia Harrison-Davies, Year 11

We're sure everyone is familiar with Oliver!, the classic story of a young orphan boy who becomes involved with a gang of outlaws and pickpockets on the streets of Victorian London. Its broad appeal, well-loved songs and uplifting themes of belonging and redemption all contributed to why we chose it to be our final drama club production. What tipped it over the edge for us and put it above all other options was its wide cast of characters and colourful ensemble, which allowed us to display the full range of incredible talent in the club. Crafting this production from the ground up has been a lot of fun for both of us, from Zoë writing an abridged version of the original script and choreographing the musical numbers to myself working on the acting scenes and operating the sound system. We hope it's been just as fun for all of our members! They have never failed to impress us with their enthusiasm, amazing performance skills and dead-on cockney accents. We're so glad to be working with them- as well as our chosen charity, St. John's Hospice. Working in the North Lancashire, South Lakes and North Yorkshire area, they provide free palliative care to those with life-shortening conditions. Being able to help them, through the means of theatre, is such a fantastic opportunity and we couldn't be more grateful to our club members (and the LGGS theatre department!) for making it happen.

Zoe Storier