LHA_NEWSLETTER_SUMMER_2025 by Lostock Hall Academy

Summer Newsletter

A Fond Farewell from the Principal

After much reflection, I have made the heartfelt decision to retire. It hasn’t been an easy choice, but I believe it’s the right one as I prepare to pass the baton to Mrs. Butterworth.

Having served as Principal here for the past 10 years, this journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. Throughout this time, we have built a strong, supportive community—an educational family where teamwork, collaboration, and a shared sense of belonging have been at the heart of everything we do.

Together, we’ve seen constant improvements across the school—enhanced facilities, innovative programmes, and most importantly, a caring environment where staff and students feel inspired and motivated. I urge everyone not to take this sense of community for granted as you move

forward. Keep supporting each other, working hard, and nurturing that inspiring atmosphere that makes our school special.

I am proud of what we have achieved, and I am confident that the academy is in a good place to continue its upward trajectory under Mrs. Butterworth’s leadership.

While I look forward to this new chapter, I will genuinely miss the daily interactions with our incredible students and dedicated staff. Thank you for your support, your kindness, and for being part of this wonderful journey. I leave with countless fond memories and the very best wishes for the academy’s future.

Mrs G F Gorman

Lostock Hall Academy Vision 2024 - 2027

LHA will be the local secondary provider of choice. We will equip all our learners through our core values with the knowledge, skills, and behaviours to achieve their full potential in a safe, stimulating and supportive environment. “Educating the future”, Academy students will be aspirational and proud to achieve a successful career path through transition into work or training in all walks of adult life.

LHA Summer Awards

On Friday morning, the whole school gathered to celebrate the end of term and recognise student achievements. Awards were given for top attendance, highest achievement points, and more. and the excitement peaked with the Whole School Draw—congratulations to the lucky winner of the £100 prize!

We also had the exciting first announcement of this year’s House Trophy winner—congratulations to Ribble House. A fantastic way to wrap up the term—well done to all!

COMMITMENT

Future Year 7s Transition Day Success

On 3rd July, we were thrilled to welcome our future Year 7 students for their Transition Day at the Academy. The day was filled with exciting activities, including real classroom lessons and hands-on challenges in art, music, computing with robots, and drama using Trestle emotion masks.

Students from a range of primary schools came together during breaks and lunch, enjoying our sports facilities and making new friends in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Later that evening, we also welcomed parents and carers to the Academy for an information event, which was very well attended. It was a great opportunity to meet staff, ask questions, and get a feel for the Academy community.

We’re looking forward to more team-building fun in September with a trip to the Anderton Centre. Until then, we wish all our new students, families, and carers a fantastic summer—see you soon!

Final House points total for this year

As the academic year came to a close, we took time to reflect on the strength of our school community and the many successes and challenges we faced together. One of the standout moments of the year was the introduction of the House system in January, which quickly became a vibrant part of school life.

Over just six months, students enthusiastically took part in activities and earned achievement points for their Houses. Their energy and commitment made a real impact, and we’re proud of everyone who got involved.

During the final assembly, the results of the House Cup were revealed:

Congratulations to Ribble House, the first-ever winners of the Lostock Hall Academy House Cup! The senior prefect collected the trophy on behalf of the House, and all Ribble students and staff stayed behind for photos and prize presentations.

Well done to everyone for making the first year of the House system such a success—we look forward to even more next year!

Year 7 Explore Art in Nature at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Our Year 7 students had a fantastic visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park in June. They engaged enthusiastically, interacting with art, exploring the grounds, and enjoying the beautiful sights. The students had the opportunity to appreciate art in the natural park setting, sketch natural forms and

and students have been studying and engaging with a range of artists and media, including clay. Students have also had the opportunity to participate in a landscape photography competition.

Student Artwork Accepted into Prestigious RA Exhibition

We’re thrilled to share a landmark achievement for our school: for the first time, a student’s artwork has been accepted into the renowned Young Royal Academy Summer Exhibition!

This is a proud moment for our creative arts faculty and the wider school community. Congratulations to our talented Year 8 student, whose dedication and artistic flair have earned national recognition.

The piece was personally delivered to London by a member of the arts team, ready to be showcased alongside some of the UK’s most promising young artists. It’s a true celebration of creativity and a shining example of the Academy’s core values—commitment, passion, and excellence in the arts.

The announcement has received an enthusiastic response on social media, reflecting how much our community values the arts and the prestige of this opportunity.

Explore the exhibition here: Young Artists’ Summer Show

The top achievers for Languagenut this year are Noah with over 3 million points, Leon nearly 2 million points and Libby nearly 1.5 million points. Special mention to Mia and Aster Leonard who have 100% on all tasks completed on Languagenut.

Languagenut

Year 7 Ceramics – Landscapes in Clay

Our Year 7 students have been getting hands-on with clay in their latest art project, exploring landscapes through ceramics. This project was a fantastic introduction to working with clay, and the results speak for themselves!

From rolling hills to dramatic skies, each piece reflects the creativity and effort our students put into their work. We think you’ll agree—these are truly wonderful examples of young artistic talent. Can your child spot their piece? We hope it’s something you’ll be proud to display at home!

Y7 Master Chef House Competition Serves Up Success!

Over 45 Year 7 students took part in our exciting Master Chef House Competition, serving up creative and delicious dishes. Yarrow House claimed victory, with Ribble and Wyre finishing second and third.

Prizes were awarded for the best dishes, and every participant impressed with their effort and enthusiasm. Huge congratulations to all involved—and thank you to everyone who supported the event!

COMMITMENT

Showstoppers

hank you to everyone who joined us for an unforgettable evening of live entertainment! Our incredibly talented students lit up the stage with their passion for drama, dance, and music, leaving the audience inspired and amazed.

The event showcased the outstanding achievements of our Drama Club, Dance Club, Choir, Soul Band, and solo performers—a true celebration of creativity, dedication, and expression.

A special thank you also goes to all those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes—your support backstage was essential to the event’s success and helped everything run smoothly.

It was a wonderful way to highlight the hard work and talent nurtured through our enrichment clubs over the past year. We’re so proud of what our students have accomplished and can’t wait to see what next year brings!

Lostock Hall Carnival - Sponsored 5km run

We’re thrilled to share that our amazing students along with Mr Walker and Mr Foster recently took part in the Lostock Hall Carnival 5km run to raise funds for a brand new girls’ and boys’ football kit –and what a fantastic effort it was!

Thanks to the determination and the incredible support from our school community, we’re proud to announce that we have raised over £2,000!

A huge thank you to all the students who ran with such energy and enthusiasm, and to the parents and families who supported them every step of the way. Your encouragement and generosity

truly made a difference.

We’d also like to express our sincere gratitude to two wonderful local businesses – Vintage Barber Shop and Artemis Tattoo, Lostock Hall – for their kind sponsorship contributions. Their support has brought us much closer to our goal and shown what a strong community we’re lucky to be part of.

Thanks to everyone involved, our football teams will soon be stepping onto the pitch in smart new kits that reflect the pride we all have in our school.

Well done, everyone!

As many of you are aware the Lostock Hall Carnival took place on Saturday 5th July. Participating in the carnival was Rochdale Dog Rescue charity who asked LHA if we could provide a GCSE photographer to take photographs of their demonstration/display.

Year 10 student Isla Cockburn kindly volunteered. Here Isla used her GCSE photography skills to take a collection of excellent photographs of the demonstration/display. Miss Aspden who contacted LHA wrote after the event, ‘She was polite and professional and an excellent representative for Lostock Hall Academy.’ Very well-done Isla!

Isla’s Paw-some Photography at Lostock Hall Carnival COMMITMENT

Graffiti art Year 9

Year 8 Art – Exploring Animal Eyes

Year 8 have been diving into the fascinating world of animal eyes, with a special focus on reptiles and fish. They’ve explored the incredible variety of colours, shapes, and features found in nature—and their paintings are absolutely stunning!

Students experimented with new techniques and really brought their ideas to life. The results are vibrant, imaginative, and full of character. Well done, Year 8!

On a sunny day with calm waters, Mrs. Williams completed the 7.5mile Chillswim Ullswater open water swim in an impressive 4 hours and 24 minutes. After switching to a faster start wave, she powered through smooth early miles and overcame challenging swells later in the course.

Her efforts earned her 9th place in her age group and 116th overall out of 520 swimmers.

A fantastic achievement— well done, Mrs. Williams!

Mrs. Williams Takes on Chillswim Ullswater

Design Thinking in Action: A Day with a UX Professional

On Tuesday 10th June, 40 Year 8 students took part in an inspiring and hands-on workshop led by a professional UX Designer. The session offered a unique opportunity to explore the world of user experience design through real-world challenges. From sketching initial ideas to thinking critically about user needs, students gained valuable insight into how digital products are created and refined. The workshop also included a fascinating look into the designer’s career journey, sparking curiosity and excitement about future opportunities in tech and design.

Year 10 GCSE students also joined the experience through a dynamic Q&A session. They asked thoughtful questions about the skills needed in the industry, the designer’s personal career path, and what a typical day looks like in the field. Their enthusiasm and engagement made the session even more enriching.

Mrs. Pilkington expressed how proud she was of all the students involved. Their focus, creativity, and outstanding behaviour were noted by the guest speaker, who praised their attitude and participation throughout the day.

We’re already looking forward to next year’s workshop!

COMMITMENT

Spirited Arts Competition

On Monday 14th July the BPE department led a day’s workshop with 25 students to engage with some deep philosophical thinking through art or poetry. The Spirited Arts competition is run every year to promote critical thinking about an issues, personal reflection and engagement with the world around us. Miss Manwaring introduced the themes for students to choose from; Making sense of life, Living in a diverse world, Thinking about God, Sacred spaces, Stories that change lives and All God’s creatures . Mrs Griffiths-White gave some ideas about artists and styles that might inspire them as well as advice on their own pieces throughout the day. Students used independent time to produce their work and we had some fabulous drawings, painting, 3D crafting and wonderful poetry. Students also had to produce a written explanation of the work showing their thought process, how it links to the theme and personal reflection; Mr Barnard kindly gave advice and support during this section.

I was very impressed by their behaviour, dedication and deep thinking during the whole workshops. Well done to all the students for their efforts - Miss Manwaring, Mrs Griffiths-White and Mr Barnard were impressed with your creativity and engagement with the themes.

COMMITMENT

College Taster Days

This term, as part of our comprehensive careers programme, Year 9 & 10 students had the opportunity visit local colleges in order to get an idea of what is on offer for their next steps and also to sample college life. Students enjoyed participating in a number of lessons and exploring the campuses. A big thank you to Preston College, Runshaw College, and Cardinal Newman College for providing our students with these exciting and enriching experiences!

Martin Mere Trip

When we arrived at Martin Mere we were greeted by ‘FIN’ , he was a Viking forager and was very keen to show us the ways of his village. We learnt to make fires using reeds and flint, forage for mushrooms, weaving and making fences and thatching. But a definite highlight was fighting with shield and swords. (Both staff and students alike building a shield wall to protect the village.) We used previous Forest school knowledge to help us.)

The students also fed the birds as we investigated the site, spotting lots and lots of ducks, flamingos, herons, storks and seeing the otters. Lots of fantastic photographs taken by the students it was a little damp to say the least so we couldn’t do many sketches.

The rainfall did not deter us from having an fantastic day! Well done to all Mrs A. J. Burgess

TEAMWORK

Well done to all the teams who took part in our Enterprise Competition—your creativity and teamwork were outstanding. Here are some of our brilliant winners!

TEAMWORK

COMMITMENT

2024/25

Lostock Hall Academy

has achieved the Gold School Games Mark award for their commitment, engagement in the School Games for 2024/25.

The PE Department is pleased to announce that it has once again achieved the School Games Gold Mark award. This is the fourth consecutive year that the Academy has been awarded Gold standard for the range of opportunities on offer for students to participate in PE and School Sport.

Having achieved the award for four years running, the Academy can apply for Platinum status next year! None of this would have been possible without the ongoing dedication of our superb students and the time that they give up to assist with the organisation and running of events throughout the year!

LHA Sports Day 2025

Well done to all students for your attitude and behaviour on sports day. It is a massive whole school event that involves all four year groups in school and can only be a success if everyone works together on the day.

The levels of participation (students signing up to events) was truly excellent which in turn resulted in a high level of competition!

The full set of results can be found below:

Year 7

L: 131 points (5th place)

S: 237 points (1st place)

T: 192 points (3rd place)

C: 122 points (6th place)

K: 181 points (4th place)

H: 203 points (2nd place)

Year 8

L: 175 points (2nd place)

S: 138 points (5th place)

T: 252 points (1st place)

C: 87 points (6th place)

K: 173 points (3rd place)

H: 164 points (4th place)

Year 9

L: 170 points (2nd place)

S: 115 points (5th place)

T: 175 points (1st place)

C: 137 points (4th place)

K: 140 points (3rd place)

H: 97 points (6th place)

Year 10

L: 88 points (6th place)

S: 111 points (3rd place)

T: 98 points (5th place)

C: 108 points (4th place)

K: 127 points (2nd place)

H: 134 points (1st place)

House Competition (all scores combined):

L: 564 points (5th place) - Calder

S: 601 points (3rd place) - Yarrow

T: 717 points (1st place) - Douglas

C: 454 points (6th points) - Ribble

K: 621 points (2nd place) - Hodder

H: 598 points (4th place) - Wyre

COMMITMENT TEAMWORK

COMMITMENT

TEAMWORK

Sprint to Success: U-14 South Ribble Athletics Championships

Well done to all of our students who represented the Academy at the recent U-14 South Ribble School Games athletics championships at Stanley Park, Blackpool. A busy day of competition resulted in students podiuming across a range of events on both the track and in the field.

COMMITMENT

Our June cricket outing was a fantastic day of sunshine, skill, and sportsmanship!

A brilliant mix of Year 7 and 8 boys took to the pitch, showcasing tight, aggressive fielding and outstanding batting— securing 2 wins out of 3 games!

But what truly stood out was their attitude. The boys were polite, supportive, and played with real heart—a shining example of cricket played in the right spirit.

Cricket in the Sun TEAMWORK

Year 8 Boys Finish Football Season Unbeaten! TEAMWORK

A huge congratulations to our Year 8 boys football team, who have ended their season undefeated and added another trophy to their collection!

Following their recent Lancashire Cup victory, the team continued their winning streak by securing the South Ribble Cup at the South Ribble School Games.

In a tense and closely contested final against Priory Academy, the boys showed incredible resilience, coming from a goal down to win 4–1. Their performance was a brilliant display of the Academy’s core values: teamwork, commitment, and determination.

An outstanding achievement—well done to the whole squad!

Year 7 Girls Cup Final TEAMWORK

Our Y7 Girls played All Hallows early June in the South Ribble School Games Cup Final. Both teams played very well and showed great teamwork and commitment throughout. We finished runners up just missing out on the trophy. Well done to all girls involved in the squad this year. Mr Galbraith is proud of you all and you should be proud of all you have achieved this year.

Young Leaders Shine at Primary Netball Event

Huge congratulations to our incredible young Sports Leaders, who did a fantastic job officiating a major primary school netball tournament hosted here at the Academy!

With 11 local schools taking part, the afternoon was buzzing with energy and excitement. Our students gave up their time after school to support and inspire younger players—and their efforts truly made the event a success.

Their leadership, commitment, and teamwork were on full display. We’re so proud of the way they represented our Academy and upheld our core values. Well done, team!

Year 8 Girls Football Team TEAMWORK

Tuesday 1st July marked the end of the Year 8 girls football season with our presentation ceremony.

Each member of the squad has been fantastic all season. All 13 girls have turned up consistently to every training session, put in maximum in effort and above all did it with a smile of their faces. The season was capped off with a brilliant South Ribble Cup victory. Roll on next season where we aim to defend our trophy and compete in a newly formed girls league. Have a great summer.

Cricket at Emirates Old Trafford

This half term, Lostock Hall students enjoyed an exciting trip to Emirates Old Trafford, watching Lancashire Lightning and Lancashire Thunder in the T20 Vitality Blast.

A highlight of the day was forming a guard of honour before the Thunder game—proudly representing the Academy on live TV!

Northern Counties cup final

Well done to Year 9 students who represented Lancashire schoolboys in the Northern Counties cup final at the weekend. In a very competitive final, Lancashire beat Merseyside 3-0 to secure their first ever U-14 title in this competition. This is a superb achievement which contributes to further football success for the county.

South Ribble v Liverpool

TEAMWORK

Well done to our boys who represented South Ribble against a strong Liverpool schoolboy side on Saturday. Although Liverpool went onto win the game all four students performed superbly, displaying excellent levels of commitment and effort throughout.

Future Sports Leaders Step Up

This half term, our Year 10 Sports Studies students rose to the challenge of planning and leading their own sports sessions.

Throughout the day, they demonstrated fantastic effort, teamwork, and leadership. Two students received special recognition for their outstanding delivery and organisation.

Well done to all involved—brilliant work from our future sports leaders!

U-14 Girls Triumph in South Ribble School Games Cup Final! COMMITMENT TEAMWORK

The Academy is celebrating another fantastic sporting achievement as our U-14 Girls Football Team clinched victory in the South Ribble School Games Cup Final!

In a thrilling and closely fought match, the team displayed exceptional determination and teamwork to secure a 1-0 win against Penwortham Girls’ High School. The decisive moment came in the second half, when Lola delivered a stunning finish to put the Academy ahead.

Every player gave their all on the pitch, showcasing not only skill and effort but also outstanding sportsmanship throughout the game. Their unity and resilience were truly inspiring.

A huge thank you goes out to all the parents and carers who came along to cheer on the team—your support made a real difference!

Congratulations to the entire squad on this well-deserved victory!

Year 7 Girls Football Presentation

TEAMWORK

Our Y7 Girls football team have wrapped up their season. A huge well done to all of those students involved throughout the year, your commitment to the team and amazing attitude is something you should be proud of. Mr Galbraith would like to thank all parents who have supported the team this year and hopes the girls are excited to continue into Y8. We have handed out some awards to students. Hallie was awarded Best Player, Esme was awarded Players Best Player and Lissy awarded Most Improved Player

Class of 2025 Valedictory Celebration

On Tuesday 1st July, the #Classof2025 celebrated in style at the beautiful Rivington Hall Barn. The weather held out just long enough for our leavers to arrive in spectacular fashion, cheered on by proud family and friends.

The evening was filled with joy, laughter, and pride. From a standout speech by our Head Girl to great food and dancing, it was a perfect send-off for a truly special year group.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the night so memorable! Take a look through the photo album below to relive the magic of the evening - Facebook Album