Weekly Update
10th February 2025
Message from the Headteacher
It has been an eventful half term, especially the last few weeks, which have seen our A Level students returning from a science trip to CERN, exchange visit students returning from Spain, an A Level Art trip to Edinburgh and a Year 10 Geographers’ visit to Salford Quays.
There have been sporting successes in relay, netball and indoor athletics, whilst our Religious Studies students have received some impressive results in a national competition, all of which you can read about below.
On Wednesday, students have been invited to a virtual Apprenticeship Fair where they will have a chance to attend live sessions with top employers, network one-on-one with professional experts and receive tips on how to find and apply for apprenticeships.
Last week we celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week 2025 and we would like to remind parents and carers of the many resources on our website. The Anna Freud Centre offers top tips for managing conversations with young people about mental health, and within school we offer all students a 15-minute drop-in session with the school counsellor.
Below we have listed a number of events, including the opportunity for parents and students to meet for a chat and coffee over the coming months. The Escape2Make fair, which many of our students took part in last year, returns next week offering a selection of free creative workshops.
We appreciate that A Level and GCSE students may be revising over the half-term but we hope they and everyone in our school community will find time to relax, recharge and to read! This Friday, we will be holding a book swap for International Book Giving Day. Hopefully, many of our students will be able to bring a good book home to enjoy over the half-term break.
We are active on Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.
Please follow, like and share to keep up to date.
A-Level students visit CERN, Geneva
Our Sixth Form students have returned from a school trip to CERN. They visited the cryogenic facility, and learnt about the research being done to improve the efficiency of superconducting magnets. This is not only important for the work being carried out with particle accelerators at CERN, but also has implications for making MRI scanning more accessible, and improving equity in healthcare.
The students also had an opportunity to visit other organisations including the History of Science Museum and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum.
‘Overall, the trip was well balanced between academic time in CERN and seeing Geneva which was beautiful with views of the surrounding mountains and Lac Leman (lake). One of the highlights was building cloud chambers in order to see particles. Using alcohol vapor, a sheet of metal and dry ice, we identified what causes the shapes of the tracks in the cloud chamber. In summary, the CERN trip was the best school trip ever.’ Hannah, Year 13
Spanish Exchange
As you can see from the pictures below, our Spanish Exchange students enjoyed wonderful weather in Spain and received a warm welcome from their hosts and also a representative of the Mayor of La Vall D’Uixó.
They attended school, took part in a quiz and also enjoyed trips out to see the beautiful Spanish terrain. We are sure they will have reaped the rewards of staying with their host families and have had plenty of opportunities to practise their speaking skills.
Year 12 Big Debate
Year 12 held a Big Debate this month at school in front of a large audience. The teams debated the motion: ‘This house believes that happiness is more important than success’.
From improving speaking and listening skills to building self-esteem and rounded knowledge of a specific subject or topic, debating remains an important aspect of communication and interaction.
After very persuasive arguments from both teams the final decision narrowly went to team ‘Success’.
Well done to everyone who took part and contributed to the debate!
Positive News
A visit to Preston Crown Court
Last week, a group of Year 12 students, who are aspiring to future careers in law, forensics, and criminal psychology, visited Judge Jeffries at Sessions House Crown Court in Preston.
The judge gave them a fascinating insight into legal careers, some of his most exciting cases to date and a highlight for many was spending the morning session in court watching a criminal case unfold.
King Henry VIII School Relay
Well done to those who took part in the King Henry VIII School Relay race. Competing with other schools from across the country all teams did amazingly well especially considering this was their first time attending the race.
Well done to everyone involved and thank you so much to King Henry VIII School for hosting us.
The results are as follows:
LGGS A – 14th, LGGS B – 27th, LGGS C – 37th
Netball at Ripley St Thomas
It was brilliant to see thirty Year 8 students playing netball against Ripley St Thomas in four very competitive games last week. The honours were shared with 2 victories each. Well done to all involved.
Green team won 7-1 – Player of the Match: Anya, Red team lost 2-1 – Player of the Match: Freya
Royal blue lost 7-2 – Player of the Match: Daina, Dark blue won 16-3 – Player of the Match: Joanna
District Indoor Athletics competition
The Year 7 and 8 athletics teams recently competed at the District Indoor Athletics competition and came away with 2nd and 1st place respectively. The Year 8’s, as champions, will go on to represent the district at the Lancashire Championships in March.
Well done to everyone who took part!
Escape2Make (E2M)
From film making or singing to photography or craft and design, the E2M Fair is the official launch of E2M’s new space in the city centre of Lancaster.
There will be an opportunity to take part in one of 9 creative workshops during half term (15th February – 21st February), followed by a city-wide celebration – a creative trail – on Saturday 22nd February.
11-18 year olds from all around Lancaster and Morecambe are welcome to take part. You can register and find a timetable for the workshops on the E2M website.
National Apprenticeship Week 2025
To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week you can join a virtual fair to learn about the world of apprenticeships. Explore the latest apprenticeship opportunities, attend live sessions with top employers including the MET Office, BBC, Lloyds Banking Group, and the NHS, and network one-on-one to get top tips on how to find and apply for your dream apprenticeship.
Register for the Unifrog Apprenticeships Fair which takes place on Wednesday 12th February.
Find out about a range of Apprenticeship Schemes.
Regent Café: ‘Share the Love’ themed menu
RS Competition Winner and Runners Up
The following students who entered a national Religious Studies competition ‘Spirited Arts Gallery’ last year. The category which they entered explored the endless ways through which people from different faiths/worldviews and cultures perceive and connect with God and you can view their entries via the links below.
Congratulations to Olivia who received a winning entry and also to Connie, Gouri and Khadija – as runners-up.
Well done to everyone who entered.
Olivia’s work The divine Labyrinth
Connie’s work Innocence Of Youth?
Gouri’s work God is in our hearts
Khadija’s work (Age 13) The existence of God
Time to Talk
We celebrated Time to Talk Day last Thursday, but it is important that we make time to talk with young people throughout the year. The Anna Freud Centre has some top tips for managing conversations with young people about mental health.
Children’s Mental Health
Place2Be joined forces with Here4You, supported by The Walt Disney Company and the Inside Out 2 characters to celebrate Children’s Mental Health Week this year. They explored the importance of self-awareness and expressing emotions ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself’. You can find further details on Place2Be’s website.
Having a conversation with our Counsellor could help students manage something that is worrying them and to place things in perspective. Within school ‘Place2Be’ offers a 15-minute session at break or lunchtime.
It is advisable to book an appointment, ideally one day in advance of your meeting.
Students can book a drop-in session with our Counsellor, Mariyam Qureshi, using the following link:
Book time with Mariyam Qureshi: Place2Talk sessions
LGGS Rose Installation
Our Art Department have launched a new ceramics’ club which will take place each Monday lunch time in the Art Department with Mrs Field. The project aims to create ceramic LGGS roses, sculpted from clay. Each rose will be fired, glazed and then bolted to metal rods with the aim of creating a stunning installation in the school grounds.
There are a maximum of 20 spaces each Monday and we look forward to seeing the completed, collaborative installation during the summer term.
Papyrus: Prevention of Young Suicide
If you are concerned that a young person is feeling suicidal, advisers can support you to start a conversation about suicide and explore options of how best to support them.
Advisers are also trained to help young people focus on staying safe from suicide and offer advice and support that may help in moving forward.
You will also find online resources and suicide prevention training on the Papyrus website.
Prop Up Project at Carnforth
‘SAFE’S Prop up Project’ is a group for young people and young adults, aged 13-19, who might be experiencing isolation due to mental health, wellbeing and other life challenges, which impacts on their ability to socialise with peers.
They offer weekly sessions which use drama, art and other creative activities alongside wellbeing and life skills sessions, to encourage young people to meet others in similar situations, make friends, build their confidence, promote a healthier wellbeing and improve their outlook on life.
C.H.A.T.S. Parent and Carer Network
C.H.A.T.S. (Carers. Help. Advisory. Training. Support) is a support group for parents and carers who have children or young people experiencing emotional or mental health difficulties. The group was set up by parents and carers in partnership with CAMHS and aims to raise awareness of services available to them.
For more information email: chatsnorthwest@gmail.com
Upcoming Events:
Thursday 13th February: Connections meeting 10am-12pm
No workshop in February
Thursday 27th February: Zoom online meeting 7pm-8:30pm
Friday 7th March – Social Café 10am-12pm
Thursday 13th March – Connections meeting 10am-12pm
Thursday 20th March – Anxiety Workshop 10am-1pm
Thursday 27th March – Zoom online meeting 7pm-8:30pm
Friday 4th April: Social Café
Social Café, Connections (new name for the face to face) meeting
and workshops are hosted at:
Moore Music, 13-17 Devonshire Road, Morecambe LA3 1QT
One Stop Shop: Coffee & Connect
For further details, you may contact the One Stop Shop via their Facebook page.
World Book Day Donation
At the start of the academic year, new form-time reading books were purchased for all students in Years 7 to 9 to read together in form: a detective genre text by LGGS alumna Katherine Woodfine for Year 7; a dystopian fiction text by twice Carnegie medal-winning Geraldine McCaughrean for Year 8, and for Year 9 a historical fiction text from the Young Quills Award shortlisted author, Alison Weatherby. To accompany their form-time reading, our School Librarian Miss Brown has secured author visits by two of these authors.
In order to continue the rich tradition of shared reading beyond the English classroom, this World Book Day we are inviting parents to make a small donation to sponsor the form time reading texts.
Each £5 donation would sponsor one book for one student. The names of doners and a quotation on the benefits of reading for pleasure will be printed and stuck inside sponsored books. However, you may of course choose to donate anonymously. Details of how to donate will be circulated via ParentPay.
Recruitment
LGGS is currently recruiting for the following teaching roles:
Teacher of English to start in September
Head of Biology Maternity Cover to start in June