Weekly Update
3rd March 2025
Message from the Headteacher
I hope that you are all feeling the benefits of the half term break.
In the lead up to half term we had STEM and sporting successes, which you can read about below, along with more recent accomplishments. During the break, two educational trips took place. The first saw STEM students travelling to Houston to visit the Johnson Space Centre and undertake a Space University Programme, whilst our Sixth Form geographers headed to Iceland to view its unique, natural landscape.
Year 12 and 13 history students have only just returned from Berlin where they visited places which they are familiar with through their history studies. We look forward to hearing from our students about their incredible trips in our end of term newsletter.
28th February marked the start of Ramadan, a time of reflection for Muslims in our school community. All students have access to a prayer room at school, and this year, in support of those observing fasting during this holy month, our canteen staff have organised a takeaway selection for students to bring home when breaking their fast.
This week we celebrate World Book Day with many events taking place at school. This year’s theme is ‘Myths & Legends’ and on Thursday 6th, students are invited to dress up as a character from a myth or legend, or come in non-uniform, with a £1 donation going to Book Aid International.
Students are able to sign up for a number of activities as we do still have places. The range of activities include a ‘Bake Off’ competition tomorrow, an origami workshop, a team quiz, and an LGGS-style story time with teachers. Today, there was a creative writing workshop with author Katherine Woodfine for Year 7 students.
There are two Parents’ Evenings taking place in early March with Year 13 Parents’ Evening this Thursday and Year 11 Parents’ Evening on Thursday 13th. Staff will be available on the night to discuss student progress and answer any queries you may have about the upcoming exams.
We are active on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Please follow, like and share to keep up to date.
Berlin History Trip
Our A Level historians travelled to Berlin last week where they had the opportunity to visit the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust memorial, the Book Burning memorial and the Olympic Stadium. The trip explored the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, a symbol of division and reconciliation, and the history which has shaped modern Germany.
Iceland Trip
The Iceland trip, which runs for students studying A-Level geography, has become a signature trip amongst the many that we run at LGGS. Our students were amazed to see the contrast of the fjords, ice and volcanic landscapes.
After arriving in Reykjavik, they travelled around this fascinating country and visited many exciting and impressive sites ranging from boiling mud pools to the largest and most powerful waterfall in Europe. They also visited the spectacular Skaftafell Glacier and the Blue Lagoon, heated by geothermal energy.
Johnson Space Centre, Houston
Due to a high levels of interest from LGGS STEM students who wished to attend this academic year’s educational trip to the Johnson Space Centre, a second cohort of LGGS students travelled to Houston during half term to take part in the Space University Programme.
During the trip they attended a talk from Dr Tes Caswell to hear about her work as a NASA Scientist and her mission as an astronaut analogue, as part of the HERA XI mission. They went scuba diving in a pool to see how astronauts train to walk in space, assembled an air lock, searched for samples, and carried out surveys. The students also completed coding and robotic challenges and used their skills to construct a Mars Rover and even had time to enjoy some line dancing!
National Careers Week – 3rd-8th March
National Careers Week started today, and during Personal Development lessons this week our students will be accessing National Careers Week resources to widen their knowledge of potential careers.
Lyndsey from Lancashire Mind visited LGGS and talked to Year 7 about ‘5 Ways To Wellbeing’. Lyndsey discussed her career, working with young people, and also offered useful tips on how to seek support if needed.
Alumna Alisha Kazam Sharples spoke about her role as a chemical engineer. Alisha discussed her career path and even gave some top tips on how to embrace failure as a tool for learning.
Thank you to Lyndsey and Alisha for sharing such valuable insights into their careers and offering practical career advice to Year 7 this morning.
Positive News
Matilda
Congratulations to Molly Druryin in Year 9 who played Miss Honey in My Theatre’s performance of ‘Matilda Junior’ last year. Molly has won a District NODA for best supporting female character in a musical and goes through as a nominee to represent the North West at an awards ceremony in Manchester during May.
IET Faraday Challenge
Prior to half term our Year 8 students joined students from Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Our Lady’s Catholic College to put their engineering skills to the test for the IET Faraday Challenge.
Throughout the day, the students tackled real-world engineering problems, researched, designed, and built prototype solutions. The level of creativity and teamwork was outstanding, making it a tough decision for the judges.
However, congratulations went to LGGS Team 4 who secured the top spot! This marks another fantastic achievement for our students.
VEX Robotics at Newcastle University
On Monday, our Year 9 and 10 teams took on the VEX Robotics Competition at Newcastle University. This global competition, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, pushes students to design and build innovative robots in an exciting engineering challenge.
Our Year 9 team put in an especially incredible performance, making it all the way to the semi-finals before being knocked out – an amazing achievement! Well done to all our students for their hard work, creativity, and teamwork.
Year 7 Hockey
There was a fantastic team effort from our Year 7 hockey team in their first-ever match, competing against Ripley St Thomas on 14th February. The result did not go our way, due to some great saves from the opposition’s goalie, but the girls showed incredible teamwork and perseverance throughout. Well done – a great start to your hockey journey!
City of Lancaster Gymnastics
Well done to our gymnasts, pictured below, who took part in the North West Schools Prelims as part of City of Lancaster Gymnastics Club. Well done to the Under 14 and 19 groups who qualified for the national final in May!
Cricket versus Carnforth and Ripley St. Thomas
Our Under-13 indoor cricket team put on an impressive performance this week, securing two decisive wins against Carnforth and Ripley: 68-23 vs Carnforth and 63-55 versus Ripley
Netball versus Ripley St. Thomas
We had a fantastic evening of Netball last week. Our Year 9, 10 and 11 teams battled fiercely to achieve a hat-trick of victories against Ripley St. Thomas!
Year 11: 26-23, Year 10: 14-10 and Year 9: 11-7.
Special congratulations to Evie, Molly and Olivia who all got player of the match!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Our Year 7s have been busy reading William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ as part of their English studies and are bringing the play to life!
We love to encourage our students to learn in different ways. Through rehearsals, they are able to tackle the play and characters from a different angle and have fun while they are doing it!
‘Girls Can’ Music Making Weekend
More Music is offering an opportunity for young female and non-binary musicians aged 14-25 years old to book a place and take part in an inspiring free music making weekend with special guests Loose Articles.
This is taking place on Saturday 8 March (2pm-5:30pm) and Sunday 9 March (11am-3pm).
By attending the workshop, participants will get to meet Loose Articles, watch their soundcheck, take part in a Q&A with the band and attend their concert at More Music on 8 March at 7:30pm – free of charge.
Bake Sales
The Royal Medical Benevolent Fund
Before half term, a team of Year 12 students held a bake sale in school to raise money for the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund. They have been awarded a certificate as a thank you from the charity for raising £207 for this important cause.
A huge thank you to Chenab, Rachel, Merin, Parnika, Nicole, and Enam for their efforts.
Girl Guiding North West international trip
On Tuesday last week, Year 11 student Vibha organised a bake sale in the Main Hall. Vibha is aiming to raise money so that she can take part in a Girl Guiding North West international trip to South Korea this summer.
We are all looking forward to seeing and sampling our students’ competition entries tomorrow at the ‘World Book Day’s, Bake off and Bake Sale’.
On Educating Girls Podcast Short:
5 Ways to Help Girls Grow in Resilience
LGGS is proud to be a member of the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools and over the months ahead we will be sharing with families some of the useful resources that they publish
The first is the following 10 minute ‘Podcast Short’: 5 Ways To Help Girls Grow in Resilience. The podcast gives a powerful insight into things that we can all do to support our young people to grow in resilience.
Join us to dive into a treasure trove of wisdom from the ‘On Education Girls’ vault. Their Podcast Shorts feature curated content offered in informative episodes that give actionable ideas and takeaways, all delivered in 10-15 minutes or less.
International Book Giving Day
On February 14th it was International Book Giving Day and three of our Year 10s organised a book swap outside the Library. We had a wonderful range of donated books, along with some lovely bookmarks and pencils donated by Waterstones Lancaster.
Staff and students enjoyed swapping out books they had read and consigned to the shelf in exchange for some new favourites. Well done Ania, Amy and Amelia for organising a brilliant event to share the love of reading!
Theatre Studies trip to Manchester’s Royal Exchange
Year 12 and 13 Theatre Studies students had a fantastic trip to the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester earlier this month to watch Caryl Churchill’s latest short plays. The striking venue, set within the historic exchange building, provided the perfect backdrop for ‘Escaped Alone’ and ‘What If If Only’ – two thought-provoking pieces exploring the climate crisis and the complexities of living in the present.
School Counsellor
Students can book a 15 minute drop-in session with our Counsellor, Mariyam Qureshi during break and lunchtime from Tuesday to Friday. Having a conversation could help our young people manage something that is worrying them and get things in perspective.
The drop-ins take place in the small counselling room close to the Centenary Hall.
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