Weekly Update
26th February 2024
Message from the Headteacher
We are pleased to have heard from so many Year 7 parents and carers about how quickly the girls have settled into life at LGGS, and look forward to meeting many of you in person at Parents’ Evening tomorrow night. It will give you an opportunity to speak to Form Tutors and teachers about school life, the Year 7 curriculum, and to ask any questions you may have.
On Wednesday, the school will begin hosting the Spanish Exchange students who warmly welcomed our students to Spain last month. Besides attending lessons, the students will have plenty of time to appreciate the beautiful area of England we live in.
Chicago launches on Wednesday. If you have not already booked, there are still seats available for the Wednesday and Thursday performances but only a handful for Friday and Saturday.
Tickets are available online.
Please note that ASLEF strike action will take place this Friday 1 March and, as a result, Northern Rail will not be operating any services on 1 March across their entire network. Please make alternative arrangements for travel on this date.
Social Media
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Positive News
Chicago
Having watched rehearsals at school during the past week, I have been amazed by the standard and enthusiasm of every single person involved. It has been a real team effort and I wish everyone all the best this week.
The show will be the first musical performed by LGGS since Les Miserables in 2018. The leads are Charlotte in Year 13, playing the part of Roxie Hart, and Nicole in Year 11, playing the part of Velma Kelly.
Tickets are available online.
World Book Day
To celebrate World Book Day 2024 on Thursday 7th March, our Library staff have chosen the theme of Dystopian Worlds and they have organised a host of events between 4th-8th March.
Students and staff are invited to dress up as their favourite dystopian, fiction character on Thursday and make a voluntary donation of £1 to Book Aid International via Parent Pay. The charity provides books and teacher and librarian training to war-torn and disadvantaged communities around the globe.
If your child does not wish to participate in the dress up, they may come to school on the 7th in their own clothes.
The events include: Assemblies delivered by our Reading Ambassadors on the history and importance of dystopian fiction. An author visit for Years 8 and 9, the annual staff play, a form door decorating competition, a short story quiz,
our Bake Off and Charity Bake Sale and a bargain book sale.
Information about how students can get involved with each activity has been posted in the student bulletin in recent weeks, and Key Stage 3 form tutors will be handing out World Book Day activity booklets to their forms on Friday 1st March. Key Stage 4 and Sixth Form may collect a booklet from the Library.
Please ensure your child has a small amount of loose change if they wish to purchase a second hand book for between 50p and £3 at the sale in the Library all week, or if they wish to buy a slice of their favourite cake made by LGGS Bake Off contestants on Thursday 7th. If you have any queries at all, please email: e.brown@lggs.lancs.sch.uk.
Parent and Friends Association
We are keen to re-start our Parents and Friends Association with the aim of bringing everyone together throughout the year. This will provide an opportunity to get together to support the school as well as to socialise as a school community.
Please complete this form to provide suggestions for events you would like to see taking place and to indicate if you would be willing to be part of the organising group.
Lancashire Lit Fest Big Read
LGGS is going for victory a second year in a row through entering students into the Big Read, organised by Lancashire Lit Fest. Last year, one of our Year 8 students won the grand prize of a book bundle, a signed copy of the book and £250 of books for our school Library!
We have received 50 copies of this year’s title, Tyger by S.F. Said and students can collect a free copy, if they sign up to read and then write or create a video review of the book. Entries must be emailed to our Librarian e.brown@lggs.lancs.sch.uk by the deadline of 25th April 2024.
S.F. Said is visiting Lancaster Storey on the evening of Friday 15th March to talk about his book as part of Lit Fest 2024 celebrations. Tickets are free but you must reserve them on Eventbrite.
Northern Trains – Strike Action
ASLEF strike action will take place this Friday 1 March. As a result, they will not be operating any services on 1 March across their entire network. Please make alternative arrangements for travel on this date.
An overtime ban on Thursday 29 February and Saturday 2 March will also impact some early morning and late night services. Information is available on the Northern Rail website.
The Edith Bell Trust Award
The ‘Edith Bell Trust’ awards an annual bursary to assist an LGGS Year 13 student wishing to pursue a medical/nursing career. The award aims to help with travel costs for a project related to their studies or towards a GAP year project.
In 2024 the Trust will be awarding 2 x £400 awards and any Year 13 student interested, can find further details and an application form online.
Applications must be submitted by the end of Friday 8th March 2024.
Any queries or requests for support should be addressed to Ms Dobson or a member of the Sixth Form team, or to Ms Gillies or a member of the Finance Team: finance@lggs.lancs.sch.uk
Year 7 Bake Sale
Well done to Hattie (Form 7.2) who is part of our School Council. Hattie, with the support of all her form organised a Bake Sale at lunchtime today to raise money for the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children).
The NSPCC is the UK’s leading children’s charity and their mission is to prevent abuse and help those affected to recover. Here are some key points about the NSPCC: Preventing abuse, supporting recovery, ChildLine, online safety and fundraising. Remember, every childhood is worth fighting for. If you would like to learn more or support their cause, you can visit the NSPCC website.
School of Sanctuary Reading List
In the recent survey for School of Sanctuary a number of students said that they would like to understand more about the reasons that people might flee their home country. We have put together a brilliant reading list for students of all ages which gives them the opportunity to engage with this question in a very powerful way. As we look ahead to World Book Day on 7th March, this collection of fiction for all ages gives voice to the experiences of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Mind
At LGGS we recognise that our students’ mental health and wellbeing can change all the time. Supporting a young person can feel really worrying, but it is important to know that there’s lots of support out there. Mind’s young person’s information hub is full of advice to help young people and those around them understand what they are going through.
Lancaster Link with Lancaster University
LGGS has recently formalised a partnership with Lancaster University which will bring many benefits to our students and Year 12 were informed about this during last Friday’s assembly. The three key points are:
- A guaranteed offer from Lancaster University for students studying 3 A levels (as long as they are studying the required subjects for that course)*
- Guaranteed accommodation on campus if students apply for this by the published deadline and place Lancaster as their firm choice in UCAS.
- Academic scholarships that reward high grades achieved in A level exams. This is money that never has to be paid back.
We will be talking to Year 12 students about the UCAS application process after the Easter Holidays, there is nothing that they need to do at this time, we are just making them aware of a great opportunity with a UK Top 10 university, right on their doorstep!
For more detailed information use the QR code above. (*This excludes offers to study Medicine)
School Charity Fund
As you may be aware, schools nationally are facing challenging times due to current government funding levels.
We work hard to ensure that we use our funds in the best possible way, to ensure our students get the very best provision and support in school.
However, as budgets get tighter, it becomes even harder to continue providing new equipment, develop our site and support our students’ needs. On top of this we have also seen a number of organisations, who once provided support in school for free, now needing to charge for their services.
We have recently used money from our school charity fund to:
- Provide additional mental health support and counselling
- Purchase new curriculum materials including a pottery wheel, new gym mats and geography field work equipment
- Purchase outdoor and indoor dining tables to provide more space to eat at break and lunch
- Provide transport to sporting fixtures
We also continue to use the fund to help students in need of financial assistance.
Moving forwards, we plan to use our school funds in the following way:
Short term:
- Creating a new larger prayer and reflection room
- Resurface the area outside of the Art block to produce an additional outdoor seating area
- Other landscaping around the site, including Pear Tree Garden to provide more spaces for students to socialise
Long term:
- Creating a larger indoor dining hall with a ground floor kitchen
- Purchasing a school minibus to use for sports fixtures and other activities
- Further building development including additional specialist teaching spaces e.g. Sports hall, Science Labs, etc.
We appreciate that these are challenging financial times for everyone, but without your continued support we would struggle to continue with the plans outlined above.
Any donation no matter how small makes a difference. For example, if every family contributed £10 per month with Gift Aid, then this would provide around £144,000 additional funds.
You can find more information about how to donate to the school charity fund on our website and please also find our online form.
Recruitment
We currently have three job vacancies:
Administrative Assistant
Lunchtime Supervisor
Site Supervisor
Should you or anyone you know be interested, please get in touch or share this information.
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