Weekly Update
27th November 2023
Message from the Headteacher
Thank you to everyone who attended our Autumn Concert last week. It was an incredible evening, and I am still in awe of the talent of everyone involved.
During the evening the audience got a short preview of our next LGGS musical – Chicago – which will premier in February 2024.
This week we turn our eyes to our annual Performing Arts Festival which takes place on Thursday.
Having seen many of the rehearsals over the last few weeks, we are certainly in for an amazing festival. I hope you can join us on Thursday evening to see the final performances.
I am sure you will agree that these events and opportunities (as well as many others) are a huge part of what makes LGGS such a special place.
One of the highlights of the school year
The Performing Arts Festival, with its Drama, Dance and Pocket Musical categories, provides an opportunity for our students to showcase their talent whilst making new friends across all year groups.
There are still a few tickets left for each of the performances but, to avoid disappointment, it is best to apply as soon as possible as performances always sell out. Book a ticket
As we head towards the festive period, I wanted to let you know about a few events coming up.
Sixth Form students are already underway with putting together festive shoeboxes filled with toiletries and treats for those who have had to flee domestic abuse. This is an annual event in support of Safenet Lancaster, who will be collecting the boxes on Tuesday 5th December. If students from other year groups would like to contribute, they should bring their boxes filled, wrapped but not sealed, by lunchtime on 5th December.
Festive Jumper Day will take place on Thursday 7th December with a suggested donation of £2 in aid of Save the Children (can be paid on Parent Pay). Students will be able to come to school in non-uniform.
Our annual Elf Run will take place on Friday 15th December 2023.
Our school Christmas Dinner will be served on Thursday 14th and Wednesday 20th December 2023.
We will close for the holiday on Friday 22nd December 2023 at 1pm.
We will also be bringing all of this together through a Random act of Kindness Countdown throughout December, more details to be shared in this week’s student bulletin and next week’s update.
As a reminder, school will be closed on Friday 1st and Monday 4th December.
Trips and visits
Since I joined the school, it has been one of my priorities to develop and increase the number of opportunities for students to go on trips and visits. This year we have been able to offer 2 international trips which were oversubscribed (Year 10 and 11 trip to Houston and the return of the annual Ski Trip).
As well as trying to increase numbers for these trips or run second visits, we are also looking at introducing other opportunities across the school. This will include visits locally and in the UK. This does take time to plan, and we will keep you updated through the Educational Visits area of our website.
Social Media
We are now active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Please follow, like and share to keep up to date.
Positive News
Sylvie in Year 12 has recently been awarded the St John Ambulance Cadet of the Year for Lancashire and Cumbria, and last week she travelled to London to meet The Princess Royal at the Young Achievers Reception. This took place at the museum of the Order of St John in London where Princess Anne recognised lifesaving, brave and inspirational young people within the St John organisation. This was a fantastic achievement and the picture shows Sylvie with The Princess Royal at the reception.
It has been an eventful week for our students’ sporting success!
Cate in Year 13 recently competed in the British Schools’ Orienteering Championships at Leeds. The race involved map-reading whilst running at speed and she completed the course in a time of 42:24, achieving an impressive second place.
There were successes at Ripley for the Years 7, 8 and 10 Netball teams and with Year 9 fighting hard until the end.
Year 7 football teams played in the District Tournament and LGGS A team were crowned champions, and our B team finished in an amazing 7th place.
The Under 13 football team finished as runners up in the Utilita Tournament. They narrowly lost first place on penalties in the final!
Congratulations to Georgia, Liv and Chloe, who represented Lancashire at the weekend in the NW Netball play day at Lancaster University. All three students played extremely well and should be proud of their achievements.
News from Germany
Our German exchange students have been welcomed by their exchange partners and are fully enjoying the opportunities the exchange offers. So far they have visited Cologne, been treated to a concert at the Cologne Philharmonie, sampled local delicacies (see above) and we shall look forward to hearing all about their journey in our end of term newsletter.
Above: Pictured at a waffle house at Schloß Burg
A buzz in the Centenary Hall!
Danny Rurlander, with the help of “Buzz” his indoor drone, kept our students enthralled as he spoke about Spylark, his award winning children’s adventure story with a storyline which is set in the Lake District.
Author visits enhance our students’ learning and, as noted by the National Literacy Trust’s research, ‘Children who had an author visit to their school were also more likely to have high levels of confidence in their reading’.
Homework on Edulink
Following parental feedback we will start to use the ‘Homework’ function on Edulink. This new function allows parents and students to view the homework that has been set by teachers
and the dates the work will be due.
Students can tick the homework off as they complete it but should still bring their
Student Planners in to school each day.
Alumnae update
Dr Karen Angus-Cole studied at LGGS between 2002 and 2009 and is now Director of Studies for Education with Psychology at the University of Bath. She will be one of our guest speakers at this year’s LGGS Awards Evening, where we will celebrate the successes of our students who took GCSE and A Level exams in summer 2023.
Karen has recently published a book called “From Wellbeing to Welldoing – how to think, learn and be well” which promotes practical strategies designed to remove a lot of the anxiety around learning. We are also looking forward to Karen talking to LGGS students in school in the spring term about how they can take control of their own learning while also supporting their wellbeing.
Work experience
Work Experience Week for Year 12 students is planned for the week beginning 13th May 2024.
We are committed to all our students having the best possible opportunities during Work Experience week, not just those who already have a good network of contacts, so we are reaching out to the entire LGGS community to ask if you would be happy for one of our Year 12 students to spend a week in the place where you work.
Our students have a diverse range of interests and aspirations, and we are hoping to be able to match that with the placements we are able to offer them.
Please complete this form if you are able to facilitate a placement for one or more of our students, and please pass this on to anyone in your wider network of friends or colleagues if you think that they may be able to help.
On behalf of our Year 12 students, we would like to thank you for considering this request: we intend that this programme will become a regular part of the Year 12 calendar for many years to come so that all LGGS students can have this enriching opportunity.
Holiday Activities and Food Programme
If you are eligible for benefits-related free school meals, you can get a place on the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF)!
This takes place during the Christmas Holidays for 4 days (most likely taking place between the
2nd and 5th January). You can check out further details on the website for your district.
You will get a chance to:
Take part in activities, sports and games
Meet up with friends and make new ones
Plus have a tasty, healthy meal
Visit the website to find out more.
If you have any questions about HAF please email:
CFW-HAF@lancashire.gov.uk
Current Career Opportunities
LGGS is currently advertising for the following four posts:
Cover Supervisor & Tutor, Teacher of English (Maternity Cover) , ICT Technician and a Site Supervisor.
Should you interested in applying, you will find further information on the recruitment section of our school website.