January 2025
On Friday 20th December we were delighted to welcome two guest speakers, Victoria Maxwell and Edward Cooke, to talk to the Year 12 Law classes about their work as Family Mediators and in Surrogacy Law. They were able to tell us all about their area of expertise but also, what made them choose a career in Law, what they enjoyed about it, and what advice they would give to aspiring Law students. We enjoyed having them with us very much. A huge thank you to both Victoria and Edward for taking the time to come in and see us.
Fiona Langstone, Teacher of Law
On Friday 10th January, the La Diva Choir took part in an exciting singing and movement workshop with Marin Handley, Musical Director and the lovely cast members of Pirates of Penzance at Chichester Festival Theatre. La Diva learnt some musical items from the production and were shown how the staging was used during the songs.
Later after a pizza dinner, La Diva watched the evening performance of the show. This was a lovely evening and the group had a good introduction to the world of operetta. Many thanks to Angela Watkins for organising this for us.
Jane Bowen-Melfi, Head of Music
Congratulations to Elodie Hill (10King), Ben Stewart (10Andrewes), Joe Stewart (9Andrewes) and Max Gayle (9Burrows) who have all qualified for the English Schools National Schools Cross Country Final which is taking place in Nottingham later this year. The run took place at the familiar Brighton Waterhall fields that still possesses the same difficult hill climb that challenges the best of runners, but did not stop Bishop Luffa's runners in their tracks.
Bishop Luffa competed against more than 200 runners from across Sussex in each of their races and Elodie, Ben, Joe and Max all finished in the top 4 which saw them automatically qualify for the Final. Well done to Isabella Lendrum (9Burrows) and Isla Hill (10Otter) who finished in the top 20, which means they have a second chance to try and qualify for the same Final.
In addition to the individual success our Year 8 and 9 Junior Boys team was ranked the second fastest school in the county, due to Max Gayle finishing 3rd, Joe Stewart 4th, Frank James (9Ridgeway) 42nd, and Reuben Shewan (9Wilson) 49th - all outstanding performances.
Well done to Frederick Cullen (7King) who has qualified for the English Schools Trampoline Finals in Derby in March. Frederick finished 4th in the South Zone Finals to qualify and we look forward to hearing about how he gets on later this year.
Tim Godfray, Team Leader of PE
Bishop Luffa School in Chichester has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the award, which celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in global education. Bringing an international dimension into the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life and work in today’s world.
The 2025 award ceremony took place in Westminster on Monday 20th January and was attended by Members of Parliament and representatives from schools around the UK. Eli López-Gamero, International Team lead and Team Leader of Spanish, and Susie Cooke, EAL coordinator, represented Bishop Luffa School at the event.
Bishop Luffa School’s international work impacts every student in the school, from whole-school assemblies to internationally-focused projects and programmes involving students in Years 7 to 13.
In just the last year, students in the International Team have visited primary schools, welcomed delegations from the Korean Ministry of Education, fundraised, run an International Week and worked closely with partner schools in Germany, France, Tanzania, Spain, Ukraine, South Korea and other countries.
They also help celebrate and support multicultural members of the school family with languages and cultures from around the world.
On hearing the news that Bishop Luffa School had received the award, Eli López-Gamero said, “We are very proud that we were invited to the Houses of Parliament to collect our British Council International School Award for the second time.
“Huge congratulations to all the fantastic students in our International Team – and indeed to all the teachers, staff, parents and carers who have been involved in our international projects over the past three years!”
Scott McDonald, Chief Executive of the British Council, said: “The school has earned this prestigious award through its inspirational international work and links with schools abroad.
“The International School Award is a chance for schools to be recognised for their important work bringing the world into their classrooms. The desire to build on their international work shines through and it is with upmost pride that we celebrate their achievements.
“By embedding an international dimension in children’s education, these schools are preparing their students for successful lives in the UK or further afield, empowering them to be global citizens, and are creating vital opportunities in an increasingly global economy.”
Over 6,000 International School Awards have been presented to successful schools in the UK since the scheme began in 1999.
The International School Award encourages and supports schools to develop:
- An international ethos embedded throughout the school
- A whole school approach to international work
- Collaborative curriculum-based work with several partner schools
- Year-round international activity, and
- Involvement of the wider community.
As part of the Design and Technology GCSE programme, we organised a trip to The Lightroom, London to see the new VOGUE: Inventing the Runway exhibition. This was a spectacular new immersive exhibition exploring the history of the fashion runway show, from the intimate couture salons of the early 20th century to the unforgettable pop-culture events of the present.
The show utilised Vogue’s remarkable archive and contributor network to create an experience that brought together the industry’s leading voices from the past, present, and future. The trip provided our students with a valuable experience of this important component, working from primary sources.
Melissa Witherow, Team Leader of Textiles
We were delighted to welcome Jess Brown-Fuller MP to Bishop Luffa School recently. After a tour around the school with some of our Sixth Form students visiting various classrooms, Ms Brown-Fuller met with members of our student council and talked about how parliament works, and careers in politics. She also met some of our Ukrainian students and spoke about the challenges facing a lot of our families and staff from Ukraine. Mr Hindman was very happy to share progress on Bishop Luffa Launchpad and the exciting developments there.
Year 11 students travelled to London last week to kick start their art exam with some inspiration at Tate Modern and Tate Britain. A real highlight for students was The Turner Prize which featured a diverse range of artworks from portrait painting to installations. Students took advantage of both galleries completing sketches and formulating ideas for their projects.
Laurelly Thorpe, Team Leader of Art
On this 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Bishop Luffa commemorated the Holocaust.
Today’s commemoration was preceded by a week of assemblies that explained why we remember the horrific events of the Holocaust (and subsequent genocides). These assemblies included moving accounts by Maisie Osmend and Harriet Crow (both Year 13) of their visit to Auschwitz with the Holocaust Educational Trust.
A number of Year 9 students also participated in the build up to today’s events with a visit to New Park to see a special screening of ‘One Life’, and a group of Music/History students will be visiting the Festival Theatre tomorrow for a special performance of ‘The Last Train to Tomorrow’.
Today’s commemoration saw a Star of David made up of tealights in the Bartlett Hall, which all students visited. The tealights had words of hope written on the side by members of the School community, to fit in with this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day theme of ‘A Better Future’. On leaving the Hall, students could collect a prayer card to help them reflect still further on the events we were remembering. By marking these events, and keeping the memory of the horrific actions of the past alive, we hope that, together, we can work towards a better future, free from discrimination and prejudice.
My thanks go to all of those who helped make these events so moving and memorable.
Justin Barnett, Head of Humanities
On Wednesday 29th January 2025, Year 12 History students spent the day at Hampton Court Palace. As part of their course they study the early Tudors, including Henry VIII, so Hampton Court is incredibly relevant to their work. Students got the opportunity to explore the palace, helping immerse themselves in the intrigues surrounding the Tudor Court. To stand in the room where Henry VIII met his Council, and to stand in a courtyard that Wolsey would have recognised help bring events to life, and can only be helpful for their understanding of the period. As well as this they also purchased a class mascot, and Thomas CranBear will now grace many of Ms Hurry's Year 12 lessons!
My thanks go to Mrs Grove for organising the trip, Ms Hurry for accompanying it, and the students for their exemplary behaviour.
Justin Barnett, Head of Humanities
On the day the world marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, students from Bishop Luffa and Prebendal School performed Carl Davis’s opera ‘The Last Train To Tomorrow’ (words by Hiawyn Ormam). The opera is the story of the flight of 10,000 children from the Nazis in 1938-39 on the Kindertransport rescue trains to London. The story is harrowingly told from the children’s perspective.
Oscar Stephens (7Story), Isla Holl (7Andrewes), Sam Hayes (7Andrewes), Scarlet Hackett (7Story), Ayla Tran (7Ridgeway), Kitty-Primrose Alden (8Otter), Effie Watson (8Sherborne), Rebecca King (9Otter), Erin Selves (9Wilson), Jonathan Pun (7Story), Summer Morace (7Burrows) and Harriet Nichols (7Story), performed brilliantly and we were very proud of them all.
The students were accompanied by a professional orchestra conducted by Howard Moody. The production was organised by Jill Hoskins (Chichester Marks Holocaust Memorial Day charity) and directed by Elizabeth Pow.
Jane Bowen-Melfi, Head of Music
We wanted to celebrate the fantastic hard work of some of our students - Juno Palmer-Bullock (7Sherborne), Lena Satherley (7Sherborne), Rosa Hamilton (7Otter) and Rebekah Jolly (8Story). They have been part of an Art Club for nearly three years and they recently painted pictures for an exhibition and had some printed onto cards. They then sold them to raise money for the charity Children on the Edge, selling over 200 cards, and making a profit of £130.
Children on the Edge works with marginalised children in Bangladesh, India, Uganda, Myanmar, and Lebanon. The money was taken to the charity last week and gratefully received by their fundraiser, Eloise Armstrong, who explained that the money raised will be able to provide a safe school place for a child for a whole year!
On Monday 27th January 2025 Bishop Luffa School was invited to the Houses of Parliament to collect a Democracy Award, which was linked to the voting that students had been involved in at school for the West Sussex Youth Parliament back in early 2024. The award was delayed due to the General Election last year.
Isaac McDonald (11Wilson), Mary-Jane Zwinkels (11Ridgeway) and Emily Burt (11Burrows) went up to London to represent the school and receive the Award. They were given a fantastic tour of the Houses and Westminster Hall by Edmund Legrave, who is the Parliamentary Assistant for Jess Brown- Fuller MP, before going to the Atlee Suite in Portcullis House to receive the Award from Tom Rutland, the MP for East Worthing and Shoreham.
After receiving the Award we all went back to the Houses of Parliament to watch the Speakers procession, which included our Alumni Ugbana Oyet, the Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons, before going in to see both Houses sitting and debating.
Andy Jackson, Assistant Headteacher