June 2025
During May half term 15 Year 7 and 8 students from Art Club were given the honour of being among the first visitors to Goodwood Art Foundation (on the former site of Cass Sculpture Foundation) during their press launch. Students were able to explore the beautiful natural surroundings that the new Foundation has to offer, alongside artworks by world renowned artists that sparked curiosity and discussion. They were treated to a workshop to trial an element of the schools’ program which will start next academic year. Working in groups they were given creative freedom to construct their own artworks and use embossing techniques to play with negative space.
All the students had a fantastic time and left feeling inspired and enriched. We highly recommend you pay it a visit! Watch out for the students work on their website and our instagram!
Laurelly Thorpe, Team Leader of Art
On Wednesday 4th June, the Music Department visited His Majesty’s Theatre in the West End, London, to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘’Phantom of The Opera’. Music and drama students were treated to a fantastic musical and visual spectacle! The production has been running 38 years and has not lost any of its dramatic appeal to every age group.
Students were mesmerised by the beautiful singing with some commenting on the vocal ranges of the female leads as ‘insane’. All the students were impressed by the magnificent scenery and setting.
It was a very successful trip showcasing musical theatre at its best. Musical theatre is an area of study for GCSE Music and is an option at A’Level Music.
Jane Bowen-Melfi, Head of Music
Congratulations to the 47 students who took part in the Qualifier Expedition in June! Mr Hindman’s prediction of Heavenly Fireworks didn’t quite come true but Saturday was very wet at times! Despite the weather, the students kept their spirits up and impressed the Assessors with their navigation and teamwork skills. It was an excellent weekend and I would like to say a special thank you to the volunteers who gave up their time to enable this to happen.
I look forward to seeing the students on Silver next year and there will be a presentation evening in September where they will receive their badges and certificates.
Well done to all the students who took part.
Kat Wells, Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator
On the 3rd of June, myself and the fourteen other members of the new Sixth Form Committee participated in a training day at Chichester Yacht club. On this training day, we took part in a variety of engaging and fun activities - such as studying different styles of leadership - as well as growing closer as a committee due to the team building exercises.
We also started planning our schedule for the upcoming academic year, with events such as the wonderful Charity Week, iconic Sixth Form Fashion Show, the stunning Summer and Winter Balls for Sixth Form, as well as several new and exciting social events for the school.
We are very pleased to have learnt so many new skills and to have made such good progress on planning events to make sure that the next school year is engaging, fun, and enjoyable for all students.
Joel Blamire (12Wilson), Chair of Sixth Form Committee (2025/2026)
On Monday 10th June, the KS3 Design and Technology Awards were proudly presented by myself as Head of the Design and Technology Faculty, alongside Faculty teaching staff, in recognition of outstanding student achievement throughout the academic year.
Students receiving awards demonstrated excellence across a wide range of skills and attributes. All awardees consistently produced high-quality classwork, showed a confident and safe approach within the Design and Technology environment, and acted as positive role models to their peers. Many also supported other learners, willingly sharing their growing expertise.
Particularly impressive was the students’ innovative approach to design, their eagerness to explore wider concepts, and their advanced skills in CAD/CAM technologies. With attention to detail and high-level finishing techniques, they truly embodied the spirit of problem-solving and creative thinking that lies at the heart of Design and Technology.
The evening was a wonderful occasion, celebrated alongside family, friends, and staff, marking the achievements of our talented students and their bright futures ahead.
James Bonney, Head of Design & Technology
Fruition 2025 took place on a sunny evening in June. The event was an opportunity for us all to celebrate the fruits of our creativity in the Arts over the year and we were delighted that the Design and Technology Faculty were able to join us again this year.
Students made the evening a vibrant celebration of their achievements in Arts and DT subjects, and parents, carers and friends were able to:
- visit an Art exhibition presenting the work of GCSE and A’level Art students
- watch dance performances from exam groups and our extra-curricular Dance clubs
- see extracts from this year’s House Drama Festival and also performance from some of the Drama clubs
- view a range of GCSE Media Studies and A’level Film & Media Studies projects
- watch a screening of the winning Interhouse Short Film Competition entry
- listen to a wide variety of musical performances from exam groups and Music clubs, including our choir La Diva
- visit the Design and Technology exhibition of products created by students across all the years
- view a display of the GreenPower Team’s car Mercury and talk to the racing team.
Our fantastic PFA joined us and prepared a fantastic BBQ and refreshments. Fruition 2025 was a highly enjoyable and very busy evening – thank you to everyone involved.
Jo Lawlor, Head of Arts Faculty
What a fantastic time we had in Spain this June! It is the third year in a row that we went to Tenerife to visit Nuryana, our partner school there, as part of our Spanish exchange programme. Our students had the wonderful opportunity to attend Spanish lessons, learn about school life in Spain and share unforgettable memories.
We have 25 Bishop Luffa students living with their Spanish penpals families. This beautiful project has allowed our students to mature, develop their personality and experience unique moments that they will remember for many years to come. We are very proud of all our students and the way they behaved while we were abroad. We have built a beautiful friendship with our Spanish friends that will allow us to offer more opportunities like this to our students in the future.
While in Tenerife we have time to explore the Spanish school and see what Spanish lessons are like. We had a day trip to Siam Park, the biggest water park in Europe, where our students had plenty of time to practise their Spanish and get to know their Spanish friends better. We also visited "San Cristobal de La Laguna" (UNESCO World Heritage city), "Santa Cruz" (capital city) and had a "chocolate con churros" in the Spanish market. On our last day we went to the volcano Teide and finished the day eating a "parrillada" in a typical Spanish restaurant. We were very lucky that during our time in Tenerife we were able to watch the school's fabulous choir La Diva - their singing was so beautiful that it made us all cry with happiness.
We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the host families that participated in this project. It was a pleasure to spend the week with all of your children and we, the teachers, will also remember this experience for many years to come.
Mr Bravo, Mrs Jackson and Mrs López (The Spanish exchange team)
On Thursday 19th June 2025, Bishop Luffa School’s Intermediate Girls Athletics Team competed in the ESAA Track and Field Cup A Final at Medway Park. Against strong competition from across the South East, the girls delivered a spirited and impressive performance to place 7th overall with 389 points, this was a 20 point improvement from their country round qualifier and a remarkable achievement at this elite level.
Held under bright summer skies and warm temperatures, the girls rose to the occasion with some outstanding individual performances and a powerful team effort across all events. The event brought together top-performing schools from across the country, and our girls did not disappoint.
The team saw several individual successes, with Elodie Hill (10King) delivering the highest-scoring event of the day for Bishop Luffa with an outstanding 1500m time of 4:53.0, earning 30 points ranking 3rd on the day with Isabella Lendrum (9Burrows) closely behind in 3rd with a time of 4:56.0 scoring 29 points.
In the hammer throw, Anna Wyatt (9Otter) threw an excellent 30.80m to score 23 points, while Kate Horgan (10King) impressed in the 100m with a time of 13.7, adding 19 points to the tally.
However, athlete of the day for Bishop Luffa was Elodie Hill as she backed up her outstanding 1500m time with 9.12m in the triple jump amassing a huge 46 points for the team!
Every athlete played a crucial role in the team's success, both on the track and in the field, and the camaraderie and support among the team members was a credit to the school.
This opportunity would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors. We are incredibly grateful to Chelsea Flower Show gold medallists The Little Botanical and Barfoot Foods for sponsoring the team and helping to make this fantastic experience a reality for our students supporting travel and kit costs.
Despite the pressure of the regional stage, the Bishop Luffa Intermediate Girls handled the day with determination and pride. We are thrilled with their performance and look forward to more success in the future.
Tim Godfray, Team Leader of PE and Ellen Unitt, Teacher of PE
In June Year 10 students swapped their classroom desks for wellie boots and clipboards as they embarked on an exciting field trip following the course of the River Lavant.
The visit was part of their GCSE Geography and focused on the changing river characteristics down its course. The student conducted fieldwork in and out of the river at various sites from the source at East Dean to the mouth at Chichester Harbour. The students developed some good fieldwork skills and clearly enjoyed being outside in nature on a sunny day.
We’re incredibly proud of how well the Year 10 Geographers conducted themselves – showing a geographer’s mindset, teamwork and plenty of enthusiasm.
Megs Wilburn, Team Leader of Geography
On Wednesday 11th June, 21 members of Bishop Luffa’s La Diva Choir flew to Tenerife to take part in an inspirational singing project.
In conjunction with Nuryana School, our partner school in Tenerife, the choir performed at two venues. The first performance was to a packed audience at the beautiful concert hall at Conservatoire of Music of Santa Cruz, on Thursday 12th June. Together with members of Nuryana School’s chamber choir and the junior choristers of the Conservatoire, they performed Leonard Cohen’s Halleluiah. In addition, the choir performed their own interpretation of Mozart’s Ave Verum, Coldplay’s Fix You, and City of Stars from La La Land.
On the following day, the choir rehearsed and performed at Nuryana’s grand end-of-year graduation, in front of hundreds of students, as well as family, friends and teaching staff. After a professional sound check in the morning, the choir sang Ave Verum, City of Stars and Mary Mary’s Shackles. In addition, conducted by Nuryana’s Head of Music, they sang Halleluiah with the school chamber choir. It was a very emotional experience, and a great honour for all to be involved.
Saturday saw everyone enjoy a well-earned rest, after an incredibly busy and intense couple of days, walking many kilometres a day, rehearsing, changing in and out of costumes, and trying out local cuisine … The choir and staff took the tram from their accommodation in La Laguna to the Lido in Santa Cruz. Mrs Bowen-Melfi had arranged tickets for everyone to relax by the pool and have a well-earned ice cream.
This was a fantastic taste of what it is to be a professional musician and work on tour as part of a chamber choir.
Jane Bowen-Melfi, Head of Music & Susie Cooke, EAL Coordinator
A report from Ari Hayman (8Andrewes) about the National Schools Sailing Championships at Itchenor Sailing Club.
The School Sailing Championships were a great event that really boosted my confidence sailing a Feva in strong winds, and it was fun to be able to represent my school.
We arrived at Itchenor Sailing Club on Sunday with our Fevas – the type of dinghy we were sailing – and, after putting our boats away, we went home before returning early on Monday morning.
On Monday and Tuesday, we had a briefing – which explained how the event would run – and were given a free snack before heading out on the water. At first, I was quite nervous because it was gusting over 20 knots (around 23 mph), but I soon came to enjoy it, and my crew and I had lots of fun.
We completed six races in total – three each day – with 86 boats competing, seven of which were from Luffa. The highest-placed Luffa team came 16th: Isla Hill and Lucy Pitts. There were lots of capsizes, but overall, everyone had a great time!
After sailing, we had pasta before heading home – with some of us sailing back to Bosham on Tuesday.
The students who took part were Ollie Fillery (7Andrewes), Dylan Allen (7Andrewes), Orla Jones (9Story), Alice King (9Burrows), Tom Mealing (9Otter), Ted Probee (9King), Isla Hill (10Otter), Lucy Pitts (10Sherborne), Noah Chisnall (9King), Henry Fraser (9King), Benjy Gardner (10Otter), Zac Robst (10Wilson), Oscar Stephens (7Story), Oliver Rutter (7Story), George Phillips (10Andrewes), Ben Stewart (10Andrewes), Olaf Storton (10Ridgeway), Freddie Wakeling (10Wilson), Ollie Robst (9Wilson), Louie Faulkner (9Sherborne), Ari Hayman (8Andrewes) and Sienna Weller (8Andrewes).
All in all, School’s Week was an amazing opportunity, and I think I speak for the whole Bishop Luffa Sailing Team when I say that we all had a lot of fun.
Bishop Luffa’s House Drama Festival was a huge success again this year with a varied showcase of work achieved across all eight houses. All students involved showed great commitment to their house to come together and put on a play. The finalists were, King House with ‘Kes’, Burrows House with ‘Winnie the pooh’ Sherborne House with ‘The Gruffalo’ and Andrewes House with ‘Peter Pan’.
The Festival is a celebration of performance work with sixth formers directing students from Years 7-10 in a short play as part of a competition judged by a professional from the theatre industry.
Our judge this year was Sophie Hobson. Sophie is the Creative Associate at Chichester Festival Theatre, having previously worked at the RSC as their Learning Programme Manager. Before this Sophie was a freelancer both as a workshop facilitator and actor, working at the National, Polka Theatre, Stephen Joseph and the Old Vic, among others. Sophie’s feedback recognised the very high standard of performance work achieved by all three finalists.
The overall winner was King House with ‘Kes’, a story following the story of a neglected boy, who is bullied and abused but finds solace and purpose in raising a kestrel chick. Through this bond he discovers a sense of belonging and finds an escape from his bleak reality. It is a timeless story portraying the struggles of adolescence, and about the importance of focus and purpose. King House directors were Olivia Dickens and Asha Christie-Verma from 12King.
The Tech of the Year was awarded to Austin Belderson (10Wilson) and Nathan White (9Ridgeway) for their professional approach to lighting over the year.
It was a wonderful evening of Bishop Luffa Drama with a great response from the audience and tension during the judge’s feedback at the end.
Nicky Furnell, Team Leader of Drama
On a cloudy but memorable evening, our wonderful Year 13 students came together for one final celebration at the stunning Chichester Yacht Club – a fitting venue for such a special occasion. The Leavers’ Ball marked the end of their school journey and the beginning of exciting new chapters.
Although the skies were grey, spirits were high as students arrived dressed in elegant gowns and sharp suits, ready to make lasting memories with their classmates and teachers. Laughter, music, and the unmistakable buzz of celebration filled the air as everyone enjoyed a night of dining, dancing, and heartfelt goodbyes.
There was a bittersweet atmosphere as we said farewell to a year group that has been such a valued part of our school community. Their energy, kindness, and determination have left a lasting impression, and it has been a true honour to have taught and supported them throughout their time with us.
We will miss them dearly, but we are so proud of all they have achieved. As they await their A-level results this August, we wish every one of them the very best of luck. We know they will go on to do incredible things.
To the Class of 2025 – thank you for the memories. You will always be part of our school family.
Jamie Saunders, Head of Sixth Form
The prestigious TeenTech Final 2025 was held at IET Savoy Place, London, where 1,458 student projects from across the country were submitted for consideration. Of these, only 148 were selected to be showcased at the national award ceremony — a remarkable achievement in itself.
Bishop Luffa School proudly submitted five entries this year, with Year 7 student Harry Bonney from 7 Ridgeway being selected as one of the finalists. Harry's innovative project featured a biometric steering wheel designed to improve road safety and to enhance the overall driving experience. His design aimed to save lives by integrating cutting-edge safety features, showing remarkable vision and creativity.
Throughout the day, Harry represented Bishop Luffa School with enthusiasm and professionalism, presenting his project to industry specialists and a panel of expert judges. He was awarded a 'Thinking Big and Bold' certificate in recognition of his innovative approach.
The highlight of the event came during the final awards ceremony, where Harry was announced as the joint winner of the 'Future of Transport' category. This is an outstanding accomplishment, especially for a young Year 7 student competing against much older students and entries from independent and private schools nationwide.
A huge congratulations to Harry for his impressive achievement and for representing Bishop Luffa School with pride and excellence. Well done!
James Bonney, Head of Design & Technology