November 2024

Bishop Luffa School senior girls medley and freestyle and junior boys medley teams have qualified for the English Schools National Swimming Gala Finals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Aquatics Center fighting off fierce competition.

For the second time in their Bishop Luffa tenure Hannah Day (12Ridgeway), Eloise Joubert (11Burrows), Florence Day (12Ridgeway) and Libby Johnson (11Sherborne) have qualified for the National Schools Swimming Finals. However, this time they will be in both the freestyle and medley finals and for the first time seeking to qualify out of the heats into the final to challenge for a medal.

In the Sussex qualifier the girls were on the podium in second and third place respectively only to be beaten by swimming giants Brighton College and Collyers. With all the nations results combined the team finished eleventh.

For the first time we have qualified two teams across three events. Max Stanton (8King), Alex Wilkes (8Burrows), Derin Cowley (8Story) and Curtis Jacobs (7Sherborne) qualified in the medley competition. In the Sussex qualifier the boys were locked in the first three positions until Curtis and Alex took over and the team finished five seconds ahead of Brighton College in second place!

With all the results combined the team were ranked sixteenth in the country.

A big thank you to Chichester Chiropractic Health who have agreed to sponsor the eight swimmers to purchase warm up tops which will be dated to keep as a memento of this incredibly special day and to fund an opportunity for the team to train together for the first time ahead of the finals.

All of our swimming teams have never trained or raced together and in comparison to the vast majority of schools that we compete against in the county qualification process and in the national final, these schools all train together at school regularly each week.

This is an outstanding achievement for the students involved and for the school. The final is on Saturday 16th November at the Sandwell Aquatics Center, Birmingham. Updates of the teams progress will be shared in due course.

Mr T Godfray, Team Leader of PE

The Year 12 residential trip to Château Broutel in northern France was a great success. The Sixth Form team had the pleasure of taking students on a journey that encouraged new friendships and personal growth.

Each and every student truly embraced the spirit of the trip. They participated wholeheartedly in a range of team games and outdoor activities, finding joy and camaraderie in the simplest of experiences and challenges. It was inspiring to watch them support each other, laugh together, and make connections that we hope will last well into the future.

The staff at Château Broutel expressed their admiration for our students, describing them as the best group they have ever hosted. This praise is a testament to the students' enthusiasm, respectfulness, and kindness towards one another and those around them. They represented our school with pride and made us, their teachers, incredibly proud.

We are confident that this experience has had a positive impact on each student, leaving them with treasured memories and friendships that will enrich their Sixth Form journey and beyond.

Special thanks to Stella Richi (Deputy Head of Sixth Form) for leading and managing the trip, plus the Year 12 tutor team (Mr Clarke, Mr King, Ms Lawlor, Ms Langstone and Mrs Williams) and support staff (Ms Labedz, Ms Thomas, Mrs Cooper and Miss Dickinson) for giving up their time and being such positive role models throughout.

Jamie Saunders, Head of Sixth Form

At STEM Club we investigated Alka-Seltzer Powered Lava Lamps and how long it took the tablet to disappear, how vigorous the bubbles were, and the differences in how the reaction happened in the colder liquid versus in the hotter liquid.

The ingredients in Alka-Seltzer combine with water to form a gas called carbon dioxide. The oil and Alka-Seltzer do not combine in this way though. The Alka-Seltzer tablets sink through the vegetable oil until they reach the layer of coloured water. There the Alka-Seltzer dissolves in the water and forms carbon dioxide. The gas is lighter than the water and oil, so it bubbles up, taking a bit of coloured water with it as it moves through the oil layer. You will see those bubbles, looking like colourful blobs, floating through the oil layer to the top of the jar. At the top the bubbles should have burst (releasing the carbon dioxide gas), and then the colourful blobs sank back to the bottom (now without carbon dioxide gas). The effect was reminiscent of a lava lamp.

Click on this video link to find out more.

The chemical reaction that causes the carbon dioxide to form happens more quickly in warmer water. For this reason, the Alka-Seltzer tablet dissolved more quickly in the hot water. This resulted in lots of rapid bubbling and an energetic lava lamp display. In contrast, the Alka-Seltzer tablet in the cold water dissolved more slowly, with most of it disappearing in the first two to three minutes, resulting in a calmer and longer lasting lava lamp effect!

Mr James Bonney, Head of Design & Technology

On a soaking wet day in Brighton, Bishop Luffa cross country runners showed great resilience and determination to shine and four teams qualified for the regional finals.

Outstanding performances from all teams, particularly the junior boys, intermediate boys and girls and senior boys as they march on to compete on Wednesday 13th November at The Judd School in the regional finals competing against schools from Hampshire, Surrey, Kent and Sussex.

Team and individual results are below but results that standout are the intermediate boys where Max Gayle (9Burrows), Ben Stewart (10Andrewes), Zac Robst (10Wilson) and Joe Stewart (9Andrewes) all finished within the top 5 to guarantee qualification for the team, blowing the rest of the field away. Well done to Elodie Hill (10King) who finished third in her race against very stiff opposition to get on the podium.

Good luck to all of our teams in the regional finals. Updates about their progress in the regional finals will be published in due course.

English Schools Cross Country Cup - County Qualifier
Junior boys - QUALIFIED FOR REGIONAL FINAL
1st - Brighton College - 30 points
2nd - Bishop Luffa - 44 points - 7th Alex Wilkes (8Bu), 8th Isaac Page (7Sh), 12th Max Stanton (8Ki), 17th Maddox Matthews (7Sh), 22nd Seb Berger (7An).
3rd Hurtspierpoint College - 53 points

Junior girls
1st - Dorothy Stringer - 30 points
2nd - Mayfield - 36 points
3rd - Hurstpierpoint College - 71 points
9th - Bishop Luffa - 138 points - 25th Rebecca Jolly (8St), 26th Erin Brooks (8Bu), 42nd Annabelle Papathanassi (7St), 44th Sophie Platt (8Bu), 59th Rebekah Bishop (7Sh).

Intermediate boys - QUALIFIED FOR REGIONAL FINAL
1st - Bishop Luffa - 14 points - 2nd Max Gayle (9Bu), 3rd Ben Stewart (10An), 4th Zac Robst (10Wi), 5th Joe Stewart (9An), 28th Reuben Shewan (9Wi).
2nd - Brighton College - 53 points
3rd - Christ’s Hospital - 70 points

Intermediate girls - QUALIFIED FOR REGIONAL FINAL
1st - Brighton College - 24 points
2nd - Bishop Luffa - 30 points - 3rd Elodie Hill (10Ki), 4th Isabella Lendrum (9Bu), 7th Isla Hill (9Ot), 16th Lily Keates (9Wi), 19th Amber Haig (10Sh), 43rd Kitty Goodband (10An).
3rd - St Oscar Romero - 71 points

Senior boys - QUALIFIED FOR REGIONAL FINAL
1st - Hazelwick - 31 points
2nd - Bishop Luffa - 37 points - 7th Sam Wyatt (12Ot), 9th Noah Collins (12Bu), 10th Ethan Hill (13Ot), 11th Kai Lendrum (11Bu).
3rd - Brighton College - 47 points

Mr T Brown, Mr T Buck and Mr T Godfray

Congratulations to Rory Parrett (7Otter) and Oliver Rutter (7Story) who both represented Chichester Rugby Club Under 12s 1sts at the Land Rover Cup, a Premiership Rugby tournament hosted by Harlequins RFC at their training ground in Guildford.

The tournament brought together the best 19 teams in the South East for a one day Cup Competition.

With Rory playing at scrum half and Oliver as a 2nd row forward, Chi won their first two games against Teddington and the much feared Battersea Ironsides with convincing victories. A tougher third match against Worthing proved tougher but again bought a win with Rory scoring a pick and go try from the bottom of a ruck close to the Worthing try line.

With three wins under the belt for Chi, next up were Tonbridge Juddians. With Tonbridge also unbeaten in their three group games, this last match was effectively a knock out game with winners going into the semi final.

After going a try down early on, Chi fought back hard to win by two tries to one and set themselves up for a semi final vs Haywards Heath, a rival we lost to earlier in the year.

With Rory and Oliver both in fine form, Chi fought hard to defend their line again a robust offence, holding out and hitting Haywards on the counter attack to go a try up. Shortly after Rory took a knock to the head which saw him leave the pitch for a head injury assessment. Relentless attack from his teammates in the latter stages led to a second try and jumps for joy and scrum caps thrown into the air as Chi lines themselves up for the final!

As Chi’s opposition Sutton & Epsom walked out onto the pitch for the final, you could have been forgiven for thinking their players were under 16s - they were a big and clearly physical team. With Rory back on the pitch and Oliver unrelenting at the ruck, Chi fought admirably in a tight final which was 0-0 until the last minute. Chi made drive after drive for the opposition line with S&E defending admirably until they finally succumbed to the onslaught with Chi going over for a winning try with the last play of the game!

The boys were absolutely elated, as were the parents and coaching team - a wonderful end to a fantastic day for 16 lads from five different schools who have been playing together every Sunday for six years in the case of some.

As winners, Oliver and Rory got to have their photos taken with the Premiership Trophy and won tickets for them and the rest of their team to attend the Premiership Final at Twickenham in June.

It was a proud moment for both Oliver and Rory who have performed well across the season to achieve selection for the 1st 16 from a squad of 35 players.

More about the event can be found by clicking on the link below
https://www.premiershiprugby.com/community/defender-premiership-rugby-cup

At 11am the whole School fell silent for 2 minutes to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Each year we come together as a School community to pause and reflect, and to mark Armistice Day, and this year was no different.  At a few minutes before 11.00am the School met on the field for a formal service of commemoration, led by Mr Hindman.  Readings were heard from our chaplain, Father Phillip Amey, still himself in the naval reserves, and from School Captains, Aaron and Matilda.  Mr Bonney read the Kohima Epitaph.

The two minutes silence at 11.00am was bookended by Last Post and Reveille, superbly played by Freddie Lynas (assisted by Mrs Bowen-Melfi), on a bugle from the First World War. The sound of these notes cutting through the air gave us a solemn reminder of why we pause and reflect.

Wreathes were also laid on behalf of the School by Mr Bonney and the School Captains.  A guard of honour made up of students who serve in unformed organisations (coordinated by Year 13 student, Zoe Smyth) helped complete the picture of formal commemoration).  The service also included the release of 20 white doves by members of our International Team, as a symbol of hope for the future, as well as a poem for peace read by Veronika Zavarzina (Year 12).

We finished with Aaron blowing a whistle from the First World War trenches. Along with the bugle, we had a tangible link to those who served in that terrible conflict, and heard sounds that echoed across the battlefields, a poignant way to help the School to mark this important moment of national commemoration.

The students behaved extremely well, and clearly understood why this moment of coming together really mattered.

Edward Knott (13Ridgeway) did an amazing job of recording the event on his drone and has put together a video of the event. 

My thanks must go to all of those who helped make the service run so smoothly, including Mrs Christopher, the Site Team, Mr Green and Mr Brown, Mrs Lopez-Gamero, Mrs Cooke and the International team, Father Phillip, Miss Sutton, Mr Hindman and Mrs Fowles (who linked us up with the team that provided the doves). Thanks also to all of the students who spoke to so clearly in this very special event. Teamwork makes such events run smoothly, and today illustrated that perfectly.

Mr Justin Barnett, Head of Humanities

Hannah Day (12Ridgeway), Florence Ingram (12Ridgeway), Eloise Joubert (11Burrows) and Libby Johnson (11Sherborne) qualified out of their medley and freestyle to qualify for the English Schools National Finals, competing against school swimming heavyweights and Olympians.

On Saturday 16th November Bishop Luffa School competed at the English Schools Swimming Finals at Sandwell Aquatic Centre in Birmingham, where the 2022 Commonwealth Games were held, following qualification from the county round. It was the third time Bishop Luffa had qualified for this competition, but the first time we had ever qualified multiple teams.

During the opening of the competition, team captains Alex Wilkes and Hannah Day were warmly introduced to the crowd of over 500 people, along with captains from all schools. The National Anthem gave goose bumps for our athletes in this incredibly proud moment for them and the school.

Kick starting the event for Bishop Luffa was Max Stanton (8King), Alex Wilkes (8Burrows), Derin Cowley (8Story) and Curtis Jacobs (7Sherborne) competing in the junior medley relay. The team gave every ounce of effort and finished 18th out of 30 teams, with a team personal best by more than 0.6 of a second.

In our second event of the day the senior girls were preparing for their freestyle heat. We were hoping to qualify but were not highly confident in doing so, and we felt our success may come later in the day in the medley final. We finished 4th in our heat beating schools we did not think we would come near. With two more heats to go we were unsure if we had qualified. The suspense of the wait was tantalising and when the result came through that we had qualified, jubilant celebrations broke out.

The girls’ knew coming into this final that we were up against the nation's best swimmers, with much greater resources than we have. We finished 9th and history was made. This was the first team from Bishop Luffa to have made an English Schools National Swimming Final.

In the boys’ second event of the day, Harry Peregrin (7Andrewes) came into the freestyle team, and in a tough lane draw, competed valiantly throughout the race finishing 19th between the three heats. The team swam a 4 second personal best, this was extraordinary to save so much time!

Harry, Max, Alex, Derin and Curtis swam together for the first time at the Sussex qualifier in October 2024 and have trained together once, for one hour, in the build up to these finals. For these boys to get into the final is no mean feat and, in the future, we will certainly be hearing more about this team in their bid to qualify out of their heats.

For the senior girls’ medley relay, we believed they had the chance to qualify but knew they had to all swim personal bests to have a chance of doing this. The girls swam a personal best by 0.3 seconds which allowed them to squeeze into the final inscribing their names into the Bishop Luffa history books, qualifying for a second national final.

In the final the team were again underdogs but fought valiantly, Eloise showed determination through illness to give us a good start with her backstroke, Florence’s elegant breaststroke kept us with the pack, Libby flew through their air with her butterfly leg before handing over to Hannah to come within half a second of 8th place as she hits the finish. Even at the teams sixth race of the event the girls made a substantial personal best from their time in the heat of 2.07.57 to their time in the final 2.06.82.

A big thank you to Chichester Chiropractic Health Centre (CCHC) who have supported and sponsored the team to train before the event for the first time and bought the team memento tops of the day. CCHC comes highly recommended for your chiropractic needs.

Both teams did incredibly well and we are very proud of everyone’s achievements. Bishop Luffa student’s do what Bishop Luffa students  and when the moment comes they stand up and are counted, but this time they are history makers.

Tim Godfray, Team Leader of PE

Thea Roberts (8Wilson) is involved with the Chichester Festival Theatre Nest fundraising and her artwork was selected to be displayed as part of a fundraising exhibition in aid of the Nest Appeal, which aims to build a space to nurture arts and creativity for young people.   

Thea has written this about her piece, which she has called 'Turtle's Dreamscape'.

"I sought to blend elements of nature with the serene essence of dreams. The Turtle, a symbol of wisdom, represents the journey of life, moving slowly yet purposely through its environment. I chose to depict it in a Dreamscape to highlight the beauty of imagination and the importance of taking time to reflect. 

"I really wanted to take part in this competition as I love art and also because it would be helping create The Nest which, of course, will be an extension of our theatre. By participating in this competition for The Nest I aim to raise funds that support local arts, fostering creativity and community spirit. Supporting The Nest means investing in a space that inspires and entertains, enriching lives through artistic expression."

One hundred artists have created their own individual, decorative egg. From Gavin Turk to Philip Jackson CVO, along with competition winners from our Youth Theatre members and local artists - the range is stunning.  The Nest Eggs have been on display in various galleries and Chichester Festival Theatre, before being auctioned off to raise money for The Nest.

Saturday 19th October 2024 saw months of preparation come together as the Bishop Luffa PFA opened their doors for The Annual Pre-Loved Prom Dress Sale.  Set inside the school’s dance and drama studio, this event provided a selection of high quality, prestigious dresses one would normally only see in the popular boutiques, offering the biggest selection of gowns to date across a range of sizes, styles, colours and budgets.

Since the last event in February 2024, the PFA team worked hard to source a wide selection of quality gowns for the 2024/25 Year 11 students.  With record levels of interest from prom dress sellers, the PFA prom team had their work cut out working late into the Friday night logging, pricing and displaying the stunning gowns up for sale.  The team created a beautiful prom dress showroom with over 200 gowns on offer, ranging from £20 to £350.

The hard work paid off as there were queues waiting to get the first glimpse of the stock available.  The first purchase was made just 15 minutes after the doors opened with the lucky young lady picking up a brand new gown with 50% off the original ticket price. 

With a qualified dressmaker on site, Lo-Lo from Chichester Tailors, who kindly donated her time and expertise, this event had everything needed to find the gown of their dreams, within the budget of their parents’ dreams!

Having advertised the event across the whole of Hampshire and Sussex, families travelled from as far as Southampton, Alton and beyond. With record sales, the Bishop Luffa PFA raised three times the amount of profit compared to the sale in February 2024, with £358.50 raised for St Wilfrid’s Hospice.  A cheque was presented to Ryan Grist, St Wilfrid’s Retail Manager, in the October half term, with Bishop Luffa Year 11 student, Bella, who played an integral part during the sale preparation and on the day of the event itself.

This year’s event organisers, Anna and Naomi said, “this event was started by a former parent, Sam, a few years ago, and based on the amazing foundation of work she poured into the previous events, we have been able to grow this event into the incredible success it was in October.  We are hopeful we can continue to grow this event for buyers and sellers alike, creating a fantastic value and eco-friendly option for Year 11 families in the future, and in years to come this will automatically be the place to come for prom gowns.

“We are so pleased with the success of this event, but we could not have done it without the support of the fantastic team of PFA volunteers who helped put this event together.  Also, our thanks go to the sellers who put their trust in us to sell their stunning gowns, and to buyers for giving us a chance.  We are delighted all the hard work has paid off and were blown away by the standard of stock we curated for this event.”

If you are interested in keeping up to date with future sales, to buy or sell at, make your way to the Instagram page @BishopLuffaPromDresses and give us a follow.