October 2024

Your children did it! They made it to East Lavant and back and we had a number of passers-by who stopped us and said how well-behaved they were. We also had a number of passers-by who took one look at the number of children swarming towards them and ran away screaming!

I think it was a real team effort from our staff, so I do want to publicly thank them for all they did on The Big Walk: I’m sure that many of them will have been thinking that this was a very silly idea at times during the day! I am also very grateful for our PFA, who were mobbed by sugar-deprived children when they arrived at the half-way point. The PFA calmly revived them with hot chocolate and other treats. We are lucky to have a community like this, and it’s important that we don’t take it for granted.

In assembly our Business Manager, Mr Nicholds, explained what we are raising money for. We are hoping to be able to buy a canopy that will go into the courtyard area, which will enable students to remain outside in all weathers. The PFA were raising money for this through-out last year and we are hoping that the Big Walk will put us over the edge. As Mr Nicholds told your children, ‘every step takes us nearer to our goal’.

Austen Hindman, Head Teacher

As part of their introduction to History at Bishop Luffa this year, Year 7 have been able to get hands on with History. With the help of a source box from the Novium Museum, students were able to learn about life in Roman Chichester, handling a range of artefacts relating to our local History.

Students really enjoyed handling a range of original Roman items, including roof tiles, tesserae, mosaic fragments and even some rare wall plaster. This helped them to understand the advances that Roman conquest brought to our local area and the impact it had on the people living here. The replica items including an oil lamp, writing stylus and sheet of parchment all got them thinking about what school might have been like for their Roman predecessors.  It was wonderful seeing the students being inquisitive as they handled the artefacts and tried to work out what they were and how they might have been used.

Coming next half term, Year 9 History students will be having a similar opportunity with a source box of objects relating to WWI and connecting with the people of Chichester, with Year 8 Historians having a source box on slavery in the Summer term which we hope they will all enjoy too.

Mrs L Fowles, Teacher of History

Bishop Luffa GCSE Drama students travelled to Brighton on Wednesday 16th October to see the Dear Evan Hansen TONY award winning musical at The Theatre Royal in Brighton. It was an amazing production, with exceptional performances and design, and with a powerful and important message. Olivia Willson (11Story) said “it was brilliantly moving with a nice comical aspect” and Ella Hatch (11Sherborne) added ‘it made me cry!’

Bishop Luffa Year 8 and 9 Drama Club are once again participating in this year’s Shakespeare School Festival with their interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Sixth Former Elen Kirazyan (13Story). This week they were treated to a practical workshop with professional Coram Shakespeare theatre practitioner Kat Merrick, which enabled them to dig deeper into the characters and explore how to take the piece from page to stage in the most effective way. This has helped us to get ready for our performances in November. On 12th November we are performing at Bishop Luffa at 7.30pm in the Bartlett Hall (tickets will be available on Arbor) and on 14th November we will be performing as part of the Festival at The New Theatre Royal Portsmouth (tickets can be bought on the theatre’s website).

Mrs N Furnell, Team Leader - Drama

In October 35 Bishop Luffa students took part in the 2024 edition of the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge. An annual tradition here in the Mathematics department, we offer the chance A’Level students to take part in the Challenge; it is a 90-minute feast of high-level problem solving and application of the skills the students learn during their A-level studies. Each year candidates begin with a stock of 25 points, and there are 25 questions carrying identical marking tariffs: 4 points for a correct answer, 0 points for a blank, and the dreaded -1 point for a wrong answer, meaning that students can score as much as 25 + (25 x 4) = 125 points.

The Senior Maths Challenge attracts hundreds of thousands of students, and this year the turnout was 650,000 students from across the whole of the UK, so our 35 candidates were part of a huge sea of other bright, hungry mathematicians, all champing at the bit to demonstrate their brilliant mathematics skills by doing battle with the Challenge.

Incredibly, from our 35 candidates, we came away with 25 medals: 10 bronze, 10 silver, and 5 gold. Our medallists for 2024 are:

Bronze: Theo Allport, Aaron Dunne, Isabelle Frere-Smith, Logan Morris, Anna Stangroom, Yehor Vysotskyi, Veronika Zavarzina, Nikita Barabash, Ayotola Beckley, Samuel McCallum

Silver: Hannah Carr, Zuki Hall, Ethan Hill, Harrison Blackmore-Squires, Joshua Cusack, Charlotte Hatton, Lily Hine, Holly Mitchell, Matthew Ritchie, Zoe Smyth

Gold: James Quail, Ella Stearne, Alex Wilburn, James Morrow, Grace Zheng

On top of this, all five of our gold medallists posted strong enough scores to be invited to the next phase of the competition – the Andrew Jobbings ‘Kangaroo’ – in November this year. Finally, and most incredibly of all, James Quail scored a remarkable 120 points from a possible 125, and has qualified for the first round of the British Mathematical Olympiad. The Olympiad is the highest-level mathematics competition in the UK, success at which leads to invitation to international-level events.

A wonderfully successful year at the Senior Maths Challenge!

Mr D Clarke, Head of KS5 Maths and Mr M Healy, Acting Head of Maths

On Sunday, 13th October, the Bishop Luffa Green Power F24 Team rose early to compete in the Green Power International Finals at the famous Goodwood Motor Circuit.

The morning began smoothly, with the team setting up their paddock like a well-oiled machine. Impressively, our car was used as an exemplar during the scrutineering process. After a quick fix of a loose wing mirror, the team headed out for practice laps, ensuring everything was in working order.  In Race 1, the team set the car's gear ratio to 5.2:1, which helped extend the battery life—critical for the 1.5-hour endurance race. We finished in 17th place out of 46 entries in our category.

Between races, the team engineers made a minor adjustment to the ratio, setting it to 5:1 to improve speed without sacrificing battery duration. In Race 2, the car steadily moved up the field, climbing the grid to an impressive 11th position. Unfortunately, a red flag paused the race for 25 minutes, cutting short our momentum.

Despite the setback, it was a fantastic day for the team, and we are already preparing for the next season.

Mr James Bonney, Bishop Luffa Green Power Team Coordinator

Year 12 students went on a fantastic trip to Ochre print studios in Guildford, where they experimented with dry point etching and screen printing. This is in response to their artist residency at Pallant House Gallery where they have been investigating the work of an artist of their choice from the exhibition. They have developed their own responses to the theme ‘The Shape of Things’ and the photos below are some examples of their brilliant work from the day.

Miss L Thorpe, Team Leader of Art

During the last three weeks within STEM club we have been exploring Marble Runs, Cardboard Boat Making and Geodesic Domes. Student involved have enjoyed the challenges. This STEM Club is offering an opportunity to excite students about STEM subjects, as well as developing their practical, teamwork and leadership skills that will support their classroom learning.

Mr James Bonney, Head of Design & Technology

On Friday 4th October 2024, 50 students and five staff set off for the annual Year 9 History visit to the World War One Battlefields. After a trouble-free journey to Dover, we boarded our ferry to Dunkirk, with the complimentary meal being appreciated by many!

Once in France we headed straight to the Passchendaele battlefields, scene of so many horrific events in 1917 in particular. A stop at Tyne Cot cemetery, where over 40 000 British and Commonwealth servicemen are remembered was an arresting sight, and we each had a small cross (thanks to Mr Bonney and Mr Burton in DT) to lay on a grave of our choosing. We also laid a wreath on behalf of the School, and had a short service of commemoration, with the wreath laid by Scarlett Baker (9Andrewes) and Ava McGarry-Knightley (9Ridgeway). The contrast with our next stop, Langemark German cemetery was remarkable – from ‘the glorious dead’ to a much more sombre scene. A mass grave of 24000 soldiers made many students really stop and think.

After these sobering sights it was off to our centrally located accommodation in the picturesque town of Ypres. After an evening meal, and some time to relax, a group of students and staff attended the Menin Gate wreath laying ceremony, where another wreath was laid on our behalf, by Mrs Jones, Isaac Searle (9Burrows) and Isabelle Fletcher (9Burrows). There was then some free time in the hotel (thankfully with a games room and good wifi!) before lights-out.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny as we headed to Hill 62, a museum on the edge of Ypres. The preserved trenches were a very different experience to the manicured sites seen elsewhere, and gave more of a flavour of what the trenches were like (if this is possible), including mud and tunnels! From there we journeyed to the Somme, site of the infamous assaults of 1916. First stop was the Lochnagar Crater, which was created when >20,000 kgs of explosive were detonated on 1st July. From there it was off to the monumental memorial at Thiepval, lined with the names of the missing - A powerful statement of commemoration. We finished of our tour of the Somme with a visit to the preserved trenches at Beaumont Hamel, where we walked through some of the events of 1916, and reflected on this site of Canadian commemoration.

After so many sombre sites, it was back to the hotel, and then off into Ypres for chocolate shops, waffles, and ice cream as the students had some free time.

A prompt and smooth departure on the Sunday morning saw us drive to the now obligatory French hypermarket stop for some last minute purchases, and then it was back to the ferry where were greeted as "The school with the well-behaved pupils", and then it was tired group of students (and staff!) that arrived back at school.  The students' behaviour was excellent. The trip was a chance to learn a lot about key events in our nation's history, and also just to be with friends on a trip abroad, a real learning experience in so many ways.

My thanks must go to Mrs Grove, Ms Hurry, Mrs Jones and Mrs Syms-Evans, who accompanied the trip and helped make it such a success.

Mr J Barnett, Head of Humanities

The whole of Year 8 visited Marwell Zoo at the start of this term. They had a fantastic talk from an enthusiastic zoo keeper, all about the adaptations of the big cat and its habitat. This tied in well with the current topic of Adaptations being taught. They got to ask questions and then touch real furs and skulls from the big cats.

We then all spent time around the zoo visiting as many animals as possible in the time we had. This included getting to see the new arrival of a 3-week old baby giraffe – the students had to be really quiet when meeting this new arrival.

The weather was amazing this year (no pouring rain!) and we enjoyed lunch in the sun and ice creams. At the end of the visit some students visited the shop and many were tempted by soft toys of the amazing animals they had met.

A great day out for all and a huge well done to Year 8 for their enthusiasm and excellent behaviour.

As part of the day the students were encouraged to take photos to enter into our Photo Competition.

The winners, who all received Amazon vouchers, were:

Overall winner: Lucy Green (8Otter)

Runners Up: Sienna Stent (8Andrewes), Jack James (8Burrows) and Douglas Lapraik (8King)

Mrs J Tyler, KS3 Science Lead