News

We are delighted to once again invite parents, carers and pupils to attend the prestigious Annual Inter-house Drama Festival on Wednesday 10 July at 6.30pm. The evening competition showcases the three or four finalist houses performing a half hour scripted play which is directed by Sixth Formers and performed by pupils from Years 7-10. The finalists will be announced after school on Monday 8 July.

After months of rehearsing, preparing and practicing two criminal cases, we finally had the honour of progressing to the National Finals of the Magistrates’ Mock Trial Competition held in the Royal Courts of Justice in London. This year, we managed to win both the local and regional heats of the competition and it was an absolutely amazing experience to be able to try our cases for the final time in real courts.

Over the Easter and half term holidays five Year 8 girls went on a free, four-day long residential Cyber Security course in Canterbury and Cheltenham. These girls were part of a large group that participated in the 2019 CyberFirst Girls Competition and were lucky enough to receive an invite to these residential courses.

At the beginning of June Bishop Luffa School entered two teams into a STEM day hosted at Bourne Community College. The pupils had a day of fun and interactive hands-on team activities and challenges. These included coding and building radio controlled BattleBots, VEX Robotics challenges and Virtual Reality racing.

Over the May half term break the school installed solar panels to large sections of its roofs. This is a very exciting development as the school continues to look at ways to operate even more cost-effectively, counter climate change and improve its carbon footprint. The panels supplied through the WSCC Solar Power for Schools Programme is part of a £5 million government investment to help West Sussex schools reduce their energy costs and impact on the environment. The panels should save the school nearly £300,000 over the twenty-five-year life of the project.

Year 8, 9 and 10 pupils studying French have just returned from an action packed weekend in Paris (7-9th June). The trip started at midnight on Thursday and we were in Disney by lunchtime on Friday! Most pupils stayed in the park for the light show at 11pm, before heading back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. It was an early start the next morning; Saturday involved a quick stop at a supermarket to buy lunch, climbing the 270 steps of the Arc de Triomphe, a visit to Fragonard Perfume museum, a boat trip on the Seine, a visit to the Tour Montparnasse and a stop at a hypermarket on the way home! On Sunday, we visited the Musée D’Orsay and ate lunch by the Trocadero, with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop. Thank you to the pupils for making the weekend a success and a big thank you to Mrs Williams, Mr Eames, Miss Woods and Miss Dickson for coming on the trip.

On Monday 3rd June History Club pupils from Year 7 and 8 visited the West Sussex Records Office to take part in a commemorative D-Day workshop led by the archivists and Chichester University Historian Dr Andrew WM Smith. The pupils were able to access first hand, documents detailing the lives of ordinary local people who were affected by Britain’s wartime experience and the county’s key role in preparing for the D-Day invasion.

It was announced on the 2nd June 2019 by Buckingham Palace that The Chichester Bell Tower Youth Drop-In is to receive The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (the MBE for volunteer groups). This prestigious award recognises excellence of voluntary activities and services carried out by groups in the community. The Bell Tower Youth Drop-In is based in the Cathedral Bell Tower in central Chichester. The award recognises the work of volunteers in supporting local young people in Chichester and the wider district, in providing a daily after school drop-in, with mentoring support and young leaders development programme. Volunteers also provide in school support.

We hope you enjoy our penultimate newsletter of the year – yes, the academic year is almost over! We have been reflecting in school on what it means to live ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10), and I think that the newsletter shows how fulfilling life can be if you grasp all of the opportunities that you are given. Our challenge for students during this last half term is to try something new, so please encourage your child to look at the activities on offer at school and join in!

Fruition 2019
Bishop Luffa School Arts Faculty Summer Exhibition
Wednesday 19th June 6.30pm – 8.30pm