News

For the first time, King House’s Team Triathlon event will be open to participation across the whole school.

As someone loves theatre and live performance, I was overjoyed at the prospect of sitting in the audience to watch Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s brand new version of ‘Pinocchio’. I managed to watch Team FOX live and I am so proud of all our talented Bishop Luffa students (past and present) who performed in this heart-warming show. The announcement of the new Tier 4 restrictions sadly meant that from Boxing Day all remaining performances would move online. This meant that I could watch Team CAT a week later from the comfort of my own sofa! All students in both Team CAT and Team FOX were fantastic and their passion and dedication shone out for all to see. Well done to all of you!

On Friday 4th December, Ridgeway and Story Houses celebrated raising money for their respective House charities by dressing as reindeers and elves for the day. Money raised will be split equally between Dementia UK and Alzheimer’s Society from Story and Chestnut Tree House from Ridgeway.

As part of the A-Level Dance course we are required to present a high-quality performance piece as a group. Over the course of two full day workshops, Amy Morvell of Morvell Dance has choreographed a contemporary dance piece that reflects the strong sense of unity and identity, as individuals and as a team. During the choreographic process we discovered new ways of manoeuvring our bodies and interacting with the music, the space and each other; paired with technique and emotion. The choreography is challenging yet exciting to perform. It was a really valuable and inspiring experience for all of us and seeing Amy’s own unique and compelling style was a fantastic opportunity to grow as dancers.

On the last day before schools shut in March, Bishop Luffa School asked students to bring in a donation for the Food Bank. We were overwhelmed with the response. On Friday 20th November the school decided to do it again, this time with a target: we wanted to raise a ‘Tonne of Love’ from our school community.

We are incredibly proud of all our students and it’s great to hear news of what they have achieved after leaving Bishop Luffa.

Year 8 Latinists had lots of fun creating masks for their Roman theatre topic this week. The masks were beautifully decorated and allowed the students to explore the roles of different characters from the Cambridge Latin Course. In our lessons, we have taken a (virtual) tour of the Bay of Naples, read plays in Latin and explored the ruins of ancient theatres. We also discussed the functions of masks - both ancient and modern!

Bishop Luffa makes a point of coming together to mark the Armistice, and this year was no exception. Although current restrictions prevented us physically meeting as a School community, we were able to come together virtually, and all be part of a whole school event. Just before 11am, teachers and classes across the School (and some parents) joined a live feed, and were able to see a short service of commemoration. After an introduction and opening prayer from Mr Hindman, Mr Bonney (ex-forces) read an excerpt from ‘For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon. This was followed by Freddie Lynas of 9Otter (ably supported by Alex Wilburn (9Otter) and Mrs Bowen-Melfi) playing the Last Post. At this point the whole School fell silent for 2 minutes from 11am. At 11.02 the reveille was sounded by Freddie, and Freya Jones (one of our School Captains) read the Kohima Epitaph. The service ended with a wreath laying ceremony by Mr Hindman, Mr Bonney and Freya. Although this has been a year of immense challenges in so many ways it was heartening to see the School come together in unity to remember the sacrifices made so that we may enjoy the freedoms of today. My thanks must go to all involved, including those ‘behind the scenes’ who worked to make it available remotely.

We are very excited to have some good news for you this week - our annual Book Fair is coming to Bishop Luffa School Library on 24th November! With much of the High Street closed, this is an excellent way to get some Christmas shopping done and there is a brilliant selection of books from £1.99, stationery from 50p and posters from £2.99. We’ve made some changes to how we usually do things so your child can shop safely with us. In school: