End of Term Newsletter April 2019

FOOD

The Food department has been extremely busy this term, with students partaking in various

exciting activities.

Both Year 11 and Year 12 have had their practical exams this term, and all students did

themselves proud, producing some wonderful food. Unfortunately, we cannot publish any

photographs due to exam regulations, but some of the comments from tasters included

“Michelin-star standard” and “The best burger I have ever eaten!” Well done to all students

involved.

The inaugural LHS Sixth Form Staff-Student Bake Off took place

on Tuesday 12th March, with 10 enthusiastic teams involved.

The teams, with one staff member and one student, had the

challenge of making 12 identical bakes within an hour. They

were then judged on taste, texture, uniformity and team work

and after much deliberation, the winners were Georgia and Mrs

Harrison with their amazing piñata cakes!

Everyone involved put in so much effort and made some

wonderful bakes – the standard was truly impressive! The event

was raising money for the chosen Sixth Form charity, the Juvenile Diabetes Research

Foundation, and raised over £137.

Year 13 have been working hard towards their summer

assessment on ‘Ensuring Food is Safe to Eat’. As part of this

unit of work, they went to the science department to take part

in a microbiology experiment, investigating yeast cultures

and food preservation. They investigated the effectiveness

of different preservatives often found in food, and it was a

really beneficial experience for them. Many thanks go to the

science technicians for enabling the students to have this

enriching opportunity.

Year 9 have been working very hard this term, including having an assessed practical in which

they made a main dish of their own choice, based upon the healthy eating recommendations

of the Eatwell Guide. All of the girls worked very hard and the standard of food made was

excellent. Some of the dishes chosen included homemade falafel wraps, chilli con carne, filo

pastry pie and enchiladas. As you can see, they all worked hard on their presentation

techniques also presenting attractive and delicious food.

PE

Loughborough High School’s sports teams have been incredibly busy and successful this term,

with a multitude of sporting achievements. Some pupils have achieved impressive success

outside of school also.

Netball

U13s County Champions.

U14s qualified for the regional tournament finishing 4th, as well as reaching the semi-final

of the Bromsgrove School Tournament.

We are hugely proud of the U16’s this term for competing at the National Schools Final and

finished 5th in the country - losing only once all day. They also narrowly missed out on top spot

in the Sisters in Sport National Cup Final, losing by 1 goal in the final seconds.

The 1st team performed very well at regionals finishing 3rd and are looking forward to finishing

the season with a game against the LGS later in week for charity. A great way for many of the

team to finish their netball journey at LHS.

Hockey

U12s County Champions and 2nd at Regionals.

U13s 2nd at Counties and then winning on penalty flicks in the Regional Finals to

qualify for Nationals in May.

The U14s also triumphed at Regionals finishing 3rd.

Football

U18s football season has been incredibly positive, being

unbeaten in the ISFA league, drawing with Oakham and

beating Repton in the final minute, with the opportunity to

win the Midlands league.

Badminton

It has been a particularly successful season for badminton

with both the KS4 and U18 girls becoming Team

Leicestershire Champions.

Cross Country

Indie and Hannah completed at the English Schools Cross

country championships with both girls running very well.

Special mention to Indie - She qualified in 6th place in

The English Schools Cross Country Finals and maintained

her 6th place finish by coming in as the 6th counter for the

ENGLAND team. Indie finished 7th overall - out of 32

International athletes - from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and

of course England.

Individual success

Ella & Helen – played in an international football match for the England Independent Schools

U18 team against Scotland. Ella captained the side and lead them to a 4-0 victory in

Edinburgh.

Sian – won her first international title in badminton at the Iceland International in January. As

well as being acknowledged as a GoGold talent athlete, she won the Nottingham Senior Gold

mixed doubles.

Michaela – competed at an International swimming meet in Luxembourg where she won 3

golds in the junior 1500m freestyle, junior 400m freestyle, and junior 400m individual medley.

She also won 2 silvers in the junior 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley, plus 2 silvers

in the open 1500m freestyle and 400m individual medley and finally a bronze in the

400m open freestyle. We also wish her the best of luck at the British Championships in

Glasgow in April where she hopes to qualify for the European Juniors.

Other news

We have had a busy term with additional sporting events such as the Danceathon for Comic

Relief, which was a resounding success raising £850! In assembly, the pupils were given an

inspirational talk by Beth Dobbin, 200m British Champion, who spoke about her setbacks in

both her physical and mental health, but her resilience to succeed and never give up. Year 11

have enjoyed some relaxing Monday morning Yoga sessions and the Senior girls are looking

forward to taking on the Grammar School boys in a charity netball match.

The PE department would like to congratulate all the pupils and say a huge thank you for their

continued commitment and dedication. We would also like to thank the parents for their support

and encouragement at the side-lines. We look forward to the coming term where we will switch

to the Summer sports and we are sure that we will have many more sporting successes.

PSHCE

It’s been a busy term within the PSCHE department- Lower school have been exploring topics

such as, settling in, revision techniques and resilience. Meanwhile years 9 and 10 have been

learning how a large organisation, such as the NHS, operates and what defines a healthy

relationship. Year 10 have produced insightful observations on growing up in today’s society

and sixth form have had sessions on women’s health awareness, interview practice and the

importance of respecting diversity.

MATHS

This term has been as busy and productive as ever in the Maths Department.

In January Miss Mistry took two teams of Year 10 girls to the

Maths Feast competition at Loughborough University and

they did brilliantly, coming in second and third places.

In February the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge took

place with most girls in Years 9 to 11 taking part. Many gold,

silver and bronze certificates were awarded and the follow

on kangaroo round for the most successful girls took place

last week. Due to the nature of the questions that are asked

in these challenges, we firmly believe in their value as a tool

to develop resilience, logic and succinctness when problem solving, an important life skill.

In March the Year 7 girls had a Pi Day celebration. They baked some fabulous pies and cakes

that were judged by our year 13 mathematicians, and then took part in a Pi themed house quiz,

while eating the cakes.

MODERN LANGUAGES

This has been another very busy and successful term in the Modern Languages department.

Back in February, we welcomed back Richard Pelletier from Français Facile to deliver a French

A Level revision day to our Year 12 and 13 students, along with a number of students from

local schools. As always, students found the day very useful and they enjoyed the opportunity

to immerse themselves in French.

A number of extra-curricular activities have also taken place this term, including a Russian club

and a Modern Language Karaoke club. We have also played host to the fantastic Onatti

Theatre Company this term, who have performed very entertaining plays entirely in French,

German and Spanish to pupils in Years 8-13 from our school and another local school. Pupils

were very enthusiastic when given the opportunity to get up on stage

themselves, and those who did demonstrated impressive linguistic

ability!

Pupils have also taken part in a number of competitions, both in school

and nationally. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate

Izzy, Victoria, and Johnson in Year 12 who achieved a bronze award in

the Advanced level of this highly prestigious competition. We also

entered all of our Year 7 pupils in the Breakthrough and

Foundation levels of the UK Linguistics Olympiad, and we would

particularly like to congratulate Laura and Anya for achieving a gold certificate in the

Foundation level.

Next term will be very busy with exams, so we hope you all have a restful holiday and a frohe

Ostern, joyeuses Pâques and ¡feliz Pascua!

Young Enterprise

The team of year 12 girls who started the Young Enterprise

company Taboo, have had a fantastic term with the launch

of their product, Blush, a Period Pamper Box. On January

26th they won a national competition and £150 by having

the highest social media interest, thanks to some great

networking after Jayna, Hayley, and Shania designed and

launched a fantastic website, and Instagram page.

On the 30th of January the group, including Hattie, Dannie, Ella, Deji, Kittie, Emelia and

Libby went to DMU in Leicester to support four of their colleagues bidding to win a Dragon’s

Den-style event against other local schools including LGS and Amherst. The team of Bims

Ayorinde, Harleen, Libby and Hannah made a very professional pitch to “the Foxes” clearly

explaining the vision of the company, the details of the product and the highs and lows of

their experience. They answered questions confidently, and stood out enough to become the

Foxes Lair champions 2019.

On Monday April 1st the main event of the Young Enterprise Calendar, the Leicestershire

Showcase, gives all the teams a chance to impress the judges with the quality of their business.

At the time of writing the girls are putting the finishing touches to their report and presentation.

They would like to thank all those at school who have supported them so far and hope this will

continue now that they have finally sourced suitable boxes from a local business Soar Valley

Press! They would also like to thank David Hawksworth of St Gobain and Dipa from Dunelm

for their advice and encouragement. Let’s hope their run of success continues.

Drama

It’s been a busy term in the Drama department with performance examinations, productions,

visiting companies, trips and a festival!

In January A Level Drama students performed two Alan Ayckbourn comedies for their

performance examination. Anna, Georgia, and Chloe played hilarious frustrated Housewives

in the highly complex play How the Other Half Loves, with lighting design by Natasha.

Jess, Chota and Niamh also played frustrated housewives (a common theme!) in the hilarious

fast paced farce, Absent Friends.

On Friday 1st February nationally acclaimed theatre company Paper Birds came to perform

their original play ‘Thirsty’ for A Level Drama students in the LHS Drama Studio. Students

thoroughly enjoyed the thought provoking piece which examined binge drinking culture in the

UK.

The following week our GCSE students performed a range of highly sophisticated monologues

and duologues to a visiting examiner for their year 11 performance exam. Performances

included My Mother Said I Never Should, The Skriker and Attempts on Her Life. Also in

February, year 10 GCSE Drama students went on a trip to Curve to see Frantic Assembly’s

astounding physical theatre production, The Unreturning. A play which explores the profound

effect that war has on young lives. Students commented on the remarkable set which used a

revolving shipping container to create multiple environments.

In March we saw the Senior production of the horror comedy rock musical Little Shop of

Horrors. The tale of Audrey II, the rampaging man-eating plant, and those unlucky enough to

fall into her feeding range. Audience members commented on the professionalism of the show

and the outstanding performances by students. Special mention to Kyla for her convincing

portrayal of Audrey and Libby for her dynamic vocal role as the plant, Audrey II. The show was

a triumph, a big well done to Ms Bruton for directing the performance, Mr Morris for

remarkable musical direction and of course Mr Viccars and the tech team for creating such

wonderful set and tech.

Also in March, New Directors’ Season proudly presented a variety of performances written,

adapted, directed and performed by students.

Pip and Ellie presented a playful and comedic adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Alice

Crisp’s short adaptation of The Addams Family musical comedy. Notable performances

include Masie who displayed her beautiful singing voice when playing Wednesday Addams,

the ultimate princess of darkness. Freya and Rhiann adapted and directed 4 Children and It,

the story of four children who discover a mysterious creature that can grant wishes. Matilda

the Musical, adapted and directed by Indie, Emily and Helena provided a spirited and joyous

end to the evening with an energetic dance routine to ‘revolting children’. Jeevan, Candice

and Georgina presented Clown, a quirky original comedy based on the well-known horror

fiction novel ‘It’ by Steven King. The play followed the story of ‘Pennywise the Dancing Clown’

and looked at the obstacles faced when trying to exploit the fears and phobias of his

victims…young children

How to Pay Your Rent an original dramatic comedy written, directed and performed by Annabel

and Dulcie. Audiences commented on their original script which was both hilarious with excellent

plot twists. Georgina, Rupert and James adapted and directed 13 Reasons Why, a performance

based on the 2007 novel by Jay Asher. The play revolved around seventeen-year-old secondary

school student Katie, who committed suicide and explored the thirteen reasons why she chose

to end her life. This was a charity performance in aid of Mind, which raised £85 for the mental

health charity.

Miss Hooper wishes to pass on a big well done to all of the students that took part in the festival,

you should be very proud of your achievements.

Also, in March the Drama department launched auditions for the Rocky Monster show, our first

middle school production with over 40 students from all 3 schools in the cast. The performance

is to take place at LAS in June.

Miss Boon hosted a workshop for a group of pupils from St Winifred’s Primary school,

Shepshed. The children, aged 6-11yrs, explored the Greek myth of Pandora’s Box by using a

mixture of lighting, sound, shadow work and percussion. They also enjoyed a tour of the

schools and thoroughly enjoyed their time here at The High School.

Rehearsals for The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe are progressing very well, with the

young and dedicated cast showing commitment and enthusiasm for what is a challenging

production both for those who are playing the principal roles such as Tallulah who is playing

The Snow Queen and Eleanor who is playing Mrs Beaver who have lots of lines to learn, but

also equally challenging roles played by the chorus where the cast are combining playing

musical instruments and very physical grotesque roles as the creatures of Narnia. Lilia is

proving to be a fearsome member of the Evil Snow Queen’s army. Bella is showing her diverse

range of skills playing a creature and excellent musician as an ensemble percussionist. Miss

Boon would like to let all the girls involved know that they are proving themselves to be

outstanding ensemble players and are rising to the challenge of being in a highly sophisticated

production.

Coming up next term…

Year 10 and year 12 will be undertaking their practical performances for their GCSE and A

level drama respectively, which is worth 40% of their overall mark.

Rehearsals have also started for our annual performance tour to Edinburgh Fringe Festival,

we will be taking a production of Rats’ Tails to Edinburgh in August.

Charity

Charity Report Spring Term 2019 by the Year 13 Senior Charity Prefects, Mansi and Katie

During the Spring term, each year group has been busy supporting many charities, working

hard to raise lots of money and collectively have helped so many people locally and within the

wider community, both in the UK and around the world. There has been an amazing variety of

events and we are very proud of the incredible amount of money that LHS pupils, parents and

staff have all raised together.

This term year 7 have held many charity events such as a

sponsored silence, cake, doughnut and cookie sales for Cancer

Research UK. As a year group they have raised a grand total of

£787, with 7AEF being the top fundraisers in their year with £413.

Year 8 have also done some fantastic fundraising this term

supporting the Little Princess Trust. They have raised £346

through sponsorships, cake sales and a photography competition.

8GFT have raised the most in the year group with £202.

With a pastry sale, cake sales and a tombola, Year 9 have done a great job of raising money

for the Rosie May Foundation. 9MW are the year 9 top fundraisers with £105, and as a year

group they all raised a grand total of £284.

Year 10 have held events such as a year group breakfast, and cake sales raising a total of

£259 for Save the Rhino. 10EE raised most in the year group with £70.

Year 11 held a year group dodgeball match and a charity breakfast this term, raising a total of

£229.60 for Rebuilding Sri-Lanka.

Year 12 have been incredible in their fundraising this term for Refuge,

with endless pizza sales, a cake sale and a very successful valentine’s

roses sale to LSF students and staff campus wide. This term year 12

have raised an amazing £410, with £355 of that raised entirely by

12JAL!

Year 13 have done some impressive

fundraising for JDRF with A LOT of

pizza sales, classic cake sales, a

samosa sale and of course 13EH’s Bake Off. They have

raised an outstanding £690 for JDRF with 13AMW raising

nearly £320 towards the total. A further £409 was raised by

Prianka and Mansi in year 13, together raising an incredible

£409 for the British Heart Foundation through the Dechox

campaign, bringing the year 13 total to £1,130.

Staff have also been incredibly generous this term, raising £253, by taking part in non-uniform days and contributing at the events for our chosen charities, by buying cakes and raffle tickets plus generously giving up their time to take part in many events such as all the food sales, movie nights, breakfast sales and the danceathon.

As a School, we have held several non-uniform days this half

term, including one for Refuge raising £568, one for VSU raising

£522 and one for Comic Relief, where we raised £572 but

additionally, let’s not forget the incredible danceathon which

raised a further £301 taking the total to an amazing £873. In

addition, we raised £107 from the donations in assembly for DEC

Cyclone Idai Appeal.

The now annual sponsorship appeal, that some of our parent’s kindly support, has so far raised

£4607 this term by sponsoring food packages, uniform and education for Galpoththa School,

our link school through the Rebuilding Sri Lanka charity.

We would like to say a huge thank you to all the teachers, charity reps and year 12 charity

team for their support and help whilst pupils organise and plan events. We would particularly

like to say thank you to our caretakers and Mr. Thompson for their support, ensuring our events

run smoothly and of course we must thank Ms. Shipman for all of her hard work and help with

charity this term. Most of all thank you to the parents and LHS pupils for supporting all the

events.

This brings us to our totals for this term - an incredible £10,289 has been raised for all of the

amazing year group charities, giving us a total of an outstanding £21,272!

Ms Shipman added: ‘whilst they are away studying and taking their A Levels next term, Mansi

and Katie will be handing the reins of Senior Charity Prefects over to the newly elected Year

12s. Katie and Mansi have loved the role and have both been superb prefects, working very

hard behind the scenes and are incredibly encouraging and supportive of all the pupils and

especially me in all of our charity endeavors. It is no surprise therefore, that in the three terms

they have served in the role, they have helped the school to raise over £36,000 for some very

worthy causes and I would like to thank them for all they have done in the last 12 months.