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LPGS NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2022

IN THE SPOTLIGHT VISUAL ARTS & PERFORMING ARTS

Here at LPGS we offer a wide and varied curriculum that aims to meet the needs and interests of all our students, from the more traditional academic subjects to the possibilities in the Creative Arts. So, with this in mind the spotlight this term is very much on the Visual Arts and the Performing Arts Faculties. Two areas which bring a rich and diverse experience to all our students and aid them to see the world through other eyes...

VISUAL ARTS FACULTY

Visual Arts 2021-22

As always it has been another busy year in Visual Arts. This has really been the first year for us to see our new rotation of subjects at KS3, Fine Art, Textiles and Creative Digital Media, in full operation. All of our Y7/8/9 students get the opportunity to experience all three subject areas and develop both analogue and digital skills. We firmly believe in developing our young students' understanding and experience of traditional creative materials and methods but we are also only too aware of the digital age in which we live and the need for our students to become digitally literate in a changing and challenging world which relies heavily of visual media.

We have also been very proactive in bringing digital media skills to our sixth form programme with our new BTEC Media course in digital Film and Television; this area in only set to get bigger as the digital creative markets develop, expand and flourish.

Congratulations and well done to all our Y11 GCSE and Y13 A Level and BTEC students for working so hard over the last two years to produce wonderful, rich portfolios of creative work which have enabled many Y11 students to make the next move to A Level and BTEC creative courses. Furthermore, well done to all our Y13 students many of whom are now moving onto college and degree courses specialising in areas such as Fashion, Textiles, Fine Art, Film, TV, Photography, Animation, Games Design; the future really is bright for these young creatives in an ever developing creative market which is now rated as one of, if not, the top financial market of the UK.

It goes without saying that all the great work we do in Visual Arts would not be possible without such a committed, professional team of teachers/artists and so I would like to extend a huge thank you from me and on behalf of all students to our wonderful team:

Ms C Keeble/Ms E Ashman-Clarke/Ms N O'Toole/Ms S Crowe/Ms A Morris/Ms N Frail/Ms E Salmon

Enjoy the summer holidays and we look forward to more rich creative developments next academic year...

Mr E Fox Joyce - Head of Visual Arts

SUMMER EXHIBITION 2022

Performing Arts 2021-22

I joined LPGS as Head of Performing Arts in January, shortly after the very successful whole faculty project exploring the Windrush. It has been brilliant to see the wealth of talent at LPGS amongst both the students and the teachers demonstrated in the numerous music concerts, from the small scale to the large, and the wonderful Mixtape 2 dance show and it has been exciting to collaborate with Visual Arts on the Art Exhibition. Year 11 and Year 13 students in all three departments have produced impressive exam work and, of course, the jewel in the faculty’s crown this year was the epic production of Hairspray just a week ago. Next year’s musical is booked in at the LPBS Performing Arts Centre and we are exploring options already. I want to thank the fantastic performing arts team for all they have done this year: In dance, Mrs White and Miss Davis; in drama Mrs Clarke and Mr Beardsworth and in music Miss Sheppard, Mrs Brown, Mr Sizer and Miss Bidgood. And of course the brilliant students who have thrown themselves into the performing arts this year.

Ms H Stanley - Head of Performing Arts

DANCE

The summer term has been very busy in the Dance department, prepping for Hairspray whilst filming final exams for A Level Dance, Street Dance and Jazz Dance units for BTEC KS5 and of course lots of revision for GCSE Dance.

Many of our KS5 dancers have been performing together since Year 7 so it was emotional watching their final ever assessment pieces. The standard of work the sixth formers have produced is outstanding and many of their written reports are close to undergraduate level. Callum produced a fantastic extended essay on the origins and development of Street Dance that we are going to keep as a reference book in the Dance office- that’s how great it is!

Year 10 have been working very hard on their set phrases and trio, always showing great collaborative skills and commitment to the department. They performed at the Summer Art Exhibition showing great problem solving skills switching in roles for different dancers on the day of the show due to illness.

Year 9 have finished a scheme of work on musicals and have really grown in confidence, we can’t wait to start GCSE Dance with them next year, watch out for a letter about how to get your GCSE Dance jumper.

We have also welcomed back past students Sita S and Phoebe L to help with final examination pieces and production rehearsals, it is always wonderful to see how much they have learnt and they are always so willing to give back to our community. Huge congratulations to LPGS 2021 alumni Stephanie D who has just completed her CertEd in Contemporary Dance at the world renowned conservatoire Northern School of Contemporary Dance.

Induction Day for the new sixth formers was absolutely brilliant, within a short session we were able to develop repertoire from a professional work and we could see already that the class of 2024 are going to be incredible. We are looking forward to meeting you all again on enrolment day.

As a department we are very much looking forward to our theatre trip in September to see our very own Year 13 Skiye E perform with National Youth Dance Company at Sadler’s Wells. Do watch the trailer, its set to be an amazing show! If any current Year 11 and Year 10 dancers would like to join us do email me to let me know.

In September we will be relaunching our companies Leading Edge and Look See, these companies will be open to students from Year 7 to Year 13. As always we are keen to widen our extra-curricular offer, if you have a lunchtime club you would like to lead do let us know!

Date for your diary - our annual whole school dance show Mix Tape Volume 3 is taking place on Wednesday 1st March 2023 at Langley Park Centre for the Performing Arts starting at 7pm.

Have a great summer and “keep dancing”

Mrs White - Head of Dance

MUSIC

What an end to a very busy year! As I write this, we have one more performance of ‘Hairspray’ and I could not be more proud of all the students involved. The band, cast and crew have all worked so hard but it has certainly paid off in the end as we even had people trying to re-book to watch the show again! The musicians have made huge progress since the process started and the experience of being in a ‘pit’ orchestra is a truly special one that I don’t think they will forget in a hurry. It was also lovely that some Year 11 and 13 students were able to join us after their exams finished. Thank you so much to the staff who also gave up their time to rehearse and be a part of the team! We have already begun discussions of which show to do next year! Bring it on!

As well as a whole school production, we have managed to squeeze in a number of other events this half term. Our Year 10 GCSE class had a wonderful day in June composing their own group songs with the help of 2 industry professionals. Rahel and James from Bromley Mytime Arts Train Academy joined us for the day and took the class through the process of song-writing from beginning to end. The students split into 3 groups and each performed their own compositions at the end of the day. We were blown away with what they had managed to achieve in such a short space of time.

‘’Arts Train was amazing. It really helped me with my creativity and I am now more confident with my work. It helped me with song writing and I got to try new things. It was overall such a great experience and I would love to do it again.’’

‘’I found it super useful and exciting to do a day full of being creative without boundaries. We had the freedom to write what we wanted to with only the prompt of a song name and the outline of a chord sequence. The first part of the day when we all got to know each other was fun and we all got to be comfortable with each other before getting into groups. We expressed emotion through music before being able to use these ideas in our own songs. I loved the experience and found it very useful.’’

Follow us on Instagram (@LPGSMusicDept) to hear some snippets of their work.

On 29th June, Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Choir and Young Voices had the pleasure of performing at the LPGS Art Exhibition. The groups rehearse tirelessly Mon-Weds morning every week and were able to show off what they had been working on from the balcony in the tech block, overlooking the artwork and audience. It was a wonderful opportunity for the Visual Arts & Performing Arts faculties to come together and share their work. The groups are going to record their pieces next week for our YouTube channel in case you missed the event.

In KS3 lessons this term, we have taken Year 7 around the world, taught Year 8 how to play the ukulele and had a lot of fun song writing with Year 9. Seeing the smiles on their faces when they achieve something they never thought they would be able to is amazing!

We also welcomed our potential new Year 12 A level Music class on their induction day last week (the ukuleles made another cheeky appearance!) and instrument lesson applications are coming in thick and fast from the new Year 7 that will be joining us in September. We cannot wait to meet you!

Well done to all students who have passed grade exams, to our GCSE and A level classes and thank you to all involved in our ever-growing extra-curricular clubs. We still have our final Year 7 instrument scheme concert to come next week, hopefully we will see you there.

Miss Sheppard - Head of Music

DRAMA

Hairspray

With the songs still ringing in our ears we have to say a fond farewell to Hairspray! The students did outstandingly well receiving the very highest of praise. It was wonderful to be able to put on a full musical to give a platform to the vast array of talent we have here at LPGS. We are so proud of everyone in involved both on stage and behind the scenes to make this production the success it was.

We already have the date booked in for the next performance so keep a look out for notices of when we will begin our next set of auditions!

Theatre Trips

Now that the London theatre scene has opened up we have been able to make the most of it. In March the Yr 12 saw ‘Our Generation’, a verbatim play created from five years of interviews. They then went on to see the world renowned work of Gecko theatre company on their production of the Wedding. We managed to squeeze in one final trip with our Yr 13 students to see, ‘Middle’ where they were able to watch an excellent example of a naturalistic style of acting. They were also able to watch a streamed recording of Cervantes Theatre’s production of Yerma followed by a live Q&A with the cast.

Art Exhibition

Our Yr. 10 GCSE students did a fantastic job at the recent Art Exhibition, performing excerpts from plays based around the theme of schools. They were very professional and managed to re-do the scenes many times for the continuous cycle of the new audiences passing through.

Transition Event

The Yr 12 delivered a Drama workshop to support the Yr. 6 students who will be starting LPGS very soon. They made the children feel very welcome and supported.

The Drama Journey

This term the Yr 7 have been busy creating choral movement scenes, the Yr 8 have been using Dorothy Heathcote’s method of student driven drama and the Yr 9 have been exploring issues around gender Inequality through fairy tales. We have been very impressed with the high levels of creativity shown!

Ms C Clarke - Head of Drama

Empowerment Conference

On 12th July LPGS held its very first Empowerment Conference. The day was attended by over 350 students from all over South East London. The day was about celebrating empowerment in all its forms and included talks and Q&A with inspiring women such as Baroness Floella Benjamin, authors Natalie A.Carter and Melissa Cummings-Quarry and rugby player Akina Gondwe. In the afternoon we were treated to a performance from singer songwriter Eleni C who then spoke to us about mental health and we were able to ask her questions about her exciting career. Our very own Sixth Formers and Langley alumni presented the event and led the Q&A sessions, as well as performing their own poetry and spoken word pieces. In the lunchbreak we were able to buy books about Feminism and Empowerment from Beckenham Bookshop and even get our copies of Grown: The Black Girls’ Guide to Glowing Up signed by the authors. IV Cakes also baked hundreds of beautiful cupcakes and sweet treats for us to buy. Students also enjoyed their tote bags to take home to remember the day. It was a truly inspiring and memorable day!

If you enjoyed the conference, come to Feminist Society! It runs every Thursday lunchtime in M206.

I arrived empty and I am leaving full! - Kiara F - Year 12

I was completely astounded by the stories shared at the conference today, and I have taken away many valuable lessons, quotes, and inspiring anecdotes from the guest speakers and Sixth Formers involved in the presentation. I am truly grateful for how giving this fantastic opportunity has been today, and I hope that Langley will continue to organise events like this in the future! Francesca D - Year 10

I really enjoyed the Empowerment Conference because the speakers were so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their beliefs and what they were teaching us. I particularly enjoyed Baroness Floella Benjamin’s speech as I found it extremely interesting and inspiring. I think events such as these are important as an opportunity for us to listen to speakers who can pass on their knowledge to us. I also think it is important to talk about mental health and I thought Eleni C gave a fantastic speech about the topic. I will take away so much for this conference, but especially what Baroness Floella Benjamin talked about in being content with what you have now. I think that you should definitely attend this event in the future, as I am sure you will really enjoy listening to a diverse range of talks which will inspire you. If not that, let the goody bags encourage you to sign up! - Anna G - Year 9

At the Empowerment Conference I really enjoyed being able to listen to a diverse range of inspirational speakers talk about their stories and what they’ve achieved. I think this event is very important because it means that more and more people can be inspired and empowered by these incredible women and realise they aren’t alone in their struggle. I took away that anything is possible if you truly believe in yourself, and to have confidence in your own abilities in what you can do - not letting anyone put you down. I think everybody should aim to attend next year, as it’s brilliant being immersed in these stories and being able to ask these people questions and learn from them. - Emma W - Year 9

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Year 12 Spanish visited the Mexican Geniuses: Frida and Diego exhibition in London. Students are studying Frida Kahlo’s life and work for their speaking exam and the exhibition helped them to learn more about Frida’s iconic influence. The exhibition was an immersive experience and it was fascinating to see Frida and Diego’s work brought to life and projected onto the walls and floor of an immense room. Students were most fascinated by Frida’s suffering and the relationship between the two artists. It was interesting to find out more about Frida’s political and private life beyond her art.

CAREERS ACADEMY

This half term has been the busiest ever, helping Year 13 students finalise their university choices, looking at options for students who did not receive the offers they had hoped for and working with students who were interviewing for their degree apprenticeships with the likes of KPMG, Google and PWC, plus the task of preparing for, and running work experience weeks for Year 10 and year 12!

Work experience weeks

As I write this, the Year 10 students are preparing to go out on their work experience week next week. This week I have been holding sessions with them all to prepare them and answer any questions. They have all been given a booklet to complete throughout their week to ensure they get the very best out of the experience.

Last week, Year 12 students had their work experience week. The e mails and phone calls I have received from the employers commending our students for their behaviour, attitude and ability has made me a very proud Careers Advisor!

If you get a chance, take a look at the “Langley Park School for Girls” LinkedIn page where a number of them have written about their experiences with some top employers.

LPGS Oxbridge Programme

Most of the Year 12 students on the Oxbridge programme have now completed their second draft of their personal statement, preparing for the earlier submission deadline. I have been extremely impressed with what I have read. Some students have identified that they need to do some more work experience or reading and will be making sure this is done of the Summer break and adding it to their statements.

Lloyds Bank mentoring initiative

All of the students on the Lloyds Bank mentorship programme are receiving fantastic feedback from their mentors. I hope to be allocated more mentors in September for more of our students.

World of Work Wednesday

Takes place every other Wednesday to years 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 (Years 11 and 13 can watch on catch up). All speakers are recorded and they can be seen on Fire Fly under Careers academy. Recently, we have heard from; Holly Venables who ran a session about careers in tax, Michaela Tornaritis who is a freelance photographer working with high end fashion brands who travels all over the world and Doctor Louise Beard who told us all about careers in Biomedical Science. I have already booked some exciting new speakers for September – watch this space!

Careers speaker/mentors from our school community

I am SO grateful for this! I would love to hear from any parents/carers of friends of the school who may have a career they could talk to the students about and possibly offer mentorship to students interested in a particular field. Please e mail me at hha@lpgs.bromley.sch.uk if you may be able to help.

I wish all the students a restful Summer break. I will be on hand at both the GCSE an A Level results days to offer help to any students needing to look at alternative paths or go through clearing for a university place. See you fresh and ready to go again in September! Mrs Hayden - Careers Advisor

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Year 12 English visit to the British Library for Exploring Black British Literature Workshop

On Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th July Year 12 English students visited the British Library once again- this time for their new ‘Exploring Black British Literature’ workshop. Yet again, English Language and Literature students were applauded by the Library’s staff for their impeccable behaviour and active participation in discussions throughout the afternoon.

Here are a few words from Ms Stott who joined us on the Monday:

Year 12 English Language and Literature students attended an interesting and inspiring workshop on Black British literature at the British Library this term. They explored the history of British Black British literature, discussed extracts which looked at the experience of immigration and spent time being guerilla librarians in the treasures (you will have to ask them for a definition of guerilla librarians!). The session finished off with some spirited discussion about whether white writers writing about black characters could ever be authentic and also with a board game that helped the students consider the challenges for black writers of getting their work published. The students engaged excellently with the workshop throughout, responding perceptively to all the activities. A great afternoon was had by all! - Ms Walker

Year 7 and 8 English Trip to Stratford East Theatre

On Thursday 7th July Ms Ahmad and Ms Gilburt took a very lucky group of Year 7 and 8 students to Stratford East Theatre to see a production of Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World. The play followed ‘Jade’ who met important women from history, including Frida Kahlo; Rosa Parks; Marie Curie; Amelia Earhart; Emmeline Pankhurst and many more. Students were able to explore these women’s personal stories in an engaging production. This is what the students had to say after the production:

This week we went to see the incredible production of Fantastically Great Women at the Theatre Royal Stratford East . The central character was a relatable teenage girl who struggled to find her voice heard in the world.

The narrative sent a really inspirational message to us. It showed how amazing women can be and shared the stories of many miraculous women over the centuries. We learnt about the journey of women through history and how influential they have been to the current fabric of our society. The show itself was ‘fantastic’. The songs and acting were first class and we learnt how a small production could still excel in stagecraft through an imaginative stage set and music.

The show itself was like a breath of fresh air. With a diverse representation of women of all nationalities, ages and body types on stage we were able to see how everyone is truly capable of owning the stage in our world. We greatly appreciate the opportunity of going on this show and hope we can go on many more trips like this in the future. Thank you English department for organising this trip for us!

Thank you again to Ms Ahmad for organising this trip! Ms Walker

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE

On Wednesday 29th June our sixth form Health and Social Care students attended a private taster day at the University of Greenwich in the Health Sciences faculty. Students experienced what it was like to be a university student as well as using the state of the art health simulation facilities at the Avery Hill campus. The day included learning how to take vital signs such as temperature and oxygen saturation as well as lessons in infection control and hand hygiene. Students were given expert instruction in changing hospital bedding and then got to practise the skill with lifelike manikin representing real life patients. The most impressive experience came from the simulated manikins which are controlled by ipads and programmed to replicate a wide variety of medical conditions such as heart conditions, respiratory conditions and even giving birth. Students left the day with a goodie bag, valuable skills to apply to their coursework and Chloe C even delivered her first baby!

An amazing experience and one we hope to repeat with all our future health and Social Care groups.

LIBRARY

The Summer Term has been full of fun and informative reading events. The author Mark Ballabon met with Y8 to launch his new novel Home: My Life in the Universe. The Carnegie Award Group read this year’s excellent shortlist, with many agreeing that the family drama, October, October should be the winner. Meanwhile, the KS3 Lit in Colour Book Club went from strength to strength.

Our main focus, of course, has been the READ WELLbeing inter-House Reading Competition linked to our Lit in Colour reading initiative. This was hotly contested and the lead changed several times, but the final result was:

1st KAPPA - 2nd GAMMA - 3rd SIGMA - 4th LAMBDA

So congratulations to KAPPA, who once again win the CELEBRATING READING CUP and well done to Polina P 9KC who submitted a fantastic 48 reviews, which certainly contributed to Kappa’s success.

There were hundreds of entries from all year groups and prizes go to the following students for particularly thoughtful reviews:

7GA Saskia H - 7LE Evie K - 7SG Imogen B - 7GB Cerys W - 7LE Skye N - 7SH Lucio KC - 7GB Hanna H - 7SG Hannah L - 7KC Isabel SC - 7SG Naomi W - 8KD Anastasia PM - 9KC Imaan S - 8SG Amber J - 9KC Polina P - 9SH Amelie H

Y7 have also been taking part in the Library Reading Race by completing a series of increasingly challenging reading ‘track events’ … introducing students to a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction titles.

Well done to the following prize-winners who did particularly well:

7KC Dhaani P - 7KD Amelia W - 7SH Nalani G - 7KC Serena S - 7SH Amy R

Our love of reading continues of course and we hope everyone will take part in the SUMMER READING CHALLENGE, to read six books during the holiday. Students will receive P Points for the books they list on the entry form on the Firefly home page – double points for Lit in Colour titles.

Wishing you a very happy holiday … just read and relax!

Mrs Hall - Librarian

Lit in Colour Book Club and Carnegie Book Award

Over the last two terms, lots of year 7 and 8s have been spending their Friday lunchtimes in the library, reading voraciously and sharing the books they love with their friends, fuelled by biscuits kindly supplied by superstar librarian, Mrs Hall.

Since the school won a place on the Lit in Colour scheme last year, year 7s have been given access to the whole Lit in Colour selection - a wide array of books from a diverse range of writers from Yassmin Abdel-Magied to Ambelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina and Jewell Parker Rhodes. These wonderful stories have given our students a window into so many different worlds and experiences; whilst some were set in the UK, others have taken our readers to the Caribbean, or the streets of New York … even the Australian Outback. It has been great to see them read so adventurously, dipping into writers that they have not come across before and really enjoying it.

The Y8 Carnegie Reading Group rose to the challenge to read all of the 8 books on the short list and then decide which one they thought was best. With great enthusiasm and admirable critical reading skills, they read the lot, with some even managing to predict the winning book – October October.

SIXTH FORM AT LPGS

It has been both emotional and exciting to see the Year 13 students come to the end of their learning journey with LPGS. Year 13 students should be extremely proud of themselves, particularly for being the cohort that have reconvened with public examinations.

On Friday 1st July, the cohort came together to celebrate their milestone achievements. It was an amazing evening and the students looked wonderful in their prom attire.

We look forward to seeing them on Thursday 18th August, for A-Level Results' Day.

This term, Year 12 students have completed their end of year trial examinations. It has been impressive to see so many students on site before school, at lunch time, and after school preparing.

Year 12 students have submitted a draft of their UCAS personal statements. Students have also completed work experience at highly reputable organisations. The feedback from employers has been extremely commendable. Work experience in year 12 is very important, as it allows students, first-hand experience of working in their desired field of interest, raises their aspirations and develops transferable skill relevant for higher education beyond post 16. Students will also use this invaluable experience to bolster their UCAS personal statements. To further support the UCAS process, we had a former LPGS student, Maya M, who is a first year Law student at the University of Manchester. She met with students for bespoke feedback sessions, which had a huge impact on the written quality of personal statements.

Huge congratulations to the newly appointed Sixth Form Leadership Team. Students below put forward successful written applications and went through a rigorous interview process, before being selected amongst a strong field of applicants. We look forward to seeing your developments as you work with staff, students and the wider LPGS school community.

On Wednesday 29th June we had our Sixth Form Taster Day. 380 applicants from different boroughs attend the event. It was a delight see so many students who are interested to study at LPGS Sixth Form. We look forward to GCSE results day on Thursday 25th August. when we will embark on the enrolment process. We wish all students the best of luck

Congratulations

On Thursday 16th June, Ife and Divine, (AMOS Bursary winners) attended the AMOS Gala Dinner and Dance. The AMOS Bursary supports Britain’s talented young people of African and Caribbean heritage, to have the opportunity to excel in education and beyond. The event brings together bursary award winners, sponsors and the wider community. Ife, along with other fellow poets, performed an amazing poem called “We are Black and Brilliant”, which is repertoire from his poetry brand “Spoken Vision”.

Divine said:

"The Amos Bursary Gala was a truly magical experience. We were given the opportunity to network with other professionals who were there to support the AMOS family. Even though we were the newest and youngest cohort of 2022 among the guests, we really made a big impact at the gala by performing and being hosts/hostesses to corporates. The Amos Bursary gala is not just about funding scholarships, it is also a community of Afro-Caribbean people who have high aspirations to thrive and grow beyond their expectations and limitations.

Cleo A – qualified for European Championships for Under 18 as number 1 (Bedford International Games)! She also is the 4th best under 18 woman in shot put in Europe!

We are excited about Activities Week-Monday 18 Friday 22nd July, which is the last week of the academic year. Here is a snap shot of what year 12 students will be doing.

• Brighton Trip

• Interhouse activities

• Army visit and team work activities

• PSHCE

• Reflection, Review & Rewards

No Pen Lessons

Towards the end of this final term, teachers volunteered to trial no pen lessons with a class of their choice. The rules stipulate that no pens can be used, not even a highlighter! Students must use talk to negotiate meaning and develop their point of view.

Ms Stott’s no pen lesson using P4C

For no pen day, Ms Stott’s Year 9 class did a Philosophy For Children (P4C) discussion. P4C is a student led discussion style that starts off with a stimulus from which students then design their own discussion questions in groups before coming together in a big circle to vote for the question that they want to talk about. The Year 9s responded enthusiastically and maturely and devised questions that covered topics from religion to immigration to the economy and finally voted for a question about what should be covered in PSHCE. The discussion that ensued was thoughtful and respectful, demonstrating how well they are able to engage with tricky issues and also how much their Oracy skills have developed over the year.

Ms Ahmad’s no pen lesson used a Harkness Discussion. Harkness promotes a discussion-based learning style that requires students to take the lead and manage their conversations. Students initially analysed a political activism poster in pairs and developed a set of questions and observations based on the material. Students were allocated a group with a key question to explore. Each group was given a ball of string to track the path of discussion. Each time a student spoke they had to pass the string to the next person contributing to the discussion. It was observed that during the discussion process, group conversations were much more developed than usual. Students felt that the visual and kinaesthetic mapping of the discussion also encouraged everyone in the group to participate. They found that this debate style was challenging as it pushed them out of their comfort zone and motivated them to continue the discussion until the end as each group was competing for the largest discussion web. Students also felt that they developed their listening skills as in order to make a purposeful contribution they really had to listen to each other.

Ms Sakiroglu’s Y8 no pen lesson used Harkness aswell to discuss whether it is always easy to uphold your principles: Year 8s looked at the anonymous civil servant letter protesting against the Rwanda immigration policy.

“For me, the pen-free lesson was enjoyable. I was able to get opinions from people other than the person sitting next to me. I believe that the fact that I was able to take on different roles aided my learning by allowing me to think deeper about my opinions and to ask questions directly to the person to understand exactly what they were thinking. Also, by interacting with my classmates, I was able to feel a part of the work, which was beneficial because I will remember that moment as well as the work that came with it.

If you asked me if I wanted to do it again, I would say yes.” - Uva D.

“On Thursday the 30th June, we had a 'no pens lesson'. In this lesson we did not use any pens or paper and instead spent more time talking to each other about our ideas and opinions on the text we were studying. We were broken up into groups where we were given conversation roles such as challenger or prober and a discussion question to talk about. This helped structure our discussions a lot. Then we got a ball of string and stood in a circle, each new person to share an idea in our conversation held a bit of the string. We ended up with a web which demonstrated the path and links in the conversation we had made. From this lesson, I developed my conversational skills and managed to share my ideas and develop new ideas from others. I enjoyed the task with the ball of string the most because it was very interactive and was interesting to see the connections in the discussion.” - Lucy P.

Mr Acomb’s Y8 Geography no pen lesson

Mr Acomb’s class brought together all their knowledge on coastal erosion to have a council meeting on whether the sea defences should be torn down at Withernsea and how future money should be spent. There were many stakeholders present in the meeting from café owners to the local farmers. The Deputy Lead Council members ensured that the meeting did not turn into a rowdy debate like poor Jackie Weaver during the lockdown meeting of the Handforth Parish Council (you can find a clip on Youtube!)

“In our last lesson we did a no pen debate, this meant that we did a debate without taking notes or looking back at past work, so we had to think in the moment. This was a very good exercise to do as we all got to express our opinions while thinking in the different roles of real people, so we could gain a new perspective on an existing situation. Overall it was fun but also educational, as we had fun but in a structured way, meaning we could learn how to agree to disagree with each other without causing further issues when discussing important problems, for example. I would recommend this kind of exercise in future lessons because it was very enjoyable and my whole class liked it.” - Tilda A.

PE DEPARTMENT

Megan B – 800m

Last term, Megan B competed in the 800m at the National Indoor Championships in Sheffield. Setting a new personal best of 2:15.22 and winning gold, she now holds the title of U15 National Indoor 800m Champion! More recently, Megan represented Kent at the Kent Schools competition; Megan won the 800m with a qualifying time for the English Schools national competition in Manchester, in July. A huge congratulations to Megan and good luck for English Schools!

Orla S and Aimee S - National Inter Region Korfball Championships

Orla S & Aimee S were successfully selected to play for the London Region U13 team last autumn, and competed at the National Inter Region Korfball Championships at the beginning of May. The National Championships were delayed from January due to COVID, but finally took place and the London U13 Region team were unbeaten and won Gold.

Both Orla and Aimee play for Bromley Korfball club and their U13 club team were recently crowned the Kent league champions for 2021 /2022 season too – well done!

Hannah S - Regional Championships for the British Dressage National Championships

“My horse, Harry and I qualified at the Regional Championships for the British Dressage National Championships at Preliminary level. They were held at Hartpury University in Gloucestershire, where we competed against the top 50 riders in the country at my level. We placed 31st in our first National Championships”. Incredible performance – well done Hannah and Harry!

Bromley Minors – CHR

On Monday 20th June the Year 7 and 8s travelled to Normal Park for the Bromley Minors Athletics competition. It was a glorious day for athletics with some excellent performances throughout. It was a wonderful day for the students who enjoyed both competing and representing the school, as well as cheering on their peers in their events! Back to training now and preparing for next years competition!

Y9 borough Rounders tournament – TM

On Wednesday 22nd June the Year 9 rounders team travelled to Charles Darwin for the annual borough rounders tournament. Having not taken place for 3 years due to COVID, it was incredible to see all the schools in the borough competing in the sunshine. The year 9’s were placed in a tough group; after a slow start with a very near loss, they played a fantastic four games and won their group, going through to the semi-finals to play Farringtons. We knew it was going to be a tough match, however, with Harvey at backstop and Aurelie on first post, we were able to get half the team out in the first few minutes. Unfortunately, they had some big hitters, who managed to hit the ball past our deep fielders, scoring a rounder on every turn. When it was our turn to bat, we couldn’t quite keep up, narrowly losing by 3 rounders and missing out on a place in the final. Regardless, the team played incredibly well; a fantastic day was had by all and we’ve lots to work on at training!

Y8 Rounders – CHR

It has been a wonderful first season of rounders for the Year 8s! After no fixtures last year due to COVID, they were all thrilled to be competing and representing the school in the rounders team for the first time! Unfortunately the Year 8 tournament at Charles Darwin was postponed due to bad weather, however both teams have competed throughout the season in their respective leagues. Both teams have shown excellent progress throughout, with some excellent fielding stopping teams scoring high against us and some superb batting to notch up plenty of wins! They have all worked so well together and shown great sportsmanship in every fixture they have played. We await the final standings in the league and we look forward to next season to build on this years’ progress! A big thank you to all those who played in fixtures and attended training this year. We are looking forward to doing it all again next summer term! Bring it on!

MATHS DEPARTMENT

Junior Maths Challenge

On 27th and 28th April, 120 students from Y7 & 8 sat the UK Junior Maths Challenge. The Junior Mathematical Challenge is a 60-minute, multiple-choice Challenge run by the University of Leeds. It encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems. The problems on the Junior Mathematical Challenge are designed to make students think and are quite challenging! Here is a question from the paper which they sat:

79 students achieved a certificate!

GOLD winners: Amy R (best in school), Vanessa T, Nehara F, Amber-Lyna T, Poppy W, Aimee S.

SILVER winners; Imogen C, Mai P, Ayla M, Katie E, Maia B, Esme H, Amber J, Julia D, Lily R, Yana P, Athina K, Ava U, Cerys W, Emily M, Emily H, Poppy M, Saalihah M, Anna P, Isla V, Madison B, Anisse W, Ava D, Aleen M.

BRONZE winners; Iris L, Tilda A, Dhaani P, Ella D, Esha P, Millie O, Amelie C, Hannah L, Ava M, Heather G, Leila P, Taliyah D, Lily B, Macy H, Clara N, Ruby B, Lyla U, Meriem M, Delilah W, Abigail L, Hannah H, Khushi P, Layah M, Nisa M, Raya S, Sanugiya R, Imogen H, Capucine T, Zoe A, Bethany L, Elena F, Emiko C, Isla V, Frankie H, Jessica T, Poppy F, Ashlee R, Isabella G, Isabelle D, Lydia S, Vanessa R, Jessica C, Lois S, Daisy C, Freya M, Lucy P, Olivia B, Anneke L, Avy K, Maisie W.

Four students qualified for the next round of the competition, known as the Kangaroo challenge. Amy R in Y7 achieved a MERIT certificate in this which is an incredible achievement!

Well done to everyone who took part!

Answer B

Here are some photos of the certificate winners.

The maths department say farewell to Mr. Lennon

Mr. Lennon joined the maths department at LPGS in September 2001 having previously done part of his teaching training here. Sadly, he will be leaving us at the end of this term. It is hard to imagine a maths department without Mr. Lennon. In his time here he has taught every age and every ability, from Year 7 right up to Further Pure Maths in Year 13! So many students will have fond memories of being taught by Mr. Lennon with his cheerful manner and love of a good mathematical puzzle! Here is one of his favourite puzzles which you may like to have a go at. Some students in Y8 and Y9 have been trying this today.

The Knight’s Tour Puzzle!

One of Mr. Lennon’s favourite puzzles! On an 8 by 8 grid begin with the number 1 in the top left corner. Move around the board like a knight on a chessboard placing the numbers from 1 to 64. How far can you get? Here are some photos of a Y8 class trying this puzzle.

And here is Rose in Y9 with a solution!

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