Bishop Luffa School Embracing life in all its fullness at Bishop Luffa
All of us at Bishop Luffa School were excited to be welcoming students back for the start of term. The first few weeks have been full of activities, with some students visiting the theatre in Southampton and Brighton, and all of Year 7 visiting our local parish church of St. Wilfrid’s for a communion service. We want to be able to offer our students the opportunity to make up for lost time, and so we have a record number of extra-curricular clubs on offer this term – 71 clubs and counting - with students able to learn Chess, become Worship Leaders, play Top Trumps or brush up their Ancient
Greek, as well as sports and arts activities. Auditions have begun for our school play, which this year will be ‘Oliver!’ and the choir are already rehearsing for the Christmas Carol service. We are all hoping for a ‘proper’ school year, packed full of hard work and fun!
Austen Hindman, Head Teacher
A fantastic start to the School Year
We have had a busy start to the school year at Bishop Luffa School. It is wonderful to have all our students back in school and embracing life in all its fullness. We were particularly excited to welcome our new Year 7s who were unable to join us for a transition day in the summer term, although many of them were able to spend some time getting to know the
school at the Summer School which ran for a week at the start of the summer holidays. The Year 7s spent their first day getting to know their tutor group before Positively YOU gave a great session, showing the students creative approaches to learning. The whole year group came together at the end of the day for afternoon tea on the school field. Mr Topley, Assistant Headteacher talked to the students about how to have ‘HOPE’ at Bishop Luffa.
H –be happy – remember to smile – it’s an act of kindness to others and ourselves.
O –be organised – if you’re not, then find someone that is and get them to teach you – if you are, then help someone else! P – persevere – so important to realise that if you haven’t understood or mastered something, it’s temporary.
E – enthusiasm – you need this in your learning and experiences in school – get involved in lessons and join clubs.
We also welcomed old and new students to the Sixth Form and they spent their first day getting to know each other and what life will be like in the Sixth Form at Bishop Luffa School. With everyone back in school, the school community came together for a whole school assembly. It was amazing to finally have the opportunity to come together on the school field, with the assembly being led by
Mr Hindman, Head Teacher and our School Captains, Funmi Ajayi and Joe Clines.
Bishop Luffa Goes Green
Bishop Luffa last week hosted its first ‘Go Green Week’. The aim of the week was to create a meaningful, memorable and fun week on environmental issues to generate awareness and an opportunity to take action to make a difference. Each day had a different theme: Monday was ‘Make small changes’ - all staff and students were encouraged to have a plastic and meat free lunchbox and a reusable bottle. Y7s had a litter picking contest and everyone got to watch a fantastic video clip created by one of our Y11s about what small changes we can each make to help maintain our biodiversity.
Tuesday was Recycling Day - students brought in a range of items to be recycled— from batteries to Covid testing kits. At lunchtime, Y11s ran a wonderful recycled art project (turning bottles into butterflies). Another group ran an outdoor club for the week, with students from all years getting stuck in and transforming our neglected green areas, but also, learning about the flora and fauna through pond dipping. Wednesday was ‘Car Free Day’ - an International event held on this
day. It saw many staff and students changing their journey to school - instead of driving, choosing to walk, cycle, catch a bus or train. For many this was a new challenge - cycling from West Wittering, North Mundham, Bognor and beyond. Lunchtime was our first ever ‘Cycle Powered Karaoke’ - which was much enjoyed by all. After school, there was a buzz of creativity as a number of students took part in a two day ‘Upcycling workshop’, trying out ways to transform old clothes into something new.
Thursday was ‘PARKING Day’ - 8 parking spaces were transformed into a gallery of Chelsea flower show -inspired garden designs created in art from recycled materials, wonderfully decorated with plants generously donated by Hills Plants. These were judged by Sarah Sharpe our local Green Party Councillor. The winning students will have the opportunity to transform their design ideas into an actual mini garden in our carpark.
The week culminated in an upcycle dress up day with students and staff thinking carefully where their clothes come from - choosing to wear
second-hand, charity shop bought or upcycled costumes. We did see some fantastic costumes! Lots of fun, lots of great discussions, lots of small actions taken...we hope that many will continue to make these ‘green’ choices!