On 5th March, LSST Dance students enjoyed a trip to the University of Lincoln for a “Be Inspired Day”. They enjoyed taking part in contemporary and creative workshops and had the opportunity to watch a performance by the university students and finish with a Q&A. All the students engaged superbly. Well done all!
World Book Day was celebrated in the academy with a competition to create a ‘book nook’ – a tiny scene or room in a box which can be displayed between the books on a bookshelf. We had some really beautiful creations by students and it has been fun peeking into these miniature worlds. We also had a balloon debate, in which three book characters argued for their survival and the audience asked them questions and voted them out, and a book quiz which lots of students entered in the library. Year 7 have been designing book character Top Trumps cards too!
Here are the winners of our Junior Chess Tournament for 2024. They played chess against different opponents every lunchtime for a week and accrued points based on the results. Chess is popular at The Priory Academy LSST and, as well as being fun to play and bringing students from different year groups together, it’s great exercise for the brain. Chess has been shown to have benefits for mental health, concentration, planning and problem-solving skills.
Well done to the winners of our Senior Chess Tournament which took place in November. It was a Swiss tournament: each competitor played against a different opponent each day in timed games and accrued points throughout the week.
Our intention has been to celebrate the values of the Academy- Aspiration, Inspiration, Respect, Resilience and Innovation. We offered the students involved the chance to show the importance of these values through the development of the project.
Students from three year groups have worked in collaboration to design, and create our felted sculpture. Key Stage 3 ‘Art Club’ students produced drawings and designs inspired by what they thought ‘Lincolnshire’ was famous for and what they felt was important to them within our Lincolnshire culture, both currently and historically. Their skills were combined with the Year 10 students using their interpretation, whilst acting with respect to transfer the younger students’ designs into felted art work.
We chose felt as a technique to do this for a variety of reasons. Our Year 10 students have recently experimented with the technique of felting whilst exploring pattern, emotion and colour. They particularly enjoyed the needle felting technique and the ability to draw with fibres. Traditionally felt was used in Mongolia where tents, yurts, clothing and furnishings were created by hand to aid survival in their environment, exhibiting resilience and innovation. This is something we wanted to reflect with our heart. Students worked on individual sections of the design which were then brought together onto the sculpture.
The physical technique of felting really gave the students an opportunity to continually build on their existing skills whist engaging in team building. They developed self- confidence and resilience, where they were relying on their own and each other’s judgements to succeed in over-coming artistic challenges, being respectful to each other in doing so.
Successfully completing the project filled them with a sense of pride and achievement which can be celebrated together.
The Priory Academy LSST Junior Chess Tournament 2023 winners. Twenty-four students from Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 played timed chess games every lunchtime for a week, against a different opponent each day, and winners were determined by points accumulated – 3 points for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss and 0 for absence. This is called a Swiss tournament. The two students who tied for first place each scored 15 points, which means they won every game they played. There is a real passion for chess at this Academy and we have many talented young players. Chess helps with the development of critical thinking, memory, better focus and concentration, as well as being a lot of fun.
Our LSST students really enjoyed their trip to Ling Moor primary school. There have been many presentations and demonstrations with students participating in experiments such as Oobleck, pop rockets, elephant toothpaste, Coca-Cola and mentos, the digestive system, and more. Even though there were a few ups and downs, the students at Ling Moor and the students at LSST had an amazing experience teaching and learning. The Ling Moor students, ranging from reception to Year 6, enjoyed being taught by the LSST students. The younger students listened to everything that the LSST students talked about and asked amazing questions based on the lesson. This whole programme was run by the Year 9 students, who designed, ordered, and delivered their lessons. The 6th form students who came helped support them in difficult areas and helped the Year 9 students whenever they hit a bump. This would not have worked if it were not for the amazing and fantastic technicians at LSST who gathered all the material for the Year 9 students to use. The students are thoroughly looking forward to venturing to different primary schools in the future.
We are delighted to announce that we, The Priory Academy LSST, have achieved the School Games GOLD Mark Award for the 2021/22 academic year. The School Games Mark is a Government-led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward and recognise school’s engagement (provision and uptake) in the School Games against a national benchmark and to celebrate keeping young people active, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.
We are extremely proud of our students for their dedication to all aspects of physical activity and school sport, including those young volunteers, leaders and officials who made our events possible. We are committed to using the School Games to try and engage those young people who haven’t previously been active or represented our school and to try and ensure that all our students have a positive experience and want to try out new activities beyond school too in our community. We believe in the power of physical activity and school sport as a school and give opportunities to those young people that need it most either as a participant, leader, official or volunteer. As part of our application, we were asked to fulfil criteria in the areas linked to the five School Games outcomes and we are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year.
It’s official - The Priory Academy LSST is delivering high quality computing education and the digital skills young people will need for their future. The Priory Academy LSST has achieved the new national Computing Quality Mark, after evaluating its computing education and demonstrating high quality provision. The Priory Academy LSST completed the National Centre for Computing Education’s ground-breaking new programme, the Computing Quality Framework(CQF), which recognises excellence by awarding the Computing Quality Mark.
Mrs J Hopkinson, headteacher, said; “We are delighted to receive this award. It truly is a reflection of the hard work of staff in ensuring the curriculum in computing builds a solid foundation, with relevant life-long skills, in which all of our students can excel and have the confidence and courage to challenge themselves.”
Mr Donaldson, computing teacher, at The Priory Academy LSST, said; “This is a fantastic achievement which has been made possible through the hard work of all in the computing department to ensure that all students at the Academy know they are getting a high-quality computing education.”
The Priory Academy LSST completed all seven aspects of the CQF in order to receive The Computing Quality Mark, which recognises achievement in:
● Leadership and Vision
● Curriculum and Qualifications
● Teaching, Learning and Assessment
● Staff Development
● Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and SEND
● Careers Education
● Impact on Outcomes
Claire Garside, senior lead facilitator at the NCCE, said;
“Congratulations to The Priory Academy LSST, on becoming an National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) ‘Computing Quality Mark’ school! They’re among the schools leading the way to deliver high standards in computing education. The Computing Quality Mark recognises the quality of their provision to ensure all students receive the computing skills and knowledge so valuable for today and in their future careers.”
NCCE is funded by the Department for Education and supporting partners, to improve the provision of computing education in England. Since the NCCE’s establishment in 2018, it has engaged with 34,000 teachers from more than 19,000 schools in England, created the Teach Computing Curriculum which has seen half a million downloads of lessons. It has now added the CQF to its provision.
On the morning of 5th December, Year 7 had a visit from Fleur Hitchcock, a well-known author of murder mysteries for older children, as part of their Bookbuzz celebration. Her novel ‘Waiting for Murder’ was the second most popular choice among students from this year’s Bookbuzz shortlist. She talked about her creative inspirations - small details she notices about everyday life and her family relationships, as well as a childhood love of Batman comics. After Fleur’s talk in the hall, students spent the next hour doing creative activities based on their own choices of Bookbuzz titles and in groups of people who all chose the same book, joined by English teachers who had also been reading the shortlist. It was a fun event and inspired many students to do some writing and also to borrow Fleur’s books from the library – there is now a waiting list!
(Photograph courtesy of Lou Abercrombie, photographer.)
Zohra Ehsani, a current Year 10 student, has continued to impress since winning the International Journalist of the Year 2022 competition (run by 'The Day'). In July she joined The Day team at the ACT Citizenship Teaching Conference in London to share her experiences as a budding young journalist. She spoke with passion and maturity in front of an audience of citizenship teachers, and shared her thoughts about journalism in schools, including her views on our own Priory Press. Zohra had been invited to the conference as a result of her winning piece of journalism on 'The Silenced Women Under The Taliban', which was described by the judges as 'beautifully written' and 'very accomplished'. Well done, Zohra - a true example of someone who is making the most of every opportunity that is on offer to them!
To read the full article, please click this link: https://theday.co.uk/global-young-journalist-international-category-winner-zohra-impresses-at-the-act-conference/?utm_campaign=2192274_2022%20GYJA%20Newsletter%20Template&utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Day&dm_i=32K1,1AZKI,8KB1EM,53C3Y,1
This term saw the start of Polo Club for LSST students! Leadenham Polo Club have been working with our students and teaching them how to control their ponies, how to hold the mallet and how to hit the ball. Students started in walk but have now progressed to trot and the coach says they will soon be hitting the ball at a canter! The students have shown fantastic resilience whilst working on some tricky skills and are all showing fantastic progress. If your child would like to get involved please contact Miss Curtis by email on icurtis@prioryacademies.co.uk.