Lawnswood Life - JULY 2014

LAWNSWOOD SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
JULY 2014
Welcome to the fifth edition of Lawnswood Life this academic year. In this issue, you will find news of achievements,
events and activities that enable our students to fulfil their learning at Lawnswood School.
In this final edition under my headship, I would like to record that it has been a privilege to work with such fantastic
students who are not only engaged with and focussed on their learning but also give time and energy to enrichment
activities. I am grateful to every member of staff: it is their dedication, hard work and unerring focus on the
achievement of excellence that supports our success. Equally, I thank my senior team for their commitment and
drive towards our shared goals. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to our Governors for their hard work,
dedication and support of our school.
Mr S G White Headteacher
LAWNSWOOD SPANISH EXCHANGE
Whilst most of you were enjoying two weeks of Easter sunshine and chocolate, Mrs Keene and Miss Atkins went to Santander on
the northern coast of Spain to become Spanish students. We went to visit a school in the Cantabria region, to observe Teaching
and Learning and to speak to the Spanish students about life at their school. We took letters to the students from some of our
Spanish classes and the Spanish pupils are writing their own letters in reply, as I write this
article!
Whilst at the school , IES Valle de Pielagos, we saw many lessons including one English
lesson involving students talking without notes about International Fair Trade
Organisations - their English skills were outstanding. We also spoke to Mario and Lorenzo in a
Food Technology class and they asked us questions for an hour about all manner of topics;
comparing football teams, school, food…they were very chatty and had a thirst for
knowledge. All students were very pleased to try out their English skills! Mario told us of
his hope to join the army when he leaves school and Lorenzo wants to become a mechanic
like his father.
Mario and Lorenzo
Two Gentlemen in the making!
Mrs Keene gave a presentation to the students about life in Yorkshire. We showed them pictures of The
Dales, the city, the Yorkshire coast and of course she did not forget to mention Leeds Rhinos ! The
students saw our uniform and they had fun trying on our blazer and our different ties. Most students had
never worn a tie before (definitely not for school) so it was a great novelty for them.
Nelly and Danna each took a tie home to show their parents. As you can see they were very pleased!
Students and staff there are really excited about the prospect of setting up an exchange with us for next
year so that you, as students, can experience the same generosity and kind hospitality that myself and Mrs
Andrea Magni was the first
Keene received. In return we would like to welcome the students from IES Valle de Pielagos to Lawnsto try on our uniform.
wood. We will be asking for students and their families, who will be in Years 10 - 12 next academic year,
if they would like to take part in the exchange.
FINALLY…we will be sending copies of this edition of Lawnswood Life to
our new partner school in Spain. We would like to take this opportunity to
thank the students and staff at the school for their generosity and kindness
during our visit and we look forward to meeting you all again next year.
¡Muchísimas gracias a todos y hasta muy
pronto!
Nelly and Dana.
FUNDRAISING
FOR BORNEO
As the departure for Borneo gets closer
and closer, our nine intrepid explorers up
the ante on their fundraising efforts. Ella
Vickers Strutt and James Turnbull hosted
a Borneo fundraising dinner in the Heart
Café in Headingley this month. They
served a vegetable Laksa Curry - a
traditional Malay influenced dish made up
of a variety of vegetables with a coconut
milk base. They served it with vermicelli
noodles and a dessert - Pisang Goring
(banana fritters with ice-cream)traditionally served all over Indonesia and
Malaysia. The evening raised over £600 as
well as introducing friends and family to
some of the culinary delights they will be
experiencing in Borneo.
Meanwhile Paige Dahl and Hayley
Colquhoun continue their daily assault on
Lawnswood by taking advantage of staff
and students who have a particular
weakness for all things sweet! They have
raised over £1000 through cake,
doughnut, bun and biscuit sales over the
past 12 months! Having recovered from
their marathon walk last term, Year 11
students Momo, Theo, Louis and Zoe are
currently hoping for some warm weather
and sunshine so that they can begin ice
cream sales at break outside the Diner.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a heat
wave!
In preparation for their visit Fran Smith is
aiming to add a touch of Lawnswood style
to Borneo by making dresses with the
textiles department to present to the
children who the students will be helping
during their time there.
Exciting news…the students had their
first outing as a whole group recently, not
over tea and cakes as you might expect,
but on a visit to the medical centre to
hold each other’s hands as they got their
first set of injections, in preparation for
the trip. The students will no doubt be
feeling like pin cushions over the next few
months as they go for a range of
immunisations from rabies, to typhoid,
cholera and Japanese encephalitis!
YEAR 9 SPEECH DAY
On Thursday 1 May 2014, Lawnswood School held its
very first Year 9 Speech Day. The Day was an
amazing success with ten brave, eloquent and well
informed students delivering speeches on a range of
topics close to their hearts. The event was judged by
Mr Greg Mulholland, MP for Leeds North West and
Mr Ian Rosser, Teacher of English. Alfie Bennett won
the competition, Evie Jones-Bishop came second and
Kit Lawless-Coombes and Taha Almasri shared joint
third place. Thanks to Mr Mulholland, who not only
judged the competition, but also presented the
Lawnswood Speech Day Trophy to Alfie Bennett.
Congratulations to all of the participants and a huge well done to the whole of
Year 9 for an excellent effort.
“I found the Year 9 Speech Day an enlightening experience with topics ranging from
vegetarianism to the use of mobile phones. Although we only heard eight speeches, there
was still a wide range of styles, subjects and techniques. Another great thing about the
event is that next year, hopefully, more people will join in as they now know how it works
and would like to make a speech next time. Overall it was a great event and I am looking
forward to next year”
By John Kempe Stanners
Y13 CHEMISTRY TRIP TO LEEDS UNIVERSITY
On Thursday 26 July ten of our Year 13 Chemistry students visited The University
of Leeds accompanied by Mr Lees and Dr La Pensee.
The day started with a short lecture from Dr Terry Kee, his topic was the cutting
edge research currently being carried out by the University’s Chemistry
Department. Students saw how research groups based in Leeds are helping
discover everything from the origins of life through to designing dresses which are
100% biodegradable.
The rest of the morning was spent in the undergraduate laboratories synthesising
benzocaine, a local anaesthetic. Our students were able to use degree level
techniques and equipment not available in school.
At lunchtime the students explored the University before returning to the
laboratories for the afternoon session. In the afternoon they analysed their
prepared samples using thin layer chromatography, Infra-Red spectroscopy and
melting point analysis to see how accurate they had been during the preparation.
Students and staff all enjoyed the day; it gave our students a valuable insight into
what life as an undergraduate chemistry student might entail!
Mr Nick Lees - Subject Leader of Science
Keep a look out for all of their fundraising
events over the next few months.
Good Luck to our nine adventurers!
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LAWNSWOOD LIFE - July 2014
EAL DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES
REFUGEE WEEK
Staff and students have been involved in several
activities over the past week to raise awareness
and funds for Refugees and Asylum Seekers.
Olivier Nkunzimana from RETAS, a local charity
that supports refugee and asylum seekers in
Leeds, came to speak to our Year 7 students.
His talk covered the facts about refugees, the negative portrayal of asylum seekers
and refugees in the media. He also looked at the positive impact refugees and
asylum seekers have on society. The students learnt about famous and influential
people, contributing to Britain, who are from a refugee background like Mo Farrah,
Marks of ‘Marks and Spencers’ and Einstein. Olivier talked about food and all the
different cuisines we now have in Britain.
All fundraising during Refugee Week went to
RETAS, who support some of our refugee students
and their families settling into Leeds by providing
advice, youth clubs, retraining and employment
guidance. Students sold buns, donated money to
wear football shirts from different countries in PE
and staff held an Indian lunch. A group of Year 8
students also held a biscuit sale and raised money
for Islamic Relief for Syria. Over £350 pounds was raised. Thank you to all the
parents, carers and staff who baked and helped out with special thanks to Mrs
Abdulaziz for her Kipsa and the Community Choir for their support with our
fundraising.
MEDIA PROJECT
Some of the Year 11 media students began a project with a group of pupils from
refugee backgrounds. The idea behind the project was that the students would
work together to make a film which would tell their stories and educate other
pupils at the school about the issues faced by refugees and the facts surrounding
seeking asylum.
The work took place over two terms and students met up at lunchtime to record
their stories, share ideas and create a film. The initial idea was an animation film
that used cut-out props and characters. As the project progressed with exam and
time constraints the cut-out animation was not possible so the students had to
rethink and create a different style film.
Students finally recorded one boy’s story and added other key information and
facts from the interviews. These were put to images and sound effects added to
create the final film which was premiered at film club and shown to the whole
school during a tutor period. It is insightful, powerful and had a massive impact on
the other students at the school. The film can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzrsGuvRalE
INTERNATIONAL WEEK - Year 7 Students visit Iveson Primary School
On Thursday 5th June, Prakash Limbu, Edita Stundziaite, Emtinan Abdul-Rahman and
Khalid Al-Gharbeh spent the morning at Iveson Primary School. As part of Iveson
School’s celebrations for International Week our pupils had been asked to come
and talk to pupils at the school about their home country.
Our students visited all the classes at Iveson and delivered their presentations
about their home country. Khalid shared a box of
dates and a game from Jordan whilst Prakash
spoke about his village in Nepal and taught students how to count to ten in Nepalese. Emtinan
spoke about Egypt and showed the children how
to play a popular game from her country. Finally
Edita had everyone singing in Lithuanian and
clapping their hands to a song she taught them.
This was a really successful visit as the pupils at
Iveson were able to hear first-hand about different countries and our students
gained a valuable experience and confidence.
Finally we would like to wish all our Muslim families best wishes for the
forthcoming EID celebrations.
LAWNSWOOD LIFE - July 2014
CARNEGIE BOOK
SHADOWING
Over the past few weeks a small number
of pupils mainly from Year 7 have enjoyed
meeting at lunch-time in the Library to
shadow the Carnegie Book Award.
Other pupils have been reading short
excerpts which have then inspired them
to read the full novel. This prestigious
national award normally begins with a
large list of nominated titles being
announced in November which is
gradually reduced to a shortlist of just
eight titles and this year included ‘Blood
Family’ by Anne Fine who has won twice
before so in this year of the World Cup
was perhaps going for the ‘hat-trick’.
During week beginning 16th June,
Lawnswood pupils were invited to vote in
the Library using the ballot box and these
were transferred to the
Carnegie Shadowing site
where many other schools
were monitoring their
own favourites. Our
pupils voted unanimously
for ‘The Bunker Diary’ by
Kevin Brooks which was
also the ultimate winner
voted by a panel of judges.
“The recent debate about gender bias and
children's books is wholly absent from our
CILIP Carnegie list, with all of the books
holding great appeal for both boys and girls placing fantastic storytelling at their heart.
Books that tackle dark themes, such as
kidnap, war and orphaned children, but which
do so with humanity, sensitivity and, in places,
lyricism. The result is some fantastically
gripping and moving stories, of outstanding
quality.”
Helen Thompson
YEAR 8 PUZZLE DAY
Wednesday 9 July saw all of our new Year
8 students taking part in a morning of
puzzle solving. Students encountered a
beguiling array of 3D, logic and mind
bending puzzles to solve as well as being
introduced to the one sided wonder that
is the Mobius strip.
Give this
brain
teaser a
try to
keep the
brain
warmed
up !
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YEAR 9 TEXTILE
PROJECT
Lawnswood was selected to participate in
a pilot project for the Prince’s Foundation
and Sky Academy. A group of Year 9
textiles pupils took part in a four week
creative project to develop their personal
creative skills through group work and
problem solving whilst working with a
local artist. Lawnswood was partnered
with Cez from Antiform based in Leeds
(Antiform specialise in creating
sustainable textiles and fashion from
reclaimed materials ) .
Students were initially asked to think of a
list of words they associate with
'sustainability'. The words were then
printed onto acetate and during the
sessions they
stitched
a
collage
of
packets,
wrappers etc
behind
the
words
to
decorate
them.
The
final step was
to produce a
list
of
con n e ct i v es
so that the initial words could be made
into
sentences to attach onto the
background canvas using velcro.
A LEVEL TEXTILES
RECEIVES HIGH
PRAISE
The A Level textiles work was recently
moderated in school by a representative
from the exam board who praised the
high standard of work produced by
Lawnswood students.
She also requested
that students’ work
could be taken to be
used as example
material by the
board over the next
year. High praise
indeed!
MATHS DAY AT LEEDS UNIVERSITY
A Group of Year 10 pupils
attended a day at Leeds University
to explore mathematics. They
attended a presentation on what
mathematics was like to study at
University. They were entertained
by a speaker who debated
whether maths was discovered or
invented to serve a purpose. They
took part in practical workshops
that involved problem solving or
maths in real life. The pupils represented Lawnswood well and it was so nice to
see their enthusiasm and enjoyment of the subject.
Lawnswood: A school with an International Dimension
Lawnswood School now has Intermediate Interna#onal School Status. This was
recently awarded by the Brish Council thanks to our numerous internaonal
projects. We have links with schools in France and Spain and we have a
programme of projects that students can parcipate in. We are delighted to be
linked with IES Valle de Pielagos in Santander and Lawnswood students have
already worked on collaborave class projects with their students. In order to
develop our partnership there will be exchange visits taking place with the school
and we encourage our students to get involved in such opportunies. Exchanges
of this nature provide a great cultural experience as well as offering students the
opportunity to improve their language skills.
Our students taking part in these iniaves are becoming more aware of wide
ranging global themes from identy and belonging to rights and responsibilies.
Cross curricular projects between departments are also available for our students:
cooking French and Spanish cuisine is a parcular favourite amongst the pupils!
As for staff, over the next two years 19 members of staff will be vising Rouen and
Santander to further develop their own teaching and add an internaonal
dimension to their specialist areas. Now that we have Internaonal School Status
we will be able to access addional funding from the Brish Council to set up
further projects involving more students. The projects will take the form of a class
project, exchange project with a class abroad or even an exchange visit!
TURING CRYPTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
Although unknown to many we have a band of expert code breakers among our
midst. These sharp young minds took part in this years Turing Cryptography
competition where they tested against six mind bogglingly tough codes. The teams
had to crack a crossword cipher, a light code based on binary, and a musical code
based on the numbers channels used in WW1 and WW2.
Two Lawnswood teams, the ‘Superior Beings’ (Owen Spafford, Will Walker,
Shabrina Warastri and Nell Fabian-Kolpanowicz) and the modestly named team
‘The Geniuses’ (Ruby Cooke, Anna Clift, Kashaf Rehman and Kyra Proudfoot),
successfully deciphered all six codes. A huge congratulations to these two teams
who placed 41st and 48th respectively out of the 600 plus teams who entered
the competition.
Maybe the teams next challenge should be to look at the still unsolved and very
mysterious Dorabella Cipher. It was written by the composer Edward Elgar to
his good friend Dora Penny and despite many attempts no one, as yet, has
proposed a sensible solution. It is shown below if you want to give it a go!
Well done to all
A Level textiles
students. I can't wait
to see what next
year's students produce!
Mrs C Tweedy - Subject Leader Textiles
Photographs: Aminah Hamzaoui (Jacket)
and Fran Smith (stool)
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LAWNSWOOD LIFE - July 2014
“KILLER POINTS” PICK THE PRIZE!
Lawnswood’s debating society was proud to take part in the first
Headingley Festival of Ideas in a debating competition hosted by Leeds
Salon and Debating Matters in tandem.
On the evening of May 19th, Lawnswood’s year 10 teams faced praiseworthy
competition from Cardinal Heenan and Abbey Grange at Heart Café in
Headingley. Gerda Luht and Sam Cammegh proposed the motion that “Behaviour
change is the best route to sustainability” with confidence and style. Sam’s
dramatization of our unsustainable lifestyle and apocalyptic future alongside his
compelling use of hyperbole entertained the audience throughout, earning laughs
and numerous complements from the judges, whilst Gerda created a strong
argument for belief in people and their power to create a better world with her
astute assimilation of supply-and-demand theory and consumer power.
Aneurin Evans and Ellis Napier opposed the motion that “Allowing the use of
performance-enhancing drugs will not undermine the spirit of sport.” Aneurin and
Ellis delivered detailed and convincing opening statements followed by
quick-witted and analytical responses to the demanding questioning from judges
and the audience. The judges remarked on their skilled ability to uncover flaws in
their opponents’ arguments succinctly and confidently, raising the standard of the
debate. A member of the Headingley community present in the audience
remarked, “They have been absolutely fantastic.”
Ellis Napier won the prestigious individual prize for best speaker because of his
so-named “killer points”. During his debate and as a member of the audience, Ellis
was able to pile on the pressure, exposing weaknesses in others’ arguments with
concise and perceptive questioning. One judge commented, “Ellis did a brilliant job
of selling his arguments and putting in some killer points.”
Once again, we have reason to be proud of our fantastic students at Lawnswood
and their debating achievements and we look forward to the next competition!
TOUR DE FRANCE
Tour(de)ism !
The Geography department took all Year
11 GCSE geography students on four
separate one day fieldtrips to Malham,
Yorkshire Dales National Park, to
investigate the positive and negative
impacts of tourism in the week leading up
to the Grand Dèpart.
Each day we travelled up various parts of
Stage 1 of The Tour de France route,
through Yorkshire, watching as ever more
creative bunting and viewing platforms
appeared. In Malham we took in the
honeypot site, Malham Cove - even being
treated to sightings of peregrine falcons
nesting on the sheer face of the 260ft high
cove, courtesy of the RSPB. Year 11
students were then assessed as they
carried out land use, footfall and
environmental quality surveys and
questionnaires for their GCSE geography
controlled assessments. Several tourists
went out of their way to comment on the
“exemplary politeness and maturity” of
students interviewing them. With varied
weather during the trip, students were
able to comment on different weather
conditions. Fieldwork skills are the
essence of geographical enquiry and allow
students to develop their understanding of
the world in action.
Mr Macnamara, Miss Shaw and Miss
Blinkhorn wish to thank staff for their
support and students for their positive
attitudes in representing the school
outside the classroom.
In the future we hope to offer a once in a
lifetime opportunity for GCSE and A level
geographers to visit Iceland’s glaciers and
volcanoes next Easter……… watch this
space and particularly the school website.
IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
RESULTS DAYS GCE - Thursday 14 August 2014 – A2 - 8.30am -12.30pm
AS -10.00am -12.00 noon
GCSE - Thursday 21 August 2014
AUTUMN TERM Tuesday 2 September - Friday 24 October 2014 and
Monday 3 November - Friday 19 December 2014
SPRING TERM Monday 5 January to Friday 13 February 2015 and
Tuesday 24 February to Thursday 2 April 2015
SUMMER TERM Monday 20 April to Friday 22 May 2015 and
Monday 1 June to Friday 17 July 2015
TRAINING DAYS Monday 1 September 2014
Monday 29 September2014
LAWNSWOOD LIFE - July 2014
Monday 23 February 2015
Monday 20 July 2015
Tuesday 21 July 2015
Thank you for your continued support!
Once again you've been amazing at
collecting Sainsbury's Active Kids
Vouchers 2014. We have nearly 3000
vouchers and we're going to bank them
this year and get larger items next year. So
hopefully the food rooms will gain
blenders and mixers which require higher
amounts of vouchers. Your help really
does make a difference and it's really
appreciated.
5
ENGLAND
BADMINTON STAR
Jessica Pugh (Year 12) is a member of
the England Badminton squad and gave an
impressive performance in the recent
under 17 European Championships. We
are really proud and happy that she did
not only help England win a silver medal in
the team event by winning all her matches,
in the individual event Jess also became
Mixed Doubles European Champion
winning gold with her partner Ben Lane.
Jess and her ladies doubles partner just
missed the chance to take gold by closest
of margins, losing 21.17. 19. 21. 22. 24 !!
Nevertheless, winning two silvers and one
gold is a fantastic achievement and shows
world class potential.
Jess has now been selected to take up the
offer of a place, training at the National
Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes and
train with the Senior GB and England
players. Congratulations Jessica.
FIVE YEARS OF MATHS
WITH MR MORRISSEY !
Year 11 maths
set 1 were celebrating
the completion of five
years of maths with
Mr Morrissey, with this
edible calculator cake
complete with edible
stationery and graph paper base!
We look forward to even more
celebrations in August when the maths
GCSE results come through.
POLITICS MATTERS
Can you find a link between Politics and Food ?
On Wednesday 11 June Year 10 Pupils attended the Politics Matters Event at
Leeds Met University. As well as learning about how politics affects all areas of
our daily lives, pupils were given an opportunity to design their own political
party, develop their key policies and take part in a Referendum on Faith Schools
being appropriate as centres of learning. The pupils worked with local councillor
Alex Sobel to create ‘The Union of the People’ and their strong policies on
careers education, cutting defence spending to improve healthcare and reducing
the strain on law and order by legalising cannabis.
Despite stiff competition from Roundhay School, Cardinal Heenan, Mount St
Mary’s and Boston Spa, the judges were most impressed with the policies,
delivery and summation of Lawnswood’s Union of the People which led to our
victory.
Our thanks goes out to Roundhay and Cardinal Heenan High Schools who
organised the event.
LAWNSWOOD TEXTILES
DEPT TRAINING TEACHERS
Lawnswood textiles department recently
played host to several trainee teachers
from Bradford University who are training
to teach food and textiles technology. Mrs
Tweedy delivered a day long seminar to
the group on how to deliver the new
design technology textiles curriculum to
students, including practical sessions on
use of the sewing machine, heat press and
sublimation
printer. All
the trainee
teachers
t h orou gh ly
enjoyed the
session and
stated they
would be much more confident about
delivering textiles to their classes in
September.
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Politicians of the future
Ellis Napier, Aneurin Evans, Sam Cammegh, Billy Davies, Eneko Johnson-Legaria,
Luke McGurn, Priscilla Dumenu, Itunu Oyelade, Holly Sullivan and Phoebe Hall.
SUMMER CONCERT 2014
On Wednesday 16 July the performing arts department will be
hosting the annual Summer Concert. Formerly known as
Summer Fever, the show will be hosted by two spectacular
personalities and will be bursting at the seams with
Lawnswood talent from the worlds of dance, drama and
music. We have some incredible acts in rehearsal and the evening promises to be
a success. Friends of Lawnswood will be providing pop and crisps and tickets are
available from student reception for £2.00. The evening starts at 7.00pm and will
finish no later than 8.30pm.
LAWNSWOOD LIFE - July 2014
YEAR 8 ANIMAL HAT PROJECT
The animal hat project in Year 8
Textiles continues to be a success
as shown by the photographs of
students proudly wearing their hats.
A key element of the project is the
properties and characteristics of the
fabric, polyester fleece which is used
to construct the hats. Did you know
that polyester fleece can be made
from recycling plastic bottles?
Bottles made of PET are recycled to
reuse the material out of which they are
made and to reduce the amount of waste
going to landfill. In many countries, PET
plastics are coded with the code number
"1" inside the universal recycling symbol,
usually located on the bottom of the
container. PET is the main material to
make recycled polyesters.
FINAL DELIGHT FOR LAWNSWOOD
Remy Grierson scored a brace of tries and put in a ‘Man of the Match’
performance to snatch the cup final in the dying minutes. Lawnswood found
themselves with a 20-6 deficit with 15 minutes remaining, but produced a stunning
comeback to ensure silverware returned home with the men from West Park.
Lawnswood, led out by Josh Carpenter, showed their intent from the start with
ferocious defence forcing several turnovers in the opposition 20. Royds’s goal-line
defence was something special, repelling everything Lawnswood threw at them.
After Royds’s two quick-fire tries Lawnswood looked shell shocked and knew that
they would have to dig deeper if they were to stay in touch. Forcing a mistake, the
ball was spread wide to Remy Grierson who, skinned his winger on the outside to
score under the posts. This was just the tonic required, but as in the previous
game with the year 9s, they conceded on the stroke of half time courtesy of a huge
overlap on the left.
Half time Lawnswood 6-16 Royds
A rousing half time team talk seemed to spark Lawnswood into life as they came
out firing in defence. Once again they were left to rue missed opportunities as
Royds scored. Some might have believed Lawnswood had lost their heads as they
were left frustrated on the wrong side of a penalty count by the referee, but this
seemed to give them more belief. A fantastic break by Tom Coxon showing his
power to beat the cover defence brought Lawnswood back and four minutes later
George Srisawang broke through to score close to the posts. With four minutes
left Lawnswood, were looking at the most narrow of defeats. We received a
penalty for a high tackle and good ball retention got them inside the Royds 20
metre line. Remy Grierson showed great pace and power to squeeze over in the
corner and send the fans into ecstasy. Binder’s touchline conversion put some
breathing space between to two teams.
Lawnswood’s great goal-line defence, courage and determination ensured they
survived until the final whistle. Lawnswood has certainly got to target next year’s
final which will be held at Headingley Stadium.
FINAL SCORE - Lawnswood 24-20 Royds
YEAR 8
CELEBRATE THE
SOLSTICE
SHAKESPEAREAN
STYLE
A Year 8 English group has worked
tirelessly to rehearse, perform and film
their own version of Shakespeare’s
celebrated
summer
spectacle,
A
Midsummer Night’s Dream.
From script to stage, the students have
been involved in every part of the creative
process.
Once
provided
with
Lawnswood’s abridged script, courtesy of
the English department, auditions were
held where students gave outstanding
performances of their character of choice.
Even at this early stage, dauntless students
had already memorised extensive excerpts
of Shakespearean script! The class then
gave constructive feedback to each
participant and voted on who would play
each part. With over twenty speaking
parts to go around, everyone had a
valuable part to play.
When rehearsals began in earnest, those
less dramatically inclined were set to work
as directors with a group of actors where
the students showed real flair, imagination
and resourcefulness in staging and
directing. After just two hours of rehearsal
and a frantic gathering of costume and
props, the filming began (to see the film,
watch this space).
What the students had to say:
“It was really interesting to design our
own costumes and actually act out the
whole play. I’m looking forward to seeing
the video!”
“I understand the play much better now
that we’ve acted it out.”
We look forward to next year when we
shall be studying and performing The
Merchant of Venice in Year 9.
Miss Lauren Ricketts
LAWNSWOOD YEAR 9 RUGBY
Lawnswood falls just short !
Lawnswood School 12-27 Corpus Christi
A spirited performance by Lawnswood Year 9s
was not enough to stop them from slipping to a
27-12 defeat at the hands of Corpus Christi.
Half time Lawnswood 6-16 Corpus Christi
LAWNSWOOD LIFE - July 2014
7
CHESS
@
LAWNSWOOD
YEAR 11 LEAVERS’ BALL 2014
Friday 20 June 2014
Weetwood Hall
It was a glorious sunny
evening at Weetwood Hall for the
Year11 Leavers’ Ball. Foxwood Steel,
including Miss Shaw, playing the steel
pans was the perfect accompaniment
as the Year 11s arrived in their limos
or vintage cars for their “prom”. All
136 students and over 40 staff were
looking fabulous in their sharp suits
and beautiful gowns.
Last term over 20 pupils took part in the
Lawnswood chess competition. The
competition saw pupils from Year 7 up to
Year 12 battling it out every lunch time to
see who would become Lawnswood
champion. The tension was palpable as
pawns were killed, queens were murdered
and the call of ‘check’ rang out around
S35.
After five weeks of competition the KS4
champion and overall winner was Jun Gao
with an impressive 19 points (out of a
possible 21 points). Close on his heels was
our KS3 champion, Owen Spafford, who
finished with 18 points. Following his
school success Owen has gone on to
compete in the North Yorkshire
mega-final where, again, he put up a
sterling performance winning the 12 year
olds category and being crowned
‘supremo’ in the age group. This victory
has secured him a place to go through to
the excitingly named Giga final later in
July.
Congratulations and good luck, Owen!
Ausn Jones, Josh Fa1orini, Ellis Allen and Dylan Muscro5 looking
great in their sharp suits at the Leavers’Ball.
Dinner was served, during which voting took place
for King and Queen. Arbaab Hussain and Mia
Dunsford were voted our 2014 Prom King and
Queen. Then it was down to the serious matter of
partying, with both students and staff taking to the
dance floor to “bust some moves!”. The
photographer provided the perfect pictures and
the surprise photo booth gave everyone a giggle!
FRENCH THEATRE
TRIP
8
The evening was a real success and this is definitely
down to the students’ exemplary behaviour and the
staff’s involvement in the evening.
Thank you to everyone who attended and made
this such a wonderful success.
Annette Windle –Year 11 Manager
Newsle1er design and format by Carol Marshall
This term students were treated to a visit
to a French theatre production at Leeds
Civic Hall. The Year 7 pupils enjoyed a
variety of sketches being performed
including le Grand Départ, a French
holiday and Anglo-French relations
amongst other things. The students, as
always, were great ambassadors for
Lawnswood School and behaved
impeccably throughout their visit. This half
term all French students in Years 8 and 9
will be studying le Grand Départ as part of
the schools celebration of the Tour de
France coming to Yorkshire. During the
topic they will create a brochure for
French tourists coming to our region. This
will include information on where to go,
what there is to do on the Tour route and
give star ratings in French for each of the
attractions on offer.
Prom King and Queen Arbaab and Mia
LAWNSWOOD LIFE - July 2014