LACONiC newsletter@lacon-childe.org.uk Issue No. 21 22nd March 2019

Diary Dates

Dece March 26th Year 5 Taster Day/Evening 28th Deadline for Parent Governor nominations

April 3rd, 4th & 5th School Production 12th End of Term/Easter holiday 29th Start of Summer Term

Head’s lines

PARENT GOVERNOR VACANCIES - all Parents/Carers of Pupils Registered at Lacon Childe School PLEASE SEE THE INFORMATION SENT VIA PARENTMAIL FOR THE NOMINATION FORM OR CONTACT THE SCHOOL

OFFICE FOR DETAILS The school is looking to recruit three parent governors to sit on the Local Governing Body for Lacon Childe School. Being a governor is one of the most important forms of voluntary service that anyone can offer to do. It will provide the successful candidate with a unique opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of the children in our community. The post requires the following essential skills :

1. A commitment to improving education for all pupils 2. An ability to work in a team and take collective responsibility for decisions 3. A willingness to learn 4. A commitment to the school’s vision & ethos 5. Basic literacy, numeracy & IT skills

The school ideally would like people with an interest in looking at the ‘big picture’ of secondary education and the demands of

helping to shape the educational, life-long learning future of our students. Furthermore, we are looking for new governors to

participate in the work of the Finance and Premises Committee and the Standards, Curriculum and Personnel Committee.

You will be expected to attend meetings throughout the academic year, typically four full Governing Body Meetings and three Sub-

Committee Meetings. You would also be expected to prepare for meetings by reading paperwork prepared in advance. Finally, you

would be invited to link with an area of the school and carry out visits in order to support the relevant members of staff.

You will be supported by fellow governors and training is available if required. If you would like to know more feel free to contact the Headteacher via the school. So why not volunteer .... you may be surprised at the contribution you could make. Lacon Chlde School Governing Body

Archie McDonald won the £50 prize for getting

people to join up to the Lacon Lottery. Special

mention must also go to Evie Clinton who signed up 7

people and Owen Giess who managed to persuade

15 to join the lottery. We had nearly 100 new

entrants signing up for this year, which is fantastic.

There is still time for anyone else to join up and

support the school before the first draw next week.

Day 1

Sunday 10th March 10.30am - We all meet at Lacon Childe School and 32 pupils and 4 staff boarded the bus

heading for Birmingham Airport. Quickly through customs and into the departure lounge; the group were ready for

the short flight to Geneva. Arriving in Switzerland, we are met by James the Interski rep, before boarding the bus

for the trip to Aosta in northern Italy, which would be our home for the next 7 days. As bus journeys go, this one

passed by quickly; the excitement and a memorable trip through the 11km world famous Mount Blanc Tunnel

ensured the journey passed quickly. We arrived in Aosta and the group checked into the Hotel Roma, our home for

the next week. With such a late arrival, we were quickly led to a local pizza restaurant for a delightful evening meal.

The pizza kept coming: margarita, pepperoni, ham ….. what seemed like an endless supply. Well fuelled up and full

to the brim, the group returned to the Roma for what the teachers hoped would be an easy night and a group of

pupils who would sleep well in preparation for their first day on the slopes.

Day 2

Monday 11th March 6.30am - wake up call. Breakfast is ready and waiting. A short walk to ski fit and all pupils and

staff kitted out with their boots, skis and a helmet. Lift passes at the ready the first obstacle was getting up the

mountain. An 18-minute gondola ride up to 1800m.

Once up the mountain the groups were spilt and instructors were introduced. All but one group started on baby Pila,

an easy green run and a great place to find your snow legs. The instructors worked hard to ensure the individual

needs of each pupil were met. With the wide range of previous experience, it is not an easy task to get the groups all

to a standard ready to progress. Individuals learn and develop at different rates, but through hard work,

perseverance, resilience and determination, all the Lacon Childe pupils were making great progress. With a

temperature of -7 degrees and a wind-chill of -20 made the challenges all the more difficult. Then a white out as the

snow came down at the end of the day, which tested the resilience of the young people further. A challenging day on

the slopes ended at 3.30pm, tired and weary the group made their way back down the mountain. But, as with all the

Lacon ski trips, the day did not end there. A stroll through the beautiful city of Aosta to a fabulous ice cream parlor.

Lacon pupils tried hard to order in Italian and loved the creamy ice cream that was served up.

Day 3

Tuesday 12th March. 7.00am wake up call, a few sleepy heads as staff wake up pupils ready for breakfast. What a

difference a night makes, snow and freezing temperatures had been replaced by blue sky and sunshine. Down to ski

hire to collect boots and skis and up the mountain to meet the instructors. Icy slopes had been replaced by idyllic

powdery snow; the day was going to be sublime. A few of the children had become frustrated at the level of skiing on

baby Pila on Day 2, but the importance of embedding the basics and mastering simple techniques was paying off on

Day 3. All groups made their way to Baby Gorraz to develop these techniques on progressively more difficult slopes.

By the end of the day, all 5 groups had made their way to Grimod, this an amazing achievement for all the pupils.

Pupils always get up Grimod but, for all students to be on Grimod by lunch time of Day 2 was just phenomenal. Day 2

saw a few firsts for the week: the high flyers; the level 4 group skied their first black run and mastered the art of skiing

backwards. Lacon staff did brilliantly causing chaos on the chair lifts, and bowling people over on the slopes,

definitely must try harder for the staff. Probably the best day of skiing the group will ever have, superb weather and

excellent progress meant a lot of happy young people travelling back down the mountain. Back to the Roma for dinner

and for some of the group spa treatments, as face packs were applied and preening done ready for the apres ski -

bowling. An eventful night, scoring was limited with only three players breaking the 100-point mark. Congratulations

to Alexander scoring a massive 101 to be crowned junior champion 2019. The staff event was a close affair with it

coming down to the very last ball and Mr. Wood snatching a narrow victory over Mr. Alton.

Day 4

Wednesday 13th March. Up and at them; third day on the slopes. Tired legs, tired minds so the instructors had their

work cut out to motivate and energise the group but, with the sun once again shining bright, high above the mountains

- how could the groups fail to engage. The instructors were full of praise for all the pupils and the amazing progress

they had made over the previous two days but, Wednesday was movement day. Movement up the mountain;

movement from blue to red; movement from red to black and movement from group to group. Once again, the skiing

was fantastic. Parallel turns, carve turns, parallel stops, helicopter turns, pole planting and a little bit of freestyle. Once

again the progress was rapid, a little bit of off piste tree hugging and daredevils hanging on the edge of the piste but,

all made it safely to lunch. Time to refuel, pasta, soup or a burger depending which restaurant they were in. Over half

way through the skiing week and staff and instructors are amazed at the progress the young people have made with

grit and determination, they have demonstrated such fantastic progress in such a short space of time. Apres ski saw the

group head to a traditional Italian pizza restaurant. Again, the food just kept coming - 35 pizzas later it was time for

dessert, ice cream, but what flavour was it? Thank you Maisie for your input but we really cannot see salmon ice

cream taking off. Interesting fact of the day - if we were to place a rubber duck in the river in Aosta, how long would

it take for it to get to Vegas? Or was that Venice? Answers on a postcard to Scarlett. Question of the day came from

Sam, whilst watching the Liverpool game on TV - why are we having to watch it in Italian? Interski fact of the day -

where is the only non-hierarchical monarchy? Answers on a postcard to Mr. Alton.

Day 5

Thursday 14th March - another great day on the slopes. Breakfast was once again early and there were plenty of

tired faces, achy legs and glowing faces. Once again the sun was shining, the sky was clear and the slopes were

primed for The Lacon Childe 32. Eager to continue the amazing progress they had made in the first three days, the

group were keen to arrive at the slopes early in preparation for another day of ski development. Joined by the British

Ski Team, Lacon were keen not to be overshadowed by elite athletes. Hard work, commitment, dedication,

resilience and will power prevailed and it was not long before the Lacon groups found themselves at the top of the

mountain, 2705m above sea level. The amazing views, the strengthening winds and the fear of the journey back

down left the groups feeling amazed. The journey back down via black and red runs, skied with precision and poise,

traversing the steepest sections running free when the mountain allowed. All achieving above all expectations, Day

4 and already the Lacon ski team is a force to be reckoned with. Apres ski saw the group take to the pool hall. A few

sharks amongst the party led to an interesting tournament. The field of 37 was quickly whittled down to a thrilling

final -Will taking on Ben in a tense but enthralling final. Will running out the eventual winner after the game went

down to the black ball. Quote of the day, we did some great off reading today, thanks for that Etienne.

Day 6

Friday 15th March. Last day on the slopes. The adverse weather from the previous night, rain in the town but

significant snow on the mountain laid down the perfect foundations for the final day of skiing. The sun high in the sky

and temperatures pushing 10 degrees it was all set up to be the best day yet. With skills developed, practice was done

now the real test to put it all together on more challenging runs. All groups were applying their learning to the reds,

with most of the black runs closed due to the deluge of snow. On piste, off piste, jumps and helicopters the pupils all

took on the challenge and excelled. Slightly sticky under skis, this again challenged them and posed a new problem to

solve. Groups went in search of Narnia, with the fresh snow balancing on the branches of trees this certainly gave the

slopes a mythical feel. The instructors could not praise the efforts, application and progress the pupils had shown,

from non-skiers to competent and able, showing ability to straight line, turn, carve and most importantly stay safe.

Look out for Spring 2021 when Lacon Childe School will return to Aosta with a new group of budding skiers.

Pupil quotes

Loved the big half pipe, fast, fun, soon learned what to do - Tom G

Brilliant day but I spent most of the day with my face in the snow - Sam P

Lovely kids, easy going, willing to give things a go, - James Interski

A great group of kids, a credit to their parents, staff and their school, Alan ski instructor

5 words to describe the skiing; funny, quick, scary, fun, easy to pick up,

5 words to describe the ski trip; best, amazing, fantastic, enjoyable, extraordinary,

5 words to describe the apres ski; fun, exciting, interesting, different, cultural,

5 words to describe ski boots; tight, comfy, industrial, safe, strong,

DATE SPORT COMPETITION AGE GROUP

VENUE SCORE WIN/LOSE MVP/PLAYERS PLAYER

27th

Feb Football U15

Boys Bridgnorth Endowed

2-1 L

4th March

Basketball Friendly U15 Boys

William Brookes

18-21 L Robbie May

6th March

Netball District Tournament

U15 Girls

6th March

Rugby U15 Wyre Forest Cup

U15 Boys Stourport W Ollie Davies

6th

March Rugby

U15 Wyre

Forest Cup U15 Boys Bewdley W Archie Jones

7th

March Rugby

U14 County

Cup U14 Boys

Sir John

Talbots 27-12 W Matt Brunn

13th

March Netball U12 District U12 Girls L Annabel Barnes

14th

March Hockey U12 District

U12

Girls Lacon Childe 0-1 L

CLEE

74

MORTIMER

84

STRETTON

88

WREKIN

72

SPORT AND PE

FIXTURE RESULTS

HOUSE MATCHES

Once again many of our student have taken part in our Level 1 competitions between the four houses. It is great to

see a range of students giving different sports a go and challenging themselves to do their absolute best. A highlight

this term was the Sportsability house matches where students were invited to compete is Boccia and New Age

Curling.

Still to come this term

25th March - Table Tennis for all

1st April - Badminton Doubles

8th April - Rounders year 7

SCHOOL SPORT PARTNERSHIP So far this month we have hosted Tri Golf festivals where pupils competed in teams of 10 to score as many points as they could to

win the tournament and progress to School Games finals. Pupils took part in target games that not only tested their accuracy but

also their teamwork and some problem solving. Well done to Bayton, Cleobury Mortimer and Clee Hill primary schools who

qualified to the Regional Tri Golf competitions on the 10th May at Lacon Childe!

This term, Lacon Childe is hosting gymnastics Primary Outreach sessions for Farlow Primary School. On 6th March,

pupils had the opportunity to meet and participate with a British Olympic gymnast, Kristian Thomas. Kristian led a

very engaging session that helped pupils understand the physical demands of being a gymnast and also showed

some of his impressive skills! It was great to have Kristian motivate so many pupils and answer all their questions.

Our Year 8 student, Darcy, was also able to meet Kristian, share some of her current achievements and ask any

questions that will help her in her gymnastics career.

It’s been a busy month for our Community Sports Coaches. Lisa and Steve have been delivering a range of engaging activities such as rounders and orienteering to the primary schools. A special well done this month goes to Kristian from Bayton, who showed great sportsmanship and a lot of empathy to his teammate during a rounder’s game. He gave up scoring a rounder to make sure h is teammate was ok after accidentally being hit with a ball. Well done Kristian!

Well done to Lacon Childe pupils for raising

£784.49