Today marked the end of the Spring Term, and was a particularly special day as we said goodbye to our Headteacher, Mr Meikle. Mr Meikle joined Lady Manners School 13 years and one term ago and, during his time here, has overseen many developments at the school. He has laid a firm foundation on which the school can continue to build. The Summer Term starts on Monday 29 April, when we look forward to welcoming our students – and new Headteacher, Mr Peat – back to school.

The rugby season concluded yesterday for us with an amazing afternoon of competition. A great turnout of supporters cheered our teams as we have hosted the county finals here at Lady Manners School over the last few days. Some great rugby was played with the following results: • U12 won 40-5 against Ecclesbourne School; 20-15 against Highfields School and 25-10 against QEGS (theirs was a round robin tournament) • U13 won 25-0 against QEGS and 45-0 against Highfields School (in a round robin tournament) • U14 won 30-14 against QEGS • U15 won 53-0 against QEGS • U16 lost 21-5 to QEGS • 1st XV won 22-12 against QEGS This means that Lady Manners School Rugby Teams are county champions in five of the six year groups! Particular mention should go to our 1st XV team, who have played 14 matches this season, winning 11 of them, which is a fantastic achievement. They also reached the last eight of the national NatWest Bowl competition. The win last night was a fitting conclusion for our Year 13 rugby players, in their last ever match for the school. Very well done to all of our players and staff! We would also like to take this opportunity to thank parents for their continued support of rugby at the school.

Wow! Many of you will know that we are fundraising to enable us to refurbish one of our science laboratories. We can announce that https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ladymanners - our JustGiving page (one of the fundraising initiatives for this project) - has just topped £1,000! Thank you so much to those who have donated using this method – you have moved us closer to our goal of refurbishing the lab to enhance our students' science education. We are very grateful to the Parents' Association of Lady Manners School, who have already committed £10,000 to the scheme. They were hard at work at last night's concert, selling refreshments and running the raffle, which will all help us to achieve the total we need to complete the work. News will follow of other initiatives to raise money for this excellent initiative.

Thank you to all of our musicians who performed so beautifully at last night's Easter Concert. The students gave the audience a real treat during an evening that was packed with talent and wonderful music. It really was an evening to remember. The students and music staff were amazing and we are proud of them all.

This week it was the turn of our Year 8 Netball players to take advantage of a Loughborough Lightning Match Day Experience at Loughborough University Netball Centre. The event included a tour of Loughborough University campus and an exclusive coaching session with a Loughborough Lightning Coach. At the end of the day, the lucky students had courtside seats as they acted as ball girls for the Loughborough Lightning match against Surrey Storm in a VNSL fixture, which was televised on Sky Sports! A great day was had by all, and meeting Loughborough Lightning's Goal Shooter was the icing on the cake!