The school has been awash with colour today as we joined in with Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day. Christmas Jumper Day was championed by the school's student-led Anti-Stigma Ambassadors group as a positive way of raising awareness of mental health issues as well as raising money for charity. Students paid a minimum of £1 to replace their blazers for the day with a Christmas jumper, and staff joined in with the fun too. There was a wonderful selection of jumpers on display – including some very sparkly jumpers that had been given the Christmas treatment by the addition of tinsel. Early indications are that over £700 has been raised for Save the Children and Mind. Excellent work by our Anti-Stigma Ambassadors!

A group of Year 7 Geographers braved the rain earlier this week to visit Bakewell Parish Church to create this year's Lady Manners School entry to the Church's Christmas Tree Festival. They have taken the opportunity to create a display that draws attention to the impact of the destruction of forests for palm oil production. The crowning glory of the tree is an orangutan-angel, crafted for our Geographers by the Textiles Department. This provides a reference to the fact that the deforestation threatens the species with extinction. Well done to the students, who have created a thought provoking and beautiful tree. The festival, which fills Bakewell Parish Church with trees decorated by dozens of local organisations, continues until Sunday 22 December so it's not too late to see our tree in all its glory. Opening times are 10am – 5pm (Mondays to Saturdays) and 12.30pm – 5pm (Sundays); there is a late night opening on Thursday 19 December until 7.30pm.

As part of the school's careers programme, Year 9 students yesterday had the second of two sessions meeting and working with staff from the Higher Education Progression Partnership (HEPP). HEPP is jointly funded by Sheffield Hallam University and The University of Sheffield to encourage more people to consider a range of higher education opportunities including apprenticeships, college courses and university. The time when they will have to choose their career path on leaving school is still a few years away for these students. However, choosing the right GCSEs can influence a student's career options. The sessions for our Year 9 students were designed to help them find out more about the career and social benefits of going to university. You can find out more from the HEPP website, www.hepp.ac.uk/resources/parents, which is full of information and videos about the latest developments in the various higher education options.

Students, staff, parents and friends of the school filled Bakewell Parish Church last night, for the school's traditional Christmas service of Nine Lessons and Carols. There was barely a spare pew in the church as our senior and junior choirs, this year with the wind band, were joined by our staff and student readers (one from each year group) to provide a wonderful service for the assembled congregation. The music and lessons were punctuated with favourite Christmas carols to enable everyone to join in. The service was thoroughly enjoyed by all and we would like to thank each of the students, whether they were reading a lesson clearly and confidently or adding to the fantastic music either as a soloist of as part of an ensemble. Together, they provided a wonderful evening and we are very proud of them all.

If you are going to the pantomime in Sheffield over the Christmas period, you may well see some of our students on the stage (oh, yes you will!). Phoebe BelI, Tillie Copley, Isabelle Somers, Daisy Wilson and Grace Wilson are students in Years 7 or 8 and are all part of the cast of Cinderella at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield. Having been successful in the auditions for their parts, they have since been rehearsing hard for this impressive show, which had its first night last Friday. Well done to Phoebe, Tillie, Isabelle, Daisy and Grace – what a fantastic experience for them all!