Lady Manners School

Two of our Sixth Form students had a pre-exam treat last month when they were guests at Buckingham Palace to collect their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Lily Carson and Sarah Burton both worked for three years with Youlgrave Duke of Edinburgh Group to complete the gruelling set of requirements to achieve first their Bronze Award, followed by the Silver and lastly the Gold Award. Each award requires a series of sections to be completed: volunteering, physical, skills and an expedition. At Gold Award level there is an additional residential section. In order to complete all of the sections necessary for her Gold Award, Sarah developed her dressmaking skills, volunteered for Cancer Research and became an active member of a local gym. She spent her residential on a narrow boat in London where she gained her Community Boat Leadership Award, which was a highlight of the whole experience for Sarah. Lily took up needlework, developed her horse-riding and volunteered with her local Brownie group, gaining her Adult Girl Guiding Leadership qualification along the way. For the residential element of her award, Lily spent a week sailing in Plymouth, gaining her RYA competent crew award in the process. Both Lily and Sarah explored the Lake District for four days and three nights – one of which was spent wild camping – for their expedition. This is a tremendous achievement and has required much work and determination. Both Lily and Sarah have gained qualifications and so much more along the way, whilst keeping on top of their school work too! Many congratulations to you both – we are very proud of you.

We have an Equestrian Team update from this weekend. This hard working team travelled to Beaver Hall near Leek to compete in the JWS Qualifier for the 2018 Keysoe NSEA Championships. Six teams (14 riders including two who made their debut appearances for the school) represented Lady Manners School. It was a competition of mixed fortunes for our riders, including a couple of 'unplanned dismounts' which are a hazard of the sport! Everyone bounced back and the team finished the day with some rather impressive results. We had one team in the 70cm class. In a spectacular effort, they emerged winners of the class despite one elimination. In addition, Lilli won the class adding an individual qualification to the team's overall qualification to the NSEA National Championships. We had three teams competing in the 80cm class. Some 'thrills and spills' in this class resulted in our teams being placed fifth, fourth and the second place title and, with it, a place at the National Championships. Kitty had a particularly stylish clear round, claiming the individual top spot and an individual place at the National Championships. The 90cm class included two Lady Manners School teams. One of our teams, took a hard-earned second place and another National Championships qualification. Jess rode as an individual in both the 1m and 1.1m classes. She rode brilliantly, collecting a first place (and individual qualification) in the 1m class, and a third place in the 1.1m class. There are more competitions coming up in the equestrian calendar, so more news will be forthcoming. In the meantime, many congratulations to this weekend's riders for a very successful outing.

Earlier this week, our Boccia Team competed against other Derbyshire Schools at the County Boccia Finals at Derby University. Boccia is a Paralympic sport, which can be played by both able bodied and disabled athletes. Leather-like balls are thrown to land as close as possible to the target ball (the Jack). Our team of four played very well and achieved third place in a close run competition in which only 1 point separated the first, second and third placed teams. Well done to our Boccia Team!

We are looking for a School Business Assistant to join our team, here at Lady Manners School. If you'd like to know more, please visit www.ladymanners.net/vacancies for further details. The closing date and time for applications is 9.00am on 9 July 2018.

Year 7 students have beaten school fundraising records by raising an astonishing £4,503 for Lepra. The students took part in an extremely varied set of activities in order to raise money, both in school and at home. From cake sales (which the staff enjoyed very much!) to gardening; from selling home-made lemonade to dog walking; and from trampolining to completing a triathlon, the students pulled out all the stops to raise funds for this very good cause. The students and their Head of Year presented a cheque to Julie Wood, Regional Manager for Lepra earlier this week. This is an especially impressive feat for our smallest year group. Well done to all of you – your hard work has made a big difference to many people.