Lady Manners School

Eleven of our Equestrian Team represented Derbyshire at the NSEA County Show Jumping Championships at the weekend, in team and individual events. Our individual riders showed great skill and competitive spirit and ended the event with a very fine set of results in the individual events. Lauren Maycock achieved a placing just outside the top eight for the National Dressage Competition; Amelia Maycock was placed second in the 70cm class; Jess Sutton represented Derbyshire in the 1.10m Pony event and was placed sixth; and Molly Fletcher finished eighth in the Horse section of the 1.10m event. Well done to everyone for producing such strong performances. Our teams had some real successes, of which we are very proud indeed: We entered teams in the 80cm and 1m classes but the courses were as challenging as you would expect at this level, and our teams didn't quite manage a place on the podium for these events. Josh Blythe, Eve Slater-Codman, Jessie Elfleet-Ward and Lauren Maycock represented Derbyshire in the 90cm class. They finished with the same number of points as the team from Hampshire, only to be knocked into second place on a slightly slower combined time. This makes our 90cm team reserve champions, which earns them a place at the National Final in October. Amelia Maycock, Charlie Goddard, Amy Critchlow and Lilli Brocklehurst competed in the 70cm class, which involved 24 teams completing both outdoor and indoor courses. Our talented foursome won the event! Excitingly, this means that they gain entry to two further competitions: the National Final and also representing England against Scotland and Wales at the Nations Cup competition, both in October. Well done to all of you on this fantastic achievement! All of our riders, whatever their final placing, were complemented on their conduct and behaviour. We are very proud of them all, and also want to thank their parents for their tireless support.

The rugby season has ended with some tremendous successes for Lady Manners School Teams. All of our rugby teams made it to the County Finals and, following some false starts due to the recent snow, all the games have now been played. Our First XV and Year 8 teams have taken the runners-up positions in their County competitions. Most impressively, our Year 7, Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 (pictured) teams all clinched the final matches in their competitions and are all County Champions! Congratulations to all our rugby players – you've all played brilliantly!

The Parents' Association Car Boot Sale is running at school tomorrow, Sunday 22 April from 7.30am (7.00am for sellers) to 1.00pm. Refreshments will be available during the morning so, whether you are a buyer, a seller, or just a fan of cake, come along and join us for a morning of bargain hunting!

On Wednesday of this week our Year 7 Girls Sportshall Athletics team travelled to Derby University to compete against eight other schools in the School Sportshall Athletics County Finals. Over the past few months their Sixth Form manager, Izzy, has been working hard with the team, providing lunch time training sessions in order to prepare for the competition. During some amazing performances, our track athletes achieved 1st or 2nd place in every race. Equally impressively our field athletes took 1st place. The team swept the board and are now County Champions. More impressive still, the margin of victory was 31 points - which is almost unheard of in athletics. Izzy said: "I couldn't be prouder of what the girls have managed to achieve, they have all worked so hard and thoroughly deserved their win. It's been a pleasure to coach such a lovely group of girls!"

Our Equestrian Team is competing again this weekend: at the NSEA County Show Jumping Championships. Eleven riders from Lady Manners School have been awarded the honour of representing Derbyshire. They competed recently against several other local schools, and swept the board by winning all four of the team qualifications that were available at Beaver Hall recently - and all six of the individual qualifications! Good luck to all of our riders this weekend!