The School Year

Jared Borrill

Review of the 2020 – 21 Year by LGS Head Boy

The 2020-21 academic year has been one that will not be forgotten: 2020-21 saw three lockdowns with boys finally returning to face-to-face classes in March. Although the year was fragmented, the Loughborough Grammar School boys strived for success and achieved record results despite the academic disruption. Results Day saw an abundance of smiling faces belonging to parents, students and the staff members. School achievements included five Oxbridge offers and, on the musical side, two organ scholarships. These results are testament to the outstanding perseverance of the boys throughout uncertain times and the adoption of Microsoft Teams by teaching staff to deliver quality lessons online.

The exceptional work put in by the teachers has to be commended. I would like to personally extend thanks to all of the staff members that are moving on this year. Mr Byrne’s five years here at LGS drew to a close as he handed the baton to Dr Barnett, previous Whitgift Headmaster for 26 years. I am sure that the boys have benefitted from Mr Byrne’s wisdom and charisma, clearly evidenced in his engaging assemblies and in individual conversations with students around campus. Mr Byrne’s full spirited involvement in the Student Takeover Day assembly, when we were ‘kidnapped’ in a coup against our leadership, demonstrated his willingness to join in with the camaraderie. I wish Mr Byrne all the best and welcome Dr Barnett, as interim Head, into the Foundation.

Despite the restrictions placed upon us, with the help of staff we organised Founder’s Dinner and successfully ran, as it always has been, a great night for the boys. The catering team were yet again able to whisk-up an outstanding menu in the space of five days which was greatly appreciated. As I am sure many of you remember, Founder’s Dinner is the culmination of the LGS journey and this year it acted as a principal event after our altered assessments. Another key leavers’ event is the Leavers’ Musical. Unfortunately, this year’s show ‘Grease’ could not be brought to life because of the restrictions; however, we were able to complete the casting thanks to the considerable effort put in from the team of directors. Moreover, the Lower School delivered a fantastic production of Nigel Williams’ Lord of the Flies to an online audience in June and July of this year.

The Combined Cadet Force persevered by delivering content online and face-to-face when we returned to campus. Cadets applied themselves each week to a range of tasks which culminated in the display of expertise on Inspection Day - with the Royal Navy section convincingly winning the Gun Run competition.

This year, Grammar School cadets and staff unveiled a blue plaque at the birthplace of Johnnie Johnson (Class of 1933), RAF pilot who flew and fought during WW2. I would like to thank Major Murphy (Class of 1996) for his sustained effort as Contingent Commander over the last five years. The School now welcomes Major Ward as the incoming Commander.

On the side of sporting endeavours, there was a severe lack of competitive games due to the pandemic. That being said, Year 13 were able to play a game of touch rugby against Nottingham Trent in May, but the highlight was the Old Loughburians Cricket match in memory of Charlie Wood (Class of 2018). Over the summer months, the weather would not play ball which led to the postponement of many of the Saturday cricket games.

One thing that will be familiar to all LGS boys is the ‘School Captains’ board in the foyer of the Hodson Hall. The last board started in 1922 and ended with my predecessor’s name in 2019; hence, in 2020 I was in the fortuitous position of being the first name on an entirely new school board.

The Foundation has been the centre of not only my life, but also the lives of numerous other boys who have had the benefit of being schooled at LSF for the past fourteen years. To the ‘Class of 2021’: we have grown up together; laughed, cried and yelled together; and I hope that we will grow old together, maintaining the bonds forged over many years here at LGS. My life at LGS has been shaped by my fellow Loughburians, passionate and dedicated teachers and diligent support staff who have all been incredible and helped to nurture the boys to shape them into the men they are today. The opportunities afforded to us have prepared us well for the next stage of our lives. It has been an honour and a privilege to be the Head Boy of LGS for the 2020-21 academic year.

Hannah-Maria Mole

Review of the 2020 – 21 Year by LHS Head Girl

The academic year of 2020-2021 certainly looked rather different from other years, but the new challenges of navigating and adapting to a different way of life in the middle of a global pandemic have undoubtedly made it unforgettable. These hardships have tested both students and staff and have pushed everyone to their limit at times, but every hurdle has been faced with courage and perseverance.

Never have students been more keen to get back to school in September, free from the slog of online learning for good (or at least until January…). After spending the last summer term doing virtual lessons, everyone unanimously came to the conclusion that whilst learning online was a good substitute, especially with the outstanding efforts of our teachers to continue on with the curriculum whilst making the lessons engaging, it ultimately fell short of the real thing.

For many of us, it was also brought home what a privilege it is not only to go to such an amazing school, but to even go to school at all - made all the more poignant as girls in Afghanistan our age are now barred from accessing education at all.

Though back on the school site, the reality of COVID-19 still brought its own trials: masks, social distancing, the subsequent introduction of lateral flow testing and the separation of year groups and even forms from each other, with assemblies and clubs also becoming virtual. The loss of the valuable interactions between year groups was keenly felt.

However, whilst we missed all being squished together in the school hall, assemblies online also gave opportunities for new voices to be heard, with students speaking on voting, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘International Women’s Day’ and ‘A thousand girls, a thousand futures’, to name just a few.

The talent exhibited in performances for virtual house drama, music and dance was not affected by the challenge of the new medium, and some brilliant individuals still managed to blow everyone away. Whilst many of the usual school events were not possible, certain fixtures would have to go ahead no matter what, even if in a novel way: the Christmas Panto was at the top of the list of priorities, along with Tableaux of course.

Amazingly, although it wasn’t possible to invite guests and fellow students in to watch, Tableaux was realised through an ambitious but ultimately successful arrangement: it was all fitted into one day only, with a camera crew ready to film and photograph, whilst the Year 13 participants needed to manage their own costumes and make-up, as well as doing the scene-shifting, all whilst negotiating ‘bubbles’.

A definite highlight would have to be the non-school uniform days, where the pent-up energy from lockdown restrictions led to some epic outfits. It saw girls dressed as movie characters and styling themselves as superheroes, spanning from the Incredibles to celebrating the real -life superheroes of our healthcare system.

While every year group faced academic challenges in reviewing lockdown content, the Year 11s and Year 13s deserve a special mention for how they have faced the uncertainties of what exams could possibly look like, if they were to even go ahead… At times it felt like it was changing weekly! This past year has brought home to me what a special place LHS is and how I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to be my side through these uncertain times. I am so grateful for all that this school has given me and taught me, and it has been such a privilege to spend the last seven years alongside such an amazing group of girls.

A massive thank you to all the teachers who have gone above and beyond to look out for us and given us such amazing memories of our time at LHS. Good luck to everyone!

Amy Thompson

Review of the 2020 – 21 Year by LAS Head Prefect

Iam lucky enough to have both a historical and a present connection at Loughborough Amherst School as my Mum, Aunties and Uncles attended the schools within the Foundation and now my brothers, cousins and I are following in their footsteps- making it a very cherished place for my family.

However, the beginning of my journey at Loughborough Amherst School was diff erent to most. I started at the end of Year 8 just two days aft er my family and I had moved here from Australia.

Unfortunately, the change in climate was not all I had to get used to. Academically, I was a year and a half behind my peers, I had to break into established social groups and the netball team was full- so not the easiest of starts. However, the small class sizes and the dedicated teachers suited me perfectly and although the climate was a little chilly, a warm welcome was given to me by students and staff and I definitely knew that my journey ahead would not be a lonely one. 2020-2021, a year where face to face learning was replaced with Teams meetings and Zoom calls, whole school assemblies replaced with year group bubbles and smiling faces were covered by masks. But regardless, Amherst was doing what it has always done. Amherst was continuing to teach us how to live, learn and grow. Every day, students at Amherst are supported, encouraged, challenged, praised, corrected, enlightened, celebrated. This didn’t change – these acts continued because we are Amherst.

Every student should be extremely proud for not just surviving the past 15 months, but for smashing it out of the park as it has been a collected eff ort of hearts and minds that has meant Amherst remains a place of learning, growth and enrichment.

This year has been full of some amazing activities and events including our very successful HelloYellow day (showing our support for young people dealing with mental health challenges), reopening of sports clubs, lunchtime dance competitions, staff /student Christmas nativity, lockdown challenges, World Book Day, the Easter Lockdown Live concert, our annual Burton Services, sports days and many more. One of my personal favourites was our Year 13 Leavers’ Week - from jumping off inflatable obstacles at Rutland water, to our school sleepover and singing in the Chapel at 12am, to the unforgettable leavers’ meal.

I would like thank Dr Murphy for how he has steered Amherst over the past few months. He set our course and helped us believe we could continue to succeed. We really couldn’t have asked more of our Headmaster in such unprecedented times. And a massive thank you to all the teachers - this year we have truly learnt the importance of their guidance and support, perhaps before too easily taken for granted and undervalued.

I hope I speak for all students at Amherst, when I say that, in a year where many of our plans have been replaced with uncertainty, the spirit we have learned at Amherst off ers us reassurance in knowing that despite even the greatest challenges, we can go on to achieve great things and carve out our own path in an ever-changing world. I will be forever grateful to Amherst for shaping me into the confident, ambitious and resilient person I am becoming. I will miss the undeniable community spirit that radiates from our students, teachers and the Sisters and I am extremely grateful for my time spent at Amherst with an amazing group of friends and teachers.