Headteacher's blog

Saturday 3 May 2025 Condover Hall Sports Tour Weekend Just before the Easter holiday, some of our Year 8 pupils had the opportunity to take part in a sport residential weekend at Condover Hall. Mr Mayne, Mr Westwood, Mrs Gleeson and Miss Yates took 25 pupils to Shropshire to take part in football and netball tournaments, where our pupils represented the school with outstanding sportsmanship and determination throughout the whole weekend. Schools from south London, Yorkshire, Cardiff, Merseyside and Bristol attended the event, making all the matches highly competitive. The trip was packed with competitive matches, team-building activities, and plenty of excitement. Both our netball and football teams showcased their skills, resilience and teamwork, making us incredibly proud. Netball Success Our Year 8 netball team delivered a strong performance, securing the Plate Winner’s title. The team played seven matches, winning three, demonstrating great progress and teamwork over the tournament. A special mention goes to Rosie, who was n

Friday 2 May 2025 Careers: Opportunity with South Staffs Water This is the third year of South Staffs Water’s Young Innovators’ Panel - an exciting opportunity for Sixth Formers to get involved in the running of one of the largest businesses in our region. Students will gain valuable work experience, working closely with senior executives at South Staffs Water to bring their views as young adults into the company’s decision-making process for the future.

Friday 2 May 2025 Easter bonnets! At Longdon, the pupils made outstanding Easter bonnets and took part in an exciting Easter Egg Hunt organised by The Friends of LCS!

Thursday 1 May 2025 A lesson in confidence When parents of prospective pupils come to see me, they often ask how the school instils such confidence in its pupils. This question often arises from the tour of the school conducted by current pupils who have successfully displayed a friendly personable maturity without tipping over into an unattractive arrogance. Indeed, only this week I have been commended on a tour taken by some prospective parents – Emily and Oliver, huge thanks to you! Of course, it’s not just prospective parents who meet our pupils. Throughout the year our pupils will meet all sorts of visitors to school: alumni, dignitaries, VIPs and other children. I am always impressed with the courtesy, good nature and assurance that characterises the LCS pupil and it starts young - our Longdon pupils are often commended for their interactions with our visitors, too.

Wednesday 30 April 2025 Chorister news The Cathedral Choir performed an evening concert at the Holy Trinity Church, Sutton Coldfield just before the Easter holiday, under the direction of Mr Lamb and accompanied on the organ by Mr Rawles.

Monday 28 April 2025 Easter celebrations The Choristers and Choral Scholars of Lichfield Cathedral Choir worked hard during the holiday with multiple rehearsals for the many services commemorating Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Day.

Wednesday 16 April 2025 Supporting Mental Health in Schools Children who are in good mental health can learn more effectively, are equipped to deal with the challenges of daily life, and grow into young adults who are resilient and capable.

Wednesday 16 April 2025 Lichfield Cathedral: A Timeless Treasure of Gothic Architecture and History

Friday 11 April 2025 National Public Speaking competition triumph! We are delighted to announce that both LCS entrants - Zephan and Isla (both Year 12) - won awards at the ISA Public Speaking Competition recently (pictured above with Mr Bryant, Head of English).

Thursday 10 April 2025 Premiere performance of new music Deputy Head Chorister Laurie H (Year 8) attended Compline recently to hear his composition Omnia Tempus Habent (There is a Time for Everything) performed for the first time by the Cathedral Choral Scholars.

Wednesday 9 April 2025 Inspirational speaker captivates Year 3 A unique and inspirational speaker of German origin recently captivated a Year 3 audience with a heartfelt online presentation on World War II, offering insights from both the British and German perspectives. Having a background steeped in personal Second World War experience, expert Mark McKenzie shared stories that highlighted the human experiences behind the conflict, emphasizing themes of resilience, understanding and reconciliation.

Tuesday 8 April 2025 Year 3 fundraising success! We are thrilled to announce that our amazing Year 3 pupils have raised an incredible £831.96 for the Children's Air Ambulance from donations from all Longdon pupils.

Monday 7 April 2025 Congratulations William! We are delighted to share the news with you that William S (Year 10) recently achieved his half black belt in Tae Kwon Do, having started training with his father aged five, when Mr ShenSmith taught an afterschool club at the Palace.

Saturday 5 April 2025 Exploring ancient Egypt Year 4 recently had a fantastic day celebrating Ancient Egypt! The children arrived at school wearing amazing costumes, ranging from pharaohs to mummies, and they took part in a fun-filled workshop learning about Ancient Egyptian life and culture.

Friday 4 April 2025 Easter services in the Cathedral EASTER SERVICES IN THE CATHEDRALEaster is important to Christians as it is the celebration of Jesus dying for our sins and then rising again. In so doing, he offers us new life in him. On the third day after his crucifixion, Jesus' tomb was found to be empty. He had risen from the dead. Life triumphs over death! The joy of resurrection is possible only because Christ endured death and conquered it.Palm Sunday 13 April08:00 | Holy Eucharist with Distribution of Palms10:00 | Palm Sunday Procession: Meet at Speakers’ Corner on Dam Street ready to be led by a donkey through the city, waving palm crosses and singing.10:30 | Choral Eucharist for Palm Sunday: Following the procession we enter into the Cathedral for our Sunday worship.15:30 | Choral Evensong for Palm Sunday

Thursday 3 April 2025 The Dimbleby Lecture Gareth Southgate has recently delivered a Richard Dimbleby lecture on the position of young men in today’s society. Whilst his speech is broader in scope than I would wish to address here, he certainly makes a strong case for the need for positive role models for young men and, given that every other person I have spoken to is talking about ‘Adolescence’ on Netflix, it seems his words were extremely prescient. An article on Southgate’s speech summed it up as follows:Sports can empower young men in a positive waySouthgate suggests that participating in a hobby such as sports, is an avenue that is far more empowering than being glued to a phone that sits neatly in the palm of your hand like a parasitic leech.This poison, that has taken over society like a menacing and calculated criminal, is the smartphone, a device that young people are often taken prisoner of for fourteen hours a day, wreaking havoc on relationships, health, and wellbeing. With j

Wednesday 2 April 2025 Thank you for Red Nose Day donations! THANK YOU to everyone who donated to our Red Nose Day campaign. Thanks to your generosity, Comic Relief is able to support amazing projects and organisations making a difference for people across the UK and around the world.

Tuesday 1 April 2025 Learning about digital marketing industry Recently we had the pleasure of David Khan, the Managing Director of Online Marketing Surgery Ltd, talking to our Year 12 Business students. During an excellent presentation on the Digital Marketing Industry, Mr Khan described its rapid growth over the past decade and how his business develops digital marketing campaigns focusing on SEO, PPC and web design services.

Monday 31 March 2025 Lichfield Cathedral Choir news Senior Choristers and Choral Scholars performed at Victoria Hall in March for the Organ Proms.

Monday 31 March 2025 Virtual Experiences for senior students

Saturday 29 March 2025 William takes on Ironman challenge William (Year 13) has decided to challenge himself in rather an extreme manner - by taking on an Ironman challenge in Estonia as a way of maximising his fitness and raising valuable funds for the LimbPower charity.

Friday 28 March 2025 Netball news

Thursday 27 March 2025 U9 and U11 Cross Country On Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 March, it was the turn of our U9 and U11 cross country teams to show us what they were made of. First up was the U11 team, who travelled to Twycross ready to take on a tough course which involved plenty of hills and a huge farmer’s field to navigate. There were 6 or 7 other independent schools at the event and we really enjoy taking our younger runners to this competition each year.

Thursday 27 March 2025 English Schools National Cross Country Championships On the back of the ISA National Cross-Country Championships, Freya (Year 8) was selected to represent the Staffordshire Schools County Cross-Country team. On Friday 14 March, Freya travelled down to Ardingly in West Sussex with the rest of the team, ready to prepare for the race the following day. This was an excellent experience for Freya, travelling and staying with other talented runners, and the atmosphere amongst the group was really positive.

Wednesday 26 March 2025 U15 Rugby 7s Last Tuesday, the U15 Rugby 7s team travelled to St Joseph’s College, Stoke, for the annual 7s tournament. With a glorious day weather wise, the team were looking for an improvement having finished winners of the Plate section last year.

Wednesday 26 March 2025 Growing hearts On Valentine's Day, everyone made living willow hearts in Forest School.

Tuesday 25 March 2025 ISA National Cross-Country Championships On Sunday 9 March, the Independent Schools Association National Cross-Country Championships were hosted at Mallory Park, in Leicestershire. You may remember that LCS took a team to the ISA Midlands Championships earlier in the year and two pupils qualified for the National finals. Emilia (Year 6) and Freya (Year 8) both qualified in their respective age groups and had the chance to run for the Midlands Independent Schools team. Both were quite nervous about the finals, but were looking to do the best they could in a very competitive contest.

Tuesday 25 March 2025 Zephan starring in Evita Zephan R (Year 12) will be taking part in the Lichfield Musical Youth Theatre production of Evita from 1-5 April at the Lichfield Garrick Theatre.

Monday 24 March 2025 Poppy playing for Beacon Hockey Club Poppy (Year 4) recently travelled to Wrekin College to take part in a regional hockey tournament.

Monday 24 March 2025 Arts education improves employability HM King Charles III has always been a great supporter of the Arts. He also recognises the importance of this type of education in schools and has convened a star-studded gathering of the great and the good from drama, music, art, dance, comedy, teaching (and politics) to create a plan for resurrecting creative arts in schools. The gathering was responding to the alarming and rapid decline of opportunities in the Arts in many schools.