Headmaster's Blog
- 17/11/24
Great stories start right here!
That’s the message of the New Building stairs which artist Helen Ashton decorated to celebrate some of our extraordinary alumni – one step per former pupil. Their stories are fascinating and diverse. Some of them have enjoyed coming back to see their step! Actor Sean Gilder is shown h...Read Full Story - 01/10/24
Three-dimensional education
“Life shrinks or expands according to one's courage.” Those words rang out at a recent memorial event for Michael Davies, History teacher and founder of Parallel Histories, who very sadly died in July 2024.Read Full Story - 09/09/24
A school of giants!
September is full of possibilities. It is exciting to welcome new Year 7 and Lower Sixth students, and boarders in other year groups too. I told the Lower Sixth this story about Russian dolls. David Ogilvy founded the advertising agency which bears his name. He used to...Read Full Story - 20/12/23
Northern Grammar Schools working together
Grammar schools in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria have agreed to collaborate and share best practice through the formation of the Northern Grammar Schools Alliance. The Northern Grammar Schools Alliance is a network of excellence for selective schools to share expertise and develop new opportu...Read Full Story - 16/10/22
The power of philanthropy
A visitor to a great old Cambridge college was struck by its perfect lawns. She found a gardener mowing the grass, and asked how he achieved such quality. “Well,” said the gardener, “the first five hundred years are the hardest…” We are celebr...Read Full Story - 02/03/21
Testing times!
Huge thanks to our COVID testing team of staff and volunteers. At the start of this term they transformed our Assembly Hall into a lateral flow testing facility – with immense professionalism, from a standing start. It is amazing what energy and goodwill can conjure out of thin a...Read Full Story - 06/11/20
Remembrance and Springtime
Schools are powerful places for remembrance. An unbroken chain links stories of loss to our lively pupils today. They sat where we sit; they walked up the hill we know so well. Jack Mockett was the first of 110 former LRGS pupils to be killed in the Second World War...Read Full Story - 03/09/20
Solvitur ambulando
For a while we imagined that September was a finish line ahead. For the school – the end of weeks of planning. For pupils and parents, the end of five long months at home. But it was actually a start line, of course. A new school year sets everything in motion...Read Full Story - 16/04/20
Wish you were here!
There have been many encouragements amongst the upheaval and emotions of recent weeks. Feedback on our first weeks of remote online teaching has been extremely positive, as we try to weave straw into gold. We are learning again what a precious and remarkable community we share...Read Full Story - 22/02/20
Reflections on our co-ed Sixth Form
The introduction of our coeducational Sixth Form this year has felt surprisingly, decidedly normal! One reason for the change was simply to allow girls as well as boys to benefit from an LRGS education. Life isn’t single sex, and a second motivation was social and educational...Read Full Story - 17/09/19
On purpose
Great teaching doesn’t happen by accident. Nor does excellent pastoral care, or a great boarding community. Instead, successful schools have a strong shared purpose. A group of staff, parents, governors and students was challenged recently to define that shared purpose for LRGS...Read Full Story - 01/04/19
The Set Run
The Set Run is at the centre of our Lenten Charity fundraising. In the last week of term the whole school runs an undulating four mile course, starting on the Memo Fields and ending outside Ashton House. It may be character-building, but the atmosphere is always cheerful!Read Full Story