InTerm NEWS

The best in everyone 

Issue 

FIVE 

Winter 

2016 

InTerm 

NEWS 

IN THIS ISSUE 

• Bugsy Review 

• NODA Success 

• AKS Unplugged 

• ‘Schools by the Sea’ and AKS Archives 

• A Prince and a Dragon 

• National Sporting Achievements 

...and many more 

AKS students 

demonstrate the 

true meaning of 

success and value 

academic ambition | individual pathways | success and value

WELCOME 

Welcome 

Get in touch... 

To arrange a visit please contact us at the 

school via the website below or call us on: 

01253 784100. You can also get a flavour of 

our school by reading the Headmaster’s and 

our Head Students’ blogs. Join our thriving 

community on social media and keep up to 

date with daily life at AKS. 

Website: 

www.arnoldkeqms.com 

Twitter: 

facebook.com/AKSSchoolLytham 

@AKSSchool 

From the Headmaster… 

There are many joys being the head of 

AKS Lytham but taking pride in what great 

ambassadors we have the pleasure of teaching 

is one of the most rewarding. We have been 

reminded of this many times this term as we’ve 

reached out into the community to support our 

teaching of developing a true understanding 

of what success and value really means. One 

example recently was at the opening of the 

exhibition in Lytham of the history of ‘The 

Schools by the Sea’ . Current students were 

able to meet former students, up to the ripe 

old age of 93, who were able to tell stories of 

times so different, but aspirations so similar. 

We learned much from these alumni, a few are 

pictured in this newsletter. 

Welcome to our 

Winter Term 

Newsletter 

Our start to 2016 was explosive and shows no signs 

of slowing down as we continue to reach beyond the 

classroom in our endeavour to achieve the best in 

everyone. 

Read the Headmaster’s blog: 

http://aksheadmastersblog.co.uk/category/heads-blog/ 

The production of Bugsy Malone to five packed 

houses at The Lowther Pavilion was another 

great community event, with the cast and 

musicians earlier having connected with care 

homes, junior schools and others who could 

benefit from and contribute to the learning 

process. 

We believe the contributions we make to the 

communities we live in contextualise learning 

and support the development of the whole 

child, so essential in equipping them with the 

necessary skills to succeed. 

Follow the Headmaster on Twitter 

@AKSHeadmaster 

Page 2 

AKS Lytham Independent School for ages 2 - 18

Articles 

Creative Arts 

AKS Unplugged 

Juniors at Work 

Nursery Fun 

Reception Scrub Up! 

Academic Ambition 

Meet the Team 

AKS in the Community 

Individual Pathways 

AKS Sporting Highlights 

Other News 

Contact AKS 

Page 

4 

9 

13 

20 

21 

22 

30 

33 

38 

42 

48 

51 

CONTENTS 

4 

For 

Your 

Features 

Bugsy Review 

NODA Results 

Pirates v Mermaids! 

Meghna’s Festival Success 

AKS Student’s Showcase Art 

Residential Trip to Glaramara 

Lower School Ski Trip 

Published Authors 

AKS Battlefields 

Engancing Wellbeing at AKS 

A Marathon Challenge 

School Archive Exhibition 

Duke of Edinburgh Award 

A Dragon and a Prince 

Page 

4 

7 

8 

10 

11 

15 

17 

18 

28 

32 

34 

35 

39 

40 

42 

Diary 

Page 49 

AKS Lytham Independent School for ages 2 - 18 Page 3

BUGSY REVIEW 

Bugsy Malone 

“They’re so good, it’s 

almost scary…” 

A review by Mr Smyth 

Keep up to date with all our drama and music developments 

Follow @AKSDrama | @AKSLythamMusic 

Unlike the cast, I am old enough to remember 

the original Bugsy Malone coming to the 

cinemas of Blackpool - a spoof film-musical 

with its hilariously irreverent take on the clichéd 

gangster movies of the early Hollywood era. From 

the questionable comfort of the sticky moquette 

seats of Blackpool’s Tivoli cinema, I also 

remember feeling joy and resentment in equal 

measure: what child wouldn’t love the idea of 

youngsters aping adult mannerisms and clothes, 

putting on vampish make-up, or carrying tommy 

guns with all the swagger of their elders. My 

additional recollection is that I felt jealous of the 

young actors, wanting also to wear those elegant 

Jazz Age suits and hats; drive a vintage pedalled 

car, like the Ant Hill mob made flesh; and most 

of all, carry a splurge gun in order to wipe out my 

‘enemies’. Everyday life seemed callow and dull, 

compared to the glamour of the kid-only world of 

the silver screen. 

This year, then, AKS was stepping back in time 

in order to re-tell that story, of a down-on-hisluck 

ex-boxer and his wannabe actress belle 

so memorably written by Alan Parker in 1975. 

Miss Horrocks, Mr Chandler and their team 

have once again pulled off a production of such 

quality, verve and confidence that it becomes 

hard to believe that the performers are all school 

students, although, of course, 

in this play the youth of the 

performers is an essential part 

of the musical’s charm, and 

for a school show, perhaps an 

obstacle to overcome. 

Because no one watching a school performance 

is in any way surprised to see children pretending 

to be adults – that’s a given. Accordingly school 

productions of Bugsy don’t have the cutesy, 

shock-factor that that original film had. It is 

a testament to this AKS production that such 

considerations did not matter a jot. Such was 

the professionalism of the cast that our feelings 

travelled in another direction, marvelling at the 

young people’s abilities and almost forgetting 

that they were not paid performers. 

The layout of the Lowther was our first surprise. 

No doubt, an academic critic would 

call it a sort of meta-theatre; a place 

where the fourth wall is practically 

demolished, or, at the very least, 

pushed back a few yards.Half of 

the audience played the part of 

spectators, dutifully occupying 

the tiered rows at the back of the 

auditorium, whilst at the front (in 

the expensive seats) the remainder 

of the spectators sat with their 

drinks at large tables, role playing 

the parts of Fat Sam’s speakeasy 

customers - thus creating a miniplay 

within the larger performance. 

The programmes were mock-up 

broadsheet newspapers, so that the 

audience could also experience the 

visual and tactile sensation of being inside the 

world of 1920’s New York. Thereafter, we saw the 

most amazing set of polished stage movements 

as the mean streets of barbers’ shops, dingy 

alleys and drugstores were suggested by a cast 

of well-disciplined and fluidly moving gangsters, 

city dwellers and molls. And then our hero 

appeared, 

Bugsy Malone, glass-jawed Irish-Italian, not 

always the most diplomatic of fellows but 

dependable in a tight spot. He was played with 

an impeccable blend of cheekiness, reliability, 

compassion and enthusiasm by George 

Powlesland, who totally convinced us throughout 

both as narrator and actor in the drama. His 

love interest, Blousey Brown (Jenny Lucking), 

conveyed most effectively the vulnerability of the 

innocent abroad, combined with that inner steel 

which so attracts Bugsy to her. 

Page 4 


BUGSY REVIEW 

Her second-half song in which she castigates 

herself for her trusting nature, ‘Only a Fool’, was 

beautifully judged and touching. 

We fast forward to Fat Sam’s bar where 

immediately we are entranced by his dancing 

troupe (accompanied by the sultry Tallulah on 

the RKO microphone above the stage). These 

eight elegant young ladies really lifted the 

roof as they hoofed it up, flapper-style, in the 

opening chorus, accompanied by the AKS band 

in full throttle. Later we discover that these 

charming smiling chorus girls are the cattiest 

of females, if their relentless bullying of Bangles 

(Rachel Cadley) is any measure. 

Blousey (as a sort of ‘everywoman’) can seem 

a little bit ‘vanilla’ as a love interest next to 

the dangerous, smouldering Tallulah (Megan 

Bruce in fine vampish form: Mae West and Jean 

Harlow rolled into one). After all Tallulah had 

her “training in North Carolina”. Yet Blousey 

gets to keep Bugsy and gold-digger Tallulah has 

to stick with the unlovely Fat Sam – make of 

that what you will. Also attaching himself to the 

illicit bar owner is one ever-hopeful Fizzy (J-Jay 

Ditchfield) who is constantly being rebuffed in 

his quest for dancing glory. 

Another advantage that the 1970’s film had over 

a theatre show is that the young actors were 

mostly lip-syncing to adult voices who overlaid 

the songs. In ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’, J-Jay had 

to carry the song himself, and he did a splendid 

job, leaving, as they say, not a dry eye in the 

house. 

The corpulent speakeasy 

boss is played by Georgia 

Askey complete with cunning 

costume alterations to 

suggest a heavy presence in 

more ways than one. Georgia 

took the role with much spirit 

– combining menace with an 

overall good heart – why else 

would Tallulah stick with him? 

One of the highlights of Act 

One was his gang of bumbling 

followers - led by Knuckles, 

an obsequious incompetent, 

hilariously realised by Tom 

Wheeldon. The checker-suited 

gang’s Wilson, Keppel and 

Betty-esque Egyptian sanddance 

to their signature song 

‘Bad Guys’ was rapturously 

received, and deservedly so. It 

also contains my favourite line 

when the villains congratulate 

themselves on the depth of 

their depravity: “We’re so rude, 

it’s almost scary”. Four-fifths 

of Fat Sam’s disciples (Isobel 

Clark, Amy Brennand, Naimh Crean and Phoebe 

Green) are wiped out in a laundry ambush, 

and what a loss to the play. Indeed, for three of 

the gang, a loss to AKS drama since they are 

now in Year 13, and we wish them well. Naimh, 

however, brilliantly stepped up to the plate and 

I must mention how well she did alongside such 

talented and experienced older actors. 

Moustachioed smoothie-chops villain, Dandy 

Dan, was brought to 

life by Scarlett Reams, 

who did an excellent 

job of conveying 

the hauteur and 

confidence of Fat 

Sam’s nemesis as she 

commanded the stage 

in her astrakhan coat 

and elegant suit. Could 

anyone catch these 

‘master criminals’ 

before they annihilate 

the entire cast in their turf warfare? Not Captain 

Smolsky and Lieutenant O’Dreary that’s for 

sure. The intellectually-challenged investigators 

were humorously portrayed by Owen Walton (as 

the long-suffering Captain) and Verity Walker 

(as his faithful lieutenant, but doing nothing to 

counteract the stereotype of many Irishmen 

jokes). Dandy Dan’s own 

gang (Jack Wood, as 

Bronx Charlie, leading 

the hoods in their 

sneaky exploits) are 

more successful than 

their rivals (they have 

a very cruel clear-out 

policy to which Doodle 

[Yasmin Luxford] would 

have testified, were he 

not a fatality of Dan’s 

splurge gun) but they 

get their comeuppance 

during one last raid on Fat Sam’s joint where the 

splurge guns explode in gay abandon, littering 

the stage with multi-coloured ticker tape like VJ 

Day on Broadway being re-enacted. 

And where did Sam get his new guns and 

hoodlums from? Well, it’s all to do with boxer 

Leroy (William Harescugh in this case, as the 

pocket dynamo); Cagey Joe’s sponsorship 

of the aspiring pugilist (Daniel Stone in the 

straight-talking tough-guy role); a gang of 

down-and-outs wonderfully inspired by Bugsy’s 

song, in a breathtaking complex and impressive 

show-stopper; and, of course, the intervention 

of Babyface who cheekily confuses the guards. 

Each performance gives us a new player of 

that role, and what a wonderful opportunity it 

is for a primary-aged child to take a part in a 

show being put on by the ‘big school’ (‘ahhhs’ 

all-round from the audience, of course!). It’s 

too complicated to explain the plot so I won’t 

bother – sorry to disappoint if you’ve actually 

read this far. 


BUGSY REVIEW 

The smaller parts and chorus were vital engines 

in the show’s success; their multifarious roles 

being too numerous to mention here. I know 

that they have had a ball being part of this 

amazing enterprise despite the late nights, 

and they can all be proud of their slick and 

convincing performances. 

As to the adult staff, what more can be said 

about Miss Preston’s wonderful choreography, 

which so beautifully caught the vaudevillian 

razzmatazz of the chorus girls – a beautiful 

bevy of belles whose tappetty exuberance lit 

up the stage? What plaudits will do justice to 

the band of expert instrumental teachers and 

talented pupils so expertly led by Mr Chandler? 

There are so many people who bring it all 

together that it is impossible to namecheck all 

of them, but it is worth mentioning the fabulous 

set (complete with life-size pedal car and a 

streetlamp which lights up), the splurge guns 

and 20s costuming, as well as the make-up and 

hair artists who must have got through gallons 

of brilliantine. 

Unlike Blackpool’s ill-fated Tivoli cinema, whose 

edifice was to perish in the sort of ungovernable 

fire which seems to be a regular and mysterious 

occurrence in the public buildings of Britain’s 

premier seaside resort, Fat Sam’s unquenchable 

will to survive is ultimately rewarded by the 

sort of cheesy backslapping between the rivals 

that only a musical would dare to 

use. Philip Larkin once said that 

“what will remain of us is love”, 

and it is here that Parker’s lyrics 

strike a similar note. Why should 

the hoodlums fight when if “you 

give a little love, then it all comes 

back to you”, and that’s no bad 

message to take away from an 

evening in which the immature 

futility of vengeful adult behaviour 

is so deservingly mocked by the 

younger generation. Appropriately 

enough this final hymn to friendship was our 

earworm as we left the ‘speakeasy’ to return to 

the reality of the chilly Lytham night. 

Or indeed, how many superlatives can 

be unearthed for Miss Horrocks, whose 

imagination bodies forth this whole 

experience, and who through her sheer 

energy and diligence conjured up this 

gangster-era world: a Prohibition Prospero, 

indeed? Well, if you have tickets for 

subsequent performances, I am sure your 

warm applause will do the job for me. 

Page 6 


A few comments on 

Bugsy from NODA 

“The atmosphere created by the cabaret-style setting was excellent.” 

“Musical Director, Daniel Chandler, led his 13-piece band in playing 

music in the style of an authentic 1920’s “speakeasy”.” 

“AKS, under the excellent Director, Faye Horrocks, have approached 

the musical with improvisation and spontaneity, thus interpreting the 

characters and scenes in their own individual way.” 

“Choreography by Kathy Preston was both original and evocative of the 

period. The tap routine was a highlight of the show for me.” 

“George Powlesland as Bugsy was in character at all times and gave a 

confident performance.” 

“Jenny Lucking, Blousey Brown, managed to show 

the vulnerability in her character in this her first 

principal role.” 

“Megan Bruce showed her experience and 

versatility as a feisty and glamorous Tallulah. She 

has great stage presence and will be missed when 

she leaves this year.” 

“The boxing ring scene was well choreographed 

and enabled Daniel Stone to show off his fine voice in his rendition of 

‘So you wanna be a boxer’.” 

“I enjoyed Georgia Askey as Fat Sam who gave an enthusiastic and 

confident performance.” 

“The highlight of the show for me was the lovely character of Fizzy 

the Janitor played by J-Jay Ditchfield. He gave a beautiful, moving and 

confident performance and his solo, “Tomorrow”, showed off his vocal 

range. This is someone whose development I shall follow with great 

interest.” 

“From what I have seen tonight AKS have many talented youngsters 

who will no doubt make their tutors proud over the next few years.” 

AKS scoops four NODA awards for 

‘Sweeney Todd’! 

Keep up to date with our Drama Department 

Follow @AKSDrama 

NODA 2015 North West Results 

At the North West District 2 NODA Award Ceremony on 16 January 2016 

AKS triumphed in taking home the following awards for a very deserving 

production of ‘Sweeney Todd’ in 2015. 

• Most Entertaining Performance – Ben Smyth for the role of Adolfo 

Pirelli 

• Best Actor Male – Harry McLafferty for the role of Sweeney Todd 

• Best Musical Director – Daniel Chandler 

• Best Overall Performance – AKS Sweeney Todd 

We are proud to announce that we have been re-nominated for all four of 

these awards at the NODA North West Regional Award Ceremony. Please 

follow @AKSDrama on Twitter for more information and live tweets on 

the evening. 


CREATIVE ARTS 

Pirates v 

Mermaids, 

aharrrrrr! 

Avast there landlubbers! Year 3 and 

Year 4 have recently told their tale of 

swashbuckling pirates and brave mermaids 

in their play, ‘Pirates vs Mermaids’. 

‘Me Hearty High School’ was the most 

distinguished pirate school on the seven 

seas and NO mermaids allowed! However, 

the problem was none of the pirates 

could swim and they needed to pass their 

‘ARRRRR’ levels. So, the crew go about 

conquering their fear of water. They put 

their rivalry with the mermaids to one side 

while the mermaids help the pirates learn 

to swim. As a thank you gift the pirates give 

the mermaids their VERY chatty parrot! In 

the end, there will always be pirates versus 

mermaids, but at least they can agree on 

one thing: they may not always love each 

other, but they will always love the sea. 

Page 8 


CREATIVE ARTS 

AKS Unplugged 

An unmissable event 

in the AKS calendar 

The AKS Unplugged event provided another great night of musical talent. 

Over 40 pupils took part and the Senior Hall was absolutely packed. It is 

certainly one of the highlights of the musical calendar and it seems to 

become more popular each year. Pupils from all year groups took part 

and the audience was treated to memorable performances by Souled 

Out, Black and White, and No Angels as well as other groups. There 

was a variety of original songs and covers; written and performed by 

our talented musicians. Pupils were supported by some of our visiting 

instrumental teachers, who are also professional performers. With plenty 

of rehearsals taking place over recent weeks and months, I know that the 

pupils enjoyed working with, and learning from, our visiting teachers. It 

was great to see so many involved with a significant amount of money 

being raised to support this July’s Australia Hockey By D Tour. Chandler, Director of Music 

Keep up to date with all our musical news 

Follow @AKSLythamMusic 


CREATIVE ARTS 

Meghna’s 

Festival 

Success 

Congratulations to Year 7 pupil Meghna who 

participated in the Lytham St Annes Festival of 

Performing Arts. Each year, the Festival offers 

a platform for hundreds of amateur musicians, 

actors and dancers in and around the Lancashire 

area to perform in front of an audience and 

benefit from expert critical advice. As a Festival 

adjudicator, I know that we are fortunate to have 

such a thriving Arts Festival on our doorstep. The 

Festival creates an opportunity for performers 

of all ages to play and sing in an atmosphere of 

appreciation and enjoyment. 

Meghna’s results: 

18 and under Jazz and Light Music: First prize 

18 and under Romantic/Modern: First prize 

12 and under Piano Own Choice: First prize 

11 and under Piano Own Choice: First prize 

Grade 5 and 6: Second prize 

18 and under Classical: Third prize 

She was then awarded the prize for the ‘Most 

Promising Instrumentalist’ at the Festival. 

In addition, Meghna won first prize for Prepared 

Reading 11 and under age group, first prize for Public 

Speaking age 11 and under, and first prize for Sight 

Reading age 13 and under. Meghna was awarded 

third prize for Verse Speaking age 10 and 11, second 

prizes for Comedy Poem age 11 and under, and My 

Favourite Poem age 13 and under. 

In all, she won seven first prizes, three second 

prizes and two third prizes! This is a significant 

achievement – well done. 

Page 10 


CREATIVE ARTS 

AKS STUDENT WORK 

GOES ON SHOW AT 

LLOYD’S REGISTER 

GALLERY IN LONDON 

Jessica Kirkpatrick and Ella Morris had work selected 

earlier in the year to go on show at Lloyd’s Register Gallery 

in London. The ‘Rising Stars Exhibition’ opened to the 

public on 12 February. The exhibition was well-attended 

by families, public and distinguished guests. Michael 

Portillo paid particular attention to Jessica’s bowl and was 

very complimentary on the tactile surface that Jessica 

had achieved through carving and wiped back glaze. The 

exhibited work looked spectacular in the fabulous, grand 

setting of the Lloyd’s Register building. 

Nicole Brown, joint winner of this year’s Rotary 

Young Musician of the year 

Drawn from Youth 6 

The sixth of a well-established and popular 

local art exhibition ‘Drawn from Youth ‘ has 

now opened to the public and is on show until 

Wednesday 7th April at the Fylde Gallery (Booths, 

Lytham). 

The exhibition is intended as a platform for 

sixth form work from the region with a view 

to submitting the best work for consideration 

for the Royal Society of British Artists Annual 

Exhibition at the Mall Gallery in London. 

By L. P. Heap (Head of Art & Design) 

Reference was made to the extraordinarily high 

standard of work overall and some individual 

pieces were highly acclaimed. AKS had eight of 

its entries shortlisted for The Royal Society of 

British Artists Annual Nationwide Exhibition at 

the Mall Galleries in London. This year AKS had 

two pieces of work selected to go on show in 

London, which was the most prestigious prize of 

all. The worthy winners were Jessica Kirkpatrick 

and Ella Morris, who have earned the title ‘RBA 

Scholar’. These were two of just 22 selected from 

Keep up to date with all our art achievements 

Follow @AKSArtandDesign 

across the whole country. In addition to these 

two main awards, Jessica received an additional 

prize on the evening, the ‘Judges’ Choice’, for her 

‘Marine Life’ ceramics. 

Laura Heap, Head of Art and Design at AKS 

would like to congratulate all the pupils whose 

submissions were selected and draw attention to 

the hard work and dedication behind the superb 

results that AKS has achieved. 

Many schools submitted work and AKS are proud 

to be one of only seven schools whose work was 

selected. It should also be pointed out that some 

AKS GCSE work was rated above other sixth form 

work, indicating that there is even better to come 

from these AKS students in the near future! 

The event was very well attended and a special 

welcome was extended to civic dignitaries and 

June Robinson (NADFAS Chairman) who had 

travelled up from London, especially to open the 

exhibition. All were amazed at the quality and 

diversity of the exhibits.


Collaborative 

Determined 

Independent 

Confident 

Motivated 

Reflective 

Responsible 

Respectful 

Enquiring 

Risk Taking 

the characteristics of an aks learner 

Page 12 

AKS Lytham Independent School for ages 2 -- 18 18

Wonderful Winter Trees 

by Year 5 

Keep up to date with all our junior artists news 

Follow @AKSJuniorSchool 

CREATIVE ARTS 

The children in Year 5 have been learning 

about the artist Piet Mondrian. 

Although widely known for his geometric 

abstract grids Mondrian’s early works were 

mainly landscapes of his home country, 

Holland, and included one of his best 

known paintings, The Red Tree. 

The children looked at a range of trees 

and made sketches in their sketch books. 

They looked at Mondrian’s series of tree 

paintings and then produced their own 

Winter Tree paintings in the style of the 

artist. 

To do this they first painted a background 

of horizontal brushstrokes in shades of 

blues and greys. The tree was painted on 

top while looking at Mondrian’s ‘Red Tree’ 

for inspiration for the shape. Extra detail 

and texture was added in oil pastels. 

Young Seasiders Arts and 

Crafts Exhibition 2016 

Year 8 were given the challenge of 

painting famous actors and actresses 

for their portraiture project. The 

portraits are of an excellent standard 

and six were chosen to represent 

AKS at the ‘Young Seasiders Arts and 

Crafts Exhibition 2016’. Approximately 

50 schools entered this competition 

from across the Fylde. AKS had four 

prize winners, who will collect their 

prizes at the presentation evening at 

Blackpool Opera House. 

Keep up to date with all our junior artists news 


Of the four prize winners, Abe Coyne was awarded 

one of the overall winners by Blackpool Arts Society. 

This was a tremendous achievement out of the 

thousands of entries that were submitted from 

across the Fylde. 

This is the second year in a row that AKS 

has been an overall winner in this event and 

we are thrilled that our winning record from 

2015 is continuing apace. We are all very 

AKS Lytham Independent School for ages 2 - 18 Page 13 

proud of Abe’s success.

THE BEST IN EVERYONE 

Settlement 

Models in 

Year 3 

By Layla Wholey | Year 3 

Keep up to date with all our art achievements 


In Year 3 we made models of 

different settlements with Mrs 

Crouch. We had so much fun. We 

either made models of a town, a 

village or a city. We now know three 

different types of cities, towns and 

villages: dispersed, nucleated or 

linear. 

A dispersed settlement is a 

settlement which is spread out 

wide. A nucleated settlement which 

is close together and spread out in 

a circular shape. A linear pattern 

is one long line, like a river or a 

road. A city is a lot of houses and 

different things to do. A town is not 

as much houses as a city but still a 

lot of houses. A village has hardly 

any houses and a lot of grass. 

Isabella used wood, paint and 

pencils to make her village. It took 

a long time but it was fun. Her 

favourite part was painting it. I 

made a city using card, paint, super 

glue, sellotape, mints, sponge, 

lollipop sticks, carboard lid and tin 

foil. My favourite part was painting. 

It was a city. 

Owen used Lego to make a city. 

It took three hours but he felt 

determined to finish it. It was all 

multi-coloured. Harry created a 

dispersed settlement and used 

sponge and card. 

Mr Walton even came in to look at 

our models. He was very impressed 

with what we had made and how 

much we knew about settlements 

and human geography! 

Page 14 



Junior 

Residential 

to Glaramara 

Keep up to date with all our junior activities 


Year 4 students share 

their thoughts about 

their adventure 

Extracts from some of the Year 4 Glaramara reports 

A place of gorgeous views and great fun: 

Hollie – My trip to Glaramara was phenomenal! I absolutely loved it and 

the food was amazing, my bedroom was lovely and I can’t wait to go there 

again. 

Daniella – On Monday 22 February Year 4 met at school at 8.45am with all 

our luggage ready to get on a coach which took us to Glaramara which is 

near Keswick. I did not know at the time but this was the best trip I have 

been on with school. It was so much fun! 

Sophie – Our room was upstairs on the first floor. It had a brown door with 

number 204. We dragged our bags upstairs. We had to put the key card into 

a slot in the wall to make the lights go on. The room was really nice and tidy. 

It had a bathroom with a toilet, shower, sink and towel rail. There were 4 

beds, one for everyone. We had a beautiful view out of our window. We could 

see really tall mountains and lots of sheep. I felt happier when I knew who I 

was sharing a room with. 

Jack – We went up a mountain and learnt lots of interesting things about 

plants you could eat, and even brush your teeth with! 

Joshua – I walked up the mountain and while we were walking we were 

shown some interesting things. We were shown different mosses like 

Spagnum Moss and how it soaked up water like a sponge. Afterwards I 

found some quartz. 

Oliver H – On our second day we did orienteering, we had to try and find 

numbers and letters, which were in front of the Glaramara building. We then 

went to the climbing wall at King Kong in Keswick. I got to the top of one of 

the walls and nearly got to the top of the other, but it made my legs shake. 

Isabella – After lunch my group got into the minibus and went to the indoor 

climbing centre. It was my favourite part of the residential because I learnt 

how to put on a harness and climb with a rope. 

Hugo – Tea was ready when we got back to the Glaramara Centre and then 

we had 30 minutes to play and get ready for room inspections! More hot 

chocolate and bingo followed the inspections, although I didn’t win a line or 

house on the second night. 

Victoria – After a full English breakfast we went over to Lake Derwent to 

learn about the Vikings. We learnt about slaves, how to make shields and 

also how they ground oats between stones for food and making fires – it 

was very hard to make a fire. Then we took to the lake on a Viking ship, we 

had to paddle to make it move. After we had plundered a local village or two 

we got back on the coach to head home. 

Ellie – I felt very proud of myself for getting over my fear of being homesick. 

On Wednesday afternoon we took our long trip back to school and I went 

home with mum for a chippy tea, a cup of tea and a nice warm bath. 

Vaani – I really enjoyed Glaramara. I would really love to go again to try out 

other activities but I can also highly recommend it to other people! 



Glaramara in 

Pictures 

Page 16 


Lower School Ski 

Trip 2016 

On Saturday 13 February, 49 students and six staff 

left AKS to travel to the beautiful Zell am See region 

of Austria. The snow had been falling consistently 

for the weeks leading up to the trip and the slopes 

were in perfect condition for a week’s top skiing. 

After the usual busy ski fit and a substantial 

evening meal, the students settled into their room 

anticipating the following day’s skiing. 

Keep up to date with our skiiers 

Follow @AKSskiTrip 

Here is what some of the students thought: 


“I think the skiing trip was awesome because my friends went and I got to know nice 

people.” 

“The ski trip was an amazing experience that I will never forget.” 

“It was a great experience that I’ll treasure forever... I can’t believe how much I achieved 

in skiing.” 

“Best experience of my life!” 

The first day is often the hardest, especially for 

beginners, but the students all enjoyed the skiing 

and made progress from their own starting point. 

This set the tone for the week as students took the 

expert advice of their ski instructors and made the 

very best of the superbly conditioned slopes. The 

highlight of the week’s skiing was undoubtedly 

Thursday’s visit to the vast expanse of the 

Kitzsteinhorn Glacier, providing amazing skiing and 

unforgettable views at heights above 3,000m. 

The students enjoyed the opportunity to get 

involved in a huge range of activities including 

a visit to the stunning Tauern Spa in Kaprun, 

traditional Austrian curling, swimming, 

trampolining, beach volleyball, cinema night and, of 

course, time to relax and buy gifts in Zell am See. 



Published 

Authors 

By Jonah Crouch | Year 4 student at AKS School 

Ever thought of writing a book? Well during 

the month of November, 16 students from 

AKS School stood up to face the challenge of 

writing and publishing a book in one month. 

First we brainstormed and planned out 

our story including characters, support 

characters, setting descriptions and problems 

and solutions. In the month of November we 

typed and wrote and typed and wrote and 

typed and wrote until the 30 November. 

The meltdown stage was probably the worst 

part of the process. 

This was when you’re about halfway through 

the book when you suddenly think it’s all 

hopeless. But you keep going and going 

because you are determined to finish your 

first ever novel! 

I spoke with one of the authors, Priyanka 

Rajan. Her story is about three dragons and a 

sword. She chose to write about this because 

it’s really magical. Her favourite part of 

writing the book was the ending and designing 

and creating the front cover of her book. Her 

favourite author is J.K. Rowling because she 

wrote ‘Harry Potter’. 

My book is about the Greek Gods and the 

Titans. It is called ‘The Titan’s Revenge’. My 

characters, Eliza, Flint and Finley had to 

first fight the two guardians of Mount Vorta, 

the griffin and the phoenix. Once they had 

completed that mission, their next challenge 

was to defeat the evil Titan’s son, Blake. 

The hardest process for me was to sketch a 

picture to use as my front cover. My favourite 

part was the night I actually finished the book! 

And I felt even better the day it was published 

and when the books finally arrived. I was 

astonished. It was a real book! The feeling 

was indescribable! If you want to publish a 

book all you need is determination and ideas 

and then you can create a wonderful book to 

include as part of your library! 

Page 18 


Author Alwyn 

Hamilton Visits 

Lower School 

After a very busy half term Lower School were 

treated to a visit by a published author on 

Friday 12 February. We are very proud to have 

strong links with Storytellers, Inc., our local 

independent book shop, and were thrilled to be 

able to host author Alwyn Hamilton. 

Alwyn Hamilton was born in Toronto and spent 

her childhood bouncing between Europe and 

Canada until her parents settled in France. She 

left France for Cambridge University to study 

History of Art at King’s College, and then to 

London where she became indentured to an 

auction house. 

Students were treated to a fantastic 

presentation allowing them to interact and ask 

Alwyn about the process of writing and how 

she came to write her debut novel ‘Rebel of the 

Sands’. 

Alwyn had always wanted to be a writer and 

she had written many unpublished pieces 

before she came to complete her debut novel 


to explain the complex process of writing 

students were encouraged to join in ‘world 

building’ looking at all of the sorts of things 

you need to decide when you’re inventing a 

world such as climate, geography, religion, 

clothing, ethnicity, technology, magic etc. This 

was a very lively part of the session with some 

superbly imaginative suggestions from the 

students. 

Alwyn also gave the students a reality check 

regarding the whole process of publishing 

explaining how complex things can be. 

Following lots of questions Alwyn very kindly 

stayed on and signed everyone’s books with 

personal messages to encourage them to write. 

Mix it up in 

Manchester 

By Carly Wilde and Anna Wileman | Year 4 

Little Mix formed in 2011 exclusively for the 

eighth series of the X Factor. After winning 

they signed a record deal with Simon Cowell’s 

company. Since then they’ve released three 

albums; DNA, Salute and Get Weird. The 

single ‘Black Magic’ from Get Weird has been 

nominated twice for the 2016 Brit Awards in 

the categories of British Single of the Year 

and British Video of the Year. Little Mix were 

originally called Rhythmix. Little Mix are down 

to earth fun girls. Jade used to be a model. 

WARNING 

Although Little Mix are amazing singers with 

great songs I would advise the parents to be 

aware of the thousands of screaming fans... 

TAKE EAR PLUGS! Appearing in Manchester: 

24 March and 7 April along with many other 

cities. 

My dream date would be a posh hotel in New 

York to interview them or to see them for just 

an hour if I could. I would ask them: 

Jade: Where do you get all your clothes from? 

Jessie: I have singing lessons; did you have any 

singing lessons? 

Leigh-Anne: Did you always want to be a 

singer? 

Perrie: How did you like school? 

Our favourite Little Mix songs are: ‘Black 

Magic’ because the tune is great and the way 

it has been written is really cool. ‘Competition’ 

is also a favourite because the girls are singing 

against each other like it’s a competition. We 

also like ‘A Different Beat’ because it feels like 

you’re in the song with them. 

Charlotte and 

Hollie are coming 

with us to see 

Little Mix in 

concert. 

We can’t wait! 

If you ever get 

chance to go to a 

Little Mix concert 

buy the tickets 

ASAP. 



Nursery 

Keep up to date with all our Nursery activities and fun 

Follow @AKSNursery 

Fun 

Spring is in the air for our 

nursery children 

Once again, the Spring Term has been a very busy one in Nursery. 

The PFA have kindly donated money for an outdoor Wendy house in 

our quad and the Toddlers also have a lovely new play mat. 

Thank you to the PFA and our school groundsmen for putting our 

beautiful Wendy house together and of course all the parents who 

attend the PFA events that help to raise the funds needed. 

Steven Shepherd from our Catering Department has been cooking 

with us again over the term. We have made lovely pancakes on 

Shrove Tuesday in the senior dining hall and have other lovely 

activities planned for future baking classes. 

We all love to dress up and World Book Day was no exception. The children 

all looked fantastic dressed as their favourite book character as did the 

teachers. 

Now the lovely spring weather is upon us, we have been taking full 

advantage of our surrounding grounds and local area. We have been on mini 

beast hunts and other walks to discuss road safety. 

SAVE THE DATE 

19 april 

Page 20 

Junior School Open Afternoon 

Nursery to Year 6 

19 April 1.30pm until 5pm 

AKS Lytham Independent School for ages 2 - 18 

Call: 01253 784100 

Email: admissions@arnoldkeqms.com

Reception 

Scrub Up! 

Learning about different kinds of 

doctors 

Dr Taylor is an 

anaesthetist in 

hospital. She came 

into school to talk 

to the AKS children 

about her special 

job – she explained 

to the children about 

how she is a doctor 

but is a different kind 

of doctor. 

A visit from Ansdell Clinic 

Mrs Allen, from 

Ansdell Clinic, 

is part of the 

Community School 

Nursing Team. She 

came in to talk 

to the Reception 

children about her 

job and especially 

the importance of 

hand hygiene. 

The first thing the children noticed was that she wasn’t wearing a 

uniform, so Mrs Allen explained that she didn’t work in a hospital or a 

doctor’s surgery. 


Keep up to date with all our Reception activities and fun 


Dr Taylor explained to the children how she works in a big hospital 

looking after both adults and children who need to have an 

operation. She explained that she has to wear special clothes when 

she is at work. Dr Taylor brought in some scrubs, masks, gloves, 

hats and patient gowns for the children to try on. We all took it in 

turns to be either a patient, surgeon or anaesthetist and had great 

fun acting out the 

different roles. 

Miss Allen had an 

eye operation in the 

role play hospital 

with James as the 

eye surgeon and 

Elliot and Eli were the 

anaesthetists. 

They wore the special 

clothing Dr Taylor had 

left for us to use. 

She explained that she went into local schools to talk about washing 

hands, eating healthily, being careful in the sun and the different ways to 

look after ourselves. 

The Reception children proved to be very knowledgeable about the kinds 

of things that help us all to stay healthy and gave lots of great answers 

about eating fruit and vegetables, brushing your teeth regularly, drinking 

milk and doing exercise. 

Hand hygiene and germs created an interesting discussion. William 

and Mrs Allen used red paint to demonstrate just how easy it is to miss 

certain parts of your hands. They showed the children how to rub in 

between your fingers and down your thumb. 

Mrs Allen was very impressed with the good answers the children were 

able to give her and how well they had sat for an hour listening and 

joining in. Thank you for coming to visit us. 

Individualised learning 

because we are all individuals! 

SAVE THE DATE 

19 april 

Call: 01253 784100 

Email: admissions@arnoldkeqms.com 


ACADEMIC AMBITION 

Science 

Update 

Keep up to date with all our young scientists 

Follow @AKSScience 

The Science Department have been working very hard to 

maintain the very high standards we set ourselves in our 

‘core business’, namely teaching and learning, whilst trying 

to offer a range of opportunities to both pupils of the school 

and our local community. 

The Physics Department have also taken 11 of the Year 13 students to 

the CERN research facility in Switzerland. This fantastic trip offered 

students a guided tour around the world leading facilities, lectures 

on the work done at CERN by the research scientists working there, 

and the chance to visit the CERN exhibition outlining the history of 

the facility. In addition, students had time to tour Geneva, visiting 

museums and experiencing the food and culture of Switzerland. 

It was a fantastic trip and all pupils would recommend that this 

becomes a regular feature in the Science Department calendar of 

events. 

One highlight was the International Science Seminar 

exchange program, where a group of pupils were fortunate to 

benefit from an amazing, and increasingly rare, opportunity 

to stay with German host families in Würzburg, Bavaria. The 

week proved to be an excellent experience and we were truly 

spoilt by our German hosts. 

The stimulating educational and cultural program enabled 

the pupils to work in groups on their science projects, 

practise their German within an authentic setting, learn 

about the history of some of Germany’s historic cities, sample 

the traditional food, immerse themselves in the German culture and 

make new friends. A measure of the success of the trip was that within 

three days of being there, both Nathan and Daniel asked if they could 

be invited to the ISS 2016 (International Science Seminar) in Hradec 

Králové with our partner school: GYMNÁZIUM BOŽENY NÊMCOVÉ, 

Czech Republic. 

Our fledging Eco Club, led by students and guided by Mrs Arnold, 

has begun by setting up a wildlife garden set-up, working alongside 

Green Club and the St Annes in Bloom team. This resource, with fully 

fitted hedgehog house and bug hotels, should provide AKS students 

with an excellent educational facility. Eco Club will be completing 

their Environmental Review this term to go towards the completion 

of the Bronze Award for Eco-Schools. The Holdgate Society, 

led by Mr Downey, has continued to provide a plethora of 

interesting challenges and ethical debates aimed at providing 

a ‘springboard’ for our budding medics to use as they pursue 

their chosen career paths. 

The Senior School Science Department has also been 

maintaining links with our Junior School as well as the wider 

Lytham St Annes community. Every Wednesday, we have 

brought primary schools into AKS to ‘Experience Science’, 

with Dr Jessop and Mr Downey, through our external liaison 

programme. Hall Park, Heyhouses and Ansdell Primary Schools 

have all commented on what a fantastic experience this has 

been. In addition, Mrs Merrick has continued her fantastic work 

in our Junior School bringing Year 6 students to Senior Science 

once a week to take advantage of our fantastic facilities and 

investigate a range of exciting experiments. Examples include, 

plating microbes and separating mixtures. 

Page 22 


Have you got the nerve? 


Recently we celebrated British 

Science Week with a range 

of exciting activities where 

students investigated and 

explored their sensory systems. 

Students took part in a series 

of investigations testing their 

reaction times, pain and touch 

sensations. Who could keep 

their hands in the cold ice 

bucket the longest??? 


@AKSJuniorSchool 

Rocket Science 

AKS to grow seeds 

from space! 

Pupils at AKS are preparing to 

become space biologists and embark 

on a voyage of discovery by growing 

seeds that have been into space. 

In September, 2kg of rocket seeds 

were flown to the International Space 

Station (ISS) on Soyuz 44S where 

they will spend several months in 

microgravity before returning to Earth 

in March 2016. The seeds have been 

sent as part of Rocket Science, an 

educational project launched by the 

RHS Campaign for School Gardening 

and the UK Space Agency. 

AKS will be one of up 

to 10,000 schools to 

receive a packet of 100 

seeds from space, which 

they will grow alongside 

seeds that haven’t been to space 

and measure the differences 

over seven weeks. The pupils 

won’t know which seed packet 

contains which seeds until all 

results have been collected by 

the RHS Campaign for School 

Gardening and analysed by 

professional biostatisticians. 

The out-of-this-world, 

nationwide science experiment 

will enable the pupils to think 

more about how we could 

preserve human life on another 

planet in the future, what 

astronauts need to survive longterm 

missions in space and the 

difficulties surrounding growing 

fresh food in challenging climates. 

Ms Jane Allen, Deputy Head of 

the Junior School, says: “We are 

very excited to be taking part in 

Rocket Science. This experiment 

is a fantastic way of teaching our 

pupils to think more scientifically 

and share their findings with the 

whole school community”. 

Rocket Science is just one 

educational project from a 

programme developed by the 

UK Space Agency to celebrate 

British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s 

Principia mission to the ISS and 

inspire young people to look 

into careers in STEM (science, 

technology, engineering and 

maths) subjects, including 

horticulture. 



STEM Club 

2016 

Motoring ahead! 


Following the superb project work the STEM Club did last year in laying 

the foundations for our very successful Year 9 challenge day based 

on rockets, this year’s STEM group have continued to motor forward. 

We have developed a partnership with Energy Racing Karts UK (www. 

energy-karts.co.uk), the go-kart team who joined us at AKS for a 

fantastic day last academic year. 

On that day, pupils had the opportunity to see high performance 

go-karts stripped down and they learnt a little about the science and 

engineering behind them. Partly inspired by the day, the STEM Club are 

now working on a new project on cars and the combustion engine. As 

part of this, they are building Nitro RC cars from scratch. We are very 

grateful for the sponsorship Sam Pollitt’s go-kart team (Energy Racing 

Karts UK) have provided and the STEM Club are making excellent 

progress. 

The club have been meeting twice a week, building these complex and 

technical cars from the nuts and bolts up. At the end of term one, the 

two building teams have completed front and rear differentials, gearbox 

and drive shafts for the four-wheel drive system and the steering (most 

of which you can see from the photos). Having said this there is plenty 

to do, amongst which includes attaching the engine and fuel tank for 

these 40mph machines. 

We look forward to continuing to make fantastic progress and, hopefully, 

by the end of the academic year racing them alongside the go-karts 

from Energy Racing Karts UK. 

Page 24 


Essay Memory 

Writing Techniques 

in Economics 

By Jake Dyas | Year 12 

Follow @AKSAcademic 

During AS Economics class this term we have experienced a different 

type of lesson focusing on essay structure and technique. It was 

apparent after reviewing our mock papers the class were strong in the 

shorter answers but lacked structure and organisation in the larger 

25-mark essays. Mr Wainwright 

therefore decided to do a lesson 

with a journey. 

Our memory takes in key events 

around us and therefore learning 

essay technique in a classroom 

can be extremely tedious. That 

is why Mr Wainwright decided 

to take us on a tour around the 

school. 

Our first stop was the main 

entrance to the school and this is where we picked up our first point 

on how to structure our essay, which was a definition on the question 

we had been given, we associated the cold weather with snow and the 

Maths 

Update 


By K Dawson (Head of Maths) 

The top two sets in Year 11 and the top 

set in Year 10 were treated to the UK 

Intermediate Maths Challenge on 4 

February and the results are in. 

Robert Pickersgill achieved the award 

for the best in school and received 

a gold certificate and has been 

rewarded with an invitation to sit the 

Pink Kangaroo Challenge on the 17 

March which is a step up from the 

Intermediate challenge. 

definition was now embedded in 

our memory. 

The class then made our way 

into the main hall where the 

band were playing, here we 

picked up the second part of 

setting the scene, this is where 

we give the background to our 

essay and state the points we’re 

going to make. Then we walked 

to the fire extinguisher and 

associated it to data in the text, 

this helps us remember to apply 

facts from the source into our 

essay. 


The class then made their way 

up to the large window, where 

we stuck up the word ‘analysis’, 

this meant we had to discuss 

and explain the point we have 

made. Mr Wainwright then 

led us to the staircase where 

we associated evaluation where we should make a judgement on the 

point we’ve just made. The class then all made their way back up to the 

classroom where we then made the point of repeating this process for 

every example we had chosen when setting the scene. 

The association is so key in our memory that Mr Wainwright even 

comically pretended to bang his head on the filing cabinet to embed 

the crucial point of making an end conclusion and explaining why. 

Nathan Frankel also achieved a gold 

award and has been invited to sit the 

Pink Kangaroo challenge alongside 

Robert. 

Richard Hull achieved the best result 

in year 10 and was award a silver 

certificate. There were 15 silver 

certificates and 15 bronze certificates 

awarded in total, which amounts 

to 53% of the entrants gaining a 

certificate. 

The Year 7s and the top set Year 8 are 

looking forward to 28 April when they 

get the chance to do the Junior Maths 

Challenge. 



Modern 

Foreign 

Languages 


We have been fortunate this term to welcome 

a number of German visitors into school. 

Sebastian Degen, a German and history 

teacher from the Bergstadt Gymnasium 

in Lüdenscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, 

is being sponsored by the Pädogogischer 

Austauschdienst in Germany to spend a 

three-week sabbatical at AKS. He is helping 

out in lessons and enabling the Germanists to 

practise their spoken German on a one-to-one 

basis, with the A level students benefiting 

from an extra six hours per week. Herr Degen 

worked as a German Assistant for Mrs Burnett 

10 years ago, when he lived in St Annes for 

nine months. It is his first time at AKS and he 

is very impressed by our school and pupils. 

Phoebe and Eleanor Wood are hosting 

Kim Kaßner, a pupil from our twin town of 

Werne. She is spending two weeks in school, 

observing a variety of lessons and helping out 

around school. 

The Lytham St Annes Twinning Association 

Committee held their meeting at AKS in 

March, following a guided tour of the school. 

They were extremely impressed by our lovely 

school, especially the excellent facilities. 

In March a group of 24 pupils from the 

Evangelisches Gymnasium in Mössingen, 

Baden-Württemberg, are accompanying AKS 

pupils in Years 7–10 to lessons for three days. 

Our pupils thoroughly enjoy learning about 

their guests and their different culture. Many 

pupils remain in contact with the friends they 

make during this annual visit. 

To celebrate Easter the Year 8 Germanists 

have taken part in a school competition to 

decorate their own Ostereier, which are on 

display in the school hall for everybody to 

admire. During their last German lesson 

volunteers took part in an egg blowing 

demonstration, followed by a homework 

where they were to blow and decorate their 

own Easter egg. All over Germany, Austria 

and other German-influenced countries eggs 

are hung on branches of outdoor trees and 

bushes, and also on cut branches inside. 

During the Easter assembly on the last day of 

term, the prize winners will be announced and 

presented with their prizes – Easter eggs, of 

course! 

Our Year 7 Francophiles have all taken part in a 

competition, where the pupils needed to learn 

how to spell a prescribed list of 50 words in 

French at each stage. There are four stages to 

the competition: class, school, regional and 

national. Keira Bowman, Meghna Shajil and 

Joshua Zacharius, the three pupils with the 

highest spelling scores, will be representing 

AKS in the regional final in Manchester at 

the end of term. We wish them all the best 

and look forward to hearing about their 

experience. 

In November we were delighted to welcome 

Arantxa Robledo from Mexico to AKS, and as 

she left in January her cousin, Oscar Aguilar 

Gonzalez, joined us following three months’ 

study in Berlin. He leaves us at the end of this 

term to finish his German language course in 

Munich, before returning home to Mexico. 

We have been fortunate to have Spanish 

native speakers in school, working with our 

pupils. The GCSE and A level Hispanists have 

benefited from weekly speaking practice, and 

our younger pupils have been learning about 

Mexican culture as well as some more basic 

Spanish. Both Oscar and Arantxa have enjoyed 

their time at AKS and integrated very well into 

the life of the school, we would like to thank 

them for their input. 

Page 26 


AKS Cookery 

Club 

Follow @AKSHospitality 

Head Chef and 

Hotelier head 

back to the 

classroom 

Oli Martin, Hipping Hall’s Head Chef, and 

Hotelier Andrew Wildsmith, headed back to 

school this term as the pair popped their heads 

round the dining room door at AKS, Lytham. 

The pair were invited by AKS’s Catering 

Manager, Steven Shepherd, to take part in one 

of a series of cooking and dining masterclasses 

laid on for students at the leading independent 

school. 

Steven, an accomplished former head chef 

himself, and founder of the AKS Cookery 

Club, contacted former colleagues to set up 

the masterclasses, including Oli Martin, who 

Steven employed in his first ever kitchen role at 

Lytham-based restaurant, Chicory. 

Steven has worked with a range of chefs to 

ensure that each masterclass equips the 

students with a range of basic culinary skills. 

During the sessions the students will learn how 

to make authentic pasta and pizzas, create 

meals on a budget, experience fine dining and 

gain an understanding of dining etiquette as 

well as learning the art of planning and cooking 

a menu. 

On Thursday 11 February, Oli and Andrew 

delivered the fine dining and etiquette 

masterclass to 20 students – Oli worked with 

10 students to prepare a starter and teach 

them about service protocol, whilst Andrew 

spoke to the second group about the art of fine 

dining prior to them tucking into the starter. 

The groups then swapped over and set about 

creating a dessert for the first group to try. 

Oli Martin said: “It’s great being invited along 

to AKS to talk to the students and share 

some of my experiences. It’s important we 

equip students with the necessary culinary 

skills to be able to look after themselves and 

create nutritious food using simple basic 

ingredients. It’s also important that we show 

them how a restaurant works, to give them 

an understanding of what’s involved from 

creating a dish to plating up and service 

to help them appreciate the overall dining 

experience.” 

Steven Shepherd, said: “It is great to see the 

AKS students so enthusiastic and passionate 

about food. It is exciting to be able to work 

in an environment that encourages young 

people to follow individual pathways and to 

offer them the opportunities to learn from 

leaders in hospitality such as Oli and Andrew. 

We appreciate the time and expertise that 

both Oli and Andrew gave the students and 

look forward to working 

with them again soon.” 

For more details about 

staying at Hipping Hall visit: 

www.hippinghall.com 




AKS battlefields 

trip 

By Jessica Heaton | Year 11 

(with a little help from my friends!) 

Keep up to date with the work of AKS history students 

Follow @AKSLythamHist 

On the 12 February, at midnight, whilst most 

AKS students (and teachers for that matter!) 

were asleep, 38 tired but excited Year 11 

students congregated in the AKS car park 

for one of the most touching and emotional 

experiences they would ever have come 

across. 

We headed south for the Eurotunnel at 

Folkestone (a first for many of us) – most of 

us only managing a few hours’ sleep. All in 

good spirits we surfaced from the English 

Channel to be greeted by French Border 

Control. Fortunately, we were all allowed in 

and after a short drive through the flat French 

countryside we arrived at our first destination 

of the trip – Vimy Ridge. 

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military 

engagement fought primarily as part of the 

Battle of Arras, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais 

region of France, during the First World War. 

The main combatants were the Canadian 

Corps, of four divisions, against three 

divisions of the German Sixth Army. 

On approach, our attention was immediately 

drawn to an imposing monument dedicated 

to the Canadians (who still own this land) 

and those who lost their lives whilst gaining 

this territory. The first thing we did was 

have a guided tour around trenches that 

had been preserved for us to see today. The 

trenches were in better condition than those 

experienced by the average soldier, but it 

was still an eye-opening experience into 

understanding just a little bit of a typical 

soldier’s life. ‘Subways’ as the Canadians 

called them, ran beneath the trenches! These 

were a sort of network of tunnels that ran 

beneath the trenches in order to try and wear 

down the opposition. They were dark, damp 

and rather small. 

After the subways, we had the opportunity to 

wander around the Vimy Ridge Memorial. The 

sheer size of this massive memorial made 

entirely out of marble, with each lost soldier’s 

name engraved on it, was extremely moving. 

It was certainly an experience none of us will 

forget. 

After this, we hopped back on the coach 

and made our way to our accommodation 

– Chateau d’Ebblinghem, and after fish and 

chips and a bit of ping pong we decided to get 

some well-deserved rest. 

Our first stop of Day two, was Tyne Cot 

Cemetery, a place where 12,000 allied troops 

were buried and remembered. To me, this 

was the part of the trip that will stay with 

me as long as I live. The vast amount of dead 

soldiers, some of whom were not much 

older than myself was shocking to see and 

experience – some of us even had relatives 

buried there. It truly made us all reflect on 

how lucky we are today. 

In contrast to the sea of white headstones 

at Tyne Cot, we then arrived at Langemark, 

the German cemetery. There were no white 

headstones, instead a few dark grey ones 

littered the ground around us in a space not 

as big as the AKS hockey astro. Possibly even 

more shocking was that one small area of this 

land held 40,000 dead German soldiers in a 

mass grave. All of us could not comprehend 

the unwillingness of the French to allow the 

Germans more land to bury their dead – it 

only seemed right. 

We then headed to 

Passchendaele, the next 

stop of our jam-packed 

trip. The Passchendaele 

Museum housed 

exhibits and life-like 

models including 

replica dug-out rooms 

depicting life of one of 

the bloodiest battles 

of the First World War. 

Many of us even got 

to try on old military helmets and uniform – 

most of us not carrying this off very well! We 

also had the chance to walk around replica 

trenches, experiencing the zig-zag chaos 

of it all – however, in the absence of shells, 

explosions and the general danger that came 

with life in a trench at the time. 

Possibly one of the most intriguing stops of 

our trip was yet to come – Sanctuary Wood. 

This site is one of the few places on the 

Ypres Salient battlefields where an original 

trench layout can be seen which somewhat 

Page 28 


esembles the conditions that many soldiers 

in the First World War had to endure. This 

museum is private, as it belongs to the family 

of a farmer who returned to reclaim his land 

after the war ended. From returning home the 

farmer and later generations preserved this 

section of a British trench system. 

As well as the amazing opportunity we had 

of venturing through the trenches and even 

the dark (or pitch-black to be precise!) 

underground tunnels, this museum is also 

equipped with some fascinating historic 

pieces. One of which was a very interesting 

stereoscope. This equipment allows the user 

to view images from the war with a 3D effect. 

Although some of these images were graphic 

this made it a good experience to grasp an 

insight into the realism of the First World War. 

Sanctuary Wood was a very eye-opening 

experience; the muddy grounds and wet 

weather were an enjoyable aspect of our visit. 

Mr Cowlishaw can sleep soundly knowing that 

none of us purchased one of the live shells on 

offer to buy… 

Then onto Ypres… this was where, in general, 

the allied forces of the British, Canadian and 

the French clashed with German opposition 

in the First World War. As soon as we arrived, 

we were immediately greeted by the sight of 

the architecturally sound Ypres Cloth Hall 

which was rebuilt after being destroyed by 

the Germans. It is an astounding, beautiful 

building housing the In Flanders Field 

Museum. The In Flanders Fields Museum 

presents the story of the First World War in 

the West Flanders front region. It is located 

in the renovated Cloth Hall of Ypres, an 

important symbol of wartime hardship 

and later recovery. The completely new 

permanent exhibition (opening 11 June 2016) 

tells the story of the invasion of Belgium 

and the first months of the mobilisation, 

the four-year trench war in the Westhoek – 

from the beach of Nieuwpoort to the Leie 

in Armentières, the end of the war and the 

permanent remembrance ever since. Olivia’s 

brilliant camera gave everyone a chance to get 

photos to remember the trip by, standing in 

front of this grand building. 

We also managed to sneak in a cheeky 

chocolate stop shop, trying the most amazing 

samples of Belgian chocolate the country had 

to offer. Many of us, if not all, stocked up on 

the treats available: bars of chocolate, Belgian 

waffles dipped in chocolate, pralines, truffles, 

marshmallows, flying saucers – the list was 

endless! 

After having a bit of free time it was time 

for dinner, and chicken and chips was on 

the menu! We then headed down to Menin 

Gate for the Last Post. The imposing, 

yet beautiful Menin Gate was built by Sir 

Reginald Blomfield, to remember those in 

the war, but especially in the battle of Ypres; 

including the names of over 54,000 British 

and Commonwealth soldiers (including many 

family relatives!) 

There were thousands of names that were to 

be remembered. The tune of Reveille played 

by the local orchestra allowed us and the 

other hundreds of people gathered there, to 

remember the fallen. The music was brilliant 

and sent shivers down the spines of everyone 

there. We would look round too for family 

relatives or people from Lancashire, which 

touched the hearts of some. It ended the 

remaining night of the trip on a high. 

We awoke the next day, all packed up and 

ready to go (well, with the last 10 minutes 


before we were due to leave, anyway!). 

We headed to our last destination of the 

Battlefields Trip 2016 – La Coupole. Now made 

into a Second World War museum, it was 

built by Hitler as a V2 rocket launching base 

to target London. After walking through the 

underground bunker, created by prisoners of 

war from surrounding concentration camps 

and watching some insightful and grounding 

videos of war, it was time to leave and head 

for the long journey home – filled with many 

thoughts of what we had seen over the last 

few days. 

Arriving back in England, on the last leg of 

our journey, it all became a little mundane. 

Entertainment was provided by a member of 

our group who insisted on singing his very 

own version of ‘Shine’ by Take That over the 

coach microphone! The group were certainly 

given a run for their money! A fantastic 

few days to start the half term – walking in 

Hitler’s footsteps, experiencing trench life and 

remembering those who had fought to keep 

Great Britain an island nation whilst getting to 

know each other in a different light – creating 

new friendships and 

memories that will 

stay with us forever. 

We cannot thank 

Mr Cowlishaw, Mrs 

Ward, Mr Maund and 

Miss Hanson more 

for providing us with 

such an excellent and 

enjoyable trip. 



Keep up to date with each 

area of our school 

Meet the 

Team 

Meet our 

teachers 

Our very own 

Matron 

Follow: 

@AKSSchool 

@AKSHeadmaster 

@AKSPastoral 

@AKSAcademic 

@AKSHistory 

@AKSArtandDesign 

@AKSComputing 

@AKSScience 

@AKSSport 

@AKSJuniorSport 

@AKSDrama 

@AKSLythamMusic 

@AKSPSHE 

What do you teach and/or what 

other roles do you have at AKS? 

Matron/School Nurse, First Aid 

co-ordinator providing first aid 

cover for all sporting, music and 

drama events, giving advice 

(whether you want it or not) and I 

also teach PHSE. 

How long have you taught/ 

worked at AKS? 

I have been a nurse 23 years and 

worked at AKS for seven 

Where did you teach / work 

or what other jobs did you do 

before coming to AKS? 

Prior to coming to AKS I worked 

for Blackpool Children’s Services 

working within the Complex 

Learning Difficulties Team. My 

first job after qualifying was at 

Lawrence House Prep School as 

Assistant Matron in the boarding 

house. 

What is the best thing about 

teaching/working at AKS? 

The best thing about being a nurse 

is job satisfaction dealing with 

people and not commodities. The 

best thing about AKS is the way 

we come together to celebrate 

achievements no matter how big 

or small. 

Tell us one interesting fact 

about yourself: 

I can’t play a musical instrument 

however in order for me to feel 

part of the Music Department the 

students bought me a triangle. I 

have been reliably informed by the 

students that I am now a world 

class ‘Triangulist’. 

What is your favourite book/ 

movie and why? 

‘Champions’ autobiography by 

Bob Champion. I read it when I 

was 16 and completed a book 

review as part of my English 

GCSE, it was one of the most 

inspiring books I have ever read. 

The book tells the story of one 

man and his fight against cancer, 

it shows that cancer is one of the 

only things in life that doesn’t 

discriminate. Nobody chooses 

cancer, unfortunately cancer 

chooses you! 

Who would you most like to 

meet (past or present) and 

what would you ask them? 

Nelson Mandela - I wouldn’t ask 

him anything I would just say 

thank you! 

Where in the world would you 

most like to visit and why? 

On a stressful day I would like 

a remote island with no phone 

signal. 

What one piece of advice would 

you give the AKS students? 

Find a career that inspires you and 

you will never work a day in your 

life! 

Page 30 



Q&A 

Keep up to date with 

each area of our school 

Follow: 

@AKSSixthForm 

@AKSJuniorSchool 

@AKSNursery 

@AKSLibrary 

@AKSHospitality 

@AKSAction 

@AKS_OAKs 

Mr Shepherd – 

AKS Catering 

Manager 

What do you do at AKS? 

I look after the Junior and 

Senior School food operations, 

this includes student and 

staff dining and internal and 

external hospitality. My role 

is to create the food offer and 

manage a team of 15. The 

role is quite varied including 

finance, health and safety, food 

safety, marketing, training and 

HR but my passion is great 

food. 

How long have you worked 

at AKS? 

One year this month. 

Where did you work or what 

other jobs did you do before 

coming to AKS? 

Leaving school I trained 

in hotel management and 

entered the work environment 

specialising as a chef, I cooked 

in high end restaurants and 

hotels in the UK and southern 

Ireland up to executive chef 

level. I also spent a number of 

years in the business catering 

sector working for an American 

company creating food offers 

for some of the leading UK and 

US companies. 

What is the best thing about 

working at AKS? 

This is my first role in the 

education sector and I can 

honestly say it has been the 

most enjoyable and rewarding 

in my career. The best thing I 

would say is my involvement 

with the AKS Cookery Club, 

experiencing the students’ 

passion for great food and 

learning new craft skills has 

been a real privilege. 

Tell us one interesting fact 

about yourself: 

I was born in the UK but lived 

in Brunei until I was seven 

years old, this has influenced 

my cooking and although I was 

classically trained became a 

huge part in my professional 

cookery career. 

What is your favourite book 

and why? 

‘My Gastronomy’ by Nico 

Ladenis. Published in 1987 I 

got my copy in the early 90s, 

it is a cookery book, but really 

an autobiography of a selftaught 

chef who started in his 

own tiny little bistro, became 

one of the best chefs and 

restauranteurs in the world. 

Who would you most like to 

meet (past or present) and 

what would you ask them? 

Perhaps not to meet but 

experience, maybe Elvis 

Presley’s Las Vegas Concert 

in 1970. I’m not a big fan but it 

must have been an amazing 

time and moment. Although 

they do go on for a while, so I 

rarely have time to watch one 

of them all the way through! 

Where in the world would 

you most like to visit and 

why? 

I love motorbikes and there is 

a tour you can do on a Royal 

Enfield motorcycle through 

the Himalayas, my love of bike 

travel and the culture I could 

experience makes it onto my 

bucket list. 

What one piece of advice 

would you give the AKS 

students? 

To make the most of every 

situation and give your best 

in every role. Thought and 

enthusiasm into the smallest 

of projects can create new 

opportunities. 



Enhancing 

Wellbeing and 

Resilience at 

AKS 

By Allan McKeown 

Assistant Head 

Tougher Minds 

In November we invited a company called 

‘Tougher Minds’ into school to speak to 

our pupils and parents, in Years 11-13. The 

company has created a programme, which 

aims to improve health, happiness and 

overall educational performance. It was voted 

‘Education Initiative of the Year’ at the 2014 

Independent School Association awards, 

and we believe that it fits very well with our 

own ethos, principles and vision for our own 

school’s on-going development. Importantly, 

the programme involves pupils, teachers and 

parents, and we were very fortunate to be the 

first school in the North of England to have 

Follow @AKSPastoral 

secured this affiliation with Tougher Minds, 

which is available only to a limited number of 

carefully selected institutions. 

The evening provided plenty of food for 

thought, as it looked at enhancing motivation, 

concentration and self-confidence, as well as 

increasing the activation of the brain, selfcontrol 

and the power of a growth mindset. 

Following on from the fascinating and popular 

event in November, Tougher Minds came 

in again in February, this time focusing on 

‘Preparing for Examinations – Improving 

Revision and Learning’. 

The evening focused on the 3 Es: 

1. Efficient – this focused on thinking 

about the planning, organisation and 

constantly reflecting on the progress 

made on a weekly basis. 

2. Effort – this focused on getting the brain 

ready to learn (with the right amount 

of sleep, exercise and diet), as well as 

building persistence, self-control and 

determination. 

3. Effective – this focused on the actual 

revision process and various strategies 

involved, such as R2R, cobwebs to cables 

and the 20:20 rule. 

It was a very successful evening, with over 150 

pupils and parents in attendance (from Years 

10-13). Feedback from both pupils and parents 

was very positive and we hope this is the start 

of highly productive relationship between 

ourselves and Tougher Minds! 

Strong Young Minds 

The topic of pupil wellbeing is mentioned 

weekly in the national press and it is something 

we have a great interest in at AKS. Therefore, 

we were delighted to announce our partnership 

with an exciting new North West charity called 

‘Strong Young Minds’ (SYM), who will be 

working with us to further develop our pupils’ 

sense of self-awareness, emotional wellbeing 

and personal initiative. 

SYM bring a range of skills and expertise 

to school including their unique resilience 

coaching programme, called Gr8, which raises 

self-awareness, identifies hidden strengths, 

builds readiness for life and improves selfconfidence. 

A group of Year 9 pupils have just started 

the first wave of resilience coaching and we 

look forward to seeing their progress and the 

results. 

Page 32 


AKS in the 


Community 

Keep up to date with the work of AKS students in the community 

Follow @AKSSixthForm | @AKSAction 

Rock FM’s 

Mission 

Christmas 

After the great success of the shoebox appeal 

for Operation Christmas Child, our AKS Action 

group recently turned its attention onto Rock 

FM’s Mission Christmas campaign. 

As a school, we thought that it was important 

to help disadvantaged children both overseas 

and here in our local area. We often overlook 

the fact that there is poverty in the UK, 

especially on the beautiful Fylde coast, but 

it is a fact and 12,000 children are suffering 

as a result. One in five children are living 

in poverty in Lancashire and at this time of 

year, many families are unable to afford the 

luxury of Christmas. These children deserve 

to feel special at Christmas and we wanted to 

help as many disadvantaged young people in 

Lancashire as we can, to make their day one 

to look forward to. 

Our AKS Action group encouraged pupils 

to bring in gifts for the Mission Christmas 

appeal and our site was also a drop-off point 

for any other donations. The charity Cash For 

Kids paid AKS Action a visit to give us more 

information about Mission Christmas and 

also helped us begin the campaign within 

school. We created posters and boards around 

school promoting the campaign and also 

prepared an assembly to encourage students 

to get involved. The response was fantastic, 

from both the Senior 

and Junior School, and 

we received around 

100 toys and gifts for 

the campaign. On the 

last day of term, 14 

members of AKS Action 

visited the sorting 

warehouse to help get 

the presents ready for 

the children in time for 

Christmas. 

We divided the presents 

into age and gender 

groups before filling bags with gifts for 

schools, day centres and children’s care 

homes in Lancashire. I think all the students 

that attended the warehouse would agree 

that the day was very fulfilling as we could 

see where the donations were going and how 

much of a positive impact they were making. 

Rock FM was also at the sorting warehouse 

and AKS was lucky enough to get a shout-out 

on the radio! 

It was amazing to see the generosity from 

the people of Lancashire as the amount of 

presents donated was astonishing. This 

year, the Mission Christmas appeal received 

£600,000 worth of toys, gifts and donations 

which in turn managed to help 12,000 

children in Lancashire. We are so pleased 

that the campaign had such a great response 

and we would like to say a huge thank you to 

anyone who donated gifts as we know they are 

truly appreciated. 

Linked below is a video that was created 

whilst our AKS Action group were volunteering 

at the warehouse. www.youtube.com/ 

watch?v=FLZu2dL1Heo&feature=youtu.be 



A Marathon Challenge 

for Mrs Roberts 

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AmyRoberts35 

On Sunday 24 April 2016 I will be aiming to complete the London 

Marathon. On a day to day basis we ask the students to challenge 

themselves in all that they do, from grasping the fundamental skills 

at grass roots level to achieving excellence in their chosen field. This 

is now my opportunity to really challenge myself and to take me out 

of my comfort zone. The course is a gruelling 26 miles 385 yards long, 

passing through the streets of London from Blackheath to the famous 

finish line at The Mall. 

I was lucky enough to receive a place at this year’s London Marathon 

running as part of The Royal British Legion team and I am running to 

raise funds for the charity and have set a target of £1,800. 

The Royal British Legion is the UK’s leading Armed Forces charity and 

AKS support the Poppy Appeal each year. The Legion provides life-long 

help, advice and support to members of the Armed Forces, veterans of 

all ages and their families. 

So how can you help? 

You can support Mrs Roberts’ London Marathon challenge by 

donating via her Just Giving page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ 

AmyRoberts35 

Or drop in your donation to the school office. 

Mrs Roberts training hard for her marathon challenge 

Page 34 


School Archive Exhibition 


Appeal for oldest 

alumni and 

memories of 

Phyllis Sanderson 

Former Queen Mary School Pupil 

AKS Independent School, Lytham, is appealing 

for the oldest alumni of its heritage schools 

(King Edward VII and Queen Mary Schools) 

as part of the archives exhibition running 

for a month at Lytham Heritage Centre from 

Tuesday 8 March until 3 April. 

One of the VIP guests at the exhibition will be 

Mrs Phyllis Sanderson (nee Kendal), Queen 

Mary School pupil from 1932-39. She recalls 

travelling to school from her home on Beach 

Road in St Annes by tram along Clifton Drive. 

The girls started at 9.10am, 10 minutes later 

than the King Edward boys, and finished ten 

minutes later at 4.10pm. “We were told this 

was to avoid over-crowding on the trams, but 

we suspected it was to keep the boys and girls 

apart! It was forbidden for Queen Mary girls 

to be seen in uniform with King Edward boys, 

even with their brothers!” 

“In those days the uniform was a brown 

gymslip. My uncle was a tailor and had to get 

a permit from school to buy the right fabric 

and make my uniform. Other items of uniform 

could be obtained from Akroyd and Pryor or 

from Miss Frost’s, both on Park Road, St Annes. 

There was no sports kit in those days; we just 

wore our uniform.” 

One of the highlights of her schooldays was 

the making of the Blue Ensign, the flag which 

was stitched by every Queen Mary pupil in 

1936, and which was presented to the RMS 

Queen Mary. Phyllis, aged 15, was amongst the 

party of 42 QM girls who went to Clydebank to 

hand over the Ensign to Captain Commodore 

Sir Edgar Britten. 

Phyllis remembers seeing a naked man running 

towards them down a flight of stairs until 

he saw the party of girls, and swiftly turned 

tail! She assumed he had been working in the 

engine room. 

Fellow pupil, Norma Meredith, aged 13, wrote: 

“The 12 o’clock whistle blew and 5,000 

workmen streamed off the liner and we were 

actually the first party to go aboard. Up on 

deck we were faced by a battery of press and 

film cameras, close upon 50 of them. Then 

four newsreel cameras and sound apparatus 

recorded the presentation of the Blue Ensign.” 

The story made the front page of the national 

newspapers and was featured on a cigarette 

card, number 44 in a set of 50 about the 

Cunard liner. 

Phyllis has fond memories of her school 

mistresses and was inspired to follow a career 

in teaching herself. She trained at Ripon and 

Phyllis Sanderson 

Former Queen Mary School pupil from 1932-39 

was an infant school teacher at Devonshire 

Road, Mereside and Roseacre Schools, 

eventually becoming Deputy Head at Roseacre 

Infant School. 

If any readers attended Queen Mary or King 

Edward VII Schools in the early days, please 

contact Paul Crouch at AKS on 01253 784100 

or email on paul.crouch@arnoldkeqms.com 



Stories from 

a community 

archive 

By Elizabeth Bickerstaffe 

(Volunteer Archivist and Exhibition 

Coordinator) 

The Schools by the Sea 

They say there’s no use winking at a boy in 

the dark! This exhibition was a chance to 

turn up the lights and show the public some 

of the work which goes on in the archives 

at AKS. 

We hoped that some of the many stories 

featured would demonstrate the importance 

of the schools within the community and 

their role in producing generations of 

‘valued citizens’. 

Perhaps the exhibition has also prompted 

visitors to share memories of their school 

days or to donate photos and memorabilia, 

so that we can conserve them for posterity 

and enrich this unique source of local and 

social history. 

Page 36 



INDIVIDUAL PATHWAYS 

Individual 

Pathways 

Engineering 

Careers 

Follow @AKSCareers 

As part of our commitment to support every pupil 

discover their pathway in life and to be successful 

beyond school and education, we will be hosting a 

number of careers evenings that focus on specific 

industries. 

The first one took place on Monday 7 March in the 

Senior School hall. We were delighted to be able to 

host an Introduction to Engineering, where pupils 

discovered the career opportunities available at 

BAE Systems. Andy Baker, who is the Lead Engineer 

and responsible for Early Careers at BAE, shared 

his advice and expertise as did Emily Richardson, 

Nuclear Engineer and Student Ambassador from 

Lancaster University’s Engineering Department. 

The event was open to all students in Year 10 and 

above. 

Page 38 



No Stopping our DofE 

Award Programme 

Around 

200 

Silver and Gold participants successfully completed their Duke of 

pupils 

Edinburgh’s practice expedition in the Yorkshire Dales this term. 

They coped well with some tough conditions – walking through involved in 

snowdrifts a foot high was a new experience for some and 

DofE at AKS 

camping overnight in freezing conditions to find ice on the tent 

the next morning was quite challenging but all part of the DofE 

experience at AKS. 

67 

Bronze 

Awards 

18 

Silver 

Awards 

= over 

100 

Awards 

19 

Gold 

Awards 

Around 

200 

pupils 

involved in 

DofE at AKS 

52 

Bronze 

67 

Bronze 

Awards 

52over 

Bronze 

18 19 

30 

Silver Gold 

Awards AKS Awards has amongst the highest 

number of Gold participants in 

= 36 

Gold 

Lancashire. 

100 

Pupils in year We also have one of the highest 

Awards 

10 and 12 signing up 

completion rates of all organisations 

offering Duke of Edinburgh in 

Lancashire. 

30 

Gold 36 

Silver 

Pupils in year 10 and 12 signing up 

Silver 

“This achievement is something to be really 

proud of. To put it in perspective, there are 

almost 70 DofE centres in Lancashire.” 

Operations Officer, The DofE – North West 

in addition 



AKS Entrepreneurs to 

Join Dragon and Prince 

at Palace 

A team of talented entrepreneurs from AKS in Lancashire have 

advanced to the final of Peter Jones CBE’s national enterprise 

competition, Tycoon in Schools 2015. 

Comprised of six Sixth Form boys, Essence Candles earned £2,725 

profit selling scented candles made from eco-friendly soya wax. 

They attended a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 14 March, 

where the overall winners were crowned by the Dragons’ Den star and 

HRH The Duke of York. 

Team member Thomas Mathews, 17, said: “We were so excited to 

receive the news that the team have made it into the finals of the 

competition in London at Buckingham Palace! Essence would like to 

take this opportunity to personally thank everyone involved, we really 

couldn't have done it without all the support of our parents, friends, 

customers and teachers at AKS. Thanks again!” 

The pupils decided to take part in the competition to better their 

understanding of entrepreneurship in a real-life setting. 

They began by ordering their products online, but found that this 

caused delays and so instead sourced what they needed locally, which 

allowed them to sample fragrances before purchasing. 

The proactive group sold the 

candles at various local events 

and took orders via social 

media. 

They are donating all profits to 

Fylde Sharks Swimming Club 

and AKS Action – a charity launched by their school to help address 

various social issues in Tanzania. 

Thomas continued: “We were all incredibly excited to be part of this 

challenge and knew that our determination would be key to our 

success. Our team consisted of six highly motivated individuals keen to 

better our understanding of entrepreneurship within the real world.” 

“We believed that Essence Candles would become something very 

special and potentially exploit a huge gap in the candle market locally. 

We never thought it would be as successful as it has been though, or 

how much we would learn about business and ourselves.” 

Tycoon in Schools challenges youngsters to set up their own real-life 

businesses using a loan of up to £1,000 provided by the Peter Jones 

Foundation. They then raise as much profit as possible during a sevenweek 

trading period. 

Once trading is over, teams submit detailed evaluation reports to Mr 

Jones, who picks the winners from each key stage category as well as 

one overall champion. 

As well as Tycoon in Schools, the Peter Jones Foundation runs the Peter 

Jones Enterprise Academy, which delivers courses in enterprise and 

entrepreneurship at colleges across the country. 

Essence Candles outside Buckingham Palance waiting to see HRH The Duke of York and Peter Jones CBE 

Page 40 


AKS Senior School 

Open Evening 

It was great to open the Senior School for visitors to see 

our broad co-curricular programme and to find out how we 

support every student to discover their own pathways to 

success. Below are a couple of pieces of feedback from the 

evening: 

“Thank you so much for tonight’s sessions, our daughter 

enjoyed herself so much and we look forward to having the 

chance to do ballroom dancing and yoga as an after school 

option plus model making at lunchtimes next year. A great 

experience and fabulous selection.” 

“Just wanted to drop you a message to say how much I 

enjoyed being a part of the open evening. It was a fantastic 

idea having all the sporting events on at the same time, it 

gave the event a great atmosphere. The school gels so well 

together, it’s great to see and great to be a part of. It also 

gives all the years a chance to mix and learn about each 

other in a more relaxed environment. Plus, they’re great 

fun!” 

The Extended 

Project 

Qualification (EPQ) 

Follow @AKSSixthForm 

By Alyx C 

This year, the Lower Sixth are embarking 

upon a new assignment: the Extended Project 

Qualification. The EPQ is a research project, in 

which each student has the chance to explore a 

topic of interest. It is a largely self-directed and 

self-motivated project where 

we have the opportunity to 

develop our knowledge on 

subjects we are passionate 

about. The chosen topic 

can help us develop and 

extend on one of our A level 

subjects or investigate a 

course we wish to pursue 

after Sixth Form. Not only is 

the EPQ a platform to help 

us study independently, and 

improve our vital research skills, but it is also 

a stand alone qualification, and is worth more 

UCAS points than an AS level. Universities value 

students with a thorough and comprehensive 

EPQ as it illustrates the candidate’s passion for 

the subject. The University of Cambridge stated 

“an EPQ is undoubtedly of general educational 

value and helps the transition from school to 

university”. 

I wish to study a law degree after Sixth Form, 

and so I have chosen to investigate into the 

area of sports arbitration, specifically how the 

sports industry can prevent fraud in athletics. 

I am looking forward to delving into the issues 

of bribery and doping, especially 

with the Olympics coming up this 

summer, to see if there is any way 

of avoiding fraud within major 

competitions. Kira B, who hopes 

to pursue a career in midwifery, is 

researching the misconceptions of 

the profession: “My EPQ topic means 

I get the chance to understand 

midwifery a lot better, as it is not 

a topic covered at GCSE or A level. 

Hopefully my EPQ will help me 

prepare for whichever university I wish to attend. 

It will also show my commitment and dedication 

to becoming a midwife.” 

To prepare for our EPQ, we have initially used 

a MOOC from FutureLearn to help us pinpoint 

our topic and hypothesis. This is an online 

course that has provided us with tips and 

advice on the best ways to find reliable and 

relevant information, and also how to plan 

our EPQ efficiently. The course also gives us 

the opportunity to share ideas with fellow 

researchers from all over the world and to receive 

peer feedback on our projects. Lewis E, who 

has an interest in aviation, is it enjoying the 

process: “I am studying the effects of the early 

transatlantic flights on the industry today and I 

am looking forward to broadening my knowledge 

around the subject. The MOOC has provided me 

with a good head start to make the most of my 

EPQ.” 

We hope that the project will provide us with the 

skills that universities look for, to help us stand 

out from the crowd and we are eager to enjoy 

the freedom of working with our own ideas and 

methods. 


SUCCESS AND VALUE 

AKS 

Sporting 

Highlights 

National selection 

Keep up to date with our sporting news 

Follow @AKSSport | @AKSJuniorSport 

Whilst many were putting their feet up and 

enjoying the festive break, four top AKS 

Sports Scholars were testing their sporting 

skills at the highest level. 

For footballers Alex Clayton and Isaac 

Eastham, they had national training camps 

for their respective U15 and U16 National 

ISFA squads at the FA training centre at St 

George’s Park, Burton on Trent. As well as skill 

development sessions, goalkeeper Alex played 

against the Birmingham City and Leicester 

City Academy sides, whilst Isaac played in 

the midfield against Birmingham City and 

Norwich City. Both boys are looking forward to 

the start of the AKS football season, as well as 

future involvement with their ISFA squads. 

AKS 1st XV rugby captain, Ellis Whorlton- 

Jones, took part in the North of England U18 

trial just after Christmas. Having missed the 

last two years due to a long-term injury, Ellis 

played for the Lancashire U18 side, which 

provided nine 

players for 

the trial. The 

day involved 

a rigorous 

assessment of 

skills and game 

understanding 

before playing 

in the trial held 

in Leeds. Ellis, along with a strong contingent 

of seven team-mates from the Red Rose 

County gained their selection for the North of 

England U18 team to play against a combined 

Newcastle Falcons and Leeds Carnegie 

Academy team before playing the Midlands in 

an England trial in February. 

Hockey player Mollie Mason has been in 

terrific form for the AKS 1st XI, despite only 

being an U15 player. Her skills and tenacity 

have been both recognised and rewarded as 

she attended a North of England Development 

Camp. Mollie, who 

attended the English 

Schools Athletics 

Championships last 

summer, has now 

been selected for the 

England U16 Hockey High Performance 

Assessment Camp. 

This involved four tough days of training prior 

to Christmas with the most talented young 

hockey players from all over the country, led 

by England coaches, and aims to give players 

first-hand experience of an international 

training camp environment in preparation for 

potential future involvement in the England 

Junior squad. 

Page 42 



U13 Hockey 

team crowned 

Lancashire 

Champions 

AKS U13 hockey A team are celebrating after 

being crowned Lancashire U13 Champions 

after a nail-biting finish to the National 

Schools Tournament and they now go on to 

represent Lancashire in the North of England 

semi-final in March. 

In their first game against Rossall nerves were 

settled when we went ahead in the first half 

through a Hannah T goal after good play from 

Farrah D. Things 

got even better 

when Farrah got 

on the score 

sheet herself 

with a great 

corner strike to 

make it 2-0. We 

continued to 

dominate and 

when another 

driving run down 

the right from 

Hannah T saw 

her find Millie D 

who put a great 

pass across the circle and Sophie B was in the 

perfect spot to sweep home to make it 3-0 at 

the break. 

The second half saw Rossall have chances of 

their own and only good defending by Amy I 

at the back and good goalkeeping by Tara W 

maintained our lead. We created more scoring 

chances and came close on several occasions 

but failed to add to our tally and at the final 

whistle we had to settle for a 3-0, the perfect 

start to our campaign. 

Our second game against rivals Kirkham was 

a much closer affair. We started well and had 

the best of the early exchanges with Sophie 

B coming close in the fourth minute. A strong 

driving run from Farrah D saw her split the 

Kirkham defence and deliver a great pass to 

Sophie whose shot went agonisingly wide. 

Kirkham then enjoyed chances of their own 

and only sound defending by Hannah T, Amy 

I and Annaleise H thwarted their efforts to 

score and at half-time the scores were level 

at 0-0. The second half went the way of 

the first with both teams creating chances 

and defending well and at the final whistle 

honours were even and the teams had to 

settle for sharing the points with a 0-0 draw. 

Our third game saw us against Lancaster 

Grammar, who had won their previous two 

games, so we knew we were going to be in for 

a tough game. We played some great hockey 

in the first half, passing the ball well and 

dominating possession and we deservedly 

went ahead when Sophie B was again on 

hand to sweep the ball home after a good 

cross from Hannah T on the right. The rest of 

the half saw us create several more chances 

but great goalkeeping by the Lancaster GK 

kept the ball out of the net and the score 

remained 1-0 into the break. The second half 

saw nerves creep into our play and Lancaster 

started to enjoy some possession of their 

own. Lancaster passed the ball well and began 

to threaten our goal but again good defending 

and goalkeeping by Tara W maintained our 

lead. We continued to dominate down the 

right but despite our best efforts we could not 

ease the nerves with a second goal and we 

were happy to hear the final whistle with the 

score at 1-0. 

With one game to go we knew a win would 

see us qualify for the next round of the 

competition but with close results in all the 

tournament matches we knew Lytham, our 

next opponents, would pose a big challenge. 

We started the match well with Farrah D 

dominant in the middle and Hannah T and 

Hattie R on the right but determined tackling 

by the Lytham defenders made it difficult for 

us to create any clear goalscoring chances in 

the opening minutes. Rebecca H worked hard 

up front to win the ball and we had a couple 

of shots before the break but were frustrated 

by great saves from the Lytham keeper and at 

half-time the scores were level at 0-0. 

Knowing only a win would do we continued 

to press and our pressure eventually paid off 

when we went ahead with another Sophie 

B goal early in the second half. Eager to 

keep the lead we 

pressed forward for 

another goal but 

this at times left the 

Lytham forwards 

unmarked and only 

frantic and at times 

desperate defending 

from Annaleise H and 

Amy I stopped them 

getting any clean 

shots on target and 

at the final whistle 

we were celebrating a 

1-0 win and remaining 

undefeated throughout 

the tournament and in fact not conceding a 

goal. 

With one round of matches still to play we 

knew we had qualified for the next round of 

the tournament but whether it was to be as 

winners or runners-up was all dependent 

on Kirkham’s final game. Kirkham played 

Lancaster knowing a 2-0 victory would win 

the top spot but after a very close game they 

could only manage a 1-0 win and so with 

points, goal difference and goals scored all 

equal the tournament was to be decided on 

the dreaded penalties! 

Continued... 



Continued from page 43 

With everyone watching on Kirkham opted to 

go first. A well placed stroke gave Tara W in 

goal no chance so the pressure was on Farrah 

D to keep us on terms but she coolly stepped 

up and delivered an unstoppable stroke into 

the corner to make it 1-1. Kirkham’s second 

player stepped up and great anticipation 

from Tara enabled her to make a great save 

out wide. The pressure was on for Sophie B to 

score and she duly did so with a superb push 

into the corner to make it 2-1. Kirkham’s final 

player scored well to make things level at 2-2 

so it was now left to our final taker Millie D to 

score or it would go to sudden death strokes. 

Millie D stepped up and, cool as a cucumber, 

delivered the ball perfectly into the corner of 

the goal giving the Kirkham keeper no chance 

of reaching it and making it 3-2 to AKS and 

everyone celebrated as we were Lancashire 

U13 Champions. 

A superb tournament with five excellent 

teams playing some fantastic hockey and 

with one goal deciding many of the games 

and the top positions being decided on 

strokes it could not have been closer. The 

girls did themselves proud coming out on 

top and can now look forward to the North 

West semi-finals on 8 March. 

The AKS 

B team 

participated 

in the B 

Tournament 

Which was just as close with one goal deciding 

each game and any of the three teams could 

have been won. 

Our first game against Lytham saw us start 

really well and dominate possession to create 

a number of chances but our shots went just 

wide or were saved by the Lytham keeper. We 

won several corners but again a lack of power 

in our shots enabled the Lytham defence and 

keeper to keep the ball out of the net and 

at the break the scores were level at 0-0. In 

the second half Lytham gained in confidence 

and started to pass the ball more effectively 

and create chances of their own but good 

goalkeeping from Verity W kept the ball out 

of the net. We had further opportunities with 

Lucy R and Amelia L lively up front but it was 

Lytham who broke the deadlock late in the 

game when a great pass from the right found 

a player free in front of goal and her first time 

shot flew into the net giving Verity no chance. 

With time ticking by we did have another 

opportunity but again found the Lytham 

keeper in good form and at the final whistle 

the score was 1-0 to Lytham. 

Our second game against Kirkham saw us 

defend well and create some great chances 

to score. We started well and brought a good 

save from the Kirkham keeper in the first few 

minutes. Ellie B on the left linked well with 

Lucy R but again our attempts on goal were 

thwarted by the Kirkham defence. We then 

had to work hard in defence ourselves as 

Kirkham pushed forward but solid tackling 

and good goalkeeping kept the ball out and at 

half-time the scores were level at 0-0. 

The second half was very even with both sides 

having opportunities to score but again a lack 

of power in our shots enabled the Kirkham 

defence to keep a clean sheet and again 

determined defending by our whole team also 

saw us limit Kirkham’s chances and at the 

final whistle the scores remained level at 0-0. 

With nothing to choose between AKS and 

Kirkham we shared runners-up spot behind 

winners Lytham. 

Page 44 


AKS Senior 

Hockey Squad 

second best in 

Lancashire 



The AKS Senior hockey team played in the 

Lancashire U19 Tournament and it was a superb 

last tournament for the four Year 13 students, 

captains Emily G and Darley H, Amelia B and 

Rachel H representing the 

school for the seventh year 

with a great display of fast, 

flowing hockey. 

The opening game again 

proved to be the crucial 

one against arch rivals 

Kirkham and as always it 

was a very close affair with 

both teams playing fast 

flowing hockey. Kirkham 

started the better and in 

only the second minute 

Alanis P pulled off a great 

save to deny them an 

opening goal. This inspired 

the team and superb, 

battling defending by 

everyone saw us thwart 

the Kirkham forwards 

and we started to create 

chances of our own. In 

the 11th minute we had a 

golden opportunity to go in front when a great 

run from Lucy R on the right saw her find space 

in the circle and she delivered a perfect cross 

which found Jess S on the left but she just failed 

to make contact and the chance went begging. 

In an end to end game we were again grateful for 

a great save from Alanis P just before the break 

and at half-time the scores were locked at 0-0. 

Kirkham again came at us from the whistle but 

Alanis started the second half as she did the 

first, pulling off an amazing double save in the 

second minute to keep the scores level and then 

excellent closing down on the right by Libby B 

saw us win a corner. A great reverse stick shot 

from Darley H at the corner saw the Kirkham 

keeper pull off a good save and the game looked 

destined to be a draw. 

That was until the last two minutes when 

Kirkham won a corner and a slick simple routine 

saw them drill the ball into the corner and with 

no time to respond this sealed an unlikely win 

for Kirkham after a very close fought game. 

With everything to play for we put the defeat 

behind us and started our second game against 

Stonyhurst College well. A great aerial pass from 

Molly M found Darley H on the run behind the 

Stonyhurst defence but she saw her shot well 

saved by the keeper. Stonyhurst then enjoyed 

a period of possession in which they earnt 

two corners but sound corner defence saw us 

maintain our clean sheet. 

We almost went ahead when Emily G put a great 

ball through into the circle and Darley had two 

reverse shots saved and at the break the scores 

were level 0 – 0. 

We again started the second half well and began 

to dominate down the right through Macy C 


and Libby B and in the first minute Darley H 

was close to opening the scoring when another 

fantastic reverse shot flew just wide. 

A rare lapse in concentration at the back gifted 

Stonyhurst the ball but again a fine save from 

Alanis P kept the scores level. Alanis could 

do nothing, however, when Stonyhurst won a 

corner and scored with a deflection to make it 

1-0 in the fourth minute. With nothing to lose we 

raised our game and within a minute we almost 

drew level when Darley again got a shot away 

only to see it saved once again. 

With the keeper playing well it took a piece of 

individual brilliance from Mollie M to beat her. 

Mollie collected the ball on the halfway line, 

drove forwards beating several Stonyhurst 

defenders, before launching an unstoppable 

shot into the top corner of the goal to 

deservedly make it 1-1 in the sixth minute. Both 

teams bought saves from the keepers in the 

final minutes of the game but once again AKS 

were grateful for yet more amazing saves from 

Alanis P to keep the ball out of the net and at 

the final whistle the score was 1-1. 



Our final 

game was our 

closest with 

the result... 



being decided in the final minutes of the game 

after we had been pegged back twice. We 

started well against Rossall and in the fourth 

minute we took the lead after a superb run 

from Macy C on the right saw her outpace the 

Rossall defenders and then deliver a perfect 

cross for Mollie M to drill home to make it 1-0. 

Rossall enjoyed good possession in the middle 

of the pitch with their German students 

showing great individual skills and they had 

chances of their own but again Alanis P was in 

inspired form to the keep the ball out. In the 

eighth minute, however, excellent play from 

the lively Rossall midfield player saw her go 

round several defenders before giving Alanis 

no chance and the scores were level at 1-1. 

We once again raised our game and Mollie 

M showed her own skills by beating several 

players just outside the circle before laying 

the ball off to Darley H in front of goal and she 

made no mistake in finding the net to make it 

2-1 at the break. 

Rossall started the second half the better 

putting us under tremendous pressure and 

they got reward for their efforts when they 

forced us into some rushed defending and 

they pegged us back again to make it 2-2 in 

only the third minute. 

The team then showed real character in the 

last 10 minutes of the game as, not happy 

with a draw they pushed for a win to end the 

tournament on a high. Darley H had another 

shot fly wide and Alanis P pulled off another 

save before a superb passing goal won us the 

game. 

The ball started at the back when Amelia B 

found the other Amelia B on the left. Her pass 

found Jess S with space on the left and she 

found Darley who used her pace to outrun the 

Rossall defender and then put in a fantastic 

reverse stick pass which found Libby B in 

the circle and she coolly pushed it past the 

keeper on the second attempt to regain the 

lead. With only minutes to go we continued to 

play in their half of the pitch and at the final 

whistle we were celebrating not only a win but 

a superb final performance and three great 

goals. 

Player of the Tournament was Alanis P 

who pulled off a string of amazing saves 

in every game which definitely kept us in 

each game on many occasions. Her inspired 

performances come after a season of hard 

work in training and her performances have 

also been recognised in wider circles as she 

has been invited to attend North of England 

U21 Trials this term. 

The team deservedly took second spot in the 

Lancashire Tournament and it was a fantastic 

display of hockey from the whole squad. 

The team performances not only reflect the 

progress and commitment of the Year 13 

players who were participating in their last 

ever school tournament after seven years of 

commitment to the school but also bodes well 

for the years ahead with 10 younger Year 10 

and 11 players included in the Senior squad. 

The future definitely looks bright on the 

hockey scene at AKS. 

Page 46 


AKS Swimming Gala was a 

huge splash! 

By Kirtika | Year 3 

Keep up to date with our junior sporting news 

Follow @AKSJuniorSport 

AKS had a swimming gala on 15 January at the Palatine Leisure Centre. 

We were asked to arrive early at school on the day. The teachers told 

us what races we were in. The parents were invited to cheer us on. We 

were expected to bring our swimming kit. 

We arrived on the day early with excitement. We boarded two coaches 

and went to the Palatine Leisure Centre. When we got there we all got 

changed into our swimming costume. We were put into four separate 

houses – Leighton (Blue), Samlesbury (Red), Gawthorpe (Green) and 

Rufford (Yellow). 

Mr Hodgkinson blew the whistle to start all the races and Mr Briers 

announced the winners. There were separate races for boys and girls 

in each year group. There were also mixed races and relays. The races 

included front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, freestyle, 

relays and the horse race. 

Junior girls win the Plate at 

the AJIS tournament 

Recently our U11 girls took part in the annual AJIS hockey tournament 

with 17 independent schools competing from around the North West of 

England. AKS were drawn in a difficult group with Manchester High and 

Cheadle Hulme along with two other schools. 

The first match against Manchester was dominated by our girls with 

the opposition’s keeper having to make several fine saves. However, 

with only five seconds remaining they broke away and scored the 

winner with their only attack of the game. Cheadle Hulme were our 

next opponents and this was a very even game with both sides creating 

chances. Madeleine made a couple of excellent saves in goal but 

neither team could score. 

The final two group games were dominated by AKS with some lovely 

attacking hockey being played. Against Oldham Hulme Eleanor drilled 

home a penalty corner and Gabriella finished well at the far post. A 

2-0 victory here was followed by a 4-0 win in the final game against 

Alderley Edge. Two more cool finishes from Gabriella were added to 

by a lovely goal from Beth, beating a player at the top of the D before 

finishing clinically in the corner. Prisha added the fourth after a strong 

run down the right. 


I took part in front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke and the relays. I 

enjoyed all the races and won them too! At the end Ms Allen awarded 

the prizes to the winners. The parents cheered everyone during the 

races. The winners of the AKS Swimming Gala were Gawthorpe. 

After the gala we were happy and exhausted. I felt really tired. Overall it 

was a great event full of fun and excitement. 

Unfortunately our group results meant we were out of the running 

for the main trophy but we now had the chance to win the Plate 

Competition. A resounding 4-0 win in the quarter final against 

Birkenhead with goals from Gabriella (2), Prisha and Beth set up a 

semi-final against St Bede’s. 

The semi was dominated again by AKS with St Bede’s defending 

resolutely. Their goalkeeper was simply superb making save after save. 

As the game looked like it was heading for a draw and penalties, a 

brilliant run from Gabriella set up Prisha to score from close range and 

AKS were in the final. 

The final was against Kirkham Grammar’s B team and AKS were on the 

front foot from the off. Fine work from Lucy set up a penalty corner 

and once again Eleanor drilled 

home the opener. AKS continued 

to attack and Prisha sealed the 

victory with the second goal, 

leaving our girls as the Plate 

Winners. Thanks must go to 

Miss Raby for her excellent 

advice from the sidelines and 

our parents for their support on 

the day. The girls played with 

real pride and progressed as 

a team on the day. Their final 

tournament of the season is at 

Stonyhurst this Wednesday. 



Other 

News 

AKS Ladies 

Luncheon 

Club 

Ladies Luncheon Club upcoming 

speakers: 

27 April: 

Canon Robert Brunswick ‘The Law is 

an Ass’ 

25 May: 

Betsy the Scullery Maid has been 

promoted to Housekeeper 

19 October: 

Coffee morning and A.G.M. at AKS 

Thank You PFA! 

Over the past two years events held by AKS Parents’ and Friends’ Association have funded over 

£26,000 of donations for the pupils of AKS. We have been able to fund:- 

• New Junior School Playground 

• New Year 11 Common Room 

• New Careers Room 

• Woodwind and String Music Schemes for Juniors 

• Seating for Sixth Form Centre 

• Junior School Cricket Team Kit 

• Football Goals and Equipment 

• Hockey Goalkeeper Kit 

• Tents for Duke of Edinburgh 

• Camera and Video Camera for Art and English Dept 

• GoPro Camera for School Trips 

• Learning Support Exam Pens 

• Playhouse, Wall Art and Learning Mats for Nursery 

• New Bikes, Trikes and Scooters for Infants 

• Garden Club for Nursery 

• Picnic Benches for Seniors 

We would like to thank all the parents for their continued support at PFA events and look forward to 

seeing you at our upcoming events. 

SAVE THE DATE 

Parents and Friends Association 

PFA Car Boot Sale both May Bank Holiday Mondays, 7am at AKS 

Easter Fair Sunday 20 March 2-4pm AKS Junior Hall 

Car Fest and Summer Fair Sunday 12 June, 12-3pm at AKS 

Junior School Woodwind Scheme 

The Music Department is delighted to be able to purchase 15 flutes and 15 clarinets for our pupils to 

learn as part of their class music lessons, thanks to the kind generosity of the PFA. This purchase will 

allow us to follow on from the successful violin scheme in the juniors, which is now in its second year. 

The recent Junior School concerts 

have shown the progress made by 

our junior violinists with the Year 

3 class, the string group and the 

orchestra all playing impressively. 

We are now aiming to build on this 

success with the introduction of 

our woodwind scheme and we are 

very grateful to the PFA for their 

generosity in funding the purchase 

of the new instruments. 

Any ladies wishing to join us, are 

invited to contact our Booking 

Secretary, Mrs Debbie Bevis, on 

01995 679379, or email 

debbie.bevis@btinternet.com 

JOIN US! 

Everyone is welcome to join the PFA and we are always looking for new and 

dynamic members. For more information or if you have any questions then 

please do contact Jordanna at: jordanna.1@hotmail.co.uk or find us on the 

community section of the school website. 

Page 48 


Diary 

Dates 

March 

Please find a snapshot of calendar dates 

taken from our website – plus some hot 

picks of upcoming events we think you 

may particularly like to note! 

Keep up to date with all activities and 

events for the coming term at AKS via our 

online calendar: 

www.arnoldkeqms.com/ 

CALENDAR/School-Calendar 

Hot 

Picks 


Upcoming events 

23 March 

Junior School Concert with Yr 3 Strings 

17 May 

Yrs 6 and 7 Senior School Taster Day 

April 

23 March - 3 April 

Schools by the Sea Exhibition 

17 April 

Alumni Sports, Hockey and Rugby 1st Teams 

19 April 

Junior School Open Afternoon, 1.30pm - 5pm 

20 April 

Australia Fashion Show 

23 & 24 April 

St George’s Day Parade and Family Day 

27 April 

Fylde and Wryre Together 

Community Network, 2pm - 5pm 

29 April 

RNLI Day plus an Evening of Swing, 7.30pm 

2 May 

AKS PFA Car Boot Sale, 7am 

5 May 

Senior Sports Awards, 7.00pm 

13 May 

Tea Time Concert, 5pm 

25 May 

Senior School Sports Day 

26 May 

Upper Sixth Celebration Evening, 7.30pm 

30 May 

AKS PFA Car Boot Sale 

12 June 

PFA Car Fest and Summer Fair 12-3pm 

15 June 

Social Translation Evening with Taz, 6.30-8pm 

25 June 

Lytham Club Day 

28 June 

Junior School Summer concert 

5 July 

Senior School Prize-Giving, 7.15pm 

6 July 

Junior School Prize-Giving, 6.30pm 

9 July 

St Annes Carnival 


Thank 

you! 

To all parents, staff, pupils 

and friends of AKS who make 

our school such a vibrant and 

successful community. 

If you would like to contribute to our termly newsletter please 

get in touch with us at info@arnoldkeqms.com 

Page 50 


Get in 

Touch 

HOW TO APPLY TO AKS 

At AKS, we welcome pupils from age 2 to 18. 

Enquiries from prospective families are welcome 

at any time, and if you are thinking of joining us, 

please contact our Admissions Office: 

E: admissions@arnoldkeqms.com 

or 

T: 01253 784100 

We welcome applications at any stage of the year. 

SCHOLARSHIPS 

Scholarships are awarded with transparency, 

honesty and consistency, in keeping with the 

school’s values and principles; they reward 

commendably high achievement in a number of 

areas. Scholarship awards represent a percentage 

reduction in annual fees and are not dependent 

upon family income, nor are they negotiable. The 

maximum scholarship award is 10% for any child. 

Scholarships awarded in Year 7 remain with 

the pupil throughout their entire Senior School 

career, including Sixth Form, as long as respective 

achievement in the scholarship discipline, as 

well as general conduct, remain appropriately 

deserving. 

Visit our website for full details: 

www.arnoldkeqms.com/admissions/ 

scholarships 

COME AND VISIT US 

To arrange a visit please contact us at the school 

via the details below. You can also get a flavour of 

our school by reading the Headmaster’s and our 

Head Students’ blogs. You can also connect with 

us on social media. 

CONNECT WITH US ONLINE 

Website: 


Headmaster’s blog: 

http://aksheadmastersblog.co.uk/category/ 

heads-blog/ 

Facebook: 

www.facebook.com/AKSSchoolLytham 

Twitter: 

@AKSSchool 

LinkedIn: 

You can also find AKS Lytham on LinkedIn 

(ArnoldKEQMS Independent School) 

Visit our 


Website for 

Scholarship 

Information: 

www.arnoldkeqms.com/ADMISSIONS/ 

Scholarships 

SENIOR SCHOOL 

T: 01253 784100 

JUNIOR SCHOOL 

T: 01253 784110 

NURSERY 

T: 01253 784130 

Please send email enquiries to info@arnoldkeqms.com – we will direct your message accordingly. 

AKS Lytham Independent School, Clifton Drive South, Lytham St Annes, FY8 1DT 



SAVE THE DATE 

19 april 


Individualised 

learning, because 

we’re all individuals 

Get the best possible start from AKS Lytham 

an aks learner is: 

Collaborative 

Determined Independent 

Confident 

Junior School 

Open Afternoon 

From Nursery to Year 6 

Tuesday 19 April 

1.30pm to 5pm 

AKS Lytham Junior School, FY8 1DT 

Motivated 

Reflective 

Responsible 

Respectful enquiring 

Risk Taking 

come and say hello 


info@arnoldkeqms.com 

T: 01253 784100 

Independent education for ages 2-18 

academic ambition | individual pathways | success and value

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