Expanding our Co-curricular Offering

In its first term of development, Entrepreneur Club has been open to Lower Sixth pupils. The Club was established as part of the My Future Programme and aims to give pupils an insight into what it takes to set up and run a successful business.

Students heard from OL Oliver Sanchez Fretz (School House 2012–2017) about his experience setting up and running his own lighting and video products business Fretz Productions Ollie studied Economics, Politics and History for A Level and went on to study Modern History after a gap year working. He credits Lancing for giving him confidence and interpersonal skills which have been essential in setting up and building his business. During his talk he discussed how the pandemic had impacted his business and his ambitions for the future. Students were engaged and asked insightful questions about different aspects of his business.

Following the talk, students were inspired to set up their own pop-up business using Lancing’s own catering vehicle ‘Polly’. The early brainstorming has seen them discuss location, dates, pricing and product approach, supply chain and market research. Watch this space for more news on what the Entrepreneur Club gets up to!

Lacrosse has been introduced this term as a unique opportunity for students to play an alternative sport at Lancing. As a mixed sport, lacrosse is open to everybody at both the junior and senior level. So far, lacrosse has attracted students with a range of experience all of whom have enjoyed the chance to play a mixed team sport and develop new skills including passing, cradling, shooting and more. There’s also plenty of room to grow at both age groups and we hope to give students the opportunity to play some matches in the future.

Ted Farr, Graduate Sports Assistant

Origami Club

Origami Club was set up for the Summer Term to promote a hands-on activity that enhances awareness of the present moment. Origami is also helping all participants practise withholding judgement while learning a new task which is essential for good mental health.

The club is run by Third Form student, Rou Leadbetter, and supported by the Learning Support Team. So far, we’ve made lotus flowers, popcorn pouches, foxes, frogs, presentation boxes and a range of other animals including snakes and cats!

Other than Rou, all club participants were amateurs and new to origami. What is wonderful about the club is how quickly

Nature and Ecology Club

student skills develop and grow. All club participants have found mastering the Japanese paper-folding art challenging but have relished the opportunity. There have been some complex paper-folding projects that we have put to the side as we develop our skills, and in other sessions we have managed surprisingly complex patterns. Everyone enjoys the friendly, open, and welcoming atmosphere of Origami Club and the opportunity to try something new, get something wrong and find another way of completing the project.

Claire Martin, Head of Learning Support

Lancing College has grounds rich in plant and animal life and offers the opportunity to observe nature throughout the seasons. The Nature and Ecology Club follows the cycle of life through the year, from learning how to identify trees in winter to pond dipping in the spring. We have some amazing trees on campus, and students have been fascinated to discover that they can identify a tree, even when not in leaf, in the depths of winter. The ponds in our biology garden are teeming with invertebrate life, which transform into fantastic beasts when viewed under the microscope. We have established ‘invertebrate hotels’, where these organisms are able to hibernate, and have set up bird feeders to support birds during the colder months, and when they are feeding their nestlings in the spring. Springtime brings an abundance of wildflowers to the grounds and the surrounding paths, from the first Snowdrops and Primroses to the gorgeous English Bluebells (not to be confused with the larger, paler Spanish Bluebells). Students are able to practise their plant identification skills on these beautiful specimens!

We are keen to set aside part of the biology garden to be sown with wildflowers, as this will increase the biodiversity of both plants and invertebrates, which in turn should increase the number and diversity of birds visiting the garden. Sowing seeds has been an enjoyable activity for the students this year and was appreciated by a visiting mouse to the greenhouse who ate all the sweet pea seeds! Although unfortunate, this pilfering offered an opportunity to use humane traps to capture and identify the guilty species. However, this murine thief was able to slip the net!

I am looking forward to the second year of the Nature and Ecology Club and hope to have more students joining us in exploring the natural environment of Lancing College.

Dr Amanda Currie, Learning Support Teacher