LCHS is hosting a conference in March called ROTA.  This will be the 28th Annual Conference, which is for Year 12 students from our partner schools in Belgium, Germany, Holland and Spain, together with some of our own students.

Part of the experience for the visitors is to stay with a family and learn about life in the UK and perhaps brush up their English - though they can usually speak it pretty well!

We have 60 students (plus teachers) to find beds for, so we are looking for people to volunteer to host one or two students from these countries for 24 - 30th March 2019.  They do not necessarily need their own bedroom or facilities and will be happy to "muck in" with your family life.  During the day they will be in school or on trips and on several evenings they will also be occupied.  Many meals are also provided for them, but we are offering £50 per student to help defray your costs.

If your son or daughter would like to take part when they are in Year 12 (next year in Spain, the following year in Belgium and so on) they will be given preference when it comes to selecting the participants if you have been able to offer accommodation this year.  If they are currently in Year 12 and wish to take part this year (including trips to the Houses of Parliament - in Brexit week - in London and the Galleries of Justice and the Caves in Nottingham all at no cost!) please send them to see me, as we still have some places.

If you think you might be able to offer accommodation, please contact me for more details.

Mark Edgar
Director of Sixth Form
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Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award for working to bring the world into the classroom.

Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award for working to bring the world into the classroom.

The International School Award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life and work.

Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School’s international work includes long-term partnerships with schools in ten countries, one created in 1991. In 2017-2018, the year for which this award has been made our school took part in two Erasmus+ projects. ROTA is a partnership with Belgian, Dutch, German, and Spanish schools which started in 1991. CED+ has evolved since 1995 with schools in the Czech Republic, Denmark and France. There is also a well established link with Lincoln’s partner city of Tangshan which began in 1997. Other relevant projects in school have included a focus on the Holocaust, Remembrance events and participation in а RAF event with pupils trying their skills in Arabic and Pashtoo. Benefits have included raised pupil awareness and sensitivity to events in the wider world, increased staff job satisfaction, and giving our pupils new skills and enhanced aspirations.

On hearing the news that Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School had received the award, Associate Headteacher and Director of Sixth Form, Mark Edgar said: “Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School was in fact named in the ceremony with only one other school in the entire United Kingdom, а Oxfordshire primary school, as having achieved continuity and seven consecutive awards. The certificate was received on our behalf by our colleague, Chris Williams, our former Deputy Head, who has been involved in every application since the very start. Ironically the 2018 ceremony took place in the Houses of Parliament. Eleswhere in the building the Brexit debate was continuing”

Sir Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive of the British Council, said: “ Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School has brought the world into its classrooms, earning them the British Council International School Award. Their pupils’ education is enriched with international activities that help children develop the skills they need to thrive in a globalised world.”

The award is sought after worldwide by schools from countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Pakistan. Around 5,500 International School Awards have been presented to successful schools in the UK since the British Council scheme began in 1999.

The International School Award encourages and supports schools to develop:

• An international ethos embedded throughout the school
• A whole school approach to international work
• Collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools
• Year-round international activity
• Involvement of the wider community

Follow the link to the shop for LCHS Year 11’s Leaver’s Hoodies.

The shop is now live so that parents and students can get their orders in early, therefore spreading the cost of the expense of Year 11.

https://www.leavershoodies.com/shop/lincoln-christs-hospital-school

It is with sadness that we announce the death of Ian Collins at the age of 79. Ian taught at the school from 1974 to 1994 when he retired as Head of Chemistry. He had joined LCHS in 1974 upon the amalgamation of the four schools, having previously held the same post at the Girls High School on Lindum Hill. The staff picture of 1973 shows Ian, sporting a contemporary hair-cut, on the left-hand edge of the second row from the bottom, just behind the bearded Roger Seal.

Traditionally the three sciences were taught separately in secondary schools, a pattern which has been partly restored in recent years after two decades or so of integration. Consequently there were three separate heads of department, and a head of faculty, and also four separate offices and storerooms, each with a very separate character. The lean-to on the south side of the Biology Hut was noted for white rats in cages for teaching purposes and the occasional wild ones under the floor which had defied the exterminators. The Chemistry office had its own unique atmosphere as did the labs with bottles of acid, Bunsen burners and all the rest set out along the benches, ready to use. However, ‘Health and Safety’ was coming and a great clean-up ensued. Indeed at one point in the 1990’s many of the LCHS chemicals had to be removed because substances retained in some cases for half-a-century were now deemed to be unfit for use in school experiments!

Chemist Jim Baker has worked in Lincoln schools for over 40 years, including twenty as Ian’s deputy. Jim has many anecdotes of life in the labs of which spring to mind at this moment of loss, commemoration and reflection, and thanks Ian for allowing him the freedom to develop as the maverick he remains today

1. “A couple of minutes into a 6th form lesson to a group I shared with Ian, the group said 'Sir, Mr Collins taught us that last lesson'. At break when I asked Ian about it he apologised and joked in his usual way saying he'd got the wrong topic and said it must be his memory going. As a result I filled a coffee jar with naphthalene balls and labelled the jar 'Mr Collins' Memory Balls' and kept it on the front bench for all our 6th form lessons.”
2.  
3. “ One day when the handle broke off Ian’s coffee mug.  He told me about this 'hyperbond' glue he had to stick it back on.  I told him not to risk it as his mug would contain hot drinks.  He smiled and pulled on the handle and told me it would be fine.  Anyway, a few days later when he sat in his chair to drink his hot coffee, I heard a shout and Ian 'shot up' took his trousers off and rushed into the adjacent lab and immediately doused the affected area with cold water from the tap. Unbeknown to Ian there was a lower school girl at the back of the lab. I reminded him of my words and told him never to try and glue back handles on mugs again.”

Life as a teacher isn’t always easy, but it remains a hugely important role. A lot of good Chemistry was taught in the two decades when Ian Collins was at Lincoln Christ’s Hospital School and former pupils from his classes achieved great things. They will remember him fondly for giving them а excellent grounding in the arts of being a good scientist. Remembered, not forgotten. In the words of our long-serving Science technician, Simon Button, “we remember Ian as the wonderfully talented Chemistry head of department with a great sense of humour!”  CRW