Sun Valley Rugby Tournament winners

Sixteen school teams entered the Sun Valley Rugby Project Under 12 Tournament at the Luctonians Rugby Club in Kingsland. The 12-a-side matches were played in cold and wet conditions. Four pools of four teams played each other, with Wigmore, Queen Elizabeth Bromyard, John Beddoes and Lucton School winning through to the semi-finals. Beforehand, Wigmore was considered to be a possible winner of the tournament, but they struggled in their semi-final with Queen Elizabeth and went out. In the other semi, Lucton had a very hard match against a much heavier John Beddoes side and just one try from Lucton, scored by Jordan Hellyer, was enough to put them through.
The final between Lucton School and Queen Elizabeth High School from Bromyard, was another hard match, with Lucton's defence holding together under considerable pressure. Lucton made the most of their opportunites, with tries by Tom Looms and Matthew Handley for a 10-0 victory. In winning the trophy, Lucton had not conceded a single point all day, winning all three matches in the pool stage against Tenbury 10-0, Weobley 15-0 and Ludlow 15-0. The Lucton team played entertaining rugby in the freezing conditions, with the forwards working together well and the backs’ handling at times was brilliant, as was their running from depth onto the ball. The squad’s commitment to each other and their rock solid defence bode well for the future of this team.
Photo: Lucton School's U12 squad, with their New Zealand rugby coach, Luctonians overseas player, Troy Looms.
Back row: Mr Looms, Henry Llewellin, Matthew Handley, James Dunn, Frank Kelly, John Kelly, Connor McLaughlan. Front row: Richard Tweddell, Matthew Vowles, Ben Williams, Tom Looms, Jordan Hellyer, William Barber-Starkey, James Miles. (Captain on the day, Sam Carletti, missed the photo!) (NOVEMBER 2006)

New swimming pool for Lucton School

The Governors of Lucton School have given the go-ahead to the building of a new covered swimming pool complete with new changing and shower facilities, on the site of the old outdoor swimming pool.
If all goes according to plan, Lucton will be using the new pool by the January 2007. The new changing facilities will also be able to serve the Prep School, whose recent growth in numbers has started to give real problems with changing space. There will also be a door though from the changing area to serve the Activity Hall.
The building will also include a wide spectator area, and a new first aid room and office.
By providing a significant alternative activity, in-house swimming will greatly reduce the growing pressure on our playing fields in the winter. Headmistress, Mrs Gill Thorne is particularly pleased with the idea that she will not be taking prospecive parents past the old pool for much longer! (JANUARY 2006)

New Sixth Form Centre for Lucton School

The introduction of the new sixth form centre was very timely, after the superb 100% 5 A* to C, GCSE results of 2004. Lucton is the only senior boarding school in Herefordshire, so developing the sixth form has been a welcome addition to the range of choices available in the county.
Lucton has created a brand new sixth form centre by refurbishing the top floor of the main building. There is a suite of classrooms more reminiscent of modern offices than a school, as well as a new Senior School library and a second computer room. The new computer suite has 17” flat screen monitors throughout and also has an interactive whiteboard. In addition, all of the sixth form students are supplied with their own laptop and the whole of the sixth form centre is equipped with wireless internet and e-mail access.
The subject offerings for the sixth form include all the standard GCSE subjects previously on offer at Lucton and extra subjects studied by this year's sixth form entrants include Psychology, Philosophy and Ethics, Environmental Science and Textiles. With just a handful of pupils in the sixth form, and an average ‘A’ level class size of three, this environment will ensure that every pupil achieves their full potential
Most of the sixth form are local day students, though some board. Throughout the whole school, one third of the pupils board, with the remaining day pupils coming from many parts of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Powys. (SEPTEMBER 2005)

100% 5 A* to C GCSE passes for Lucton

Every GCSE candidate at Lucton school achieved at least 5 A* to C grades, many achieving a high proportion of A* and A grades. This would be an exceptional result for a highly selective grammar school, so for a non-selective school like Lucton, this set of results is amazing. It is possibly the first time any school in Herefordshire has achieved 100% at this level!

Gill Thorne, Lucton’s Headmistress is obviously pleased. “ I am delighted for the pupils, this is their achievement, but is also a fantastic endorsement of the quality of teaching at Lucton and the benefits of our small classes, which are small, even for the independent sector. It is just wonderful that such a significant improvement in GCSE results comes at this time and bodes so well for the quality of the intake to our sixth form.” (SEPTEMBER 2004)

Lucton’s first Headmistress – after nearly 300 years

The Governors of Lucton School have appointed Mrs Gill Thorne as Head with effect from 1 September 2003. She is Lucton’s first ‘headmistress’, nearly 300 years after the founding of the school by John Pierrepont.
Mrs Thorne was previously Head of a school in Sevenoaks, Kent. Her experience embraces boarding and day schools, independent and state, ‘A’ level adult education for some twenty years, and a spell as a Philosophy Tutor in the University of Kent.
“I am honoured and thrilled by the prospect of being Lucton's first ‘headmistress’. I am also delighted that my broad teaching experience will be put to such good use. Having taught at every level in both junior and senior schools I feel that I have much to offer Lucton, especially at this time when the school's numbers are steadily growing.”
Born in India, the daughter of missionaries, she came to boarding school in England at the age of eight. Mrs Thorne has a very good track record of nurturing the highest possible academic standards in her pupils, and this will be one of her top priorities at Lucton. She is impressed by Lucton’s Sportsmark Gold Award and will also want to encourage continuing success on the sports field. She herself played lacrosse for the British Universities and the East of England, and has represented both Kent and Berkshire in lacrosse and hockey.
(SEPTEMBER 2003)