Head Master’s Message – September 2024

Welcome to Lancing’s first e-newsletter of the new academic year. I am sure that those more familiar with the school will join me in offering a particularly warm welcome to all those joining the Lancing community for the very first time.  Lancing is a special place at any time of year, but there is no doubt that our beautiful campus only comes wholly and truly into life when the College pupils return and term starts. The new academic year is now fully reignited, and the campus is filled with laughter and energy: everyone is refreshed and raring to go.  

Our big opening event of the year will be the Malawi Walk and family barbecue and we hope you will join us in supporting our Malawian partners tomorrow. All the details you need were sent in an email invitation and a follow-up practical note to all those who have registered, but if in doubt about the arrangements do ask your child’s Housemaster or Housemistress. Another red-letter day will take place on Sunday 15 September with our first whole school Eucharist of the year and the commissioning of this year’s Prefects. All the pupils are required to be present and you will, of course, be very welcome to attend and enjoy this central and celebratory element of College life alongside your children.  

Over the summer the College has remained busy with essential maintenance, refurbishment and the developing of our new Sixth Form Centre. This exciting new space will give pupils at the top of the school somewhere special to call their own. A place to work, to socialise, and to gather together, it will be open very soon. There is also a great deal of anticipation for next week’s official opening party for the Fives Cafe. As ever, mountains have been moved by the College buildings and maintenance team to bring it all to fruition. 

Our work to widen opportunities for young people is right at the heart of what we aim to do at Lancing and at the end of the summer 26 young people from the Eastside Young Leaders Academy (EYLA) participated in our annual residential Summer School. We have a strong and long-term relationship with Eastside and they are instrumental in the success of our Foundationers programme, sharing our ambitions to broaden access and opportunities and to transform lives. You can read more about the summer school, the Foundationers, and our wider schedule of social engagement in our latest Impact Report. 

Enabling inspired, happy and successful learning is central to our educational mission and it is always a delight to acclaim the just rewards won by Lancing pupils as a product of all their determination and hard work. This year, Lancing students are celebrating outstanding results, and for our Sixth Form leavers a wealth of further education options await. You can read all about the GCSE results HERE, and the A Level results HERE.  

You may be aware that at the end of last term we were working with a production company to produce an exciting new film to encapsulate a distillation of the ‘essence’ of the College. The pupils were involved from the outset, working with the team on the concept where they discussed the Lancing brand as clever, modern, witty… yet with one foot firmly in tradition.  With that, ‘Incredible Things’ was born. We will be sharing the film with your children and across our social media channels next Thursday (12 September). We love it and hope that you do too – feel free to share the film far and wide.  

Finally for now, we know that the question of the impact of VAT imposition will be in everyone’s minds. While it is not unexpected that the new Labour Government has followed through on their manifesto pledge, the timing – this is proposed from January, rather than the expected September 2025 – was a surprise as it runs directly contrary to what we had been told to expect by Rachel Reeves, now Chancellor of the Exchequer. The legislation imposing the tax is currently in draft and is now subject to a period of consultation. When there is more concrete information to share with parents about our approach we will be in touch – this matter is our number one priority and we aim to give you clarity as soon as possible.  In the meantime, you might wish to refer back to the letter to parents sent by the Chair of Governors earlier this summer. You can find it in the Parent Portal, the ‘go to’ place for a wide range of key background information.