Eco Committee Gift Swaps

The Eco Committee are delighted to share news of their first ever Christmas Gift Swap! The event was organised in partnership with Liverpool World Centre and the Liverpool College PTA, and on the back of its huge success, we're already putting plans in motion to host a Ramadan Gift Swap later in the term.

The Christmas Gift Swap was inspired by the Eco Committee's drive to embed sustainability and inclusivity throughout all aspects of school life. Festive celebrations can often bring with them financial pressures and unnecessary waste. The purpose of the Gift Swap was to reduce the need for students and their families to buy new and to give preloved and homemade items a new home.

Students and staff who attended the Gift Swap commented on the commitment shown by our pupil volunteers and the generosity of our donors. Gift Swappers went away with gifts ranging from novelty gifts to books and games to tricycles and Christmas trees!

What's more, our raffle raised £50 for Whitechapel to help the homeless and £50 for Bridge2 to help asylum seekers and refugees. Everton football club generously donated two stadium tour passes to help generate interest and raise money for our raffle. Thank you to Everton for supporting our cause. Thanks too to the following independent businesses for donating prizes, supporting our raffle and helping people in need at Christmas: Tara's Tulips, Anna Gaston Art, Art by Mel Scholer Whitty, For Me and You, Just Bee Gorgeous, Livlamode Crafts, Michaela aromatherapy and Belle Vale shoes. Thanks also to members of the local community who donated prizes and supported our school's cause.

The event created a real buzz around sustainable gifting. The Eco Committee are looking forward to our upcoming Ramadan Gift Swap, which is due to take place on Friday 22^nd March. So, if you're looking for an excuse for a Spring clear-out, we would welcome your preloved gifts/homemade items!

To keep up to date with all things LC Eco, please follow us on Insta @livcolleco.

Miss Whittell, Mrs Watson & The Eco Committee

Year 6 Able Writer’s Workshop: Damian Harvey

Liverpool College was delighted to host a fabulous event open to schools across Liverpool on Wednesday, which was aimed at developing creative writing skills. Leading the event was award winning author Damian Harvey, author of an incredible 176 children’s books, including titles in the popular Project X, Oxford Reading Tree, Reading Planet, and Big Cats series. Throughout the day, the Year 6 students developed their characterisation skills, creating unique characters to be used in their own story writing. It was absolutely wonderful to see the children so enthused and engaged in the creative process of writing - great progress was made by all. Our thanks to the following Liverpool College students: Sylvie P, Jack L, Eva L, Zainab K, Arthur W, Lorcan S, Layla S, Eva H, Will G, Emmie T, Mya T, Leon W, Bobby L, Pearl J, Isabella J, Ava D, Victor B. These fabulous pupilsnot only proved they are terrific writers but who were also wonderful hosts in welcoming and supporting the visiting schools.

Mrs Doran

AI specialists educate Liverpool College

Is AI something to be celebrated or feared? Will AI make human jobs obsolete? Exactly what will AI technology be able to achieve in the future? These were among the questions raised by pupils from C8, C9, C10 and C11 who were given an opportunity to talk to an incredible range of specialists in the field of AI technology this week. Organised by Mrs Doran, students were able to directly talk to AI experts on a one-to-one basis. The AI specialist involved were:

Arunav – a specialist is Conversational AI in business contexts, including Alexa, Siri, Google Home and ChatGPT.
Kaushik – a specialist working at Sony AI working on AI for games.
Carl– A scientist working on application of AI within science innovations in an emerging technologies lab.
Mackenzie – a specialist trying to help identify and alleviate discrimination from AI systems
Sheridan– a retired rocket Scientist with the Ministry of Defence who now works at Bletchley Park.
Alexander - a specialist researching the use of artificial intelligence to detect the recurrences of cancer from data stored in patients’ health records.
Vernan– a computer programmer who teach computers to process language using deep neural networks, which are AI algorithms, to make the computer mimic human language.
Fraser – A computer specialist who uses brain scanners and AI to find out how our brain work.
Gerard – a research working on how to se AI to help people who cannot live independent lives including helping to feed and dress people unable to perform these activities on their own.
Bea – a researcher in the field on AI applied to biosciences and in particular, developing computer vision.
Mohan – a researcher studying ways to enable robots to reason, learn and act more like human and understand the nuisances within human decision making to enable robots to replicate this process.

The future development of AI, and its potential to encompass all facets of human life, is absolutely fascinating and the pupils approached the event with exceptional interest. It as a delight to the pupils to embrace the opportunity to ask a vast array of intelligent questions to deepen their interest and understanding in this vitally important area. Our sincere thanks to all the volunteers involved this week.

Register your interest in Sixth Form here...

We were delighted to welcome over 200 visitors to our Sixth Form Open Evening on 8^th November. If you were unable to attend there will be more opportunities to visit after your GCSE exams but in the meantime please look at the information on our website HERE. The information includes a copy of the Head of Sixth Form's presentation and a link to register your interest in our Sixth Form.

Geographers in North Wales

The Chapter 13 geography students enjoyed a residential visit to North Wales in support of their curriculum and in preparation for their own NEA projects.

The group visited Llandudno to carry out human geography data collection methods and took walks to Aber Falls and beautiful Newborough beach on Anglesey.

The students were a pleasure to spend time with and it was great to see them appreciating the well-being benefits of being out in the fresh air.

Mr N Griffith (Head of Sixth Form)

Boarding Orchard!

In July 2023, Liverpool College joined the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) initiative ‘Boarding Orchard’.

During the summer term, our enthusiastic boarders participated in the planting of an apple tree on the grounds of Beechlands House, under the guidance of our Principal Mr Broekman.

A lovely occasion which brought many members of the school together alongside our board of governors - as Liverpool College becomes the latest member of the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) initiative. The scheme was launched by the BSA in 2014 with the aim to link boarding schools across the country together as each school plants fruit trees on their grounds. The network of trees symbolises the ‘tree of knowledge’ and instils valuable lessons of sustainability and care for the natural world in the boarders.

In a heart-warming display every boarder and member of the boarding staff got their hands dirty and participated in the planting of the tree, which is now situated in a lovely patch on Beechlands’ grounds alongside other trees planted by students in past years

We are looking forward to watching it blossom alongside generations of boarders as they take on the journey of life.

Mrs E Latham (Head of Boarding)

GCSE Results 2023

Congratulations to this year’s GCSE students who are celebrating a fantastic set of results, both individually and collectively. The class of 2023 smashed national figures on attainment and achieved well over a third of a grade higher than pupils in other schools nationally.

Particular congratulations go to the individual successes, especially to Hannah S who achieved an outstanding 11 grade 9s, and also to Nia M and Olivia C who averaged a grade 9 over their 10 GCSE subjects. A fantastic total of 20 pupils averaged a grade 8+ over their 9 or 10 GCSE subjects.

Topping the value added, an indication of those pupils who have made the most progress since joining the senior phase, were Nia M, Ebony R, Clara B, Hannah S and Al-Zahraa A, with 12 pupils attaining an average of over two grades higher than expected.

This is a cohort who have spent much of the senior phase schooling under the shadow of the pandemic so particular congratulations to them for their efforts and fortitude. These results meant that many pupils are able to progress into the next phase of their education at an institution of their choice, with over 70% choosing to remain at Liverpool College to join our thriving and expanding Sixth Form cohort for September 2023. We wish all our GCSE pupils of 2023 well for their future successes.

Mrs A Haynes
(Vice Principal)