LSI Portsmouth is 30 Years Old this Year

This year LSI celebrates its 30th birthday.  Here is the story of how we started and where we come from.  We are very grateful to Peter Gray and Allan Gray for all their hard work, along with Lea Brophy who now joins Andrew Edwards in helping to keep LSI Portsmouth the wonderful place it is today.  Thank you to all our amazing students and thank you to all our amazing teachers and staff, without all of you there would be no us.

The Rugby World Cup

We asked Leanne to write a piece about the Rugby for anyone who doesn't understand.  

THE RUGBY WORLD CUP IS HERE

I first got into rugby back in 2001 on my gap year in New Zealand. Rugby to the New Zealanders is like football to us.  It’s a part of their lives, they live and breathe it. While I was there I totally got swept up in the thrill of it.

In the beginning I remember annoying my Kiwi friends with endless questions like ‘what’s a scrum?’ ‘What’s a ruck?’ ‘What’s a try?’ ‘Why is he kicking the ball and not passing it?’ and so on. Pretty much like the typical football question of ‘What’s the offside rule?’

Once you get it, or nearly get it, it’s fast, furious and truly exciting. Men charge at each other like bulls, there’s mud (and sometimes a bit of blood!) flying here and there just to get the ball over the line to score a try. It sounds barbaric but trust me it’s thrilling.

If you are lucky enough to watch the All Blacks (the New Zealand team) live, it sends shivers down your spine when they perform the haka. The haka is a long line of powerful rugby players chanting and performing their warrior dance daring the opposition to take them on.

So if I were you, I’d grab some mates, head to the pub with a big screen and soak up the fun and atmosphere! Go the All Blacks.... or Go England!!!!!! 

Many thanks Leanne.

Victorious was AMAZING!

(A little belated ;-)

If you were in Portsmouth last weekend, we hope you managed to make it down to Victorious Festival located at Southsea common and seaside. Loads of staff and students headed down to the event to be entertained by acts including Tinie Tempah, The Flaming Lips, Ray Davies and Basement Jaxx.

In true British festival style, it didn’t just rain on Saturday, it poured! Although it was a miserable and wet day, with lots of dark clouds in the sky, the atmosphere was amazing!!! Lots of students hid from the rain by sheltering in the silent disco tent- a truly unique way of experience DJ music. Rather than listening to music over a large speaker system, music was transmitted wirelessly into headphones! It was so much fun, and a great way to stay dry!

On Sunday, the weather was much nicer, and there was no rain throughout the event! There were so many amazing famous acts, as well as lots of up and coming local bands for everyone to enjoy. The organisers have said that 100,000 people attended the event of the two day period, and we were really excited to be able to get tickets for our students to enjoy Portsmouth at its best. It was amazing to be able to listen to great live music, watch the amazing pyrotechnics, and see the beautiful Portsmouth seaside all at the same time.

The event is held annually, and hopefully next year will be even bigger and better than this year! If you were at Victorious festival this year, please send us your photos- we would love to see them!

Belle.