I only really looked at Lancing College when I was considering senior schools. I had my heart set on going there. It has incredible facilities: an internal theatre and open-air theatre, an equestrian centre, and big sports fields. I knew other students who had gone there from Sompting Abbotts. So I could see they were thriving there and enjoying it.

I won a Drama Scholarship to come here. But initially, I had to do tests and a written essay to secure my place and then interviews. Sompting Abbotts helped me practise for these so I felt fairly confident. The college then applied my Common Entrance (CE) results for class setting. Sompting Abbotts helped me prepare for it all and I achieved As and three A*s in my CE, which put me in the second highest set at Lancing College.

Now I’m here, I am absolutely loving every second. I genuinely look forward to each new day. There’s always something to look forward to or get involved in.

I was nervous about joining. It felt a big step up from Sompting Abbotts. But there were fun induction days for us new third formers (Year 9s). The campus felt huge to start with But I soon got to know the routines and to meet the teachers.

A lot of children from Lancing College have come from the Independent School sector. There are students with Foundation Scholarships from the state sector too. So there’s a lovely mix of pupils, plus many international students. So I now have friends from all over the world.

For the first month as you settle into Lancing, not much homework is assigned. So you can relax when you join. In the third form, the homework is only slightly more than at Sompting Abbotts. The workload increases as you progress through the fourth form and fifth form. But I haven’t found it too hard.

For my GCSE’s I am taking Maths, English Language, English Literature, Triple Science, Geography, Drama and Physical Education.

There are some GCSE coursework large projects to complete. But you have months to do these. The only time I find my workload building up is if I don’t follow my golden rule: ‘do the work as soon as it has been set’. Otherwise you end up with five pieces of work to do in one night!

What I think really helped me here was Sompting’ Abbotts development of my social skills and confidence (right from the age of 4 when I started in the pre-prep). This meant I was never afraid to introduce myself to a new student or teacher. I’ve stayed friends with the people from my Sompting Abbotts class, too, here.

Every teacher at Sompting Abbotts has influenced my life in one way or another. But I particularly remember Mr Douch for his English lessons that were always so engaging and enjoyable. Nobody ever switched off! I loved the school plays he directed and wrote himself too. We laughed so much in rehearsals. And I’ll never forget my science teacher (and Year 8 form teacher) Ms Scale. She really helped us all get through our common entrance and her science lessons were always so well planned. I think they really laid the foundations for my GCSE triple science studies now.

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