Category: Sixth Form News

It was a busy summer for many of our riders, with a number of them competing in the Pony Club National and Regional Championships, and one of our riders going through in two classes to the Horse of the Year Show.  We’ve also shared news this week of Year 13’s Ella winning the Junior European Eventing Championships which is phenomenal, you can read more about her in our weekly newsletter and on our socials!    

Congratulations and well done to all of our riders, we’re incredibly proud of all of their achievements.  

British Eventing and Junior Championships qualification 

Year 13’s Eve has been competing her mare, Opposition Vogue, at Under 18 British Eventing Novice classes successfully, moving up to compete in the pair’s first 2*S International with a top 20 result meaning qualification for the British Junior Championships.  Eve and her mare were then selected to represent the Eastern Region at the National Youth Championships at 2*L level. Eve also qualified for the Chairman’s Cup eventing championships over the summer; sadly her horse Opposition Vogue was taken ill and had to miss these championships, but Eve was able to take a horse of her sister’s and did really well to jump clear rounds to help the team to 8th and 4th place in the SJ Team Finals. Congratulations Eve!  

Horse of the Year Show qualification  

Year 10’s Immy spent the summer competing at various events, against adults as well as professionals, across the country.  We’d like to congratulate her on successfully qualifying her pony for two classes at the prestigious Horse of the Year Show, which takes place this October in Birmingham.  This is an amazing achievement, and we wish her every success at the show.   

Pony Club Championships  

Year 13’s Eve, Year 11’s Harry, Zac and Edie, Year 10’s Grace, and Year 8’s Tati all qualified for the Pony Club National Championships earlier in the summer; Eve in show jumping, Harry and Zac in Eventing, Grace and Tati in Tetrathlon and Edie in Dressage.  Year 10’s Grace finished 23^rd (in a huge class of 90 girls) and Year 8’s Tati finished 20th.  Both rode lovely rounds and finished strongly in the other phases.  Year 11’s Edie was next with the dressage and she rode an excellent test to finish 8th.  Year 11’s Harry and Zac followed with the eventing and both jumped very impressive rounds to finish in the top half of their sections. Year 9’s Jasmine and Year 8’s Tati and Daisy also qualified for the Pony Club Regional Championships. In the Eventing Tati finished 4^th and Daisy in 11th.  Both jumped brilliant clear rounds.  Year 9’s Jasmine rode in the dressage and finished an excellent 9th.  

Woodbridge School is celebrating the best A level results at all levels from A*–A through A–E.

Below are the headlines from our A level results 2025:

• Five students achieved an outstanding set of straight A* grades
• 28% of students achieved ‘straight A’ grades
• More than half of grades were scored at A*–A for the first time
• Median student achieved AAB
• 93% of students scored A*–A in Art, Drama and Photography
• 85% of students scored A*–A in English Literature, one of our biggest A level subjects
• 83% of students scored UCAS points equivalent to AAB or better

The breakdown below represents A level grades achieved at Woodbridge School this year, in terms of percentages:

• A* – 22%
• A* – A 52%
• A* – B 72%
• A* – C 91%
• A* – D 98%
• A* – E 99%

Shona Norman, Head of School

“On behalf of everyone within the Woodbridge School community, I am delighted to be able to congratulate our students on their remarkable A level results today; they have every reason to celebrate their success. I know that our students will appreciate the support, dedication and encouragement that they have had from their subject teachers and tutors over the years. I wish each of them all the very best as they embark upon their exciting next chapter.”

Karl Hayward-Bradley, Deputy Head Academic

“I am immensely proud of our students in this record A level results year. Not only has their hard work been rewarded, but it also clear how they have made the most of the academic and pastoral support available to them at Woodbridge School. All our students sit A levels, which have long been considered one of the toughest tests of academic rigour. The way this Sixth Form cohort have performed in these challenging exams is incredibly impressive, and so many students are now able to go to their first choice of university or further study, whether that be in the Arts, Medicine, Languages, Sciences or the many other pathways open to them. Seeing so many students exceeding their own expectations is thoroughly edifying. Well done to all!”

Spending four days taking part in a programme of activities and events, six Woodbridge School CCF students have been competing individually and as a team, in the National Inter-Schools Target Rifle Competition 2025 in Bisley; a key event in the CCF shooting calendar. The core of the meeting involves competitions for the L81A2 Cadet Target Rifle (CTR).

An opportunity to showcase their target rifle expertise and skill, our cadets took part in a range of shooting competitions – and even had the chance to spend time amongst serving personnel, which was a real highlight of the week. Year 9’s Seth shared his experience.

Seth, Year 9

Last week, six of us travelled to Bisley, the home of the NRA (National Rifle Association), for the inter-schools rifling competition.

Staying on a camp nearby called Brunswick, we all had the opportunity to feel like soldier, as we were sleeping in our barracks and eating in the mess hall, sometimes alongside active personnel themselves!

The shooting competition took place over four days. Monday through to Wednesday were used as practice to get accustomed with our rifles and the distances. The days had to be spent well as competition day was coming up on Thursday! We shot distances of 300, 500 and 600 yards away and were graciously helped by Austin, the Rifle Team Coach.

The team also got to score other team’s performances by looking at the target with a telescope and calling numbers. There were schools from as far as Northern Ireland to Edinburgh taking part, it was a huge scale event.

On the final day, we were able to truly put every effort into our shoots, rewarded by coming in 8th place out of 10 Cadet 4s.

While there we were also able to attempt our qualification in the 7.62 Target Rifle, which will be decommissioned next year. Both Year 11’s Ernie and I managed to qualify for trained shot.

Bisley was an excellent and fun opportunity to try larger rifles and truly get a grasp of rifling in the UK.

We are thrilled to share the highlights from Woodbridge School’s Young Musicians of the Year competition, shared in our report from our Director of Music, Mr Woodley. A massive congratulations to all our finalists who performed with such poise and passion, making it a truly spectacular event!

Mr Woodley, Director of Music

“The evening was a true celebration of the exceptional musical talent within our School, with every performance demonstrating remarkable skill and dedication.

The standard was incredibly high, making it a difficult task for our respected adjudicators, Rob Rogers and Hattie Voelcker. Rob Rogers is an ex-ABRSM examiner and prominent local musician, while Hattie Voelcker is a leading performance coach. Their insightful feedback was invaluable, and we extend our sincerest gratitude to them, as well as to Andrew Leech for his wonderful piano accompaniment throughout the evening.

A massive congratulations to all our finalists who performed with such poise and passion, making it a truly spectacular event!

We are delighted to announce the results:

In the Grades 1-4 category, the winner was Year 8s Henry for his captivating vocal performance of What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye. The runner-up in this category was Year 7’s Miles, who impressed with his violin rendition of Rebecca by Neil Mackay.

For Grades 5-6, Year 8s Hexi was awarded the winner’s medal for an outstanding piano performance of Forest Gump by Alan Silvestri. Year 8’s George was the runner-up, delivering a compelling vocal performance of Radiohead’s Creep, accompanying himself on guitar.

In the Grades 7-8 category, Year’s 9’s Erin was the winner with her piano performance of Lowside Blues by Joanna MacGregor. Year 10’s Laurynas was the runner-up, impressing with their flute rendition of Monody for a Lost Faun by Adrian Connell.

The evening culminated with the overall cups being awarded to Year 11’s Lily, our Senior Young Musician, who demonstrated incredible versatility on both piano and violin with Nigun Baal Shem by Bloch and Sonetto 123 del Petrarcha by Liszt. Year 8’s George, also the runner-up in Grades 5-6, was deservedly named our Junior Young Musician for his memorable vocal and self-accompanied guitar performance of Creep by Radiohead.

Thank you to everyone who supported this wonderful event.

Last Friday, our traditional Field Day took place, students taking part in various activities including a trip to Colchester Zoo, Felixstowe beach, and our CCF cadets at various locations enjoying different activities.

Visit to Colchester Zoo and to Felixstowe Beach

Year 8 students made the trip to visit Colchester’s magnificent zoo! They had a fantastic time and enjoyed wandering around in groups looking at the elephants, lions, Amur leopard, monkeys, meerkats and much, much more! Lucky enough to have a talk from one of the zoo keepers about sustainability and conservation, students were able to hear about and consider the impact that we as individuals have on the world. Meanwhile, Year 7 visited Felixstowe beach, where they enjoyed playing on the sand, visited Martello Park and got themselves very wet running in and out of the sprinklers! Returning to School in the afternoon, they played a superb rounders tournament, finishing the day with a quiz. Year 7 and 8 were impeccably behaved, and they represented the School perfectly.

CCF RAF Field Day and Overnight

Our RAF cadets had a brilliant time on their Field Day and overnight stay at RAF Barnham training area, enjoying a full-scale overnight complete with an escape and evasion exercise aptly named ‘Operation Nightfall’. During the day they took part in a range of different and exciting activities, from finding the NCO in the ghillie suit, to fire and move paintballing! It was a great experience for everyone who took part, with lots of fun had by all, and many new skills acquired!

CCF Army Field Day and Overnight

The Army section also deployed to RAF Barnham for their field day exercise. On arrival cadets set up the bashas to sleep under and cooked their evening meal from their ration packs, ahead of Year 9 taking part in a night noises exercise while the Year 10 cadets carried out a patrol involving conducting a Close Target Recce (CTR), meeting an agent, contact drill & setting a snap ambush. Friday saw the Year 9 cadets go through a rota of stands; pairs fire and movement, navigation, a stalk and patrol observation skills. The Year 10s carried out section attacks. Despite the heavy rain through the night everyone stayed dry and had a great time. A special thanks for our Year 11 cadets, Ben and Huw along with Year 13’s Jack for taking part as well.

CCF NAVY Field Day and Overnight

Navy cadets travelled to Rendlesham forest on Thursday after School, where Lt Cmdr. Smith instructed them in some Bushcraft, as well as directing a night exercise. Cadets picked, stripped, bashed, dried and then wove nettles into cord, which most made into bracelets, before beginning to build two shelters and set up camp, cooking and eating ration pack food. The night exercise was held late into the evening, in a specified area of the forest, with a hide and seek enemy premise. The cadets tucked themselves into tents whilst Lt Cmdr. Smith Lt Saagi slept in the cadet prepared shelters. The drier of the two being the one prepared by the girls, which Lt Saagi slept in and thanked them for in the morning! Friday saw cadets enjoy breakfast together before returning to School for sessions of archery and canoeing on the River Deben, with lunch provided by the Schools amazing catering staff. The day finished with a session of Field Gun Run.

It’s fair to say that everyone enjoyed all of the activities; it was another great Field Day for our cadets. Thank you to our students for getting stuck in and making the most of the activities, and to all of our staff who went along with their respective sections.

Miss Norman recently announced, confirmed and congratulated our new Heads of School for the academic year of 2025/2026. Congratulations to Year 12’s Emily and Isaac on their appointment. We recently met with Emily and Isaac to ask them how they’re feeling about their appointment, and the academic year ahead.

Emily

“I am absolutely delighted to be taking on the role of Head Girl for the upcoming academic year. The warmth of the community, supportive nature of all the teachers and countless opportunities on offer have been an important part of what has made my years here so enjoyable.

It will be a privilege to be able to act as a representative of such a wonderful school that has done so much for me.

The sheer amount of activities available to all students is incredible – there really is something for everyone. For me, though, what really makes Woodbridge stand out is the people – the sense of kindness, generosity and genuine care can be seen around the school every day.

Personally, the instances when an older student has taken the time to help me have always stayed in my mind, I hope to be able to do the same in whatever capacity I can for others; being there for students who are struggling or simply being a friendly face who is always around for a chat.

Forming connections with students in all year groups is crucial for me – my biggest goal is to be approachable to everyone as I know what a difference it can make.

I’m so excited to be working alongside Isaac as we share many common interests and I think we will make a great team. Georgie and James have been such brilliant role models to us both and have been so supportive as we step into our new roles.

Woodbridge really is such a special place with so much to offer and it means a lot to me to have the opportunity to advocate for it. The community has helped me to grow so much as a person so I hope through this role I will be able to give something back.”

Isaac

“I am so thrilled to be the next Head Boy at Woodbridge School, and can’t wait to see what the next academic year will bring.

From when I first started School here in Year 7, I knew that Woodbridge was the best place for me, the nurturing environment and caring community has helped make so many fond memories throughout my time here.

Through the many different opportunities available to you at Woodbridge from superb concerts at an incredibly high standard to our various productions in the theatre with equally great opportunities in all other academic and non-academic areas of Woodbridge.

There is so much space for development at every level of experience here and that is what makes me proud to be a student at Woodbridge.

I hope that Emily and I will take on the roles that James and Georgie had last year with the same enthusiasm and genuine care that was reflected in everything they did; I am excited to build upon what they started with the Student Council and I can’t wait to see what can be done so that as many pupils have their voices heard as possible.

Being at Woodbridge has shaped who I am today, I have learnt so much from so many different people inside and outside the classroom, helping me build essential skills that I will use more and more as I gain more independence. I have enjoyed so much about being at School here and would love to get more people involved with all of the extra-curricular activities that Woodbridge offer.”

Wednesday was Sports Day in School, and we’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who joined us in supporting our students, making it a wonderful day for everyone taking part.

Throughout the School year, our young athletes have continued to perform superbly, improving and impressing over and over again, ever-focused on PBs and School records – and this year’s Sports Day saw one of our students breaking no less than FOUR of them!

It was another wonderful event, and what an atmosphere – the whole School took part and we were delighted to see lots and lots of our parents, family and friends showing their support and cheering our athletes on from the sidelines. The students ran, jumped and threw, doing their absolute best to get maximum points for their houses.

It was brilliant to hear the students cheering each other on and congratulating and sharing in each other’s achievements. Personal bests were achieved and records broken as we’ve already mentioned – Year 7’s Chloe was record breaker of the day with four of them beaten!

This and more of our other results shared below:

Year 7 – Records broken:

• Chloe – 1500m – 4.56.41
• Chloe – 800m -2.28.65
• Chloe – long jump – 4.46m
• Year 7 Girls Relay – Annott – 59.57 Chloe, Katherine, Juno, Ellie

Year 8 – Records broken:

• Dexter – 1500m – 4.56.41
• Dexter – 800m – 2.14.30
• Thomas F – 800m – 41.07
• Imogen M – 300m – 47.78

Victor Ludorum and Victrix Ludorum results were:

• Year 7 Boys: William
• Year 7 Girls: Chloe
• Year 8 Girls: Imarah
• Year 8 Boys: Thomas F
• Year 9 Boys: Digby
• Year 9 Girls: Bay and Eirann
• Year 10 Girls: Georgia
• Year 10 Boys: Charlie
• Senior Boys: Year 12’s John
• Senior Girls: Year 13’s Georgia P

House Points Results:

• Burwell – 1,401
• Annott – 1,309
• Seckford – 1,296
• Willard – 1,103

Well done to all of the competitors for giving their all, many thanks to all of the staff involved on the day and in the lead up to Sports Day and to the parents, family and friends supporting.

We wish Year 7’s Chloe, Katherine, Matilda, Juno, Ollie, Year 8’s Dex, Tom, George, India J, Alexandra, Imogen and Year 6’s Sofia, good luck for Wednesday 2 July when they compete for the East Region in the National Prep School Athletics Championships in Birmingham and year 9’s Digby Hamish and Romilly competing for Suffolk on 11 and 12 July in the English Schools Track and Field Championships.

A link to Sports Day photography and the access code will be shared with parents privately.

On their recent field trip to Foxburrow Farm, Year 12 Biology students investigated key ecological relationships by studying the effects of grazing and light intensity on plant growth.

The trip provided a hands-on opportunity to explore how grazing by herbivores influences the abundance and diversity of different plant species.

Students compared grazed and ungrazed areas, recording the presence and frequency of various plants to determine changes in species richness and competition. In addition, they examined how varying light intensities affected internode length and leaf surface area in nettles.

By measuring these morphological features in shaded and well-lit areas, students gained insight into how plants adapt to differing light conditions, contributing to their broader understanding of plant ecology and environmental factors affecting growth.

Everyone had a great day, learned lots and enjoyed the opportunity to explore what they’ve learned in the classroom – in the field, literally!

It has been wonderful to welcome back two OWs – Etiane Cheung (2015–2022) and Lily Constantine (2016–2023) – over the past two weeks to deliver talks to our Year 12 students.

Etiane, now in her third year studying for a BA in Modern Languages with a year abroad, visited to talk about university applications and life at King’s College London. She has certainly made the most of her time at university so far, embracing opportunities to study, work, grow, and be challenged in the best ways. Her talk gave students a fantastic insight into what it’s like to live and study in the heart of London.

Lily left Woodbridge after completing her A levels in 2023, having secured an apprenticeship with Fred Olsen Logistics Ltd. After completing her Level 2 qualification in Customer Service Skills, she moved into a full-time role at MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company as their Transport Customer Coordinator. She returned to speak with two colleagues about life after Woodbridge, what it’s like to study and work without going to university, and the exciting apprenticeship opportunities available at MSC.

Two very different paths—two very successful outcomes. Congratulations to both of them, we’re extremely proud of you, each smashing it in their own way!

Something a little different last week was Miss Gill our Head of Geography, hosting a webinar which was presented by the Royal Geographical Society titled ‘What do Geographers Actually Do?’

Students heard from a number of speakers who had studied Geography after A levels and learned about the diverse careers, that followed, such as International Development, Urban Planning and Sustainability Management. It was a fantastic opportunity to gain insight into where a Geography degree might lead! Thank you, Miss Gill!

Last Friday, we had the absolute pleasure of welcoming Central College of Animal Studies into School, they delivered an engaging veterinary experience workshop for our Year 9 and Year 12 students.

With hands-on with activities such as identifying parasites, gowning up for surgery, and locating a foreign object in a toy dog, students also learned how to bandage animals of different sizes, practiced suturing, and tested their knowledge by identifying surgical tools, examining X-rays, and even observing kidney stones.

It was incredibly rewarding to see and hear how engaged the students were—an enjoyable and educational experience for all!