Sixth Form News Archives - Page 3 of 42

It’s been another exception week for our Cross Country runners. Our reports below hold news of last week’s Cross Country; King Henry VIII School Relay Race at The Memorial Park in Coventry, and the Anglian Schools Cross Country held in Northampton.

King Henry VIII School Relays Race, The Memorial Park, Coventry

This is a great event known for its high standard, with runners typically coming from top running schools across the UK. It has some serious history to it with the likes of Sebastian Coe, Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, Dave Moorcroft and Richard Nerurker setting presidency, as well as distinguished guests for award presentations such as Ron Hill MBE, Basil Heatley, Liz Yelling, George Harrison MBE.

With all of that in mind, we’re absolutely delighted to confirm that Woodbridge School’s former student Henry Dover still holds the all-time individual course record at this event of 10 mins and 50 seconds!

But back to this year’s race – this year our athletes were presented to by, and shook hands with, Charlie Dobson who is a current GB sprinter and Olympic Bronze medallist and European champion in the 4x400m relay. Charlie was also European Silver medallist for 400m in the European Champs 2024. He gave a brilliant speech to the athletes about the trials of training, listening to advice along the way and learning from mistakes but mainly however hard it may seem to never give up on your dreams.

Below you can see details for both the boys and girls relay races.

54th Annual Boys Race 2026

Woodbridge School entered a team of six and finished 11th overall out of 59 teams – that equals our third best result for the boys since we have been attending this event.

Running Legs:

Year 13’s Angus – 12:11
Year 10’s Hamish – 12:37
Year 10’s Digby – 12:42
Year 11’s Jago – 13:49
Year 8’s Ollie – 13:50
Year 9’s Dex – 12:35

Total time: 1:17:47

26th Annual Girls Race 2026

Woodbridge had two teams of four girls from the School. Our A team came in third place, gaining a Bronze medal each, plus the Pat Head trophy. This is the second best result for the A team having previously had a team in 2nd place and three 4th places.

Great news for the B team also who finished 11th which equals the School’s best ever result for our B team.

Running Legs:

Woodbridge A Team

Year 11’s Romilly – 14:30
Year 9’s Alexandra – 14:15
Year 9’s Ella – 14:27
Year 8’s Chloe – 14:02

Total time: 57:15

Woodbridge B Team

Alice Y10 – 15:04
India B Y9 – 15:17
Sofia Y7 – 15:28
India J Y9 – 14:31

Total time: 1:00:22

It is also worth noting that Woodbridge, unlike many of the other schools, only had one Sixth Former running, and therefore all our teams are very young competing against the best schools around the country. We will surely grow with this event which should be exciting! Congratulations to all our team members for a brilliant effort all round.

The Anglian Schools Cross Country, Northampton

Just two days after the King Henry VIII races, the Anglian Schools Cross Country in Northampton against Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire (last qualifier for the final English Schools Cross Country, 14 March).

The course where all five counties gathered to compete against one another, was tough going at Northampton with undulating stretches with a long drag hill in the middle for everyone to battle their way up.

We hit our target mark of 20 students from the School racing for Suffolk across the age groups. It was a hugely successful day for Suffolk who won the whole event over all five competing counties, with two Woodbridge School runners taking two medals – Year 9’s Dex winning a very impressive Gold in the Junior Boys category and Year 8’s Chloe a fantastic Silver medal, a year young in the Junior Girls category.

Suffolk won four out of the eight age/gender categories on the day which is testament to the training being put in by the athletes across the county many of whom gather at our inspiring community session on a Saturday morning.

The main highlight though, was in the Junior Boys’ race where the Suffolk team came home in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th places!

Another great day out and now we look ahead to the English Schools where ten of our school athletes have qualified to run for Suffolk in their age group and four more are also short list reserves. The final will be at Sephton Park in Liverpool on 14 March which will mark the end of our cross-country season!

Individual results are shown below, and full online results can be found on the Suffolk Schools Cross Country website https://www.suffolkschoolsathletics.info/cross-country

Minor Girls:

Year 8’s Sofia – 4th
Year 6’s Ava – 15th
Year 8’s Florence – 34th
Year 7’s Issy – 59th

Junior Boys:

Year 9’s Dex – 1st
Year 9’s Josh – 17th
Year 8’s Oliver L – 33rd
Year 9’s Olly R – 41st
Year 8’s Archie R – 49th

Junior Girls:

Year 8’s Chloe – 2nd
Year 9’s Alexandra – 12th
Year 9’s India J – 14th
Year 9’s Ella – 15th
Year 9’s India B – 35th

Inter Boys:

Year 10’s Hamish – 14th
Year 10’s Digby – 22nd
Year 11’s Jago – 44th

Inter Girls:

Year 10’s Alice – 16th
Year 11’s Romilly – unfortunately, fell mid race and injured so was unable to finish on the day

Senior Boys:

Year 13’s Angus – 13th

The atmosphere at St Mary’s Church was one of anticipation on Thursday 29 January as family, staff and friends gathered for the annual Chamber Concert. While the historic stone walls were notably chilly due to a lack of heating, the cold was quickly forgotten as our enthusiastic audience filled the pews. The superb acoustics of St Mary’s Church provided the perfect resonant backdrop for chamber music, Miss Weston, our Head of Singing, shares more from the evening.

The 2026 Chamber Concert

The commitment and hard work of our students was evident; their dedication to taking on such a complex repertoire shone through. Throughout the evening, Nadia Alzapiedi conducted with her usual aplomb, providing a dynamic energy that brought the very best out of the musicians. Andrew Gosden accompanied our soloists with the support and nurturing that only comes from considerable experience with young performers.

The concert was elevated by the exceptional talent of our soloists, who demonstrated remarkable technical command and hours of diligent practice. Year 10’s Barnaby delivered a sensitive and lyrical rendition of Hegner’s Romance on the double bass, while Year 8’s Jordan tackled the intricate Concerto for Violin in A Minor by J.S. Bach with impressive precision. Year 9’s Hexi transported the audience with a passionate and mature violin performance of Gardel’s Por Una Cabeza.

On the piano, Year 12’s Oscar provided a deeply soulful and technically nuanced interpretation of Brahms’ Intermezzo op. 118, no.2. A standout moment of the evening was provided by Year 12’s Alex C; performing with flair, Alex utilized the church’s grand pipes perfectly for Balbastre’s La Canonnade on the organ.

The evening featured a variety of dedicated ensembles, starting with Seckford Strings, who delivered a stirring Ashokan Farewell and the lively Drunken Sailor. The Mozart Quartet followed with the Solemn March from Judas Maccabeus, while the Senior String Quartet brought a seasonal twist with Harvest Home from Vivaldi’s Autumn. A particular highlight was the performance by Cellisti; it is a rare and wonderful treat to have a dedicated cello ensemble in a school setting; they captivated the audience with the whimsical La Valse d’ Amelie and the evocative Highland Cathedral.

The Chamber Orchestra provided a spectacular conclusion to the night. Their repertoire was impressively diverse, moving from the dramatic Swan Lake – Scene and Valse, to the hauntingly beautiful Gabriel’s Oboe. They ended the evening on a high note with a spirited performance of Offenbach’s The Can-Can, leaving the audience in high spirits. This success is a credit to the tireless work of the students and the vibrant Music department at Woodbridge School.

With a myriad of Netball played recently, our roundup from Mrs Gray, our Head of Netball, shares highlights and details of matches from our U12A, U12C, U14A, U4B, U15A, U15B, U15C, and Senior 1st VII teams.

Woodbridge 1st VII vs RHS

Sadly, rain stopped play for some of our planned fixtures last week, but we had a strong first outing and win of the Netball term for our 1st VII playing RHS. A special mention for Year 11’s Amelie, for stepping in late at GS and playing very well indeed and to Players-of-the-Match, Year 12’s Millie and Lyrah.

Woodbridge U12 – Farlingaye League Tournament Matches

There were two league tournaments for our Year 7 U12s last week also, our U12A playing in a tournament at Farlingaye on a chilly but enjoyable afternoon, coming out with a clean sheet of four wins out of four. Well done to Year 7’s Emma on her first match with the A squad, and to Year 7’s Darcey and Issy – voted Players-of-the-Tournament.

Woodbridge U12 and U13C – Tournament Matches

The U12/U13C team were away at Ormiston on Wednesday with a packed seven game tournament, a great experience for them against a number of school A teams, so they were delighted to come away with two wins. Well done to Year 7’s Jess and Martha and Year 8’s Poppy, voted Players-of-the-Tournament.

Woodbridge U14 and U15 teams vs RHS

And finally, there were five fixtures for our U14 and 15 teams against RHS. We were delighted to see a dry day enabling all planned fixtures to go ahead! With three wins out of five, U15B, U15C and U14B all winning their games, it was a good afternoon on the results front. Well done also to our U14A and U15A squads, who didn’t come away with the win on this occasion, but thoroughly enjoyed a competitive and fun afternoon of Netball. Well done to the following students, voted Players-of-the-Match: U14A – Year 9’s Sienna and Year 8’s Martha, U14 B – Year 9’s Imogen, Issy, Jemima and Elle, U15A – Year 10’s Charlie, U15B – Year 10’s Tabby and Isabella, and U15C -Year 10’s Sashi whose shooting was on fire!

The Hockey Highlights just keep coming! With matches played in the last week of January by our Junior 1st and 2nd teams against Ipswich High, our 1st XI’s incredible success at the U18 County Cup.

Woodbridge Junior 1 and 2 vs Ipswich High School

Our Junior 1st and 2nd teams hosted Ipswich High School for matches after School last week. The Junior 2s didn’t quite back up their positive first game with a performance to match and had to settle for a one-goal defeat. The team now looks to take their skill, structure, composure and concentration from training into their next match.

The Junior 1st team showed everything they learned from their first match and put this into excellent action by moving the ball wide and high in attack and focusing on their tactical and technical defending. Year 8’s Barney was composed in the back line, showing excellent decision making and intent when joining the attack. Multiple chances were created in the first half, and one beautiful team goal was scored when Year 8’s Max played a perfectly timed pass from the baseline to fellow Year 8 Jack to score on the far post.

Frustratingly, Ipswich High scored a goal of their own to go into half time all square. Woodbridge decided nothing had to change and they just had to keep doing what they had done so far, sticking to their patterns, and the goals will come – and four more followed!

A perfect push-back set-piece at the start of the second half resulted in a penalty corner which Max scored with a perfect strike into the corner before a minute had passed. Max scored a second goal during the half while Year 8’s James and Year 7’s Charlie also got on the score sheet. Our team was clinical in their second half performance which prepares them well for tough matches and the U13 County Cup ahead.

It was impossible to decide on a clear Player-of-the-Match as every player in the team contributed so positively to a complete team performance and brilliant win.

Woodbridge 1st XI at the U18 County Cup

Our Senior 1st Team showed that they could be a force to reckon with this season, with some outstanding play at the U18 County Cup, their first competitive fixtures of the season. The team featured five debutants and brought together a mix of experience from Year 11 to 13.

As expected, the first match against RHS was a physical and feisty battle. The team worked hard to implement tactical and technical expectations of new coach, Mr Flatt. This required a lot of mental and physical effort and delivered the desired outcome. Year 12’s Tom scored for Woodbridge early in the second half, being rewarded for endless running in the press and skills in attack. Woodbridge stood strong in the closing minutes of the game to secure a great first win.

Culford brought a different challenge with plenty of skilful players to manage and was a confident team after a big win in their first match. Our goalkeepers, Year 13’s Ethan and Year 12’s Edward, continued to make great saves to keep a clean sheet and Woodbridge in the hunt for the win. Neither team could break the deadlock, however, and played out a very physical, entertaining and high tempo 0-0 draw.

It was all to play for in the last match with both Woodbridge and Culford knowing a big win could make them county champions. Woodbridge showed early on against Ipswich High School that they would be the dominant team and Year 12’s Alex converted this early dominance into a lead with a field goal in the 5th minute. Year 12’s Arlo doubled the lead when he scored from a sneaky deflection at a penalty corner.

After going ahead, the team lost their structure and playing patterns a bit by carrying too much in the search for more goals. Half time came at the right time to regroup and refocus on the process to get desired outcomes. Woodbridge continued to dominate and Edward dealt with Ipswich High shots well to deny any upset. Tom got a second goal for the day with a well-timed penalty corner strike to make sure the win is secured. Three goals in the last game were not quite enough to overtake Culford’s goal difference but it was a great performance from the team in the tournament, finishing joint top of the table, but pushed into second place on goal difference.

With this result the team has secured their place in the Regional Finals in March. Congratulations to Tom who was voted Player-of-the-Day and special mention to GKs Ethan and Edward for top goalkeeping and saves all day. Pretty impressive to play three matches without conceding a single goal.

Woodbridge U15 vs New Hall

The U15 team made it two wins from two when they beat New Hall U15B. Our team showed superior skill to the opposition but had to work hard to contend with athletic and physical play from New Hall.

It was a close affair; the teams being separated by a goal from Harry well set up by Kaell.

Player-of-the-Match was awarded to Anthony.

Well done to this group who keep working hard and playing so well together.

We had a fantastic day with our Year 11 and 13 artists and photographers at Tate Britain and the V&A last week, rounded off with a great meal at Pizza Express; huge kudos to the team there for serving 42 pizzas in just 15 minutes!

The trip was designed to spark new ideas for the Externally Set Task, with the resulting work on show this summer.

Big thanks to Mrs Chapman-Ross for organising the trip, and to Year 13’s Angus, Mrs Parker and Mr Hutch for their support – and of course, thank you to our students for their brilliant enthusiasm in the galleries.

Two of our students share their experience of the day below.

Year 13’s Sophie E

“In the morning, we went to the Tate and experienced two exhibitions: Lee Miller and Constable and Turner. Lee Miller’s retrospective exhibit mainly focused on women and friendship; as well as this, there was an exhibit on the Holocaust which showed us a heart‑wrenching side to the tragedies that occurred. Constable and Turner let us experience a fascinating labyrinth of detailed paintings which many of us took interest in and admired for the full hour.”

Year 13’s Isobel

“In the afternoon we went to the V&A. It was incredibly inspiring to see so much original artwork in person. The wide range of art definitely helped influence new ideas and techniques. We left feeling motivated and excited to create new work.”

Last Tuesday, A Level Drama students had the absolute pleasure of taking part in a workshop with Gecko’s Associate Director Helen Baggett. Helen spent three hours with students, taking them through Gecko’s various devising techniques, and encouraging them to create bold and exciting work within an ensemble.

Year 12’s William shared his experience of the workshop.

“I found the workshop incredibly useful and very enjoyable. It gave me an excellent insight into the world of professional theatre and taught me a wide array of devising techniques.

Applying some of these techniques to my A level devised practical has already greatly heightened the quality of the work, and as time goes on, I’m bound to use even more of what I learned in the workshop.

Beyond its educational value, it was also extremely fun. I found that doing such intensive activities with my peers brought us all closer together and allowed us to get to know one another better.

Overall, it was a brilliant and has definitely improved my A level Drama experience.”

Last Thursday 15 January, we were once again the proud hosts of the final Suffolk Schools Cross Country Trial; this is the county round of the English Schools’ Championships which is the national schools’ event, governed by the English Schools Athletic Association (ESAA). The major event, which will be run in March, was founded in 1925 and incorporates the whole of England providing the platform for all school athletes to compete within their own counties from grass roots to elite levels. Athletes represent their schools, progress through a system of county and regional qualifiers to reach the national championships.

From the trials run last week, sixteen athletes across the competing schools in each race, are then selected to run for their county at the regional race, in our case of course Suffolk, at the Anglian in Northamptonshire on 31 January. For our minors age group their journey will end here, however for our Junior, Inters and Senior categories (Year 8 and above) runners are then chosen in each age group (plus four reserves) to run for Suffolk. This happens across the country where each area develops their strongest county team to compete at the All-England schools where they fight it out for team medals and individual England Vests! This event will take place this year in Sefton Park, Liverpool on 14 of March.

For our Suffolk trials held at Woodbridge School, the rain came down and never left us for the entire day and with the freezing conditions in the lead up the weeks before it led to some testing cross country. Even without the use of our infamous ‘kill hill’ there were muddy ups and downs, long hilly drags and some twists and turns towards the end, enabling a great display of sprint finishes where athletes battled it out against the odds, and one another, to get in their top 16.

Woodbridge School’s Cross Country teams, staff, parents and grounds team proudly welcomed their guests, and everyone came together as the brilliant team that they are. Students were even helping each other when needed no matter what age group, even with all the individual pre-race nerves, it was great to see. We even had our OW and Inter Counties team medallist, Iwan Fothergill join us in his university holidays, to help all our Woodbridge runners get through their warmups and to the start lines.

We congratulate every athlete and offer a massive thank you to marshals, officials, staff and parents that assisted in the hosting of the event. It was a successful day for Woodbridge School athletes with 50 competing across the age groups.

Our athletes won five individual medals and celebrated 13 top 10 finishes!

Suffolk team announced

The Suffolk teams were announced for the Anglians yesterday and we are proud to say that 20 of our athletes have been selected to run for Suffolk on 31 January, with another three on the short reserve lists.

Well done to every athlete and good luck to those racing at the regional round!

Full results

Gold medal winners:

Year 9’s Dex
Year 8’s Chloe

Silver medal winners:

Year 10’s Digby
Year 9’s Alexandra
Year 7’s Sofia

Minor Girls:

2nd – Year 7’s Sofia
4th – Year 6’s Ava
8th – Year 7’s Florence
12th – Year 7’s Sophia
20th – Year 7’s Issy
36th – Year 6’s Ziyu

Minor Boys:

18th – Year 7’s Max
21st – Year 7’s Kaydon
24th – Year 6’s Charlie
28th – Year 6’s Archie
35th – Year 6’s Sam
39th – Year 7’s Aiden
61st – Year 7’s Fletcher
76th – Year 7’s Millar

Junior Girls:

1st – Year 8’s Chloe
2nd – Year 9’s Alexandra
4th – Year 9’s Ella K
5th – Year 9’s India J
12th – Year 9’s India B
35th -Year 9’s Imogen M
48th – Year 8’s Tati H
56th – Year 9’s Honor
66th – Year 8’s Juno

Junior Boys:

1st – Year 9’s Dex
9th – Year 9’s Josh
13th – Year 8’s Oliver
15th – Year 9’s Olly R
16th – Year 8’s Archie
41st – Year 9’s Oliver B
63rd – Year 9’s Theo
64th – Year 8’s Harry
65th – Year 8’s Miles

Inter Girls:

4th – Year 11’s Romilly
7th – Year 10’s Alice
22nd – Year 10’s Grace
29th – Year 10’s Marina
30th – Year 10’s Millie

Inter Boys:

2nd – Year 10’s Digby
4th – Year 10’s Hamish
13th – Year 11’s Jago
19th – Year 10’s Oscar
34th – Year 10’s Harry

Senior Boys:

6th – Year 13’s Angus

Clash of the Chess Titans begun in School this week, a match for Year 12’s Rowan and Nikolai, two of the School’s strongest players, competing to discover who is indeed, the best Chess player in School!

Rowan and Nikolai played their first game of six on Wednesday, surrounded by the noise of their fellow students in a packed dining hall. Nikolai prepared a surprise variation in the opening, but Rowan had checked Nikolai’s online games and had seen him use that variation before, so was prepared in case it happened. As a result, Rowan did extremely well in the opening, putting Nikolai under time pressure in addition to creating other problems for him on the board.

With each player having 10 minutes plus 1 second added for every move they make to play the game, Rowan took the win, with only 12 seconds left on the clock, and Nikolai was down to 2 seconds.

Both of these students of course are taking this competition very seriously, and so we await the second of the six games next week with much anticipation and excitement.

In the freezing conditions of Sunday just gone, our athletes (having long trained for this event, and through the Christmas holidays too!) took to the start line in their various age groups at the Suffolk Cross Country County Championships at Holbecks Park in Hadleigh – one of the first main races of the 2026 calendar.

Runners across the country in the same week, would be competing in their local county race, and those U13 upwards compete for the top 6-8 finishes in their age group, hoping for county selection to run at the prestigious UK Inter Counties Cross Country, which is once again at the infamous course at Wollaton Park in Nottingham on 7 March.

U11s

TheU11 Girls and Boys kicked off the day, attacking the frozen conditions with their usual resilience. Woodbridge School had one girl and three boys competing – and all four came home in the top 10 with a Gold medal in tow for Ava! Huge congratulations to this young, tenacious team of Year 6 students:

U11 Girls:

Ava – 1^st place

U11 Boys:

Charlie – 4^th place
Archie – 7^th place
Sam – 9^th place

U13s

Running for her club, Year 8’s Chloe Berry achieved another gold for her club in the U13 category with a whopping lead of just under a minute clear of second place. Year 7’s Florence was also an impressive 7th girl in the same age group!

Year 8’s Oliver L came home in a superb second place achieving a Silver medal, four seconds shy of the leader. This is such a significant improvement and testament to his relentless hunger to do well and training in the last four months.

U15 Girls

The U15 Girls kicked off the longer of the courses run on the day and in the face of much adversity they prevailed once again in the true Kenyan style formation:

Year 9’s India J – 3^rd place
Year 9’s Ella – 4^th place
Year 8’s Alexandra – 6^th place

All securing qualification for their Suffolk county team in March.

U15 Boys

Our U15 Boys followed promptly afterwards and powered home:

Year 9’s Dex – 1^st place
Year 10’s Hamish – 3rd place
Year 10’s Digby –6^th place
Year 9’s Josh – 10^th place

Again, the top six from this race will all qualify to run for Suffolk.

U17s Women

The U17 Women’s category is another strong one and Year 11’s Romilly powered home in 3rd place securing a Bronze medal for her club Bury Pacers. She also goes through to the Inter Counties.

U20s Men

Our final athlete, Year 13’s Angus had the absolute race of his season so far and showing no signs of letting up, crossed the finish line in a brilliant 2nd place. His true grit was obvious from early on and through gritted teeth, to fend off a competitor attempting to close in on his hard earned position, he managed to cover the last 100m in a super speedy 13 seconds! Well done Angus for such a great achievement!

Finally, huge congratulations for all our runners who got out there on Sunday – the terrain was tough, the conditions were brutal but once again Woodbridge School students’ running tenacity prevailed.

Good luck to all our qualifiers representing Suffolk in March. Such a proud moment to be able to run for your county!

This year’s Carol Service at St Mary’s Church, Woodbridge was once again a highlight of the School calendar, and performed three times to ensure every student has the opportunity to experience it. It remains an important and poignant moment in the educational year, offering space for reflection, celebration, and a shared sense of community for students, staff, alumni and their families.

The services were led by our very own Reverend Ian Wilson, whose warmth and guidance provided a thoughtful spiritual thread throughout each gathering.

The Chamber Choir led a beautifully crafted Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, opening with an atmospheric introit of Tavener’s A Christmas Round. During the first service, the low afternoon sun streamed through the stained-glass windows, bathing the choir and congregation in warmth and coloured light, adding a serene, almost timeless aura to the occasion.

Our Head, Miss Norman, reminded us that the Carol Service – and the work of the Chamber Choir – is ultimately about the feeling each individual takes away with them. This sentiment was reflected in the thoughtful choice of anthems that punctuated the biblical story of the birth of Jesus and in the students’ sincere performances throughout.

The choir sang under the watchful and encouraging eye of Claire Weston, our Head of Singing, whose guidance and high expectations help the students achieve an exceptional standard each year. Claire shared,

“I am immensely proud of the choir and the musical heights they consistently reach, and this year was no exception.”

James Davy’s skilled and impressive organ playing underpinned the entire service, enriching each carol and moment of reflection with both musical sensitivity and grandeur.

A particular delight was Jamie John Hutchings’ arrangement of Silent Night, written and gifted especially for this year’s service and performed with accompanying sign language by the entire ensemble. Gjeilo’s setting of The Coventry Carol provided one of the most striking moments; its haunting harmonies filling the church with this well known carol in a new setting.

The climax of the service came with a newly arranged Personent Hodie by A. Mortensen, a little-known composer from Aldeburgh. The piece’s vibrant energy and fresh character offered a memorable finale, made even more special by the composer’s presence at Thursday evening’s performance.

In the weeks leading up to the services, the choir members demonstrated admirable commitment and focus. Their dedication in rehearsals was clearly reflected in the poise, confidence, and musical excellence they brought to each service. Across all three services, the students’ musicianship, hard work, and sense of occasion shone through, making this year’s Carol Service a truly uplifting celebration for the entire school community.