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EADT_Celebrations as students recieve their GCSE examination results_21st August

This year’s GCSE results are the best for many years. 55.1% of GCSEs were awarded at A* and A grades and just under a quarter of all GCSE grades were A*. 61% of students obtained one A* or more in their GCSEs. 40% of students obtained the equivalent of at least all A grades and ten students obtained more than 8 A*s.

92.4% of students gained 5 GCSEs at A*-C including English and Maths. Interestingly boys slightly out-performed girls on this measure with 92.1% of girls and 92.6% of boys obtaining 5 GCSEs at A*-C including English and Maths.

Neil Tetley, Headmaster of Woodbridge School, said: “This is a quite superb set of results and one of the best in many years. Our students worked extremely hard to obtain such wonderful results but they also found time to enjoy everything else the school has to offer, from rugby to chess.

School is about helping to prepare young people for life and good academic grades are a very important part of this but the ability to communicate effectively, to empathise with others and the confidence to believe you can achieve anything you want to are just as important. At Woodbridge we aim to combine excellent academic results with strong personal development. I would like to congratulate all students and staff.’gcse350

EADT_Woodbridge at Edinburgh_19th AugustEADT_Woodbridge School students perform at Edinburgh Fringe_19th August

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EADT_Joy and celebration as students mark their A-level exam results_14th August

Students and staff at Woodbridge School are celebrating outstanding A level results this summer with the highest percentage of A* grades ever and one of the best sets of results in many years. Of the 91 students that sat A Level exams this year, 87% achieved A*-C grades. Over a quarter of students secured at least three A or A* grades with the average points per candidate across the whole year the equivalent of better than three A grades.

Three quarters of all papers sat received at least a B grade, 45% were marked at an A grade or higher, and one fifth received an A*. 64% of students achieved at least one A grade and 39% of students achieving at least one A*.

Ella Hooper (pictured in the production of ‘Father Time’ taken to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival), obtained four A*s at A level but has rejected her offer of a place at Oxford University to study Classical Archaeology and Ancient History in favour of an offer from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Neil Tetley, Headmaster of Woodbridge School, said: “The students should be justifiably proud of their outstanding achievements and we wish them all well in their chosen university and career paths.

“Sixth formers at Woodbridge School thrive academically and personally through working hard but also throwing themselves into sport, drama, music or one of the many other activities here which support their self-development as confident, independent and well balanced young adults. As well as congratulating the students I’d like to thank the teachers and sixth form support team who have dedicated themselves to helping these students flourish.”
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Any OW returning to Woodbridge must find it a confusing experience. So much appears to have changed and even those bits which remain recognizable are never quite the same. Almost every decade marks out its offspring by changes to the general topography – subtle and not so subtle. Here’s what I mean.

When you were at school where was the Dining Hall? If you say Marryott House you really are a strong vintage, and even “The Old Schoolroom” would mark you out as someone who was a pupil between the wars. But if you are able to point to the present location, there are other dating clues: did you sit by houses at long tables, with staff or prefect dishing out the grub, or were you offered hatch-service, and allowed to sit where you wished? They still have to queue but it’s not so rough and noisy as it was. And the food is better.

Or what about the School Hall? Was that where you gathered each morning for assembly – assuming there was one, as that (like Speech Day) was rested for several years? Of course, if the School Hall was also your gym – now we are going back! You’ll at least suppose that everyone still takes their exams in the School Hall as some things cannot change. Wrong. The Sports Hall vast and sunless now provides no distractions for those seeking inspiration.

Houses are a minefield for the historian. Suppose you were in Queen’s – but which one? From 1914 to the close of the 20th century it was a senior pupil boarding house, but now it is the kindergarten department. Tallents House and Marryott both have entirely separate periods of use. Once there were four boarding houses, not counting The Abbey, and now only School House remains.

When I started at school they were building the New Block, but in my last year they pulled it down (and significantly left the plot unused!) And don’t even go near the so-called House Rooms for your classroom memories, the clue is in the name. Oh, and there’s another hint as to your vintage – was there a Willard House? Girls of course arrived in 1974 – “the gymslip invasion” claimed the EADT, and they transformed the school supremely.

Finally, there are the staff – for good or bad they define the school and the memories you share. Many pupils suppose the staff during their era was the most talented, most weird, most caring or whatever. But along comes another generation who defiantly claim the same for their teachers. Perhaps that’s the essence of a good school: each generation supposes they knew it at its best, and it’s all downhill from there. But it isn’t. Change comes about, causes alarm and indignation, but in the end calm returns and the doom clouds clear to reveal progress. ‘Twas ever thus! And long may it continue.

Don’t forget the Dinner on Saturday, 19th September. And spare a grateful thought for Thomas Seckford, 500 years old this year, who made it all possible.

Best wishes to you all.

Mark Mitchels