Month: November 2015

Team of the Week
Hockey Junior 1’s
Junior 1’s represented the school well at the u13 County cup, remaining unbeaten. The Wednesday following this team continued their unbeaten run in a humble and efficient manner, beating Culford 7-1. The team showed resilience when 3 starting line up players could not play due to injury and illness, and helped the new players integrate and encouraged them. They did ever so well. It all resulted in one of the best performances of the season so far.

Individual of the Week
Harry Hobday

Harry, captain of the U15 rugby team, was tireless against Culford and led by example on the pitch with big hits and strong running. His positive and inspirational half time team talk turned the game around from a losing position to win 17-15 in a bruising encounter.

Congratulations to Chapel Choir who rehearsed so thoroughly to give the first Evensong of the academic year. They sang settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by Geoffrey Burgon, and it was a lovely, reflective way to end a busy day.

What a breath-taking descent into the realms of the conscious and sub-conscious, of alienation within love, and of the collapse of reason.

In a staging as stark and uncompromising as the plot, and with a visceral nod to an unreal reality, the Sixth Form worked its magical spell (more Voldemort than Weasley) upon an absolutely enthralled audience.

Flora Douglas’s Gregor Samsa was extraordinary: not just for the physicality of her performance, but for its forlorn sense of the inevitability of Gregor’s condition. No walls on stage – but the imaginary walls between Gregor and his family ever more firmly built as they scuttled away from him so much more than he ever scuttled from them. His distress and our anguish on his behalf… but would we have done otherwise, if we had been father, mother, sister? Even Greta. Even Greta, so long the bastion of love, defeated. And even a mother’s love unable to compete with the physical repulsion; not forgetting a father simply unable to cope at all – with the clerk, with lodgers, with his own family (thank goodness for a moment of light relief).

Terrible; mesmerising; punishing. The message for me? Do all you can to avoid alienation: metaphorical, metamorphic or otherwise. It’s not a bad message for the world today.

Many congratulations once again to the drama department, to Sixth Formers, who must have been exhausted by both the physical and mental demands of such a show, and to the directors and stage crew for the vision and the ambition to bring off so spectacularly well this most demanding of plays.

Woodbridge School pupil William Emery is celebrating a string of successes after achieving multiple awards for his young musical talent, including securing a place in the National Youth Orchestra.

William, who is currently in year 11 aged 15, plays the viola at Grade 8. After achieving a series of local awards, including the Suffolk Festival Senior String Champion Music Committee Cup and Woodbridge School’s prestigious Louise Livett Trophy, William’s talent was recognised nationally and he has been offered the significant honour of playing with the National Youth Orchestra.

William was presented with his awards at the school’s Gala Concert, held at the Seckford Theatre earlier this month.

Woodbridge School headmaster, Neil Tetley, said: “William is an excellent musician and the school is supporting him as much as we can in furthering his potential. We are all very proud of his achievement in being selected for the National Youth Orchestra, which is a huge accolade.”

We unfortunately lost 2-1 to Langley yesterday in the golf ISGA in atrocious conditions. It was a great match and had to go to play off holes to decide the winner. Will Morecombe won his match 2-0, Jacob Hatfield lost 6 and 5 and then Guy Maynard, down 2 holes with 2 to play, managed to with the last two holes to tie the match and take the match into play-off holes to decide the overall team score. Unfortunately in the dark and wet, with the whole team watching on, two superb shots on the first play-off hole by Langley meant that they were putting for a birdie from 4 foot to win the match. At times the rain was driving horizontally and the wind was exceptionally strong. The course was also pretty waterlogged and boggy, meaning shots were extremely hard to play. Unfortunate to lose in this manner but the boys played exceptionally well.

The Under 14s played a very tough match against Culford. Not helped by the huge amount of rain. The match didn’t start of well. Culford scored an early try to take a five-nil lead. But from then on we got better. Moving the ball very well in the wet weather, we started to pile on the pressure. Soon we were near there try line. Eventually we scored thanks to a quick tap penalty from Charlie Mayhew. The try was converted making the score seven-five. The match stayed like this until the second half, when the team moved the ball superbly finding Daniel Davies in space to get the second try of the game. Quickly after, Oliver Juszt got the ball and powered over the line, making the score 17-5. Culford started to put on the pressure until our defense finally gave in. they scored out wide and missed the conversion. From there we held out until the last minute making the final score 17-10.

The Junior 4 hockey team had a very successful match against Culford this week. The girls started the match with a desire to win. They were well organised and determined to put into practice the set plays that they had been working on in their training session. From the start the girls pushed forward, passing the ball quickly and supporting each other so the person on the ball had more than one option. This order and control characterised the match. Zoe Newman scored a very pleasing goal, Phoebe Bell scored a textbook goal followed by Fleur Ludgrove and Emily Outen also scored a further two goals. Woodbridge won the match 5-0. Well done girls, an excellent team performance.

Harry Hobday reports

The fourth match of the season was home and off the back of the win last match we were fired up. It was very wet and windy so when Woodbridge received the kick we attacked ferociously but with cautious handling. Woodbridge turned over the ball a lot in the rucked thanks to the forwards, with James Eaton being a key part of this. We distributed well but we mostly shifted the ball out wide. This led to a series of impressive midfield phases but the backs had players swarming them. By half time, the opposition had scored two tries but we were undeterred.

In the second half the Woodbridge team kept shape, and as we had identified that we need to do more crash ball to keep the game tight, we had lots of room to run in. Soon, committing each player with pick and drives created a dog leg, and Dom Ellice-Freeman exploited the opportunity to score. Saxon Gallo converted what would become the game winning conversion. The fearless tackling never wavered, and despite their confusing scissor occasionally beating us, we kept chasing and stopping them from scoring. The most exciting moment was one occasion when we were on our line, stopped five phases and then scored ourselves. This is a Woodbridge team that is learning what makes a great team and demonstrated it, notably Harry Brett how was always in the action and scored a great try by going blind off a ruck. And then after huge pressure Dom Ellice-Freeman scored again. Unfortunately they broke the line meaning they got a try in the second half but we kept going. The team spirit was awesome: nothing could stop us. James Eaton used his strength and played no-nonsense rugby. The whole team should be proud to come back from a ten nil down: every player played his heart out and deserved this win.

Man of the match: James Eaton

Tries: Harry Brett; Dom Ellice-Freeman
Conversion: Saxon Gallo

It felt right to speak of Mr Stafford at the start of Friday’s concert, held in the beautiful setting of St Michael’s Church Framlingham.  His influence shone through every part of the evening’s programme, and in the heart of every performer.  And it would have been an evening I like to think he would very much have enjoyed: for the achievements of the pupils, and for the pleasure – the considerable pleasure – they brought to a large and appreciative audience.

The Chamber Orchestra first: Telemann – a delightful Suite with a theme: Don Quixote.  The Orchestra’s sense of direction and purpose was unambiguous and brilliant, unlike the eponymous hero’s, and set the standard for the rest of the evening.  Mozart took up the baton (as it were) with a Divertimento played with delicacy and joy, before Fletcher’s rather more free-and-easy, rustic Folk Tune and Fiddle Dance from 1914.  Yes, Mr Penny had found another gem in the box under his bed (I think that’s what he said), and the Orchestra polished it for us beautifully.

We are perennially blessed by the playing of our wonderful ensembles as well as our Orchestras, and the latest combination to take our stage was a quintet to grace any stage, performing the first movement of Schubert’s Trout Quintet.  The sense of conversation between the five was breath-taking: the air of attentive musical collaboration just what one would wish for.  In conversation afterwards rumour has it that they plan to add a few more movements over the next few months.  It will certainly be worth the wait.

The Chamber Choir sang the second half of the concert.  Two glorious solos, by Charlie Green accompanied by Harrison Cole (also busy as brilliant accompanist to the full choir when not singing himself), and Rhiannon Humphreys, counterbalanced ten pieces from the choir embracing multiple continents, languages, centuries and styles.  The fresh sound (all those new faces…), the heightened emotions, and the repertoire itself combined to make this a very special programme.

Between them, Mr Penny, Ms Weston and the Chamber musicians pulled off an absolute triumph; the audience left full of praise, of joy, of admiration, and of affection for friends present, and for one dear friend so sadly absent.