Woodbridge School and Sixth Form
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On Saturday 28 January Alfie Glendinning and Minnie Wayman both competed in the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships at Tooting Bec Lido. With no wet suits allowed and the water an extremely chilly 1.5o c speed was of the essence! First up was Alfie in the boys u14 years 30m free which he won in 21.73 seconds. Minnie was next in the girls u14 years 30m free which she won in 19.07 seconds. Alfie then had another swim, racing in the boys u14 years 30m head up breaststroke which he won in 33.20 seconds. After a dip in the hot tub and some hot drinks Minnie competed in the mixed 4 x 30m freestyle relay with swimmers from Felixstowe, Diss and Leiston. They finished  a highly creditable 5th out of 31 teams in a time of 1.26.83. The combined upper age limit for their category was 160 years, they came in at a combined age of 61 years, winning a special prize as youngest team. A hugely enjoyable day, they’re both looking forward to the next Championships in 2019!

Mrs Hodson, who is a nurse, visited Reception to talk to them about nursing. She showed them how to assess a casualty and how to put them in the recovery position and call the emergency services.  She also brought bandages and slings and after modelling what to do, let the children have a go. Before long, the classroom looked like A&E with all sorts of injuries carefully bound and strapped.  Lots of children decided they want to be medics when they grow up. A huge thank you to Mrs Hodson for such an inspiring experience.

Myles King (Woodbridge 1st  team vice-captain) and Ben Kilburn (Woodbridge 1st team captain) competed at the U18 National Indoor “Super 6’s” Finals for their club, Harleston Magpies on 21-22 January. This was Myles’ second trip to the U18 finals weekend, winning the title last year.  This year Myles captained the team who made it all the way to the semi-final stage of this prestigious competition.  Magpies represented the East of England after qualifying through the county and regional rounds.  The team showed great discipline in the pool matches in the way they played, winning three games on the way to qualifying for the semi-final. In the semi-final they came up against the experienced team from Canterbury and had to settle for a tightly contested 2-4 defeat. Some amazing indoor hockey was played and superb goals scored.  This was a great experience and achievement for Myles and Ben, testing themselves against the best U18 indoor players in the country and placing their team amongst the top four indoor teams in England. Well done! We are very proud of you.

Five students from Woodbridge School Sixth Form are thrilled to receive offers from Britain’s most prestigious universities. The successful students have each received conditional offers to read their chosen subjects at either Oxford or Cambridge universities from September 2017.

Oxford University offers went to James Bellhouse to study History at St Hughes College, Sophie Read to study Experimental Psychology at Brasenose College, and George King to study English at Lincoln College. Cambridge University offers went to Lydia Cook to study Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Peterhouse, and Poppy Hill to study Classics at Jesus College. Poppy received her A Level results in July and is currently enjoying a gap year travelling abroad.

The five students, four of whom are currently working towards their A-Levels, had to submit a written application and undergo an interview before hearing about their offer. As well as their academic ability, the pupils had to demonstrate critical thinking, problem solving abilities and a keen understanding of their chosen subject.

Four of the students have been at Woodbridge since the very start of their school lives. Congratulations to all!

At 9.15am on Tuesday 17 January 44 athletes boarded the coach for Lincroft school for the annual Bedfordia Cross Country Competition.

Over 30 schools from all around the midlands took part and this created an excellent atmosphere amongst all competitors, especially the year 5 students who had never competed in such a vast event before.

Following a walk of the course the athletes changed and then it was race time.

Year 5 girls were first to race in a field over 300 runners, and they were superb.

Sophia Waterer had a storming run (83) and crossed the line in front of the rest of The Abbey students with Georgina Phillips (93), Charlie Hattan (96) and Havannah Vincent (106) not far behind. Mihi Forbes Ballard (227), Polly Scoggins (220) and Milly Johnson (221) decided it was best to run together to navigate the number of competitors and to stay safe during the run, all three completing the run with smiles on faces and keen to race again. The team finished a creditable 22nd out of 34 teams.

Year 5 boys were even more nervous after they had watched the ‘stampede’ of the girls’ race, as one of the runners called it!! Solid performances all round with Luca di Paola (33) leading the way, closely followed by Jonjo Walker (74)and then a throng of Abbey athletes with John Hall (132), Arthur Na Nakhorn (133) Henry Shaw (134) all pushing each other along throughout the race. James Hattan (150) did well to push his way through the crowd following a slow start and Edward Carter (206) and Jack Palmer (207) finished strongly to ensure that the team finished 16th out of 33 teams.

Year 7 Girls warmed up with a purpose, knowing that they had run several times before, and with the training were in excellent condition to do well.

The start was fast and furious and after the first 500yards the field settled into their running.  Amy Goddard gradually made her way through the field, finishing in a fantastic 3rd position, Anna Jackson fought her way around the course and eventually finished 19th with Ella Pitt (40) and Lucy Clare(66) close behind, Annie Nicholass (102) and Iris Morton(105) completed the team effort and ensure that the Year 7 girls finished a creditable 7th in the competition.

The Gauntlet was thrown down to the Year 7 boys to finish higher still, and try they did with some excellent running from Ed Rufford (7) , Tom Martin (36) and Sam Bolus (44).  The wait was on for the rest of the team mates to see if they could better the girls’ seventh place!! There was then a frenzy of finishers with James Holliday (107), Archie Sjoberg (121), Archie Bacon (122), Tom Childs (134) and Archie Cartwright (143) to make for a team placing of eleventh:  the Year 7 Girls were still the best team of the day.

Year 8 girls were next to step up to the challenge and they were confident , with the experience of competing in events like this before.  They were happy to let the front runners sprint off and then slowly pick them off around the course and that’s exactly what they did!! Bea Thomas (2) sat and waited as the main pack sprinted away, but an excellent run and strong finish saw her home with Molly Marshall (3), Cecily Royal-Dawson (6), Jess Elmer (7) and Emily Whyte(9).  The team were in an excellent position, and when Ella Walker ran the final corner and sprinted to the finish line to finish (28) the team were reunited and just needed to wait on the result.

Year 8 boys had just witnessed an incredible run by the girls and knew that they had to match the outcome. Charlie Turner and George Wharam looked relaxed and chilled as the pack set off at a great pace, but the boys after numerous races were confident that they could win the race and do that they did! Charlie and George crossed the line hand in hand to finish joint first!… But the team had to back them up and finish strongly… and with Kit Evans Lombe (4), Tom Harper (10), Will Franklin (11) and Tom Turner (28) the team did just that. Mauricio Corfe (31), John Hendry (45) and Ruben Kill (80) who are all expert over shorter distances offered excellent support.

The Year 8 girls and boys did remarkably well, both finishing 1st in their competitions.

It was a great day, especially for the Year 5 students who have never competed in an event like this before.

 

The theme for the Year 2 visit to the Abbey on Thursday was Circles.

Circuits, circles and concentric circles could be found in abundance in the Science Room and the Art Room.  The children enjoyed using batteries, wires and crocodile clips to create a circuit to power a small motor and spin a card circle.  They made some wonderful patterns.

Their super circle creations were then used in the Art room to make a wonderful multimedia, masterpiece in the style of Kandinsky.

The children were completely absorbed in their activities and really enjoyed exploring The Abbey grounds and of course eating their lunch!

 

In Year 2 this week we have become scientists and have been investigating forces around the school with everyday activities.  We had a lot of fun with our clipboards jotting down all the different types of motion we saw.  How can we change the speed or direction of moving objects?  Just ask the scientists!

 

 

This week the children in Year 1 have been looking at Katie Morag’s island and identifying human and physical features of the landscape.  The children then designed their own class island using the small world area before designing their own island map using symbols.

 

A fast paced game that produced some end to end hockey. The first half was all Framlingham. They showed good pace and stick skills to spend a majority of the time in the Woodbridge half of the pitch. Woodbridge stood up to the challenge and defended amazingly. Saif Toubasey and Hugo Thomas in the middle of the defence were like a brick wall not allowing Framlingham to pass. On the odd occasion when they did find a gap Alfie Franklin was an imposing figure in goal making impressive save after impressive save to keep the score level. Woodbridge had to mainly counter attack and this paid off in the dying minutes of the half with repeat offences at a penalty corner resulted in a penalty flick. Hugo Thomas stepped up and converted the ball into the roof of the net, the travelling fans went wild. The second half was one of the best  you may ever see at this age group. Fast paced attack and continued solid defence. Both sides having chances to get on the scoresheet but both unable to score. With the minutes ticking down Woodbridge held strong and ran out 1-0 winners at the final whistle. The effort and determination but all the players was incredible and the win was deserved in a very tight entertaining game.

In Year 2 we have been looking at Forces in Science.  We have tested a variety of materials to see what happens to them when a force is applied.  We have also constructed our own playgrounds to investigate the forces at work.  We looked at the forces that acted on the cars as we pulled back the levers and pushed the buttons.