Month: March 2018

The children at Queen’s House have been having fun on World Maths Day solving puzzles and mathematical problems.

Year 1 looked at Wizard coordinates, while children in Reception enjoyed a maths session with their parents decorating fairy cakes using as many different combinations using a restricted number of toppings.

World Book Day was celebrated this week at The Abbey and at Queen’s House. The day began, at each location, with a celebration assembly and the children all enjoyed spotting their favourite characters.

There was a fantastic array of costumes and the children spent the rest of day exploring their favourite books and characters.

Thank you to all parents for, once again, providing such wonderful costumes!

The Year 12 Woodbridge School Young Enterprise team has produced a fantastic cookbook, East Coast Eats,  as part of its first business venture. Inspired by restaurants, cafés and companies across Suffolk, the cookbook celebrates both East Anglia’s renowned produce and its producers. The book features recipes from big local businesses including Stokes Sauces, Munchy Seeds and Purely Pesto, as well as popular cafés like Honey + Harvey – even Delia Smith has shared a recipe. You can pick up your copy today in Browsers’ Bookstore, the Woodbridge Emporium, or come along to The Abbey book fair on Wednesday 14 March, where copies will be available to purchase for £14.99.

Callum Sycamore, Managing Director for the Young Enterprise team at Woodbridge School, said “We loved the idea of a business which incorporated the strength of our local area and that by choosing a product which represented the region; we would have an increased passion for it, and greater success with it.”

A CHILD OF OUR TIME – ELY CATHEDRAL – THURSDAY 26 APRIL 2018

Woodbridge School Choral Society

Michael Tippett
A Child Of Our Time

Make sure you are a part of what will be a fabulously memorable occasion, on:

26 April 2018 at 7:30pm

A Child of Our Time by Sir Michael Tippett is one of the great masterpieces of twentieth century choral music and a work that continues to be relevant and thought-provoking, as well as searingly beautiful, in our own time.

Tippett began the oratorio in 1939 without any commission but moved by the dawning horror of the Nazi regime in Europe and the events of Kristlanacht particularly. The text considers the light and darkness inside all people and asks some big philosophical questions about our own capacity for good. The music blends African-American spiritual with rich baroque textures and jazz inflections to create a tapestry of some of the most haunting music of the last one hundred years.

Woodbridge School is well known for the exceptional quality and range of its music making. A Child of Our Time is one of the most significant works undertaken and represents the culmination of many months of rehearsal and work. The Choral Society consists of all students who have vocal lessons at the school as well as staff, friends and singers from the wider community. With professional soloists and full orchestra this is a rare opportunity to hear this amazing, challenging and thought-provoking piece in such a beautiful setting.

The concert will also feature the School’s Chamber Choir singing a range of vocal works and the Chamber Orchestra in Vaughan William’s ever-popular Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.
Chris Milton (conductor)
Claire Weston (choral director)

Clare Tunney (soprano)
Hannah Bennett (alto)
Aaron Godfrey-Mayes (tenor)
Meilir Jones (bass)
Beth Spendlove (leader)

Tickets

£20, £15 and £10 are available online at elycathedral.org or from Ely Cathedral Box Office (01353 660349 – open Monday to Saturday from 9.30am until 4pm), or alternatively you can send at email to box.office@elycathedral.org.

Workshops

There are also two workshops to come… and for a confident singer who has not yet joined us, there is still time!

So… sign up: www.woodbridgeschool.org.uk/a-child-of-our-time in good time for the next workshop which are on the following dates:

• Sunday 18 March 2018
• Sunday 22 April 2018

Any further queries should be directed to the Music Administrator:
musicsecretary@woodbridgeschool.org.uk

Year 12 Exam Work

The astonishing momentum generated by the outcry over the behaviour of Weinstein, and sexual predators in general, hit the Seckford stage with resounding impact this week.  Momentum is conserved according to the laws of physics, endlessly transferred, reorganised, lost and found.  Energy likewise.  Sometimes both come together locally to dramatic effect, like a wave or a storm – and so it has been over the last few months.  That our six actresses (that they are all women is important) were able to harness the zeitgeist in such a stunningly original and dramatic way demands the highest praise.  They sought out words and histories, statements and poetry – no theft here (unlike the theft of innocence that the words universally described) – but a respectful selectivity.  I believe I am a man innocent of any sins in this respect, and that we are mostly a society of honest and good people when it comes to such behaviours, but the horror of the bluntly desperate statements victims have made casts a very long shadow.

The actresses took the words and the anger and magnified them, through movement – the patterns of daily life made sinister; through speech – from painful whisper to ear-splitting guttural; through juxtaposition – man’s aggression in attitude, speech, and touch played out in a woman’s frame.  And they all six maintained an intensity which only further dramatised quite how important this issue is: to them, and to our society.  This is a difficult area, full of pain and ugliness, and the performance pulled no punches.  We in the audience did not have a happy evening, but we had a significant one.

Many, many congratulations to the cast, for the brave decisions made and for the imagination you showed: you created something quite remarkable which will live long in the minds of those who saw it – the apotheosis of drama in all its guises.

After all the snow, Woodbridge School was finally able to host The Skinners’ School in the second round of the National U18 Plate Competition.  Woodbridge dominated the opening minutes but could not capitalise in creating a clear cut chance.  Momentum slowly started to shift as Skinners’ grew in confidence, but player of the match, Joshua Graves came into his own leading the defence as Dom Ellice-Freeman, Toby McNally, James Martin and captain James Meakin all tackled well outside the D and dealt with scrambles within it to clear the danger.  Meanwhile at the other end a Woodbridge attack led to a penalty corner and Alex Weir-Simmons put his drag flick on target, forcing a double save from the goalkeeper only for Oliver Buchanan to pounce on the rebound and score.

The second half saw Woodbridge much more dominant as they moved the ball to all corners of the pitch to great effect.  Hugo Kelleway, Alex Weir-Simmons, Oliver Bacon and Patrick Frebel worked tirelessly and the forwards led, rotated, pressed and worked back zealously.  Chances flowed and nine minutes into the second half James Phelan was rewarded for all his hard work with a very good goal, and shortly after Charlie Mayhew scored the first of his two.  With a healthy cushion Woodbridge continue to grow in confidence and play with freedom.  The Skinners’ goalkeeper played very well but couldn’t stop Alex taking our tally to 5-0.

This was a very good team performance in which each player can be very proud of their own play and contribution to the positive outcome.  Gutsy defending gave the attackers confidence and the team must be commended for keeping a clean sheet in this end to end, physical game.

Many congratulations to Eleanore Fitzgerald, Annie Nicholass and Alice Sharratt who have all been successful in the recent auditions from a large field of dancers from across the region for the English Youth Ballet’s production of Cinderella In Hollywood (Theatre Royal Norwich 25-26 May).

They are all pupils of Sandra Hartley at the Saxtead School of Dance.

This promises to be a dazzling production with stunningly striking costumes and wonderful dancing, with international principals in the leading roles. Celebrating its 20th anniversary year, English Youth Ballet’s policy is to perform full length ballets outside London, and to give young dancers the chance to perform in a professional setting.

For more information visit https://secure.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk/Online/default.asp.

A recent, well received, career lunch was focused on the medical professions.

A huge thanks to Dr Yardy, Mrs Yardy (physiotherapist), Sarah Weston and Kirsten Hamilton (both dentists) and Rose Bacon (speech and language therapist) for coming and offering their support.

The students all benefitted from their expertise and enjoyed meeting them and picking their brains!

The Woodbridge School MUN delegations had a wonderful time and success at the iX Felsted Conference.

We were fortunate enough to make up the delegations of The Netherlands, Costa Rica and part of the Spanish delegation. Various topics were up for debate, ranging from the empowering of women to achieve global equality all the way to the promotion of clean energies, or the nuclear disarmament of North Korea.

Out of the ten Woodbridge students that took part five had their resolutions passed, with many others making vital contributions in solving some of these key issues. Abigail Crane and Chris Long out shone all competition in their respective committees (health and environment) and left the conference honoured as highly commended delegates. Benjamin Weston and Josh Cole were also noted as commended delegates a very noble achievement. The team (also consisting of Joshua Bradbeer, Mary Godfrey, Daniella Elman, Samuel Newman and myself) at this conference was quite mixed in terms of experience, and for many it was their first time.

Regardless of awards it would be fair to say every pupil that took part, was able to walk away from the conference having developed not only their confidence when speaking in front of a large audience, about something which they were perhaps previously unfamiliar or from perspectives other than their own, but also their knowledge and passion for understanding the way in which the world works.

As we strive to move forward and be a part of transforming our world for the better and as we develop not only our skills but our acceptance of others.

Callum Sycamore