Woodbridge School and Sixth Form
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Woodbridge School Prep
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Our Sixth Form students, under the expert leadership of their A level music peers and friends, offered the most wonderful evening’s entertainment last Friday to a full and appreciative audience at Woodbridge Library.

Mr Milton mirrored his delight in his introductory explanation (that for once he was only there as an occasional piano monkey) with his heartfelt comments at the end about how this fine cohort of pupils had created something so tremendous together, independent of any need for guidance or encouragement – and what a pleasure, therefore, it had been for him to be able simply to sit back and enjoy the experience.

He was not alone in his enjoyment!

I loved the concert, too, and the appreciation from the audience (Friends of Woodbridge Library, and their friends, as well as our school parents and siblings) couldn’t help but overspill the polite boundaries of applause.  I heard there were tears in the eyes at time; and the murmured rumbles of appreciation for the jazz classics that nodded so poignantly and beautifully to memories of time long gone, to scratchy records and ill-tuned radios, spoke louder than words.

Enough of this!  You should have been there!  And if, foolishly, you missed the chance, then you missed Barbershop and Liszt (virtuosic!); concertos for tuba and for two violins (the musical conversation between the protagonists quite exceptional); you missed Mozart and Brahms, beautifully played and sung respectively; and a chance to be Flown to the Moon.  You missed smooth instrumental jazz and passionate Pergolesi; and you missed Misty Stardust sprinkled with Moondance.  And in a truly delightful bow and curtsey to the eponymous hero of our concert, you missed My Funny Valentine.

Wonderful!  Thank you, Friends of Woodbridge Library for your generous and warming hospitality, and thank you the Sixth Form musicians, for a glorious treat on a bracingly cold winter night!

Miss Norman Reports: This week England is focusing upon raising awareness around Children’s Mental Health. 75% of mental illnesses start before a child reaches their 18th birthday, while 50% of mental health problems (excluding dementia) take root before the age of 15 years. From the tragic story of Molly Rose whose suicide was linked to viewing harmful internet content, through to discussions being held in parliament on the effects of social media and mobile phone technology upon children’s wellbeing, the importance of acknowledging and re-examining this area cannot be clearer.

Over the summer holidays, Woodbridge School enabled me to complete my instructor training in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). This is an internationally recognised training course that is designed to teach people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill- health in young people from ages 8 to 18. Subsequently, I have been able to extend this superb training initiative to 22 pastoral staff at Queen’s House, The Abbey and the Senior School to ensure that our teachers are able to spot the early signs of mental health issues, tackle the stigma surrounding it, and protect those young people who might be at risk of harm, guiding them towards appropriate support. More staff are signing up to complete the Youth MHFA two day course to ensure that they feel confident in dealing with the issues that come their way, offering reassurance to our pupils that they are not alone and that it is ok not to be ok. The Government’s plan to ensure that every school from 2019 has at least one member of staff trained to deal with mental health is a crucial one; Woodbridge School recognises that just one member of staff is not enough in a region classified as the weakest for accessing external support. It reminds our parents and pupils just how important mental health and well-being is within education.

Next term, I would like to extend the MHFA training to parents and those in our community who are interested in completing this certificate. There will be a voluntary donation to complete the training with proceeds going to a charity chosen by our pupils that supports mental health. If anyone would like to find out more about what the course entails or register interest then please do not hesitate to contact me at snorman@woodbridgeschool.org.uk.

National finalists for the first time in 30 years!

Many, many congratulations to our dedicated and resourceful cadet team, brilliantly led by Flo, which came an exceptional third in the Eastern Region competition hosted at RAF Honington, taking away two trophies, and earning their place in the National Finals at RAF Halton in early March.

Our cadets swept all before them in the Drill Competition element of this very prestigious event, winning it outright for the fourth year in a row, and this time following up with a series of top four finished in many of the other elements to come a very fine third overall, behind reigning national champions and winners Kimbolton (though second, by a very distant 20 points, to our team in the Drill!), and Oundle.

The competition last weekend involved some 40 schools, all vying for the honours, but few could compete with our magnificent fourteen. The National finals streamline this down to the top twelve schools in the country… no pressure, then!

The next month may just contain a little more drill, first aid, aircraft recognition, shooting, acquisition of RAF knowledge, and solving of devilish command tasks…

The team: Flo, Oliver, Henry, Tash, Kit, Poppy, Joanne, Amy, Sophie, Lucy, Charlie, Toby, Luke and Annie

On Wednesday 30 January ten CCF Royal Navy cadets enjoyed a great day afloat aboard HMS Trumpeter, a P2000 patrol vessel. After negotiating the ice and Ipswich traffic we were soon aboard and underway. After passing through the locks, we enjoyed an early morning passage with the winter sun beating down on the deserted River Orwell. The cadets were all enthralled by the experience of being on such a boat and hearing about naval operations that the crew had been deployed on. Once clear of the river mouth, the two Caterpillar 800hp engines were opened up, and the fuel consumption increased to 350 litres per hour as we sped across the North Sea at 20 knots. Each cadet took turns on the helm and were able to manoeuvre the boat at speed before we returned to the river and to warm up below decks. A great experience and insight into life in the Royal Navy was had by all.