Category: Prep News
Woodbridge School hosted the East Anglian Preparatory Schools’ Cross Country Championships for the 3rd time keen to continue with their recent successes over recent years. The weather was far from kind but at least brightened up as we approached the later races.
The Under 10 races started proceedings with many of the runners in their first race for the school. Georgie Phillips (12th) finished as the top Woodbridge runner but consistent runs from Sophia Waterer (15th), Rosie Hunter Blair (16th) and Charlotte Hattan (24th) secured a runner up position to Kimbolton.
The Under 10 Boys highlight were three top 10 finishes with Henry Vincent claiming a gold medal with his win, Luca Di Paola finishing 5th and Jonjo Walker (10th). James Hattan (22nd) played a great supporting role as Woodbridge were pipped by 2 points to lose out to Kimbolton and therefore claim another team runner up position.
The Under 11 Girls’ event was a very competitive affair with a number of schools vying for the team award. Ruby Vinton blasted the competition away with a great victory and gold medal and after runs by Ada Marson (18th) and Maddie Buchanan (20th), Woodbridge were hoping for a top 3 finish. Unfortunately Kimbolton had secured the team win and both Norwich School and Town Close were close on their tail.
The Under 11 Boys had three Woodbridge top 10 finishes with Ed Buckingham having a great run to finish in silver position with great team support from George Na Nakhorn (7th), Tommy Burrows (8th) and Josh Turner. Their teamwork ended in a victory for the Under 11 Boys’ team with Norwich in 2nd place.
The Under 12 Boys and Girls had fantastic races and were both crowned team winners which was a great achievement. The boys narrowly pipped Ipswich School by 1 point and the girls Gresham’s by 2 points. Amy Goddard led from the start in the girls’ race and deservedly took gold with Anna Jackson (7th), Ella Pitt (13th) and Lucy Clare (15th) giving the team a great score. The boys had Henry Dinwiddy taking silver and Ed Rufford (4th), Tom Martin (11th) and Sam Bolus (19th ) combining to ensure an Under 12 team clean sweep.
The Under 13 Girls’ team performed very well with their altered team which showed great strength in depth after many runners were unavailable for selection due to other sporting interests. All three girls came in with top 10 finishes with Bea Thomas (5th), Emily Whyte (9th) and Cecily Royal-Dawson (10th). Unfortunately only a team 3rd despite their runs with St Felix and Ipswich pipping them by a few points.
The Under 13 Boys were the favourites at the start, following their win earlier in the year to become National Champions. The boys did not disappoint and left the opposition in their wake. All four athletes finished within the top 7 with Charlie Turner and George Wharam finishing joint first and Kit Evans Lombe right behind them to take the bronze medal. Tom Harper in 7th rounded off an excellent team performance and the end of the Championships.
These great results placed Woodbridge well throughout and showed how strong Cross Country is becoming at Woodbridge under Mark Goddard’s tutelage. With great plans ahead to develop upon this Woodbridge are keen to lay the foundations for the future years coming through. With 4 team wins, 2 second places, 1 third and 1 fourth finish Woodbridge regained the Overall girls’ trophy for the 3rd year running and the overall boys and Overall Championship Team award for the 4th year running.
Once again we need to thank Mark Goddard for all that he has helped the athletes achieve, and also with his time in planning the event with Mr Lubbock, Miss Sanders and Mrs Richardson. The Woodbridge staff were once again incredibly hospitable and worked hard behind the scenes with car parking, marshalling and scoring. Many Year 9 & 10 Cross Country athletes supported as marshals giving their time freely on a Sunday as did a number of Sports Leaders. The end of another successful championship and again a great result for Team Woodbridge.
We are delighted to be able to welcome so many schools to Woodbridge for the East Anglian Prep Schools Cross Country Championships on Sunday 5 March. We hope you enjoy the day and best of luck to all of those participating in the event.
Registration opens at 10.30am, with the first race starting at 11.30am
Refreshments will be available all day, and at 2.15pm there will be a tea followed by the awards presentation.
The A team arrived at Orwell Park, very excited for the day ahead.
Our first match was against Framlingham College, we started slowly and the opposition had quite a few chances at goal. Finding our stride in the second half, we created some good opportunities and had some very near misses ourselves. One being the ball rolling along the goal line, but it just didn’t go in! In the end we finished the match with a 0-0 draw.
Our next opponent was Kings College. It was a nail biting game, we were evenly matched at 1-1, until we scored a thrilling goal in the final minutes of the game, taking us to a 2-1 win.
We played Witham Hall next, they had a strong team with a particularly good right wing player, sadly we lost 3-0.
After lunch, we played Stephen Perse with lots of energy. We were evenly matched and ended the game with a disappointing 0-0 draw.
We then played Kingshott, they were very good and we did well to defend and end the match with a 0-0 draw.
We were delighted to find out that we were through to the quarterfinals, where we played Norwich School, but lost 4-1. This sadly marked the end of our tournament.
We had such a wonderful day, we played well as a team and everyone enjoyed it.
By Georgie Phillips
On Wednesday 1 February , Years 3 and 4 transported their audience to the Southern State of Missouri beside the banks of the Mississippi River. Set against the colourful backdrop of a steamboat, the cast performed a lively musical play that told the story of a young, mischievous boy named Tom Sawyer, who lives with his Aunt Polly in the sleepy village of St Petersburg. Tom and his friend Huckleberry Finn have many adventures together, but their lives are changed one night when they visit the graveyard and witness a murder.
Mark Twain’s original novel was written over 100 years ago and the talented young cast faithfully retold the story through song, dance and acting.
Last weekend Rowan Kent won the Under 8 South of England Chess Championship. He played six games and won them all!
This is now trophy number fifteen. We wish Rowan luck for the next tournament, coming up this month and suggest he builds another shelf for his growing collection of trophies.
On Thursday 12th January, Woodbridge School hosted the County Schools’ cross country race. This race was the final competition for the County to select their cross country team for the Anglian Championships. After finishing in the top 50 at RHS in October and top 40 at Culford in December, this competition was going to be tough – however, having the home advantage gave each Woodbridge School runner the incentive, confidence and determination to do well. Coming in the top 12 would gain a place in the county team, so the competition was on!
37 runners made it through to this final round from Culford, but due to injuries and illnesses, only 30 ran – which was still a phenomenal number. 12 out of the 30 runners gained a top 12 place, which was just superb, and is evidence of the depth and level of performer we have at Woodbridge. The top 12 in each race will be selected for the County team to compete at the Anglian Schools’ and if a top 8 place is gained there, then the athletes will go on to represent the County at England Schools’ in March. Good luck to all!!
Special mention and congratulations must go to the following runners who all gained medals; Nathan Goddard, Sarah Barker, Amy Graham, Charlie Turner & Ruby Vinton. These athletes did the most amazing job gaining a top 3 place in their race, especially as they were all running a year up in their respective races. Well done to all the runners in what was an excellent and successful day.
Results:
Minor Girls: Ruby Vinton 1st, Amy Goddard 4th & Anna Jackson 32nd
Minor Boys: Edward Rufford 5th, Edward Buckingham 7th, Tommy Burrows 17th, George Na Nakhorn 29th & Tom Martin 41st.
Junior Girls: Bea Thomas 7th, Molly Marshall 8th, Sophie Graham 17th, Issy Eaton 22nd, Jess Elmer 24th, Emily Whyte 35th, Victoria Burrows 37th.
Junior Boys: Charlie Turner 3rd, Kit Evans Lombe 6th, Thomas Harper 19th, Nathaniel Gunn 20th, Will Franklin 26th, Tom Turner 33rd, Mauricio Corfe 38th & Billy Zhu 45th.
Inter Girls: Sarah Barker 2nd, Amy Graham 3rd & Milly Buckingham 12th.
Inter Boys: Nathan Goddard 1st, George Rufford 17th, Alex Evans Lombe 21st & Daniel Davies 22nd.
The event was brilliantly organised (a comment from the Suffolk Association Chairman), and the course was challenging and perfectly set out. Such a fantastic event could not happen without the help of so many people, so our thanks go to the following:
Mark Goddard, parents and volunteers on the day (and in preparation for the event – taping the course etc.), grounds staff for excellent organisation of the course, and all our staff for marshalling.
We were delighted to welcome local author Andrea Skevington, as our guest judge. She clearly enjoyed the competition and was very impressed with the high standard of reading. She gave some insightful and very encouraging feedback to all of our readers.
Alice Sharratt was the overall winner of the competition and will be formally presented the Richardson Cup at The Abbey Prize Giving. Andrea Skevington felt Alice had made a brave choice in her reading material, The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo It required a slow contemplative start which Alice delivered brilliantly. She created suspense and the room fell completely silent as the audience hung on to her every word.
Well done and congratulations to all of our fantastic winners.
Norton Heath, Saturday 5 November 2016
On a cold November morning, Woodbridge School travelled to Norton Heath keen to improve on their efforts in the NSEA Grassroots Equestrian Regional Final from last year.
Following training by Tina Haslam at Newton Hall throughout the year, the Woodbridge riders had an impressive day.
Woodbridge started the day well featuring within the top three team finishes in the 40cm, 50cm and 60cm fences but then secured a fantastic 1st place and Regional Champions title at the 70cm class with their team of Tess Walker riding Noodle, Perdi Ludgrove riding Billy, Olivia Lubbock riding Annandale Gwyneth and Zoe Newman riding Sliabh Piper.
An excellent team achievement and all round good day for Woodbridge with other placings for Woodbridge throughout the events, however, top Individual finishes came in the 75cm Perdi Ludgrove 1st and Tess Walker 2nd. Perdi’s win of the 75cm capped off an exceptionally good day with the Woodbridge team and as an individual.
A full run down of the results is shown below incorporating excellent clear rounds, with ribbon placings for individuals.
40cms Championship Finals Team 3rd
Woodbridge School Team : Rosie Hunter-Blair riding Jimbo, Lily Waterer on her maiden outing with Annabel, Eve Marson riding Bengad Cocos and Sofia Waterer riding Volandero Amber Dancer.
Individual placings Eve Marson 5th riding Bengad Cocos and Sasha Reid 6th on her maiden outing with Flash.
50cms Championship Finals Team 3rd & 5th
Woodbridge Blue Team 3rd ; Sofia Waterer riding Volandero Amber Dancer, Fran Jackson riding Minnie the Minx, Isla Appleby riding Jigsaw & Rosie Hunter-Blair riding Jimbo.
Woodbridge Red Team 5th ; Oliver Reid riding Twix, Lily Waterer riding Annabel, Perdi Ludgrove riding Billy & Eve Marson riding Bengad Cocos.
60cms Championship Finals Team 2nd & 3rd
Woodbridge Red Team 2nd ; Sofia Waterer riding Volandero Amber Dancer, Eve Marson riding Bengad Cocos, Rosie Hunter-Blair riding Jimbo & Perdi Ludgrove riding Billy.
Woodbridge White Team 3rd ; Lily Waterer riding Annabel, Tess Walker riding Noodle, Fran Jackson riding Minnie the Minx & Olivia Brown riding Ash.
Individual placing – Perdi Ludgrove riding Billy 5th
Woodbridge Blue Team; Zoe Newman on Sliabh Piper, Alex Ryder-Davies on Faith the Third, Oliver Reid on Twix and Olivia Lubbock on Annandale Gwyneth were sadly unplaced.
70cms Championship Finals Team 1st
Woodbridge Team 1st ; Tess Walker riding Noodle, Olivia Lubbock riding Annandale Gwyneth, Perdi Ludgrove riding Billy, Zoe Newman riding Sliabh Piper.
Individual results – Perdi Ludgrove 4th riding Billy,Tess Walker 6th riding Noodle and Olivia Lubbock 7th riding Annandale Gwyneth.
75cms Individual Championships 1st & 2nd Place
Having qualified in the previous round, Perdi Ludgrove came a fabulous 1st riding Billy and Tess Walker came and amazing 2nd riding Noodle.
An incredible day for the young Woodbridge riders. Oliver Reid produced clear rounds throughout and the younger members from The Abbey riders – Sofia Waterer, Eve Marson, Rosie Hunter-Blair & Perdi Ludgrove were placed in every Championship class they competed in. The day was capped off beautifully with a Team 1st in the 70cms, followed by fantastic results with Perdi Ludgrove and Tess Walker finishing with a first and second respectively in the 75cm.
Two glorious days of poetry! Woodbridge School has been alive with the sound of the spoken word this week, as we have celebrated the delights of poetry with staff, parents and pupils of all ages across the School. The inaugural Woodbridge Youth Poetry festival #WYPF has seen 10 poets conducting workshops and interactive workshops with Woodbridge pupils in a true celebration of poetry leading up to the Aldeburgh Festival this weekend. The festival started with six poets holding workshops for Year 7 and 8 pupils- Ian Griffiths (nonsense words), Fred Ellis (who reads poetry?), Carol Lawrence (visual art inspired poetry) Rosalynde Price (speaking with words aloud). Tim Gardiner (Haiku) and our very own Mrs Davis (savouring the senses, a poetry collaboration about pizza!).
In the afternoon, the Woodbridge Young Poets Competition prizegiving took place in the Seckford Theatre, with family and friends gathered to hear the 24 worthy winners recite their wonderful works and to see them receive their prizes.
For those who had not yet had the opportunity to take part in the event, the evening saw a poetry reading by two wonderful modern poets, both new and shining lights in the poetry world, Vanessa Kisuule and Mark Grist, all hosted by the wonderful Amy Soapbox. Those in the audience who were perhaps unsure what to expect were soon watching in rapt delight as Vanessa took to the stage, charming, engaging, drawing us in as she talked openly about her feelings on bullying, social integration and family through her poems. A Q and A session with Vanessa sat comfortably on the edge of the stage gave more and more insight into this fascinating, delightful and inspirational young women. We were all starstruck.
Next the delightful and dynamic Mark Grist, an English Teacher from Peterborough- or a rapper, a pug lover, a beacon of hope for the disadvantaged, all wrapped up as a poet with the gift of the stand up comedian.
Two hours passed in a flash and everyone left smiling, laughing, and keen to meet with those who had delighted them during the evening, not least the large number of pupils in attendance, who formed an orderly queue to talk to Vanessa and Mark after the event. This may have been the first poetry event that the Seckford Theatre has hosted, but it will certainly not be the last.
On Thursday it was the turn of The Abbey pupils to sample some poetic delight, this time in the form of poets Rachel Piercey and John Canfield from The Emma Press. Years 5 and 6 from The Abbey, along with Waldringfield and Nacton Primary schools enjoyed the delights of an interactive reading at the Seckford Theatre; they stomped and roared as Minotaurs, whistled and roared as the sea whilst teachers took the role of sirens, delighted in choosing their martian style in a poem about the planets, and were frightful as monsters as they took on the guise of the fearful Ginny Green Teeth. In the afternoon, John and Rachel stayed for workshops at the Abbey.
Meanwhile at the Senior School, our lucky Sixth Form A level English Literature students were lucky enough to be able to experience a workshop with Mark Grist, met with understandable excitement as many had seen him perform the night before. It was insightful, productive and bold, as students shared their own work by the end of the session.
A wonderful first year for youth poetry, and the first of more to come!
Young poets across Suffolk were celebrated at the inaugural Woodbridge Young Poets Competition. After attracting over 450 entries in its first year, the competition ended with a special prize-giving event held for 24 young winners at The Seckford Theatre on Wednesday.
The overall competition winner in the junior category (ages 7-11) was Chloe Morgan at The Abbey, Woodbridge School, who wrote a thoughtful poem ‘The Power of the Sea’. Junior runner-up was Aurelia Hibbert, also from The Abbey, who wrote the poem ‘Firework’. Abbey pupils were particularly successful in the Junior section of the competition, with Beatrice Liddy receiving a highly commended award for her poem ‘The Secret’, whilst Alex Crawford won a commended award for his poem ‘Orchestra’, and Alice Sharratt was also commended for her poem ‘In My Mind’. Woodbridge Senior School pupil Lucy Hobday also won a highly commended award for her poem ‘I Should Like, written whilst she was a pupil at Kyson Primary School.
Woodbridge Pupils also featured In the senior section of the competition, with Alfie Davis winning a highly commended award for his poem The Girl at the Window’, whilst Lia Schreiber, Madeleine Cheshire and Sam Bryant all won commended awards for their poems ‘Your Ability to Trust’, ‘Love’ and ‘I Don’t Want It’. The senior section winner and runner up were Archie Gault and Beth Cope from One Sixth Form College.
The judges Ian Griffiths, former Chairman of the Suffolk Poetry Society and Fred Ellis of Poetry Anglia were delighted by the outstanding quality of all of the entries to the competition – indeed describing their task as exceptionally difficult. All 24 winning entries were warmly introduced by Fred and Ian who detailed the powerful reasons why they had won, and when the poems were read aloud by their authors, the fantastic quality of the winners was truly revealed. You could have heard a pin drop in the audience as we delighted in the excellence of the work, on themes happy to sad, light and dark, but all wonderful.
Our huge thanks to Fred and Ian for the amazing amount of work and thought they put into both judging the entries and presenting the winners on the day, and our even bigger thanks and congratulations to the winning poets. Well done!