Senior School News Archives - Page 11 of 138

We are thrilled to share the highlights from Woodbridge School’s Young Musicians of the Year competition, shared in our report from our Director of Music, Mr Woodley. A massive congratulations to all our finalists who performed with such poise and passion, making it a truly spectacular event!

Mr Woodley, Director of Music

“The evening was a true celebration of the exceptional musical talent within our School, with every performance demonstrating remarkable skill and dedication.

The standard was incredibly high, making it a difficult task for our respected adjudicators, Rob Rogers and Hattie Voelcker. Rob Rogers is an ex-ABRSM examiner and prominent local musician, while Hattie Voelcker is a leading performance coach. Their insightful feedback was invaluable, and we extend our sincerest gratitude to them, as well as to Andrew Leech for his wonderful piano accompaniment throughout the evening.

A massive congratulations to all our finalists who performed with such poise and passion, making it a truly spectacular event!

We are delighted to announce the results:

In the Grades 1-4 category, the winner was Year 8s Henry for his captivating vocal performance of What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye. The runner-up in this category was Year 7’s Miles, who impressed with his violin rendition of Rebecca by Neil Mackay.

For Grades 5-6, Year 8s Hexi was awarded the winner’s medal for an outstanding piano performance of Forest Gump by Alan Silvestri. Year 8’s George was the runner-up, delivering a compelling vocal performance of Radiohead’s Creep, accompanying himself on guitar.

In the Grades 7-8 category, Year’s 9’s Erin was the winner with her piano performance of Lowside Blues by Joanna MacGregor. Year 10’s Laurynas was the runner-up, impressing with their flute rendition of Monody for a Lost Faun by Adrian Connell.

The evening culminated with the overall cups being awarded to Year 11’s Lily, our Senior Young Musician, who demonstrated incredible versatility on both piano and violin with Nigun Baal Shem by Bloch and Sonetto 123 del Petrarcha by Liszt. Year 8’s George, also the runner-up in Grades 5-6, was deservedly named our Junior Young Musician for his memorable vocal and self-accompanied guitar performance of Creep by Radiohead.

Thank you to everyone who supported this wonderful event.

Having qualified for the East region team, representing them at the National Prep Schools Championships on Wednesday 2 July at the impressive Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, twelve Woodbridge School athletes competed, all having an absolutely fantastic day – of the ten events, they medalled in five, which is a superb achievement.

Congratulations to the following students on their achievements and medals:

Year 7’s Chloe – 1500m – 1st place

Year 7 4 x 100m girls team – Juno, Matilda, Katherine and Chloe – 1st place

Year 8’s Dex – 1500m – 2nd place

Year 8’s Alexandra – 800m – 2nd place

Year 8’s Tom – 300m – 2nd place

Other results from the day included:

Year 8’s India J – 1500m – 7th place
Year 8’s George – Triple Jump – 9th place
Year 6’s Sofia – 800m – 10th place

Year 8’s Imogen M – 300m – 12th place
Year 7’s Ollie – 800m – 12th place

A big thank you to the staff and parents who ensured that the students could attend and compete at these events, and for their vocal support!

Also, a very well done to all the athletes who gave maximum effort and were a great credit to Woodbridge School.

Last Friday, our traditional Field Day took place, students taking part in various activities including a trip to Colchester Zoo, Felixstowe beach, and our CCF cadets at various locations enjoying different activities.

Visit to Colchester Zoo and to Felixstowe Beach

Year 8 students made the trip to visit Colchester’s magnificent zoo! They had a fantastic time and enjoyed wandering around in groups looking at the elephants, lions, Amur leopard, monkeys, meerkats and much, much more! Lucky enough to have a talk from one of the zoo keepers about sustainability and conservation, students were able to hear about and consider the impact that we as individuals have on the world. Meanwhile, Year 7 visited Felixstowe beach, where they enjoyed playing on the sand, visited Martello Park and got themselves very wet running in and out of the sprinklers! Returning to School in the afternoon, they played a superb rounders tournament, finishing the day with a quiz. Year 7 and 8 were impeccably behaved, and they represented the School perfectly.

CCF RAF Field Day and Overnight

Our RAF cadets had a brilliant time on their Field Day and overnight stay at RAF Barnham training area, enjoying a full-scale overnight complete with an escape and evasion exercise aptly named ‘Operation Nightfall’. During the day they took part in a range of different and exciting activities, from finding the NCO in the ghillie suit, to fire and move paintballing! It was a great experience for everyone who took part, with lots of fun had by all, and many new skills acquired!

CCF Army Field Day and Overnight

The Army section also deployed to RAF Barnham for their field day exercise. On arrival cadets set up the bashas to sleep under and cooked their evening meal from their ration packs, ahead of Year 9 taking part in a night noises exercise while the Year 10 cadets carried out a patrol involving conducting a Close Target Recce (CTR), meeting an agent, contact drill & setting a snap ambush. Friday saw the Year 9 cadets go through a rota of stands; pairs fire and movement, navigation, a stalk and patrol observation skills. The Year 10s carried out section attacks. Despite the heavy rain through the night everyone stayed dry and had a great time. A special thanks for our Year 11 cadets, Ben and Huw along with Year 13’s Jack for taking part as well.

CCF NAVY Field Day and Overnight

Navy cadets travelled to Rendlesham forest on Thursday after School, where Lt Cmdr. Smith instructed them in some Bushcraft, as well as directing a night exercise. Cadets picked, stripped, bashed, dried and then wove nettles into cord, which most made into bracelets, before beginning to build two shelters and set up camp, cooking and eating ration pack food. The night exercise was held late into the evening, in a specified area of the forest, with a hide and seek enemy premise. The cadets tucked themselves into tents whilst Lt Cmdr. Smith Lt Saagi slept in the cadet prepared shelters. The drier of the two being the one prepared by the girls, which Lt Saagi slept in and thanked them for in the morning! Friday saw cadets enjoy breakfast together before returning to School for sessions of archery and canoeing on the River Deben, with lunch provided by the Schools amazing catering staff. The day finished with a session of Field Gun Run.

It’s fair to say that everyone enjoyed all of the activities; it was another great Field Day for our cadets. Thank you to our students for getting stuck in and making the most of the activities, and to all of our staff who went along with their respective sections.

Following weeks (and weekends!) of preparation and rehearsing, this year’s Shakespeare on the Lawn was performed in School on Tuesday and Wednesday evening this week; those of you who gathered on the Chapel lawn with picnics, blankets and chairs will undoubtedly agree that the performances were nothing short of superb – and a real and absolute delight.

The glorious set, props, costumes, hair and make-up transported our audiences back to the 1950s, for Year 9’s performances of Love’s Labour’s Lost. The jolly and frivolous music and dancing that introduced the play and the characters, had everyone tapping their toes, nodding their heads and smiling from ear to ear (including everyone on stage!) – as we met our characters and the comedy unfolded.

For those of you unfamiliar with this particular play from Shakespeare, we followed four young men – one of them being the King of Navarre – as they embarked on a three year oath of study, abstaining from all distractions, particularly those of the female kind. However, those plans slowly but surely begin to unravel as the Princess of France and her ladies make their way to Navarre’s court.

The ladies arrive and suffice to say, the men fall in love with them – and what follows is (not so) secret admiration and a lot of confusion over correspondence sent by each of the characters to the other – which would be all well and good had the letters been received by the intended recipient. However, the gentlemen agree to tear up the oath and woo the women, but this is easier said than done as the women play games on them to confuse and muddle, and that they do!

This game of love continues, until the Princess of France receives news of her father’s death, this in turn sees her decide she must return to France. Panicked at the thought of the ladies leaving, the men declare their love – the ladies declare that they will return after a year and if their love is still true – and if they have completed certain tasks for them in that time – they shall marry.

This simple tale of love and foolishness, was performed under the trees on the Chapel Lawn, and as the warmth of the day receded and the breeze increased to everyone’s delight (for it had been an incredibly hot last few days), the ‘stage’ came alive on opening night, as carefully placed props and lighting, along with the undoubted talent and enthusiasm of our young actors, came to life, as did the story.

It was clear how much hard work and commitment had gone into the performances, our Year 9 students were word perfect, nothing missed, in fact everything was incredibly well performed and delighted the audiences throughout. Ripples of laughter were sprinkled throughout the performances, exactly where they were intended to be, and it really felt like a partnership rather than a performance – our audience engaged and intrigued as to what might happen next.

No matter where they might be sat on the lawn, there was something to watch from every angle, as our students used the entire lawn to perform whether that be on the main stage under the trees, or behind our audience as they prepared to enter stage left or right; if felt rather like Shakespeare in the round at times, which just added to the delight of the performances.

Every student, no matter what part they played, on or off the stage, gave their absolute all – and they certainly looked like they thoroughly enjoyed themselves too; they were confident, calm, happy and looked as though they loved every second as much as those watching.

With bicycles, boats, dart boards and even beards, the stage came to life from start to finish, encapsulating not just everything about the play, but about those taking part.

From the choreographed dance scenes and perfect lighting enhancing different parts of the play and stage, to the comedy and brilliant sarcasm, Year 9 portrayed Shakespeare’s story to captive audiences, and they did so perfectly – they didn’t put a foot wrong, an admirable achievement given the complexities of not only the language but the intricate plot of the play. They did themselves and our School incredibly proud, and the roaring applause were testament to that.

We’d like to thank everyone for coming along to see Love’s Labour’s Lost, as well as our talented and supportive Drama department; alongside the work the students had clearly invested in every second of their performances, it’s clear how much time, hard work and support has gone into helping Year 9 to bring this play to life in the way that they did.

We hope everyone who came along enjoyed themselves, and that you also had the chance to pick up unique merchandise for this year’s show, produced by our Design students; as well as creating the beautiful and unique programme, they also conceived, designed and produced mugs, magnets and coasters – keepsakes from a really super evening. Selling almost £700 worth of merchandise, Design students (pictured below) were able to donate almost £200 to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices charity, after costs for materials were covered; an impressive and healthy profit happily donated to EACH, which supports families and cares for children with life-threatening conditions across East Anglia.

We’re always incredibly proud of our students, and this week has been no exception. Our audience was filled with the delighted faces of family, friends, staff and OWs, and it was wonderful to share Year 9’s performance together.

Miss Norman recently announced, confirmed and congratulated our new Heads of School for the academic year of 2025/2026. Congratulations to Year 12’s Emily and Isaac on their appointment. We recently met with Emily and Isaac to ask them how they’re feeling about their appointment, and the academic year ahead.

Emily

“I am absolutely delighted to be taking on the role of Head Girl for the upcoming academic year. The warmth of the community, supportive nature of all the teachers and countless opportunities on offer have been an important part of what has made my years here so enjoyable.

It will be a privilege to be able to act as a representative of such a wonderful school that has done so much for me.

The sheer amount of activities available to all students is incredible – there really is something for everyone. For me, though, what really makes Woodbridge stand out is the people – the sense of kindness, generosity and genuine care can be seen around the school every day.

Personally, the instances when an older student has taken the time to help me have always stayed in my mind, I hope to be able to do the same in whatever capacity I can for others; being there for students who are struggling or simply being a friendly face who is always around for a chat.

Forming connections with students in all year groups is crucial for me – my biggest goal is to be approachable to everyone as I know what a difference it can make.

I’m so excited to be working alongside Isaac as we share many common interests and I think we will make a great team. Georgie and James have been such brilliant role models to us both and have been so supportive as we step into our new roles.

Woodbridge really is such a special place with so much to offer and it means a lot to me to have the opportunity to advocate for it. The community has helped me to grow so much as a person so I hope through this role I will be able to give something back.”

Isaac

“I am so thrilled to be the next Head Boy at Woodbridge School, and can’t wait to see what the next academic year will bring.

From when I first started School here in Year 7, I knew that Woodbridge was the best place for me, the nurturing environment and caring community has helped make so many fond memories throughout my time here.

Through the many different opportunities available to you at Woodbridge from superb concerts at an incredibly high standard to our various productions in the theatre with equally great opportunities in all other academic and non-academic areas of Woodbridge.

There is so much space for development at every level of experience here and that is what makes me proud to be a student at Woodbridge.

I hope that Emily and I will take on the roles that James and Georgie had last year with the same enthusiasm and genuine care that was reflected in everything they did; I am excited to build upon what they started with the Student Council and I can’t wait to see what can be done so that as many pupils have their voices heard as possible.

Being at Woodbridge has shaped who I am today, I have learnt so much from so many different people inside and outside the classroom, helping me build essential skills that I will use more and more as I gain more independence. I have enjoyed so much about being at School here and would love to get more people involved with all of the extra-curricular activities that Woodbridge offer.”

Last week, a Drama Scholarship and Enrichment workshop took place, hosted by Annie Eddington, a familiar face in School. Year 8’s Rebecca shared her experience of the workshop, during which Annie looked at language, interpretation, movement and many other aspects of Shakespeare’s work, focusing on this year’s Shakespeare on the Lawn, Love’s Labour’s Lost.

Year 8’s Rebecca

“It was an extraordinary experience to be selected to participate. Annie was an amazing leader; she guided us through the complex, colourful and captivating world of Shakespeare, where we delved deeper into scripts and scenes, broadening our vocabulary as well as our understanding of Shakespeare’s themes and language.

Not only is the play itself sensational, but the way we investigated the language and deeper meaning beneath a myriad of metaphors, alliteration, oxymorons, hyperbole, and countless other techniques, was fascinating.

We explored different aspects and perspectives, discussing character traits, whilst creating our own portrayals of different characters.

Overall, the workshop was wonderful, enhancing our understanding of Shakespeare, as well as our Drama and English skills.

Our Year 10 historians enjoyed a busy day in Norfolk on Tuesday, exploring some of England’s finest Norman castles and cathedrals.

The earthworks and flint ruins of Castle Acre were a wonderful backdrop to learn all about these impressive structures of military and administrative dominance, and provided an interesting contrast to the robust limestone keep seen later at Norwich.

Here the students were also given a tour of the enormous cathedral. Like the priory at Castle Acre this was home to a large community of Benedictine monks, and Year 10 were left better able to appreciate the importance of piety and spiritual power to the Anglo-Normans.

A great day out, the historians went home with minds brimming with thoughts of the earls, monks, bishops, and kings of this truly transformative period in our history.

In the last of our series of interviews with Year 9 students involved in this year’s Shakespeare on the Lawn, we met and talked to Marina, Lola, Issy and Amelie, or rather, The Princess of France, Rosaline, Katharine and Maria from Love’s Labour’s Lost.

It’s been absolutely wonderful to be able to watch students rehearse and prepare for next week’s performance, and we hope that these interviews have given you a real insight into the characters, play and our young actors’ thoughts and feelings about being involved and on stage!

Performances take place next Tuesday and Wednesday, 1 and 2 July, at the time of writing this we had a few tickets remaining, so make sure to book yours at www.ticketsource.co.uk/woodbridge-school-drama/e-xzodke.

The Princess of France, played by Marina

The King’s daughter, the Princess of France has been sent on an important diplomatic mission. Somewhat insulted by King Ferdinand’s refusal to allow her and her ladies into his court, she decides the best response is to match wits rather than be offended. Taking pleasure in setting them all up for mockery, as she does not believe their declarations of love to be true, becoming Queen upon her father’s death means she has to combine her new responsibilities with the grief she is left to carry.

Enjoying every moment of rehearsals and excitedly looking forward to performing, Marina explained how much fun she’s having playing the role of the Princess of France, “It’s been an incredible experience, it really has. I’ve learned lots and been really challenged too, particularly the scenes in which I have to act and dance!” She continued, “It can be nerve-wracking enough simply being on stage, without having to dance too, but with everyone else taking part and so ultimately in the same boat, it’s actually been lots of fun.” She ended with, “It’s been brilliant working together, everyone’s getting on so well and we’re all really looking forward to performing next week.”

Rosaline, played by Lola

A witty and intelligent lady, Rosaline attends the Princess of France. Refusing to be even the slightest bit impressed by Berowne or his profession of love, she resolves to make a fool of him, and so the fun unfolds. She decides to play at being the Princess, playing her well enough to fool the gentlemen!

Lola explained more about how she feels about being part of this year’s production, “In the beginning I was incredibly nervous, anxious and worried about everything really – but as soon as we started rehearsing, working together, with the help and support of Miss Mayes and Mr Williams, it all started coming together quite quickly.” She continued, “It took a while to learn my lines, and the choreography has been challenging, but it’s all starting to feel very exciting.” Talking more about how she feels about being part of Shakespeare on the Lawn she shared, “We’ve all become really, really close, we’re a strong community and we’ve been really supportive of one another, coming together to rehearse when we get moments outside of formal rehearsals, it’s become a huge part of our lives happily.”

Katharine, played by Issy

Quick-witted enough to keep pace with Rosaline, Katharine is loyal to her mistress, the Princess of France, and is rather impressed when she first meets Dumaine, but that soon fades when he breaks his oath – and falls in love with her. She refuses to marry Dumaine so long as the Queen is in mourning, which she believes will give him time to grown up!

Sharing what she feels have been the highlights of rehearsals so far, Issy said, “I have so enjoyed the dancing, I absolutely love that part of the performance, mostly because in the 1950s, when our version of the play is set, the dancing was amazing, so different to what we see on dance floors today.” She continued, “It’s all been such good fun, hard work but fun, and I’m so glad I’ve been lucky enough to be part of it – every Year 9 student should take part in Shakespeare on the Lawn, it’s a great opportunity to spend time with people you might not ordinarily do things with in School, and to be part of something that means the world to everyone involved.”

Maria, played by Amelie

Another lady attending the Princess of France, Maria met Longaville at a family wedding, and was actually rather impressed by him. However, upon her arrival at court, she is (rightfully) unimpressed by his poetic prowess – but still promises to marry him once her mistress’s year of mourning is done.

Amelie shared, “My absolute favourite part of Shakespeare on the Lawn so far has been the final dance – as well as the costumes, I really love mine and it brings my character to life even more. The audience are going to absolutely love the finale, and enjoy the stage, so much time and effort has been taken to make sure we can transport everyone back to the 1950s, seeing Shakespeare in this era – well, in our version of this play anyway!” Talking about what else she’s enjoyed about being part of this she said, “Everyone should get involved in Shakespeare on the Lawn, it’s such a fun experience, you meet so many new people and learn so much – I’d definitely recommend everyone in Year 9 gets involved!”

Thank you to these Year 9s, as well as all who have taken part in our interviews this year. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see behind the scenes of the production – quite literally!

We look forward to welcoming audiences to both productions next week, and we will share our review in next week’s newsletter.

Wednesday was Sports Day in School, and we’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who joined us in supporting our students, making it a wonderful day for everyone taking part.

Throughout the School year, our young athletes have continued to perform superbly, improving and impressing over and over again, ever-focused on PBs and School records – and this year’s Sports Day saw one of our students breaking no less than FOUR of them!

It was another wonderful event, and what an atmosphere – the whole School took part and we were delighted to see lots and lots of our parents, family and friends showing their support and cheering our athletes on from the sidelines. The students ran, jumped and threw, doing their absolute best to get maximum points for their houses.

It was brilliant to hear the students cheering each other on and congratulating and sharing in each other’s achievements. Personal bests were achieved and records broken as we’ve already mentioned – Year 7’s Chloe was record breaker of the day with four of them beaten!

This and more of our other results shared below:

Year 7 – Records broken:

Chloe – 1500m – 4.56.41
Chloe – 800m -2.28.65
Chloe – long jump – 4.46m
Year 7 Girls Relay – Annott – 59.57 Chloe, Katherine, Juno, Ellie

Year 8 – Records broken:

Dexter – 1500m – 4.56.41
Dexter – 800m – 2.14.30
Thomas F – 800m – 41.07
Imogen M – 300m – 47.78

Victor Ludorum and Victrix Ludorum results were:

Year 7 Boys: William
Year 7 Girls: Chloe
Year 8 Girls: Imarah
Year 8 Boys: Thomas F
Year 9 Boys: Digby
Year 9 Girls: Bay and Eirann
Year 10 Girls: Georgia
Year 10 Boys: Charlie
Senior Boys: Year 12’s John
Senior Girls: Year 13’s Georgia P

House Points Results:

Burwell – 1,401
Annott – 1,309
Seckford – 1,296
Willard – 1,103

Well done to all of the competitors for giving their all, many thanks to all of the staff involved on the day and in the lead up to Sports Day and to the parents, family and friends supporting.

We wish Year 7’s Chloe, Katherine, Matilda, Juno, Ollie, Year 8’s Dex, Tom, George, India J, Alexandra, Imogen and Year 6’s Sofia, good luck for Wednesday 2 July when they compete for the East Region in the National Prep School Athletics Championships in Birmingham and year 9’s Digby Hamish and Romilly competing for Suffolk on 11 and 12 July in the English Schools Track and Field Championships.

A link to Sports Day photography and the access code will be shared with parents privately.

It has been wonderful to welcome back two OWs – Etiane Cheung (2015–2022) and Lily Constantine (2016–2023) – over the past two weeks to deliver talks to our Year 12 students.

Etiane, now in her third year studying for a BA in Modern Languages with a year abroad, visited to talk about university applications and life at King’s College London. She has certainly made the most of her time at university so far, embracing opportunities to study, work, grow, and be challenged in the best ways. Her talk gave students a fantastic insight into what it’s like to live and study in the heart of London.

Lily left Woodbridge after completing her A levels in 2023, having secured an apprenticeship with Fred Olsen Logistics Ltd. After completing her Level 2 qualification in Customer Service Skills, she moved into a full-time role at MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company as their Transport Customer Coordinator. She returned to speak with two colleagues about life after Woodbridge, what it’s like to study and work without going to university, and the exciting apprenticeship opportunities available at MSC.

Two very different paths—two very successful outcomes. Congratulations to both of them, we’re extremely proud of you, each smashing it in their own way!

Something a little different last week was Miss Gill our Head of Geography, hosting a webinar which was presented by the Royal Geographical Society titled ‘What do Geographers Actually Do?’

Students heard from a number of speakers who had studied Geography after A levels and learned about the diverse careers, that followed, such as International Development, Urban Planning and Sustainability Management. It was a fantastic opportunity to gain insight into where a Geography degree might lead! Thank you, Miss Gill!