Category: Senior School News
Congratulations to all those who took either Trinity or Associated Board Music Exams at the end of last term. We had a wonderful set of results that reflects the huge levels and breadth of talent within the school. Particular congratulations to the following who achieved with a merit or distinction in their exam:
Khushi (Y9) – grade 2 piano with merit
Sophie (Y8) – grade 3 piano with distinction
Ianthe (Y11) – grade 7 violin with distinction
Ianthe (Y11) – grade 8 Trumpet
Etiane (Y10) – grade 6 cello with distinction
Poppy (Y8) – grade 1 percussion with distinction
Jemima (Y13) – grade 7 singing with distinction
Madelaine (Y13) – grade 8 singing with distinction
Freddie (Y10) – grade 4 singing with merit
Hannah (Y13) – grade 8 singing with distinction
Amy (Y12) – grade 7 viola with distinction
Brendan (Y12) – grade 5 percussion with merit
Abby (Y10) – grade 7 flute with distinction
Charlotte (Y7) – grade 2 flute with merit
Florence (Y7) – grade 2 flute with merit
Abigail (Y7) – grade 3 clarinet with distinction
Henry (Y9) – grade 7 trombone with distinction
Jessica (Y10) – grade 4 singing with merit
Jasmine (Y8) – grade 7 cello with merit
James (Y7) – grade 5 cello with distinction
Julia (Y10) – grade 2 singing with merit
Toby (Y12) – grade 6 alto saxophone with distinction
Asmee (Y9) – grade 7 violin with distinction
Chloe (Y8) – grade 3 alto saxophone with merit
Iris (Y9) – grade 7 violin with merit
Sophie (Y10) – grade 1 piano with distinction
Sophie (Y10) Grade 4 Trumpet
Isla (Y8) – grade 2 singing with merit
Jade (Y10) – grade 3 violin with merit
Luke (Y12) – grade 4 percussion with merit
Thomas (Y10) – Grade 5 Trombone
Lucia (Y7) – Grade 3 violin
Toby (Y11) – Grade 6 Piano
Ianthe (trumpet), Madelaine (singing) and Hannah (singing) all achieved their grade 8 which is amazing.
Triumphant! Majestic!! Glorious!!!
Readers of my reviews will know I am not prone to hyperbole…
But I have to say…
In twenty-one years at Woodbridge School…
Few moments match Friday night.
You had to be there – better still for those of us lucky enough to be part of the performance (I do apologise, Mr Milton, for my personal take on about 20% of the bass line score).
Bitter cold without (even a hint of snow at one point); but a thousand candles within (and under-pew heating), and three hundred host of audience. A wonderful, wonderful setting (and here our sincere thanks to Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh for the splendid hospitality afforded us; and also to The White Hart, Blythburgh, for deliciously restorative warmth, hot chocolate and sweets in the afternoon; and to Henham Barns for the generous offer of parking space for our intrepid audience).
And then the performance itself – led by Mr Milton at an inspirational gallop that accentuated so brilliantly the stunning music, the joyful sense of dance in so many places, and the exalted text. This is the greatest story, and here it was told to breathtaking effect by our orchestra and chorus of staff, friends, OWs and pupils, and of course by our four outstanding soloists: Hilary Cronin, Nathan Mercieca, James Beddoe and Benedict Williams.
So many highlights, so many memories competing for space: the notes still tumble through me – not a moment seems to pass but another theme tricks me into an idle hum; Mejedi’s extraordinary trumpet solos singing out above the maelstrom; orchestral moments of calm; Jonathan’s timpani accentuating the drama; the harpsichord and organ, the strings and woodwind… and the voices. Those voices rising up and up to the rooftop angels – you could almost sense their wings coming to life in joyful response.
So, so many congratulations to so, so many people, but most of all to Mr Milton – for the extraordinary vision triumphantly realised. We are all immensely richer for the moment.
And now it’s a memory.
One to treasure.
It’s Mozart’s Requiem on Friday 29 March… Norwich Cathedral!
Woodbridge School Rifle Club recently returned to the Lord Roberts Shooting Centre at Bisley to compete in the BSSRA Winter Open. Seven pupils represented us there amongst the 228 individuals from 24 other competing schools. Many congratulations to our team of Luke, Henry, Noah, Charlie, Leon, Alfie and Natasha on their fine shooting, and in particular to Luke for gaining one of the coveted BSSRA Top Shot badges.
Over the last two weeks, members of the FitzGerald Society (Woodbridge’s Junior Oxbridge Programme) have been meeting to discuss James Whorton, The Arsenic Century. Pupils considered the mass use of arsenic in wallpaper and fabric colourants, as well as modern analogies. The level of industrial poisoning in Victorian times caused some surprise, as well as the ease with which arsenic was added to beer, sweets and cakes. Fortunately, the cake which graced our proceedings was guaranteed arsenic-free…
The next FitzGerald event will be the Alan Turing Cryptography Competition, run by the University of Manchester. This will be followed by a moot (mock law trial). Logic puzzles and problem-solving books are also available to borrow over Christmas.
Last Saturday seven Woodbridge School athletes were in Oxford to compete in an annual Southern Inter County cross country championship against the fourteen counties that make up the might of the South of England in running terms.
We are delighted to report that young Ruby Vinton brilliantly defended the title she won last year, retaining the South of England Inter County U13 Girls’ title.
Recovering from a head cold, Ruby made a steady albeit out of character start, before powering away from the best athletes in the South to win by a clear 10 seconds. This was a truly amazing performance, and Roby has an exciting few months ahead in the build-up to the National championships.
Other exceptional performances on the day came from Kit Evans Lombe who was 16th in the U15 boys (just 46 seconds from the lead after 4km of tough cross country) and Nathan Goddard who was 21st in the U17 men (Also just 46 seconds from the lead this time after 5km of cross country).
All of our other athletes representing Suffolk on the day finished in the top 100. April Hill and Amy Goddard in the U15 girls (who also happened to be first and second Suffolk finishers), Charlie Turner in the U15 Boys and Alex Evans Lombe in the U17 Men.
Congratulations to all of the athletes who now enjoy a well-earned break from racing.
The last game of the season was upon us… that, and a long journey to Ely. The boys were in good spirits looking to add another scalp to their successful season, but things didn’t quite go to plan as missed tackles gave King’s the early lead. The second half effort was greatly improved with more bite to the Woodbridge defence and some quick hands in attack, Sam B and Toby N scoring the Woodbridge tries. Unfortunately the side left themselves too much to do from the first half and ended up defeated. Well done to Alfie G for a man of the match performance.
A chance to finish the season with a bang was given to the U13 A team on a freezing cold Wednesday afternoon. Woodbridge played a mixed game with some moments of magic and some rather more scrappy rugby but were comfortably good enough to win. George N produced a superb dummy and run to score a try; Fazil ran in another hat trick to add to his impressive tally for the season; Erwan scored a try but most impressively made numerous try saving tackles all game; and Theo used his impressive side-step to get himself over the line for a try. The squad finished off the season with a 30-10 win and are looking forward to a restful Christmas break. The team expressed their wishes to thank Mr Boyle for his hard work with his help this season.
The Junior 1st team finished their season on a high with a third consecutive win. The last match of the season was against Langley, and provided many reasons to celebrate. Frustrated by illness, regular GK Ruby was not available, and Lily stepped up to be rewarded for some good displays of goalkeeping, particularly over the last few weeks. Maggie and Charlotte also got their call ups from the second team after some consistently good performances in matches and trainings. A somewhat new look team didn’t take long to settle and played flowing passing hockey.
Maddy put the team ahead with a sharp finish after the goalkeeper made the initial save, and then quickly scored a second, before Georgie added a third. Meanwhile in defence Ada and Isabel were up to any challenge, showing great vigilance over any counterattacks.
Early in the second half, Lexie scored one of the goals of the season. Maddy drew the Langley defence to her, and with a sharp move beat one player and quickly played an excellent reverse stick shot towards the goal. Lexie at far post didn’t stand around and wait for the ball to arrive, but moved forward like any good forward to meet the ball early and do a perfect deflection past the unsuspecting goalkeeper. It was just brilliant! Then Libbie and Lexie scored one more goal each to make the final score 6-1: the perfect end to the season for this talented and committed group. As ever, picking a single player of the match was hard. A four way tie was the result of the team vote: Maggie, Maddy, Georgie and Ada sharing the honour.
Well done to every player for their efforts this term. Thanks to parents for their support. And well done to Steph and Maddy who were brilliant co-captains for the team.
The best of endings…
The Hockey first team put out a performance to remember in what was the last competitive hockey match of the girls’ hockey season. The match was special not only for a great 5-2 win over rivals from RHS, but because it was the last match for six of our Y13 students, who have contributed so much to the first team over the past 2-3 seasons.
Woodbridge started strongly and it looked like they would get on the scoreboard early. However a number of near chances went begging and it was RHS who opened the scoring in the 6th minute, against the run of play. Woodbridge bounced back through Ianthe who scored from a goalmouth scramble during a penalty corner. In the 20th minute it was Ianthe who put Woodbridge ahead with a good drag at another penalty corner. This joy was short lived as RHS came back a minute later to make it 2-2 going into half time.
At the half time, not many words had to be said. Woodbridge looked the stronger, more skilful and fitter side… The team knew the next goal would be crucial and put the scoring team in good stead for the rest of the match. Woodbridge did not have to wait long for this chance to go ahead, and it came along in the 3rd minute. They say fortune favours the brave. Woodbridge capitalised on a bit of good fortune when RHS players hesitated for a second expecting the whistle to go, but none was forthcoming. Woodbridge, reacting quickest, saw the ball end up in the back of the net from the stick of Sophie G. The very next minute Harriet scored a sharp chance to give Woodbridge some breathing space, taking full advantage of a now somewhat flustered RHS side. Woodbridge aimed to control the rest of the match but it was end to end. Joanne played a fantastic match at left back, and Eleanor was a solid as ever in defence, to add to her cracking runs up the right. Sophie L in goal had to make some important saves to make sure RHS don’t get a way back into the match. Mollie managed the centre of the pitch in professional style, always being in the way to stop anything RHS tried to put through the middle. Ianthe was in impressive form in any one-on-one and the opposition would have been best advised to avoid her area of the pitch. The forwards, led by co-captain Georgia did a sterling job in their press, varying their depth and dealing very well with one of RHS’s key players and floating centre back. Poppy, Kiya, Victoria, Harriet and Sophie G were outstanding in their attacking link ups in the second half and any number of goals could have been scored. Kiya and Georgia were denied numerous times in the match by great goalkeeping, and the goal post.
Ten minutes from the final whistle Harriet put the game out of reach for RHS, her goal taking the score to 5-2, the win making the perfect ending to a near perfect season for a great group of players.
Much more can be written about this memorable match in which Woodbridge were dominant, players showed off their skill and the team showed exactly what it means to be a team, with every player contributing to the positive outcome, but more importantly a great performance.
Well done to each player, and especially the Y13 leavers who played their last match. Chloe, Eleanor, Flora, Georgia, Mollie and Sophie L will be missed but they leave many memories with the team, and a legacy of growing the team and pushing it forward – through commitment, hard word, passion and pride. Well done and thank you to each of these players. They did what they set out to do!
A new qualification was announced in May 2018, it was the Duke of York – Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA). This is an international programme that is aimed at helping address the digital skills gap. The iDEA curriculum “has been curated to help inspire people all over the world to become Digital Citizens, Workers, Makers, Entrepreneurs and Gamers; to enhance their employability; and to help them become economically active”. It’s the digital and enterprise equivalent of The Duke of Edinburgh Award.
As a School, we have been delighted to sign up: it is open to anyone to get involved and complete the modules. In Years 7 and 8, students can earn some of the badges as part of their classwork, however to obtain the qualification the majority of the badges will have to be earned in their own time.
Congratulations to Abigail (Year 7) and Joshua (Year 8) who have both worked extremely hard to gain our first Silver Badges, building on the success of our bronze award winners announced earlier in the term. The qualification is so new we are still waiting to find out what students have to do to obtain the Gold Badges, so watch this space.