Category: Senior School News

Daniel has been shortlisted by the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, in the Armistice 100 Schools Poetry Prize competition organised by the University of Lincoln. Daniel’s poem will feature in a book and he has been invited to attend an awards ceremony at the University of Lincoln where Carol Ann Duffy will announce the competition winners and launch the book containing the winning and shortlisted poems.  Huge congratulations to Daniel.

Robert has been selected on the basis of performance and commitment to a programme of training and competition over a period of several years, and establishes his status as a UK Squad sailor who will hope to represent Great Britain at major international events in the forthcoming years. Congratulations to Robert!

Pupils experiment with food colouring and milk in a popular experiment known as ‘magic milk’ where they see the effect of adding an emulsifier on immiscible liquids (two liquids that don’t mix!).

I think I speak for all of the students who went on this trip when I say this has impacted all of us for life. Our experiences were all independent and touching in a multitude of ways. We, as a group, had the chance to interact with such different characters, from babies up to young adults, and each imprinted their happiness and loving on us individually each day we spent there. Our time was short but packed full of special moments that will undoubtedly stay with us. The children, no matter what needs they had, were constantly engaged and happy – and only ever wanting to share that with us. We couldn’t help but feel our hearts melting. And the staff looked after us brilliantly, and were patient and very helpful when we felt out of our depth.

As a group we were able to come together and get to know each other which in turn helped when we cooked a meal together in the school on the last night. This trip was a transformative experience and has really opened our eyes to the benefits of being put outside of our comfort zone and devoting a bit of our holidays to helping others. It’s been a truly valuable life experience.

Anna, Year 12

Our intrepid Young Enterprise team recently seen, selling goods and carrying out market research in Framingham at the sausage festival.

Here are the winners of the Year 7 Haiku Competition, judged by Tim Gardiner and created during his workshops on Wednesday 18th October as part of the Woodbridge Youth Poetry Festival 2018. Tim is a prizewinning poet and ecologist, listed on Europe’s Top 100 Haiku Poets, and this is his third visit to Woodbridge School to work with Year 7 pupils. Tim writes:

1st Place

damp green grass
summer stampedes
my way

James H, 7D

A simply superb haiku with clear juxtaposition of seasons and wonderful second line alliteration. The upbeat nature of the poem is also redolent of summer days and when read aloud, it has such a gentle rhythm.

2nd Place

shape of glass
buried in the ground
filled with filth

Ellen H, 7D

I’m always looking for poems that stand out from the rest and dare to be different. Ellen’s haiku takes a simple image (buried bottle) and makes it mysterious (shape of glass) before the lovely alliteration in the final line. The word filth really conjures up the image of dirt and grime; perhaps a strong metaphor for something else? Whatever the meaning, the poem has terrific rhythm read aloud and clever use of words.

3rd Place

William B, 7A

the country roads call my childhood

Few students attempted a one line haiku. William’s evocatively conjures up a rather sad narrative in just a few syllables. The poem has a clear kireji (cutting word – roads) even if it lacks a seasonal reference (kigo). William’s haiku is reminiscent of John Denver’s hit, Take Me Home, Country Roads. He builds a poem around this song and makes the words his own.

The commended poems are:

Enzo J, 7A

the soft grass
waiting to be walked on –
bathing in the sun

Great second line and rhythm.

Bruce B, 7A

weeping willows
on the ground
dewy grass

Very compact haiku with a lovely link between ‘weeping willow’ and ‘dewy grass.’

Violetta S, 7A

dry leaves lying in the sun
gasping for a drop of water

Lovely two line haiku with a good contrast between both parts.

Millie J, 7B

an empty shell –
lines and smooth
scarred on the outside

Fantastic description of an acorn, which could be a strong metaphor.

Samson F, 7A

prickling brambles –
a solid wall
blocking my way

Interesting use of long, short, long lines plus a deeper meaning.

Oscar W, 7C

fallen conkers
far from the tree –
squirrel scuttling through

Good use of alliteration in a surprising final line.

Hugh M, 7C

sat on the warm grass
watching the barley
majestically dance

I can see the barley waving in the warm wind. Beautiful image and the use of ‘majestically’ gives some haiku added interest.

Tolly Y, 7C

pile of autumn leaves –
stacked above one another
by the living meadows

Long lines, but wonderful contrast between death and life.

Phoebe Adams (7D)

a wise old oak
waiting for years
to be discovered

A real Lord of the Rings feel to this one with a maturity far beyond the age of the poet.

Ollie J, 7A

nature’s breath
curling trees
likes witches’ fingers

stretching up
reaching down
the sorrows of the weeping willow

poison ivy
surrounds the tree
a loner in a world of fear

I’ve included three of Ollie’s poems due to their interesting structure and quite profound final lines which work despite their length.

Congratulations to all the poets on being selected by Tim. The three winners will receive a signed copy of his latest collection, The Flintknapper’s Ghost.

Everyone who attended the evening with Luke Wright knew they’d witnessed something special. From the moment he arrived on the stage, slightly flamboyant in DMs and a suit, pocket hankie and no tie, his charisma was apparent and the poetry shone. Luke pitched his performance perfectly for an audience made up of such a wide range of ages. His opening poem was humorous and relatable yet became really significant as ‘Fat Josh’ learned an important lesson from ‘Polly’ – that she liked guys of all sizes…but not bullies. Luke shared his memories of work experience and commuting with his dad, the anxieties we sometimes feel about having to stay in while your friends go out, and the tale of Edward Dando, Georgian oyster-guzzler extraordinaire. Luke’s poems trick you into thinking they have come easily; his use of rhyme and rhythm and his impressive delivery from memory mean you don’t always realise till afterwards what immense artistry has gone into them. When he explained the concept of univocalism to the audience, and the challenge of writing a whole poem using only one vowel (something, incidentally we have also experimented with at Poetry Now – Monday lunchtimes E1; do come along!) the audience could not fail to be wowed. Luke is passionate about form, and the effects created by placing constraints on poetry; he isn’t simply a free verse, spoken word artist. Like a verbal ballerina, his performance appears utterly effortless, yet I was simultaneously aware of his astonishing level of skill honed over many years of graft and craft. This leading light in performance art, who can fill the Barbican theatre, who plays to audiences of 2,000 together with his mate, John Cooper Clarke, was here in Woodbridge, at our school, in our theatre, (and in my classroom) and he delighted us.

Thursday 18 November the prize giving for this year’s Young Poets Competition.

Once again entries were plentiful for this year’s competition. Our judges Ian (Junior section) and Nicola (senior) described their nerves at receiving the bundle of hundreds of entries for each section, and the anticipation of the task ahead, and then the delight at reading the entries. Almost all fantastic, but with a few standing out above the rest. Woodbridge winners were plentiful, with a particularly strong showing from The Abbe. At senior level Alfie received a commended award for his exhilarating poem ‘Debut Jump at Sunset’, Evelyn also received a commended award for her poem ‘A Bend in a Straight Road’. Elise was highly commended for her beautiful poem I’ll Hang up the Sun in Your Window’, and runner up Oscar  teased the audience to guess his identity in the poem ‘A Kenning’, a clever poem of two word lines, sometimes disturbing, sometimes rousing, to reveal climate change as the answer.

This year as well as being beautifully written, the poems were especially beautifully performed, and the audience were delighted as they were entertained by the wonderful stage presence and beautiful words of our worthy winners. Well done to all, and we look forward to next year!

Year 5 and 6 girls take part in the LEGO challenge!

Last Friday, Year 5 and 6 girls took part in the motorised Lego challenge at Woodbridge School. During the workshop the girls became engineers as they built motorised windmills. On completion, the they were then asked to add wheels to make it mobile using a pully system. The young engineers showcased excellent problem solving skills and were all awarded the Woodbridge School Brickologist Award. Well done! A huge thank you goes to Brian the Brickologist for supporting our STEM Programme.

Woodbridge 1st XI beat Ipswich 1st XI 4 – 3.

Having played two very exciting games of football last season against Ipswich this was an eagerly anticipated fixture. Some of last year’s players have moved on but the Woodbridge squad looked like a strong line-up; this was their first chance to play together and so inevitably some of the on-field relationships took a little time to flourish. Early on, Seb pounced on a poor clearance to notch from close range and he added to the lead with a well taken header after a sweetly-delivered corner from Joe. Just before half-time the impressive Danny N, on debut, powered home from short range from yet another dangerous set piece. The call at half-term was to keep both nerve and composure and see out the inevitable bombardment that Ipswich would throw at us in an effort to get back into the game. Alas, the Woodbridge character was lacking the necessary steel and Ipswich stole two quick goals which really put us under pressure. As time went on the game was very much in the balance but Joe settled our nerves a little when he burst forward to meet Harry’s cross and headed us into a 4 – 2 lead. But Ipswich came at us again and scored which led to a frenetic and tense last five minutes. The Woodbridge back four, who had been pretty strong all game, held on for a great win. Well played to all the boys, especially Jake, Danny N, Lewis and Charles who all made their debuts in such a combative and competitive game.