Category: Senior School News
The run in to the finish for the league is proving exciting for the U13A team!
Against Ipswich High things could hardly have been closer: it was always going to go to the wire and we knew we had to win to give ourselves a chance in winning the league. We were down at quarter time 4-7 with the High gaining the early advantage but with some great attacking play and determination from Maddie, Steph and Esme we pulled our way back to draw level at half time. Libbie gained the measure of her GA and Ada was brilliant as GK. Ruby was, as ever, active around the whole court and did a fantastic job feeding the circle along with Izzy, Maggie and Chloe, helping them get the ball up the court. We went into the last quarter four goals up… could we hold our nerve? Yes, thank goodness and victory was secured by 22-20! It was a close run thing with only two goals in it but there were huge sighs of relief on the sidelines.
Next was Ipswich School… and another thriller…. full of pressure… and nerves. Although we were always chasing the game we had some fantastic periods of play and the girls did themselves and the school, (and Mrs Johnson!), (and all the parents on the sidelines!) really proud. Maddie showed her utter determination and worked well in the attack with Ruby, Esme, Steph and Izzy. The defence of Maggie, Chloe, Ada and Libbie showed that they work indomitably well together too – indeed no one’s effort ever flagged. In the end, though, Ipswich squeezed out the win by 15-14, so our A team now have to play our B team and score lots of goals to win the league. Now there’s a prospect!
The annual Staff vs Leavers football match is always an eagerly awaited contest and the large crowd on Tollers were treated to a gladiatorial epic. The Leavers took an early lead when Chisom outjumped everyone at a well delivered corner to powerfully head home from close range; was a thrashing on the cards? The Staff showed great resolve to thwart the early running of their much younger counterparts; Messrs Denvir, Capjon and Patten were strong at the back while Messrs Wright, Simpson and Walsh provided the steel in midfield. With half-time approaching a terrible mix-up in the Leavers defence led to a catastrophic own-goal and the sides went in at the break all-square. The second half saw a number of good chances at both ends but it took a very good goal to break the deadlock: Joe turned neatly on to his favoured right peg and unleashed an unsaveable shot into the far corner. Once again the staff came back as Mr Walsh fired one in-off the post to bring the score back to 2 – 2. The Staff were then awarded a penalty kick with some sections of the crowd accusing Mr Smith of simulation. Up stepped the “Inbetweener” – Mr Cotton – who saw his penalty well-saved by the excellent Ali. It wasn’t long before the Leavers found themselves in front again when the unlikely footballer Oliver W pounced upon a defensive error. But once again the Leavers were pegged back as Mr Denvir forced home a scrappy third after a goalmouth scramble. More chances came thick and fast at both ends with fatigued bodies (mainly Staff) being pushed to their limit. With time seemingly up, a Leavers’ long throw was not dealt with and Seb slammed home from close range with what turned out to be the last kick of the game. This was a game fought in excellent spirit and was superbly refereed by James; the final result 4 – 3, well played the Leavers!
The 1st XI hockey boys finished their season with a clinical performance against Langley. The match was played at a somewhat sedentary pace in the first half, allowing Woodbridge to put together a good passing game and score four textbook goals. The combination of excellent build up play in midfield to get the ball up the pitch, good forward leading and positioning and careful final passes did the trick. Woodbridge’s conversion rate was excellent and they made full use this time round of their chances. Oli B, Charlie M (2) and captain, Toby were the goal scorers in the first half, with Langley managing one in response rather against the run of play. The second half was quieter by contrast, but Joshua and Saxon (2) were on target to round off some fine team moves and rubber stamp a convincing victory.
Well done and thanks to each player for their commitment and effort in the season. So much progress was made and a true team was the result. Passion! Power! Persistence!
Congratulations to our four Year 13s who finished their Woodbridge School hockey career on a very positive note. Toby, Ollie, Dom and Saxon… you will be missed.
Won 41-25
We were delighted to come out on top in this high-scoring game: but it was a close run thing at first! Annie and Victoria fed some fantastic balls into the circle, and Saffron and Flora defended our defensive third brilliantly. Nell and Libby worked well in their usual partnership to score a goal after goal – so important for the league position – and Sophie H, and Amber held their nerve in the defensive circle. Well done, on a great afternoon… one more game to go!
The vignette; the short story; a poem; a miniature. Art need not be on the grand scale: drama can be encapsulated in a glance, a comment, a turn of the head.
And so it proved: through the words of the greatest dramatists we have known, via stolen moments from major works, we saw all the world on a stage.
From Shakespeare to the twenty-first century, from play to novel, this was an evening of transportation (literally, in the case of the last forlorn character). Our senior performers, all no doubt vying for LAMDA medals, drew on experience and research to populate the stage with humour, pathos, whimsy, anger and more. And they did so with a confidence and ease of manner that belied the intimacy of the occasion and the exposing nature of monologue or duologue. No shrinking violets, here, but men and women often on the attack – against each other or against the tribulations of circumstance.
It was a brilliant evening. Captivating and challenging. Many, many congratulations to the performers, and once again to Mrs Lockwood and Mrs Franklin.
This was semi-finals week… my goodness Mr Ben Parry, our adjudicator for the forthcoming final, has a tough job!
Many,
many congratulations to all those who have competed in this term’s
competition. Our juniors have set the standard with exuberant and
talented performances which hint of things to come; our intermediates have
shown the flowering of genius in all its variety; our seniors have simply
astonished us with their virtuosity, musicianship and courage.
Three stellar afternoons.
And now for the super-nova evening to come (I hope that’s an appropriate astronomical analogy… it’s a good thing, be sure!)
So, welcome all:
Thursday 28 March
School Hall
6pm for Junior and Intermediate classes, and their adjudication; an interval to draw breath, and then
8pm for the Senior class and a final adjudication
Be there and be bowled over!
We are delighted to welcome Mr Parry to make all the difficult decisions: he is supremely well qualified – artistic director of the National Youth Choir, erstwhile director of music at St Paul’s Girls’ School London, and now assistant director of music at King’s College Cambridge – and his wisdom will, I am sure, add enormously to what augurs to be a marvellous celebration of the many and varied talents of our wonderful musicians.
On 18th March 2019 we attended the preliminary round of the 2019 ‘Have Your Say’ competition at Copleston High School, Ipswich. The competition is organised by the Essex and East Anglian Branch of the Association for Language Learning. It gives linguists across East Anglia an opportunity to speak and read in a language that they are learning. With over 120 participants from eight different schools, competition at the regional preliminary round was fierce. Congratulations to the following pupils who represented the School: Isla and Sophie (Year 8 French) and Amy and Evelyn (Year 8 Spanish). Amy and Evelyn did very well and gained a place in the final in May. Special thanks to Mr Morton for accompanying the group.
Congratulations to our nine Woodbridge School athletes that competed for Suffolk Schools at the English Schools Cross Country Championship in Leeds on Saturday 16th March.
Rain and mud were the order of the day, but that did little to dampen spirits and the quality of racing was as impressive as ever. This remains the final winter fixture each year and is something of an elite event with only the top 8 athletes across two year groups competing for each of the 45 counties in each of the six races. So just 360, or about 0.1% (yes one tenth of a percent), of the fastest school athletes in England.
As has been the case throughout the winter, Woodbridge School athletes were more than capable of holding their own in this elite company:
Ruby – A year young in the Junior girls finished an incredible 10th, just missing top 8 and an English Schools vest by 3 seconds after two miles in the mud. Ruby will be able to compete in the same race next year and remains excited at the prospect. A great finish to a very special winter of racing for Ruby.
Amy – Also in the Junior girls race, finished in 227th and 3rd Suffolk to close out her best winter to date.
Henry – A first race at this level for Henry who ran an excellent race to finish 144th and 7th Suffolk in the Junior Boys. This group of Suffolk youngsters are pretty incredible with the team finishing second to Surrey overall across the 45 counties. Considering the size of the Suffolk population, this is a remarkable result.
Kit – Running a year up in the Inter Boys, Kit closed out a remarkable season to finish 50th and 2nd Suffolk with the strong Suffolk team finishing 10th.
Charlie – Also a year young in the Inter Boys, Charlie was inside the top half of the talented field finishing 178th and 6th Suffolk. In doing so he contributed to the second best team result for Suffolk on the day.
April – Competing a year young in the Inter Girls, April finished well inside the top quarter in 74th place and 2nd Suffolk. Another very impressive performance with April holding on to the large leading pack for at least three quarters of the race.
Jess – A year young in the same race as April and a first experience at this level. Having achieved her aim of making the Suffolk Team to compete at this event, Jess was able to hold her own to finish a credible 253rd and 6th Suffolk.
Nathan – Nathan had just about recovered from a virus that kept him out of the UK Inter Counties the week before to finish 104th and 2nd Suffolk, running year up in the Senior Boys.
Sarah – Making a welcome return to competition at this level and running a year up, Sarah did extremely well to finish 219th and 6th Suffolk. The Senior girls were 16th in the team results, Suffolk’s third best result of the day.
To round off the day, Suffolk Boys were awarded the Category C (based on population size) trophy for the best overall results.
Lily reports: Despite extremely windy conditions at UEA, the Seconds netball team had tremendous success against both Norwich and Framlingham at the tournament on Saturday 9th March; winning both matches. Tension brewed as the goal difference was consistently small during the Norwich match, yet thanks to Izzy and Ella’s shooting prowess, we prevailed with a final score of 17-15. Although we were missing numerous team members, Hannah and Evelyn valiantly stepped up, and became invaluable players who alternated on the wing and kept their opposition under pressure. The disruption caused by the wind was immense, yet with Mrs Scahill’s encouragement, we persevered.
Issy and Lucy’s defence against the Framlingham team was robust, and consequently they found it increasingly difficult to score, whereas we scored in any few seconds we had under their net. Against some strong opposition, Sarah’s impressive stamina maintained a steady pace as the Framlingham players began to flag, and the final score was 14-10.
Overall an enormously encouraging success. Congratulations to all players.
Everyone’s a winner! Records set! Marvellous new categories (gender neutral, though bear-centric on occasion)… and no speeches of thanks – or nearly none!
What a great evening it was – our thanks to the fab hosts, the sparkling performers – the happy, the sad, the confused, the angry, the musical, the tragic, the thoughtful, the modest, and the opposites of all the above. For that is the beauty of LAMDA – variety in a nutshell: a nutshell containing a cornucopia of delicious theatrical treats in miniature.
Congratulations one and all to the ‘junior’ showcasers – you have set the bar splendidly high for yourselves and your futures; and congratulations to Mrs Lockwood and Mrs Franklin on all that you help our budding Oscarators achieve.