Category: Woodbridge News
Sounds of the Soapbox
Wednesday night saw our first evening of poetry performed in the Seckford Theatre as part of the 3rd Woodbridge Youth Poetry Festival. Our now regular poetry friend, Amy Wragg, with fellow artists from Get On The Soapbox, treated us to a wonderfully diverse set performed to a 150 strong audience. Amy, a performance poet in her own right, is so much more than a host, drawing us in to recollections of her life filling stages at festivals in ‘Take Me Back To The Fields’, considering ‘What Poetry Is’, and collapsing the distinction between page and stage artists. She then introduced us to Allanah Jo-Ann Peck, an upcoming poet based in Ipswich whose work reverberated with passion and fragility. Meditations on her dog ‘Fletcher’ and the fallout from a university led CV workshop were particular highlights. Matt Annis, a personal favourite of mine, touched on the political, the familial and the commercial, launching an uncomfortable attack on the insidious nature of advertisements on social media with his robotic refrain of ‘fit in the mould, do as you’re told, be what you’re sold’. After a short interval our headline act for the evening, John Osborne, entertained us gently and with words that seemed to come naturally and sweetly yet with a core of sharp humour that never alienated his enthusiastic audience. He considered the plight of his friend at school, Michael Jackson – yes, like the singer, yes, people have said that before, yes, it is quite annoying – and I found myself wondering whether John himself has been the recipient of such comments – yes, like the playwright. But his poems never looked back in anger, rather they recollected with joy his closeness with his twin sister, two astounding young buskers on Hastings pier, that dream of buying a new sieve. My personal favourite was his thought-experiment of meeting Kylie on an online dating website and whether she’d respond to a message from a shy guy who lives in Norwich in a house with a chubby neighbour who snores. He should be so lucky.
This was an evening that showcased the imaginative possibilities to be found in our ordinary world, the spaces we live in and people we share them with, the feelings that we all struggle with, and made poetry in response and as a sort of solution. I am sure each poet will have inspired the audience to go home and write something, perhaps in anger, but also in a spirit of honesty and tenderness.
On Friday 12 October, 25 pupils from Y10 upwards went to the British Museum for the first trip run by Miss Wright, the head of the FitzGerald Society, with the help of Dr Renshaw and Mr Hillman. The FitzGerald Society is a society aimed at intellectual high-fliers in Year Ten and Eleven who may be considering applying to Oxford or Cambridge University in the future. The Society is a way for all these people to get together as a group to explore intellectual challenges beyond the normal school curriculum, and to encounter a range of skills and interests which may increase their chances of fulfilling their ambitions of Oxbridge.
During the morning we analysed images of Power and Authority, where we studied how ideas can be conveyed about a society without using words. We focused on the Assyrian society, which was at its strongest and most powerful during the 9th to 7th century BC. This activity was focused on enhancing our analytical and observational skills, looking at how different aspects of Assyrian society were depicted in carved reliefs and to consider how the sculpture conveyed ideas of power and authority.
In the afternoon we headed off to a nearby museum, The Wellcome Collection, where we focused on the history of medicine and how medicine has been tackled and portrayed throughout the years. We spent time as a group discussing different aspects of the exhibition and what interested us about medicine over a very long time period. We also had a look at the architecture in medicine: How hospitals in the past were and what hospitals in the future may look like.
We, as the FitzGerald Society, went on this trip to broaden our knowledge and understanding of two very different topics, to widen our knowledge and to see if we’d consider studies linked to either of these two topics. The FitzGerald Society is a great opportunity and I would encourage any pupils who are considering Oxbridge to join the society!
The Suffolk Festival of the Performing Arts took place last week, with Woodbridge pupils from Years 3 to 10 taking part.
The School enjoyed spectacular success at the Festival, with 3 out of 4 of the speech and drama championships being won by Woodbridge pupils, along with a substantial number of other cups and awards. Our congratulations to all those who have won prizes, with particular congratulations to Oliver (Y8) who won the Senior Drama Champion award, to James (Y7) who jointly won the Junior Drama Champion award with Sacha (Y6) who also won Junior Speech Champion, and to Alice, Havannah and Amelie who also won cups or trophies.
The full list of Senior School results is attached here.
Our congratulations to recent OW Will Emery who has been offered a prestigious Palgrave-Brown UK Scholarship to attend St Hugh’s College, Oxford.
The Palgrave-Brown scholarship is an Oxford scholarship aimed specifically at providing funding for undergraduates from Norfolk or Suffolk.
Competition for the scholarship is exceptionally high, and this makes Will’s achievement notably outstanding.
Announcement from Mrs Nicola Mitchell, Head of Queen’s House & The Abbey:
I am delighted to write with positive news regarding the plans for Queen’s House and The Abbey.
As you are aware I was in the fortunate position of being able to review the plans when I arrived last September. We have been able to ensure that the revised plans provide optimum teaching facilities, which improve on the current provision we have at the Pre-Prep, and ensure that the upgrade of the current Abbey site is thorough and ensures key areas are developed.
Pivotal to the decision making has always been what is right for the children’s education and what will be of maximum benefit to their well-being and the experience they have at School.
The approved plans will involve:
- A purpose built classroom block for Reception and Year 1, replacing the current music practice rooms
- A new Pre-Prep play area
- New Music practice rooms
- A new Astro Turf
- Refurbished changing rooms
- A multi-purpose assembly room
- Upgraded Library
- Renovated ICT provision
- Refurbished Food Technology room
By creating new classrooms we have enabled free-flow access for the Early Years Foundation Stage pupils to the new Pre-Prep play area and appropriate sections of our wonderful outdoor areas. This will be a significant improvement on the current Queen’s House provision, which does not allow for this key requirement, and will enable us to structure the curriculum for the youngest pupils in an entirely child-centred way.
Moving the Music practice rooms means we are able to refurbish these and continue to ensure that the Music and performance opportunities are of the highest standard.
We looked carefully at provision for PE and Games and are delighted to say that we will be installing our own Astro-turf which means that lessons and skills development will be able to be continuously provided for throughout the year with space both indoors and outdoors.
It is important to monitor all areas of the School and it has been shown that the changing and toilet facilities can make a great deal of difference to a pupil’s experience. We will be upgrading and expanding these facilities to ensure they are safe spaces and easy to supervise; maximising pupil well-being.
There will be a second music, movement, Drama and assembly space incorporated within the Dewar Building to allow for House Meetings, lessons and year group work.
The Library will be modernised and upgraded as the important heart of the School and a vital point of inspiration for all the children. I.C.T. provision will be upgraded with an improved I.C.T. room. The main teaching buildings will receive a redecoration and upgrade which will also continue over the coming years.
Within the new plans there is the ability to keep specialist teaching zones for Spanish, Science, Art, Engineering, Music and Drama whilst developing and modernising the Food Technology area.
The majority of the upgrades for the existing buildings will take place during the holidays. The planned work for the Early Years classrooms will take six months and will be confined to the peripatetic music classroom block which is easy to isolate from the children on a day to day basis.
We are thrilled that we have been granted permission for the new plans and are confident that they will allow the teachers to ensure the curriculum is delivered and developed in exciting ways now and into the future.
We have carefully considered the impact of these changes on the immediate environment and are confident that they will impact in a minimal way and preserve the special outdoor space from which we are so fortunate to benefit.
With the plans approved we are now on track to ensure a successful completion of the development in time for a September 2019 start for the Pre-Prep at The Abbey.
Detailed plans will be available on 11 October at Queen’s House to coincide with Parents’ Evening. The following week there will be an information evening at The Abbey and displays set to highlight the changes.
We are very much looking forward to upgrading the Abbey site and welcoming the Pre-Prep pupils. The move will enhance the community feel that Woodbridge School has and improve the morning and afternoon routine for families. As always I am happy to answer any queries you may have and look forward to sharing the detailed plans with you.
Many congratulations to Fran in Year 11 on her recent successes on horseback. Her wonderful season has included first places in the Suffolk Hunt Pony Club 90cm show jumping and cross country events (winning best Suffolk Hunt member on both occasions); and first place in the Under 16 100cm cross country at Stratford Hills (her team came second in Area Eventing which qualified them for the Pony Club National Championships in which they came 15th, with Fran ninth as an individual). More recently she entered her first ever British Eventing event at Burnham market: 30½ for Dressage, and clear on showjumping and cross country gave her a fine second place and qualification for her, and her horse Branchfield Carrow, for the regional championships to come. Overall, she has done so well that she was recently selected for the Blenheim Palace Pony Club Eventers Challenge – and challenging it was with myriad twists and turns between a combination of showjumping and cross country fences. Fran was going brilliantly clear only to miss a turn – but this was a fabulous experience nonetheless. Here’s to the next rosette!
It was our great privilege to welcome The Right Reverend Tim Stevens, erstwhile Bishop of Dunwich and more recently of Leicester, to help us celebrate and commemorate our founders and benefactors at our annual Commemoration Service. He embraced the opportunity to talk to the whole School community, from four to sixty-four (I’m guessing!), and took as his theme the importance of giving in all its guises: from the Sermon on the Mount and reflections on what brings true happiness, to Stephen Hawking (where the sermon started), to Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai whom we may not have remembered by name, but could not possibly have forgotten for her story – recovering from her attempted assassination by the Taliban as a child only to petition even more strongly and globally, on her recovery, in the struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education. Bishop Tim’s was a simple and passionate message for us to be the best we can, and to do the best for, and by, others and for our fragile world. It was what our founders hoped for us, all those generations ago. Now to rise to the challenge.
Speech Day was, as ever, a wonderful day of celebration – made all the more special for the opportunity it afforded the School Community to welcome our new headmaster, Dr Robson. The Swing Band has made a tradition of turning out exceptional performances, and the half-hour of fantastically upbeat music set the scene perfectly. Thereafter Mr Finbow formalised the welcome with an introduction that both encapsulated what we stand for and gave Dr Robson the platform to see where we might go from here. That Dr Robson did so with such enthusiasm and passion, and with heartfelt appreciation of his predecessors Mr Tetley and Mr Cole, was extremely well received – as were his five top tips for our leavers bound for university! Amongst them: do not fear failure, but embrace instead the opportunities that the risk of failure opens up. It’s a great message, and one all of our prize winners clearly hold dear given the wealth of achievements they have secured and range of endeavours they have undertaken. Indeed, once the presentations were at an end and their praises sung, Dr Robson felt compelled to honour them once more with words that were touchingly delivered with just a hint of a lump in the throat… not that he’s the first to find the achievements of our children (young adults!), when laid out so strikingly, pretty emotionally overwhelming.
It fell to Head Girl Lily and Head Boy Harry to close proceedings with their beautifully judged votes of thanks intermingled with reflections on their own experiences here. Not a dry eye in the house… Perfect
This year has surpassed all expectations and the results are simply wonderful! Congratulations must go to every one of our hard-working pupils for their outstanding GCSE achievements.
41% of all grades were at 9-8, and 59% of all grades achieved were 9-7, making this year our best GCSE results year ever!
Woodbridge prides itself on providing a unique, balanced and holistic educational experience; this recipe clearly brings out the best in every child when you see such outstanding academic success.
We would like to thank all the dedicated staff and supportive parents. Well done to all.
Out of 80 A Level students in total:
- 68% achieved A*-B grades
- 98% achieved A*-E grades
Congratulations to our Sixth Form students ontheir excellent A Level achievements. Nearly 90% of all grades were A* to C – over half of the students achieved at least one A grade and over a quarter achieved at least two. They should all be very proud of their results and we wish them every success as they leave Woodbridge.