Category: Woodbridge News
The town was out in force to celebrate the efforts of its citizens young and old competing in the Woodbridge Shufflers’ junior race and 10k last Sunday. The sun was out in force as well – glorious if you were there to support, and revel in the pre-event entertainment provided magnificently on the Chapel Lawn by the wonderful Swing Band. Sunshine and Swing – a perfect combination, and the music rolled richly over the verdant grounds, relaxing tense muscles and filling nervous hearts and minds with positive thoughts. The applause flowed for Mr Shepherd and his virtuosos, and then the scene shifted to the highways and byways of Woodbridge.
The Junior Race was an extraordinary endorsement of our fantastic running programme. Resplendent in Woodbridge tops, our boys and girls dominated proceedings as the results couldn’t fail to show:
In a field of 140 athletes, Woodbridge School Pupils filled 4 of the top 5, 6 of the top 10 and 12 of the top 20 positions. With some 30 athletes in total we accounted for almost a quarter of the field and the sea of red running through town was a sight to behold. All of our athletes finished in the top half and the running group were particularly proud of Rufus Davis, who in his first year with us, finished a credible 40th completing the 1500 m in 6:01
Medal winners were:
C.Turner – Overall race winner in his pink socks and Gold u16B
K.Evans Lombe – Second in the race, also in pink socks and silver u16B
A.Hill – Third overall, first lady and gold u16G
R.Vinton – Fifth overall, second lady and Gold u12G
M.Marshall – Silver u16G
E.Rufford – Silver u14B
A.Goddard – Gold u14G
J.Hattan – Bronze u12B
A.Jackson – Silver u14G
R.Jackson – Silver u12G
O.Ripman – Bronze U8B
And then in the Senior 10k itself, it was time for the most extraordinary moment of the day without doubt: Nathan Goddard, not yet 16, finishing fourth from a field of over 650. Fourth! In 35:10! Needless to say winning the under 18 pennant to boot! And not too far behind in 20th (38:05) Alex Evans Lombe ran a marvellous race as well. Chris Long, with just over a year of running behind him deserves a special mention as he was almost in the top 10% finishing 84th in 42:36. These three were our school’s undoubted highlights, with parents and school running club regulars, Mr Turner winning the Over 50 category in a very quick 36:04 for 9th place, closely followed by Mr Rufford in 13th in 37:17.
Some fantastic staff results included Mr Smith (39:49) and Mr Garvie (41:10) both making it into the top 100, as well as Mr Streat (51:44), Mr Lubbock (57:32 )and Ms Start ( 51:25).
With so many athletes competing on the day we may well have missed some names and we apologise in advance if that is indeed the case.
One more incredible highlight. Our Marketing Team put a massive effort into the day and decided to raise funds for one of the official charities of the race. We are extremely proud to announce that pupils and staff have raised over £500 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, an outstanding conclusion to a great day!
Many congratulations to all of our runners: pupils, staff, parents and OW’s.
Artspace – a brilliant venture on Thoroughfare that delights the eye with its rolling programme of exhibitions. And never more so than with Woodbridge School Art department’s first major foray into public spaces. Taking its inspiration from work done by our pupils exclusively outside the confines of curriculum (not that the art department accepts any sense of restriction or inhibition even within the curriculum), the show highlights both consummate skill and imaginative vigour as well as the excitement of process and progress. Whether viewing the beguilingly innocent Year 9 portraits, the dramatically abstract prints or the beautifully produced studio photographs there was plenty to admire. The Thursday evening private view was buzzing with delight in what had been achieved, and bursting at the doors with pupils past and present (recent OWs envious of the opportunities embraced by the current cohort), with proud parents, and many more. And for some of the artists there was even the extraordinary additional endorsement of sales made and customers delighted.
What a great event: imaginative, ambitious and inspiring. Our thanks and congratulations to all the exhibitors and to Mr Hutchinson, Miss Ross, Mrs Parker and Mr Holden on this fantastic initiative.
The exhibition runs until 22 May (closed Sunday) from 10am to 4pm: Artspace 64 Thoroughfare.
This week the Art department has also unveiled a new online platform showcasing all that the department offers in the way of extra curricular art, trips, and showcases the ever-increasing opportunities for pupils to engage in a wide range of media including ceramics, textiles, fashion design, photography and printmaking.
The online platform also boasts a shop through which pupil artwork can actually be purchased.
‘Woodbridge Editions’ is a new flagship initiative launched by the School; a venture inspired by Ross Holden, our new Art Technician. In both Year 12 and 13 our A-Level artists are commissioned by the Art Department to design and create a limited edition print. This print is produced in a small run to a very high professional standard. The prints are made on artist quality paper with artist quality inks; each print is embossed with the Woodbridge Editions logo, signed by the student and numbered. The resultant prints are for sale, through exhibition and from our purpose built online platform. The student artist gets 50% of the print price. These prints can be purchased on the online platform, accessible through the school website.
On Friday 4 May the CCF held its biennial inspection. The inspecting officer was Lt Col Carvel. First Col Carvel listened to selected cadets talk about a range of activities from Royal Navy courses, the RAF Cranwell competition and the Army summer camp.
After lunch with the Headmaster, Col Carvel took the salute and inspected the contingent, some 250 cadets. Next followed displays from our drum corps, RAF drill team and the Army’s combat cadet team which demonstrated extracting a casualty whist in contact.
The Col was then guided around the rest of the CCF who were conducting normal Friday afternoon training such as the obstacle course, paintballing, leadership tasks and shooting in the range.
The finale of the afternoon was the gun run competition and a final parade where Col Carvel told the contingent how impressed he was with what he had seen. His comments on the day are below
“I was the Reviewing Officer for the Woodbridge Combined Cadet Force Biennial Inspection on Friday 4 May.
The day was an excellent occasion attended by all staff and students of the Combined Cadet Force. I was really impressed to see over 250 people involved in the day and a fairly even boy-girl student ration. The three contingents were well presented and I was given the opportunity to listen to the experience of students and observe training in the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force sections. It was also great to see many parents in attendance – the Combined Cadet Force is clearly a central element of the eduction experience at Woodbridge School and Is well supported.
The Woodbridge School Combined Cadet Force is very obviously successful and proud. Their achievements over the last two years are very impressive and the commitment of the section staff and Contingent Commander deserves specific praise. They create excellent opportunities for the students to enjoy and excel. The entire contingent is thriving, and the four Army, four RAF, three Royal Navy, and School Staff Instructors deserve great credit.
I state confidently Woodbridge School Combined Cadet Force is in great health…”
See below for a video of the inspection by pupil Myles McEvoy.
The Head Boy and Head Girl for next year are Harry Hobday and Lily Proudfoot. From a very strong field of candidates, they were chosen for a number of reasons. Both have been great enthusiasts during their time at the school and balanced an excellent work ethic with a huge range of extra-curricular involvement. Both have had leadership experience and were able to talk with great insight about the nature of leadership in their interview with Mr Tetley. Both are also superb role models and very approachable to younger students.
A musical journey on the grand scale – in time, in complexity, in magnificence, in spectacle, in performance, and even in miles! Hats off to the soloists, the fifty-strong orchestra, the one-hundred strong chorus, and the whirlwind of energy that was Mr Milton. A Child of our Time was with us, holding our hands under the octagon of Ely Cathedral, reaching into our hearts and minds. But I get ahead of myself – for this was a concert that was much more than the eponymous hero of its programme.
Sometimes the journey helps define the event, and Woodbridge School’s physical journey to Ely Cathedral for our grand concert marked a new departure in all sorts of ways. The extraordinary magnificence of the surroundings lent not only an astonishing acoustic to the evening, but also a sense of awe and wonder that music, oh glorious music, could only magnify.
The Chamber Choir has a reputation that has graced the wider reaches of our European continent over the years, but rarely has it sung in such a venue, and under Ms Weston’s sure guidance it opened the concert in the finest of styles, singing six wonderful British works spanning nearly five centuries and ending with Finzi’s extraordinarily triumphant, and triumphal, God is Gone Up. Mr Turner surely had all the stops out for this one as the cathedral filled to the brim with sound. Magnificent!
The Chamber Orchestra calmed the mood: contemplative pastorale to the fore in Vaughan Williams’s hypnotic Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. Tallis originally conceived the melody as a psalm tune, and the underlying poetry inherent in the music could not have been more beautifully portrayed. It was as if we all breathed as one: audience, performers and music. The ebb and flow brought calm and peace. Masterful.
And then to A Child of Our Time. Dark. Shadows. So important to know the subtext here, and indeed the text. For this is a story, and a difficult one – as difficult as the music. But with difficulty comes the chance for even more extraordinary achievement and I have to reflect here on my own experience: four weekend days of intense work, a first rehearsal with the orchestra just two days prior and with it a sudden and visceral understanding both of the meaning and the astonishing virtuosity of the piece. And then transposition to the Cathedral to be part of a performance that had me a-tingle from the first bittersweet chord. I’ll not forget. And surely that is what music is at its best – for performers and audience alike: unforgettable and transcendent.
It was worth the journey – whichever one you mean! What a concert. So brave an undertaking, so rich the rewards. Many, many congratulations to Mr Milton, Ms Weston, Mr Turner, and all the performers, and many thanks to the hundreds of you who shared this very special moment in the musical life of our school.
Woodbridge pupils enjoyed a stellar weekend at the RHS MUN conference, representing France, Japan, and Ukraine. The Woodbridge team members Samuel Kill, Daniel Hempstead, Mary Godfrey, Samuel Newman, Callum Sycamore and Joshua Bradbeer all won best delegate awards. Sophie Little, Daniella Elman and Ellie Bakewell were awarded highly commended delegates. Due to this success, Mary Godfrey, Ellie Bakewell and Callum Sycamore were also awarded best delegation as Ukraine.
This was particularly exciting as a number of the pupils had never been recognised before and have only started MUN recently.
Despite missing out on the sunshine over the weekend, it was well worth it to have the opportunity to discuss such interesting current affairs, such as the colonisation of Mars.
This year’s Young Enterprise company was impeccable at the recent Suffolk finals. One of half a dozen companies competing, each of whom had made profits (though none quite as good as ours), East Coast Eats were out on their own in front for quality of trade stand (featuring a gorgeous cake made fresh from her own recipe in the book by Mary Godfrey, Deputy MD.) and, more importantly, product: a simultaneously sumptuous and elegant cookery book featuring a contribution from Delia Smith, favourites from many of our wonderful local restaurants such as The Table, The Crown, Honey and Harvey, The Oyster Inn and more, and recipes drawn from local traditions as well as charming new takes on old fashioned favourites. Compact, and perfect for holiday or home, this is a brilliant book well worth the cost. They have been so popular that the second print is on order.
The team was also well out in front for the quality of the presentation to the audience: witty, energetic, engaging and full of proper content, this was a slick and impressive performance which rightly found favour with the judges. And talking of which, with twelve minor prizes presented first and all going to one or other of the other five companies, the judges did give our team and supporters something of a sweaty moment before rewarding them with two of the three major awards (trade stand and presentation) and a rightful share of the overall honours (a new format for the evening: the naming of joint winners to reflect the fact that two go forward to the regional finals in June).
So, to June it is, and to further success. Many, many congratulations to the company: Callum Sycamore (MD), Joshua Bradbeer, Saxon Gallo, Sebastian Lamb, Lily Proudfoot (presentation team); Mary Godfrey, Daniel Hempstead, Ella Holliday, Jude Ashken, (trade stand); and Mollie Biddle, Thea Hall, Nathan Little, Jessica Bowers and Georgia Martin; and also of course to Mrs Wright for her judicious guidance.
Exercise Combat Cadet is the annual competition held by 7 Infantry Brigade (aka The Desert Rats) allowing 20 teams (of 9 cadets) from all over their area of responsibility, which includes roughly 7,500 cadets from both CCFs in schools and ACFs from each of the nine counties, to compete over two days. The aim is to pit the best cadets from each school or detachment against one another in a number of areas. This year the focus was on TIBUA (Tactics In a Built Up Area) and involved operating in an urban environment. Our cadets had to respond to a range of scenarios, including casualty evacuations, First Aid, section attacks, defensive operations and house and street clearance. There was also a 3 mile run.
This means we have now come 3rd, 1st, 3rd, 2nd over the last four years which demonstrates the continued excellence of our cadets and Army Section, especially when compared nationally. No school or ACF can match this run of consistent success over recent years. Much of our success this year was down to our Section Commander, C/Sgt Tom Lomas, who continued the tradition of superb leadership and tactical understanding that our previous commanders have shown.
What a season this team has had! Although a couple of their matches were cancelled, due to the inclement weather conditions, we still managed to play some extremely competitive matches. The first league match was against Ipswich High School and we knew from the tournament back in October, that this was going to be a tough game as we had beaten them in the past and vice versa. To say this game was a nail biting one is an understatement… Although we went ahead in the first quarter, the High School soon caught up until the score was level pegging. Every centre mattered as well as every goal. In the final quarter, the score was 20 all with only 2 minutes to go. Luckily, we managed to convert our centre which took us one goal ahead and then we turned their next centre over and scored…yes! A great win which was deserved. Next was another tough team: Ipswich School. Yet again, this game was nail biting until the end, particularly as we were behind going into the fourth quarter. The girls cannot be faulted for their sheer determination to ensure they came away with another win to secure a good position in the South Suffolk League. Farlingaye were next – again another team we wanted to gain success against…and we did, by quite a big margin. The last league games were against St Jo’s A and B teams.
We faced the B team first and secured a 57 – 2 win…now currently competing for 1st in the league with rivals St Jo’s. They had won all of their fixtures, so this was the match of all matches! Definitely the best game of the season, the team focused from the starting whistle and gave 100% from the off. At the end of the first quarter we were 8 – 5 up, but unfortunately we were unable to hold this lead and we were trailing behind by 1 at the end of each quarter. Going in to the final quarter, the team knew they had to continue to focus and give everything they had if they were in with a chance of winning. With one minute to go, the score was 25 all…we intercepted St Jo’s centre, but unfortunately could not convert it. St Jo’s then sneakily scored to go one up and with our centre; it was all to play for. The ball reached our attacking circle, where a shot was put up but the opposition gained possession just before the final whistle. A really emotional but positive end to the season, particularly playing a team who compete in the BUCS league every Wednesday afternoon. I am so proud of you all with how you conducted yourself against some feisty competition…an excellent game to end Year 13 on for some of you.
Thank you to all the parents and students who came to support the girls – it was amazing having such a big crowd and people to encourage the team as I was umpiring!!