Category: Woodbridgian Weekly

Students celebrated phenomenal results, as part of the Suffolk team, at this year’s UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, which took place last Saturday, 7 March.  The Suffolk U17 boys team even made local headlines, with their podium finish and Bronze medal, alongside other Suffolk age group teams, competing against the best the UK has to offer.  

Suffolk Team results: 

• U13 Girls 15th 
• U13 Boys 35th 
• U15 Girls 14th 
• U15 Boys 5th 
• U17 Girls 27th 
• U17 Boys 3rd 
• U20 Men 9th  
• Senior Men 20th 
• Senior Women 9th 

Across these teams, Woodbridge School had twelve representatives and nine of our runners contributed to being in the top four scorers of those age groups, with others keeping the other counties at bay!  

Best Individual Performances: 

Year 8’s Chloe was a standout performance of the day coming home in the U13s category in 5th position, which is incredible for her age.  Her finishing time to note was only seven seconds adrift of a podium finish.  This sets Chloe on a brilliant track for her first ever English Schools in Liverpool this Saturday.  Chloe’s team came 15th overall out of 41 teams with Year 7’s Florence coming in 281^st, having a very brave run and super strong sprint finish home in her first nationals race.  

In his category, with his innate belief and ability to deliver consistently great performances, Year 9’s Dex finished 16th place, a year young in this age group.  This is outstanding and puts Dex in a brilliant position heading into the English Schools final this weekend where he will then be top of his age group in the Suffolk Schools’ team.  Dex’s U15 team were Suffolk’s second best team result on the day finishing 5th overall.  Year 10’s Hamish played a significant part towards this result, coming home in a superb 31st.  Year 10’s Digby came in 126th and this also helps displace other runners for his Suffolk team.  

Year 13’s Angus had a brilliantly strong run coming home in 69th position for the U20 mens race and helped his team gain a 9th position overall.  

Year 11’s Romilly was 111th in the U17 girls race; her strength hugely noticeable flying up those hills knocking many places along the way! 

Our U15 Year 9 girls delivered their usual strong performance for the county with Ella K coming home as second Suffolk runner and 68th overall with her year group teammates, India J came in 82nd and Alexandra closely following in 89th.  India B came in 136th then did a great job of displacing other runners for her team.  

Another mention goes out to Year 8’s Florence and Oliver L, and Year 9’s India B who ran their first ever inter counties race.  

All in all, an impactful day with great achievements by the Woodbridge School runners, and it’s worth noting many of whom are running a year young in their categories which makes the results even more impressive.  

Good luck to the nine Woodbridge School athletes competing for Suffolk Schools at the English Schools Cross Country Championships in Liverpool this coming Saturday, which will mark the end of the season for all those athletes competing. 

Last Saturday, March 7, the Chamber Choir took over the stunning space of St Michael’s Church, Framlingham, for a concert that was as polished as it was heartfelt. Under the direction of Claire Weston our Head of Singing, and accompanied by James Davy on the piano, the ensemble gave a continuous performance that kept the audience enthralled from start to finish.

The acoustics of St Michael’s were the unofficial star of the night. This stunning church in the heart of Framlingham with its impressively high stone arches gave the choirs voices a natural, shimmering resonance—perfect for the haunting opener, James MacMillan’s O Radiant Dawn. Whether it was the classic polyphony of Victoria’s Ave Maria or the sombre beauty of Chorum’s rendition of Purcell’s Thou Knowest Lord, the choir’s blend sounded effortless in the copious space.

A real highlight was César Franck’s Panis Angelicus. For this piece, the choir’s own multi-talented students stepped forward to form a string quartet tutored by Woodbridge School’s cello specialist Nadia Alzapiedi. It was a lovely, intimate moment that contrasted perfectly with the more minimalist, “icy” textures of Arvo Pärt’s Morning Star.

As the set moved into more modern territory, the mood lightened but the quality remained high. Elaine Hagenberg’s There Was a Time was a cinematic treat, while the familiarity of The Rose and You Raise Me Up clearly hit a chord with the crowd.

The energy really ramped up for the finale. The spiritual Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel was full of rhythmic punch, followed by a lightning-fast, witty rendition of John Rutter’s Sing a Song of Sixpence. The sheer vocal agility needed for that last one was impressive and sent everyone home on a high.

Huge credit goes to Claire Weston for pushing the choir to such professional heights, and to James Davy for his masterful support. It was a brilliant evening of music-making in a magnificent setting.

Last week was a fantastic one for our U14 boys Hockey teams. We are so proud of the commitment and effort 30 of our Year 9 players put into weekly practices, and delighted their efforts are reaping rewards in their matches. Constant learning and improvement have been a theme this term, alongside passion, desire and marvellous motivation from the boys. Mrs Rix, Head of Hockey shares her report.

Woodbridge U14B vs Harleston Magpies

On Thursday last week the U14B team travelled to Harleston Magpies to play the U15B team from Langley. Our team proved to have superior skill and tactical ability which allowed them to dominate the match from start to finish and move people around in their positions to gain maximum experience.

Tom F delivered a Player-of-the-Match performance; his athletic ability and speed on the ball proving influential, on top of scoring a goal. Further goals were scored by George L (2), George T, Tom C and Alex C. Well done to this team.

Woodbridge U14A vs Ipswich School

At the same time a large U14A squad took on Ipswich School U14A at Rushmere Sport Centre. Congratulations to George B who made his A team debut in impressive fashion. Woodbridge started strong, stringing lovely passes together and feeding the forwards. This was duly rewarded when Giles pushed the ball past the Ipswich GK, some excellent composure and decision making. Josh made it two for Woodbridge, but Ipswich School pulled one back before half-time.

Throughout the match both goalkeepers were tested and showed their skill, Olly B making great saves for Woodbridge. Woodbridge created more chances with Alex W and Michael getting close to scoring. Ipswich School drew level and the last ten minutes of the match were tense and equally as exciting. Woodbridge was still the team getting more balls to their forwards and duly became the team to score the winning goal, again courtesy of Giles, who also went on to be named Player-of-the-Match.

Woodbridge U14A England Hockey Tier 2 Regional Finals

Still on high from a great win the previous day, a 16-strong U14A squad, including Year 8’s Max and Ollie W, departed early on Friday morning for their England Hockey Tier 2 Regional Finals at Redbridge Sport Centre.

The team delivered a convincing performance against Kimbolton in the opening match, executing their plans, skills and set-pieces with precision but being denied time and time again by great goalkeeping or last touches from defenders to keep the ball out. Not a win, but a point on the board thanks to the draw, which is what you need in tournaments. The team’s focus for the day was to be hard to score against and make their chances count. As the next two pool games were crucial to get to the semi-finals, this is what was needed and what was delivered! Olly in goal made telling, match winning saves at times, and Josh was instrumental in midfield winning the ball back time after time and launching attacks. As has become the norm, Alfie P worked tirelessly in midfield alongside Griff, making a welcome return from injury. Captain Joseph also led from the front in his play! Year 8’s Ollie was playing better and better, picking passes brilliantly and making good decisions on the ball. The desired outcomes were achieved against Chigwell and Hitchen to put the boys top of the pool!

The semi-final against Bancroft was a superb display of attacking play and defensive excellence. A 3-0 win and a hattrick for Joseph saw the team going into the final, mere minutes later. Not much time to recover at all!

Woodbridge started the final against their pool rivals, Hitchin, the stronger team, making some good chances in the opening minutes, to be denied by near misses and GK saves. Momentum shifted throughout the game, Hitchin sneaking a goal in during a positive passage for them. Woodbridge kept pushing, winning penalty corners, and a series of them in the final two minutes. The Hitchin defences could not be breached, and the boys heard the final whistle go, still in possession but with nothing on the score board.

Initial disappointment in getting so close, and just missing out on a spot at the National Finals, was quickly replaced by pride, satisfaction and joy at what the team had achieved, the hockey they played and the complements they received from everyone who saw them play. A silver medal on the day but a gold medal in our hearts, knowing everything was given and plenty more opportunities and the joy of sport with a great team still lie ahead.

Well done to Otto H, Griff, Olly B, Alfie P and Giles who were all acknowledged by their teammates for their consistent play on the day, and congratulations to Joseph and Josh who were our joint Players-of-the-Day.

With news from our U13A, U13B, U14A, U14B, U14C, U15A, U15B, U15C, Senior 1st and U16 Netballers, our report holds details of matches and play from our Head of Netball, Mrs Gray.

It was another busy week for our Netballers, with league tournaments as well as nine matches. Our U13Bs played in a League Tournament at Ipswich School Sports Centre, our Senior 1st and U16s played Farlingaye, while our U12Bs also took part in a League Tournament, this time at St Jo’s. With our U13Bs meeting St Felix and yet another League Tournament for our U13As at Northgate, there were also six fixtures at Felsted for our U14A, U14B, U14C, U15A, U15B and U15C teams.

The 1st VII and U16s had two strong wins against Farlingaye. Having played against both sides in the Michaelmas term we know they are strong and not to be underestimated but, on this occasion, both Woodbridge sides took command of the games early on and carried that through to the end. Some outstanding team defence from our 1st VII but a well-deserved and outstanding performance by Player-of-the-match for Year 13’s Georgia G and for the U16 squad Year 11’s Eve and Isabelle H.

On Tuesday our U12B squad played in one of the local league tournaments, a challenging afternoon against all A squads but came away with a win, a loss and a draw.

On Wednesday our U13B team played a very enjoyable and evenly matched game against St Felix. The lead swung from one side to the other throughout the game, but Woodbridge pulled away in the final quarter to take the win. A strong squad performance but very well-deserved Players-of-the-match Year 8’s Ellie and Hollie.

The U13As had a very successful afternoon at the U13 League tournament, winning all games bar one which they drew and winning overall on goal difference.

We travelled to Felsted on Thursday to play six fixtures at U14/U15 level with our Bs and Cs in both age groups winning their fixtures, once again showing what great depth we have in our year groups. Although the A squads didn’t win on this occasion, they competed well and good progress is still being made.

Well done to Players-of-the-match: Year 9’s Elle, Mariella, Clemence, Imogen and Cecily and Year 10’s Tabitha, Charlotte, Phoebe and Georgia.

Drama students travelled to Colchester’s Mercury Theatre last Friday, to watch The Manningtree Witches; a thrilling world premiere that tells the true story of England’s first Witchfinder General, and wrenches the women he killed out from the shadows of history and into the spotlight.

Adapted by award-winning Mercury Playwright and screenwriter Ava Pickett and directed by Natasha Rickman, this gripping historical drama is a fiercely modern exploration of fear, control, and what happens when women’s voices are silenced.

Find out more about the play from Year 10’s Henry.

“The Manningtree Witches at Colchester’s Mercury Theatre is a compelling historic production set in the 17th century. The characters of Rebecca West and Matthew Hopkins elevate the experience bringing the 17th Century into the 21st.

I really enjoyed the switching between the atmospheres of eeriness and witchcraft to satirical comedy which brought a laugh to the crowd, including mentions of various Essex and Suffolk towns. Rebecca acted as narrator, switching between past and future in an awe-inspiring way. This, along with the onstage ‘fog’, brought a constant sense of mystery.

The lighting and sound effects added to the tension, especially the big flood lights behind the actors, which brought maximum impact and allowed this play to have a ‘wow’ factor. I thoroughly enjoyed this production and I know my peers did too.”

We are delighted to announce that 57 of our students have won awards in the UK Linguistics Olympiad, a challenging competition which assesses logical reasoning and sensitivity to language. Celebrating 10 Gold (which are given to the top 5% of the country), 16 Silver and 33 Bronze, congratulations to all of them, detailed below.

Breakthrough (Level 1, for Year 7/8)

• 8 Silver
• 8 Bronze

Silver

• Year 8’s Archie
• Year 8’s Barney
• Year 8’s Jordan
• Year 8’s Harriet
• Year 8’s Harry
• Year 8’s Lucie
• Year 8’s Robin
• Year 8’s Stefan

Bronze

• Year 8’s Arthur D
• Year 8’s Jack
• Year 8’s Matilda
• Year 8’s Ollie
• Year 8’s Sebastian
• Year 7’s Coco
• Year 7’s Hector
• Year 7’s Lily

Foundation (Level 2, for Year 9)

We gained 10% of all Golds nationally, although our pupils comprised 5% of all entries.

• 4 Golds
• 4 Silvers
• 8 Bronze

Gold

• Freddie
• George L
• Henry
• William

Silver

• Diego
• Hexi
• Max
• Oliver C

Bronze

• Alex S
• Arthur
• Eleanor
• Charlotte
• Isabella B
• Isabella C
• Otto
• Toby

Intermediate (Level 3) – 23 awards (for Year 10)

We gained 10% of all Golds nationally, although our pupils comprised 4% of all entries.
The grade boundaries were also very high, with a Gold set at 91.4% and a Silver set at 84.5% and above.

• 4 Gold
• 4 Silver
• 15 Bronze

Gold (all of these have won a Gold three years running)

• Pranav
• Seth
• Xan
• Alexander

Silver (84.5% was the grade boundary)

• Millie Sm
• Isabelle
• Layla
• Marina

Bronze

• Abigail
• Arabella
• Barnaby
• Bay
• Ella E
• Millie St
• Evie
• Freya
• George
• Hadiya
• Isabella G
• Jemima
• Milo
• Sheryl
• William S

Advanced Solo (as previously reported, Year 12 students)

• 2 Gold (2.7% of all Golds awarded nationally – 2/75)
• 2 Bronze

Gold

• Alexander C
• Sam L

Bronze

• Jack C
• Aurelia H

Seckford Theatre was filled with our own and other students from local primary and secondary schools yesterday, invited to join us to celebrate British Science Week by watching the Royal Institute of Science’s Fuel the Future show.  

Presenters explored the chemistry and physics of fuels from the past, present and future, discovering the effect of carbon dioxide on our planet, and why plastics can be such a problem.    

Diving into the science behind generating electricity sustainably and storing it, using batteries, the audience also learned how water can be used to power explosions, explaining what sustainability is through an array of exciting demonstrations.    

Thank you to the Ri Science for bringing Fuel the Future to Seckford Theatre to share their show, and to our audience from our own and other schools for their attendance and participation.  

Last week, some of our students from Years 10 and 12 travelled to Greece, visiting sites such as Athens, Delphi, Olympia and Mycenae, on our Classics Trip. Visiting sites and seeing first-hand the archaeological finds and art covered in various GCSE courses, the trip was an enriching and enjoyable experience, as Year 12’s Alexander C and Year 10’s Freya explain in their reports. Thank you to everyone involved in making the trip such an enjoyable experience.

Year 12’s Alexander C

“The Monday after coming back from our trip I was struck down by torrents of questions, most of them asking “How was Greece?”. Were I not still suffering from the implications of our 1.00am return back home, I might have answered something within the region of, “When you nigh on whisper on the stage of the theatre at Epidaurus and are understood by those sitting on the highest seats fifty-six rows up; when you race down the ancient Olympic stadium to the same finish line which all the finest athletes of the Hellenic world would have trained years to cross first.

Or I might have said, “when you stand below the rock where the war-god Ares was put on trial and the apostle Paul first began to spread word of Christianity; when you focus your gaze to realise that there isn’t a single straight line in the entire Parthenon; when you stand at the Greeks’ centre of the universe below the towering flanks of sacred Parnassos in hallowed Delphi; when you march up to the same colossal gate Agamemnon would have marched up to on his return home to Mycenae from ten years marshalling the armies of Greece in Troy”.

I might also have said, “when you have experienced these things (steered by the supreme fount of all Hellenic wisdom that is Dr. Stern), your understanding of everything you’ve ever studied about ancient literature, history, indeed, people, shifts – they all become tangible, and you, in the future, feel the echoes of their present. Greece was great!”

Year 10’s Freya

“Last week a group of students from Year 10 and 12 went on a five day Classics trip to Greece. Spending every night in a new town or city, we visited one historical site after the other. From visiting Sounion and the Acropolis on the first and second days, through hiking up to the enigmatic Oracle of Delphi, to recreating a frieze next to the temple of Zeus in Olympia, and best of all listening to three Year 12s perform a section of ‘Medea’ from the top of the Epidaurus Theatre and being witness to the ingenious acoustics.

We packed every site, museum, tour and activity possible without any intervention of a goddess or two into the days, making the trip truly unforgettable!”

After much excitement and anticipation, our cast, made up of Year 10 and 11 Drama students hosted a sharing, following their participation in a bespoke and unique residency with internationally renowned physical theatre company, Gecko.

Known for its innovative and visually striking performances that explore complex human experiences, Helen Baggett, Associate Director of Gecko, spent time working with our ensemble for two full days last weekend. Helen took them through a catalogue of Gecko’s techniques, culminating in their collaborative showcase in our Seckford Theatre on Monday evening. Through a reflection and Q&A session at the end of the sharing, the audience were invited to express their thoughts about the creative processes onstage, and pose questions to our performers.

After a brief introduction from Helen about the company, and her role within it, the task of hosting was passed over to our talented cast. They introduced each section themselves, giving the audience an idea of what they were about to see, along with a brief outline of the creative processes they engaged with on the way. Below are the introductions they wrote, and delivered throughout the sharing.

An Introduction to the Residency and ‘Preparation’

Marina – Year 10

This weekend we have taken a deep dive into Gecko’s creative process of devising physical theatre. Through games, creative tasks and discussions, we have explored many different elements of Gecko’s way of working. We have worked quickly, moving from one chapter to the next whilst banking everything we’ve learned so far.

Personally, I had a fantastic time, it was a great experience and I think we will all take something away from this workshop to use in the future.

Bay – Year 10

This evening, we are opening the doors to our creative processes to give you an insight into what we created over this weekend, and how. Between each piece, we will introduce and explain what it is you are about to see and the steps we took to create it. This is less of a production with a definitive start and end, but more so a showcase of everything we achieved in just 48 hours.

Annie – Year 11

Gecko use the word ‘preparation’ instead of ‘warmup’ as this is a time to prepare our minds as well as our bodies. At the weekend, we did a preparation at the beginning of each day to focus and get into our ‘Gecko Zone’. We talked about athleticism, generosity and focus, changing our mindsets from rational to creative, whilst using our full body. As a group we felt this connected us, bringing us together as one.

An Introduction to Emotional Physicality

Cleo – Year 11

For this part of our performance, we wanted to explore emotional physicality. We learnt that our breath, posture, eye contact and gestures are key to explore emotion. We started by walking around the stage exploring ways of using our body and playing with the space around us. Using a specific emotion, we created our own physical phrases. We then fused a few individual phrases together to create a sentence of movement. We split into two groups, and made some decisions about timing, spacing, and order.

Ella B – Year 10

Next, we adapted this sentence of movement upon receiving ‘Secret Instructions’ from Helen. These instructions encouraged us to use the space, and our bodies in both pedestrian and non-pedestrian ways. The pedestrian meaning ‘normal’, what you might see people doing in their day-to-day lives, and the non-pedestrian leaning towards the abstract, expanding our artists’ palettes to feature shades we haven’t considered previously.

Phoebe – Year 10

Through this exploration of the ordinary and extraordinary, along with different emotional prompts, we further developed this sequence of movement. The contrasting scenes you are about to see were carefully thought out and can be interpreted in many different ways, a classic Gecko ideology. Our ‘Secret Instructions’ consisted of directions such as ‘make your movements big and slow’ or ‘make your movements small and fast’. The result is three distinct pieces, all using the same original movement, which we will show you now.

An Introduction to Object Manipulation

Amelia – Year 11

On Saturday afternoon, we started exploring object manipulation and an introduction to puppetry. We discussed bringing objects to life and used oranges to introduce us to this process.

Toby – Year 11

The orange is an object we are all familiar with, something we see sitting in a fruit bowl, something we just snatch, peel and consume with no thought. We, however, took the time to really observe our oranges, to build a connection between us and the object. We then moved with our oranges exploring a range of interactions, fixed points, moments of breath, stillness, and rapid movement. Personally, I found this movement freeing, almost an escape from the outside world.

Max – Year 10

Following on from this individual exploration, we were put into pairs, and given simple instructions to help us create a duet with our oranges. We were encouraged once again to explore these objects in an extraordinary, non-pedestrian way, finding experimental ways for our oranges to be animated.

Will – Year 11

Next, we swapped out the oranges for everyday objects, working these new additions into our existing duets. Despite not having an emotional steer for these duets, our thoughts and movements began taking on powerful stories, accompanied by music.

Amelia – Year 11

Our next experiment featured these everyday objects grouped together, which we worked with in new groups. These grouped objects created an environment which revolved around one protagonist. We began by making a freezeframe of the environment, or the room, and then we made the room breathe using our objects.

Toby – Year 11

This experiment took inspiration from Gecko’s production of The Overcoat, a dark narrative following one protagonist, where objects in his life become animated. They physically move and breathe around him, enacting a extraordinary connection between himself and his environment, which we have tried to emulate with these three scenes.

An Introduction to Journeys

Ella E – Year 10

On Sunday morning, we explored the theme of journeys. We had a discussion about what a journey might be, and how people go on journeys for lots of different reasons. We used suitcases as a starting point for our next creation of movement, playing with journeys within the simple context of getting from A to B.

Seth – Year 10

Following this chapter of ‘serious play’, we formed groups that were directed to create a journey across the stage. We were given four words to include in this journey: Swoop, Reach, Look Back, and Breath. We were given total freedom over where to use these words, our pace, and our use of space. Such vague words triggered many different responses, so each journey became totally unique.

Izzy – Year 10

We used the skills that we built up over the past two days to create these journeys. We investigated different ways of performing these journeys as an ensemble. We experimented with entrances, staggering each group’s performance, and all performing at the same time. This encouraged us to consider our pace of movement, and taught us how to interact with other performers in the space. You will now see these two versions, depicting the theme of ‘Journeys’.

Late last week, our U14 and U15 teams were in action against Ipswich, Ipswich High School and Holmwood House. On Thursday our U14A and B teams played away to Ipswich, while our U15A and B teams played away to Ipswich High School, and our U14C and U15C teams played in a triangular against Holmwood House at home. More details are shared below in our report from Mrs Gray, Head of Netball.

With another six fixtures finishing off the week bringing mixed results, it was brilliant to see all of our Netball players playing competitive fixtures, regardless of level, and we are grateful to those schools able to provide that competition.

Also important is the Netball journey, which is always pleasing to watch, and seeing how players and teams react when the first quarter of a game doesn’t necessarily go particularly well and whether they can pull together to turn things around.

Well done to all teams for competing well.

There was a win for our U15B team against Ipswich High School in what can only be described as a slightly chaotic game! Unfortunately our U15A team lost against Ipswich High School, but it was a very close and well fought game and a huge step forward in performance for this team.

With a draw for our U14C team and a small loss for our U15Cs against Holmwood House, despite the result it was great to see the team play well together, and always an opportunity to learn and develop more.

Our U14As lost to Ipswich School, however they did make great progress throughout the game. After a slow start and being down a reasonable margin at half time, they bounced back to make the second half a far more evenly matched affair.

Our U14B team unfortunately also lost to Ipswich School; another match where a slow start might possibly have lost us the game, as they won the 4th quarter and only lost by one goal on 1st and 3rd.

Well done to our players of the match: Year 9’s Sienna, Imarah, Isabella and Honor, and Year 10’s Jemima B, Tabitha.