Category: Woodbridgian Weekly
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.
Woodbridge Senior 1st and 2nd XI Hockey teams played New Hall this week. With news of our players, those matches and our results, read our report below from our Head of Hockey, Mrs Rix.
Woodbridge 1st XI vs New Hall
Determined to respond after a frustrating result before half term, intent was clear from the first whistle. The warm‑up was sharp, the preparation had been strong all week, and the boys took the pitch with confidence. The start, however, was not what they had planned.
New Hall capitalised on a quick break down the right-hand side, slipping through a couple of missed tackles before walking the ball into the net inside three minutes. It was a disappointing blow, but also the spark Woodbridge needed. From that moment, the tempo lifted and the team began to take control.
Sustained pressure led to a series of short corners, and it was the fourth that finally brought the breakthrough. In classic fashion, Year 12’s Alex H stepped up and struck cleanly from the top of the circle, drawing Woodbridge level before the interval and giving the side real momentum.
The second half saw the team at their best; they moved the ball with purpose, created multiple 2v1 opportunities, and looked dangerous on every counterattack. Their reward came when Year 12’s Jasper picked up the ball at the top of the D and, with composure, slotted it into the bottom-left corner to give Woodbridge a deserved lead.
The final minutes demanded resilience. New Hall pushed hard for an equaliser and removed their goalkeeper for the last five minutes, throwing everything forward. Year 12 GK, Edward, produced several crucial saves, and the defence stood firm under intense pressure. In the final play of the match, Woodbridge faced a last‑second short corner, but the entire unit held their nerve to secure a fully earned victory.
A performance full of character, quality, and maturity — and a result the boys can be proud of. Player-of-the-match was awarded to Alex H.
Woodbridge 2nd XI vs New Hall
The 2nd Team produced almost a mirror match at home. After going behind in the opening minutes with a breakaway goal against the run of play, Woodbridge composed themselves and started to grow into the match.
They were up against an unorthodox playing style which was hard to break down, especially in deep defence as half chances remained unrewarded. The team stuck to their guns, tried to do the right things and improved as the game went on.
It looked like New Hall was going to get away with a lucky win, then, Year 12’s Arthur produced two fine goals with impressive individual skill in the last ten minutes of the game. The first a reverse stick strike and the second a pirouette squeeze shot into the top corner! Woodbridge ended worthy winners with Player-of-the-Match going to Arthur.
Big thanks to Year 11’s Jeremy, who helped out the opposition as an extra player, with a very impressive performance in defence, much to the frustration of his usual teammates.
Our Equestrian Team competed at Poplar Park in Hollesley again over half term, in the Eventers Challenge qualifier for the National Championships at Hickstead in May.
Year 8’s Daisy started the day with a good clear round in the 70-75cms to finish 2nd and qualify for Hickstead.
The 80-85cms team consisted of Year 8’s Tati and Daisy and Year 10’s Grace. All of them rode great rounds to finish in first place for the team and individually; Grace was 1st, Daisy 2nd and Tati 4th. A really good result to qualify for the Championships.
Next was the 90-95cms class. Our team of Year 13’s Eve, Year 11’s Harry and Zac and Year 10’s Grace all rode lovely rounds to qualify as a team. Zac won the class with Harry in 4th, both qualifying as individuals.
Lastly, our competitors, Eve, Harry and Zac all rode brilliant rounds in the 100-105cms class to qualify as a team and individuals.
Well done to all riders who found their way round a very twisty, technical and up to height courses.
This week, our Year 7 to 10 Art Scholars took part in the second half of their enrichment sculpture class with Ian Wolter. An award winning artist and sculptor, Ian’s work includes pieces such as Safe Haven, a life size bronze sculpture of five Kindertransport refugee children walking down a gangplank which stands in Harwich. His talent and experience provided students with inspirations for their live sculpture class.
With Mr Holden modelling for the creation of clay heads from life, students created life-size pieces which will later be fired in the kiln. Using tools such as callipers, wire ended, loop, rake and ball tools, as well as sculpting knives, they all enjoyed creating their pieces with care and attention to detail. A classical approach to making, hugely reliant on observation and perseverance, it juxtaposes more contemporary forms of making, that our Art department also celebrates.
Such enrichment classes are vital for our Scholars to encourage and enable them to participate in new techniques, experimenting with new materials and tools, a fundamental part of their development as artists. Uncovering potentially hidden skills, these workshops also encourage creativity and allow our young Scholars to evolve their work, expand their experience and enjoy different mediums.
Thank you to Ian Wolter for guiding and assisting our students in these workshops, and to Mr Holden for being a superb live head model.
As part of our Drama Scholar and Enrichment Programme, students recently took part in a vocal masterclass led by Mrs Lockwood, our Head of LAMDA and voice expert. Year 11’s Annie and Year 9’s Mariella share their experience of the masterclass.
Year 11’s Annie
“We were lucky enough to take part in a Vocal Masterclass led by Mrs Lockwood. The session focused on stage presence and public speaking and we learnt about the importance of gestures, posture and facial expression. We ended the session performing speeches to each other which was a great way to tie together all we had learnt.
With Mrs Lockwood’s knowledge and experience we all left with a useful skill for the future and really enjoyed the opportunity.”
Year 9’s Mariella
“I extremely enjoyed the second vocal masterclass, as it provided valuable practical techniques to improve our confidence in speaking and delivery skills. The session began with movement to music, which created a calm and focused atmosphere. This helped me understand the importance of preparing and clearing the mind before performing.
A key focus of the workshop was posture and stage presence. I learned how correct posture can influence breathing, projection, overall confidence and how the audience perceives a performer. We also explored the use of hand gestures and discussed how intentional, controlled movements can strengthen communication, whereas unnecessary movement can distract from the performance.
We were split into groups and instructed to perform the same piece using different interpretations; this helped me understand how tone of voice can influence the mood of a performance. For example, delivering it with an excited tone created energy and urgency, whereas using a more informative tone made it feel calmer and more serious. We also experimented with stage placement within our performances, which showed how deliberate positioning on stage can affect the audience’s focus and the overall impact of a performance.
Overall, I took away a greater awareness of how physical control and body alignment impact vocal performance. The masterclass reinforced the idea that confident delivery is not only about voice, but also about posture, movement, and purposeful choices.”
Well done to our Netballers who have had an incredible week, with 10 out of 10 matches won by Thursday. With news of a League Tournament for our U14A players, and various matches for our Seniors as well as U12A, U12B, U12C, U13A, U13B, U13C teams, our report holds details of matches and players
Our Netballers came back after half term straight into a busy week of matches, thankfully the weather was a little kinder to us this week, with no rain meaning fixtures were played in the sunshine!
We started the week hosting the third U14A league tournament, these have been an enjoyable set of tournaments. Some excellent shooting from our U14A players throughout, celebrating three wins and coming away with just two losses.
At the time of writing we have played nine fixtures against Ipswich School (three Senior matches and six Juniors), winning them all, which is an excellent set of results. This coupled with a win for our Senior 4s against St Felix has seen a successful week so far.
The 1st team match against Ipswich School was a close fought affair with Woodbridge holding a narrow lead throughout. It looked like we were going to let that lead slip in the final quarter, and we did for a short while, but a last-minute run saw us take the victory. We look forward to the re-match at the Friday Night Lights event in March.
On Wednesday our Junior teams (U12 and U13 players) all enjoyed some very well-matched fixtures against Ipswich School – with some of the results not necessarily reflecting the competitiveness of the games, but a great set of wins. Wonderful to see all teams out playing fixtures and the squads continuing to develop well.
Well done to all of the players of the matches this week:
Year 13’s Georgia G, Emily and Tabitha, Year 11’s Georgia C, Amelie, Annie, Sophie and Isabella, Year 8’s Emily, Ava, Madeleine and Georgie and Year 7’s Lily, Sofia, Coco and Joe.
The week leading us into half term brought a mixed bag of performances and results for our Boys Hockey teams. Hear more about our Junior, U14A, and U14B teams, players and matches in our report from our Head of Hockey, Mrs Rix.
Woodbridge Year 7 and 8 Juniors vs Orwell Park
The Year 7 and 8 Junior teams played a full block against Orwell Park which proved to be the challenge we have come to expect from this rivalry. It was not to be the clean sweep of victories that were achieved last year, but the performances from our teams made us proud for sure.
The Junior 1s played their best match of the season, in what was the match of the season so far, with both teams using all their players and moving the ball with skill and efficiency. Orwell Park struck first before Year 8’s Jack deflected brilliantly at a corner – the goal of the season so far. Orwell went ahead again but this time Year 8’s James drew us level with a cracking strike. All square at half time.
Both teams had good chances in the second half, but Orwell was the team who converted theirs, while their goalkeeper delivered a Player-of-the-Match performance to deny Woodbridge more goals. Every one of our players probably had their best performance, also resulting in a three-way tie for the Player-of-the-Match award, going to Year 8 Captain, Ollie and Year 7’s Walter and Charlie.
The Junior 2s can be very proud of their resilience and performance. Much to their frustration the game got taken away from them in the first half as a 1st team player got another match on the day, scoring too many quickfire goals to claw back.
Orwell got off to a great start thanks to some individual brilliance which ended in a couple of early goals in as many minutes. Woodbridge then composed themselves and got back into the game. With the passing quality increasing, Year 7’s Christian managed to finish off a fine move. The second half saw the teams square up evenly.
Our team showed grit and determination with another goal scored by Year 8’s Miles. The match ultimately ended with Orwell Park the winners, but with our boys holding their heads high and a few learning areas to take away.
Player-of-the-Match voted unanimously by the team was Christian.
The Junior 3rd team just can’t seem to change their goal scoring fortunes, as they played another good game with plenty of chances created but not much to show for it. Orwell Park were more clinical in front of goal to get the victory, despite some strong saves from Year 7 GK Oli. Year 7’s Nathaniel was strong throughout and was named Player-of-the-Match for the second match in a row.
The Junior 4s changed our fortunes with a great win, thanks to a solid all round team performance and a good first half defensive effort from Year 7’s GK, Harrison. Goals for Woodbridge came from Year 7’s Joshi, Year 8’s William D and a brace from Year 8’s Luke. William was also named Player-of-the-Match for his work rate and impact in attack and defence.
Woodbridge U14A and U14B vs Ipswich High School
The Year 9 U14A and U14B teams took us into half-term with two excellent performances. The U14A team hosted Ipswich High School U15A team at home while the B team played against a strong U14A team from Ipswich High School at Ipswich Hockey Club.
First, news from the U14A team’s win over Ipswich High U15A. The team got out the blocks in great form, moving the ball all over the pitch, transferring play, making high leads and using the wide midfielders – targets set before the game. Captain Joseph led from the front with great play in possession, creating exciting attacking play alongside Josh in midfield, and winning the ball back with great tackles. Woodbridge were rewarded for dominating the opening phase of the game with a penalty corner move being wonderfully converted by Alfie P, courtesy of a nifty deflection. Shortly after Joseph’s skill proved too much and he smashed our second goal into the corner. Joseph made it three to Woodbridge before the break.
It looked like the game was done and dusted but Ipswich High School had different plans. Despite Woodbridge still controlling most of the possession, the opposition started to create some really good chances, only to be denied by some equally good saves from our goalie, Olly B! It was ultimately pretty much a match-winning display of goalkeeping as Olly kept out certain goals which could have taken the game away from Woodbridge. Joseph and Olly were the main contenders for Player-of-the-Match, and this time it was GK appreciation as Olly took the honors for his spectacular clean sheet.
Mr Flatt reports from the U14B games against Ipswich High School U14A at Tuddenham Road.
The game got off to a quick start with both teams keen to attack. It was Ipswich High School that made the breakthrough and scored the first two goals, with Hexi in goal being busy from the start. Woodbridge continued to build positively and looked after the ball better and better to go into half time with positive momentum.
A change of formation solidified the team’s performance after the break. Player-of-the-Match, Toby C-N was involved in every turnover gained and attacking play due to his determination. Frustratingly, Ipswich High scored again on a quick counter, however Woodbridge kept pressing and eventually they scored a chance of their own, and the best goal of the game! Tom F was given the ball on the right flank and did one of his trademark quick runs down the sideline before cutting in on the baseline to connect with Tom C on the back post. Goal time! A brilliant end to an entertaining game and a performance the team can be very proud of. Well done to each of the boys.
A team of four CCF Royal Navy cadets (Year 10’s Freya, Arabella, Sheryl and Will S), took two days out of their half-term to attend the RN Southwest STEM challenge at Fleet Air Arm Service RNAS Yeovilton. They were tasked with designing and building a model of a fixed rear and retractable, lockable undercarriage, for an aeroplane, with electrical indicators.
After a short briefing, they had some time in the Fleet Air Arm Museum looking at systems that have been used before, analysing the pros and cons of each. The team should have comprised six people so two of them had to take on double roles; they were the project manager, purchaser, chief engineer, engineer, skilled operator, and electrician, each with their own specific briefs.
The team worked well together, throughout the day, to meet all the deadlines and requirements, even finding time to meet the additional hydraulics challenge. They were marked on various aspects for both their design and build and the testing of the model: Including teamwork, communication, problem solving, health and safety, engineering skills and ‘the sell’ (presentation).
With very few marks missed they triumphed over eight other teams (one of which comprised adult officers), to become the winners of the competition.
