Vol. 17 No. 34 downloadable version 9 July 2010
SPORTS DAY
What a wonderful day it was. Heartfelt thanks, first of all, to all the staff and sports leaders who combined to make it go with such a jaunty fizz: but also thanks and congratulations to the hoards of enthusiastic competitors who made their efforts so worthwhile. And but for a frustratingly brisk breeze down the home straight we may even have had a few more school records to add to the lustre of the day. As it was, we had to thank the breeze for its cooling qualities on a glorious afternoon of uninterrupted sunshine. But what of the competition itself? The points accumulated under the blue skies, and the leader’s baton passed from House to House. But first, to tell the story age group by age group: The junior boys of Seckford won well from Burwell; the junior girls gained revenge… The middle and senior boys of Burwell added further wins; the middle girls of Willard broke the trend to snatch a victory for ‘the rest of the world’ but the senior girls of Burwell regained the initiative. And so it was that Burwell (896 points) won the overall trophy by a pretty impressive margin ahead of Annott (793.5) who, while never winning any division, secured plenty of second places and benefited from strong individual performances across the board. Seckford (792.5) and Willard (779) must wait for 2011 to redress the balance of power. For the Year 7s the competition was every bit as intense, with personal contests played out on the grand scale. In the end 7M (241.5) eased out to a convincing victory over 7H (230), 7P (229.5) and 7T (202).
Congratulations also to the overall individual winners at each age group: seniors Maddie Askins and Jack Cousins; middles Henry Alexander and Angela Falconer; Year 9 boys tied between Freddie Bell and George Beresford; juniors Eleanor Hooper and Samuel Stowe; and Year 7s Callum Askins and Imogen Bacon.
And finally, congratulations to Zach Hembry who equalled the senior boys'
shot record of 11.81m; to Eloise Mabey who set a new Year 7 girls' shot record of 7.36m; and to the Annott middle 4 by 100m relay team which set a new record of 50.06s.
TENNIS
Meanwhile, Matthew Kirby continues to make waves at national level. Ranked third in Britain at under sixteen, he recently travelled to Scotland for the Scottish Junior Open under sixteen and under eighteen competitions (Grade 2 tournaments and highly regarded). And it was well that he had… playing brilliantly, he won at under sixteen, beating Benjamin Lott in the final 7-6 6-4, and then reached the semi finals of the under eighteen event before eventually losing to champion-to-be Jonathon O’Mara. You can find out more from: http://www.lta.org.uk/in-your-area/Scotland/
ARKWRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP
In 1991 a group of committed Headteachers believed that Design & Technology was not being given the profile the subject deserved. So was born the Arkwright Scholarship Scheme which has grown steadily over the years and, with the generous additional funding and services brought to it since 2000 by The Smallpeice Trust, now supports some two hundred scholarships each year. The successive hurdles of School recommendation, application, examination and then, for the remaining few, panel interview at which candidates present their GCSE project work and discuss their commitment to design, engineering and technology, are rigorous and tough. Congratulations go to Jack Streat who has secured one of this year’s Scholarships – the first Woodbridgian to do so. Alongside the financial rewards for himself and our DT department, Jack will also carry the status of Arkwright Scholar into university.
Jack’s final interview day at Imperial College included a team building activity, quite literally, as he and five fellow applicants had to construct an inflatable house in little more than an hour. His intensive interview focused not only on engineering, design, and his career aspirations, but also on his toy trebuchet GCSE project and one of his fully functional replica weapons he makes from Lego. The final question he had to field was whether his designs and interests ever deviated from Weapons of Mass Destruction. It seems that the interviewers didn’t object too much to his answer…
PIANO CONCERT
What has sixteen hands, twenty-eight legs, twelve pedals and a million notes? Yes, a piano-duet quartet playing a Mr Stafford World Premiere. Phenomenal. Of course. No less than we have come to expect from this wonderfully spirited annual feast of ebony and ivory. And yes, a piano-duet quartet is eight players on four pianos. I know that because I just made it up. Like Mr Stafford made up two of the pieces (with a bit of help from Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky). Only his contribution was astonishing and joyously musical, mine simply a little silly.
‘Astonishing and joyously musical’ rather summed up the whole evening, if truth be told, and an enthusiastic audience would like to thank the performers - staff and pupils alike - for their time, energy and, frankly, their genius. Highlights? Everything from the first piece to the last; a mixture of the sublime and the stately, the fast and the furious (and the refreshments weren’t bad either). What a great way to end another marvellous year of music-making by what must be one of the finest music departments in the country.
TENNIS
More news from the County tennis finals day: our under fifteen boys Will La Vergne, Toby Hughes, Sam Fowler and Fin Bryson were there as well to vie with the best, and very nearly managed victory in their semi final against a strong Ipswich team, Sam and Fin’s doubles victory a particular highlight over highly ranked opponents.
In many respects that match would have been the better final: Woodbridge made short work of Framlingham to win the third place playoff and round off a very successful season.
BOYS’ TENNIS ROUND-UP
I am grateful to Mr Willis for this summary: This term has been extremely enjoyable with some high quality tennis matching the beautiful weather.
Four teams were entered into the AEGON Suffolk Leagues and they enjoyed some very positive results. Out of twelve league fixtures nine were won. The U13As were the unluckiest team of the summer. They narrowly lost to RHS at the start of the season and this result was to confine them to second place in their league despite several comprehensive victories elsewhere. Max Darrington was excellent for them, but it was also pleasing to see the emergence of Hugo Davis, Gabriel Wilkinson and Callum Askins. They were unfortunate to miss out on qualifying for the county finals.
The U13Bs were the real battlers of the season, finding ways to win against the odds. They were able to progress out of a tough league courtesy of the tennis equivalent of goal difference and met St Felix in a quarter final match. This encounter seemed to be just as never-ending as the Isner-Mahut marathon being played out on the same day at Wimbledon. A tense tiebreak victory from Will Bannister and Sam Lyne saw them home in the late evening sun. Elliot Ashurst and Ben Morgan had also played their part in a real nail biter. Thus they qualified for their county finals day but were unfortunate with a tough draw and finished a creditable third from the original 28 teams that had entered their competition. It was a real team effort, with seven boys representing them through the season, including Callum, an unbeaten Gus Cooney and a plucky Guy Stowe.
In the older age category, U15, both teams progressed to their county finals courtesy of some excellent league wins. The A team is mentioned above, so that leaves the U15Bs who literally strolled through their league with three resounding victories. When it came to their county finals day, though, they quickly discovered a number of opponents had only entered one team into the leagues and as such they were effectively playing the very best schools had to offer and often they were a year older compared to our Year 9s! There were some hard fought games, and some outstanding individual victories in particular by Monty Scowsill and Joss Goodchild but overall the boys finished third. This was still a creditable result from the original 18 teams who had entered, and with Charlie Monk and Dominic Askins gaining valuable experience this bodes well for next year when the majority of the team will be in Year 10.
So overall sadly no county winners this time, but some strength in depth and a number of very competitive teams with the promise of progress next year.
CRICKET
The cricket season ended with a flurry of fine results, particularly for the firsts with a nailbiting one-run defeat to the Gents of Suffolk followed in short order by victories over the Old Woodbridgians and then the Governors’ XI. In all games the batsmen proved up to the task of exploiting well-earned opportunities made by the bowlers. In the first, Jack Rowett’s marvellous 94, Joe Youngs’s 35 and Will Hawkins’s 45 so nearly brought just reward after a long chase for the 248 needed for victory (and at 235 for five the game look won until a match-changing hat trick broke the spell), in the second the OWs were pinned back to 215 for seven only to find our top order in dominant form: 2011 captain-elect Tom Dobree with 59, Joe Youngs with 59 not out and Charlie Robson with 47 not out made the target look absurdly easy. Then against the Governors a target of 179 always looked attainable after Harry Apperley’s three wickets had kept the opposition in check, but with our own wickets falling steadily nothing could be taken for granted. It was left to the steadying partnership of Will Dale (36 not out) and James Gilbert (20 not out) to calm nerves and claim a great victory (to add to the many in our most successful season for some time) by just two wicket off the last ball thanks to James’s four. Captain Harry was a proud man indeed by evening and season’s end.
The junior teams have also been busy: the under thirteen A boys experienced both ends of the spectrum: they had an outstanding win over St James’s by 92 runs (George Innes’s 54 not out, and Callum Askins’s and Elliot Ashurst’s 50 not outs (retired at 50…) helping them set a target of 193 for one. The opposition never looked like getting close in their overs, finishing with six wickets down to boot); but they lost equally convincingly to King’s Ely having mustered only 51 when asked to bat. Thankfully the under thirteen B team gained a measure of revenge, winning by 70 runs thanks in part to Angus Hill’s four wickets.
The under twelve A and B teams also won thanks to great bowling in particular, All contributed to King’s Ely’s dismissal for 45 in the former, and Jake Little relishing his hat trick in the latter.
SUFFOLK WINNERS
The Year 7 girls’ athletics team competed at the Suffolk Athletics Finals on Thursday afternoon after a morning at our own Sports Day. There they were up against Brandeston, Hartismere, Hardwick Middle, Westley Middle and Ipswich. Imogen Craig set the scene for them perfectly with a convincing win in the opening event, finishing well ahead of the field. Other wins closely followed with Laura Graham (A javelin: 28.42m) and Georgina King (B javelin). Katie La Verne won A discus (21.23m) and Rosanna Cooper B discus, Imogen Bacon the High Jump and Siobhan Pryke the B shot. As we went into the last two races (the relays), we led Ipswich School by just one point. Our A relay team kept its cool with slick change-overs and great determination to finish first. The B team followed in similar style to finish second and secure overall victory by 102 points to Ipswich’s 99 and Brandeston’s 87.5. It was a magnificent effort from all fourteen team members.
SWIMMING
What a weekend for William Foskett at the recent Suffolk Development Championships. His almost Michael Phillips-like haul of four golds and five silvers earned him a sixth silver as runner-up in the Top Boy competition. His wins were at 200m backstroke, 100m and 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley.
MOTHER’S HELP
Ellen Wilton, soon-to-be OW, is happy to babysit or more over the summer: please call her on 07776 198107 or email ellen.wilton@btinternet.com . Ellen has her own transport and lives near Woodbridge.
WSPA AGM
The Woodbridge School Parents’ Association welcomes all parents to its AGM, whether as committee members, potential members or helpers, or simply as observers to get a flavour of what the Association does. And it does a great deal, organising a fantastic range of events based around the wonderful ideas dreamt up by its enthusiastic and sociable volunteers. Summer Balls, Dance events, Murder Mysteries, Cycle days, Tennis evenings, Bus trips, Burns’ Nights, as well as networking events to help welcome those new to our community. Please respond to temptation and come along to the AGM on Monday 13 September at 7pm in the Redstone Library. If you would like to know more, please contact Mrs Sue Ashurst by email on sue@holycow.uk.com.
CAMP – DISCOUNTED!
This year Klub Group (formerly Kids Club) will be running day camps at Woodbridge School during every School holiday. For more information please see the Woodbridgian Weekly of 14 May 2010.
ON YOUR BIKE
I am delighted to advertise this fundraising event: Ride for St Elizabeth Hospice on Sunday 12 September, all rides starting from the Royal Hospital School, Holbrook. You might fancy the Constable Country 50, a 50 mile cycle challenge taking in the town of Lavenham, or perhaps you prefer the idea of a Peninsula Pedal? Choose from 5½ or 11½ miles around the Shotley Peninsula. For more information, please contact the fundraising team on 01473 723600, email fundraising@stelizabethhospice.org.uk or visit www.stelizabethhospice.org.uk.
ON YOUR FEET
…And this one: Francesca and Jasmine Ottley, accompanied by their parents, are going to walk the 50-mile Suffolk Coastal Path over the course of five days during the summer holidays. They are raising money for two charities; the EACH Treehouse Appeal and the World Wide Fund for Nature. If you haven’t already signed up on one of their sponsor forms, please feel free to make donations via the Justgiving website. You can find the Treehouse Appeal under Francesca’s name and the WWF appeal under Jasmine’s name. Contact any of the Ottley family if you would like to join them for part of the walk.