Mrs Grant, Assistant Head (Pupil Progress), offers some top tips for revision based on her own experiences! Two years ago I sat an English A-level – my first exams in sixteen years! It was time to put into practice all the advice I confidently give out to pupils every year. So how did I approach the revision? I certainly embarked on ‘proper revision’ too late. I’d been enjoying my lessons happily and writing interesting essays (even this essay technique I began too late really), but had not attempted to commit anything to memory as I went along. English is very different to Physics, which I teach, but the bottom line is that some stuff needs memorising in any subject. So far so not good in heeding my own advice. Once I engaged in the process properly, though, I’d say I did manage to make up for lost time a little! I started by deciding which quotations were worth learning from the texts and from critics etc. I tried to choose a sensible number I thought it would be achievable to learn, and which spoke to the key themes of the texts. If I had started earlier, I would have been able to be more ambitious in the breadth of what I learnt. I then grouped them by text and by theme on index cards and set about reciting them out loud repetitively every day. I would read it out loud, cover it up and try to read it without looking etc. This didn’t take too long so it meant I could try to do this every day in the couple of months leading up to the exam. Slowly I knew just from the heading of an index card that I could recite the whole thing without looking. At that point I put these cards in a different pile – not to be neglected, but ones I knew I had cracked and just needed to keep rehearsing. I was left, in the week before the first exam, with three or four stubborn cards which I was struggling to memorise, but this now felt more do-able. I would walk around countryside paths near where I live reciting them and this helped – walking at the same time seemed to stop me feeling fidgety at my desk and I felt less stressed too. Interspersed with the memorising, Mr Murray (my very patient teacher) also encouraged me to keep planning essays and writing bits of them too. The difference now was that I could try to do it timed, without looking anything up. I think a big danger in English was that, having learnt key quotations, I was sub-consciously very keen to use them and show off these interesting things I had learnt by shoe-horning them into potentially totally irrelevant contexts. This continued exam practice and Mr Murray’s patient feedback helped me to have an internal voice reminding me how counter-productive that would be. I needed to plan a good essay that was relevant to the question and only then reach for things I had memorised to support my plan All of this helped me to feel like the real exam was just this same process again that I was well rehearsed in doing. I had a good sense of how much time to spend planning an essay and knew this would make the writing time more efficient and effective. When using quotations in the real exams I could often picture the bit of my walk I was on when learning it which helped me remember it and helped me to feel calm. In summary then: - Consolidate as you go along. - Be in a room with no tech – a phone that is off but in the same room is still taking up ‘cognitive load’ research has shown. - Have a timetable that spaces different subjects and topics out instead of having whole days or just one subject or topic. - Don’t completely neglect past questions/essay planning when memorising material – interleave these activities. - Schedule breaks and get fresh air and exercise - If you listen to music it should be lyric-free.

Saturday 8 March saw the final race in the East Anglian League against runners from Gresham’s, Ipswich and RHS. The team travelled to RHS to compete in sunny but windy conditions. In the Intermediate Boys, Kort Tsui ran a controlled race to finish 5th and Edward Lott, who has competed in every race this season came home in 7th. For the Senior Boys, our first finisher was Thomas Chester, coming 5th, closely followed by Jeremy Lo in 8th. The team was completed by Arthur Chan, Jacob Stevenson, Ollie Price and Thomas Hsia. Saturday also saw the English Schools’ Cross-Country Championships held this year in Nottingham. Even qualifying for this prestigious event is an incredible achievement. Minnie Andrews raced in the Under 17s and finished in the top 150 runners nationally: the second runner home from the Norfolk team of 8. Samuel Trickey competed in the Under 13s and ran a storming race, finishing 204 th and 3 rd within the Norfolk team. Congratulations to Minnie and Sam.  Well done to everyone who has represented the Cross Country team this season.

It has been an action-packed term for the Netball Club, with a staggering 285 fixtures across the 2024/2025 season, which is testament to the commitment and enthusiasm of our pupils and staff. Lent term kicked off with the U14/U16/U19 National Schools squads preparing thoroughly for the Regional Finals on 1 st February. The U19 team battled to finish as 3 rd best team in the East Region and narrowly missed out on National Finals qualification. The U14 and U16 squads performed promisingly, being one result away from a semi-final place. This is an exciting performance from our Norwich School youngsters, particularly from the U16s, who were all U15 and eligible for next years competition. Post Regionals, there was no let up with weekly and block fixtures coming thick and fast. A particular high-light of the term was notching up victories across all of our A teams against a very competitive Perse School. The terms ends with a win ratio of 88% across our A team squads, and 67% across all teams. We have enjoyed hosting an U13 Development Tournament, U11 Tournament and U9 Netball Festival with nearly 50 teams taking part. The term ended with our usual Junior and Inters Netball Celebration events to recognise the impressive efforts of our amazing pupils this term.  Special mentions must got to the 1 st VII for having an unbeaten season across their regular fixtures, and the U13A team who have a perfect playing record of 24/24 and the U13 County Cup title

This has been a successful season for the Rugby Sevens, with amazing improvement from players throughout all categories. U18s This term saw a shift in focus from 15-a-side rugby to the fast-paced 7s format, with all senior players training and competing in various 7s festivals, culminating in the prestigious Rosslyn Park 7s. Ahead of Rosslyn Park, the U18s participated in four competitive festivals: Saints 7s, Oakham 7s, Norfolk County Cup, and Framlingham College 7s. Their standout performances came in the Norfolk County Cup , where they emerged victorious, and the Framlingham College 7s , where they claimed the Cup title with dominant wins over Finborough School in the semi-final and Campion School in the final. At Rosslyn Park, the U18s secured two impressive victories against Pocklington School and Ratcliffe College. Unfortunately, a tough loss to QEGS Wakefield meant they narrowly missed out on the knockout stages. U16s The U16s also competed in four festivals in preparation for Rosslyn Park, showcasing resilience and determination throughout the season. They claimed Plate victories at both the Greshams 7s , where they defeated Uppingham in the final, and the Framlingham College 7s , overcoming Fram in a thrilling final match. At Rosslyn Park, the U16s faced a challenging group but displayed great character, with the highlight of the day being a commanding 33-5 victory over Rougemont School . U14s The U14s demonstrated fantastic progress in the lead-up to Rosslyn Park, delivering standout performances at the Greshams 7s and Norfolk County Cup . At Rosslyn Park, they continued to impress with two outstanding victories over Monkton Combe School and The King’s School Canterbury. However, despite their strong performances, they narrowly missed out on advancing to Day 2 due to points difference. Juniors The U12's and U13's had successful County Cup tournaments, where they learned the game of 7’s and showcased impressive skill development. The fast-paced nature of 7’s helped the players improve their decision-making, handling, and teamwork, with each match providing an opportunity to apply what they'd learned. Overall, the tournaments highlighted their growth both individually and as a team, laying a strong foundation for their future development in rugby.

The Girls First XI Football team has had a great season with many new players joining from Upper Five, Lower Six and Upper Six. In the first half of term, the team focused in training on building not only technical skills, strategies and fitness but also good relationships among players. Despite a couple of key players returning injured after half term the girls came back ready for the three games we had lined up. The first match against Langley we knew would be challenging but were prepared to play our best, many of the girls having never played a game of football before. Despite the 8-0 loss, the team's performance throughout demonstrated significant resilience, determination, and improvement in communication as the game went on. The second match of the season against Wymondham College resulted in a 3-1 win with strong performances all round, particularly from Poppy Francis in the midfield and India Fox in defence. Even more focus led to a domination in the second half and an enjoyable game for all. The last match against Gresham’s was an important one for the girls, and they certainly gave their all in the first half of the game with a hattrick achieved by Freya Tyack in her last game at school. Gresham’s managed one goal in the second half but with the defence mostly strong and the attacking persevering, the team achieved the win. We say goodbye to four of our Upper Sixth players this year with their school football careers ranging from three years to just starting this year, making a huge difference to the team and helping to build a great atmosphere amongst their teammates in training and during games. A huge thank you to Mr Cole for all the unending support and encouragement he has given the girls throughout the season- his pride of the team is certainly unmistakable. - Jemima Curtis U6N

The Lent Term has proved to be sunnier and much drier than the Michaelmas term, enabling all races except Hampton Head to take place. The Girls and Boys 1st VIIIs raced at Quintin Head in January to get some valuable Tideway experience ahead of the Head of River Races in March, and have since used those results to push and overturn some results in subsequent races. Bedford Head in February saw 60 rowers racing throughout the day and with wins in the J15 Squads and some 2nd and 3rd places it was a good set of results. Many of the J14s had their first racing experience having only been rowing for 4 weeks! March is a busy month in the rowing calendar and the first National race was the Girls 1st VIII at Women's Head of the River. On International Women's Day, the crew finished an impressive 143rd out of 323 crews, as well as placing them 26 out of 41 in a competitive Junior category and in amongst the high performance schools. This was over 50 places higher than our result in 2023. The following day, the Boys 1st and 2nd VIIIs travelled back to Putney for a fixture against Dulwich College. A 3/3 win for the 1st VIII and 1/3 for the 2nd VIII. This was the first Tideway experience for the 2nd VIII and was a valuable lesson in how the conditions can vary along the course. The Easter Region Junior Trials took place at Peterborough Rowing Club. A quick change to standing starts and 1000m racing saw the J16 Boys Pair, Girls Pair and Single and J15 Girls Coxed Four gain selection for the Inter Regional Regatta in April. Well done to all those selected. The Schools Head of the River and Scullery Head are the highlight of the Head race season. With 4 8s racing at Schools Head, the weather was on our side with still conditions to race in. The Boys 2nd VIII and Girls J15 VIII finished 14th and 8th respectively in their categories. The Girls 1st VIII had a fantastic race and finished 4th. The Boys 1st VIII, despite feeling there is more boat speed to come finished 12th in Championship 8s, giving our highest overall finish ever. The Scullery Head, at Dorney Lake, saw another sunny and near perfect conditions. The J17 Quad finished an impressive 5th place and the J14s had their first national race. The Girls Quad were 31st and the Boys Octos 22nd and 36th respectively. A great end to the Head season for Norwich School Boat Club. Throughout all these races, the GB U19 Trials have been ongoing. With Daniel White and Nicholas Conway both progressing to the Spring Trials in April. Nicholas was also selected to go to the Spring Assessments for the top tier of athletes with Munich Junior Regatta selection being the focus there. Lily Nguyen has been selected as one of the 12 coxes to progress through to the next round of coxing selection. We wish them all the best as the trials process continues.

The Art and Design department has been busy in March! Read below to find out just a selection of things we have been up to! L5 Trip to the Sainsbury Centre L5 Art and Design pupils visited our local gallery, the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Pupils explored the permanent collection, sculpture park and had a workshop with artist Jo Chapman. In the workshop, Chapman asked pupils to consider site specific artwork and gave pupils a range of materials such as sand, wood, wire, cardboard, wool, tape and foam to work with. The outcome of the workshop is an exciting range of small-scale sculptures, which consider the public spaces at the Sainsbury Centre and how we interact with them. KS3 Art and Design Competition The Art and Design department held a competition open to L4, U4 and L5, which asked pupils to respond to the theme, 'Museum Of Me'. The competition aimed to get pupils to think about what makes you, you. And to create a piece of artwork which explores the theme of themselves. They could respond in any medium they liked, such as drawing, painting, clay, sculpture, photography, digital design, or collage. Alice Turner was selected as the winner of this competition. Her paper sculptures, using origami techniques, show great skill and represent Alice's interest in plants and the outdoors. The paper sculptures that Alice created represent the idea of friendship and her personal experiences of making new friends at a new school. Alice should be commended not only for her skilled paper engineering but for the poignant meaning behind her artwork. Alice has an exciting, creative journey ahead of her! Alice explains her artwork in her own words, 'I am a very outdoorsy person, and I have many plants in my house, so I decided to make this piece about flowers and friendship. I joined the school this year, moving house from far away, so it was hard at first to make friends, but gradually I made some friends and over time I made even more friends. I asked each of my new friends to give me a few post it notes, and with these small pieces of paper, I made all of these little flowers. Every single flower is different, showing how my relationship with every single person is different. This piece represents my journey of friends at a new school. It also shows that my friendships are blooming brightly and hopefully, I have more to come in the future - Alice L4 L6 and M5 Exhibition The Art & Design department held a pop-up exhibition of work produced by M5 and L6 pupils. These pupils are all taking Fine Art, 3D Design or 2D Design as one of their A-Level or GCSE options. The work celebrates learning new processes, exploring new ideas and experimentation. Emerge, Crypt Gallery. Exhibition by two ONs, Daisy Campbell and Sophie Duez. The gallery space will become a working studio for a Norwich-based artist residency, for artists Daisy Campbell and Sophie Duez. Find out more here! The exhibition is open until 29 March.

On 28 th March 2025, we were delighted to host the Friends of Norwich School (FONS) for one of their regular coffee mornings, but In an unusual location: The Reynolds Library in the senior school. It is an important function of the Friends of Norwich School that they offer fellowship on site for all parents, guardians, grandparents and friends of the school. This large and mixed group regularly meets socially. Over coffees and croissants, attendees exchange news, help each other with the inevitable complexities of school life and offer support to each other, as well as hearing updates from the school. A large group joined us for this latest gathering - a diverse group ranging in age from under fives to those in their 80s! Trustee Jonathan Pearson ON provided updates on the recent successful FONS Music quiz and explained how numerous school clubs and societies have benefited from substantial grants from the FONS (thanks to their sterling fundraising efforts). He concluded with an interesting introduction to the historic Reynolds Library, changing its original use in the 17 th century as a personal Chapel to the Bishops of Norwich, through to its current use as the school’s principal reference library, and including many nuggets of local history detailing its impressive heritage. These coffee mornings are free to attend, require no advance booking, take place every half term, and are open to all. They offer valuable opportunities for fellowship and engagement. All details of FONS can be found here and we encourage all in the Norwich School family to get involved. See: Friends of Norwich School | Norwich School

With funding from the Friends of Norwich School (FONS), the Chess Club has seen a growing number of pupils involved.