Norwich School celebrated LGBT+ History month with a scavenger hunt of LGBT+ historical figures and a special assembly given to the 5th Form by Lana Kiddell (L6), you can read address below; My name is Lana Kiddell and I’m going to be taking a moment of this morning’s assembly to raise awareness of Pride History Month. A month that brings to light the historical figures who went against the negative responses towards their identities, and that their impact is not going anywhere while also promoting the evolution of gay rights and their respective civil rights movements. Pride History Month was first founded by an American history teacher, Rodney Wilson, he is well known for coming out to his class through teaching about the Holocaust, explaining to his class that at that time, he would’ve been persecuted for his identity. He chose October to be the month that celebrates Queer history in the US to mark the first and second LGBT marches to Washington in 1979 and 1987; as well as the month being within the academic school year. In the UK, Pride Month was initiated by the LGBT+ education charity ‘Schools Out UK’ in February 2005; this month also marks the time in which Section 28, the local Government Act that limited the promotion of homosexuality, was abolished in 2003. You may be wondering: ‘Why do we have two Pride-related months?’ Well, Pride History month is about looking at the past, while Pride Month is about looking forward. I believe that there are people within Pride History that we can all look up to, whether you’re a mathematician, historian or a writer. As a musician and performer, Freddie Mercury is someone I look up to. He is someone who has left a mark on the music industry not only for his skill, but for his flamboyant persona he’d bring to every performance. Even today, Chappell Roan, who won best new artist at the Grammy Awards this year and is well known for her song “Hot to Go” (yes, I know we all know the moves). Queer historical figures are an important part of her performance outfits, for example, her ‘knight’ costume is inspired by Joan of Arc, as well as an outfit inspired by drag queen Divine. Unfortunately due to how half term falls we miss a chunk of Pride History Month. However, at Norwich School, we’re celebrating Pride History month with a scavenger hunt, in different departments, you’ll see posters up of Queer historical figures, write down a fact about them all and bring these to Miss Scott at the Wellbeing Hub for a prize. We also have a Pride Group! Every Tuesday lunch time 12:40-1:15, so it’d be nice to recruit anyone interested. Thank you for listening, and thank you Mr Curtis for allowing me some time of your assembly.

On 20 February 2023, at 19 years of age and halfway through her second year at university, Abbie was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer.

The Alarka Trio will be playing at Norwich Cathedral on 27 February 2025 as part of our regular Making Musicians concerts.

This February half term our Art History 6 th Form pupils were treated to a 6-day trip to Italy which offered them the opportunity to study the artworks from their Renaissance Paper on location. They visited Rome, Florence, and Venice, starting each day with orientation walking tours to give them historical overviews and take in each city's key sites and geographies before heading to the chapels, basilicas, museums, and galleries to see individual paintings, sculptures, and buildings from the course. Each day finished in local restaurants so pupils could try the regional cuisines. Some highlights included climbing the Dome of Florence Cathedral, taking a gondola across the Grand Canal, and seeing the Pantheon lit up at night. "I loved the trip to Italy, we were able to learn about the Renaissance in such a fun and immersive way. Each day was jam-packed with museum visits, famous landmarks, and delicious Italian food. I am so grateful to have seen specific sources in person and would highly recommend the experience!" Izzy Berry, L6.  "To truly grasp the depth and power of art, seeing it in person is essential, which is why it was so impactful to go to Italy to experience first-hand the artworks we had studied in the classroom." Jemima Curtis, U6.

As part of GoGo Safari, which is coming to Norwich this summer, Gerry the Giraffe has been welcomed to the Lower School. This is a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to showcase their artistic talents, whilst supporting Break. All pupils let their imaginations run wild whilst creating interesting designs for our giraffe. Our final design was inspired by the introduction of our Little Roots allotment, which has given Junior pupils the chance to step into the wonderful world of gardening. Therefore, we chose to cover Gerry in a multitude of fruit and vegetables, some that can be grown in our allotment and others that are a lot more exotic. All pupils have had the opportunity to add their artistic touches to our very special giraffe.  Gerry is ready to take root in our new allotment.

39 members of Middle 5 and Upper 5 visited Berlin with the History Department over half term. There was snow on the ground and, for most of the trip, the weather was crisp, clear and freezing cold!  They visited key sites associated with Nazi Germany and the Cold War, including a visit to the 1936 Olympic Stadium, a trip up the dome of the Reichstag at nightfall, and a walking tour of the city which took in Checkpoint Charlie and remaining sections of the Berlin Wall. There were sombre moments too as the group visited Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, the Wannsee villa and the grim Stasi prison – students all gained a much deeper understanding of the realities of Germany’s difficult 20 th century. Yet, they also got a taste of the modern, cosmopolitan, united city that Berlin has become since the Berlin wall fell thirty years ago.

Following her success as an Associate Musician in 2024, Melissa Hawkings (L6) has been chosen as a Guest Musician for the National Youth Orchestra 2025! To celebrate this achievement we asked her few questions about what this entails, her experience as a musician and what she is looking forward to. Can you tell me a little bit about what being a Guest for the National Youth Orchestra means? It involves taking part in two NYO residencies, where I’ll work on orchestral pieces as part of the horn section and give concerts around the UK at the end of each residency. My next involvement with the orchestra is in April, where we will perform Bernstein’s West Side Story and Stravinsky’s Ballet Petrushka, which I can’t wait to play! The highlight is the Summer Residency, which will culminate in a performance at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Bringing music to local communities is also a part of being an NYO Guest. For example, I’m going to Blackpool this half term, where I will perform to hundreds of young people in the Blackpool Tower and then lead creative workshops in local secondary schools. And how long is a residency? Each residency is around 13 days, in which the first 8 or 9 days are spent rehearsing and getting to know other musicians, and the rest is spent doing a concert tour. Will this take place in the holidays? Yes it will. Do you have to do any additional things in term-time as well? It depends on which events you get allocated to - one of my events will overlap by 2 or 3 days. And has the school been supportive of your musical journey? Yes, they have been really supportive! All the teachers are really helpful, both from an academic and performance perspective. They have given me loads of performance opportunities throughout the years such as recitals and masterclasses, and have also supported me in going to the Royal College of Music on Saturday, where I receive my instrumental lessons and play in the symphony orchestra and chamber groups. And what was the process of applying like? There are two rounds. For the first round, I filmed myself performing a piece and a few orchestral excerpts, which are famous horn moments from orchestral pieces. Following this, I was selected for a second round audition, where I performed a piece and orchestral excerpts to a live panel of NYO tutors. I also took part in ensemble workshops throughout the day. It was quite nerve racking at first, especially playing to 3 completely new people, but I got a lot out of it. And what happened after that? The first year I auditioned, I was offered the position of an Associate Musician, which involved taking part in the Winter and Summer Residencies. For me, the highlight of this was playing in Strauss’ Alpine Symphony and the world premiere of Dani Howard’s piece Ascent. This year, I was offered a place as a Guest Musician, which will involve playing a lot more in the orchestra. What is the difference between a Guest and Associate Musician? Being an associate involved performing in selected parts of the concert tours, whereas as a Guest, I will fully take part in 2 of the residencies, and perform in all of the pieces during the concert tours. How long have you been playing? Since I was 11. I started at the local Music Hub at CNS and I really enjoyed it, but I can’t remember why I picked the horn! What A Levels do you study at Norwich School? Music, English and Spanish. What does being a musical scholar at Norwich School entail? It’s a really exciting part of school life. I play in lots of ensembles such as Gateway Orchestra and Cathedral trumpets, and also in masterclasses that come up through the Making Musicians Programme. For example, In March I played in a masterclass with Amos Miller, who is the Head of Brass at the Royal College of Music. You can also get involved in recitals through the Making Musicians programmes, or performing in services such as Remembrance, where I played the Last Post on trumpet. It was unlike any other concert, I could only hear myself as everyone was silent, I enjoyed playing a lot. How do you find balancing your music with your studies? Sometimes it is challenging to keep everything going, especially last year whilst taking my GCSEs, but the school have been incredibly supportive. Music is always something I can go to relax, like when you think about it all I’m doing is blowing down a piece of tubing so it’s quite low stakes from that perspective. What are you most excited for in your upcoming residency? I’m really excited to get to know the horn section, which may sound a bit geeky, but its rare to come across so many horn players in one place! Most of all, I’m excited to perform the music from West Side Story in Bridgewater Hall, because one of the pieces involves shouting Mambo in the middle of it! Are you nervous about anything in particular? The first few days of the residency are always a bit nerve wracking because of all the new people, but you get used to it after a while. Have you ever composed yourself? Yes I have, although I wouldn’t really consider myself a composer (I had to do it at GCSE). I’d like to get better at it. What are your future goals in music? I’d really like to give more recitals, take part in some competitions, and get a place at a conservatoire. What would you say to any young people who are thinking they might want to play the French Horn? Do it! I think one of the best things about music is playing with other people, and the horn is suited for so many different ensembles where you can explore a variety of genres. It’s a really unique and special instrument.

On 8 February, 10 U4 boys and girls accompanied by Will Croston and Abbie Dean flew to Hamburg to experience Germany often for the very first time. We were also joined by Ana the German Assistentin. We stayed in the Deutsche Seemannsmission right in the City Centre which provided an ideal base to explore the city and its world-famous port. Our U4 German pupils gained a positive first-hand experience of Germany and were given many opportunities to try out their language skills including writing the traditional postcard to the Head. The pupils coped well with buying food, souvenirs, stamps and gifts as well as being willing to try a variety of new foods including Currywurst. We had almost three full days in the city and were able to include all the major sights, and the traffic-free city centre provided a safe area to let small groups go shopping for short periods and the pupils enjoyed finding some bargains notably in the Karstadt department store. On the first night we went swimming and on the second night, we took the group to the Miniaturwelt in the warehouse district of Hamburg which they all found absolutely fascinating. We also descended deep under river Elbe to see the 19th century tunnel with lifts for horse and carriage, still operating today. We also found out more about Hamburg's trading past and present and toured the port for a closer look at the dry docks, container terminals and loading bays. Another highlight was Mr Croston’s Hamburg Treasure Hunt with some good selfies in front of various tourist attractions! We also enjoyed visiting a local Gymnasium where we spent some time with some local pupils and did some joint activities. All of those on the trip were very open to new experiences and took a keen interest in their surroundings and got a great deal out of the trip. The trip to Hamburg could be summarised as a great deal of fun as well as a valuable educational experience.

U6 Physics pupils recently participated in the British Physics Olympiad hosted by the University of Oxford. The challenge involved answering a series of highly demanding abstract physics problems from beyond the scope of the A Level curriculum. Over 3700 pupils from 550 schools took part, and we are pleased to announce that our pupils achieved the following outstanding results: Joschka Molenaar - Gold Oliver Howard - Silver Daniel Neville - Bronze Ezra Collis - Bronze Beatrice Adamson - Bronze Matthew Coelho Bartram - Bronze Antoine Leggett - Bronze