It's Time to Sign Up for Discover Your Ability 2025!
February 12, 2025
This morning, Able2B charity co-founder and orthopaedic surgeon Rachael Hutchinson gave an assembly to draw pupils' attention to this year's Discover Your Ability event.
Here is a link to her talk: Able2B Assembly.
We are asking for L5-L6 pupils to sign up to the challenge, and they will be paired with children with disabilities from local schools. Children will provide a written description of themselves and their interests and be paired together over a series of fun events and training sessions to help them get to know each other. They will work together over the following weeks to develop strategies to assist each other in completing a cycle race and running/walking race around the Lower Close. This is a fantastic event and Able2B will give details on the dates for each session and run them at their specialist gym off Hall Road in Norwich. Able2B will match pupils together in teams using the information provided on their interests, personalities and abilities. Team-mates become great friends! Norwich School pupils will have the benefit of experiencing a wonderful and fulfilling event and the training sessions and event can be used as the volunteering element of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
The Discover Your Ability Day event, and lead-in training sessions, are a great opportunity for pupils to get involved who meet the following criteria:
· Are in L5-L6
· Keen to volunteer within a unique and transformative charity
· Looking for additional hours of volunteering for their Duke of Edinburgh Award
· Interested in sport, physiotherapy, medicine, education, psychology or social work as future careers
· Want to be a part of a life-affirming event!
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The Discover Your Ability event is to be held on Sunday 22 June 2025.
What happens next?
- January/February: Sign-up opens for pupils to register their interest by emailing Mrs Thomas and by registering on the Able2B website here. There is a £15 registration fee and this helps the charity to raise money to continue its fantastic work.
- February 2024 - Able2B will pair up the children. Each child will provide initial information about themselves to their partner before they meet-so they can ‘paint a picture’ based on the personality of their partner before they meet in person.
- Thursday 6 March - First Training Session at the Able2B gym - 4.30-5.45
- Saturday 3 May - Second Training Session at the Able2B gym - 1.00-2.15
- Wednesday 11 June - Third Training Session at the Ablet2B gym - 5.15-6.30
- Sunday June 22 - 11:30 - Final event in grounds of Norwich Lower School.
Parents and friends are very much welcome to attend the final session to spectate or to volunteer as marshals and route guides (with bubbles and water pistols!) too. This is very much a family event. This is a fantastic opportunity to help out in our local community whilst learning some important skills as well as simply gaining an inspiring experience. Again, pupils undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh's Award are also able to use the event as part of their volunteering hours.
Proceeds from the event will go to supporting Able2B's work in the community. Everyone who takes part will receive an event t-shirt and water bottle.
Press coverage from a previous event can be found here.
A video about Norwich School's involvement with Able2B can be found here.
Pupils who are interested in taking part should sign up using this link. For more information about the event, please email Mrs Thomas.
Photo below is from this morning's assembly.
On September 30, fifty-nine members of U3 set off on their annual four-day residential Geography Field Trip to the Peak District, eager to ‘read the landscape’. Over the course of the trip, pupils immersed themselves in the natural beauty and geological wonders of the region. They visited the National Stone Centre for a dynamic round-robin of activities, strolled through the picturesque Dovedale Valley, delved into the intriguing Treakcliff Cavern cave system, and ascended Mam Tor to take in the breathtaking panoramic views of the Hope Valley. With notebooks and pencils in hand, pupils began to unravel the formation of iconic Dovedale features such as the Dovehole Caves and Reynard’s Arch, while also collecting river data to be analysed back in the classroom. The trip also offered time to unwind and soak up the surroundings. Pupils enjoyed browsing for gems and fossils at local gift shops and relished the opportunity to relax at the scenic Ilam Hall youth hostel. It was a memorable and informative experience, enjoyed thoroughly by both staff and pupils alike.
This year’s annual dinner welcome Professor Christopher Joby (ON) to speak about his life in languages. This thought-provoking lecture started with Professor Joby’s memories of life at Norwich School, the journey through his academic career and his experiences living across the globe. Professor Joby is a Dutch enthusiast (to put it mildly!) and he inspired scholars with his experiences of following this passion. He touched on Taiwan’s Dutch colony of 1624 to 1662, the desire of Polish communities to learn Dutch for economic reasons and the culture shock of moving to South Korea. Professor Joby has published on several fascinating topics and has kindly given a copy of his book Christian Mission in Seventeeth-Century Taiwan to the school in honour of this occasion. Following our lecture and some pertinent questions from the audience, Professor Joby joined our M5 to U6 academic scholars in the school’s refectory for a chance to discuss our own dreams, passions and thoughts of what the future might hold. It is always a joy to welcome an ON back to Norwich School, and there is real pride in knowing that a fascinating, fulfilling and far-reaching academic career all began within the confines of The Close.
On Monday 29 September, 32 runners from the Cross-Country Club travelled to a sunny and hilly Woodbridge for the first round of the English Schools Cross Country Cup. The Junior Girls team came 3rd overall with excellent performances from Poppy Short, Iris Wells, Annabelle Hitchings, Ophee Martin and Emi Muntingh, who came 4th in the race. We also took the 4 th spot in the Junior Boys thanks to a determined run from Samuel Trickey, with Jonty Croskell, Ruan Ekkerd, Joshua Bevan and Albie Cater all in the top 25 finishers and Henry Drew and Oscar Bevington not far behind. Our Intermediate Girls team were hit by injuries, but Ruby Ivie ran very well to secure 10 th place, and Anna Clayton finished strongly for the team as well. The Intermediate Boys all finished in the top 20, with Riccardo Di Maria first home for Norwich in 12th, closely followed by Harry Kensell, Noah Buchan and Jamie Kidd. The Senior Boys were up against some of the region's very best cross-country runners. They held their own with Nicholas Conway first home for Norwich in 11 th place and Kort Tsui, Leo Pitt, George Yiasimi and Edward Lott not far behind. The performance of the day came from the Senior Girls who came 2nd in the team competition. Individually they all finished highly with Georgia Lloyd 14th, Bella Muntingh 12th, Olivia Allen 9th, Amelie Ivie 6th, Bea Green 5th and Minnie Andrews 3rd. Well done to all those who took part
We are very grateful to Tom Little for being our guest speaker at Prizegiving this year.
We were delighted to hear Professor Charles Forsdick speak about the importance of languages in society at a recent Norfolk Cambridge Society lecture at Norwich School.
In the penultimate week of September, Lower 3 set off on their residential trip to Leicester. To complement their curriculum learning, we visited the National Space Centre, Bradgate Park, and the Battle of Bosworth battlefield. On the Wednesday at the Space Centre, the pupils learned what it takes to be an astronaut. They enjoyed an immersive show in the UK’s largest planetarium and scaled the rocket tower to learn about space exploration and its history. On the Thursday, we travelled to Bradgate Park, where we were greeted by some magnificent fallow deer stags with impressive antlers. We ventured further to the ruins of Lady Jane Grey’s house, where we were welcomed by Frances Brandon, Lady Jane Grey’s mother. Inside the chapel, we re-enacted Jane’s tragic story and then used our history detective skills to work out the purposes of different rooms within the ruins. After a spot of lunch, we began the gentle climb up to Old John’s Tower. Along the way, we saw veteran oak trees and discovered some very old igneous rocks—among the oldest on the planet. We were fortunate enough to be allowed inside Old John’s Tower, where the pupils loved the spectacular views. On the final day, en route back to Norwich, we visited the battlefield where Henry Tudor defeated Richard III. Under the instruction of Sir John, in charge of the livery, we were trained in medieval army combat and learned how to handle a halberd. We then explored the battlefield before, of course, spending some money in the gift shop! It was a memorable trip that allowed the pupils to work collaboratively, bond as a group, and enhance their curriculum learning.
The school's first female peer-mentoring meeting of the academic year brought together fourth form students with sixth form mentors in an initiative designed to promote sisterhood and establish a strong sense of community within our female cohorts. During the session, younger students shared their academic and personal goals for the year in small discussion groups, with sixth form mentors offering guidance and encouragement drawn from their own experiences. The collaborative atmosphere allowed students to explore practical strategies for achieving their aspirations while building meaningful cross-year relationships. The session concluded with discussions surrounding the name of the programme, with students proposing to honour an inspirational woman who holds significance for them. This programme aims to foster positive female role models within the school while empowering students to support one another's growth and success. Regular meetings throughout the year will continue and this initiative represents the school's ongoing commitment to developing confident and brave young women.
Upper 1 enjoyed an enriching and educational visit to Amazona Zoo this week as part of their learning about animals and their habitats in the Rainforest. Throughout the day, pupils had the opportunity to observe a wide range of fascinating animals, including spider monkeys, parrots, flamingos, anacondas, crocodiles, capybaras, tapirs, pumas, jaguars, and even a tarantula. A particular highlight was witnessing the feeding times for the otter, capybaras, and tapirs, which provided a unique insight into the animals’ behaviour and diets. The pupils enjoyed a picnic lunch in the sunshine, followed by some fun in the adventure playground. The visit concluded with a trip to the gift shop, where pupils were bought a variety of souvenirs to commemorate the day. This visit offered a valuable opportunity to deepen the children’s understanding of South American animals and ecosystems, directly supporting their current Topic work on The Rainforest.
On Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 September, 28 pupils from the Friedrich-Leopold-Woeste-Gymnasium visited Norwich School as part of their Languages trip to Norwich. On Monday, they were treated to a tour of the school in German by our U5 GCSE class and on Tuesday, the two classes were excited to see each other again and spent the afternoon speaking German and English to each other at a Language cafe in UKS, where they ended the afternoon by playing board games together. The pupils enjoyed getting to know each other and speaking each other's languages. They will keep in contact privately now that the German group has departed. Quotes from pupils are as follows: 'We were laughing with them the whole time!' 'We made some strong connections with them and will talk with them online' 'It was very nice to meet them and make some new friends!' 'It was very enjoyable and a lovely opportunity to practise our German and make new friends.' 'It was nice to meet and talk to them while practising our German.' 'We went to the city with them and loved it!' 'We learnt so much about their home in Germany.'
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27) There’s a saying that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Years ago I met someone who doesn’t like that saying very much. That’s because his job is to design book covers. I watched him lead a really interesting seminar where he showed us some of his designs. He explained how his artwork was trying to sum up – on just one piece of laminated, folded paper - the message and themes of all the other pages in the book. Just occasionally, some book covers do this by choosing a key phrase from the book and putting it in large letters on the front. A famous example is Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, where some editions had a cover that read: ‘Big Brother is Watching You’. If you know the story then you’ll recognise that as the sinister propaganda message that no-one can get away from. Some copies of the Lord of the Rings had printed on the front ‘One ring to rule them all’. And The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams had just two words on the cover of some editions – ‘DON’T PANIC’. It begins to make sense when you discover that some of the characters in the story are using a space travel guide (the Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) which is designed to help you through any difficult situation. And what makes the guide so successful and popular is that its first principle is on the front cover. Whatever happens – DON’T PANIC. Have a look at the cover of your hymn book for a moment. What do you think? We’ve gone for a pretty classic look. The name of our school in gold embossed lettering, and the school crest complete with a motto in Latin for a classy finish. Sometimes I wonder – entirely hypothetically – how we might redesign the cover. If you were going to put a few words on the front, one essential message that everyone in the school was going to see at the beginning of every day, what would it be? Here are a few suggestions I got from people around the school, some more serious than others: · “Show Love” · “Shine Bright!” · “Treat others as you would like to be treated” · “Do some work in your study periods” · “Wake Up!” Actually, I think the words ‘DON’T PANIC’ might work here too. I hope you’re realising, now that we’re a few weeks into term, that panicking is never worth it – and if you’re tempted to panic then sharing your problem and talking to someone almost always helps. Maybe that would be good to remember at the start of the school day. This also reminds me of one of my favourite passages from the Bible, the words of Jesus we heard just now: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? … Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” I’ve had times myself where those words from the Sermon on the Mount have given me some perspective. Perhaps part of that passage would work well on the front of our hymn books – that wouldn’t be a bad thing to keep remembering. We’re not about to reissue the school hymn books with a new cover any time soon. But there’s nothing stopping you imagining a message on the front of the hymn book – whatever you need that message to be. “Don’t panic.” “Do not worry.” “Show love.” Why not have a few helpful words in your mind’s eye every time you pick up these blue books in the morning?
