Three Norwich School pupils, Luke Watts (U5), Milo Clabburn (L6) and Rory Evans (M5) have appeared on Radio Norfolk to talk about their love of dance. We caught up with Rory to find out more… Why were you invited to speak on Radio Norfolk? I am part of a dance company called Legacy and along with Luke, Milo and some of our fellow dancers, we were invited to speak on Radio Norfolk to promote an incredible upcoming show, called Brothers in Motion, which celebrates 10 years of Legacy Dance Company UK. Can you tell us a little more about Legacy? Legacy is an all-boys dance company which trains every Saturday and meets every week at the Workshop Studios in Norwich. In total there are about 100 male dancers split across four main groups – minis, little, 11+ and Main Company. I am part of the Main company, which consists of 13 boys aged from 11 to 18 – four of us are from Norwich School; me, Milo, Luke and also Jasper Valpied (U5). The company is audition only and we do performances, competitions and outreach programmes. How did you hear about Legacy? I was introduced to Legacy when they performed in the Junior Dance show a few years ago. They have also guest choreographed at various dance events at school such as the Dance Festival and Gala Night and they do workshops and events with the school. What do you enjoy about dance? I have loved dance since I joined Norwich School and I have been really grateful for the opportunity to do all the dance that I have. I enjoy being able to express myself through dance, which is fun and therapeutic and also builds lots of transferable skills such as dedication, hard work and coordination. Tell us more about the show you were promoting on the Radio… It is called Brothers in Motion and involves multiple boys dance groups from across the country coming together to perform, along with some of the top vocational colleges from around the country and also many Legacy Alumni will be performing. It is a really exciting showcase of male dance, which will be taking place at the Norfolk Showground on Friday 30 th May. It was great to be able to talk about it on the radio, as we are also trying to get funding for the show, as Legacy has been unable to access the Arts Council funding that has made the show possible in the past, so we are crowdfunding and asking for Business Sponsorship to help. What would you say to anyone out there who might be interested in dance but hasn’t yet started? I would strongly encourage you to start – the first step is the hardest but once you start I am sure you will love it. It is so much fun and the atmosphere and community both Legacy and Norwich School have been inspirational for me. Click here for more information - BROTHERS IN MOTION - 10 Years, 1 Legacy - a Creative & Arts crowdfunding project in Norwich by LEGACY Dance Company UK

Here at Norwich School we are delighted to celebrate the talented diversity of our Upper Sixth cohort as offers for onward routes continue to come in. Following on from blog posts on law and girls’ STEM university offers, we have chosen to focus on offers pupils have for non UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service in the UK) routes. With expert guidance from Mr Croston, pupils have received offers from leading universities in several countries outside of the UK. Congratulations in particular to Uma Patel (offer for Dentistry at the Universidad Catolica de Valencia, Spain), Edward Chan (Architecture at Hong Kong University), Bosco Tang (Dentistry at Hong Kong University) and Helen Ng (Computer Science at UST, University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong). A huge variety of exciting opportunities with employers are now available to school leavers, almost all combining paid employment with training and further qualifications. The number of degree apprenticeships available in the UK is now four times what it was five years ago; our pupils who gain offers for these will work for a leading employer who trains them, pays them and pays for them to complete a full university degree alongside their employment. We are very fortunate to have Mrs James supporting pupils as they apply for these highly competitive programmes. This blog post asks three pupils about their offers for non UCAS routes: Ava deCooper Wride has a full rugby scholarship for Quinnipiac University (USA), Archie Taylor has an accountancy degree apprenticeship offer from Price Bailey and Hugo Pattinson has an engineering degree apprenticeship offer from Airbus.

As part of the BIG Egg Hunt, Claire has created a beautiful egg to raise funds for The Elephant Family.

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.