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.

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

Top Tips is a new series from Mr Pearce, Deputy Head of UCAS, Politics Teacher and our Apply Plus programme lead, with some tips and tricks ahead of the upcoming exam season! You might have read our recent post on managing your revision time during exam season, which focused largely on two questions about how to use your time effectively to achieve excellent work output. Yet as exams approach, let’s remember that managing your wellbeing becomes just as crucial as managing your work: rest and work are two sides of the same coin. The busier you get and the higher the stakes, the more important it becomes to look after yourself. So, let’s apply the same two questions to the question of stress management during Trinity Term. What are your personal stress and wellbeing hurdles? As a seasoned exam veteran, you know the kinds of wellbeing hurdles that caused you to stagger in previous years. Perhaps you get tempted to cut down on sleep, drop social contact, or neglect health and exercise habits when revision piles up. Perhaps you end up leaning on unhealthy strategies – caffeine, forgetting to eat properly, working without breaks, or engaging in “restless rest” as you binge-watch or doom-scroll to avoid revision. You know yourself well enough to recognize these potential hurdles in advance, and that empowers you to take preventive action. Remember, knowledge plus action = power, and most of these hurdles are more like old acquaintances than ambushes: you know them of old. What stress management habits have worked for you before? We know that our “stress buckets” can quickly overflow during revision season, and we also know that some actions are much better than others at helping to drain the stress bucket before spills happen. You’ll already know your own “happy place habits" – the wellbeing practices that keep you buoyant and help you cope with challenges. These might reflect the NHS five ways to wellbeing: 1) Connect with others, 2) Be active, 3) Keep learning something new, 4) Give to others, and 5) Be mindful. Which of these do you already know you need to hang on to hardest as you go through the gears on revision? Be disciplined about these, just as you are with your revision. These kinds of habits can transform exam season. Learning something new for fun, like juggling or origami, can be a great stress-reliever. Giving to others – sending an encouraging message to a friend or making them a good luck card – offers a surprising amount of good vibes for you as well. For me, getting outside for some exercise every day was transformative during revision season. I went for a run four or five times a week – not particularly long, or certainly not very fast – but it transformed the way I felt, boosting my sleep, my revision, my focus, and my exam performance. Likewise, during my A Levels, I always stopped work at least an hour before I went to bed, and spent some time with some easy-read novels to wind down. I returned to favorite stories from my early Senior School days – familiar and easy enough not to keep me up late reading, but comforting and transporting enough to whisk me away from revision stress. So guess what? I revived that habit during my university finals too – I went back to what worked. What’s worked best for you in the past? Know this: your experience through school means you are already a successful exam hero. Your experience equips you to identify your personal stress hurdles, and you can revive the "happy place habits" that have served you best in the past. Getting the proportions right is key: revision season really does require long periods of serious, committed hard work – but you mustn’t feel guilty about an equally disciplined approach to your wellbeing. It’s easy to feel like taking time away from the books to look after ourselves is somehow a “tax” on our success, but the reality is quite different: balancing hard work with deliberate and effective stress management will not only improve your experience of exam term – it’s very likely to bring you higher grades too. Yes: hours spent learning are essential for learning; but our brains need recovery time just like athletes need rest days and cakes take time to bake. To put it another way: resting is investing .

The boys’ hockey programme had a fantastic season, continuing to grow in strength with over 280 boys participating across all year groups. Players displayed exceptional effort and enthusiasm, resulting in many impressive individual and team performances. In the junior teams, all squads performed admirably, securing notable victories against local and county schools. The U13As had an excellent season, finishing second in the County Cup and qualifying for Regionals, where they placed third in their pool, narrowly missing out on the semi-finals. The U12As also enjoyed a superb season, finishing second in the County Cup and qualifying for Regionals. Among the inter teams, all six squads competed fiercely. The U14As ended the season strongly with significant wins over Ipswich School and Fram College. The U15Bs went unbeaten, securing victories against Fram College and Woodbridge in their final two matches. Meanwhile, the U15As showed remarkable progress throughout the term, reaching the quarter-finals of the Independent Schools Plate competition. In the senior teams, the 4th XI faced a challenging yet enjoyable season, playing with great determination. A 2-1 victory over Gresham’s and a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Fram College were standout moments. The 3rd XI had a successful campaign, opening with a superb 4-2 win over Felsted and delivering their best performance in a 2-1 victory at Framlingham College. The 2nd XI had an outstanding season, securing the County Cup title with a decisive win over Gresham’s. This victory earned them a spot at Regionals, where they competed well against multiple 1st XI teams, demonstrating resilience and teamwork throughout. The 1st XI set a high standard, remaining unbeaten in their pool matches to reach the quarter-finals of the England Hockey Tier 1 Championships, including a standout away draw at Repton. Unfortunately, they bowed out against eventual champions Whitgift. In the Cup tournament, they battled valiantly, only exiting in the quarter-finals after a penalty shootout. Over the season, they played 17 matches, winning 11, drawing four, and losing only two—one via penalties—while scoring an impressive 59 goals.  This season’s success is a testament to the players' dedication, hard work, and commitment. Their performances have been outstanding, and the future of boys’ hockey at the school looks exceptionally bright.

We are thrilled to announce that our school has achieved in the RHS Schools Gardening Awards! This is a fantastic milestone that recognises our commitment to outdoor learning and the many benefits that gardening brings to our pupils. To achieve the certificate, Lower School pupils have demonstrated an understanding of the benefits of gardening and ensured that the growing space is accessible to all year groups in the Lower School. A wide variety of seeds have been successfully started, and a thriving green space is emerging. This is just the beginning of an exciting journey, and we look forward to developing our allotment even further. A huge thank you to all pupils, staff, and families who have supported our efforts. Stay tuned for more updates as we work towards Level Two! Happy gardening!

Here at Norwich School we are delighted to celebrate the talented diversity of our Upper Sixth cohort as UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) offers continue to roll in. Following on from Norwich School successfully hosting several Norwich Science Festival events during the February half term, we have chosen to focus on case study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine) offers in this blog post. STEM is very strong at Norwich School with consistently large numbers of both girls and boys choosing Sciences, Maths and Further Maths for A level: 73 of last year’s Upper Sixth cohort took Maths A level with an average of 47 taking each of the three Sciences. Many Upper 6 boys and girls have received exciting offers from highly competitive universities to study STEM courses. Nationally only 26% of STEM graduates are female, yet at Norwich School the gender split continuing STEM post-18 is much more even. We have therefore chosen to celebrate the achievements of girls in STEM in this blog post. The Med Soc (Medical Society) that recently arranged for Chair of the NNUH, Tom Spink, to speak is run by two Lower 6 girls, the Vet Society that meets each week was started up and is led by two other Lower 6 girls. Two Upper 6 girls (Amelia Braidwood and Freya Osborne) have recently been selected to take part in the selection process for the UK’s team at the International Biology Olympiad following their gold awards in the British Biology Olympiad. With so many girls gain STEM offers ranging from Automotive Engineering, Biomedical Sciences and Computer Science to Zoology, it was difficult to choose a few pupils to hear from, but we hope younger pupils will be inspired by the application journeys and successes of Georgia, Freya, Lily and Lily. 

This morning, the Charities Committee gave an assembly on two special events taking place this week. This week, the Charities Committee are organising two events - one to support schools in Earlham and one to raise funds for our school charity of the Lent Term (Cancer Research UK). Today, pupils have been invited to bring in easter eggs, toothpaste and toothbrushes – these donations will then be delivered directly to the Earlham community. This Friday is Home Clothes Day – pupils are invited to wear their own clothes instead of school uniform, in support of our chosen national charity for this term, Cancer Research UK. Here are some words from Rachael Donovan, Chairperson & Founder of Norfolk Angels: Good morning, thank you for the invitation to speak at your assembly. We are incredibly sorry that we are unable to attend on this occasion. The Norfolk Angels are a registered fundraising committee based in Norwich raising funds for Cancer Research UK. The committee consists of family members and friends. The committee have been fundraising since 2017 and to date have raised £117,000 which showcases how incredibly generous the people of Norfolk are. 1 in 2 of us will get cancer in our lifetime. Thanks to research, the UK’s cancer survival has doubled over the last 40 years and around half of patients now survive the disease for more than 10 years. To give an idea of what the money raised pays for: £4 – A kilo of dry ice to keep delicate DNA at a safe temperature. £30 – Full personal protective equipment (PPE) for the scientists to carry out their life-saving experiments safely. £50 – Restriction enzymes, which are chemicals that act like molecular scissors to cut up long strands of DNA. These allow the scientists to find out more about the causes of cancer. We are very humbled and grateful that you have chosen Cancer Research UK as your charity of the term and we are proud to be the local committee representing this amazing charity. We look forward to seeing you all at Lent Term Dinner in April and to share with you our story and our plans for the future. Pupils will be able to support this fundraising opportunity and donate via cash donation, card donation or online and members of the Charities Committee will be outside the Cathedral before and after assembly from 08:30 - 09:00 and during tutorial 12:05 – 12:45, to accept donations by card from any tutee who wishes to donate by this method. We are suggesting that pupils donate £2, as this will be the only Home Clothes Day opportunity this term. Money will also be raised to support this cause at the sold-out Lower 6 Charities Dinner, at the beginning of next term. You can donate now by visiting the Home Clothes Day donation page The Charities Committee thanks you for listening and for your support!

In March pupils spent six days in Norwich’s twin town of Rouen. With 12 hours of French tuition and evenings with host families, pupils had a really immersive experience using and improving their language skills. There were many highlights of the trip, including interviewing members of the public in a local park about their views on English and French stereotypes learning how to make macarons with a maître-patissier at his School of Pâtisserie being welcomed by French pupils and teachers during our visit to Collège Saint-Dominique, where languages play huge part in the curriculum. spending a wonderful day together exploring Paris- from the Arc de Triomphe to the Bateau Mouche and an afternoon exploring the meandering streets of Montmartre Mrs Watkinson, Mr Croston and Mrs Parkhouse were so impressed with the group’s open-minded attitude and willingness to use their French. Their confidence grew immeasurably through their daily interactions with the host families, language teachers, members of the public and in exchanges in shops and cafés. Equally, travelling everywhere on public transport gave us all a real feeling of adventure and an understanding of how easy and rewarding European travel can be. Pupils commented that: “My French improved a lot through communicating with the host family” “The excursion day in Paris was amazing! Inside Rouen, I really enjoyed the detailed city tour and the Joan of Arc museum.” “My French has improved tons, I can speak much more fluently and can hold conversations in French with my host family.” “French gets a lot easier towards the end of the trip and makes you better at French than everyone else.” “It’s a great experience to see how different cultures work and eat etc and definitely helps with French.” Taking part in such an overseas adventure in another language does more than just improve pupils’ language skills. Communication becomes paramount and we believe that undertaking such an endeavour necessitates a bit of bravery. Pupils become better conversationalists as a result, they uncover and revel in subtle cultural differences and deepen their understanding of their own heritage. They rely on the kindness of relative strangers and find the joy in the magic of putting the language they’ve been learning for years in the classroom to test ‘out in the field’, and finding that it actually works!

Here at Norwich School we are delighted to celebrate the talented diversity of our Upper Sixth cohort as UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) offers continue to roll in. Law is a popular university course for Norwich School pupils to apply to and career for them to consider. Pupils were able to speak to solicitors and barristers working in a range of fields at the school’s Careers and Networking Evening earlier this week and the Model Arctic Council Event we hosted last weekend honed the public speaking and debating skills of the sixth formers involved. This blog post asks three pupils about the application process that led to the offers they have received to date and the courses they are hoping to start in the autumn.