Woodard House Newsletter Summer 2022

Woodard Newsletter Summer Term 2022

Foreword

It has been another incredibly busy term with some impressive achievements from our Woodard pupils in and out of the classroom. This is the last newsletter I shall write for a while as I hand over the Head of House duties to Chris Sassi. I finish my three year tenure incredibly proud of our pupils and all that Woodard have achieved this term.

Academic Success

The focus for the Summer Term’s academic pursuits very much centres on our 5^th form and U6th who endured a busy exam season but came through the other side having collectively dedicated thousands of hours in preparation and revision. For our U6th these will be the first external exams they would have ever sat and we wish them and our 5^th formers the very best of luck for results day in August.

As always Woodard are well represented in our academic prize giving for the year:

U6th

Art and Geography (Physical) - Eden C

Geography (Human) – Tara W

Information Technology – Jonathan S

Theatre Studies – Aimee P

L6th

Biology and Chemistry – Issie S

Computer Science & Further Maths – Oliver C

5^th

Biology & Chemistry & English Language  – Jess B

Physical Education – Amelia L

4^th

Attainment Prize – Max W, Hannah W

Effort Prize – Fiona H

3^rd

Attainment Prize – Molly R

Effort Prize – Tilly D

2^nd

Attainment Prize – Katie W

Denstone Parents Events Prizes - Isaac C, Nat F, Fraser M

Godfrey Prize (CCF) – Callum W

Sir John Kay Prize (Sporting Performance) – Tara W

The Head’s Prize – Molly S

Congratulations to all of our prize winners.

House & School Sport

The main house sporting events for the summer term are the Paarlauf and Sports Finals. There were some outstanding performances on both days.

The highlight of Paarlauf was undoubtedly our 3^rd form runners, Tilly Dand Freddie H, who ran a brilliantly tactical race to get the win. It came right down to the final straight with Tilly overtaking to come in first. It was a blisteringly hot afternoon and all of our runners did themselves proud in this gruelling event.

On the final Saturday of term the whole house competed in the Sports Finals. The weather was glorious and there was some incredible performances. Overall Woodard came in third although it was a very close run affair. Worthy of mention are the following who won their events:

• Annie C – 1500m
• Lydia H – 1500m and Long Jump
• Evan D – 200m
• Dan G – 400m and Discus
• Joe Gr – 100m, 200m, High Jump, Javelin (he was the only person in the school to win 4 medals!).

Our relay teams also did very well with the following worthy of mention:

• 4 x 400m relay (Mia S, Annie C, Charlie S, Tilly D – 1^st place

Our Junior and Inters boys also took a very respectable second place in their 4 x 100m relays.

In the overall Sports Cup, Woodard came third.

There have been a number of Sports Colours awards given out this term to the following Woodard pupils:

• Tennis full colours have been awarded to Molly S and Tara W
• Athletics Half Colours to Ellis C

Outside of school sport, worthy of mention is Ellis C who was selected to run the 400m for Staffordshire schools in the All England School National Championships. At the time of writing, the event has yet to happen so we wish him the best of luck with the event.

A number of our pupils have also represented their county this year in cricket. These include Evan D, Cameron T, Lawrence W, Joe W, James L, Rory W, Amelia L and James A.

Culture

The two main social events of the term have been the Woodard House BBQ and the House Dinner. We had the largest turnout of any house for our BBQ, where we enjoyed possibly the best day of weather this term at Addies Pavilion. The food was provided by our brilliant catering team and our parents made a sizeable dent in the bar stock! Games were played on the sports field, with the evening rounded off by a visit from a local ice cream van. It was a lovely evening and was great to see our Woodard community out in force.

The House Dinner was an equally memorable affair and we enjoyed a fabulous night of dinner and dancing at Uttoxeter race course. At one point the entire house was on the dance floor ‘throwing some shapes’ which was a great sight to behold. It is one of those events when all year groups mingle and it was great to see such house spirit in abundance.

The other cultural highlight of the term was the Junior School Production, Oliver. I was absolutely blown away by how talented our pupils were and the quality and production of this musical was outstanding. The performances were the product of hundreds of hours of practice and rehearsals and it is these moments that will become life-long memories for all involved. The following Woodard pupils all did brilliantly: Molly R; Katie W; Chloe D; Caiomhe O; Lottie R & Lydia F.

However, special mention must go to Molly R who played the role of Nancy. Her voice wouldn’t be out of place in a West End Musical and she undoubtedly provided the performance of the whole show. A huge congratulations to all involved.

There have been a couple of stand-out contributions towards the Cultural Cup. Woodard L6th members of Issie S and Isaac C (Chair) both performed admirably in the ‘Question Time’ competition, placing second overall. Also, in Activities Week, our 4^th form secured 1^st place in the ‘Be Kind Rewind’ film making competition. We came third overall in the Cultural Cup.

Outside of school, mention also goes to Chloe D who is a member of the performance arts group – Fusion. They managed to reach the Semi-Finals of the Central Area All England Competition.

House Awards

The following Woodard House Awards have been nominated:

The Halliday Cup for Academic Performance: Chloe D

The Street Cup for Effort: Fiona H

The Earl Cup for House Sport: Freddie H & Tilly D

The Fearnside Cup for All Round Contribution to the House: Isaac C

The Smith Cup for House Spirit: Philine P

And finally

As always I would like to thank our incredible team of tutors for their tireless work. Much of what they do goes on unseen but they are always working to ensure that our pupils are happy and fulfilling their potential. This year we say good bye to Olivia Barraclough who has been a fantastic tutor for Woodard for several years and a huge support to myself also. We wish her well in her move to the Lake District.

I would like to thanks our House Captain, Susie B for all of her work this year. She has led by example and has helped me enormously in ensuring all things house related run smoothly. She will pass the baton to Isaac C who will lead Woodard for the next academic year.

Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to our pupils for making my three years as Head of Woodard fulfilling and memorable. It has been a privilege doing this role and I made sure I would be staying in Woodard as a tutor as my blood undoubtedly now runs navy blue! I wish all of the Woodard community a fantastic summer and look forward to new challenges in September.