Dear Parents,
 
I hope you have had a good week. The children at Queen’s House and The Abbey have certainly been extremely busy with activities ranging from Year 1 learning about how the postal service works by writing postcards and then taking them to the Post Office to see them begin their journey, to Year 6 drooling over a JCB 8030 ZTS mini excavator which has been adding a certain je ne sais quoi to the landscaping at The Abbey this week!
 
Preparations are in full swing for our Year 3 and 4 production of Tom Sawyer and there is a noticeable Southern drawl creeping into the conversations around school! We look forward to being transported to the banks of the Mississippi…
 
Congratulations to all those who have taken part in sporting fixtures this week. I am always very proud to hear what good ambassadors our pupils are when they travel to other schools. Well done to all.   
 
Enjoy the weekend.

With best wishes.

John Brett
Head of The Abbey and Queen’s House

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I never teach my pupils, I only provide the conditions in which they can learn.
Albert Einstein 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG AT THE ABBEY

The children at the Abbey welcomed the opportunity to talk to the archaeologist about what might be in the big holes that have appeared around the Abbey site in recent weeks. They asked some very interesting questions;

How far down do the pits go?

They are 1.5 metres deep.

What is the most exciting thing about your job?

Looking back into the past; some of the things we have found have not been seen for hundreds of years.

Which century did you find the remains of here at the Abbey?

in the hole by the library we found evidence of the 17th century, whilst the hole by the terrace had evidence of medieval times as we dug to 100m. We also found lots of peat by the library suggesting that the site used to be very marshy.

What sort of things have you found?

Cow bones and some rubble from when the old Abbey building was originally built.

Why can you not dig any further?

The hole would need reinforcing to dig any further.

 

Welcome to our new GAP students Beth Palmer and Duncan Reid who joined the school community in January. Beth is currently taking a GAP year and is helping us in the classrooms, out on the field and running the T- Club. Beth has been living in Singapore for the last 8 years, but originally comes from Suffolk.  Beth and her parents have moved back to Suffolk and are living in Felixstowe. She is interested in becoming a teacher and I am sure she will gain a lot of experience whilst working with The Abbey pupils.

Duncan is from Cape Town, South Africa and is planning on becoming an actor and singer. He hopes in the future to teach and perform. He loves working with children and he enjoys seeing the progression they make in their lessons.

I am sure everyone will join me in wishing you both a happy and enjoyable year at The Abbey.

MY EXPERIENCE OF BEING SLEEPING BEAUTY AT THE REGENT THEATRE, IPSWICH

 I auditioned for Sleeping Beauty in September 2016. There were 200 girls altogether and they only needed 30 for the show, so I was so surprised and excited when in October I heard I had been accepted.

Rehearsals started in November. They were held on every Sunday up to the show and some evenings. We had seven dances to learn and six songs. After a few weeks the main cast joined us for rehearsals and trained with us. They were all very friendly and encouraged us a lot. The dressmaker was there and she altered and made costumes.  It was fascinating watching her at work . I had five costume changes .Then one Sunday several men arrived at the theatre and put up the scenery that they had painted.

The producer, David Phipps-Davis who played the Dame would sometimes let the main characters change the story lines. He is a trained opera singer and would sometimes burst into song deafening us all!

Rehearsals were hard work, but huge fun and I made friends with my group, the older girls helped me a lot too.  We were split into three groups and we all did eight shows each.

After 82 hours of rehearsals it was the first show. I had to wear loads of make-up, foundation, blusher eyeliner and shadow as well as bright red lipstick. I was nervous because I was on when the curtains opened, but when the music started and we all danced; I felt great.  I had to run over to the evil fairy, Carabosse played by Sheila Ferguson and scream really loudly and run off stage!

We had an after show party one night and all the cast except Sheila came. She had a cold and was losing her voice. We had photos taken with them and they signed our programmes.

I was in the last show on 2 January.  It over ran by 30 minutes because Mike McClean put in some extra funny pieces and the prince could not stop laughing. At the end of the show we got all the audience up to dance and sing with us.

I had a great time and learnt a lot too.

By Chloe Macmillan

GIRLS' GAMES RESULTS



U11 A Netball v Ipswich Prep
The A’s had a close match which started slowly against Ipswich Prep. At half time the score was 2 all. The Abbey moved quickly around the court using a variety of passes. All players gave maximum effort and played with determination. We had a disastrous third quarter with no goals scored. However this didn’t deter us and we came back strongly in the fourth quarter winning it 2 – 0. The final score was
7 – 5 to Ipswich.

U11 B Netball v Ipswich Prep
The Abbey won 3 – 2

U11 C Netball v Ipswich Prep
The U11C team started their Netball season showing potential and scoring two goals in their first match against Ipswich Prep. With more practise in our training session on Friday and match experience the passing and defensive play should hopefully improve.
The final score was 6 – 2 to Ipswich Prep.
 
U11 D Netball v Ipswich Prep
At times the U11 D Team showed determination and commitment during their match against Ipswich Prep.  Some slick, quick passing, moving the ball up the court demonstrated good team work.
The Abbey just lost 2 – 4 in this close and gripping match.

U11 E Netball v Ipswich Prep
The new Y5 E Team netballers played their first match of the season on Wednesday against Ipswich Prep. They have quickly bonded as a team and scored 2 goals as a result of this.  Havannah played very well in centre as did Isabella and Amelia in their first ever match representing The Abbey.
The final score was 6 – 2 to Ipswich Prep.
 

 
The U11 boys travelled to Littlegarth yesterday. The A team lost 2-0 after two lucky goals from the opposition. Special mention should be made of Tommy Burrows, who had a good game out on the wing.

The B team made up of Y5s lost 1-0. Henry Vincent and Jack Palmer both had good games in the middle.

The C team lost 2-1,  whilst the D teams both drew 1-1 and 2-2 respectively.  Goals from Hector McLean Spruce, Edward Carter and George Burford-Scarfe secured the draws.   

Best of luck to the boys playing hockey against Kent College on Saturday.

YEAR 1: A WALK TO THE POST OFFICE

On Thursday the children in Year 1 visited the local Post Office to send the postcards they have written this week.  On the way they spotted a variety of different types of houses and talked about their features.  The Post Office staff were very kind and gave the children a little treat on the way out!


Mrs Lindsay-Smith & Mrs Cory
 

YEAR 1: THE SENSES



Year 1 children have been learning about their 5 senses and in particular the sense of taste. They tasted a range of foods and tried to decide whether they tasted sweet, salty, sour or bitter. The children also looked closely at their tongues and learnt about the different taste buds.

YEAR 2: FORCES IN SCIENCE



In Year 2 we have been looking at Forces in Science.  We have tested a variety of materials to see what happens to them when a force is applied.  We have also constructed our own playgrounds to investigate the forces at work.  We looked at the forces that acted on the cars as we pulled back the levers and pushed the buttons.

PARENT REMINDER
YEAR 2 VISIT TO SENIOR SCHOOL

Year 2 Visit to The Abbey – Thursday, 26 January 2017
 
 Year 2 will spend the morning at The Abbey, joining the pupils there for lunch.  

Please would you arrange to take your child direct to The Abbey on that morning
between 8.45 am and 9.00 am.

 Please park in the car park at the Cumberland Street entrance and walk your child up to the old Abbey building and make your way to the reception area,

 It will be necessary to take home your child’s games kit on the Wednesday evening, making sure this is taken to The Abbey on the Thursday morning as they will be doing PE.
 
Pupils will be brought back to Queen’s House by 1.30pm for afternoon school and should be collected in the usual way.

FRIENDS OF WOODBRIDGE SCHOOL: PARENTS ASSOCIATION

The Friends of Woodbridge School is the parents' association, responsible for bringing parents together for a range of fun activities and events, as well as the regular "Coffee and Croissants" mornings. The events are open to all parents across Queen's House, The Abbey and Woodbridge School.




JOIN IN THE FUN!

Please see the sections below for events, and if you click in the red box, this will take you directly to the WSPA Facebook page which details all forthcoming events. Please "like" and also "subscribe" to the page for the latest news and for details of all future events.

Should you be interested in joining the committee, please contact the Friends Chair, Amanda Little, at alittlegee@gmail.com, or you are always welcome to come and join the committee meetings, whether a committee member or not. Dates and locations of the meetings are available on the facebook page.