Welcome to the Cathedral or welcome back to the Cathedral. Whether this is your first school service or not, it is great to have the whole senior school community together in this extraordinary building – how lucky we are to gather here. I very much enjoyed meeting our new pupils at the various induction events yesterday and am grateful to all in the community who helped to make these events successful. As you would expect, we talked about the importance of settling in and feeling that you belong. As I now widen this welcome to the rest of the senior school, I echo the same message and observe that part of settling is identifying and aiming for targets during the coming year. Whether it be connected to academic work, sport, music, performing arts, community service, outdoor education or a particular club or society, there will be numerous things you want to achieve this year. I wonder what has shaped this ambition. Because whether you are a new or returning pupil, there will be context for each of you. The start of a new school year is a glorious opportunity, a blank page on which to create the next part of your life journey. However, it cannot be the first page, even for our new L4. We are shaped by long-term factors such as home life, but we are also shaped by more immediate factors such as holiday reading, recent trips and things we have seen. Some of what I want to say today came from a summer visit to an exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre, part of the UEA, more of which later. So a key question becomes, “Where have you come from and where are you going?” And while there will be many answers to the first part of this question as the new year starts, I am afraid that there is no opt-out to the second part; you have no choice but to engage. This is not because of school but because of the world around us. It is changing fast and it is coming at you; it is not waiting for you to emerge from school to stroll into your chosen career. You have to be using us to build up your skills and interests so that you are ready for the world beyond school.  An obvious example is AI. There is no doubt that AI will be important in your period of active work during and after school, but what is increasingly clear is that the power-brokers will be those who know how to harness its power within a moral, historical and cultural framework; put another way, learning how to ask the right questions and make appropriate use of the answers. A related area is around information and knowledge: It is true that the modern world has a lot of information available at the press of the button, but the most successful users of this facility will be those who have read broadly and deeply enough to have their own hinterland of knowledge, a curated facility for imagination and experience of an open-minded approach to make exciting connections with new information. To expand on this theme of world readiness, the development of genuine interests, the creation of areas of expertise and the practising of interpersonal skills are emerging as being at least as important as paper qualifications. Results are often needed to get in the door, to get the in-person interview, but the clincher in getting the role, the internship or the work experience is the warm personality you show, the adaptability to changing circumstances that you can evidence, the creativity to solve a problem, the collaborative spirit to involve others in a shared endeavour. Norvicensians can take on this challenge with great confidence: the strength of our community is authentic and sincere, so you can practise everything on the above list while you are with us. However, to do so, you need to involve yourself; hence the invitation earlier to think about what your targets are for the year. It means that events like the Clubs and Societies Fair next Tuesday are very important for everyone here, whether you are new or not. That will give you the chance to get involved in various opportunities so that you can be developing your personal portfolio and practising the skills you will need both during and after your Norwich School careers. And there is an important motivator for getting stuck into the breadth of opportunity available in Cathedral Close other than utility for later life. It is fun! The Sainsbury Centre exhibition to which I referred earlier is called Play Power. Its introduction states the following: “Showcasing a variety of manifestations of play, both past and present, ranging from board games, games of chance, physical activity, creativity, video games and make believe, as well as ritual gambling and divination, the exhibition highlights the enduring role of play in shaping human societies”. I commend the exhibition to you and also encourage you to find opportunities to play. As the exhibition shows, play has been part of different societies throughout history because play gives us the chance to learn about ourselves and others in a safe space. Play is not just having a break from the serious stuff; it may just be creating the extra, magic ingredient to shape your life in the future. To conclude, much of what I have said so far has been about individual development: building up critical judgment and improving your reading portfolio as part of your intellectual development; taking opportunities to learn and be creative through play in our clubs and societies programme. Yet many of the 21st century skills I referenced earlier were relational: collaboration, adaptability, teamwork. And this is where perhaps the biggest jewel in the Norwich School crown can be found: the community itself. Because we care about each other, because both peer and teacher-pupil relationships are so strong, you can commit fully to getting involved with the confidence that any such efforts will be welcomed and supported. Here, you will be able, indeed expected, to practise being kind, showing humility and working with others. All these behaviours build up the gentle self-confidence and desire to be a force for good that are the hallmarks of our best Norvicensians. I encourage you not to take the quality of our community for granted but to make the most of it. In my experience, it is not normal for educational settings to be so thoughtful, positive and supportive; it is a culture that needs to be nurtured, practised and celebrated. With all that I have said today, there is a significant overlap with today’s bible reading: “never be lacking in zeal…Live in harmony with one another…Do not be conceited…Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone…”. In the light of our outstanding public examination results, where so many of our new L6 and departing U6 performed right at the top of expectations, I finish with a call-to-arms about the importance of a positive attitude. It is a quote from the industrialist, Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right”. Have a great first day of term; I look forward to observing you “thinking that you can” around school!

This October, Sketch for Survival returns to Norwich , to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a special exhibition at the Crypt Gallery under the Norwich School Chapel.

It was a joy to see the school come to life once again as our 2026 GCSE cohort arrived to collect their results and it was a record breaking year, so there was much to celebrate. Congratulations to each and every pupil - your dedication, resilience and commitment are reflected in an outstanding set of results. There were also some remarkable individual performances, with many pupils achieving exceptional outcomes. We caught up with some of them to learn more about their successes and hear about what they are looking forward to as they embark on their exciting next steps. Art Here at Norwich School we are enormously proud of our Cater Building, which boasts three floors of cutting edge art and design equipment, across multiple art and design studios and workshops. These pupils demonstrate their love of creative art and look forward to spending more time in Carter exploring their creativity in Sixth Form. Name Isla How many GCSEs did you take? 10 What were your results? 9 x grade 9 and 1 x grade 8 What was your favourite subject and why? History – I loved my class and the lessons were so much fun! What will you go on to study in Sixth Form? History, 2D Art, Psychology and Politics. Is there any particular reason or inspiration for choosing these A Levels? I really enjoyed History and 2D Art at GCSE, so wanted to continue studying these subjects. What are you most looking forward to about going into Sixth Form? The freedom and more independence. What are your co-curricular activities? I love hockey and I am looking forward to joining the Debating Team in Sixth Form. What do you love most about being a pupil at Norwich School? The community.

We are thrilled to announce record-breaking GCSE results for 2026. Overall percentages are as follows: 37% at grade 9 - best performance ever, including Covid years 59% at grades 9-8 (A*) – best performance outside Covid years 76% at grades 9-7 (A*-A) – best performance since Covid 87% at grades 9-6 (A*-B) 97%: overall pass-rate (grades 9-4) Outstanding individual performances included: 1 candidate with 11 x 9 or better; 6 candidates with 10 x 9 or better; 16 candidates with 9 x 9 or better; 24 candidates with 8 x 9 or better; 32 candidates with 7 x 9 or better; 38 candidates with 6 x 9 or better. Overall, of the 1163 grades received, 431 were at grade 9, 681 at 9-8 and 884 at 9-7. Steffan Griffiths, Head, commented, “This is the first cohort to benefit from the school’s decision to offer greater optionality regarding number and choice of subjects at GCSE. We are all delighted that our Year 11 have taken advantage of the change to such brilliant effect. “Taken collectively, they are the best GCSE results in the school’s history and I offer heartfelt congratulations to the pupils on their generation. They are in a wonderful position now to make the most of our outstanding Sixth Form provision and we look forward to welcoming them back in September.” Assistant Head (Fifth Form), Andrew Curtis, said, “I offer sincere congratulations to our Upper 5 pupils on their record-breaking results. Well-supported both at home and at school, they have excelled academically while also making the most of co-curricular opportunities in sport, drama, music and the wider community. We look forward to supporting them as they make the exciting transition to benefit from the development available both inside and outside the classroom in our Sixth Form.”

FONS is proud to support partnerships with the local community

Friends of Norwich School were delighted to support this event for the second year running

FONS has funded materials for L6 pupils to design a mural in the UKS Cafe

Ben tells us what inspired him to write his new book which is out now.

Norwich School is thrilled to have achieved the best A Level results in the county: 24% A*; 53% A*-A; 80% A*-B; 92% A*-C. If we focus on STEM subjects, the results are even better, with 31% at A* and 65% at A*-A. Maths, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science form an important part of our 6th Form offer, with just under 200 of our 500 U6 grades in these subjects. The raw numbers are 62 A* and 66 A grades which have led to a huge number of exciting onward STEM routes. Overall, over 75% (123 pupils) have got to their first choice onward route, with over 90% (over 150 pupils) to first or second choice. The STEM outcomes are even more eye-catching: 87% of STEM places accepted were at Russell Group universities; 5 out 5 STEM Oxbridge candidates successfully made their offers (with a total of 17 A* out of 18 grades!) 7 out of 8 (88%) of medics got into their first choice university (national average of 33%); 2 out of 2 (100%) of vets got their first choice; 11 out of 11 engineers (100%) were accepted onto Engineering courses (university or apprenticeship); 6 out 6 Computer Science applicants (100%) were accepted onto Computer Science courses; If you are interested in STEM for Sixth Form, join the best and study at Norwich School: outstanding STEM facilities; expert teachers and strong laboratory ratios; personalised provision and onward route guidance; unrivalled STEM enrichment opportunities, including: clubs and societies (MedSoc, Maths Club, F24 car, Chess Club); Olympiad preparation; independent project; community service. To hear about some of our STEM Successes from this year's cohort click here. Interested in studying STEM at Norwich School? Book a tour today - places available from September 2026! Contact admissions@norwich-school.org.uk.