NORWICH SCHOOL PUPILS AND STAFF MARK VOLUNTEERS WEEK WITH CHARITY PARTNERS

June 7, 2023

Here at Norwich School we are proud to work with our local community throughout the year. As Steffan Griffiths, Head, says:


“Norwich School has been an integral part of the city since its earliest foundations at the end of the 11th century and being a force for good in our local community remains a key driver for our work in the 21st century.”

However, it is particularly busy this week, as pupils and staff alike have been signing up to activities with a number of our charity partners, to mark Volunteers Week; an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering in their communities.


On Monday, during our June INSET day, our staff have loved having Little Lifts with us in school, as colleagues learnt a great deal about the important work the charity does whilst also helping to pack care packages which are given to thousands of women undergoing treatment for breast cancer in our region and beyond. It was great to hear how these boxes help.


On the same day, The Benjamin Foundation welcomed colleagues who had volunteered to help spruce up a garden of one of their accommodation sites. We were pleased to send a donation of plants and hope the residents enjoy spending time outdoors this summer! Amanda Butters, a member of our Support Staff at the Lower School tells us a little more about her experience:


“Support Staff were given the opportunity to do a spot of volunteering at our recent Inset Day. 

A small team were invited to help to improve the garden at one of the Benjamin Foundation homes. This was at Linden House where 16-18 year olds are provided with support at a safe home where they can gain the skills they need, such as cooking, shopping and budgeting money, so that they can leave and forge an independent life.

The team arrived with an assortment of flowers, vegetables and seeds, and after looking at the site, quickly began to make plans on how to transform the area. 


The garden already had several recycled but neglected tyres which had previously been used for plants. They then spent the morning emptying and moving the tyres, weeding and pruning. Following the heavy work, they then had the pleasure of working out a plan of how to use the plants provided to make different colourful displays in various areas of the garden. As the volunteers on the day had not seen the garden previously, or been involved in the choice of plants, they felt like they were in a version of a TV challenge programme, up against the clock and a gardening version of ‘Ready, Steady, Cook!’


The volunteers were delighted with what they had achieved in a relatively short period of time and returned to school with a feeling that the time spent at Linden House had been thoroughly worthwhile. 

Hopefully the finished result will give the residents pleasure as they watch it grow during the summer and enjoyment as they nurture their new garden.”


Later this week old and young will come together for a Sports Day with a difference as we work with local charity Friend in Deed to host their Intergenerational Sports Day. During the day attendees aged from 0 to 90 years old will form teams and take part in an egg and spoon race, a skittles competition, relay races and a bean bag toss. The aim of the event is to bring members of our society of all ages together and show the value of connecting the older generations with their community.


We finish a busy week with the fantastic Discover Your Ability Day. Teaming up with Able2B the event gives children and young adults with a disability and current Norwich School pupils the opportunity to work collaboratively in pairs to complete challenges with the support of Able2B staff and volunteers. Hosted in our Lower School Playing Fields, pairs will complete a run/walk around an 800m route around the Lower Cathedral Close and a cycle race using adapted and non-adapted bikes, along with other sports day activities.


It is wonderful to see so many pupils and staff get involved in our partnership activities, working together to support the community in which we all live and work.


By Eleanor Lewis September 29, 2025
On Monday 29 September, 32 runners from the Cross-Country Club travelled to a sunny and hilly Woodbridge for the first round of the English Schools Cross Country Cup. The Junior Girls team came 3rd overall with excellent performances from Poppy Short, Iris Wells, Annabelle Hitchings, Ophee Martin and Emi Muntingh, who came 4th in the race. We also took the 4 th spot in the Junior Boys thanks to a determined run from Samuel Trickey, with Jonty Croskell, Ruan Ekkerd, Joshua Bevan and Albie Cater all in the top 25 finishers and Henry Drew and Oscar Bevington not far behind. Our Intermediate Girls team were hit by injuries, but Ruby Ivie ran very well to secure 10 th place, and Anna Clayton finished strongly for the team as well. The Intermediate Boys all finished in the top 20, with Riccardo Di Maria first home for Norwich in 12th, closely followed by Harry Kensell, Noah Buchan and Jamie Kidd. The Senior Boys were up against some of the region's very best cross-country runners. They held their own with Nicholas Conway first home for Norwich in 11 th place and Kort Tsui, Leo Pitt, George Yiasimi and Edward Lott not far behind. The performance of the day came from the Senior Girls who came 2nd in the team competition. Individually they all finished highly with Georgia Lloyd 14th, Bella Muntingh 12th, Olivia Allen 9th, Amelie Ivie 6th, Bea Green 5th and Minnie Andrews 3rd. Well done to all those who took part
By Sonja Mitchell September 26, 2025
We are very grateful to Tom Little for being our guest speaker at Prizegiving this year.
By Sonja Mitchell September 26, 2025
We were delighted to hear Professor Charles Forsdick speak about the importance of languages in society at a recent Norfolk Cambridge Society lecture at Norwich School.
By Eleanor Lewis September 26, 2025
In the penultimate week of September, Lower 3 set off on their residential trip to Leicester. To complement their curriculum learning, we visited the National Space Centre, Bradgate Park, and the Battle of Bosworth battlefield. On the Wednesday at the Space Centre, the pupils learned what it takes to be an astronaut. They enjoyed an immersive show in the UK’s largest planetarium and scaled the rocket tower to learn about space exploration and its history. On the Thursday, we travelled to Bradgate Park, where we were greeted by some magnificent fallow deer stags with impressive antlers. We ventured further to the ruins of Lady Jane Grey’s house, where we were welcomed by Frances Brandon, Lady Jane Grey’s mother. Inside the chapel, we re-enacted Jane’s tragic story and then used our history detective skills to work out the purposes of different rooms within the ruins. After a spot of lunch, we began the gentle climb up to Old John’s Tower. Along the way, we saw veteran oak trees and discovered some very old igneous rocks—among the oldest on the planet. We were fortunate enough to be allowed inside Old John’s Tower, where the pupils loved the spectacular views. On the final day, en route back to Norwich, we visited the battlefield where Henry Tudor defeated Richard III. Under the instruction of Sir John, in charge of the livery, we were trained in medieval army combat and learned how to handle a halberd. We then explored the battlefield before, of course, spending some money in the gift shop!  It was a memorable trip that allowed the pupils to work collaboratively, bond as a group, and enhance their curriculum learning.
September 24, 2025
The school's first female peer-mentoring meeting of the academic year brought together fourth form students with sixth form mentors in an initiative designed to promote sisterhood and establish a strong sense of community within our female cohorts. During the session, younger students shared their academic and personal goals for the year in small discussion groups, with sixth form mentors offering guidance and encouragement drawn from their own experiences. The collaborative atmosphere allowed students to explore practical strategies for achieving their aspirations while building meaningful cross-year relationships. The session concluded with discussions surrounding the name of the programme, with students proposing to honour an inspirational woman who holds significance for them. This programme aims to foster positive female role models within the school while empowering students to support one another's growth and success. Regular meetings throughout the year will continue and this initiative represents the school's ongoing commitment to developing confident and brave young women.
By Eleanor Lewis September 22, 2025
On Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 September, 28 pupils from the Friedrich-Leopold-Woeste-Gymnasium visited Norwich School as part of their Languages trip to Norwich. On Monday, they were treated to a tour of the school in German by our U5 GCSE class and on Tuesday, the two classes were excited to see each other again and spent the afternoon speaking German and English to each other at a Language cafe in UKS, where they ended the afternoon by playing board games together. The pupils enjoyed getting to know each other and speaking each other's languages. They will keep in contact privately now that the German group has departed. Quotes from pupils are as follows: 'We were laughing with them the whole time!' 'We made some strong connections with them and will talk with them online' 'It was very nice to meet them and make some new friends!' 'It was very enjoyable and a lovely opportunity to practise our German and make new friends.' 'It was nice to meet and talk to them while practising our German.' 'We went to the city with them and loved it!' 'We learnt so much about their home in Germany.'
By Eleanor Lewis September 19, 2025
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27) There’s a saying that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Years ago I met someone who doesn’t like that saying very much. That’s because his job is to design book covers. I watched him lead a really interesting seminar where he showed us some of his designs. He explained how his artwork was trying to sum up – on just one piece of laminated, folded paper - the message and themes of all the other pages in the book. Just occasionally, some book covers do this by choosing a key phrase from the book and putting it in large letters on the front. A famous example is Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, where some editions had a cover that read: ‘Big Brother is Watching You’. If you know the story then you’ll recognise that as the sinister propaganda message that no-one can get away from. Some copies of the Lord of the Rings had printed on the front ‘One ring to rule them all’. And The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams had just two words on the cover of some editions – ‘DON’T PANIC’. It begins to make sense when you discover that some of the characters in the story are using a space travel guide (the Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) which is designed to help you through any difficult situation. And what makes the guide so successful and popular is that its first principle is on the front cover. Whatever happens – DON’T PANIC. Have a look at the cover of your hymn book for a moment. What do you think? We’ve gone for a pretty classic look. The name of our school in gold embossed lettering, and the school crest complete with a motto in Latin for a classy finish. Sometimes I wonder – entirely hypothetically – how we might redesign the cover. If you were going to put a few words on the front, one essential message that everyone in the school was going to see at the beginning of every day, what would it be? Here are a few suggestions I got from people around the school, some more serious than others: · “Show Love” · “Shine Bright!” · “Treat others as you would like to be treated” · “Do some work in your study periods” · “Wake Up!” Actually, I think the words ‘DON’T PANIC’ might work here too. I hope you’re realising, now that we’re a few weeks into term, that panicking is never worth it – and if you’re tempted to panic then sharing your problem and talking to someone almost always helps. Maybe that would be good to remember at the start of the school day. This also reminds me of one of my favourite passages from the Bible, the words of Jesus we heard just now: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? … Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”  I’ve had times myself where those words from the Sermon on the Mount have given me some perspective. Perhaps part of that passage would work well on the front of our hymn books – that wouldn’t be a bad thing to keep remembering. We’re not about to reissue the school hymn books with a new cover any time soon. But there’s nothing stopping you imagining a message on the front of the hymn book – whatever you need that message to be. “Don’t panic.” “Do not worry.” “Show love.” Why not have a few helpful words in your mind’s eye every time you pick up these blue books in the morning?
By Sonja Mitchell September 19, 2025
As part of Heritage Open Days we were delighted to open the Air Raid Shelter and Norwich School Chapel to visitors this month.
By Eleanor Lewis September 18, 2025
Creative Arts are strongly supported at Norwich School, and this was very much in evidence with the return to site of the well-respected local Creative Arts group, the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society (n-cas). For many years we have hosted their ground-breaking talks in the Blake Studio, and we were delighted to welcome them back on 18 September 2025. Our talk was introduced by Lisa Newby, recently appointed Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Norfolk Museums, based at the Castle. She introduced us to Essex-based multimedia artists Daniel & Clara . Since meeting in 2010, the pair have dedicated themselves to a shared life of creative experimentation, working across moving image, photography, performance and ‘mail-art’ to explore the nature of human experience, the natural world and our perception of reality. With work recently on display at Norwich Castle Museum, this was a welcome trip to Norfolk for them and one which saw them entertain an audience of pupils, staff, alumni, n-cas members and local creatives with a visually arresting talk, including some striking images and poetic prose accompaniment. Of great interest were the selection of their short films that showcased their love of the natural world through landscapes, intriguingly crafted taxidermy imagery and appealing sound archives. In the ensuing Q&A the audience seemed very taken by their reflections on how up-and-coming creative artists, such as themselves, have to work hard to earn a living through constant innovation and multimedia versatility. Working with Norwich Castle and commissions from n-cas were undoubted highlights, readily acknowledged by Daniel & Clara. N-cas host regular talks at Norwich School. Their next talk is on 14 October – see: The Mike Toll Film Archive - three short films featuring David Jones, Michael Chapman and Oliver Creed — ncas . All those interested in the creative ats are welcome.  The next talk on site in our culturally enriching series of lectures with partner organisations sees the welcome return on 07 October of the Royal Geographical Society. Major General (Retired) Rob Thomson CBE DSO of The HALO Trust, the world’s largest mine-clearing NGO, will discuss how a changing geopolitical order marked by great power competition, increased conflict, and the retreat of multi-lateralism is affecting human development and security. See: Clearing a path through the new world disorder . All those interested in the natural world and geopolitics are very welcome.
By Eleanor Lewis September 12, 2025
Lower Twos had a wonderful Stone Age Day, immersing themselves in activities such as tool-making, fishing techniques, and learning about the hides. They built a fire, cooked fish over it, which they all then tried, and some even bravely tried the eyeballs! Using tools and instruments made from bone, the children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are eager to continue exploring this era in their Topic lessons throughout the Michaelmas term.
More Posts