Rowing
Whilst there is little local youth provision for enthusiastic rowers, we have our own Boat Club based at Whitlingham Boathouses in Norwich as well as a dedicated ergo training room and access to 2 performance gymnasiums. We have a dedicated rowing coach, offering year-round land and water-based training, including regular Saturday morning training. In addition, rowers attend an annual training camp in Brieve, France. Rowing is available as an option for all pupils from Year 9 and above with summer taster sessions offered to Year 7 and 8. No prior experience is required to join rowing in any year group.
Throughout the academic year the school competes in regattas against schools both locally and nationally beginning with the Bedford Small Boats Head in October and finishing with the J16 GB Trials in June, closely followed by the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta in July.
Notable successes in our 2023/24 sporting season include our J15 4+ securing a very close second place in the A Final, the Senior Boy’s 1st VIII holding a new school record position at 4th in the B Final and qualifying for the 2nd round at Henley Royal Regatta. In addition, 2 of our Senior rowers were selected to represent Great Britain in the J16 pairs Regatta in France.
Sports News
On Thursday 5 November, Junior Boys and Senior Girls cross country teams made the trip to Stowe School in Buckingham for the Regional Final of the English Schools' Cross-Country Cup. The course included short sharp hills, as well as long, gradual climbs and even roaming flocks of sheep to contend with, all within the spacious, rolling grounds of the Stowe School. 104 runners competed in the Junior Boys race over 2.4km. First home for Norwich was Beetle D, coming 18 th overall in a time of 11:37. Sebastian T and Jesse M, both racing up a year, finished in 26 th and 36 th positions respectively. Also successively dodging the marauding sheep were Jonty C in 64th, Max K in 73 rd and Tom MC in 96th. The team finish in an impressive 6 th place out of the 19 competing schools. Emi M was our only runner in the Intermediate Girls' race, over a 3km course. She had the best finishing position of the day, coming 7 th out of 86 runners in a time of 13:13. The Senior Girls all battled strongly on the uphills and picked off runners on the downhills over their 3.4km course. First to finish was Minnie A who came 14 th in a time of 14:46. She was closely followed by Amelie I in 21st, Olivia A 28 th and Bea G 35th. With all 4 finishing in the top half of the field, the Girls came 5 th out of the 12 competing schools. Well done to all who ran so strongly.
Oscar PW, and Marcus R, competed as part of the East Anglia team at the British Orienteering Junior East Anglia came 7th overall, a fantastic achievement! Here is what Oscar and Marcus said about the event; "This was my first time competing for East Anglia, and I was running up an age category against runners two years older than me. I found the location for the first day quite challenging as there was very little to navigate by in places, which threw me off on some of the controls. I placed in the upper middle of the pack, which was a good result, although I felt I could have done better on another day. The venue for the relays on the second day felt easier to me, and I found the course less challenging. The runner before me in my team had put us in about 18th place, and I think I made a small improvement, taking us to 17th, and our final runner took us to 16th. Across the whole event, EAJS came 7th out of all the teams there, which was a great result considering we were one of the teams with the fewest runners." - Oscar "On the whole it was a very successful weekend for myself and east Anglia. with my individual performance I broke expectations as I was running up an age class, managing to earn an impressive 12th place. As east Anglia were the hosts, we had a good number of runners and a large number of relay teams. I ran the first leg for my team finishing 3 minutes behind the leader meaning we were right at the front of the race after my leg. Overall east Anglia once again performed better than predicted finishing 7th as a team, a very impressive weekend." - Marcus
Senior Rugby The Senior Rugby programme got the term off to a strong start with an intensive pre-season, including a three-day training camp at Oakham School and a specialist coaching session with guest coach Harry Simmons, Head Coach of Leicester Tigers U18s, ahead of the annual Norwich School U18 Pre-Season Festival. The festival provided a valuable challenge for the U18 squad, who produced two closely contested performances against St Joseph’s College, Ipswich and Bedford School before finishing with an impressive victory against Duke of York’s Royal Military School. The term began with a pre-season fixture against The Leys School at Shelford Rugby Club, with both U18 and U16 matches taking place. The U18s secured a 38–24 victory, while the U16s narrowly lost 19–15. The first official block fixture saw Norwich take on Framlingham College, with both the 1st XV and 2nd XV recording convincing victories. The 1st XV won 36–10, with Sam Parretti delivering a standout performance. A particular highlight was Ned Francis finishing brilliantly in the corner after a dominant scrum and excellent handling through the backline created the space for him to score. The subsequent fixtures against St Joseph’s College, Ipswich, The Campion School, Essex, in the National Cup Round 1, and Felsted School proved challenging for the 1st XV. However, the team responded positively with a hard-fought 24–15 victory against Wymondham College. Lucas Ashton made a significant impact from the bench, bringing strong carries and defensive intensity. The 2nd XV also enjoyed an excellent afternoon against Wymondham College, securing a convincing 41–10 win, with George Davidson producing an industrious performance throughout. Inters Rugby The U15s began the term with a draw against Framlingham College before facing challenging fixtures against St Joseph’s College, Ipswich and Felsted School. They responded impressively in the National Vase Round 1, recording a dominant 45–5 victory over Wymondham College. Tom McCall, playing up from the U14s, was named Man of the Match following an outstanding performance. The U14s have made an excellent start to the term, securing three victories against Framlingham College, St Joseph’s College, Ipswich and Felsted School. The standout result came against Felsted, with Norwich recording a convincing 41–7 win. Sam Trickey and Tristan Knight shared Man of the Match honours, with Tristan scoring an impressive four tries. The U14s now look forward to the Bedford School Rugby Festival on 17 October, where they will test themselves against some of the strongest school rugby programmes across East Anglia and Southern England. Juniors Rugby The U13s opened the term with a challenging fixture against Gresham’s School before responding with an excellent 30–20 victory over St Joseph’s College. Tom McCardle and Teddy Pinder were among the standout performers. The squad then competed in a triangular fixture against Finborough School and Woodbridge School, securing a win against Woodbridge but narrowly missing out against Finborough. The U13s will now host the Norwich School U13 Mini Rugby Festival on Wednesday 14 October, welcoming Beeston Hall, Wymondham College, Town Close and Langley School for an exciting afternoon of rugby. The U12A squad also made a fantastic start to the term, opening with a convincing 45–5 victory against Gresham’s School. They followed this up with two further wins against Finborough School and Woodbridge School in a triangular fixture. Arthur Blyth and Jesse Morrell were among those producing particularly strong performances. The U12B squad have also enjoyed a successful start, winning both of their touch rugby fixtures against Gresham’s School and Finborough School. Overall, it has been an encouraging first half of term across all age groups, with strong performances, valuable learning experiences and plenty of positive signs for the weeks ahead. We look forward to building on this progress after half-term.
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