Senior School

Following Emi's success at the Norfolk Country Cross Country Championships we decided to ask her a few questions about her love of running and her upcoming London Mini Marathon. How long have you been running?/How long have you been running with the school? I have now been running for 3 years, and I have been competing for the school since Upper 3. How often do you run outside of school? I run with a training group 2-3 times a week depending on the dates of various competitions. How do you train?/How do you prepare for a race? I think that mental preparation is the most important, I use visualization which can help me enter an open mindset. And I think it is mainly accepting that it will have painful aspects, but the aftermath feels phenomenal. And physically preparing, is a matter of being consistent at training in my case. How did you find the Cross Country championships? The Cross Country Championships was certainly nerve-racking before hand, but I think the race went very smoothly and I left it all out on the course. And attempted to compete to the best of my abilities! Can you tell us a bit about the London Mini Marathon in April? Fortunately because of my performance at the County Championships I have been accepted to run at the London Mini Marathon! How are you feeling about it? As much as I am excited, there is no doubt I will be feeling nervous. But I think that it is a great opportunity, also to be surrounded by excellent runners! Where do you hope your running will take you? As of my running, I would like to compete at a high level but most of all I would love to continue to enjoy it! Because I truly believe if it is bringing you no satisfaction or joy, there is not a point in perusing it. What piece of advice would you give to aspiring cross country runners? For people who are aspiring to do cross-country as a sport, I would advise them to just have a go and give it a chance. Because if you are willing to give it a chance, you might just find that you will like it!

At the St Nicholas Day service on Friday 5 December, Upper 4 pupil and Head Chorister, Sébastien Dubroeucq, was named Child Bishop. This ancient tradition is to highlight the importance of young people and their voices, allowing them to share their insight on the world we live in. To celebrate this, we asked Sébastien some questions... How long have you been at Norwich School? And how long have you been a chorister? I have been at Norwich school and the cathedral choir for four years now. Why did you want to be a chorister? I wanted to become a chorister as I enjoyed and still enjoy singing and performing and it gave me an opportunity to do these things on a regular basis! How do you find the week-by-week life of a Chorister? The choir life felt quite busy when I first joined, with 5 services a week, but it soon became like a routine and now is just associated with normal life! How do you fit it all in with your school life? Do you take on any extracurricular activities? I love performing in musicals and plays, and sometimes choir and play rehearsals overlap, but we always manage to arrange something mutually beneficial for the choir and my extracurricular activities. Can you tell us a little about what the child bishop is and what this involved? The child bishop is part of an old tradition on St. Nicholas day, where a child gives a sermon at the evensong and gives the dismissal and blessing. How was the experience of being the child bishop? The experience of being child bishop was really humbling, and it gave me a really good moment to reflect as I wrote the sermon. Had you heard of this tradition beforehand? I was present at St. Nicholas day for the child bishop last year so I had a pretty good grasp on the situation beforehand. What are your responsibilities as Head Chorister? My responsibility as head chorister is to make sure everyone in choir is feeling alright, and if they aren’t, helping them or pointing them to help. What would you say to anyone who is interested in becoming a Chorister? The experience of being a chorister is a truly remarkable experience and I would heavily recommend it to anyone who like singing or music!