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.

On the first Sunday of term new pupils and their families were greeted with refreshments and invited to a Welcome Service in the cathedral. The reflective words of evening prayer were accompanied by an poignant address from the Head, Steffan Griffiths, and two pieces beautifully sung by Norwich School’s Chapel Choir. Various pupils led the readings and placed familiar objects from school life on the cathedral’s altar during the prayers, expressing their hopes for the year ahead. The service was a chance to sit back and reflect but also to look ahead to an exciting term and academic year. We hope everyone enjoyed the service and that our Norwich School families had a taste of what goes on in our services and assemblies.

Welcome to the start of the new academic year. Whether this is a return or your first year, it is a delight to have the 25/26 Norwich School community together in the Cathedral. Some of you are entering your last year of school and are already thinking specifically about UCAS applications, apprenticeships and predicted grades. Our new Lower Sixth have the exciting prospect of new subjects, new uniform, new friends and new opportunities. Others are in the middle of or entering the GCSE years and focusing on setting up strong work habits to cope with an increasing workload. Further down the school, you may be starting Lower Five or Lower Four and thinking about how the bigger year-groups will work out, both academically and socially. Upper Four are involved here too; no longer the youngest in the school, we look to you to be welcoming and set a good example to those around you. Whichever stage you are at in your Norwich School journey, I hope you are ready to make the most of another year of education in Cathedral Close, this extraordinary learning environment that we are fortunate to enjoy. I saw a phrase over the holiday which may prove a helpful guideline as you establish your priorities. It was written in the changing room of the British and Irish Lions rugby team during their summer tour of Australia. The phrase was “We go beyond” and I invite you to reflect on it: “we go beyond”. Initially, I thought it was a simple encouragement to try hard, something which is necessary in a sport as physically exacting as rugby union, as we are seeing on our TV screens as the Red Roses attempt to win their home women’s World Rugby Cup. However, these encouragements for effort can quickly morph to a post-game stereotype of “giving 110% and being over the moon at the end of the day”. I would not draw such glib platitudes to your attention. I am also cautious to draw attention to changing room culture; we have made much progress at Norwich School in recent years to leave behind the macho toxicity that can sometimes be found there. However, the head coach, Andy Farrell, is a renowned motivator so I reflected more on what might be behind the phrase, regardless of one’s interest in rugby. For those unfamiliar with the Lions rugby tour concept, it only happens once every four years as the home nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland produce a composite side made up of the best players from each team. It is a romantic concept which is unusual in modern elite sport, tying into supper table conversations about the best team and the fantasy league or FIFA game models which are so popular. The challenge to create tactical and attitudinal cohesion from players who are typically on opposite sides must be significant; “we go beyond” is a call both to demand more of oneself and to contribute to the overall dynamic in order to create a culture of success. What might such a process mean in practice for us at Norwich School? Some of you may remember your Welcome Service from the start of the year and, if you are joining this term, do come with your families on Sunday afternoon as it is a lovely occasion. In it, I use the following phrase in my address: “Be the one to do the extra practice question, the extra lap, the extra rehearsal but also to be the one to volunteer, to help your friend, to open the door, to offer a smile”. It is perhaps our version of “going beyond”: involving yourselves in the different things we offer, both in and out of the classroom, but also contributing more than one might expect in our community; being helpful and supportive to others; assisting others in the way that you would want to be assisted, especially when things are hard. If each of us takes such an approach, we will create an extraordinary community in action for the coming year, one where expectations are exceeded and the sum is greater than its parts. This line of thinking opens up an extra dimension of Andy Farrell’s strapline for the Lions: “We go beyond” becomes a voyage of exploration where we go to places that have not yet been visited and accomplish achievements that had not been anticipated. The Lions certainly wanted to set precedents, securing their legacy by being unbeaten. I am no less ambitious for Norwich School in this coming year: if each of us “goes beyond”, we might take ourselves further than was thought possible, both individually and collectively. Much of the planning and attitude we show is in our control and I hope you talk to your family, friend and teachers in order to set exciting targets for yourselves. However, we should all acknowledge that we cannot be in charge of everything and we should be ready to react during the coming year. I like the sailing phrase: “we cannot control the wind but we can adjust the sails”. Part of “going beyond” is an appropriate individual and collective reaction to our changing environment. So I finish with an encouragement for you to practise enjoyment, to be intentional about creating time and space for things that make you smile, give you pleasure or help you to unwind. “Going beyond” should not be a relentless chore and I am keen that you experience joy at school and at home in the year ahead. Christine Webber, the EDP columnist, talks about enjoyment as a muscle which needs exercising:  “build high spots into every day…keep a check on how often you smile (at someone or something)…when you put effort into keeping up your levels of enjoyment, you become more likely to notice and take pleasure in happy happenings”. I agree with this, so my key concluding message is to encourage you to be productive and ambitious for the coming year (remember “we go beyond”), but this should not be instead of or at the expense of looking after yourselves. Indeed, the ideal is that we enjoy our programme of activities sufficiently that we want to commit to going be yond in them. Overall, there should be enough space and rest to allow your whole programme to be sustainable. It is great to start the year with you and I look forward to seeing you around school in the coming days

Cricket Catch Up from the Summer Break It has been wonderful to see the Norwich School contingent for Swardeston perform so well. Lawry Williams (who was named man-of-the-match) led their U19 squad with Lewis, Ollie and Deeran to victory in their T20 competition on Monday 25 August, winning the Norfolk Cricket Foundation Vitality Club U-19 T20 Trophy. We have had several players involved with Norfolk, England Over 40’s and Bunbury’s over the years… Highlights include - Ollie Longdon Scoring 87 and 90 at Bunbury in the 2-day fixture. Maiden 50 in the EAPL at 15. Tom Bush Bunbury selection. Bella Lewis Bella was an amazing captain for the U15 girls this year and currently leads the Norfolk youth wicket taking stats with 28 wickets including 5 for 21 against Harrow. Bella Borges Bella scored an amazing 1,086 runs for the 2025 season over three ages groups including U15, U18 and Norfolk Ladies first XI. This has made her top of the batting for all of Norfolk Youth. Best of Bella's Stats: 153 for the U18’s against Suffolk. 102* for the U15’s against Cricket East and 5 wickets for 13 runs. 119 against Herfordshire for the U15s. 80* off 26 balls v Cambridgeshire for U15’s. 59 v Shropshire for ladies first XI. Not only impressive batting but bowling too, taking 23 wickets including the 5 for 13 off her 4 overs in the U15 T20 game v Cricket East. Staff achievements - Alfie Cooper and the Norfolk Men’s winners of the national T20. Richard Sims selection and 50 runs scored for the England over 40 team against Scotland.

Lower 6 pupil, Kwame Bekoe, has represented England U18s in the 2025 U18 International Series in South Africa this summer. Kwame started at lock in the opening fixture against Georgia, before coming off the bench to make a strong impact in the second match against France. His performances earned him a place in the starting XV for England’s clash with tournament hosts South Africa on Saturday 16 August. Kwame is a member of the Leicester Tigers Academy and has been a standout player for the school’s First XV since joining the side in Upper Fifth. To celebrate his success, we asked him a few questions... How long have you been playing rugby? I started rugby at 9 years old with Norwich Rugby Football club. So I've been playing for about 8 years now. How often do you train? In season I'll train with school 2-3 times a week and with tigers 1-2 times a week. I also try and go to the gym at least 5 days a week. How did you get into the Leicester Tigers Academy? I officially got into the academy in year 11 after attending numerous developmental training sessions hosted by tigers since the start of year 10. I was put forward by my rugby club coach to be apart of these sessions and was kept through the pathway after multiple selections until I was selected for the academy. How did you get selected for the U18 International Series in South Africa? Fortunately, I was selected for the England U17 may development camp after missing out on being selected for the first camp in April. It was a four day camp with a match on the fourth day and this camp determined which players out of the 46 on camp would play in the summer series. How did it go? It was a great two weeks with a great group of talented players. Unfortunately we didn’t come away with a win but everyone got better as players and had a wonderful experience playing at international level. What was the best part? The best part for me was after the France game having a dinner party with all the teams (Georgia, Ireland, France, England and South Africa) and having a good time singing and dancing with all the players. What was the most challenging? The most challenging part for me was matching the physicality of the national teams as they were all exceptionally strong and maintained a relentless level of intensity throughout the games. It was also challenging to memorise all the calls and plays that we used for the 3 games. How has Norwich School supported your rugby journey? Norwich has helped especially with providing transport to training with tigers. They have also supported me with sports scholarship programme to help with mentally and physically preparing myself before matches. The coaches have also taught me a lot since joining in year 7 and some skills that I still use to this day. What's next? Hopefully I will be selected for more England Camps towards the end of the year and being selected for the U18 Six Nations in 2026. What are your future prospects in Rugby? I hope to continue playing rugby at a high level in order to improve and become the best player I can be.

It was a real pleasure to welcome back our 2025 GCSE pupils today as they collected their results. The atmosphere was full of excitement, with many smiling faces as pupils celebrated their hard-earned successes. We are enormously proud of such a strong performance from this year’s cohort, including: 29% of our pupils achieved a grade 9 Over half our pupils (54%) achieved grades 9-8 74% of our pupils achieved grades 9-7 There were also some outstanding individual performances, including 10 candidates with 10 x grade 9 or better and 35 candidates with at least 9 x grades 8 or 9. We caught up with some of the pupils to learn more about their personal successes and hear about what lies ahead for them. 

We are pleased to announce very strong GCSE results for 2025. From the cohort of 132 candidates, overall percentages are as follows: 29% at grade 9 54% at grades 9-8 (A*) 74% at grades 9-7 (A*-A) 88% at grades 9-6 (A*-B) 98%: overall pass-rate (grades 9-4) Outstanding individual performances included:  4 candidates with 11 x 9 or better; 10 candidates with 10 x 9 or better; 35 candidates with at least 9 x 8 or 9. Steffan Griffiths, Head, commented, “Our GCSE Class of 2025 have worked very hard for these results and they now thoroughly deserve their success. Well-supported at home and at school, they have laid terrific foundations to make the most of our Sixth Form, whether academically or in other aspects of our holistic provision. We look forward to supporting them as they make this exciting transition.” Assistant Head (5th Form), Andrew Curtis, said, “I offer sincere congratulations to our Upper Five pupils on their excellent results. They have been diligent in their academic work, but they have also contributed strongly in sport, drama, music, dance and school clubs. Perhaps most importantly, they have built strong friendships which will stand them in good stead for the future. They have much to offer as they move into our 6th Form and I wish them all well.

Emotions ran high on A Level results day, and rightly so, as our Class of 2025 reached a major milestone after two years of hard work and commitment. Today marks the beginning of an exciting new journey as they step into the future, armed with the results of their hard work. Over 95% of pupils achieved their first or second choice onward route and there are also some truly outstanding personal triumphs. No question, the pupils in this year’s cohort have every reason to feel proud. We caught up with a few of them to hear first-hand what these results mean and how they’re feeling as they look ahead. 

The school is pleased to announce strong A Level results. The cohort of 177 U6 candidates have achieved the following: 24% of grades at A*; 52% of grades at A*-A; 82% at A*-B; 94% at A*-C; 100% at A*-E. Outstanding individual performances included: 5 candidates with 4 A*; 16 candidates with 3A* or more; 54 candidates with 3A or more. These results are enabling positive next steps. Even before improvements from the UCAS Clearing process have been absorbed, 80% of leavers have secured their first choice onward route and over 95% have achieved their first or second choice.  The Head, Steffan Griffiths, said, “I am delighted for the Class of 2025; they have been terrific in so many areas of school life, acting as positive role models in our community and offering much in arenas such as sport, music, drama, dance and service. It is fitting that they now round off their time in Cathedral Close with strong academic results, too, thereby opening up all sorts of exciting individual onward routes. All at school wish them well”. Richard Peters, Head of Sixth Form, commented, “This cohort of pupils committed to a concerted spell of hard work, so I am pleased that they have been appropriately rewarded with these impressive results. They enjoyed support of families at home and teachers in school, to whom I am grateful. I offer sincere good wishes for our leavers’ next steps”. NB: specific grade percentages will be published when the subject paper review process has been completed.