Shakespeare in the Woods

All the World’s A Stage and certainly our stunning Theatre in the Woods is a fantastic backdrop for any event – but for Shakespeare it is simply magical. Pupils from years 9, 10 and 12 performed sonnets, monologues and scenes on a perfect Midsummer Night. The Dream created a framework for other plays to be woven in, with well-known plays As You Like It, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth alongside lesser known plays Henry 1V part 1 and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Special mention must be made for guest performer Chips the dog who, despite the appearances of a lion and a bear, kept his focus and showed himself to be a natural on the stage.

Congratulations to Raphael who has been offered a place at The Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts

Raphael C has been offered a place at RADA The Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts. RADA is a highly competitive and prestigious Drama School and Raphael’s achievement in gaining a place reflects both his determination and talent. We wish him all the best for his undoubtedly dramatic future. Break A Leg Raph!

Year 9 pupils made cards for Human Rights charity Amnesty International

As part of their field day activities, the Year 9 Services group were introduced to the Human Rights charity, Amnesty International. They joined the worldwide initiative ‘Write for Rights’ for which they designed, made and wrote cards to prisoners of conscience and their families. We were very proud of the final results.

Year 12 pupils had a successful visit to the ‘UCAS Discovery’ event

On Monday 12^th June, Year 12 pupils had a successful visit to the Norfolk Showground for the annual ‘UCAS Discovery’ event. There were over one hundred universities in attendance, alongside some employers offering apprenticeship schemes. The pupils found it very useful finding out more about their chosen course or university, or just finding out what might interest them. If anything, it got them thinking about life beyond Gresham’s! We wish them the best of luck with their future applications. 

Congratulations to the girls U15 cricket team who have made it to the national semi-finals

The team have made it through to the School Sport Magazine National Semi-Finals which will take place in September. After an amazing season, the girls U15 cricket team won the National Quarter-Finals after beating King’s College.

Earlier in June, the team became County Champions in a hard-fought match against Norwich High School for Girls. A great game saw Grace lift The Nicola Woodhouse Trophy for the first time and they remain unbeaten and take on The King’s School, Worcester on Tuesday in the National Cup Quarter Final. Well done and good luck, girls!

Year 9 and 10 pupils have been taking part in The Big Help Out

Our Year 9 and 10 pupils have been taking part in The Big Help Out, taking part in a variety of voluntary initiatives to give something back at the end of this academic year. Members of Tallis; Woodlands and Edinburgh houses went litter picking in Holt and High Kelling helping to keep our communities tidy.

Grufts 2023 raised £200 for the Olpalagilagi School in Kenya

Just about 20 dogs and their owners turned out on a baking hot Father’s Day to contest various classes at Grufts 2023. Although we had hoped for rather more contestants the rings were happily busy and most dogs went home with a rosette. A great deal of fun was had by canines and humans alike and just over £200 was raised for Olpalagilagi School. This will go towards an extension for a severely overcrowded, corrugated iron dormitory, improving the conditions for the boy boarders. Thank you very much to all who came along and took part, and also to those who just bought lots of cakes from the tea stall.

The Careers Department have held events and organised work experience covering a variety of sectors this term

Year 12 Conference

This was an event for all of Year 12 and parents to give information and advice on some of the different pathways available post Sixth Form.

Mrs Mousley and Mrs Osborne had organised an excellent variety of topics & speakers for pupils and parents to choose from, including.

• Why go to university & how to choose your course – University of East Anglia (UEA)
• Performing Arts/Drama school applications with Mrs Futter & Ms Corrigan
• Careers in Sport – David Hunter, Chief Executive & Clerk of the Course, Fakenham Racecourse
• How to write a good personal statement – University of Sheffield
• Joining the Army/Officer Entry/Army Medical Corp – Army Outreach
• Applying to Study in USA & Overseas – The University Guys
• Sourcing a Degree Apprenticeship – Exeter University
• Creative courses / Art School / Being a student in London – OG Molly Cook
• Agriculture Study
• Being a Gappie – OG Finn Lowe
• Engineering courses – Sheffield University
• Being a Norland Nanny

Lotus Cars Trip

This trip marked International Day of Women in Engineering.

Gresham’s pupils were invited by Lotus Cars to attend the day at their training academy in Norwich. Mrs Osborne took nine female pupils, from Years 10 and 11, on the trip who showed interest and ability in science, technology, design, engineering and maths.  

In the morning they enjoyed talks from Lotus female engineers and an insightful and encouraging talk from Elizabeth Donnelly, CEO Women’s Engineering Society.

The afternoon was interactive with a production line exercise and time spent in the simulated learning workshop environment.

Zinnia-Claire, one of the pupils on the trip, said, “I loved the trip! I was inspired by both the people and the cars. This was a fantastic experience and it encouraged me to potentially pursue a future in engineering.”

Summer Work Experience

Year 13 pupil Tanya P had a week’s work placement with Holkham Estate where she was given an insight into the diversity of the work at the estate.

Tanya said “It was really insightful and interesting to learn about all the different aspects of the estate.

My time in the land and property area was really helpful to understand different developments and rental properties for my future career. I found everyone at Holkham incredibly friendly, approachable and happy.”

Read more on the Holkham blog. 

Other Work Experience placements

Year 12 pupil George will be doing a week’s work placement in July with stockbrokers Barratt & Cooke.  Mr Coventry, Mr Mack and Mrs Osborne interviewed a high calibre of applicants from current Year 12 for the placement. This is a yearly opportunity offered to one pupil from Gresham’s and one from Norwich School.

Erin L in Year 12 is doing a three-day placement with OG Jeremy Dugdale, Barrister at Law, Octagon House Chambers.

Year 12 pupil Jimmy T will be doing a placement with North Norfolk Railway to further his insight in engineering.

Year 12 pupil Erin L has completed her work experience at Norwich Crown Court. Erin said, “just finished 2 days of work experience, was very interesting! Spent Monday with Jeremy, attending his cases and spent the Tuesday with a judge, where I got to sit in on lots of different family court cases and 1 criminal case!”

Visit from The Academy of Robotics to Gresham’s

We enjoyed a visit from William Sachiti and Jill Lloyd from The Academy of Robotics based at the former RAF base RAF Neatishead. They visited pupils in the Dyson Building.

They said, “it was an absolutely fascinating visit. We were so impressed by the level the students are working at. It’s an incredible space to work in, but it was also abundantly clear that the level of work produced by the students is very much driven by the passion their teachers have for their subjects and for sharing this knowledge with the students”.

Degree ApprenticeshipS

Congratulations to Year 13 pupil Henry B for securing a degree apprenticeship with Richard Utting Associates. 

Henry will be starting as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor in their Norwich office. Henry will benefit from a comprehensive inhouse training programme, as well as part-time day release at Anglia Ruskin University, studying a BSc (Hons) degree in Quantity Surveying.

Congratulations to Year 13 pupil Archie W for his perseverance and dedication in research, work experience and application for the PCDA (Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship) with Norfolk & Suffolk Constabulary.

The whole process has taken 9-12 months from application to rigorous assessments, culminating in an in-depth, testing interview. This was an extremely intensive process alongside doing A levels.