Tegan Engstrom, currently in Year 11 at Ormiston Venture Academy in Great Yarmouth, has secured a boarding place in Sixth Form at Gresham’s School from September 2024. Her ambitions of going to university and joining the army, coupled with her ability to give an opinion whilst using evidence and experience to support her arguments during interview, impressed staff and helped to earn her the scholarship.

During her time at Gresham’s, Tegan hopes to study A levels in Psychology, Business and Physical Education, whilst also participating in the school’s Combined Cadet Force to support her dreams of completing a Business and Psychology degree and going on to serve in the British Army in the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Regiment.

Tegan’s further interests include swimming, something she has worked hard at over the last year as she rejoined her local team after a break due to covid restrictions. Her determination shone through as she regained her strength and stamina through running and weight training. She has also shown entrepreneurial spirit throughout her life, excelling in part time jobs and even running her own jewellery business.

She will certainly contribute to the Gresham’s community and be able to thrive in the school’s Sport department, benefitting from the extensive sporting facilities including a state-of-the-art Strength and Conditioning centre, 25-metre indoor swimming and athletics track.

Deputy Head Academic of Gresham’s, Darrell Chart-Boyles, said “During interview, Tegan demonstrated that she had researched Gresham’s and showed an excellent understanding of the opportunity that coming to study here would offer her; she will certainly make the most of this and we look forward to welcoming her in September,”

Gresham’s has partnered with Ormiston Venture Academy, to annually offer boarding places to aspiring pupils. Last year, Gresham’s awarded the OVA scholarship to Riley, who is now in Year 12 and is studying Biology, Chemistry and Psychology.

Three Year 10 LAMDA Drama pupils recently auditioned for the National Youth Theatre summer course in London – an amazing opportunity for pupils to ‘find their voice’ and fine tune their performing skills. They are also preparing for their medal grade Solo Acting LAMDA exams which take place here at the Senior School in November.

Eliza Miller, LAMDA teacher, said “I’, so lucky to teach so many talented and enthusiastic students and it’s a privilege to watch them develop in confidence and ability year on year.”

Towards the end of the Lent Term the Senior School marked their own ‘Good Friday’ in Chapel. During the service pupils performed a powerful dramatization of The Passion, before leading the school in the ancient tradition of ‘Stripping the Altar’.

The U15 Cricket Team headed to UEA Sportspark for the County Finals of the National Indoor Cup. They won all 5 matches – against Wymondham, Norwich High School for Girls, Langley, Thorpe St Andrew and finally Norwich School – to retain their title as County Champions. This also sees us qualify as Norfolk’s representatives at the Regional Final, which will be at Cambridge University on 24th April.

Team: Georgia D (Captain), Amelie H (Vice-Captain), Henrietta C, Charlotte F, Olivia M, Tilly B, Angelica H, Holly M, Issy P, Georgina W

Also, the team did very well to come second in the East Region Indoors. Beating the champions of Suffolk, Essex and Bedfordshire along the way, the team just got pipped in the final. What a fantastic achievement by these superstars!

International pupils and those in the school’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion group enjoyed a mini Easter egg hunt as part of their regular get together in the Library this month. These occasions offer valuable opportunities for pupils to relax, swap experiences and build friendships over tea and coffee (this time expertly made by Mr Chart-Boyles) and biscuits. The eggs didn’t remain hidden for long, although pupils did manage to miss a few in their haste!

The Senior School took part in their Annual Chapel Easter Egg hunt just before the end of term. This joyful event took place in the woods with pupils searching for a share in over a thousand chocolate eggs and other goodies. Pupils had a brilliant time running to find them as always!

This term has seen the girls compete in many excellent netball matches. We have had 5 senior teams and 8 junior teams representing the school. The players have worked very hard in training sessions and have played the games in a very competitive, spirited way. It is clear to see that we have great depth across our junior and senior sides with our players often being far superior in skill levels compared to their opposition which is a real credit to the players. This is evident with our 15B and C teams and 14B and C teams all having unbeaten seasons.

We have also had many players this term that stepped on the court in January having never played netball and they have showed incredible improvement throughout the term. Across the teams we have scored 2062 goals excluding tournaments and in many of the matches have had to play players out of position to manage the scoreline. When in this position, many of the opposition coaches have complimented the sporting way our players have approached the game.

We have competed in the INSC competition at U15 level and in the Brentwood tournament in both U15 and U19 age groups. This tournament is a brilliant opportunity to play teams that we don’t come across in our fixture schedule. We had the opportunity to face schools such as Brentwood, King’s Canterbury, Chigwell, Kimbolton and Felsted.

The second part of the term brought lots a great results, with block fixtures against Norwich High School in both juniors and seniors. To finish the term we fielded 11 teams against RHS. The 1^st team proved a tough encounter against a strong RHS 1^st team but our girls still put out lots of great passages of play. RHS just pulled away in the last couple of minutes taking the win. A special mention to our 2^nd team who finished in style with a huge 40-14 win, they have had a brilliant term. We finished with 9 out of 11 wins against RHS.

Finally, we completed the term with house netball. The games were played in fantastic spirit in both A and B competitions. It really showed how much depth the school has as the B team competition was also to a very good standard of play. For the first time we introduced Arkell House to the competition, their housemistress looked extremely proud of them.

There have been many great moments throughout the term. One stand out block fixture against Ipswich School saw us take 9 out of 10 wins. Mr Higgs was delighted to have his third unbeaten season and finally a complete performance by the 1st team to take a stunning victory against a strong Norwich School team.

A special mention to Sophia and Harriet who have done a fantastic job as captain and vice-captain of the 1^st team this term. They have been great role models for all the players in the club.

A huge thank you to all the players and coaches for the enthusiasm and knowledge you have brought to Gresham’s netball this year.

Since September, the Music department have been working with the Amelié ensemble and the band to realise the incredible sound of the show with a professional approach and a group of dedicated and talented singers to create the amazing sound of Amelié. From January, pupil designers have been working in the Auden to create the physical world of Amelié’s colourful imagination whilst the highly efficient stage crew and technical team have been in rehearsal alongside a tight knit ensemble working to stage a complex production within a challenging stage configuration. The audience have been very close to the action and immersed in the imaginative and colourful world of Amelié for four amazing nights.

After winning the school’s Performing Shakespeare Competition with her fantastic performance of a monologue by Juliet from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Hennie D went on to compete against other school finalists in the ESU Performing Shakespeare Competition regional heat which was held in Bury St Edmunds. The competition was fierce, but Hennie’s understanding of the text, committed and nuanced performance of the aforementioned monologue shone and she was selected as one of the five winners to go through to the next round in the competition which takes place in May. Huge congratulations to Hennie and very best of luck for the next round!