Students saw their creative talents recognised when Springwood High School held its annual Arts Awards Evening.

The event in the Peter Hopkins Hall involved more than 60 students, from Years 7 to 13, and covered such diverse subjects as Music, Drama, Dance, Art and Photography, Media and Music Technology, and Technical Theatre.

Pete Cuss is Head of Arts Faculty at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, and hosted the ceremony.

Among the many presentations were prizes in each subject category for ‘Highest Achievement’ and ‘Biggest Contribution’, as well as several additional awards.

Winners included Amelie Hayward and Eleanor King as Young Musician of the Year and Junior Musician of the Year, respectively, while Josie Draper was honoured for her Contribution to Multiple Arts Subjects, and Technician Awards went to Josh Downey for Key Stage 3 and Aretas Koldobenkas for Key Stage 4.

Handing out the prizes were Department Heads Lee Eveson for Art/Photography, Dawn Paulo for Dance, Matt Smart for Media, Robinson Ellis for Drama, and Robin Norman for Music, along with Theatre Manager Matt Austin.

It was the third year running that the Arts Awards had taken place.

“Events like this are important as they recognise the hard work and achievement our students have put into their studies and extracurricular over the last academic year,” said Mr Cuss.

“This is also an opportunity to thank the parents for their support, in particular getting students to and from rehearsals and extracurricular groups.

“We host events like this to encourage and keep the profile of Arts-based subjects at the forefront of student life at Springwood.”

There was strength in numbers, when young musicians from primary schools across West Norfolk came together at Springwood High School to practise and play in a workshop which culminated in a music festival performance.

Organised by the West Norfolk Academies Trust, the event brought together more than 180 Year 3 to 6 children from the feeder primaries for the Trust’s four high schools, which include Springwood, as well as Marshland in West Walton, St Clement’s in Terrington St Clement, and Smithdon in Hunstanton.

It was our school that hosted the workshop on Monday 6 July, as well as the four-day WNAT Community Music Festival, which kicked off on the same evening. Springwood students were also on hand to support the younger pupils.

Trust Peripatetic Music Lead Benjamin Howell organised the event and oversaw the children’s musical collaboration.

“The event featured two large ensembles: a String Orchestra and a Wind Band,” he explained.

“The repertoire was carefully selected to appeal to students of all ages and abilities, running from ‘Hotel California’ and music inspired by Roblox, through to Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’. The Wind Band also performed pieces including ‘Supercharged’ and ‘Rising Up’.

“The workshop took place throughout the afternoon and concluded with an outdoor performance as part of WNAT Community Music Festival Week, where families, staff, and members of the local community were able to join us to celebrate the students’ achievements.”

Among the primary schools taking part were Trust members Clenchwarton, Gaywood, Heacham Junior, Snettisham, Walpole Cross Keys, and West Lynn.

Mr Howell continued: “Events of this scale take place just once each academic year and provide a fantastic opportunity for students from across the Trust to rehearse and perform together.

“The workshop also built on the success of our recent Play Day held earlier this year, while supporting the wider aims of the Musical Instrument Tuition Initiative (MITI).

“Throughout the year, students work towards Bronze, SIlver and Gold awards, with events such as this providing a rewarding goal and an opportunity to showcase the progress they have made.”


[Web story for Clenchwarton/Gaywood/Heacham Junior/Snettisham/WCK/West Lynn]
Pupils join forces for music event

There was strength in numbers, when our young musicians joined others at Springwood High School to practise and play in a workshop which culminated in a music festival performance.

Organised by the West Norfolk Academies Trust, the event brought together more than 180 Year 3 to 6 children from the feeder primaries for the Trust’s four high schools, which include Marshland in West Walton, St Clement’s in Terrington St Clement, Smithdon in Hunstanton, and Springwood in Lynn.

Springwood hosted the workshop on Monday 6 July, as well as the four-day WNAT Community Music Festival, which kicked off on the same evening. Springwood students were also on hand to support the younger pupils.

Trust Peripatetic Music Lead Benjamin Howell organised the event and oversaw the children’s musical collaboration.

“The event featured two large ensembles: a String Orchestra and a Wind Band,” he explained. “The repertoire was carefully selected to appeal to students of all ages and abilities, running from ‘Hotel California’ and music inspired by Roblox, through to Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’. The Wind Band also performed pieces including ‘Supercharged’ and ‘Rising Up’.

“The workshop took place throughout the afternoon and concluded with an outdoor performance as part of WNAT Community Music Festival Week, where families, staff, and members of the local community were able to join us to celebrate the students’ achievements.”

Among the Trust primary schools taking part were Clenchwarton, Gaywood, Heacham Junior, Snettisham, Walpole Cross Keys, and West Lynn.

Mr Howell continued: “Events of this scale take place just once each academic year and provide a fantastic opportunity for students from across the Trust to rehearse and perform together.

“The workshop also built on the success of our recent Play Day held earlier this year, while supporting the wider aims of the Musical Instrument Tuition Initiative (MITI).

“Throughout the year, students work towards Bronze, SIlver and Gold awards, with events such as this providing a rewarding goal and an opportunity to showcase the progress they have made.”

It was an immersive, whole-school, musical experience, when the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain visited Springwood High School.

It was full speed ahead, when aspiring engineers at our school took part in an innovative Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) initiative, which tasked them with designing, building, and racing their own full-sized, petrol-powered go-kart.

A professional dancer and former Springwood High School student returned to our school to lead a high-energy workshop for those aspiring to follow in her footsteps.

Winners received medals they had designed and cast themselves, in an innovative competition organised by the West Norfolk Academies Trust for students across its four high schools.

Year 8 students from Marshland, St Clement’s, Smithdon, and Springwood all took part in the casting contest, which required them to create their own medal design, with winners from each school progressing to the final.

The event was organised by St Clement’s Headteacher, Nigel Willingham, who leads Design and Technology across the Trust.

“A competition was held in all four high schools to design a medal,” he said. “The three winners from each school progressed to the casting day, where they learnt about sand casting, and had the opportunity to cast their medals in aluminium.

“The students travelled to complete the challenge at Smithdon High School, using their casting equipment.”

It was the second year the competition had taken place, with the final supported by SKF Coopers Engineering in King’s Lynn, where the company’s Gary Hellard was tasked with judging the winning entries.

Mr Willingham continued: “Mr Hellard showed students examples made by his company that are shipped around the world, and he explained that he first became interested in the manufacturing process when he saw it at school.”

The winners were announced as Dean Spooner and Charlotte Turpin from St Clement’s, and Abi Fysh and Lucy Kayes-Melton from Smithdon, while the winning designs included gears, a star, a mouse, and a medal for King’s Lynn Stars Speedway.

Mr Willingham added: “It was great to see students take on the challenge and experience a process used in industry but difficult to replicate in most schools.

“The students were delighted with how their designs had come out, and wore their new medals with pride.”