Woodhouse Grove School news in brief
There's a lot happening at the Grove! Below you'll find a brief round-up of some of the latest news. You can find more on the News and Events page of the WGS website>>
The new Davy Building
We recently accepted the keys to the Davy Building, the school's new Music and Drama facility.
Of all the development projects of recent years this has perhaps been the most demanding: partly because of the physical link between the new building and the existing building but especially because of the highly specialised purpose of the new building.
Twelve acoustically engineered practice rooms, specialist recording studio, large drama studio and recital room have all demanded a very high engineering specification that future musicians and actors at the Grove will not be disappointed with.
There are also several standard classrooms in the building, two of which will be fully equipped for music technology, including specialist ICT provision.
Whilst the Grove has always produced an extremely high standard of music and drama both in academic terms and in performances, the new facility will ensure that the Grove community can look forward to even more spectacular and elaborate performances and productions in the coming months and years.
U13s win the McCarthy Cup
The Grove hosted the annual U13 McCarthy Cup, a tournament for independent and selective schools in the UK, which is run by the Yorkshire Rugby Union.
The McCarthy Trophy was originally donated to Yorkshire by Mr David McCarthy, former Second Master at the Grove from 1953-1992, so it was more than appropriate that the competition was played on home ground.
The Grove’s U13 squad (last year’s undefeated U12’s) played some outstanding rugby, scoring 88 points, losing only 5 in their group games against QEGS, Ermysteds, Yarm and Hymers, before comprehensively defeating Crossley Heath in the finals, 31-0. The trophy was presented to the U13’s Captain Jack Maplesden, by Mr David McCarthy came back to the Grove to watch the tournament.
'Awe & Wonder' trip to Iceland and New York
Over the October half-term, an eight day ‘Awe & Wonder’’ visit provided an exciting opportunity for 23 sixth form geography students and three staff to contrast the sparsely populated, rugged beauty of Iceland’s unspoilt wilderness with the hustle and bustle of New York – possible the most cosmopolitan, iconic city in the world.
The great glacial, coastal and tectonic wonders of the sub-arctic proved to be a snowy peaceful prelude to the mega-city environment of the ‘Big Apple’. Here, day and night visits to Fifth Avenue, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Broadway and the Empire State Building proved that ‘New York New York’ (so good they named it twice) was a city that never sleeps. With striking imagery throughout, the trip will be long remembered by all involved.
Romeo & Juliet
In the fair Grove theatre did we lay our scene during the first week of November, with the long-awaited, contemporary production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, directed by Mrs Stokes and performed by a talented cast ranging from years 10 to 13.
The audience witnessed outstanding performances from Joely Walker as the innocent and beautiful Juliet, Chris Wilkinson as Romeo, and Jonathan Shaw who performed an intimidating ‘Tony Soprano’ style interpretation of Capulet. Supported by Roger Best's energetic and loyal Benvolio, Olly Musgrave's fierce Tybalt and Harry Hannan's 'camp' Mercutio, the main characters were complemented by an ensemble cast who performed as the Montague's and Capulets, adding great vibrancy and energy.
The show featured modern music, dancing and tightly choreographed fight sequences, as well as outstanding performances from the 'star-cross’d lovers' and the rest of the cast. An aggressive opening sequence set the tone for the violence and tragedy to come, and a truly heartbreaking ending, soundtracked by Ultravox’s ‘Vienna’, Shakespeare’s Sister’s ‘Stay’ and U2’s moving ‘Sometimes you can’t make it on your own’ provided an emotional and intense background to the tragic death of Romeo and Juliet and will live long in the memory of everyone who witnessed it.
The production was enjoyed by hundreds of students, staff, friends and family, and opened up Shakespeare’s work to the entire audience. The play may end with the declaration that 'all are punishèd', but Mrs Stokes’ surprising twist left the audience uplifted as they observed the two lovers being reunited together in heaven, represented by the pure white snow in the final scene. It was a thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining production.