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.”

A prophetic tale captivated audiences at the King’s Lynn Corn Exchange, when students from our school staged a production of playwright Eve Leigh’s latest drama.

Eighteen students from Years 9 to 11 at St Clement’s High School took part in Wildfire, which tells the story of passengers on a hijacked plane that is redirected to Siberia, thus saving their lives when the rest of the planet is engulfed in flames.

Performing as the One Act Theatre Company, the group previously brought the play to the stage at the Nottingham Playhouse, as part of the National Theatre Connections Festival.

Our Head of Drama, Carl Schwarz, directed the production, with student Emmie Pike-Fysh as Assistant Director.

“We aim to produce a new and unique play every year,” he explained. “This play, as with most previous years, is a brand new play, created by an established playwright. It is commissioned by the National Theatre and is part of the National Theatre Connections Festival, which is a festival that takes place across the UK, where theatre companies, schools and colleges apply to be selected for the festival.

“The successful applicants have the opportunity to be the first group ever to put a professional theatre play on the stage. It’s as close to being a professional actor as students can get.

“The students always love the experience of being part of a company and form really close bonds along the journey.”

Cast members included Mia Charles as pilot Naomi; Shai McGurk as Ruby; Sam Tennant as Dave; Darcie Butters as Rohan; Henry Wood as Kazuo; Libby Clayton as Bryn; and Evie Neill as Mariella.

Chloe Baker and Daisy Clarke took the roles of flight attendants Rina and Ema; while the hijackers were played by Amelia King, Saoirse Greehy, and Poppy Foster; and the remaining passengers were Elsa Robinson, Emily Swinburn, Emily Chapman, Camille Nguyen, and Amber Hasnip.

Mr Schwarz continued: “The play is metaphorical, prophetic, and a tale for the most important question of our times – are we going to wake up and address the climate emergency before it’s too late?

“The performance has some great physical theatre elements running through it, which help to convey both the mood/fear of the passengers, but also some of the key themes within the play. There are moments of panic, humour, love, and hope. It is a play that explores the human condition.”

Other members of staff at St Clement’s, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, were also involved, with our Head of Art, Phil Bennell, designing the promotional material, and Head of Design and Technology Craig Falco creating the set.

Mr Schwarz added: “At St Clement’s, our aim is to provide our young performers with the best opportunities we can.

“Giving them the chance to perform a newly commissioned play by the National Theatre, in amazing venues like the Nottingham Playhouse and the Corn Exchange, is an experience they will remember for a long time.”

Students had their moment to shine as singers, dancers, gymnasts, and musicians took to the stage for St Clement’s High School's first ever Talent Show.

A variety of acts performed throughout the evening, representing students of all ages at our school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

A professional stage had been hired for the event, and there was also a guest judge from the world of entertainment in the form of Adam Tucker, who provided the singing voice for the young Robbie Williams in the biographical musical Better Man.

Our Headteacher, Nigel Willingham, was impressed with the breadth of talent on show.

“There were 17 different acts, ranging from ballet to heavy rock guitar,” he said. “Students of all year groups took part, including Year 11s who have recently completed their GCSE exams.

“The judges and the audience voted for their favourite acts, and the top three acts received gift vouchers presented by Adam Tucker.

“Mr Tucker told the audience he got his first taste of entertainment performing in a school talent show, so he hoped the evening would inspire some future careers.”

Head of History Anton Modica organised and co-hosted the event with Head of Music Jo Kemp and Dance Teacher Amira O’Neill.

“Our first Talent Show Final was a massive success for students and audience alike,” he said. “We were entering a bit of an unknown, but there needn’t have been any worries. The performers were outstanding with confidence, talent, and star quality.

“The range of performances was also really exciting, from singing to dancing, gymnastics to piano, and some serious rocking out to drums and electric guitar, rounded off with a soothing sound of the clarinet – a real variety.”

Around 300 people attended the Talent Show, while others supporting the event included Governor Kevin Baldwin, and staff members who helped with refreshments and raffle tickets on the night, as well as auditions prior to the Final.

Mr Modica continued: “As teachers, we get to know our students very well, but going through this process has taught us things we had no idea about. So many auditions, we thought, ‘Wow! Where was that hidden?’

“I knew there must be students with particular skills and talents within a school of 700-plus students, and I know we’ve only scratched the surface here, as we go forward with this new staple of our school’s calendar.”

The act with the most votes on the night was Year 7 duo Winnie and Lily, who sang ‘Sk8er Boi’, with Lily on drums, to win the inaugural St Clement’s Talent Show Trophy. The two also had their names added to a Talent Show Shield, and received Amazon gift vouchers.

Mr Modica added: “Sometimes, in education, we can get a little too caught up in data, targets, and assessments.

“Events like this remind us that we’re working with incredible young people, full of surprises, joy, happiness, and talent, and being brave enough to get on that stage is what defines them and leaves memories and legacies far beyond a grade in Year 11.

“Congratulations to all of our performers – we’re looking forward to 2027!”

A St Clement’s High School student’s project benefited from a voice of experience, when she interviewed a former Leader of the House of Lords about women in politics.

Leah Barton spoke to Conservative Life Peer Baroness Evans of Bowes Park as part of her Year 10 GCSE Citizenship project in which she was investigating the unequal representation of women in politics.

“The focus of the interview was to understand more about unequal representation of women in politics and how it can affect women wanting to get into politics or standing as a candidate in an election,” she explained. “I asked Baroness Evans about her personal opinion and perspective of unequal representation, and what she thinks could be done to improve the divide from a young age.

“She said that social media plays a big part in this, due to abuse targeted at women and pressures from the public; however, she did say that attitudes and stereotypes have improved. She thinks that schools should create more opportunities for young girls to become more politically engaged, through bringing MPs into school and having more discussions about politics.

“Overall, women in politics are very under-represented, where stereotypes and criticism are a high influence on women, and if support was given to women when starting, it can give them more confidence to have as they go through the process of being a candidate, and encourage them to believe they can win and become a councillor or MP at some point, if they have the true courage.”

Baroness Evans was made a Life Peer in 2014, and served as Leader of the House of Lords from 2016 to 2022. Her husband, James Wild, is the Member of Parliament for North West Norfolk.

Due to a last-minute commitment, the interview was conducted over the phone, where our Head of Citizenship, Abigail Morton, was on hand to facilitate proceedings.

“Leah’s target in particular was to gain specific insight into the perspectives of women currently involved in politics, as to whether women are under-represented, whether they are elected representatives themselves, women working within political parties, or female candidates in local elections,” she said.

“Her aim is to gather a wide range of ideas, views, and opinions, through both primary and secondary research, in order to write a report to show her findings. Her findings will conclude whether or not there is inequality in politics based on gender.”

Other Citizenship projects at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, have seen students take part in fundraising, campaign on issues affecting the area, and volunteer within the community.

Mrs Morton continued: “Year 10 GCSE Citizenship students are all currently working on their Active Citizenship Investigations at the moment. This is an independent project which is 15 per cent of their total grade. They have to choose a topic of interest and either carry out an investigation into an issue, or carry out a form of advocacy to make a difference in the community or in wider society.

“We have students raising money for various charities, we have students raising awareness of the impact of potholes on young people in the community, students volunteering to visit the residents at Terrington Lodge Care Home, and this is just some of the outstanding action being taken by our Year 10 students at the moment.”

She added: “Leah is the first student at St Clement’s to interview a member of the House of Lords as part of their Active Citizenship project. We are very proud of Leah for showing initiative and reaching out to various people in aid of her project.

“We are very excited that Baroness Evans was able to be of such a great deal of help to Leah in reaching a conclusion in her GCSE work.”

Music lovers were in for a treat, when our pupils joined others from across the region for this year’s Music for Youth Festival at Springwood High School.

“Every year we organise the Regional Festival for the Music for Youth organisation,” said Springwood’s Head of Music, Robin Norman. “Each group is assigned a ten-minute slot and performs three pieces. There was everything from Hamilton through to How to Train Your Dragon, and many more styles.”

Springwood, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, entered five musical groups, with the Concert Band, Cantabene, Kingsmen, Year 7 Choir, and The Gliders all taking part in the event, making a total of around 150 students from across Years 7 to 13.

Other participating Trust schools included Clenchwarton Primary, Heacham Junior, Snettisham Primary, Walpole Cross Keys Primary, West Lynn Primary, and St Clement’s High School, while there was also a performance from pupils from the Windmill Federation.

“Music for Youth as a whole goes back as far as the 1980s, but the Regional Festival at Springwood has been taking place since circa 1995,” continued Mr Norman, who helped organise the event, as well as directing some of the Springwood groups.

“Entries are open to all schools and youth music groups from across the region. In total on the day, there were more than 20 different groups that took part from different schools. Anyone can enter through the Music for Youth programme.”

Regional winners will progress to the National Music for Youth Festival, which is due to take place in Birmingham in July.

“We are currently awaiting the outcome of the Regional Festival,” added Mr Norman. “We are keeping our fingers crossed that one of our groups will be invited, as we have a rich history of being asked to represent East Anglia over the years.

“Personally, I feel events such as this are really important. Not only does it give important performance opportunities to the young people, from which they receive invaluable feedback on how to improve, but it also gives an opportunity for them to hear other young people perform throughout the day – a truly inspirational activity.”

History left the classroom, when students from St Clement’s High School visited Germany and Poland for a four-day exploration of key World War II sites.

The 46-strong group first spent time in Berlin, where they visited a range of historic landmarks, including Hitler’s Olympic Stadium, the DDR Museum showing life in East Berlin, the Berlin Wall, the East Side Gallery, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Wannsee House where the Final Solution was decided, and the Topography of Terror exhibition at the former headquarters of the Gestapo.

The students then travelled to Krakow to see Schindler’s factory, the Jewish Ghetto, and Auschwitz and Birkenau.

There was also plenty of time for sight-seeing and exploring – as well as the fun challenge of an evening’s bowling.

“It was so interesting to actually be in the places it all actually happened,” said one student, while another said: “I loved the DDR Museum – seeing the rooms and kitchens and stuff, and how people lived back in the East was cool.”

“We did lots of fun things in between the more difficult places,” added a fellow student. “Auschwitz was hard, but I am glad I did it.”

It was the fourth time the trip had taken place.

“Trips like this bring what we talk about in lessons to life,” said Anton Modica, Head of History at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“They really help our young people touch and feel history, especially as it is affecting our world today, and ultimately try and help contribute to our students becoming all-round kind, decent adults who can critically think and empathise.

“Our students were fantastic, and took it all in, showing the utmost respect, and I am sure we left with memories and reflections to last a lifetime.”