2 July 2021
It was fantastic to welcome Judy Murray OBE as guest speaker at Prize Day on Friday 2 July, which celebrated the many and varied achievements of Woldingham students and brought the academic year to its conclusion.
A former Scottish tennis international, Judy Murray became National Coach in 1995 and created a player development programme that produced four Davis Cup players and one Fed Cup player, as well as a group of world-class coaches. She was GB Fed Cup captain 2012-2016 and is mum to Grand Slam champions Jamie and Andy.
In her address, Judy described how her passion, tennis, became her career, having initially headed in a quite different direction after leaving school. Encouraging students to “follow your passion, give it your best shot and smash it”, Judy advised them to add “hard work, self belief and a great attitude”. Her ability to see barriers as things to get over or go around by adding to her skill set and translate the answer “no” to “not yet” was inspirational.
Charlotte, Woldingham’s Head Girl 2020-2021 also took to the auditorium stage. In an eloquent and moving farewell address, her reflections about Woldingham included how much she loves that the school community celebrates others’ achievements so generously.
Earlier, Head Dr James Whitehead talked about the exciting plans ahead for Woldingham, as well as reflecting on the shared, supportive experience of the past year and the sense of community that makes Woldingham so unique.
To watch Dr Whitehead's Prize Day speech and the welcome from Chair of Governors Mr Robert Parkinson, click here.
The Woldingham community also enjoyed a video that captured the highlights of this exceptional year, which you can watch here.