Academic excellence

Congratulations to the following who received awards from the Headmaster in Assembly this week for excellent work and effort: Cornel Mgbangson, Oliver Watkins-Murphy and Tom Imlay.

I could have been a window cleaner.

“Understanding my journey from a thirteen year old with no sporting talent to a scholarship at Shiplake College and then hopefully onto Harvard is an improbable story,” James Briggs told us at Senior Assembly this morning.

“My school reports read “able but must try harder” and when my friend asked me to join his window-cleaning business when I left school, I contemplated it. At that time his company consisted of him, a sponge, a ladder and a bucket,” said James.

One evening on Scarborough beach another friend invited James to have a go at rowing. Five months later James stood on the podium at the National Indoor Rowing Championships with a medal round his neck.

“When the offer of a sports scholarship to Shiplake came I had to think long and hard. It was 260 miles away and my friends were concerned that I would become a soft southern pansy.”

“Looking back it is strange how luck, destiny or fate can shape such pivotal moments in our lives. But we must have the determination and perseverance to make the most of those opportunities. When I am asked to do a 5km ergo I have a choice. But to achieve we have to remove ourselves from our comfort zone, to broaden our outlook and to move on. Never say never.”

Latest news

• We have just survived two days of our initial ISI school inspection. Two inspectors spent Tuesday and Wednesday with us as part of an initial assessment prior to the full inspection starting on Monday 8th March. Year 13 boys helped by acting as guides and all pulled together to give a very good impression. Chris Payne, Jordon Foster, Harry Wilson and Charlie Emerson all spoke in Senior Assembly this morning, in front of an inspector and delivered their sports reports with great calm and confident delivery. James Briggs spoke about how he came to rowing (see above).

• Last week we held a mufti day in order to raise funds for the Haiti Disaster Fund. We raised a grand total of £754.63. Heads of Houses were responsible for collecting the money and clearly their powers of persuasion worked.

• Congratulations to Alex our house cleaner on the birth of his daughter, Alexandra.

Your starter for 10: What did the prefects do on Thursday night?

Disney films, sporting heroes, world geography and College history were just some of the topics in Thursday night's Year 9 Inter-House Quiz. Each of the Prefects was asked to provide a round of questions for house teams of three Year 9 boys to do battle against each other. The consensus was that Rob Skinner's current affairs questions were the most taxing! Aless, Hannah and Abi managed the technology for the evening and judged who "buzzed" first, Parris acted as scorer and musical expert while Fred, Cornel, Chris and Alex acted as quiz masters. Everett House were the eventual winners and the Prefects, once again, showed their initiative and organisational skills. It is great to see our senior pupils involved in organising and entertaining the younger ones.

College House bedrock of 4th XI success.

4th XI skipper, Harry Wilson commanded his troops both on and off the field with confidence and skill today. His leadership played no small part in an impressive win for the 4th XI hockey team over Henley College this afternoon. Ably assisted by Fred Versen, Harry controlled the mid field and enabled the fearsome threesome of Ben Brassey, Alex Baker and Bevan Hornsby to run riot up front. These three are becoming the scourge of South Oxfordshire schools hockey; not only are they displaying hitherto undiscovered talent but they are also bringing flair, humour and an element of the unknown to the game. Fergus Robertson-McIsaac, a convert from rowing, is also playing a key role in the team. Elevated from the 5th XI, goalie Ed Harris played his part in a fine 3-1 victory over the local rivals. An indication of the spirit in which the game was played was provided by Head of College, Alex Baker who, having collided with and knocked over one of the Henley female players, proceeded to apologise most graciously, at least four times!

The 1st XI recorded an impressive win over Reading Bluecoat School this afternoon. James Luscombe scored four times, Callum Thomas three and James Black once in a stunning 8-0 whitewash.