Happy Christmas from the 1st XV!

Shiplake rugby celebrated!

Last night saw the annual Rugby Club dinner which gave us all a chance to celebrate the achievements of the season. As ever, Year 13 boys were at the front of the queue for prizes!

 Full Colours were awarded to: Jake Long, Alex Collis, Joe Carey, Dom Rice, Bodie Dean, Harry Williams and Oran Mehmet.

Half Colours: Henry Lewis, James Rossi-Bull, Peter Baker and Mike Reynolds

1st XV most improved player: Jake Long

Players' Player: Alex Collis

Plato Plate: Oran Mehmet

Player of the Year: Harry Williams

 2nd XV Players'Player: Henry Lewis

Player of the Year: Peter Baker

3rd XV awards to Ruaridh Scott and Zachy Mettawa Other awards were made by the 3rd XV coaches including ones for the poorest match-training ratio (Ben Peers),the player most likely to drop the ball in a try scoring situation (Ollie Dingley)and the best touch, worst contact player (Cameron Keay). Well done to all those honoured!

Nearly there!

It doesn't seem like fifteen weeks ago that fifty one rooky Year 13 boys were taking their first tentative steps in College House! Time has flown so quickly that the College House bloggers have got left behind and only now have managed to post a snapshot of the term. (Apologies!) It has been a good term with academic, cultural and sporting success and all Y13 boys settling in well to their new surroundings and their new roles. As we enter the final week all are busily preparing for House parties, the Rugby dinner and, of course, the Carol Service.

Rugby highlights



1st XV Captain, Alex Collis leading from the front during "Friday Night Lights"



Full back Jake Long on the way to one of his two tries in "Friday Night Lights"

"Friday Night Lights" squad at Henley Rugby Club, following their victory over Merchant Taylor's.

Jamie Westbrook!

Chapel Wardens blessed by The Bishop of Dorchester.

BTEC Travel and Tourism students sample factory life. 

Ed Crichton displaying the spoils of victory from his sailing success.



Harry Vardigans and Max Hearden with the Headmaster and other rowers acting as ambassadors for the Henley-Bled twinning programme.



Harry Hogan making light work of furniture building on the Kenya Expedition.

Welcome to College House!

A very warm welcome to all the new residents of College House and their families and friends. We hope that you will all be very happy and successful in this, your final year at Shiplake. 

Tower top Comunion.

The last Friday morning Communion of the year was held on the tower of Skipwith.
College House Tutor, The Rev. officiated ably supported by his Head and Deputy Head Chapel Wardens, Paul and Louis.

College House's first official model!

When the Henley Standard needed a male model they decided to see what  College House had to offer. The only brief was that the young man chosen had to be shorter than six feet tall, otherwise he would dwarf the female model.
Zac Jones, was told that he would be posing with an aspiring singing star. On Zac’s arrival at the riverside location of the Henley Business School he found that his fellow model was Totie Southwell who had been in the Shiplake Sixth Form during Zac's early years at the College.

After modelling a range of clothing suitable for wearing during Regatta week the Henley Standard decided that the shoot had been so successful that they will feature a full spread of photos of Zac and Totie during Regatta week.

Matrons Race for Life

Eight of our wonderful House Matrons raised money for charity at the weekend by taking part in the Race for Life. The intrepid ladies are well on their way to their target of £300.







You can donate at:

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/shiplake-matrons

GB Trialists

Five members of Shiplake College’s 1st Vlll have been selected for the Junior U18 GB final trials. Dan Barrett, Michael Glover, Max Hearnden, Marek Lapham and Harry Vardigans will be travelling to Nottingham in July, after Henley Royal Regatta, to take part in five tough days of trials.


At the recent GB Junior Small Boats regatta held at Dorney Lake, Eton, all five oarsmen impressed. Marek Lapham and Harry Vardigans, finished 7th in their pair, Michael Glover paired with an Etonian came in 10th, just ahead of Dan Barrett and Max Hearnden in 11th place.

At the Nottingham trials the Shiplake oarsmen will be competing against 21 other pairs for selection for places at the Junior World Championship, held this year in Lthuania, and for the Cope de Jeunesse at Lucerne.

Shiplake College Regatta

15 June 2013 – 1.00pm

BBQ lunch by the river: Pimms bar, beers, and soft drinks

teas and gorgeous homemade cakes.

Regatta Raffle first prize £50 cash

Tombola

 Ergo challenge

Donations for the tombola gratefully received. Please leave with Sue Bond in the school office.

Last week of term...

You will note in the calendar that the following events are planned for the last week:

Monday 24th June           7.30pm Summer Concert (parents very welcome)

Tuesday 25th June          12.00 all to return
                                      13.45 Tug-o-war, Swimming Gala, Final Assembly
                                      House parties

Wednesday 26th June     9.30 Leavers’ Service (parents very welcome)
                                      11.00 Prize Giving
                                      7.00pm Leavers’ Ball
Please note that there is no accommodation for pupils on the night of the Ball. Boys will be asked to vacate their rooms by 3.30pm on Wednesday.

National Schools success

Many congratulations to our senior rowers who travelled to Nottingham last weekend to compete in the presigious National Schools' Regatta.

The 3rd VIII led by Mr Jones qualified for the final from the semi-finals as the 4th fastest crew. Unfortunately they could not improve on this position in the final but it has been great to see this crew training hard throughout the season and more importantly enjoying their rowing and racing.


The 2nd IV was required to race in a time trial to qualify for the semi-final and they comfortably qualified into the semi-final races. The 2nd IV put in a strong performance in the semi-final as they were in 2nd place at the 1000m marker just behind Westminster School. The crew was then able to control the last 1000m and qualified for the final in what is the first time we have qualified our 2nd boat into a national final for some time. Despite a spirited effort all the way down the course in the final the crew could not keep up with a number of schools that had entered their top crew into this event. However, they should be more than pleased with their performance in finishing 6th in the final.
The 1st VIII comfortably qualified for the semi-final finishing in 1st position from the time trial. The semi-final required the crew to be in the top three to qualify for the final and the Shiplake College crew dominated the race to qualify in 1st position. The final was always going to be a fiercely contested battle and it certainly did not disappoint with Shiplake showing huge determination throughout the race. The honours went to St George’s, who also set a new record time for this event with Shiplake just behind them and earning a Silver medal in a time of 6:02.01. The crew had set itself the ambitious target of the gold medal but they should be delighted to have won a well-deserved silver medal.
On Sunday the 1st VIII raced in a Coxless and Coxed Four in the Championship event. Both crews comfortably qualified for the semi-final but the coxless four could not quite show the speed required to qualify for the final. The Coxed Four containing 4 of our GB trialists Michael Glover, Max Hearnden, Harry Vardigans, Marek Lapham and cox James Girling raced beautifully in the semi-final to qualify as the second fastest crew from both semi-finals behind Abingdon School. The final was a high calibre race with Shiplake keeping up with many of the top rowing schools although Abingdon showed the rest of the field how to do it by taking an early lead. However with 2 medals still up for grabs Shiplake fought hard with Hampton School and St Edwards and ultimately Shiplake gained their second medal of the weekend with the crew receiving a bronze medal behind St Edwards who took the silver medal.

Three and a half weeks to go!

Dear Parents and families,

I hope you all survived half term!

We now enter the last few weeks of term; the most critical as far as exams are concerned and also the most chaotic as far as arrangements and social activities are concerned.

Some boys have expressed a desire to come home after their last exam. This, as indicated in my email before half term, is fine, so long as these arrangements are entirely transparent. I would ask you to discuss plans with your son and let we know of any planned time at home.

We ask that boys taking this opportunity clear their rooms as they go, so as to ease packing and tidying at the end of term.

I wish your sons all the very best of luck in threir exams and look forward to seeing you all at the end of term.

Very best wishes,

Nick

Half term

I hope every one has a fruitful half term, both in terms of work and recuperation.
The following article will be of interest to those looking to maximise the effectiveness of their revision.
Best wishes to you all.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22565912

Good Luck Rowers!

Our senior oarsmen and women are en route to Nottingham as I write. They are heading for the National Schools' Regatta.

We wish them every good fortune, and some sunshine!

Bubbles on Ascension Day

The traditional rounders match on Maidensgrove common between teams of Year 13 boys and girls chosen by the Head and Deputy Head Chapel Wardens has now become something of a rite of passage. The sun was shinning as nearly forty Year 13 pupils set off from school at 6.30am. After an Ascension Day prayer from Chaplain, Stephen Cousins, and a talk about moving on to pastures new, the keenly fought rounders game took place. As umpire, the Headmaster has the privilege of making up the rules and changing them as the mood takes him, much to the outrage of the girls. After a nail biting finish, Louis Miller-Bains' team  clinched victory from the jaws of defeat

 Before returning to Shiplake a sumptuous breakfast, prepared by Mrs Cousins, was enjoyed by all. The Buck's Fizz was a particularly welcome addition!

College House proud of Gilson girls!

Many congratulations to Jo Unsworth and Daisy Gresswell for completing the London Marathon and raising money for Sport Relief.

Medals for Marek!

Not only did Marek Lapham win his first GB rowing shirt, but he also returned for the International Regatta at Munich with three gold medals! He won in a pair, four and eight. Not bad going!

Many congratulations, Marek!

Owl Tie awarded

Owl ties are awarded to senior pupils who show exceptional commitment to a wide variety of activities right across the school. Only a few are awarded each year. It was, then, with great delight that I was able to award Kit Bowerin his tie at assembly this morning. Kit was the unanimous choice of Housemasters and the SMT for his selfless service to the College. Congratulations, Kit!

Tropics brought down!

The final netball match of the season for the girls saw them fell the mighty Shiplake Tropics, the boys' basketball team confirming, once and for all, that netball is a far more skilful game than basketball! Despite the towering height of Nick Arbuckle, the athleticism of James Riley, the brawn of George Davis and the wit of Charlie Foster, nothing could put the girls off their stride, not even cheating!
Trudi Lister, captain of netball, took great delight in addressing a packed Senioer Assembly with her match report.

Open Day

Over 300 people attended Saturday's Open Day and Y13 were at the forefront of activities. See pictures of some of them in action!

GB rowing honours for Marek

Early success for rowers

The regatta season made a promising start for Shiplake College Boat Club at the International Gent Spring Regatta. The Senior and J16 Squad made the journey across to Belgium after completing an exhausting training camp at Shiplake to prepare for this season’s racing campaign
On the first day of racing all squads broke down into a variety of smaller boats and the first win did not take long to come as a Coxless Four made up of boys from the 1st VIII won Under 23 Coxless Fours.
The 1st VIII was also delighted to have won J18 Eights in an event that contained crews from four different nations. In particular it was also pleasing to beat local rivals Pangbourne College by eight seconds.

Congratulations also to Marek Lapham who has been selected to row for Great Britain in the up coming meeting in Munich - a superb achievement!






Our boys are the stripy ones at the back!

 

Service at Queen Anne's

Each year we share a service with Queen Anne's School in Caversham. This year is an away fixture and we will be going to a service there this Sunday. All year 13 boarders are required to attend this.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to your final term at Shiplake! Make the most of it...

Revision

Following my recent email and the one you will have received from the Director of Studies, Mr Mackey, I attach a link to a very interesting article from The Telegraph about revision and the importance of having a plan. Please read and encourage your sons to do the same.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationadvice/9872611/Revision-from-GCSE-to-A-level-it-is-all-about-the-scheme.html

I hope that you all have a fruitful holiday and strike a sensible balance between work, rest and play, with the emphasis very much on work!

HAPPY EASTER!

A2 Drama

Trudi Lister and Tom Jones' devised piece for their A2 Drama told the fascinating story of Trudi's maternal grandparents, a Canadian ice hockey player and Scottish ice dancer. Written by Tom and Trudi and covering all the theatrical styles they have studied this year the play was a fascinating insight into the relationship of the two devoted grandparents. Witty, thought provoking and poignant, the audience were captivated aided, no doubt, by having been given a packet of Love Hearts each (Trudi's grandparents owned a sweet shop!).

Hockey Club dinner

Monday evening saw the annual hockey club dinner; a chance to celebrate the season and, this year, to say thank you and farewell to Peter Gould who has championed hockey at Shiplake and who has skilfully coached the 1st XI for many years. Nick Arbuckle and James Riley, joint club captains payed tribute to his dedication and enthusiasm. Among the awards made later,  Nick was awarded the Players' Player award  and James was the coach's player. Full colours were awarded to Zac Jones and Nick and James. Half colours went to Max Robinson, James Shraga, Sam Baker and Will Lewis. Cam Foster received 2nd XI colours, while Aonghus van Raalte, Ollie MacLaurin and Ben Cousins received 3rd XI awards.