End of Term

It is time for the blog to go quiet for a little while now that the summer holidays are finally here! Reports are being finalised and parents will receive these shortly, but it was a real pleasure to read so many positive comments about the Skipwith boys.

Thank you so much for the very kind gifts given to the house team yesterday. I am sure they will go down very well! To all of our leavers we wish you the very best for the future and ask that you keep in touch and do not forget us. Thank you to all who have made Skipwith such a positive and vibrant place this year and I hope that although we will all welcome a rest we can look forward to a good start in September and more happy times to come.

Have a fantastic summer holiday!

Heads of House and College

Huge congratulations to Tom Arnold for being made Head of College for next year. Harry Vardigans becomes Head of Skipwith House and Harry Hogan becomes Deputy Head of Skipwith House.

 

 

House Swimming

Skipwith represented itself well in the pool. Many thanks to the swimming team and for excellent performances all round. Particularly Joe Rockell who discovered he had a new talent for freestyle!

Lots of photos from all of yesterdays events are in the house gallery!

Tug of War

We may have lost in the first round to Welsh House but everyone in the team was certainly pulling together and in the same direction. What more could I ask?

House Party

The year concluded in house with the party on the terrace. It was great to see everybody involved with Skipwith there and having fun. Catering provided an amazing barbecue and the bouncy castle assault course proved a hit. Meg played so much it was a struggle to get her home without her falling asleep on the way. Many things were said and prizes awarded. Here is a brief summary:

- Matron's prizes for all of year 9 for generally being a tidy bunch;

- Excellence awards for Henry Blois-Brooke, Sam Mummery and James Hargreaves;
- Junior Leader for next half term is henry Blois-Brooke;
- Half Colours for Joe Carey and Bodie Deane;
- Full colours to James Riley, George Davis and Tom Arnold;
- Ivan Jacklin award to Jordan Gibson and Tom Merryweather.

  

Tuesday 25th June

There is much excitement around with end of year festivities kicking off this evening with the Summer Concert in the marquee. For the avoidance of doubt here are some key times for tomorrow:

8am - Year 9 arrive as normal and have a normal academic timetable until period 4
12pm - the rest of the house returns in full uniform including blazers! All text book must be returned at this time as well.
12:30pm - Lunch begins
1:45pm - Tug of War on Skipwith Terrace Lawn
2:15pm - Swimming Gala
3:45pm - House check
4pm - Final Assembly
5:30pm - House party starts
7:30pm - Buses for day boys depart

Year 10 Adventure

Year 10 boys on camp at Shiplake this evening. Raft built, bags packed and paddles at the ready. I hope the rain holds off!

Boat Club Awards

The following awards were made to Skipwith boys at the boat club dinner.

J14s
Junior Half Colours - Blois Brooke, Hjortland Marks, Johnston
Most Improved - Hjortland Marks

J15s
Best - Scott Parker

J16s
J16 Colours - T Berkley, H Berkley, Green
Best - Harry Berkley

Senior Four
Senior Half Colours - Hogan, Arnold

First Eight
Senior Full Colours - Lapham, Vardigans
Best - Lapham
Most Improved - Hogan
Blazer Badges - Vardigans, Lapham
Captain of Boats - Rockell

Year 10 Awards

James Hargreaves and Will Berks received their house half colours this morning in recognition of their service and positive example to the house. Jordan Gibson was the junior recipient of the Ivan Jacklin award for his significant contribution to house life. Very well done to all 3!

Year 9 Adventure Week

Year 9 are currently trekking back from Marlow after camping overnight at Longridge. They have had a very active week and will no doubt be ready for a normal day of school tomorrow! Many thanks to Mr Edwards for the photos.

Skipwith House - The Movie

Huge amounts of thanks and gratitude to James Hargreaves, Jordan Gibson and Will Berks for working so hard on this video. It has taken them 2 terms to put together and, I hope you will agree, is an excellent production. Enjoy...

Skipwith

ICT at the College

Letter from the Headmaster:

Dear Parents,

Over the past few years, our ICT network has undergone rapid change in almost every area as we move towards implementing our strategy of fully integrating ICT into the classroom. We have invested heavily in ensuring that our network, especially the wireless network, is as fast as it can be and capable of supporting the many hundreds of devices that are brought into the College every day.

Many of our pupils already bring laptops or tablets in to school and we now feel that the infrastructure is in place to recommend that every pupil at Shiplake has some form of mobile device to bring to lessons.

Having a laptop or tablet is not an absolute requirement in order to attend the College, but we feel that the benefits are very clear. More and more prep. is being set online, many of our teachers are using ICT interactively in the classroom or distributing resources electronically. Pupils are using their devices to work collaboratively, to produce work using video and audio or to access our online library. ICT no longer takes place once a week in a room full of desktop computers, but should be fully integrated into teaching and learning at Shiplake. We feel that goal can be achieved most effectively by recommending that all pupils have a mobile device from September 2013.

In order to give parents the widest possible choice, we have deliberately designed our network so that virtually any type of device can be used. Mobile phones, Windows laptops, Apple Macbooks, iPads and Android tablets are all currently being used on site.  Mr Balderson has put together a guide for parents considering buying a device. He can be contacted on sbalderson@shiplake.org.uk if you have any further questions.

Gregg Davies
Headmaster

With further guidance from the Head of ICT:

As far as the College is concerned, our only requirement is that it can connect to our wireless network (which all modern devices can) and that it has a web browser, in order to give parents and pupils the widest choice possible. A basic laptop would be entirely sufficient, but our current pupils have a wide variety of devices, including iPads, MacBooks, Windows laptops, Android tablets and many others. The only real constraints are personal preference and budget!

If you are considering buying an iPad, we would strongly recommend using an external keyboard as well, in order to be able to complete longer, written preps more easily.

Simon Balderson
Head of ICT

Coming soon...

I am very excited to announce the arrival of the Skipwith movie. Watch this space as it will be making an appearance very soon. Huge gratitude to James Hargreaves and his team for bringing this together and for all of their hard work!

8 days to go . . .

House Repairs

Phase 3 of the repair program to Skipwith is getting underway and will hopefully be complete before September.  This work will conclude the essential repairs to the main windows which were holding up the building!

Packing up

The end of term is looming and as such we need to prepare a little in advance. Whilst many of us will be enjoying some time off, the house remains busy throughout the holiday as a language school moves in and the essential maintenance can take place.

All day boys must start to remove most of their belongings by the end of this week, with everything out by next Tuesday. Boarders should try to take home most of their things this weekend to avoid too much packing or tidying next week.

8 days to go . . .

Words for teenagers

Interesting...

Junior House Tennis

Some excellent playing has seen our Junior team do well on the tennis courts this afternoon. First pair Will Berks and Conor Cummings came 2nd whilst second pair Cameron Whitelaw and Adam Hunt came 1st! Well done to all players and to those who supported!

Day Boy Survey

As part of the school's ongoing auditing process, day boys have been sent an email from Mr Brown with a link to a day boy survey. We would appreciate it if all day boys could access this and answer the questions (which do not take long!) as soon as possible so that we can try to collate results and do some analysis before the end of term.

Thank you!

Peer Support

An email from Mr Brown to all boys in year 11 (which I hope many will read and apply to!):

Dear Year 11,


I understand how busy you are at the moment with exams, but I know that some of you have expressed an interest in becoming a member of the Peer Support team next year.

If you are interested, then I will give a brief resume of the post in Assembly tomorrow. In the meantime, a letter will be sent home with reports, which contains a job description and application form.

I urge you to consider this post, a central one now in the pastoral care of the College.

Best wishes,

Mr Brown

Welcome!

To view an updated copy of the Skipwith House welcome booklet please click here.

We have nearly 30 new people to welcome in September, but the welcome booklet may be useful for existing parents and pupils as well. An updated version of the house handbook will be posted on the blog in advance of the new academic year.

Skipwith - from a different angle

In preparation for the Holy Communion service at the top of the tower this Friday morning (at 6:30am) I was duty bound to check out the venue and take the opportunity to get some photos of Skipwith from above. The views are stunning up there and you definitely get a sense of calm above the the busy house below!

 

 

Junior Cricket Update

Today our junior team lost in the semi finals to a fine Welsh house team. Even the lucky mascot did not work this time around.

Boys and Food

The house seems full of happy boys and food this morning. Matron continues to sell hot dogs on a Saturday morning and with Ross and Sam's 14th birthdays today there are chocolate cakes going around as well.

Year 9 Studies

Skipwith year 9 really are the luckiest in the school when it comes to their studies. Not only are they in a beautiful old building but they also get the view!!

Junior House Cricket Round 1

The opening round of the Junior house cricket took place this afternoon and we fielded a great team who managed to beat Everett house. We done to those involved and thank you to those who took the time to support (including the new house mascot...Meg).

Meg learns to swim

The year 12 boys were happy to help Meg out when she fell in the pool this evening. She even managed her first doggy paddle!

SCBC Regatta - 15th June

Inter-House Maths Quiz

Teams were invited from each house to compete in a maths quiz. Skipwith boys stepping up to the plate were Blois-Brooke, West, Harris and Meadows. Following a tough competition the boys placed fifth. Huge thanks must go to them for stepping in at short notice, staying late and taking the time to opt in to this event.

House Drama

Many congratulations to the year 9 boys involved in house drama today. We came 2nd overall with what has been acclaimed as being an outstanding performance. Thanks also to the many Skipwith year 10 boys who were involved with helping to run the competition and organise the house groups.

Mobile Phone Etiquette

The policy for use of mobile phones has just been updated and I have copied the policy in its entirety below:

Mobile phones are permitted in the College – in fact, they are encouraged if used appropriately. Many pupils use their phones to collect school emails, photograph notes or record their prep. This is fine, but always seek your teacher’s approval to use them in lessons or have a clearly defined arrangement for classroom use.

The following rules for etiquette were decided following discussions with the Student Council and Senior Staff.

·       Phones are to be kept on silent mode.

·       Phones are to be kept discreet. You may check or send emails but not in public places. Pupils are not to be walking around the school texting and emailing.

·       You are not to use phones for verbal communication in public before 6.30pm.

·       Use of phones in any way during a lesson must be with the permission of the teacher.

·       Be aware of inappropriate use of mobile or any electronic technology. You are well versed in what is acceptable and what is not. Misuse of technology can lead to very serious consequences. If in doubt, read the Shiplake Cyber-bullying policy on the College website.

Inappropriate use of a phone in lessons or around school may result in punishment and the phone being confiscated and given to Reception where it will be locked away for a specific duration.

Use your phones wisely. Have respect for others.

Formidable

The Shiplake matrons, including our very own Miss Tanner, competed in the Race for Life at the weekend. This is a very formidable group of ladies who walked the 5km distance in aid of a very good cause. I can well imagine they pulled a lot more people along with them at the same time as well as feeding people at the finish line, caring for the wounded and giving out spare kit for those who turned up with out appropriate footwear. Where would we be without them!?!?

Prize Update

Congratulations to Matthew Fenton who is one of four boys in the college to receive the year 10 prize, awarded for excellence in effort and attainment throughout the year. We are very proud of your achievement!

House Cufflinks



A reminder that house cufflinks (we are the only house to have them!!) are on sale from Mr Settle for £15 a pair. All members of the sixth form in Skipwith are entitled to wear them and some leavers may wish to have a pair as a memento of their time here. Year 11 who are staying on to next year may also wish to have a pair to add a bit of bling to their smart new suits for September.