Open Morning

It was great to show off Skipwith to prospective new parents on Saturday. Mr Muhley took a couple of shots of our house guides Chris Drobik, Josh Cuffe, Anton Renouf and Adam Hunt waiting to educate the future. Carl Harris was on a tour but was just as nosey a few minutes earlier.

A busy week!

We had a bumper busy Skipwith House last week!

Junior House Sport kicked off and our first fixture was Skipwth Eggar v Skipwith Wells-Furby. It finished 2-2. The rest of the football tournament was great fun and the second half is next Monday. Senior Football starts tomorrow.

The rugby tournament on Saturday was also great and the representation was fantastic.

Head of House Matt Horsfall addressed us at check before any House Sport had taken place to remind the group about losing or winning with dignity and playing in the correct manner. It was a nice touch!

On Thursday there was a lovely mini concert in the Eve Lecture Theatre, where among others Matt Aldridge (pictured), Dhanyal Butt, Tom McCooke and Jordan Gibson performed. Jordan song 'Stormy Weather' has been stuck in our heads ever since.

We also had Nav's birthday last week. He celebrated by completed our most outrageous catwalk of the year so far to September's birthday song - Mr Big Stuff...

A great week!

Black Tie Dinner

Thank you parents, catering, staff and musicians. It was a great night. I hope everyone enjoyed it. We look forward to next year.

House Sport

This year's house sports competitions kick off this week and there is a great buzz in Skipwith about this. The first competitions are Junior (years 9 & 10) Football and Rugby. Junior Football rounds 1-3 are on Thursday 25th September and the Junior Rugby full competition is taking place this Saturday 27th September, replacing full school fixtures. Senior Football (year 11, 12 & 13) kicks off next Monday.

This is the first opportunity for our new House system to work. We now have divided into two Skipwith teams, Skipwith Eggar and Skipwith Wells-Furby. 

Reasons for the names:

John Eggar was the Headmaster from 1963 to 1979. 

During his time here:

Numbers rose from 152 to about 315

Facilities improved greatly, with new classrooms and the agreement put in place to use ‘new field’ for sport

The first cricket pavilion was opened

The Sports hall was built, which opened in 1980, following a successful appeal for £130,000

The Headmaster’s house was built

Hans Well-Furby joined Shiplake in May 1960.

He was the Deputy Head and used the Office now occupied by the Skipwith Housemaster. He had a reputation for being fairly fierce...

Hans wrote the book 'Wish and fulfilment, The story of Shiplake College'

Due to the size of Skipwith, with a total of 112 students, we have split into these two equal halves for sport in an act of fairness towards other houses with less students to choose from. The reaction to this has been mixed from our boys, who see it as a significant disadvantage but the reasoning behind it is to enable more inclusion and potentially fairer games. We will have to see how it works out and the boys must play with pride and belief. It is important to point out that these halves are not random, nor are they meant to be 'A' and 'B' teams. They have been specifically chosen to be as equal in sporting ability as possible.

The positive is that our highest placed team will score points overall towards the Baldry Cup.

I hope the boys play well. Parents are invited to attend the Junior Rugby on Saturday 27th September, which begins at 13.30.

Shiplake College Sports Fixtures

If you need information about where and when a fixture is taking place please use the excellent Shiplake Sports website. It is easy to follow and should lead to a considerable decrease in needless questions to staff!

http://www.shiplakesports.org.uk/

Charity Walk - Final Sponsorship push

Please can there be a final push to get sponsored for the walk on Monday. We are aiming at a minimum of £50 sponsorship per student.

All details can be found here: http://www.shiplake.org.uk/sponsoredwalk2014

Parents are more than welcome to walk, and there is information on this in the newsletter being sent out today.

Many Thanks

Mr Duncan

A fun and busy week

Wow....

What a fantastic start to the term in Skipwith House!

A big thank you to all the team for their hard work over the last few days and to parents for your support. Friday was the culmination of a busy few days and the whole house bonded at the House Event. Pictures below.

Highlights and key points:

Year 12 and 13 courses agreed and started
New Year 12 boarders settled in (Jonathan, Vincent, Oliver, Chris, Jack and Anton)
Year 11 returned for their crucial GCSE year
Year 10 starting GCSE courses (Special welcome to Ieuan Thomas)
Year 9 starting their journey in Skipwith House
Year 9 Island Adventure
Full House Assembly
Full House Party
Duties and Prep underway
New Prep Diaries issued to years 9, 10 and 11
Rugby and Rowing started

Areas for development:

Organisation of sports kit.
Making toast without it burning.

Year 9 Island Adventure

During the first week for the new year 9 group, the boys took part in Shiplake College's annual 'Island Adventure'. The weather was fantastic and spirits were high as the boys departed for the “Lynch”. Accompanied by Skipwith Tutors, Mr Brown, Mr Muhley and Mr Walter, plus our crack team of year 13 Prefects, Chapel Wardens and Head of House the boys were certainly in safe hands.

Upon arrival to the Island, the boys were given instructions to find a suitable location for them to sleep the night. Off the boys went in their pairs to find beds for evening. Once the boys had found a location it was up to them to construct a shelter using only string and large tarpaulin sheet. This was not an easy task and the boys certainly excelled themselves with their erecting skills. However the best and most imaginative shelter was Harrison Richards and Charlie Dodd’s tetrahedral shaped shelter which proved popular with the staff members (see photograph).

Once the boys had constructed their shelter for the evening it was time for Mr MacPherson’s MAN DINNER. On the menu was burgers for starter, hot dogs for main and chicken for desert.

The food did not last long once it was in the boy's hands. With Mr MacPherson’s dog Otto keeping the boys entertained, bedtime soon came around.

In the morning, the boys were treated to a breakfast Mars bar before heading back to school for a day of lessons.

A special thank you must go to Mr MacPherson for organising and running the evening and also thank you  to Harry Berkley, Phil Green, Sam Hallatt and also head of house Matt Horsfall.  Written by Mr Muhley