By September 2027 we will be fully co-educational in all year groups. Above all, we are keen to give our pupils the best possible co-ed experience, and to have a balanced house system in terms of numbers and ratios of girls and boys.
Our pastoral support structure revolves around year groups, with pupils based in various buildings around the College – this also allows us to address year group specific aspects more easily, and in a more homogenous way.
Pupils in Year 7 and 8 join the Lower School, based in the Stableyard. Boarding pupils in Years 7 to 11 are based in Burr Building, while day pupils are based in year groups in other locations. Sixth Form day pupils are based in the Sixth Form Centre while girls' Sixth Form boarding is in the Gilson and Everett Buildings and boys' Sixth Form boarding is in the College Building.
Each Building is run by a Housemaster or Housemistress who is always on hand to offer their support to pupils in all academic, co-curricular, emotional and social domains. Pupils can also all rely on the assistance of other leadership staff, their House Pastoral Lead, and a dedicated team of tutors.
Please visit the individual Building pages to find out more about each one.
A central part of Shiplake – and some of the most enjoyable moments – are seeing different year groups interact, especially in the House competitions such as House Singing and sport. We are very keen to maintain this, and to ensure some of best traditions are kept alive, and indeed revitalised. These also offer leadership opportunities for our pupils. House identity is part of the history and heritage of Shiplake. Therefore, we will maintain our five traditional House names with pupils as Heads and Deputy Heads of each House. All pupils have a House affiliation and Houses meet regularly through House assemblies and a member of staff (House Lead) co-ordinates ‘House’ events.