Making Magic in Lower School

We all know that Shiplake has that special Hogwarts feel to it; a magical place where young people come to live and learn with their brilliant teachers. Well now, it’s a little bit more magical!

As part of the Lower School’s Thursday afternoon co-curricular carousel, which includes Art, Music and Book Club, our Year 7 and Year 8 pupils will now be learning… magic! Chris Whitelock of CW Magic performed a show on Thursday 6 September to showcase the tricks and skills he will be teaching our pupils in the weeks leading up to the Christmas break. From card tricks to sleight-of-hand, our youngest pupils will soon be dazzling the whole College.

Chris has said ‘It’s been great so far! All the kids seem super eager to learn so that makes my job a lot easier. The thing with magic is that it takes time and practice, which is why I’m here to help. I’ll be teaching them some really fun stuff that they impress their parents or fellow boarders with. Once I’ve taught the basics, the more complicated stuff will come a lot easier as it’s all based on the same principles.’

Learning magic may seem like a ‘soft option’ for a Secondary School but the benefits of learning magic as a hobby include the development of self-confidence, creativity and charisma. When Year 7 pupils join, they are understandably nervous or tentative in group situations. The purpose of teaching magic at Shiplake is to help to encourage our youngest pupils out of their shells in a fun and unique way.

Assistant Head of Lower School, Mrs Keli Thomas, said ‘The Lower School boys have been lucky enough to take part in magic lessons. The professional magician will be taking a group every Thursday in the Lower School afternoon carousel. They will be learning a range of tricks from number magic, balancing a coin on the edge of a piece of paper and card tricks. Different groups will learn different tricks so they can then teach one another. After last week’s session, the Year 7 group had a brilliant time and said it was really fun and the magician is very talented.’