2020-21 Round Up

What a year we have had, and yet despite all the lockdowns and restrictions when we look back we really have achieved a lot! Here is our review of the 2020-21 academic year to remind you of some of the fantastic things we have done.

September

After being physically closed to most pupils for almost six months, we were thrilled to finally be able to open our doors again in September. The onsite staff worked tirelessly over the summer to make the school safe for pupils returning and as always, the pupils adapted brilliantly to all the changes that had to be implemented.

Having increased in size by a third, our Lower School returned bigger than ever before complete with a brand new Lower School house. In addition to the Spartans and the Olympians, we welcomed the Titans, whose house colour is orange. All Lower School pupils were issued with a brand new tie incorporating the orange stripe alongside the existing blue and pink.

Since 2005, all Year 9 pupils have camped out on Lynch Island during the first week of term - the island owned by the College which can be seen from the river bank by the Davies Centre. It is a highlight for the boys and a great way for new and existing pupils to integrate so we were keen to make this possible despite the Government restrictions in place, the boys camped out under the College's new stretch tent in house bubbles.

At the end of September, despite the restrictions causing us to cancel all onsite events, our Virtual Dog (and Non-Dog) Show really proved the Shiplake Community are barking mad about dogs with more than 200 entries pouring in to win some fantastic prizes.

October

Kindness became our new normal in October, with Mr Brown launching a new theme which inspired all tutor groups to design posters and create artwork that would appear in all classrooms and communal spaces.

We talked about Dyslexia and Black History and despite sporting fixtures being cancelled, we held our own Six Nations tournament in our Ready 4 Rugby Saturday morning fixtures.

November

November was all about Rowvember and Movember! Our Headmaster challenged every single pupil, member of staff and families in the Shiplake community to row 250m and donate £2.50. We raised an amazing £4,000 for teenage mental health charity, The Charlie Waller Trust.

Throughout the month there was some interesting facial hair seen around the College too! 

Our Remembrance Service was broadcast online into the homes of pupils and parents and our Winter Concert at the end of the month, got Christmas going with a bang.

.

December

Skipwith House were crowned the inter-house drama champions in December and everyone dropped everything to read for our Shiplakebokaflod. A twist on ‘Jolabokaflod’ an Icelandic tradition where on Christmas Eve books are exchanged and families spend the rest of the night reading.

We had an overwhelming response to our First Days Christmas Stocking Collection for children in need in the local area. Our target was to fill 50 stockings with toys, books and toiletries but we actually had enough to fill them twice over!

On the last day of term we were whisked to Treasure Island for swashbuckling fun in the Lower School Panto, and then it was onto our first ever virtual Carol Service which featured some fantastic singing from the College’s choirs.

New Year's Eve saw our Lockdown Awards Ceremony aired on YouTube (based on hard work and efforts during the first lockdown), with pupils, teachers, performers and the community all recognised for the contribution they made to keeping the Shiplake family together.

January

January didn’t start as we had planned with another national lockdown imposed. So it was back to online learning, but the College was fully prepared for a seamless transition.

Our Virtual Park Run was relaunched with the target set for athletes to collectively run, walk or cycle the distance to Kikinduku Primary School in Kenya, and raise funds to sponsor eight Kenyan children to attend secondary school.

We commenced our popular ‘An Evening With...’ series which saw our headmaster in a live conversation with a range of inspiring people across sport, the media and business. Including Andrew Cotter, Willie John McBride, Sir Matthew Pinsent and Lavinya Stennett.

February

The winners were announced for our ‘Scene It At Shiplake’ competition where pupils were invited to recreate famous posters or scenes from their favourite movies. From Men in Black to Dumb and Dumber the entries were simply amazing!

Our athletes reached Kikinduku in Kenya raising over £4,000 for Gap Africa, which would go towards sponsoring the eight children to attend secondary school.

March

After a long eight weeks, our gates were open again and pupils were delighted to be back.

Welsh House were once again the winners of our House Singing Competition, this time a virtual twist on the Masked Singer.

We celebrated World Book Day, International Women’s Day and our Irish staff went all out for St Patrick’s Day.

April

A big announcement was made in April. We will be welcoming girls into Year 7 from September 2023, with the vision and aim to be a fully co-educational day and boarding school by 2027. We had an amazing response from pupils, parents, staff and prospective parents.

Our Eco-Committee achieved a Bronze Medal Award in their quest to reach Green Flag Status as part of the Eco Schools initiative.

We also had some fantastic concerts to entertain us - for the Spring Concert and the 2021 Soloists Concert we were wowed by the talents and hard work of some of the College’s advanced musicians.

May

Our new prefects for 2021-22 were announced and our 2020-21 prefects and chapel wardens finally got to run the Pancake Race, albeit three months late!

We became one with nature during Mental Health Awareness Week, with prizes for pupils in Mr Brown’s nature inspired photographic, art or poem competition.

Our outgoing Year 13s took a dawn trip to Maidensgrove for Ascension Day to reflect on their time at Shiplake and their futures.

And, Bruce the Maori generated lots of energy and excitement amongst the pupils when he came to talk about respect for each other, Maori culture and of course taught the pupils the Haka.

. 

June

It was all about the rowing in June/July with medal hauls at National Schools, Marlow Regatta and Henley Women’s Regatta. Our girls rowing wins were a Shiplake first and we are very proud of their hard work and achievements.

Our cricket 1st XI also finished a respectable second place in the Reading Blue Coat T20 tournament.

Our staff took on the three peaks during half term and Mr Bowden ran the entire length of the Thames Path!

Enterprise Week went down a storm with the pupils, with pizza, Fifa tournaments and a mufti day raising over £1,000 for Gap Africa.

Sports Day competitive fixtures crowned Everett the winners of this year’s Baldry Cup and Lower School were able to go on their residential trips.

After a year of lockdowns and restrictions, we are so thankful that we were able to give our Year 13s a good send off with Prize Giving, the Leavers' Service and Celebration Dinner on the last day of term.

Have a fantastic summer all!