By Land, Air, and Water

Last week, on Wednesday 10 May, the three sections of the College's CCF embarked on their respective field days. Joining the CCF is compulsory for all pupils in Year 10 and optional from Year 11, with sessions taking place as part of the Tuesday co-curricular afternoon. The programme incorporates a number of activities including physical training, first aid, field-craft, navigation and teamwork drills and each term, the sections undertake a field day. Read on to find out what happened last week!

Army

On Wednesday 10 May Shiplake College's CCF Army section deployed to Piddington Military training area to conduct a field day. The aim of the day was to practise reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.

During the day the cadets practised their skills with the senior cadets taking a leadership role. Each individual section was given an area to search and report back what they found. They were then re-tasked to set up observation posts overlooking individual sites around the training area. Each location was then visited by persons of interest who acted suspiciously at each location. The teams were then required to return to the base and report back what was seen. For some cadets, this was a big step up from the weekly CCF training at College but the smiles on their faces at the end of the day indicated that they enjoyed it.

Well done to the senior cadets for taking on a leadership role and thanks to the staff, Lt Claridge and Miss Russell, whose help on the day was invaluable.

Report by Mr Macpherson

Royal Air Force

We had a fantastic day at RAF Brize Norton! Highlights included meeting the Station Commander, Group Captain Claire O'Grady, and visiting members of 99 Squadron who took us round one of the eight Globemaster C-17s. It was fascinating to hear from the pilot "Smithy" how much fun the C-17 was to fly and to hear from the loadmaster, Max, who told us how he loaded and flew with 450 evacuees from Kabul in Afghanistan.

We also had a great session hearing about the careers in the RAF which interested the cadets. We visited the Air Traffic Control station and met a recently qualified Air Traffic Controller and then spent time at the onsite Fire Station firing one of the fire engine's water cannons. We also learned about where all the testing for moving different pieces of equipment takes place and saw the importance of physics and maths in performing the calculations. Overall, it was very fascinating to get an insight into how the UK's largest RAF station operates. 

Report by Dr Chare

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy section undertook waterborne training for their summer term field day, including some of the practical elements needed to complete their 2-star syllabus training. This includes sailing as an adventurous training activity which we carried out at Reading Sailing Club.

After rigging the toppers and a safety brief, Lt Pettifer outlined the aims of the morning and explained the principals of sailing to the cadets. The wind had picked up to a good breeze as they set sail; the conditions were ideal allowing the cadets a chance to show off their skills. After lunch, the wind had strengthened and became quite blustery, providing lots of capsize drill practice! Despite the rain and gloomy conditions in the afternoon, all the cadets enjoyed a good day of sailing.

Report by Mr Lawson