Isabella Grace Brownley

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Brownley, 

Best wishes to you both and Isabella from all in Everett House.

Jen and I are very proud to announce the birth of Isabella Grace Brownley who was born on 30th December in the Royal Berkshire Hospital, just in time for lunch, at a weight of 8lb 12oz.

Both Jen and the baby are doing very well and are happy to be home. 

Regards,

Jon

House Colours

At the Christmas lunch on Thursday I was delighted to award Peter Baker and Freddie Lang their House colours. Good all round contributions to House and school sport, good duty nights, and great comments from Rev Cousins about their role as House Chapel Wardens made the decision an easy one. Well done to both.

House Social

On Thursday night we gathered in the Tithe Barn for pizza and chicken wings and some music. The boys and girls demolished 35 Dominos pizzas, but left most of the chips and wings, much to the delight of my dogs! Bill Su did a virtuoso performance of Gang Nam style, followed by Y12 and Y11 singing and swinging with Mr Brownley choosing the tunes. Thanks to DJ’s Dom, Myles and Jamie for setting up the lights and music.

Final Assembly awards

Well done to the following Everett pupils who received prizes from the Headmaster.

Kieran Leach for an outstanding number of academic excellence slips received during the term. A total of thirty four! Rory O’Conor also received a prize for his haul of thirteen. Marcus Colao, Austin Burnand, Freddie Ireland and Freddie Lang all received awards for academic attainment. Josh Towell, Tom Mottram and Chris Baker won awards for academic effort. Greg Cooke and Jamie Mottram received awards for overall academic performance. Josh Hirst received a music prize for all his contributions this term.

Rugby Awards

Junior rugby Awards – Well done to Joseph Gilbert-Blay for winning player of the season for the U14CXV and to Faan Tsang for winning most improved player for the U14C XV. Hassan Rubbani picked up his well deserved Junior Full Colours after a very good season in the U15A XV.

Senior rugby awards – at the Senior Dinner on Tuesday evening the following awards were presented to Everett pupils. 2^nd XV player of the season Peter Baker, 2^nd XV most improved player Charlie Proctor. U16 Colours to Chris Baker, Greg Cooke and Rory O’Conor. Outstanding service to 3^rd XV Zachy Mettawa. Half Senior Colours to Peter Baker, Anthony Miarli, Will Clarke and Markus Grun. Full Senior colours to Oran Mehmet and the Plato plate to Oran Mehmet. Well done to all.

Pictured below are Will, Markus and Oran in a festive 1^st XV

Winter Concert

On Wednesday evening in front of packed audience in the sports hall, Everett musicians (and a few from other Houses!) gave us a great nights entertainment. Opening the evening was an energetic performance on the drums and accomplished piano playing by Josh and Eleanor in the Motown bands rendition of Feeling Good. Willing? conscripts to the Headmaster’s choir, Kieran, Freddie and Charlie were up next with Come from Heaven above. Lucy, Emma and Eleanor performed a very tuneful and enjoyable seasonal favourite Let it Snow with the girls’ choir, hot on their heels were the Rock choir – Josh on percussion, Robbie, Chris, Gus, and Oran on vocals with two contemporary songs, Things we lost in the fire and Counting stars. They were followed by the Chamber choir with Birthday Carol – Robbie, Chris and Josh singing well. Finally Chris, Josh and Greg in the Senior orchestra played The Planets medley followed by an energetic rendition of Sleigh ride.

Excellence award for Kieran

Excellence award – this week Mr Jones the Deputy Headmaster recognised the magnificent effort this term by Kieran Leach, he had earned the most excellence slips in Y10 in the first half of term and no less than 9 last week alone! Well done Kieran.

CCF Biennial Inspection

Last week the CCF Biennial Inspection took place, several Everett boys were involved in a very successful afternoon, in particular well done to Gus and Jamie who were part of the banner party that took the salute from Lt Col Ladd. Also well done to Myles, Dom, Jamie and Gus who led their platoon sections well during the afternoons events. All the cadets took part in a variety of activities. The Royal Navy section conducted man overboard drills, as well as kayaking and command tasks on the river. In the squash courts, the RAF section learnt about the theory of helicopter flight before putting this theory into practice by experimenting with some remote controlled helicopters. The Army section took part in a blank firing pairs fire and manoeuvre activity on the New Field whilst the Year 10 recruits completed a number of short activities such as command tasks, drill, a first aid scenario and an introduction to the Cadet weapon systems.

Excellence award for Emma

Well done to Emma Haynes who received an award in assembly this morning from Mr Jones for the most excellence slips gained in the first half of term.

Computing competition

Last week Mr Caine organised an entry into a National competition designed to introduce students to the applications of computer science, in particular problem solving using computational skills and logical thinking. A good entry from Everett pupils resulted in some pleasing performances. In the Intermediate class, Distinctions went to Faan Tsang, Harvey Ward, Joseph Gilbert-Blay and Bilal Akeil. A great effort from Josh Towell made him the overall winner of the Senior category which included Y10 and Y11 pupils, his prize was a Raspberry Pi computer.

Philippine DEC appeal Mufti Day

Well done to all in Everett Y9 to 12 who raised £130.50

House badminton and table tennis

Junior House table tennis and badminton – This Thursday Charlie Ward, Darien Patel, Bill Su, Faan Tsang, Oscar Fagerstrom-Day and Kieran Leach took on the other Houses in a keenly fought battle on the ping pong table and badminton court. Although we didn’t triumph, several games were won and all were played in a good spirit. All the boys enjoyed the afternoon and did the house proud – well done.
Senior House table tennis and badminton - On Friday it was the turn of the seniors, initially volunteers were hard to come by, but Harry Geisler, Myles Everett, James Martin, James Baker and Guy Pollard stepped up to the mark. Again they played in great spirit but found the competition tough, however they won a few hard fought games and didn’t give up. The final results are below.

Juniors Badminton: Seniors Badminton:
1st – Orchard 1st - Burr
2nd – Burr 2nd - Welsh
3rd – Skipwith 3rd - Skipwith
4th – Everett 4th - Orchard
5th – Welsh 5th - Everett

Juniors Table tennis: Seniors Table Tennis:
1st – Burr 1st - Welsh
2nd – Welsh 2nd - Burr
3rd – Orchard 3rd - Orchard
4th – Everett 4th - Everett
5th – Skipwith 5th - Skipwith

Junior House rugby

On a cold Wednesday afternoon, in difficult muddy conditions, all of our Y9 and 10 pupils who were on games took part in the House rugby competition. With no subs and no where to hide in a 9 aside game, it was a tough afternoons rugby for all players. The Juniors gave of their all and there were 2 pleasing wins for the A side they also drew 2 and lost 2 matches whilst the B’s faired better winning several games and only losing 1. The overall results are below, a good showing especially 2nd place for the B’s.
A
1st Orchard

2nd Skipwith

3rd Burr

4th Everett

5th Welsh

B

1st Welsh

2nd Everett

2nd Burr

4th Skipwith

5th Orchard

Junior Leader

After discussions with House tutors and Mr Brownley, we were delighted to announce this morning the new Junior Leader for Everett will be Tom Mottram. He has made a positive impact since joining the house this year, made a big effort to quickly integrate himself and is already proactive on the charity committee. He has also given of his all in House sport and will I am sure do a great job.

Bill Su cooks up a tasty treat

As part of his IGCSE course Bill has been studying the topic of health and fitness. This module has incorporated all elements of a healthy, balanced lifestyle. As well as mastering various terms and jargon associated with sports and exercise, an important focus has been on healthy eating. Bill along with his fellow students decided to make egg fried rice with bean-sprouts, spring onions and sausages; a dish they appropriately named ‘Shiplake fried rice’. Joe Sung, Bill Su and William Yan are pictured below enjoying the tasty lunch. Bill might find himself busy on Wednesday nights if the Everett boys decide to cook rather than order their usual take away.

Winter Concert

A number of Everett pupils will be performing in the Winter Concert advertised below.

Remembrance Sunday

Thank you to those parents and pupils who came to the service on Sunday. Well done to Jamie Mottram who carried the CCF standard so well in both the service and at the wreath laying ceremony at the memorial in Shiplake, thanks also to Zach Messer who helped with the CCF parade. Our presence is always much appreciated by the local members of the Royal British Legion.

Berkshire U16 selection

Congratulations to Greg Cooke who has been selected to play for Berkshire U16 on Monday evening at Maidenhead RFC, all in Everett wish him well and look forward to hearing about the game.

Henley Sculls win for Tom Mottram

On the final Sunday of half term Tom Mottram was competing in the Henley Sculls Head. I was pleased to hear he came a very creditable 5th in the J15A 1x, but very impressed with his win in the J15A 2x with fellow Shiplake student Seb Newman. Well done Tom.

Golf success for Charlie

Charlie Hunt and Harry Geisler are both enjoying their golf activity.
Charlie recently benefited from some coaching at Henley golf club. He went on to win the putting competition comfortably! Perhaps we should challenge the other Houses to inter-House golf?

The results are in - House football

Well done to the Everett Senior team who came a very respectable 2nd place, the Juniors also did well, see report below from Mr Rowlinson.

Over the last two weeks both the junior and senior boys have represented their houses for the annual house football competition. As ever, it was a hotly contested affair with a carefully considered team selection process. The strategic use of substitutes was also key during the competition, which was played over two afternoons, in which they played up to 3 matches back to back. This year Skipwith House walked away with the Junior title and Orchard House the senior, neither house losing a game. In the Junior competition second, third and fourth spots were all very close with hardly anything in it points wise. Congratulations to all teams involved.
Junior House Football Results
1. Skipwith
2. Welsh
3. Burr
4. Everett
5. Orchard
Senior House Football Results
1. Orchard
2. Everett
3. Burr/Welsh
4. ---
5. Skipwith

J.R.Rowlinson Master i/c Football

House football

Junior Football, round 2 - On Thursday afternoon the Juniors played their final three matches. This afternoon the team gelled a lot better and it showed with a much improved team performance. Two close games followed by a thrilling win against Burr rounded off the competition in style.
Senior Football, round 2 - Friday afternoon saw more excellent football from the Seniors, again our passing play was sound and we put constant pressure on the opposition defence. Luke Wilkinson back from illness lent a new threat up front and both he and Alex Sanderson scored in a thrilling encounter against Skipwith and a good win. An end to end battle with Burr saw a well deserved draw, whilst a narrow defeat to Orchard failed to put a dampener on what was great afternoons sport.
We await the final rankings and scores from Mr Rowlinson.

Regatta success for Everett rowers

Well done to Gus, Dom and Tommy who all came back with wins from last Sundays Worcester regatta. Altogether there were eight victories for Shiplake crews over the 4,500 metres course. Gus McCulloch and Dom Marsh triumphed in the Novice 4+, whilst Tommy Mottram took first in the J15 1x.

Senior House football Round 1

The referees of the first round all remarked on Everett’s good team play and commented that we did play the best football, unfortunately at times the woodwork frustrated us and we fell victim to quick breaks form the opposition. We suffered 2-1 losses to Skipwith and Orchard, but a convincing 3-1 win over Skipwith was a result of great interplay, Proctor, Miarli, Grun and Sanderson proved a force up front, Ireland proved a great midfielder and was my player of the afternoon, but all the team played well.

CCF Field days

The Y10 boys enjoyed a varied day of activities on Thursday, including mountain biking, air rifle shooting, camouflage and concealment and ‘rat pack’ cooking. The seniors in the Army and RN section had overnight exercises on Wednesday and on the Thursday – the RN section canoed, sailed, and learnt to helm the motor launch, whilst the Army section undertook ambush drills, section attacks and recce patrols. The RAF section visited the museum at RAF Hendon.

Junior House Football round 1

On Monday Everett Junior footballers took to the pitch and played in three very closely contested games, unfortunately losing two but drawing one. Lots to play for in the second round, their great team spirit will I am sure bring success.

Academic Scholarship

Congratulations to Freddie Lang, who has been awarded an academic scholarship. His AS results, together with an excellent attitude in class led to the award being made by the Headmaster just prior to exeat. Well done Freddie, thoroughly deserved.

Senior House rugby

On Wednesday afternoon the senior boys played in a very competitive 7’s tournament. An afternoon of free flowing rugby with exciting and close games. We drew against Burr, lost narrowly to Orchard and had our best game against eventual winner’s Welsh House. Our final game saw some very tired legs running out against Skipwith, but brave tackling and two good tries couldn’t save us from another loss.

Prefect and Chapel Warden blessings

This morning Bishop Colin led a service in the Chapel to Bless the new College Chapel Wardens and Prefects. Pictured below are Gus, Freddie and Peter.

Harvest festival Sunday 6th October

Everett House Harvest Festival Sunday service in the Chapel on the 6th October starting at 19.30pm.
Once a year each House organises a Sunday Chapel Service and this year Everett have been asked to run the Harvest Festival service. Everett boarding pupils are expected to attend and it would be lovely to see as many families there as possible.
The College will be supporting the work of the Reading Drop-in Centre and we would very much appreciate donations for the service to go to this worthy local charity.
The Drop-in Centre have suggested the following items that they are particularly short of - any tinned meats, tinned peas or carrots, mustard, marmite, peanut butter, chocolate spread, breakfast cereals, coffee, squash, sugar and also toiletries.
They have requested no pasta or rice as they have recently had a bulk donation. These can be brought on the evening of the service or sent to school with your son or daughter over the next two weeks, I will start a collection box in the House office.
With grateful thanks for your help and support.

Academic and school awards go to Freddie Ireland - John Chapman trophy winner

Congratulations to Freddie Ireland who last night returned to his old school Isleworth and Syon to attend their prize giving ceremony.
Freddie won 3 subject awards and an academic excellence award following his excellent GCSE results.
He was also the well deserved inaugural recipient of the John Chapman Trophy.
His old Headmaster explained this new award was to go to an all-rounder who had led by example in many walks of school life.
Well done Freddie, from all in Everett.

CCF Promotions

Congratulations to Gus, Jamie, Myles and Dom who have all been promoted today - see below from Major Seccombe

Shiplake College CCF
Army section
Promotions: Tuesday 17th September 2013

To Colour Serjeant
Sjt Gus McCulloch

To Serjeant
Cpl Harry Hogan
Cpl Jamie Mottram

To Corporal
LCpl Myles Everett
LCpl Dom Marsh
LCpl Harry Berkley
LCpl Charles Galligan

G Seccombe
Maj
Contingent Commander
Shiplake College

"Shoeshine boys buff their tenners into a fortune."

It may not be Vogue or GQ but Josh and Austin have made it to the national website for the Tenner competition.
Scroll down to see them.

http://www.tenner.org.uk/media-library/view/pictures

Everett teams came 1st and 2nd in the College competition organised by Head of Economics Mr Bluck last term.

Y9 Victory

Congratulations to our Y9. On Wednesday night as the other year groups were munching on pizzas, our Y9 Boarders were involved in an indoor football competition organised by the School prefects. Gus and Oran manager and player/coach respectively led us to a clean sweep against the other boarding houses. First House win of the year, well done Y9!

Island Adventure for Y9

Our new Y9 spent a night on Shiplake College’s own island in the Thames, Lynch Island, which provided a great bonding experience. Along with Mr Brownley early Thursday evening, after lessons and games, the boys were ferried across to the island. In groups of three the boys were given the task of devising a shelter for the night using two pieces of canvass, ropes, tent-pegs and the island’s abundant supply of trees and shrubs. After the shelters had been constructed the boys cooked their supper and sang camp-fire songs. They were lucky with the weather, the rain held off until just as dawn broke, they were woken by the sound of rain splattering on their canvas but the improvised shelters did their job and kept the boys dry.

Academic Awards

Many congratulations to Jamie Mottram and James Baker, following their fantastic GCSE results, Jamie was awarded a Y12 academic scholarship and James a Y12 academic exhibition.

1st XV squad - South Coast Kings Tournament

Congratulations to

Oran Mehmet, Markus Grun, Will Clarke, Peter Baker and Anthony Miarli

All have been selected in the 1st XV squad to play in this Sunday's South Coast Kings rugby tournament.

Year 9 2013/14 day one

The new Everett year 9 group capped off a busy first day at Shiplake by honing their rugby skills, yesterday.

Beginning with some simple passing techniques with Everett Tutor Mr Cottrell, the boys began training for their assault on the junior house rugby trophy! 

It was pleasing to see the group bond together so well and it looks like we have a group of keen rugby players, with some boys catching the eyes of the U14A and B coaches. 

Running the lines with Mr Rowlinson...

and some offloading with new Everett visiting tutor, Mr Miller. 

After an introduction to Everett and beginning a carousel of activities, the boys joined the Welsh House year 9s in an organised volleyball game in the pool and the boarders chilled by watching a DVD later with a can of coke and a mars bar (thanks to Mr Lawson).  

Well done to the boys for getting through their first day and I hope they enjoy the rest of the week!

Welcome back

Welcome Back

I hope you all had a great summer and that your sons and daughters are refreshed and ready for the new academic year.

A warm welcome to our new Y9, 10 and 12 parents, we have 8 new Y9, 4 new Y10 and 4 new Y12 starting in Everett this year.

I just wanted to clarify the start of term arrangements
Timings for Return to school
New Y9 Monday 2nd September 11.00 (11.30 day pupils)
New Y10 Tuesday 3rd September 15.30
New Y12 Tuesday 3rd September 09.15
Current pupils
Y13 Monday 2nd September Prefects and chapel wardens 08.30
Y13 Tuesday 3rd September Remaining Y13 12.00
Y12 Tuesday 3rd September 09.45
Y10 and 11 Tuesday 3rd September 20.00

House Outing
This term we are going paintballing followed by a BBQ on Friday 6th September.

There is a whole school chapel service next Sunday evening, dress smart casual.

I look forward to seeing you all next week.

Medals for Michael Glover in Lucerne

Congratulations to Michael Glover who won Silver and Gold in Lucerne last weekend. Along with Max Hearnden, Marek Lapham and Harry Vardigans, he made significant contributions to Great Britain’s overall team victory in the Coupe de Jeunesse. Strong performances from the British team saw them ease the Swiss hosts into second place and triumph over international competition that included Austria, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Training hard for three weeks after Henley Regatta, the oarsmen had to learn how to row together though it was certainly beneficial for the Coxed Four that it included Hearnden, Vardigans and Lapham at 2, 3 and stroke respectively. They began well with victory over the Spanish crew on Saturday with a margin of just over a second. Michael Glover joined his Shiplake colleagues for the JM8+ on Saturday but it was the Italian crew, who finished just under a second ahead of the British crew, who took gold. Sunday was another busy day for the Shiplake trio in the coxed four. Spain, eager for revenge after Saturday’s reversal began well and the Coxed Four did enough to stay ahead of third placed Italy, contribute valuable points to the final team tally and preserve arms, legs and lungs for another tussle with the Italians in the JM8+. Recovering throughout the sculls the four Shiplake boys were ready for the penultimate race of the regatta. Experiencing technical problems, they were placed sixth out of seventh at the start. By the 750 metre mark they had pulled through the field to place level with the Italians. In a tense finish they gained a lead of just under a length and reversed Saturday’s result with a time of 5.48, quicker than the Italian’s Saturday winning time. It was a very impressive conclusion to a weekend of great international racing for oarsmen who had trialled and trained for ten months for those prestigious GB vests. RESULTS: Coupe de Jeunesse: GB 1st GB Junior Men’s Team 2nd GB Junior Ladies’ Team 1st Saturday results involving Shiplake oarsmen GB JM 4+ 1st GB JM 8+ 2nd Sunday results involving Shiplake oarsmen GB JM 4+ 2nd GB JM 8+ 1st

GB selection for Michael Glover

Huge congratulations to Michael Glover, all his hard work on the river and in the gym have paid off.

Michael has been selected along with three other Shiplake rowers to race in the Great Britain VIII at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in Lucerne Switzerland on Saturday 3rd August and Sunday 4^th August.

The boys were involved in final trials last week and after an intense selection process they gained selection. They are now involved in a gruelling training schedule before racing in Switzerland at the beginning of August.

Results will be published on this website. http://www.cdj2013.ch/node/26

South African Rugby Tour

Good luck to the seven Everett boys in the South African Tour squad. I am sure they will enjoy the experience and come back better players and with an insight into a different culture. Pictured below are Will Clarke, Peter Baker, Markus Grun, Milo Taylor, Freddie Lang and Oran Mehmet. Also in the team from Everett is new Y12 pupil Freddie Ireland, a great chance to get to know and bond with his new school and team mates.

To follow the tour  http://shiplakerugby.wordpress.com www.facebook.com/ShiplakeCollegeRugby

www.twitter.com/ShiplakeRugby

Shiplake College’s senior rugby squad depart on August 2nd for a 15 day tour of South Africa. After their flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg and internal transfer to Cape Town the players will acclimatise at the Alan Zondagh Rugby Performance Centre before they begin their programme of five matches.
A training session at the impressive facilities of the Stellenbosch University, which has produced over 155 rugby Springboks, will help them understand how important Rugby is in South African culture. A mix of hotels and billeting with opposition players will further help the players to understand the South African way of life.
A Cape peninsular tour, a hike up Table Mountain, the renowned Garden Route and game drives at the Kariega Game Reserve will introduce the squad to South Africa’s natural beauty.

Head of House

Always one of the hardest descisions as a Housemaster to make, with strong candidates, all with a good set of skills it was always going to be a tough choice. So I was delighted to announce at the Everett end of term meal

Gus McCulloch Head of House for 2013-14.
Oran Mehmet Deputy Head of House

I wish them both well.

Fane Award - an award for a Y9 pupil who is a true House man, a good character and who fully involves themselves in all aspects of school life and House life, this year goes to a deserving winner Hassan Rubbani.

Carolyn, Matthew, Sophie and I wish all Everett pupils and their families a relaxing and enjoyable summer holiday.

End of term assembly - Winners of the Bevan trophy and lots more Everett success

End of term assembly – lots of Everett success and awards!

On Tuesday evening I was a proud Housemaster as I listened to the awards and presentations, Everett pupils and the House featured strongly.

Silver DofE awards were presented to James Baker, Myles Everett, Ben Markham, Dom Marsh and Jamie Mottram.

Music commendations to Chris Baker and Josh Hirst.

Art Full Colours to Rose Parker and Art commendation to Harry Frost.

Drama commendation to James Martin, Drama half colours to Donal Borg-Neal and Ben Markham and Full Drama colours to Dom Marsh.

Rugby Blazer badge and Rowing Blazer badge to Michael Glover.

Tennis full colours to Harry Cheesewright and Tennis Blazer badge and Senior player of the Year to Kit Bowerin.

Everett house won the Junior Athletics standards trophy, the Junior Athletics Championship trophy and the Junior House Tennis trophy.

Baldry trophy – a keenly contested trophy with much House rivalry for the overall best performing House in Sport, this year we came a very creditable 2^nd place. A fantastic achievement and glowing testament to all our boys and girls who have given their all in House sport.

Winner of the Bevan trophy – awarded to the House who gained the most academic excellence awards per pupil, we came out top – winners with an average of 14.65 excellence slips per pupil, Everett tries hard in the classroom as well as on the sports fields and river. A fantastic effort!

Summer Concert

On Monday evening we were treated to one of the best concerts I have been to for a while at Shiplake. A real mix of styles, instruments and performers. Everett pupils were involved in many performances and showed we have a lot of musical talent in the house. Rose Parker, Olivia Peacock and Anna Proctor sang Walking on Sunshine in the girls Choir, Chris Baker and Josh Hirst performed an entertaining medley of Bond themes with the chamber choir. Will Tse along with band mate Dan Noble aka Atlantic Shore performed confidently and energetically on guitar and vocals. The end of the interval was signalled by an equally energetic performance from Josh Hirst and Chris Baker in the Samba band. Greg Cooke, Josh Hirst and Chris Baker were part of a very accomplished performance by the Senior Orchestra of the theme from Jurassic Park and a West Side Story medley. Chris Baker was also part of the Shiplake brass group, a busy evening on stage from him.

Tenner competition – Everett take 1st and 2nd place.

At the start of May, the Business and Economics Department decided to trial the Tenner competition by giving year 9 students ten pounds to set up and successfully run a business. Highlights included an attempted massage business, ice cream in rainy weather and a loss-making food stall, where each item was sold at a loss. Nevertheless, it was a valuable experience for all those that took part and after much deliberation; the department is pleased to announce the following groups for first place and runners up in Shiplake’s Tenner competition.

Winner:  #thatoreo for their ice cream business.

Darien Patel
Charlie Ward
Hassan Rubbani

Runner up: Team Wag Wan for their shoe polish business.

Josh Hirst
Austin Burnand

Darius Bluck

Head of Economics

Y9 Activity week

For four days the Y9 undertook a variety of activities on and off site. These included canoeing, raft building, archery, orienteering, survival skills, dragon boating and the leap of faith. Not only that they camped out overnight cooked their own food and completed their bronze DofE practice expedition! A busy few days which they all enjoyed, I took them for the rafting and they certainly got stuck in!

Rowing Club Dinner

On Thursday night the rowers gathered to celebrate the season and give out awards. Marcus Colao was awarded Junior half colours, Dom Marsh J16 colours, Michael Glover Senior full colours and Blazer badge. Just reward for all their efforts on the river and in training.

Junior Assembly Awards

This morning Everett picked up several well deserved awards. Chris Baker a Music award, Rory O’Conor his Cricket Colours tie, Rory and James Martin were awarded their Tennis Junior Colours. Bronze DofE awards to Chris, Greg, Harry, Toby, Matthew and Will. Finally Junior Tennis Player of the year went to James Martin. Well done to all.

ICT letter from the Headmaster

Dear Parents,

Over the past few years, our ICT network has undergone rapid change in almost every area as we move towards implementing our strategy of fully integrating ICT into the classroom. We have invested heavily in ensuring that our network, especially the wireless network, is as fast as it can be and capable of supporting the many hundreds of devices that are brought into the College every day.

Many of our pupils already bring laptops or tablets in to school and we now feel that the infrastructure is in place to recommend that every pupil at Shiplake has some form of mobile device to bring to lessons.

Having a laptop or tablet is not an absolute requirement in order to attend the College, but we feel that the benefits are very clear. More and more prep. is being set online, many of our teachers are using ICT interactively in the classroom or distributing resources electronically. Pupils are using their devices to work collaboratively, to produce work using video and audio or to access our online library. ICT no longer takes place once a week in a room full of desktop computers, but should be fully integrated into teaching and learning at Shiplake. We feel that goal can be achieved most effectively by recommending that all pupils have a mobile device from September 2013.

In order to give parents the widest possible choice, we have deliberately designed our network so that virtually any type of device can be used. Mobile phones, Windows laptops, Apple Macbooks, iPads and Android tablets are all currently being used on site.  Mr Balderson has put together a guide for parents considering buying a device. He can be contacted on sbalderson@shiplake.org.uk if you have any further questions.

Gregg Davies
Headmaster

With further guidance from the Head of ICT:

As far as the College is concerned, our only requirement is that it can connect to our wireless network (which all modern devices can) and that it has a web browser, in order to give parents and pupils the widest choice possible. A basic laptop would be entirely sufficient, but our current pupils have a wide variety of devices, including iPads, MacBooks, Windows laptops, Android tablets and many others. The only real constraints are personal preference and budget!

If you are considering buying an iPad, we would strongly recommend using an external keyboard as well, in order to be able to complete longer, written preps more easily.

Simon Balderson
Head of ICT

Y9 meet Deadly 60 star

A surprise meeting with Steve Backshall of Deadly 60 fame for our Y9 on their activity day at Longridge.

Everett Old Viking to perform at Glastonbury

Eddie Barnes, Everett House Old Viking (1978), will be performing at Glastonbury this summer with the reunited Department S.  As part of the Post Punk/New Wave movement Department S in 1980 saw their single Is Vic There? peak at number 22 in the UK Charts and inspiring the late John Peel to commission a session. At Shiplake vocalist Eddie, formed the group Nazi….not named as a political statement but to annoy the teachers. The band only played a few gigs but one of them was at the legendary London punk venue The Roxy Club. The other dates were at Bones Club in Reading which led to a feature in the Reading Chronicle about public school punks, much to the Headmaster at the time, Mr Eggar’s annoyance. In 2007 Department S recorded their first single for 26 years, and started playing live again in 2008. Since then they have been appearing though out the UK and Europe and have been sharing the same stage as Bob Dylan, Echo and the Bunnymen, Adam and the Ants and Noel Gallagher to name a few….next UK appearance is at this year’s Glastonbury festival on Sunday night.

More photos from communion on Skipwith tower

Scholars Concert

On Thursday evening the College music scholars took centre stage in a wonderful concert. Josh Hirst played beautifully and several staff and pupils have commented on how well he played. Mr Paul Jones Director of Music said "Josh's performance of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet was very assured and musically mature. He showed real potential as a player and I look forward to working with him in GCSE Music."

Senior House Cricket

Milo led the House team well on Thursday afternoon, with a team consisting of rowers, hockey players and a few who ‘had played cricket in the past’ we were a little nervous. However it was soon clear we had a good side. In the first game tight bowling restricted Skipwith to 39 in the 6 over game. Milo and Max opened the batting and soon set about the Skipwith bowlers, 4’s, 6’s and good running from both saw Milo soon reaching 30 and he had to retire, Jack Madden came on for a few balls, but we easily reached the required runs in just the 3^rd over of our innings. The next match was going to be trickier v Welsh, who had several 1^st XI bowlers and batsmen. We opened the batting, with Milo and Jack, despite some big swings a huge huge hit towards the boundary Jack fell to some good fielding. Max came to the crease and he put on an impressive 35 before he had to retire. Welsh by now had reverted to slower spin bowling, Milo and Markus fell to a very tricky balls, which put Myles and Alex into bat, Alex was caught after a quick flurry of runs and Anthony closed our innings, we set a target of 49. Despite some good opening bowling from Milo, and a great first ball wicket from Max plus great wicket keeping from Will, Welsh managed to reach our target and we were out of the competition, but great team spirit was shown and we all enjoyed the afternoon’s cricket.

Early morning Communion and great views!

Holy Communion on Skipwith Tower - Early on Friday morning Everett Y9 and Kit plus Frankie set their alarms early for the service at 6.30am. They were treated to great views. Thanks to Mr Brownley for the photos of Everett and our boys.