SHEBBEAR COLLEGE NEWS

SHEBBEAR COLLEGE NEWS
SUMMER 2013
Junior
Adventures
Boarders’
Summer Ball
D of E Awards
BIKEABILITY
Ten Tors
Challenge
SPORTS DAY
Science
Triple Award
KINDERGARTEN
SEARCH FOR BIG TED
Life Skills
MECHANICS
BARBADOS
& St. Lucia
ROUNSEFELL
DINNER
WORLD AIMS & FAIRTRADE
www.shebbearcollege.co.uk
HEADMASTER’S WORDS
Dear Parents, Friends and Old Shebbearians,
It is a pleasure to introduce this summary of just
some of the many events that have taken place
at the College this term. As a ‘new boy’ I was
expecting a whirlwind of activity and I have not
been disappointed, but the articles featured here
are only a taster of what happens at Shebbear.
The main focus at the College this term has of
course been an academic one and the serious
business of exams. These have ranged from
SATs in the Junior School to A Levels in the Senior
School and we look forward to the results of these
at the end of the summer. However the focus of
this review (with a few exceptions) is very much
more on the other opportunities available in this
school – opportunities that help to develop the
character and mould our pupils into resilient,
enterprising, and socially aware adults. This is
one of the main reasons why I want my children
to attend this school.
At the heart of everything is the hard work of all
the pupils and staff at the College. I know the
teachers are looking forward to a well-earned
rest. Unfortunately for the maintenance and
grounds staff the summer is a period of high
activity. Under the Bursar’s guidance they have
been responsible for the systematic improvement
of so many areas of our site: I thank them for
their continued endeavours. All that remains is
to wish you all an enjoyable summer break and to
invite you to read the rest of this review.
SCIENCE GCSE TRIPLE
AWARD SUCCESS
Excellent GCSE results in Biology, Chemistry and
Physics for four 5th Form students.
5th Form students Emilio Aliberti, Jack Honey, Julian
Blaskiewicz and Thomas Hill, pictured above with
Headmaster Simon Weale, all achieved A* Grades in their
Biology, Chemistry and Physics GCSE examination modules.
Further to this impressive result, three of the students;
Julian, Thomas and Jack, obtained a perfect set of results,
100% in all three subjects, a remarkable achievement.
PUPILS LEARN MECHANICS
IN LIFE SKILLS CLASSES
The Life Skills Centre allows pupils to enjoy a
wide variety of creative and practical studies.
Simon Weale
Headmaster
Lead by teachers Mr Trask, Mr Sanders and Mr Barlow, a
group of students have been learning car mechanics as part
of our Life Skills initiative.
Above: a hair-raising Physics experiment on Induction Day
Search ‘Shebbeartube’
Keep an eye on our YouTube
channel which is regularly updated
with new film clips. You can link
straight to the channel from the
homepage of the college website.
The Life Skills Centre is an additional facility to the Art
Department, offering a much wider range of creative
and practical activities. The centre comprises five newly
refurbished workshops and studios which enable pupils
to enjoy art, pottery, ceramics, textiles and fashion,
photography, sculpture, design, technology and mechanics.
Pictured above are mechanics students Mark Withecombe,
Tim Kivell, Tom Scantlebury, George Tozer, Bailey Miles,
James Hibben, Miles Coward, Tom Squire and Blake
Simpson.
KINDERGARTEN SEARCH FOR BIG TED IN THE WOODS
Our Kindergarten enjoyed a great day out at RHS
Rosemoor in June learning about forest creatures.
The children followed footprints to find some of Ted Bear’s
friends hiding in the woods before finding Big Ted. Once
found, they explored the environment looking for other
animals that inhabit the woods. Beetles, newts, spiders,
centipedes and beetle lava were amongst creatures found,
which most were happy to inspect at close quarters!
After putting the creatures back close to where they had
been found, they made their own clay animals using twigs
and objects found nearby before enjoying a picnic lunch.
JUNIOR ADVENTURES
Year 6 pupils enjoyed a day out in June at the Adventure
Centre at Great Potheridge House near Merton.
They took part in a range of
Forest Schools activities in the
surrounding woodlands that
included building shelters,
lighting fires and developing
their teambuilding skills
through a variety of challenges.
They all had a wonderful day,
assisted by the staff at Great
Potheridge, including exShebbearian Sam Coward.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S
AWARD SCHEME
Twenty six pupils from the 4th, 5th and 6th
Forms ventured through the New Forest in April.
Twenty of them completed their Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award Bronze final expedition and six pupils from the 6th
Form completed the training section of their Gold Award.
The final challenge involved walking and completing a
project for a minimum of six hours each day. They walked
through the heart of the historic New Forest in Hampshire,
from Burley to Bolderwood via Brokenhurst, about thirty
miles in total. Congratulations to them all.
Junior School ‘Bikeability’ - May 2013
BARBADOS & ST. LUCIA SPORTS TOUR
A group of twenty-five pupils and five staff spent twelve nights on the
islands of St. Lucia and Barbados during the Easter holidays, playing
netball, cricket and football against school and club sides.
The teams won half of the ten matches played but the trip was about much more than
just the sporting fixtures. A trip to the only drive-in volcano in the world on St. Lucia
saw the group bathing in the hot mud pools, whilst on Barbados they were able to
swim with turtles and explore a coral reef during their catamaran cruise.
Tour leader Andy Bryan said; ‘The pupils were a credit to Shebbear College, both on
and off the field, and I’m sure they will remember their wonderful experiences for a
very long time.
TEN TORS CHALLENGE 2013
After a weekend of appalling weather our 35 Mile Team came in safe and
complete at 1.30pm on Sunday 12th May - second in their group of sixteen.
The conditions on the moor were so bad that twice as many children dropped out as
usual. Our pupils saw other teams try to cross rivers at dangerous places only to get
soaked and have to be helped by Dartmoor Rescue. Our team chose to make long
but safe detours so that they could cross over proper bridges. They were a little
annoyed that they were delayed by this and unable to reach their target of Tor 8 by
8.00pm on Saturday, but at least they kept safe and dry!
Despite awful visibility the team did not get lost throughout the whole challenge and
arrived safely over the finish line to an emotional reunion with family and friends.
GENERATION TENNIS
The 7th Annual Generation Tennis Tournament in May
was played in brilliant sunshine for the first time in years.
The pool rounds were played in excellent spirit, with the semi-finals
taking a more serious turn. Mother and son pairing Ruth and Henry
Cornish beat boarding pupils Max Frericks and Arsen Dzhadrinov
3-0 and Humanities teacher Steve Jeggo and Alessandro Aliberti
beat father and son combo Mr Baker and Oscar Baker 3-0. Last
year’s runners up Henry and Ruth Cornish proved too strong this
year and also won their final convincingly. Pictured right are Oscar
Baker, Mr Baker, Ruth Cornish, Henry Cornish, Arsen Dzhadrinov,
Alessandro Aliberti, Max Frericks and Steve Jeggo.
ROUNSEFELL DINNER 2013
Following weeks of planning and preparation our 5th Form pupils decorated the
dining hall at Buckland House before cooking and serving a superb seven course
meal for 6th Form pupils and staff at the annual Rounsefell Dinner in April.
WORLD AIMS & FAIRTRADE
World AIMS pupils that have undertaken recent Fairtrade
actions have received Fairtrade Leader Certificates.
Pupils from the World AIMS group (right) took part in a Fairtrade Leaders
Course during which they learnt about world issues such as the slave
trade. They watched videos with life changing stories giving them ideas
on how they could help just a little bit through events that would raise
awareness about Fairtrade.
An excellent short film, created by our Chaplain Tim Aldridge, has been
made to highlight the ‘Enough Food for Everyone … IF’ campaign. Filmed
by pupils and staff here at the college, the film features the whole Senior
School displaying decorated paper plates that they created, which were
subsequently sent to London to form part of a huge petition presented to
Parliament in support of the campaign which is backed by World AIMS and
Christian Aid among many others. View the film on our YouTube channel.
Other activities in support of the ‘IF’ campaign included the animation
workshop which a number of pupils from participating schools undertook
in our assembly hall in May.
JUNIORS GO POND DIPPING
With kind permission from Mrs Ann Whitten a group of Year 5
and 6 pupils went pond dipping at Berry Barns near Shebbear.
‘Shebbe
artube’
This was part of our Forest Schools studies in which the children (shown
below) went in search of wildlife in and around a freshwater habitat which
follows on from their previous work investigating saltwater habitats.
Our Lighthouse
play area
continues to
provide a huge
amount of fun
and physical
activity for the
Kindergarten
during their
breaktimes.
6TH FORM VARIETY SHOW
The stage was set … a seemingly spontaneous burst into a High
School Musical song during lunchtime previewed the type of
quality entertainment we could expect from this year’s show.
With illness taking its toll on the 6th Form, could the show possibly live up to its
eagerly anticipated high standards? Of course it could. Although terribly clichéd,
it was felt ‘the show must go on’, and so a depleted cast rose to the occasion
with, as the name would suggest, a superb variety of live performances.
We were treated to everything from rap battles and hilarious live comedy
parodies to musical performances from the talented Emma Dixon and
Catherine Kotarski and the arguably not so talented ‘Axis of Awesomeness’.
Through the wonder of modern technology pre-recorded sketches including
a ‘Gangnam Style’ parody and a variety of comedy skits were shown to the
transfixed audience who all agreed that the show was an undeniable success.
SPORTS DAYS
Our Junior and Senior School Sports Days saw some superb
competitive performances on cold, windy days in May.
Olympian Georgina Geikie joined us for our Senior School Sports Day and
was involved in shooting competitions throughout the day followed by
the presentation of winners cups and medals. She was the first GB female
to qualify for the Olympics Pistol Shooting event and is working with
Shooting4England, an organisation that aims to develop and promote air
gun shooting nationally as a legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Junior School also held a great afternoon of field and track events
producing some fiercely contested competitions. Cups and medals were
presented at the end of each day. Although bitterly cold, windy days, all the
pupils who took part competed with determination. The hot drinks, cakes
and barbeques were particularly welcomed.
The Kindergarten - probably the warmest
spectators on Sports Day!
BOARDERS’ SUMMER BALL
The Boarders’ Summer Ball was held on Sunday
9th June following days of preparation.
The hard work was well worth it, as everyone enjoyed themselves
a great deal. The dining hall was decorated in shabby chic style
and after a superb dinner there was live entertainment and a
disco in the Memorial Hall.
THANKS TO THE FRIENDS
OF SHEBBEAR COLLEGE
The Friends have kindly funded the purchase of
various essential pieces of school equipment.
Pictured below, these include Physics data-logging equipment,
camping equipment for use in outdoor activities such as the Duke
of Edinburgh’s Award and flutes for the Music Department.
HELPING FARMS
FOR CITY CHILDREN
A cheque for £1000 was presented to ‘War
Horse’ author Michael Morpurgo for his charity.
On Thursday 18th April, a group of pupils, teachers
and Friends of Shebbear College (below) presented the
cheque at Nethercott Farm. The funds were raised as a
result of the Michaelmas Ball organised by the Friends of
Shebbear College and the Old Shebbearians’ Association.
The author took time to talk to the children and signed
copies of his books that they had brought with them.
FORM 1 TRIP TO
BUCKFAST ABBEY
On Thursday 11th June Form 1 enjoyed a History
and Religious Studies trip to Buckfast Abbey.
You can see more photos, a short film and a full write-up
by pupil Antonia Aliberti on the school website.