The Pi Poetry challenge is an annual event at Shipston High where we throw down the literary gauntlet to our students to use their super linguistic and poetic skills to write a Pi Poem. The challenge is to write a poem using the first forty digits of Pi with each word of the poem having the equivalent number of letters as the digit. Quite a challenge but to the great credit of the students they were, as usual, up to the task and took on the Challenge.
This year’s theme was a secret …. well, not really but it was all about ‘hidden identity’. We received a wide range of wonderful writing penned by our very creative Year 7 students. Topics as diverse as animals, film stars and sporting celebrities arrived in the entrance box. Finally, after thoughtful deliberation the judges awarded 1st prize to Layla McCarthy for her fantastic poem which, in keeping with our theme even had a hidden title!
On Thursday 29th March the Shipston High School annual ski trip set out to conquer more slopes of the world. This year’s destination: New Hampshire, USA.
Fuelled with energy the group set off at 6:30 a.m. and landed at their first stop, Boston, around midday USA time. What followed was an informative tour of America’s most historic city. A quick stop at McDonalds, to satisfy many a student’s desire for a supersized burger was next on the agenda before a long coach drive to our hotel for the main part of our trip.
Our first mountain to conquer was Cannon Resort: 265 acres of skiing. Despite the mountain being hidden in a dense fog, the students started to traverse the slopes showing amazing confidence no matter the group. The following day the clouds finally broke and with awe and wonder students were finally able to see and experience what it was like to ski down a mountain.
Thirsty for more mountain slopes, the group travelled to Loon Resort on the 3rd and 4th day. Two days of absolute blissful sunshine. Nearly all students managed to get to the top of the mountain due to Loon’s ability to cater for all abilities. From the top the students were able to see the famous Washington Mountain far off in the distance – wondrous panoramic views for all to soak up.
On the students 5th day we travelled back to Cannon and tackled it with assured confidence. The mountains had treated us well (well most of us) and the students thanked all who had helped them develop their skills.
But the trip was not over, we had New York City to conquer. Despite a downpour of rain the Yankee game went ahead and the group experienced some humongous humans slug a ball around the field. An assured Yankee victory ensured all went home happy! A quick walk around New York City and Times Square in the evening allowed students to soak in the city that never sleeps.
The next morning we went to Freedom Tower for spectacular views of the city before a spot of shopping. On the evening, the students and staff witnessed the amazing Broadway show “The Lion King”.
Another hop on-off tour on the final morning followed by a trip up Rockefeller centre ensured that the students experienced NYC at its best. Exhausted and ready for home comforts we finally made our way back to Shipston on 7th April.
An amazing trip, thoroughly well organised and planned by Mr Yuill.
On Monday 12th March 28 students and 3 staff travelled to Reykjavik in Iceland for the school’s first trip to this area. The focus of the trip was tectonic hazards and to appreciate the spectacular scenery of this fascinating country.
Each day focused on a different area within the country. The South Shore trip looked at the formation of waterfalls, in particular Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss. The Reykjanes Peninsula trip spent more time looking at volcanic features. One of the highlight days was the Golden Circle trip which included a visit to a geothermal hot spring, the Secret Lagoon, a geothermal power station, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Gullfoss waterfall and Great Geysir. The day was made even more memorable when we were fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights, an experience never to be forgotten.
The trip reinforced many of the topics previously studied in Geography and will certainly aid any student planning to follow Geography at GCSE level. The students were a pleasure to take and a real credit to the school, we received many compliments throughout the trip, which was testament to their behaviour.
It is certainly a trip that we are sure the students will treasure, Iceland is a beautiful country. Our thanks go to Miss Davies for all her work in organising such an amazing trip.
