In the Autumn Term, Year 9 geographers studied volcanos and techtonic activity (the movement of the series of plates which make up the earth’s crust). To consolidate their learning students were tasked with undertaking a project centred on volcanos, either through model making or by producing a written piece of work.

Amelia took this brief one step further and produced both! Her “exploding box” is an amazing combination of photographs, text and artwork producing an incredible project and one to be proud of – and most certainly the first of its kind in the Department!

Many congratulations to Amelia for this outstanding piece of work.

The outside of the box

Beautiful water colour volcano lid

Box unfolding

layer by layer

by layer

Complete!

Traditionally singing Carols is very much a sign that Christmas is on its way.  Last year, gatherings of choir singers was very much off limits but this year saw a return of the Shipston High School Christmas choir, led by Mrs Evans.

After some good practice sessions, the Choir was delighted to visit Low Furlong Care Home on Tuesday 14^th December.  Students assembled in the garden in full view of the residents who, with windows open, were able to listen to – and join in with –  a variety of Christmas songs and carols.  They also had chance to admire the many and varied Christmas jumpers on show!

We are grateful to Low Furlong Care Home for giving us the opportunity to come and entertain their residents which was much enjoyed by the students who took part, and we would like to wish all residents and staff a very Happy Christmas.

Year 9 Basketball v Alcester Grammar School. Team talk with Mr Doogue!

Hockey Training … and it was cold!!!

Year 11 South Warwickshire Hockey tournament

Year 7/8 Hockey v Chipping Campden

Year 7 Inter House Table Tennis

Year 11 Hockey v Aylesford School

Year 8 Inter House Netball

Year 7 and 8 Netball v Aylesford School

Year 9 Inter House Netball

Years 9,10,11 combined Netball team v Chipping Campden

Year 8 Basketball v Alcester Grammar School

Santa Dash!

Inter House Basketball

Last year, extra curricular sport was very much a casualty of the COVID pandemic but this year Shipston High School P.E. is back with a bang!

Students have been fortunate in being able to take part in a number of inter-house competitions, after school fixtures and fun events within the Department. A range of sports have been offered across all year groups with attendance, although being impacted by COVID, still remaining good with the attitude and approach of students to each event brilliant. Thanks go to our students for sometimes literally “going the extra mile” to support their team mates, often turning out to represent their House or School at short notice and to our parents for the last minute kit drop offs, late collections from school and general support for the Department. Thanks too to Head of Department Miss S. Davies, Miss S.P. Davies and Mr Doogue-Johnson for their commitment in making it all happen.

At this stage of the term it is far from over in P.E. We still have the “Santa Dash” for the remainder of the year groups and the now famous “Hockey Tinsel Tournament” later on this week.

We hope you enjoy selection of images taken during the course of the term.

After so much uncertainty, it was with great pleasure that we were able to hold an Awards Evening for our Summer 2021 Year 11 leavers.

Being mindful of the current situation around coronavirus transmission, this event out of necessity was a somewhat scaled down version of our normal Awards ceremony.  Nevertheless the evening achieved what we had set out to do – present GCSE certificates and school subject awards to recognise the fantastic achievements of our students and, since there was no proper leaving event, to provide some formal ending to their time at Shipston High School.  It is always a delight to reconnect with former students and to learn how they are progressing post Shipston High and to discover the many and varied paths they have taken since leaving us.

We would like to wish every success to the cohort of 2021 in whatever they choose to do in the future.

Key Stage 3 Modern Foreign Languages students have been producing some amazing work over the last few weeks.

In Year 8 French, students have been working together, discussing what they like to do in their spare time and then preparing written pieces incorporating the use of different tenses, different sentence constructions and varied and interesting vocabulary.  This has produced some excellent work, provoking student discussion and feedback in class.

Year 7 Spanish students were tasked with writing a piece of text about a famous person of their choice.  Again students produced some great work, choosing a wide range of people from Harry Kane through to Miranda Hart, David Walliams and H.M. The Queen.

Reception committee!

Members of Shipston Rotary Club

The High Sheriff meets our Head Boy

Ready to go!

She’s on her way!

Headteacher and Head Boy pictured with the High Sheriff

The current High Sheriff of Warwickshire, The Lady Willoughby de Broke, is undertaking a 5 day, 200 mile bike ride around Warwickshire from 1st to 5th October. The purpose is to raise money for the High Sheriff Fund, which provides grants to many small voluntary and community organisations operating at a grassroots level in Warwickshire.

We are delighted that the High Sheriff selected Shipston High School as the launch point for this inspiring event. Students and local supporters gathered at the school to celebrate the start of the ride and cheer The High Sheriff on her way. Year 11 Business Studies students and Year 9 English students provided support whilst gaining a glimpse into the organisation and promotion of such an event.

Guests included Lord Willoughby de Broke, Leader of Warwickshire County Council Izzi Seccombe, Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe and current Mayor of Shipston on Stour Ian Cooper. Shipston Rotary Club and other local organisations were also there to support the event and we are grateful to Chris Wright for the accompanying photography.

For anyone interested in reading more, or making a donation, please use the following link:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/highsheriffcharitycycleride

On Monday 27^th September the school celebrated European Day of Languages.

Our Modern Foreign Languages department was awash with colourful flags and posters representing many European countries.  The day started with morning registration being called in different foreign languages followed by a language competition involving maps and flags, a poster competition and a quiz at form time.  The school canteen even became involved with the menu focusing on Italian, Spanish and French food – pasta, quiche, Spanish omelette, croissants and croque monsieur –  with the crepes proving very popular!

Congratulations to Harvey in Year 7 for being the overall competition winner, Ms Angulo for being the best dressed, Mr Dales for using the most languages and Dr. Mawby for using the most unusual language (Malay) with her groups.

Thank you to Ms Adams and Ms Angulo for organising such a fun, informative and inspiring day for the students who now really do have a better understanding of where languages can take them.

Shipston High School provides an ambitious, supportive and nurturing learning environment that enables every student to grow personally and academically.

We are justifiably proud of our school. We enjoy a strong reputation in Shipston on Stour and surrounding areas leading to our Year 7 intake being consistently oversubscribed in recent years.

We invite you to come and experience for yourself the unique ethos of the school, and to see why parents and students are selecting Shipston High School as their Secondary school of preference.

The Headteacher’s presentation will be at 6.00 p.m. and will be repeated at 7.30 p.m.

Staff and students will be available during the evening to answer your questions as you consider choosing right school for your child.

We very much look forward to meeting you.

PLEASE NOTE:

 We continue to exercise strict COVID-19 prevention measures in school. 

We would respectfully ask visitors to observe the following guidelines:

Please wear a facemask in school

Please limit the number of family members in your party (ideally 1 child + 2 parents maximum)

Please consider taking a lateral flow test before visiting the school site

The selection process has now taken place to elect our new Senior Prefects for next academic year.   Having made a written application for the post, students were then interviewed by a panel comprising the Deputy Headteacher, a member of staff, a representative from the Governing Body and an ex-Head Girl.  The successful students who received their new prefect ties in the End of Term Assembly on 21st July were:

Head Boy:  Harry Wixey

Head Girl:  Emma Musgrove

Deputy Head Boy:  Rowan Thompson

Deputy Head Girl:  Abi Neale

Many congratulations to them and to all the other contenders who made the selection process very difficult for these hotly contested positions.

The whole of Year 7 were recently tasked with making earphone wraps during their Technology sessions.

Students managed to work the acrylic plastic with a range of saws, files and drills to create some very interesting shapes, and with only a few breakages of the acrylic (which is a brittle material).
Students drew their design ideas, modelled these in card and made changes, investigated and created their own logos and packaged the finished product using the vacuum forming and line bending plastics processes.
Congratulations to all students for all of their enthusiasm, hard work and focus on this project, during what has been a very challenging year.

Mr K. Parker

Art/Textiles students in Years 10 and 11 have been using their lockdown time to look at how they can recycle ordinary everyday items into something special.  The results have been astonishing, showing without a doubt that recycling is the way to go.  Congratulations to all students on producing such original designs.

Remembrance is one of our whole school events that is embraced wholeheartedly by our students. This year, more than ever our senior prefects were determined that even though the country is in lockdown they still wanted to undertake the traditional wreath laying ceremony. When it became apparent that it wouldn’t be possible for the four of them to attend the Shipston town event we decided to hold our own commemoration on the school site.

On the morning of 11th November in the school grounds Cameron, Emelia, Tom and May read out a paragraph they had written expressing their thoughts, together with the names of the fallen from the two World Wars and laid the wreath in their memory. The whole school then fell silent for 2 minutes, where students stood and reflected on past events. Each year group in school had attended assemblies during the previous week on the theme of “Respect”, something to be shown in everyday life but also in remembering with great respect those who had risked their own lives for the rest of us.

“Remembrance 2020
We will never forget the courage you showed for us.
Now, more than ever, we understand the importance of community, and regret that we cannot commemorate this time together as we are socially distanced, but we know we are united in our gratitude.
We understand the importance of role models and we thank you for how you stood up as people of Shipston on Stour, and contributed to victory.
You will always be remembered as heroes.
We will remember them.

The senior prefects on behalf of Shipston High School”

A lot has been going on in the Art department this term.

We are happy to share some photographs of our recycled bugs and also some Year 9 and 11 artwork. Hope you enjoy them.

Many congratulations to our four new senior prefects for this Academic Year.

There was a very strong field of applications for the posts, but after a rigorous application, shortlisting and interview process Cameron Collie and Emelia Berry were appointed Senior Prefects with Thomas Taylor and May Redshaw their Deputies.

The students received their Senior Prefect ties from Mr Saunders and are now ready to take up their responsibilities in school.