Shipston High School has had another active year, with students and staff involved in a varied range of activities.
One event has dominated all of our lives, and 2020 will doubtless be remembered as the year of the coronavirus. However, as the school community enjoys the summer break, it is an ideal opportunity to reflect on the year.

In the Autumn term the school welcomed another full year group of 120 year 7 students. This marked a further growth for the school, and Shipston High School is now regularly oversubscribed; a real mark of its popularity and families’ desire to be part of the school success story.

Alongside a great atmosphere of learning in the school, students were able to enjoy activities offsite, including trips locally and internationally. For example, Year 11 students visited the impressive Oxford University Museum of Natural History and all of our Year 7 students enjoyed a trip to Warwick Castle, learning about the history of the castle and the region’s power. 2020 saw our first school trip to Poland, where students experienced local culture, and visited the site of Auschwitz. This was a powerful and extraordinarily challenging experience for school age young people. It is with pride that we reflect how superbly our students represented the school during all of their out of school activities and the appreciation they have shown to members of staff for making the opportunities available.

In public speaking, Shipston High School won the prestigious Rotary Youth Speaks District competition. Our Year 10 students performed very impressively, beating sixth form teams from the local area to take victory. They were truly magnificent, engaging, articulate, and entertaining, winning plaudits from around the venue.

Thanks to support from the Police Crime Commissioner, we were delighted to welcome into school Loudmouth Theatre in Education company in early 2020 who gave a presentation to Year 11 focussing on Child Exploitation, Sexual Exploitation, County Lines, Grooming and Knife crime.

In March 2020, everything changed, and all schools in England closed to most children. Online learning became the route to education, and everyone had to adapt quickly to this remarkable event. Throughout, students have remained committed, curious and creative.

Finally, we are grateful for all the support the local community gives to our school but we would particularly like to thank Shipston Rotary Club, Pink Connect and Abbey Timms of Frills Cupcakes for their generous support for our young people; this is very much appreciated.

On behalf of our school community I would like to wish all parents, carers and friends of Shipston High School a happy, healthy and restful holiday.

Mr G. Saunders
Headteacher

The final Shipston Spotlight of this school year has now been completed and, as always, there’s lots to find out about what’s been happening in and out of the school during this last phase of the academic year. Take a look below:

In these uncertain times the majority of our students have been working off site, experiencing the challenges and demands of on-line working. Availability of computers, laptops, ipads and other devices to use as a study aid can sometimes be difficult for families who may not have access to any of these or where there are multiple users in one household.

We are, therefore, extremely grateful to Mr James Pink of local company Pink Connect, who has kindly donated six computers, monitors, mice and keyboards to the school for use by our students. We try to put our school at the heart of the local community and this generous gesture by Mr Pink illustrates all that is good about Shipston-on-Stour and its surrounding area. Thank you.

Issue number 3 of the Shipston Spotlight is now available.

Follow the link below to catch up on what’s happening at Shipston High School:

The P.E. Department has been busy devising this year’s Sports Day.

Sports “Day” this year will take place between Monday 22nd June and Monday 6th July and in a first for Shipston High School this will take place virtually.  Students are encouraged to join in the virtual event and gain house points towards the all important House Trophy.  Wear your House colours with pride and enjoy the event!

Enjoying a socially distance break

From Monday 15th June, Shipston High School started delivering lessons on site to Year 10 in line with the government guidance. The safety of everyone in the school and wider community is paramount and, in accordance with the guidance, we are only able to invite 25% of the cohort on site at any one time.

Our Year 10 students are attending for one day a week to receive subject specific support in core subjects initially, English, Mathematics and Science. The remaining four days continue with distance learning.
Students have been allocated a specific day each week for attendance in one specific classroom, in a model that is consistent with the approach taken by other secondary schools.

These arrangements are running separately from those which were successfully put in place at the start of the lockdown period for vulnerable students and those whose parents are keyworkers.

Even with such reduced numbers, it has been inspiring to see the school community coming together again with staff and students re-connecting with the special ethos that is Shipston High School.

The second edition of the Shipston Spotlight is now available. Hope you enjoy it.

Whilst in lockdown, one of our Year 10 students has been keeping herself busy in the kitchen.

Over the May Bank Holiday weekend, Charlie Taylor baked and delivered cakes in Shipston and many surrounding villages – even as far as Leamington Spa – to raise money for Safeline, a charity very close to her heart. As the reputation for her cakes grew, she easily reached her original target of £100 and throughout the weekend she continued baking with her total fundraising now standing in excess of £1,300!

Charlie’s mouthwatering selection of cakes comprised:
5 x Chocolate sponge cakes
8 x Strawberry and cream sponges
1 x Coffee and walnut cake
2 x Birthday cakes
120 x Cupcakes
10 x Rocky Road
9 x Chocolate brownies
9 x Lemon cheesecakes
4 x Lime cheesecakes
4 x Chocolate cheesecakes
1 x Strawberry cheesecake
4 x Millionaire shortbread
36 x Lemon and White chocolate muffins

Everyone here at Shipston High School is very proud of Charlie’s achievement. We would like to congratulate her on her enthusiasm and enterprise in achieving something so positive and worthwhile during this period of lockdown. Well done Charlie.

Launched today, The Shipston Spotlight is our first Newsletter aimed to showcase some of the amazing work that is going on in school.  During this period of lockdown the teaching and learning both inside and out of school has been innovative, exciting and informative and some of the results are shared with you here.

We have received the attached information from the Children and Family Support Service of the Warwickshire County Council which Mr Harris, our Safeguarding Lead, would like to share with our students:

If you feel unsafe at home, or feel worried about a friend or sibling during the current situation, here are some things you may be able to do to get the help you need:

• Text a trustworthy family member or safe adult who may be able to help you
• Call Childline 0800 1111 and talk through how you are feeling and your concerns
• Call the police in an emergency (999) or a non emergency (101)
• Speak to Young Carers if you are looking after someone at home 02476 217740
• Look online at support from the Family Information Service

www.warwickshire.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies

• If you feel unsafe or in danger call the council helpline on 01926 414144
• Email the Designated Safeguarding Lead at school at info@shipstonhigh.co.uk (School is closed until 20th April. Emails will be monitored but an immediate response should not be expected.)

*If you are unable to do any of the above because it isn’t safe to do so, perhaps you could alert a neighbour or passer by to your situation

Mr Saunders has received the following message today from Ofqual which is shared for our parent and student community:

A message for all GCSE, AS and A level students this summer
I understand how unsettling the past weeks have been for you, since the announcement that exams have been cancelled this summer, and that you are urgently waiting for news. I wanted to let you know what we are doing to provide you with grades. Our over-riding aim in this is to be fair to students this summer and to make sure you are not disadvantaged in your progress to sixth form, college, university, apprenticeships, training or work because of these unprecedented conditions.
How will grades be calculated?
Your school or college will be asked to send exam boards two pieces of information for each of your subjects, based on what they know about your work and achievements: • the grade they believe you were most likely to get if teaching, learning and exams had happened as planned • within each subject, the order of students at your school or college, by performance, for each grade. This information will be used to standardise judgements – allowing fine tuning of the standard applied across schools and colleges Your school or college will consider a range of things like your classwork and homework; your results in assignments and any mock exams; any non-exam assessment or coursework you might have done; and your general progress during your course. This information will allow us, with exam boards, to standardise grades across schools and colleges, to make sure that, as far as possible, results are fair and that students are not advantaged or disadvantaged because their schools or colleges are more generous or harsh than others when making those judgements. That means the final grade you get could be different from the one your school or college sends to the exam board.
Do I need to complete any new work for my school/college to submit a grade?
Your school or college is not required to set additional mock exams or homework for your centre assessment grade, and you won’t be disadvantaged if you were not set, or were unable to complete, any work given out after schools were closed.
Can I see the grades my school/college submits for me?
No, this information will be confidential. Please don’t ask your teachers, or anyone else at your school or college, to tell you the grades they will be sending to the exam boards or where they have placed you in the order of students; they will not be allowed to share this with you.
I am a private candidate – what does this mean for me?
If you are a private candidate (for example, home-schooled, following distance-learning programmes or studying independently) the centre you are entering with should include you where the head teacher or principal is confident that they and their staff have seen sufficient evidence of your achievement to make an objective judgement. We are urgently exploring whether there are alternative options for those students who do not have an existing relationship with a centre and who need results this summer to progress. Unfortunately this is unlikely to be possible for all private candidates, some of whom may instead need to take exams in the autumn to get their grades. We appreciate that this is a matter of real concern to private candidates and will provide an update as soon as possible. We have asked organisations that represent universities and FE colleges to consider the steps that providers could take when making admissions decisions this summer for any private candidates who do not receive a grade. They have told us that they believe that institutions will consider a range of other evidence and information for these students to allow them to progress wherever possible.
When will I get my results?
We’re working hard to get results out as soon as is possible – results won’t be delayed after the dates they were expected in August, and ideally they will be issued a little earlier, so you can have the certainty you need.
Can I take my exams another time?
We are working with exam boards to offer additional exams in the autumn term as soon as it is possible to do so. We’ll let you know about these in the coming weeks. The information we have published covers GCSEs, AS and A levels, plus Extended Project Qualifications and Additional Extension Awards in maths. You can find out more about which qualifications and students are included, and the current arrangements for those which are not, in our detailed guidance; along with answers to other questions that you and your parents or carers might have. We will keep updating our guidance as new information becomes available, including to share details about vocational and technical qualifications as soon as we can, so please keep an eye on our website. Please be reassured that the grades you get this summer will look exactly the same as in previous years, and they will have equal status with universities, colleges and employers, to help you move forward in your lives as planned.

With every best wish,
Sally Collier Chief Regulator, Ofqual

Congratulations to one of our Shares Competition teams comprising Katie Laycock, Bethany Brookes, Charlie Taylor and Jack Taylor, who made it through to the semi-finals stage of the competiton.

They competed with 499 other teams over a four-week period in the semi-finals; mainly made up of Year 12 and 13 students.  Each Monday the teams were presented with the names of several companies and students had to use their skills, knowledge and judgement to predict the price of each share at the close of business that week.

We are delighted that our students were placed 48th out of the 500 teams that competed in the semi-final.  This is a superb achievement and all the more amazing when you think that the team actually placed 48th out of over 6,500 teams that competed nationally; again the vast majority of them being 6th Formers.

Mr P Moyle

Back in September 2002 Georgina Ettritch joined Shipston High School.  A quiet, unassuming, totally reliable and diligent student with an interest in all of her subjects, including sport, but with a particular passion for Geography.  Georgina left us in June 2007.

Fast forward to the Spring of 2020 when we heard the fantastic news that Georgina had graduated from Aberystwyth University with a Doctorate in Philosophy.  Her thesis entitled “Hydrogeomorphological Mapping of Malarial Habitats in Large Tropical Floodplains” was dedicated to Miss Davies and Mr Moyle, her two geography teachers whilst at Shipston High.

We are so proud of Dr. Georgina Ettritch BSc (hons) MSc PhD.

As a school, we would like to recognise Georgina’s total dedication to her subject, offer our warmest congratulations to Georgina in achieving the distinction she now holds and wish her every success for the future.  It is really heartening to learn the success that a student at Shipston High School can achieve when taking their first tentative steps into secondary education.

Once again, we had many and varied book characters in school on our school Book Day (due to internal exams taking place in school on World Book Day we moved the date slightly!).

We are always grateful to the thought given by staff and parents in making this such a successful event, promoting all that is good about picking up a book and reading, even though we did have strange and wonderful characters appearing in our lessons ….

Our u12 (Year 7) rugby sevens team competed at the Sibford School 7’s tournament on 11^th March.

This was the first time in several years that we have taken part in this competition and we returned by finishing 2nd overall out of 20 teams in total.

Schools from all around Oxfordshire and Warwickshire entered the tournament and we had some noteable victories including beating Cheltenham Boys College by two tries to one in the Semi final.  It is worth mentioning that the other schools we finished above were Warwick School, King Edward School, Beachborough School and Royal Latin School, all exceptional rugby-playing schools!

Unfortunately we were not able to beat Magdalen College School (another independent school) in the final, but what was frustrating was that we beat them in the group stages.  Possibly tiredness got the better of our boys when we faced them again in the final.

For such a small school with limited facilities compared to others, we certainly pack a punch and compete with the best.

Congratulations to all the team:  Joseph Fairbairn, Morton Bell, Jacob Gainsley, Harry Smith, Josh Windebank (player of the tournament), Ed Kerby, Sam Caldicott, Elliott Lockwood and Tyler Moodley

Mr S. Lockwood
Head of P.E.

Year 10 recently attended a really interesting Science/Careers lecture regarding Careers in Healthcare.

Dr Anne Scase, a Consultant Anaesthetist, gave up her valuable time to come in to talk to the group about the many and varied Careers that are available in Healthcare.

She talked about the training required to become a doctor, but also outlined the many different roles available and the many different routes students can take into the medical profession from Paramedic to Finance. There really is a career in healthcare for every student whatever their ability.

The students asked lots of questions and then did a personality quiz to see what type of roles were suitable for them.

You may like to try it yourself to see which healthcare career you could be suited to.

http:// www.healthcareers.nhs.uk

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A group of four Year 10 students and Mrs Kember visited Europe recently.  The trip was part of the First World War Centenary Battlefields Tours Programme run by the UCL Institute of Education.  This was a government funded trip and a fantastic opportunity for our students to mix with students from a variety of other schools to investigate the way in which we remember the fallen from the First World War.  Once concluded the programme will have seen 8,000 students from schools across the UK having visited the battlefields.

The visit began in Belgium investigating the start of the war and visiting Ypres.  In the evening, the group was privileged to watch the last post ceremony at the Menin Gate memorial.

During the first evening students were given two names, Thomas Henry Webb and Thomas Welford Rainbow.  Using the Commonwealth War Grave Commission website to find out who these individuals were, they were to discover that both men had come from Shipston and had both died fighting in the war. They went on to discover that neither soldiers’ bodies were recovered and they are both named on memorials to the missing.  Whilst at Tyne Cot, the largest British Military cemetery in the world, students found Thomas Henry Webb’s name and discussed what they had found out about his life before the war.  He will forever be remembered on panel 80.

The tour concluded with a visit to the Somme region where students spent time at the Thiepval memorial to the missing, where they discovered the name of Thomas Welford Rainbow on panel 5A.  Again they shared what they had discovered about his life and then signed the visitors book in remembrance of him

Thank you to Mrs Kember for giving the students the opportunity to take part in this very emotive and worthwhile visit.

At 2:30 a.m. on 7^th February thirty one bleary eyed students and three even more bleary eyed staff arrived at school ready to depart for Poland to explore the Jewish history of Krakow.

Despite the early start students involved themselves in all the activities throughout the day which included a tour of the Jewish quarter, a visit to the only remaining working synagogue in Krakow and a visit to the Schlindler museum. The day finished with a walk to the Plaszow concentration camp to see the stunning memorial there.

The second day was another early start, heading off to visit Auschwitz 1 and Birkenau. Here we had a guided tour of the barracks which have now been turned into museums, including a fantastic Shoah exhibition dedicated to the loss of Jewish life during the Holocaust. Students then visited Birkenau to learn more about the daily conditions at the death camp and to get a sense of what it might have been like for a prisoner there.  After what had been a rather intense day students finished their evening in a Klezmer restaurant, listening to Jewish music and eating traditional Jewish food, a really lovely way to see that Jewish culture is still alive and being celebrated despite what students had experienced during the day.

To complete the trip, on the Sunday students visited the Galicia photography exhibition dedicated to Jewish life after the Holocaust. It was here that students were fortunate enough to listen to a survivor talk, where they learned about a parent’s sacrifice to give up their child so that she could survive knowing what their own fate would be. After an incredibly moving session and some great questions from the students we then finished the trip visiting the incredible salt mines (where many of our students ‘enjoyed’ a quick taste of the salt walls!).

Despite a delay at the airport spirits remained high when a Jewish school broke out into spontaneous song and invited our students to get involved, which culminated in singing, dancing and a bit of learning Hebrew thrown into the mix!

As always the students were fantastic and a real credit to the school, resulting in all having a really valuable experience!

Ms Jordan Whitworth
Head of Religion, Ethics and Philosophy