Congratulations to Holly Larkin, Leah Bowen, Ava Callan-Foster and Keana Pearce who took part in the Midlands Schools Championships in Worcester last Friday, 24th January 2020.

They reached the final for both events (4 x 50m medley and 4 x 50m freestyle) and finished 4th overall for the medley and 2nd for the freestyle.

4th and 2nd in the Midlands out of 30 schools is a superb achievement…they only missed out on 1st place by 0.3 of a second!

On the afternoon of 27th January we were delighted to welcome into school Loudmouth Theatre in Education company.

Loudmouth delivered a PSHE session “Working for Marcus” to our Year 11 students which focused on Child Exploitation, Sexual Exploitation, County Lines, Grooming and Knife crime. The aim of “Working for Marcus” is to make young people aware of the signs of grooming, develop empathy for its victims and be aware of the impact of child exploitation. Students learned how perpetrators can be any gender, ethnicity or age and set out to target a person’s vulnerability and they also gained some knowledge of the laws surrounding coercive and controlling behaviour.

The session comprised a piece of theatre followed by a very lively question and answer session, picking up points raised in the play.

Feedback from the students after the event indicated that the session had been extremely well received and had given the students much food for thought arising from the issues addressed.

We are very grateful to the office of the Police Crime Commissioner for funding this very worthwhile event and also to the Stratford District Council for facilitating it. Our thanks also go to the Youth Justice Service for making one of their representatives available to join us.

Modern students are often vilified in the media for lacking motivation, appearing to be rather lackadaisical in their outlook and are even labelled by some as work shy. Nothing could be further from the truth with five supremely driven students at Shipston High School.
Drive
James and Matthew Barrett, Laurence Barnes, Jedrzej Jakielska, and Jasmina Lichem demonstrated drive and discipline way in advance of what you would normally expect of students who are all sixteen or under in such a high tech competition and world. The five entrepreneurial youths engaged the tight corners and hair-pin bends that was the gruelling F1 Schools Regional Finals held in Birmingham on 15th January, 2020. Within a time period of four weeks they needed to: design a model race car, make it, test it up to race standards, gain sponsorship from businesses, as well as documenting all of the evidence in two portfolios. Not exactly a Sunday afternoon drive for students who already have huge commitments towards their school studies (James, Matthew and Laurence are Year 11 students preparing themselves for their GCSEs in the next few months).
Enterprising and Collaborative
On top of everything else these dedicated petrol-heads needed to take responsibility for individual aspects of the project as well as working collaboratively to ensure the whole process was completed to incredibly high exacting standards, and most importantly they were ready to race!
On your marks. Get set. Go!
On the day, all of the students admitted to being nervous regarding the performance of the car and the other tests they would need to negotiate, but their endeavours were fruitful and they were rewarded with an exhilarating experience and some fine performances. Their super compressed-air powered car was third fastest overall, covering 20m in an amazing 1.56s! They also won the overall verbal presentation award, demonstrating their confidence and eloquence in a five minute oral presentation to a range of industry expert judges. Overall, these students performed way beyond their years in maturity, application and yes, drive, in their pursuit of their future dreams.
World of Work
How often do we hear about Britain’s youth not being ‘work ready’? Well, that certainly couldn’t be levelled at this team! All of them showed the desire and skills to become successful young adults in our ever-changing world, as well as the resilience to make it in the tough post-Brexit economy they will inherit. All of them realised the enormous benefit to themselves that the experience presented and how it has reinforced the views that they all want careers in engineering, F1, technology and commercial enterprise, but the best bit was the atmosphere on the day, seeing the car run and winning their first ever race! Now if that doesn’t motivate you….
Blistering, Graining and Marbles
The world is full of jargon, some quite technical and some just plain obvious if you are in the know. The marbles here do not refer to little glass orbs for playing a game with, nor is it part of a euphemism for someone not in complete control of their faculties. Here it refers to a rather complicated scientific process which occurs to F1 tyres depending on the differential in temperature within the actual tyre…, but you knew that of course? I bet our super team did!
by A. G. Warren
Literacy Co-ordinator

In the last week of the Autumn term, the Year 11 GCSE Art students took part in some pottery lessons.

Local Potter Andy Gill came in and talked about his craft. Andy is a master potter, being traditionally trained at Whichford pottery, where he worked for over 30 years. Now concentrating on his own distinctive range of hand thrown terracotta flowerpots, Andy showed the students how to work with clay and helped them all created their own distinctive pieces. The students (and Mrs. Costello) also tried making a pot on a traditional pottery wheel which was great fun. The pieces the students made will be fired by Andy in his kiln when they are dry.

The students really enjoyed using a different medium in Art and learning about another facet of Art as a career option. We are extremely grateful to Mr Gill for giving up his valuable time to provide such a great experience for our students.

As part of their GCSE course, the Science department took the Year 11 students on a voyage back through time, where they learnt about the history of earth.  In the morning they were given an insightful talk about the museum, Darwin, Wallace and how their ideas have shaped our understanding of evolution and natural selection.  In the afternoon they completed an evolutionary trail, where they immersed themselves in the complete history of earth, discovering how the horse evolved from a small dog like creature to what we see today; they looked at why some animals have similar characteristics when they have oceans between them and why birds developed feathers and flight.  This was followed by a workshop looking at how humans have evolved, where the students used hands-on techniques to measure the skulls of our evolutionary ancestors to work out how the skull has changed and what this means for the brain.  It was a wonderful opportunity for Shipston High School students to be immersed in the academic atmosphere of Oxford University.

During the afternoon of 17th December our school Choir visited neighbouring Low Furlong Care Home to give a Christmas concert for its residents. Sporting festive hats and singing in their best voices the choir, led by Mr and Mrs Hunt, entertained the residents with a mixture of Christmas songs which was well received and enjoyed by all.

We are grateful to Low Furlong for giving us the opportunity to meet and entertain their residents, which turned out to be a fun afternoon for staff and students alike.

Following several evenings of planning and designing, students are well on the way to producing their compressed-air powered model Formula 1 racing car in preparation for the regional Final which is being held in Birmingham on 15^th January 2020.

The team comprises five students, James, Matthew, Jasmina, Laurence and Jedizej.

Jasmina has written the following article which totally sums up the team’s excitement and commitment for the challenges the regional Final is likely to bring:

“The F1 in Schools STEM Challenge is a mind-opening opportunity for Shipston High School students to design and make a compressed air-powered model Formula 1 racing car using 2D and 3D CAD/CAM software and techniques, together with a 5-page design portfolio detailing their design journey.

This might sound daunting, yet Shipston’s skilled team, creatively named Apex Racing, have the knowledge and guidance to overcome any obstacle!  The portfolio and race car will be ready to be tested in competition at the Regional final.”

Very soon our Year 11 students will be having interviews at 6^th forms, colleges and for apprenticeships.  We believe it is really important that prior to this they have the chance to experience what an interview will be like.  With this in mind all students take part in a mock interview session which this year involved sixteen volunteers from various local and national businesses and members of the Shipston on Stour Rotary Club.  All visitors, having much experience in interviewing people, held individual interviews based on the students’ pre-prepared CVs.

Students were briefed to wear “interview clothes” and without exception came into school very smartly dressed and ready for their interviews.  Everyone at school commented on how professional they looked. Although really nervous, the students found the interview to be a very rewarding experience, gaining some constructive feed-back which can now be used in class to improve their CVs and interview techniques.

Overall the students did really well, with our visitors being very impressed with their attitude, appearance and how they conducted themselves.

Miss L Moorman
Careers Leader

The Shipston on Stour Rotary Club’s annual Christmas Victorian Evening is one of the highlights of the Shipston calendar. For many, this very popular event marks the start of their Christmas celebrations with the switching on of the Shipston lights, the late night shopping and arrival of Father Christmas.
We were delighted when we were approached by the Rotary Club and asked if we would like to provide some entertainment during the evening. Led by Head of Music, Mr Hunt, and our Jazz Band stepped up to provide a range of both Christmas and popular music to entertain the shoppers. The event was made even more special as we were able to welcome back former Jazz Band members Oscar and Kat who made their “one night only” appearance with our students.
The school’s Christmas celebrations don’t end there. On Tuesday 17th December the Christmas choir will be entertaining the residents of Low Furlong Care Home and the school Christmas Concert takes place on Thursday 19th December at 7.00 p.m. in the school Hall. Tickets are available on the door and all are welcome.

Teach the Children Well
Fifty years ago this year, mankind pushed the boundaries of exploration to its then limits and made the biggest of technological, metaphorical and literal ‘leaps’ – the moon landings. In what these days may be referred to as a tin can, the American astronauts took Science onto the surface of the silver planet and world stood and watched. At the same time, the folk band Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sang about how we should ‘teach the children well’ and ‘feed them on your dreams’ – the world was inspired with the dreams, the possibilities, that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) could bring for the human race. And now, in 2019, at Shipston High School, perhaps we can rightly claim that those thought provoking revolutionary technological ideas are alive and thriving within the teaching of our ‘children’.

Inquisitive Minds
In November, five inquisitive and curious Year 8 students, Nahia, Imogen, Lily, Anaya and Rhiann accepted the gauntlet of their Science teacher, Mr Simon Smallman, to take up the STEM Challenge Competition and produce a new piece of technology which had at least one electrical component in it, and would be of benefit to mankind during an environmental catastrophe. An apposite challenge one would imagine, especially during the recent Biblical floods and probably one which inspired their amazing creation: the Emergency Floatation Device or EFD in the technical parlance.

Our intrepid Scientists pooled their collaborative talents to initiate the idea, design the machine, manufacture the prototype and then stand in front of an audience of other STEM specialists and pitch their creation in a Dragons’ Den style competition. Their idea won. These budding engineers had wowed the audience not only with their triple function chair/bed/stretcher machine, with outboard motor, with floatation back-up in case of engine failure, but with their use of words. These stellar students understood that it was language and their use of voice, pitch, tone, pace which would help to seal the deal. They understood that engaging the audience with effective eye-contact and appropriate gesture would swing things their way. They understood that the cross curricular connection between the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, and the use of English and Public Speaking was the key to success. One could argue the school had ‘taught the children well’!

Engineering is a Multiplicity of Skills
When asked what the competition inspired them to do in the future their responses were revealing. Imogen spoke of exploring the world of engineering further. Rhiann vowed to be more ‘thoughtfully creative’. Anaya was going to ‘reconsider her future’. Nahia pertinently noted that ‘engineering is a multiplicity of skills’ and Lily claimed she was now considering this as a ‘career option’.

At a time when STEM is more than ever vital for a world that is over-heating it is these young people which we must rely on to cherish the idea of what Science and language can do together, in harmony and in collaboration. There’s no irony when you dig further into Crosby’s song that he flips his initial pitch from ‘teach the children well’ to ‘teach the parents well’. Our future is in their hands. Our future is in good hands. Let the children teach and we should all learn.

A G Warren

A huge amount of activities take place in school within each department.  Mr Warren, the English department’s Literacy co-ordinator gives an account below of the behind the scenes activities in C block:

“Too many; or not too many? Is that really a Question?
‘Words, words, words.’ So replies Hamlet to Polonius’ question, ‘What do you read, my lord? By repeating the word three times, Hamlet possibly suggests that what he is reading is meaningless. There are a lot of words spoken and written in school, many by the staff and quite a few by students, and it would be fair to say that there is an argument that there are too many. However, this is to fundamentally miss the point. The function of words is really a method to express an idea, a view, a question or an emotion. Therefore, it is absolutely right that students should be extending and exploring a vocabulary that will allow them to perfectly articulate with clarity, perception and confidence exactly what they mean to express.

A paradigm of this would be the importance of Public Speaking within the school. Beyond the students’ academic studies one could argue that the skills and confidence developed by this activity are the ones which make our students really stand out from the crowd when they go for interviews for sixth form, college, university places and eventually in the world of work. Thus, the target for this year’s whole school participation is in excess of 90% (a target that we have reached in the last two academic years), and we are on the way to surpassing it. So far this year Years 11, 10 and 9 have completed their Public Speaking with some astonishing speeches on a variety of subjects including the rise of A.I., Environmental Catastrophes, Me Too and even one on the efficacy of the cow bell in the Swiss Alps! Perhaps, the most esoteric of all speeches so far this year.

You don’t have to believe a teacher about the power of the spoken word and the importance of Public Speaking when the students themselves already know and embrace the idea. When Lily Neale and Nahia Beesley returned in triumph from the STEM competition held at Sibford School in late November, both students were adamant that their Public Speaking skills had been the difference between them and their competitors. In addition to this, the very best of the Year 10 speakers will be flying the Shipston High School flag at the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition in February. Their task, a stiff one, is to emulate the class of 2017 who made it to the final 7 schools out of a staggering 630 schools in the whole of the UK. Good luck!

Finally, to complete our theme of the power of words, 2019 has seen the introduction of the on-line vocabulary enhancement programme ‘Bedrock’ for the whole of Key Stage 3 and Year 10. This effective enhancer of vocabulary will further develop the range of lexis available to students to select from when they write and when they speak. So, perhaps Hamlet’s response to Polonius’ enquiry could have parodied the famous Morecambe and Wise sketch:

“I am using all the best possible words, and putting them in all the best possible places”

I suppose there might be a few issues with the meter!

This year’s Awards Evening took place on Thursday 21^st November.

A large number of students who left Shipston at the end of the last academic year returned to collect their GCSE certificates, subject prizes and special awards, together with our current Year 10 and Year 11 students receiving awards for attitude to study and progress against target.  We were delighted to see amongst the audience parents, staff, governors, the Mayor of Shipston and representatives from local sponsors the Rotary Club, Stour Valley Lions, Shipston Probus and the Royal British Legion.  Our guest of honour was Mr Bob Armstrong who, after many years’ service to the school, recently retired from the school’s Board of Governors.  Mr Armstrong also presented the new “Bob Armstrong Award” to ex-Head Girl Abigail Slatter in recognition of her all-round contribution to the life of the school.

Awards Evenings are always special occasions and this was no exception.  It is always fascinating to learn what our students go on to do when leaving us.  This year one student has taken a place at Shrewsbury School to follow his rowing career whilst another is resident at Repton School on a hockey scholarship.  Many have progressed to local sixth forms to study A levels and a good number have embarked on vocational courses at college in areas such as Animal Care, Bricklaying, Hair and Beauty, Health & Social Care and Sports Science.  A substantial number, too, have taken up apprenticeships in various professions such as Catering, Carpentry, Farriery and Farming.

In all cases, it is good to see that the sound education they have received at Shipston has stood them in good stead to take the next steps forward in their chosen careers.

Two teams from Year 8 represented the school on Wednesday 20th November at a Faraday STEM Challenge Day at Sibford School organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Tasked with designing and building a prototype of a solution that could be used to help in a relief operation, both teams worked brilliantly, but it was the girls’ team of Nahia, Imogen, Lily, Anaya and Rhiann who were victorious and lifted the trophy at the end of the day.

The boys’ team of Robert, Rhys, Oscar, Jack, Jake and Oscar  were also excellent ambassadors for the school.

The school could potentially now qualify for the regional final!

Over the last few days, as is the norm, the school observed the national commemoration for Remembrance.

The whole school gathered together for a special assembly to reflect on the commitment and sacrifice of our armed services. We were proud and honoured to welcome special guests from the Shipston on Stour branch of The Royal British Legion to the assembly, and we thank Chairman, Richard Adams, and President, David Kernohan, for joining us for the event. Students heard the story of Ernest Arthur Webb who served in the 2nd Batallion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and who, at age 29, became the first Shipston fatality of the second world war.

School staff and students were represented by our five senior prefects, Ashish, Minnie, James, Matthew and Amy who took part in the parade and the Sunday Remembrance service on 10th November and attended the marking of the two minutes’ silence on 11th November with Headteacher Gavin Saunders.

We are grateful for the opportunity to be involved, and proud to have raised money for the Royal British Legion through poppy sales in school.

Prison Me No Way day is an event we always look forward to in school.

As part of our work on Personal Social Health Education (PSHE), we had visitors in school from the Fire Service, Ambulance Service, Red Cross, Police, CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre), the Prison Service and other organisations for a Crime and Safety Awareness day. The aims of the day were to raise awareness among young people of the consequences of crime, and discouraging young people from making a mistake that could affect their adult lives. Workshops this year included Prison Life, Drugs, Knife Crime and Making the Right Choices. Students also had the chance to experience what the inside of a prison cell looks like, forcibly bringing home the message that actions have consequences. This event for Year 8 and 9 students has been run in school for the past 12 years and it has been hugely successful and valuable. The event is organised by the No Way Trust.
If you would like to know more about the charity organising the day, please visit their website at www.pmnw.co.uk.

On Saturday 28th September 45 students visited the school’s adopted rhino – amongst other animals –at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, Burford. The visit was the culmination of Mrs Hunt’s “Rhino Week” at school, involving students fundraising for the rhino by putting loose change into a rhino shape, a ‘name the rhino’ competition to win a cuddly rhino and selling animal key rings and snap bands. Students also bought and hungrily devoured a large amount of homemade rhino shaped cookies!

The day was bright and sunny and students enjoyed a great day around the Park. It was especially pleasing to see so many of our new Year 7 students taking part in their first school trip!

Thanks to Mrs Hunt and all the other members of staff who gave up their Saturday to enable the trip to go ahead.

Open Evening took place on Thursday 26th September and we were delighted to welcome so many prospective parents to what we believe is a very special school. The school was alive with demonstrations, displays and current Shipston High School students eager to share their experiences of life at the school. We never cease to be amazed and proud of the way our students volunteer to come back to school in their own time to help in classrooms, act as tour guides, car park attendants and do anything else that needs to be done!
Our visitors were certainly impressed with their Shipston High experience and our visitors questionnaire revealed some lovely comments:
“The students were absolutely charming. You can see immediately how happy they are. We’re extremely impressed”
“I have been very impressed by how warmly the pupils spoke about their school: their sense of pride is evident”

The closing date for on time applications for entry to Shipston High School in September 2020 is 31st October and the school has 120 places available.

A fantastic number of people attended our Open Morning back in July. We are now delighted to invite you to our OPEN EVENING which is taking place on Thursday 26th September 2019.
The evening will commence with the Headteacher’s presentation at 6.00 p.m. (which will be repeated at 7.30 p.m.) followed by an opportunity to view the school until 8.00 p.m.

During your visit there will be the opportunity to:
• See our high achieving and student focussed school in its attractive setting and explore the ‘Shipston Experience’ for yourself
• Find out about our success and why Shipston High is the first choice school for so many families
• Get involved in the exciting, interactive displays in all subject areas and experience the high quality of our teaching and learning
• Meet and chat to our students and learn how they achieve significantly above local and national averages.
• Talk to staff and students
• Appreciate how we develop character through extra-curricular activities
• Hear how well our students do after they leave us
• Learn about our engaging curriculum
• During the evening you will also be able to access help and advice on the admissions process

We very much look forward to meeting prospective parents and students during the evening. If you have any queries please contact Mrs Alison Punt, Headteacher’s Secretary, on 01608 661833 or apunt@shipstonhigh.co.uk

The new Autumn term started on Tuesday 3rd September when we welcomed 120 new students into Year 7 together with older students in year groups across the school and 5 new members of the teaching staff.

The school has certainly been buzzing this week as our young people negotiate their way around their new school environment, dealing with different lessons in different classrooms, different teachers for each subject and deciding what food to buy in the school canteen! All students have arrived looking very smart in their new uniforms, well equipped and ready to start the new chapter in their lives. They are already engaging well in their lessons and anxious to join some of the many after school clubs which will be starting shortly. This intake is the largest Year 7 intake for many years, being fully subscribed with a waiting list. As we continue to help our new starters settle into life at Shipston High School, we are now turning our thoughts to those pupils in Year 6 at local primary schools who will shortly be visiting us with a view to making their applications for next September and we are currently making preparations for our Open Evening on Thursday 26th September.