Local IT Company Pink Connect has been involved with our school for two years now, contributing as a local employer, to Career days for all age groups from Years 7 to 11.

Company owner, James Pink, became aware of a significant number of students who didn’t have ready access to a PC or laptop for working at home, which he saw as a major obstacle to them achieving their best possible results, not only during their time in school, but also as they move into almost any area of employment. 

James and his company have since been instrumental in supplying refurbished PCs and laptops, initially to Year 7 and 8 students who have needed them and latterly to older students in the school.  Currently James has made available 85 computers for our students who have been thrilled and excited to be given the means to easily access their schoolwork from home.

We are extremely grateful to James for his generosity in providing these much needed computers and were delighted to welcome him to school recently so that two of the students benefitting from his gesture were able to thank him and his colleague Jack in person.

Jack Elliott of Pink Connect with Mr Saunders and Year 8 students George and Jack

Shipston High School’s Open Evening, planned for 30th September 2021, is now cancelled. This decision is taken with regret, but has been taken is response to further cases of coronavirus in the school community. In order to protect visitors, students and staff from the risk of infection, it would be irresponsible to host a gathering of potentially hundreds of people, including many children. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Families can find useful information by clicking on the ‘Thinking of Joining Shipston High School’ link on the school website, also available here: September 2022 entry | Shipston High School‘.

Shipston High School congratulates our Year 11 students on the fantastic GCSE results achieved this year. Students have had an extremely challenging time since the government’s cancellation of the usual examinations. The grades awarded represent the hard work across the duration of their courses, and their commitment has been rewarded with impressive individual performances and strong results across the school. All students should be very proud.

Shipston High School has once again proved its reputation for high academic achievement with a host of top grades across all subjects. Shipston High is proud of the wide success for our students, including those who scored especially impressively by securing a grade 9 in at least seven different subjects.

This year, following the cancellation of exams, grades were awarded through a process of centre assessed grades, checked against a national standard and approved and awarded by the exam boards. The government is not publishing performance data for any schools or colleges this year due to the varying impact of the pandemic.

Gavin Saunders, the school’s headteacher said: “We are immensely proud of all the work and achievements of our students, especially after such a difficult and disrupted year. Our students, supported by their families and teachers, have worked with real commitment to ensure they can pursue their ambitions in education, training and employment and we look forward to seeing what they will achieve in the future.”

Although the majority of students have been engaged in on line learning since the start of the lockdown at the beginning of this term, a lot of amazing work has been taking place in living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms across the school community.

Our Art department has received some brilliant artwork sent in by students whilst home learning and we would like to share below some examples of what has been achieved.  The “eye” themed pieces of work are by Year 8 students whilst the remainder are from a collection of work by Year 10 students.

In the period up to Christmas, before the covid lockdown in January, the Technology Department was able to run some after school homework/coursework sessions for our Key Stage 4 students, with all appropriate safety measures in place. Their hard work both in lessons and after school has produced some exceptional work.

Textiles, students have been working on products based on nature, which involves experimenting with many different techniques and using artists as inspiration for their work.

Health and Social Care students have been researching some support organisations for families in poverty.

Food technology students have been working on their controlled assessments, where they have been building their practical skills base to enable them to identify three to four dishes based on a theme, two of which they would be required to cook in a three hour practical exam, should this be allowed under Government/Exam Board guidelines.

The gallery below shows some of the brilliant work that has been taking place.

Shipston on Stour Rotary Club has been incredibly generous in donating laptop computers to us here at Shipston High School.
Mr Saunders was presented with these computers on behalf of the school on Friday 26th June by President Elect Stuart McLean. The computers will make an immediate and notable impact for students facing the current challenge of remote working. The coronavirus has required the majority of children to engage with learning online and these computers will really help students connect with their learning at this challenging time.
The Rotary club is a constant and tireless supporter of the school and the young people of the community. The school community has a deep respect for the club’s commitment to making a difference for young people, and these computers are proof of that commitment.
Doubtless the Club members worked hard to secure such a good number of computers for the school; we are extremely grateful and would like to publicly thank them on behalf of everyone at Shipston High School.

Year 10 students have just returned after a week out of school on work experience. The students were at many varied places from Aston Martin, Owen Mumford, Museums, Golf clubs, Garages, Graphic design studios, an Auctioneer, Architects, EE, Veterinary surgeries, and many more, one student even worked for a fashion house in the Shard in London.
The students find work experience a very rewarding experience and insight into the world of work, it really teaches them some of those vital skills they will need in life, and a good reference from an employer can make all the difference with college or job interviews.
A number of students have also been offered apprenticeships and Saturday jobs as a result of their week at work.

If your child will be starting in Year 10 in September it is never too early to start looking for a really good place, one that interests them and that they will enjoy.
If you or a member of your family works somewhere that would be able to offer one of our students a placement next year then please get in touch with Louise Moorman at the school.

Year 10 student Isabella Benfield has again shown us what persistence and endeavour can achieve. Isabella competed yesterday in the Riding for the Disabled Association qualifiers, entering
two dressage classes and two show jumping classes. She came first in all four!! Not content with that, Isabella went on to win a trophy for the highest dressage score for Warwickshire and another one for the highest show jumping score of the day for the whole West Mercia region.

We are delighted that through her dedication and efforts she has qualified for the National Championships at Hartpury College on 12th and 13th July. Wishing you the best of luck Isabella, we are all so proud of you!

On Thursday 9th May a group of Year 10 students took part in a Law day at Stratford Girls’ Grammar School.

It was a really interesting and informative day. The students took part in five different workshops with lawyers from the Law firm Harrison, Clark Rickerby. Each workshop featured a different type of law, Criminal, Litigation, Insolvency, Employment and Property.

After lunch, the students spent some time preparing for a mock trial to take place that afternoon. Each student had been given legal papers to pre-read before the day and all students took on a role in the trial. Before the mock trial, students prepared their own questions and planned how they wanted the defence and prosecution to go. At the end of the afternoon the trial went ahead with a judge deciding the outcome of the case.

We are grateful to Harrison Clark Rickerby for leading the workshops and to Stratford Girls’ Grammar School for hosting the event. It was certainly a busy day and really gave the students a very good insight into a career in Law.

Our GCSE Art and Design students had a fascinating session on Monday 17th December with well known artist Becky Gouverneur, who specialises in highly detailed charcoal and graphite portraits.  Students were treated to an amazing insight into her work and the techniques involved, gaining some first hand knowledge for them to apply in their own Art and Design lessons.

We are very grateful to Becky for taking the time to come and visit us and for all the helpful tips she gave to the students.

As we approach a significant remembrance Sunday, the school is involved in a number of activities to commemorate this important event. Miss McElroy has written a summary of a recent trip to the National Memorial Arboretum, which follows here:
On Thursday 4th October we were able to take Year 9 on a visit to the National Memorial Arboretum. This trip was designed to help the students reflect on how and why we remember the fallen by looking at a small section of the 300 war memorials.
During our visit we took part in a poppies workshop, this enabled us to learn about the creation of the poppies and about some of the poetry inspired by them. Students were asked to take apart their poppy and then put it back together with restrictions such as using one arm or closing their eyes. This helped to demonstrate how difficult it is for veterans returning from war to adapt to their surroundings; a real insight into the impact of conflict.
We were then able to freely walk the grounds of the arboretum. We focused on two memorials: the armed forces memorial which commemorates soldiers killed in conflict since the end of World War Two and the Shot at Dawn memorial which commemorates those soldiers who faced the firing squad for perceived offences. These were both powerful memorials that provoked a deep level of discussion from the students.
As a close to our day we took part in the act of remembrance where students read poetry and laid a wreath on behalf of the school. The students’ response to the trip was profound with many reflecting on why we are free today and what it actually means to be free. The scale of the memorial at the Arboretum also provoked some awe from the students, leaving them with a deep level of respect.

At a more local level, we are very proud of Year 11 student Connor Begley who has recently completed his training as Standard Bearer for the Shipston branch of the Royal British Legion. Connor performed his first duty on Sunday 21st November when he took part in the remembrance Service at the Memorial Garden in Shipston to commemorate the end of the First World War.

Shipston High School’s student numbers continue to grow. This year the school will admit 120 new students into Year 7 in September – its largest intake yet. On 28th June we held our Induction day for those students to come and have a day in school to experience just what it’s like to be a student at Shipston High School. It is always exciting to see pupils from a number of schools join together with new friendships to foster and new experiences to share. This year was no exception and by the end of the day there were many smiling faces and an air of anticipation of what lies ahead. We are very much looking forward to them joining us properly in September.
It doesn’t, however, end there. We are already looking ahead to September 2019 and the following week, on 3rd July, we held an Open Morning for Year 5 Parents and pupils who are exploring possibilities for their secondary education. We were delighted to welcome into school around 60 families, eager to see what we have to offer their children – and to get a first look at our new building. Applications are now open through the Warwickshire Local Authority for places in September 2019 until the end of October 2018.

One Week, 4,000 Miles, Two Great Causes

When we were invited to help raise money for Brain Tumour Research UK and Willing & Abel we were keen to find out what we could do to help. The aim of the “Long Road to Ghana” was to help the local community to travel 4,000 miles from Shipston-on-Stour to a young man called Ethan’s Home in Akatsi, Ghana. Ethan Suglo first came to the UK for surgery a couple of years ago to treat a medical illness that is treated at birth in all Western Countries. His first surgery was very successful, but to give him the chance of a normal life he needed more. It was for this surgery that we wanted to help raise money. The fundraising challenge across the community was to travel – by whatever means – the equivalent of 4,000 miles in 7 days.

On Monday 4th June staff and students gave up their lunchtime and took to the school field, along with Dr. Williams from the local Medical Centre, to clock up some miles towards the 4,000 mile total. With the help of the school Jazz Band to spur them on, we estimate our walkers covered around 375 miles, raising over £400 for the charity. We would like to thank all our parents who gave so generously towards this event and understand that the Ethan has now had his surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Extra curricular PE is very popular at Shipston High School, with a great number of students representing the school in numerous sports. Our sports teams have been very active over the last few months and have achieved a number of notable successes:
Congratulations to:
Our Year 8 boys who took the gold medal in the Warwickshire School games level 3 sports hall athletics competition
Our U13 girls who took part in the Warwickshire girls rugby festival held at Barkers Butts RFC and won all of their games and then had tickets to watch the Womens’ England v Ireland Six Nations match at the Ricoh Arena
Our Year 8 basketball team who beat a very strong Alcester Grammar side 42-33 to become South Warwickshire district champions 2018
Our U15 girls rugby squad who won all their games at the recent RFU Warwickshire festival held at Shipston Rugby Club

Winter sports are nearing an end, with the Ski trip to the USA taking place during the Easter holidays. We look forward to the Summer term and achieving more great successes on fields, courts and track.

The first PiXL Edge Awards ceremony to celebrate Year 8’s success during their first year at Shipston High School took place on Thursday 30th November.  The PiXL Edge – Apprentice Level framework gives students the opportunity to develop five key life attributes through a series of targeted activities and challenges. These attributes were chosen after research looked into employability skills and the following attributes were identified as key to success.

Leadership; Organisation; Resilience; Initiative and Communication

Students were required to complete two activities per attribute.  Examples of some of the activities undertaking by the students to gain the award include organising a fundraising event for a local Youth Council which involved running a tabletop sale, car wash and bike repair, writing and delivering a speech on Animal Abuse and Animal Testing, learning a new musical instrument and completing research for a project within History which included creating a model of castle.

As a school we are keen to promote such skills and qualities to prepare students for life once they leave Shipston High. Our students are keen and determined to face every challenge set which was evidenced by the number of students who achieved the award. Hopefully the success and accolade of this award will drive them forward to work towards the next level which will be launched after Christmas.