ScienceTriple Award

SHEBBEAR COLLEGE NEWS SUMMER 2013

www.shebbearcollege.co.uk

KINDERGARTEN SEARCH FOR BIG TED

Life SkillsMECHANICS

Junior Adventures

D of E Awards

BIKEABILITY

BARBADOS& St. Lucia

Ten TorsChallenge

ROUNSEFELLDINNER

WORLD AIMS & FAIRTRADE

SPORTS DAY

Boarders’Summer Ball

SCIENCE GCSE TRIPLE AWARD SUCCESSExcellent GCSE results in Biology, Chemistry and Physics for four 5th Form students.

5th Form students Emilio Aliberti, Jack Honey, Julian Blaskiewicz and Thomas Hill, pictured above with Headmaster Simon Weale, all achieved A* Grades in their Biology, Chemistry and Physics GCSE examination modules. Further to this impressive result, three of the students; Julian, Thomas and Jack, obtained a perfect set of results, 100% in all three subjects, a remarkable achievement.

HEADMASTER’S WORDS

Dear Parents, Friends and Old Shebbearians,

It is a pleasure to introduce this summary of just some of the many events that have taken place at the College this term. As a ‘new boy’ I was expecting a whirlwind of activity and I have not been disappointed, but the articles featured here are only a taster of what happens at Shebbear.

The main focus at the College this term has of course been an academic one and the serious business of exams. These have ranged from SATs in the Junior School to A Levels in the Senior School and we look forward to the results of these at the end of the summer. However the focus of this review (with a few exceptions) is very much more on the other opportunities available in this school – opportunities that help to develop the character and mould our pupils into resilient, enterprising, and socially aware adults. This is one of the main reasons why I want my children to attend this school.

At the heart of everything is the hard work of all the pupils and staff at the College. I know the teachers are looking forward to a well-earned rest. Unfortunately for the maintenance and grounds staff the summer is a period of high activity. Under the Bursar’s guidance they have been responsible for the systematic improvement of so many areas of our site: I thank them for their continued endeavours. All that remains is to wish you all an enjoyable summer break and to invite you to read the rest of this review.

Simon WealeHeadmaster

Search ‘Shebbeartube’

Keep an eye on our YouTube channel which is regularly updated with new film clips. You can link straight to the channel from the homepage of the college website.

PUPILS LEARN MECHANICS IN LIFE SKILLS CLASSESThe Life Skills Centre allows pupils to enjoy a wide variety of creative and practical studies.

Lead by teachers Mr Trask, Mr Sanders and Mr Barlow, a group of students have been learning car mechanics as part of our Life Skills initiative.

The Life Skills Centre is an additional facility to the Art Department, offering a much wider range of creative and practical activities. The centre comprises five newly refurbished workshops and studios which enable pupils to enjoy art, pottery, ceramics, textiles and fashion, photography, sculpture, design, technology and mechanics.

Pictured above are mechanics students Mark Withecombe, Tim Kivell, Tom Scantlebury, George Tozer, Bailey Miles, James Hibben, Miles Coward, Tom Squire and Blake Simpson.

Above: a hair-raising Physics experiment on Induction Day

KINDERGARTEN SEARCH FOR BIG TED IN THE WOODSOur Kindergarten enjoyed a great day out at RHS Rosemoor in June learning about forest creatures.

The children followed footprints to find some of Ted Bear’s friends hiding in the woods before finding Big Ted. Once found, they explored the environment looking for other animals that inhabit the woods. Beetles, newts, spiders, centipedes and beetle lava were amongst creatures found, which most were happy to inspect at close quarters!

After putting the creatures back close to where they had been found, they made their own clay animals using twigs and objects found nearby before enjoying a picnic lunch.

JUNIOR ADVENTURESYear 6 pupils enjoyed a day out in June at the Adventure Centre at Great Potheridge House near Merton.

They took part in a range of Forest Schools activities in the surrounding woodlands that included building shelters, lighting fires and developing their teambuilding skills through a variety of challenges. They all had a wonderful day, assisted by the staff at Great Potheridge, including ex-Shebbearian Sam Coward.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARD SCHEMETwenty six pupils from the 4th, 5th and 6th Forms ventured through the New Forest in April.

Twenty of them completed their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Bronze final expedition and six pupils from the 6th Form completed the training section of their Gold Award.

The final challenge involved walking and completing a project for a minimum of six hours each day. They walked through the heart of the historic New Forest in Hampshire, from Burley to Bolderwood via Brokenhurst, about thirty miles in total. Congratulations to them all.

Junior School ‘Bikeability’ - May 2013

BARBADOS & ST. LUCIA SPORTS TOURA group of twenty-five pupils and five staff spent twelve nights on the islands of St. Lucia and Barbados during the Easter holidays, playing netball, cricket and football against school and club sides.

The teams won half of the ten matches played but the trip was about much more than just the sporting fixtures. A trip to the only drive-in volcano in the world on St. Lucia saw the group bathing in the hot mud pools, whilst on Barbados they were able to swim with turtles and explore a coral reef during their catamaran cruise.

Tour leader Andy Bryan said; ‘The pupils were a credit to Shebbear College, both on and off the field, and I’m sure they will remember their wonderful experiences for a very long time.

TEN TORS CHALLENGE 2013After a weekend of appalling weather our 35 Mile Team came in safe and complete at 1.30pm on Sunday 12th May - second in their group of sixteen.

The conditions on the moor were so bad that twice as many children dropped out as usual. Our pupils saw other teams try to cross rivers at dangerous places only to get soaked and have to be helped by Dartmoor Rescue. Our team chose to make long but safe detours so that they could cross over proper bridges. They were a little annoyed that they were delayed by this and unable to reach their target of Tor 8 by 8.00pm on Saturday, but at least they kept safe and dry!

Despite awful visibility the team did not get lost throughout the whole challenge and arrived safely over the finish line to an emotional reunion with family and friends.

GENERATION TENNISThe 7th Annual Generation Tennis Tournament in Maywas played in brilliant sunshine for the first time in years.

The pool rounds were played in excellent spirit, with the semi-finals taking a more serious turn. Mother and son pairing Ruth and Henry Cornish beat boarding pupils Max Frericks and Arsen Dzhadrinov 3-0 and Humanities teacher Steve Jeggo and Alessandro Aliberti beat father and son combo Mr Baker and Oscar Baker 3-0. Last year’s runners up Henry and Ruth Cornish proved too strong this year and also won their final convincingly. Pictured right are Oscar Baker, Mr Baker, Ruth Cornish, Henry Cornish, Arsen Dzhadrinov, Alessandro Aliberti, Max Frericks and Steve Jeggo.

ROUNSEFELL DINNER 2013Following weeks of planning and preparation our 5th Form pupils decorated the dining hall at Buckland House before cooking and serving a superb seven course meal for 6th Form pupils and staff at the annual Rounsefell Dinner in April.

WORLD AIMS & FAIRTRADEWorld AIMS pupils that have undertaken recent Fairtrade actions have received Fairtrade Leader Certificates.

Pupils from the World AIMS group (right) took part in a Fairtrade Leaders Course during which they learnt about world issues such as the slave trade. They watched videos with life changing stories giving them ideas on how they could help just a little bit through events that would raise awareness about Fairtrade.

An excellent short film, created by our Chaplain Tim Aldridge, has been made to highlight the ‘Enough Food for Everyone … IF’ campaign. Filmed by pupils and staff here at the college, the film features the whole Senior School displaying decorated paper plates that they created, which were subsequently sent to London to form part of a huge petition presented to Parliament in support of the campaign which is backed by World AIMS and Christian Aid among many others. View the film on our YouTube channel.

Other activities in support of the ‘IF’ campaign included the animation workshop which a number of pupils from participating schools undertook in our assembly hall in May.

6TH FORM VARIETY SHOWThe stage was set … a seemingly spontaneous burst into a High School Musical song during lunchtime previewed the type of quality entertainment we could expect from this year’s show.

With illness taking its toll on the 6th Form, could the show possibly live up to its eagerly anticipated high standards? Of course it could. Although terribly clichéd, it was felt ‘the show must go on’, and so a depleted cast rose to the occasion with, as the name would suggest, a superb variety of live performances.

We were treated to everything from rap battles and hilarious live comedy parodies to musical performances from the talented Emma Dixon and Catherine Kotarski and the arguably not so talented ‘Axis of Awesomeness’. Through the wonder of modern technology pre-recorded sketches including a ‘Gangnam Style’ parody and a variety of comedy skits were shown to the transfixed audience who all agreed that the show was an undeniable success.

‘Shebbeartube’

JUNIORS GO POND DIPPINGWith kind permission from Mrs Ann Whitten a group of Year 5 and 6 pupils went pond dipping at Berry Barns near Shebbear.

This was part of our Forest Schools studies in which the children (shown below) went in search of wildlife in and around a freshwater habitat which follows on from their previous work investigating saltwater habitats.

Our Lighthouse play area continues to provide a huge amount of fun and physical activity for the Kindergarten during their breaktimes.

SPORTS DAYSOur Junior and Senior School Sports Days saw some superb competitive performances on cold, windy days in May.

Olympian Georgina Geikie joined us for our Senior School Sports Day and was involved in shooting competitions throughout the day followed by the presentation of winners cups and medals. She was the first GB female to qualify for the Olympics Pistol Shooting event and is working with Shooting4England, an organisation that aims to develop and promote air gun shooting nationally as a legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Junior School also held a great afternoon of field and track events producing some fiercely contested competitions. Cups and medals were presented at the end of each day. Although bitterly cold, windy days, all the pupils who took part competed with determination. The hot drinks, cakes and barbeques were particularly welcomed.

The Kindergarten - probably the warmestspectators on Sports Day!

BOARDERS’ SUMMER BALLThe Boarders’ Summer Ball was held on Sunday9th June following days of preparation.

The hard work was well worth it, as everyone enjoyed themselves a great deal. The dining hall was decorated in shabby chic style and after a superb dinner there was live entertainment and a disco in the Memorial Hall.

THANKS TO THE FRIENDSOF SHEBBEAR COLLEGEThe Friends have kindly funded the purchase ofvarious essential pieces of school equipment.

Pictured below, these include Physics data-logging equipment, camping equipment for use in outdoor activities such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and flutes for the Music Department.

HELPING FARMSFOR CITY CHILDRENA cheque for £1000 was presented to ‘War Horse’ author Michael Morpurgo for his charity.

On Thursday 18th April, a group of pupils, teachers and Friends of Shebbear College (below) presented the cheque at Nethercott Farm. The funds were raised as a result of the Michaelmas Ball organised by the Friends of Shebbear College and the Old Shebbearians’ Association. The author took time to talk to the children and signed copies of his books that they had brought with them.

FORM 1 TRIP TO BUCKFAST ABBEYOn Thursday 11th June Form 1 enjoyed a History and Religious Studies trip to Buckfast Abbey.

You can see more photos, a short film and a full write-up by pupil Antonia Aliberti on the school website.