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Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www.shebbearcollege.co.uk
24th February 2017Issue No 129
Dear Parents,
Despite everything that Storm Doris threw at us there is a real sense of spring being just around the corner and this was reinforced by the glorious sunshine today. That sense of hope that spring gives us was also very much in evidence around the school this week.
At the top end various Upper Sixth Formers are deciding which university offer to accept and I was delighted to learn that another of our students has received an offer to study engineering at Imperial College, London - a world class institution. His particular interest is electronic and electrical engineering which will mean that in the last three years Shebbear students have gone to study pretty much every different scientific discipline offered at university - Biology, Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Medicine, Biotechnology, Physics, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Forensic Science. Another exciting piece of news is that Liam Rafferty has secured a gap year post at St George’s College, Buenos Aires. As a result of his determined attitude (and of course his teachers) Liam is fluent in Spanish and I am sure he will make a success of this great opportunity.
During Half Term I spent a rewarding morning at the Burton Art Gallery in Bideford where I was able to enjoy the prize-winning and thought-provoking art of Mrs Appleton-Wahl’s classes. Take the opportunity of visiting if you can. When you do you will not be surprised to learn that of the eighty one students who have taken GCSE art in the last four years at Shebbear, forty one have achieved A*s and twenty have achieved A grades - almost unbelievable.
The creative arts were matched last night by the performing arts and our young musicians warmed up for next week’s grade exams by appearing in the Chamber Concert. This must be fairly nerve-wracking for them but as usual there were some sublime moments and a particular delight yesterday was Charlotte Nethacott’s poised piano playing.
The week will end with lots of sporting fixtures against Truro and Mount Kelly and clearly a recent highlight has been the success of three of our boys in being selected for the Lambs U16s - the English independent schools’ representative side. Shebbear was the smallest school to send pupils to the trials and yet we got the most players into the final squad. Suitably attired in pink, the boys took on a Welsh representative team and won - a memory to last them all a lifetime.
Simon Weale
The Lambs U16 National Rugby Squad (including Alessandro, Sione and Charlie)achieved a 22-15 win against the U16 Boys Club of Wales last weekend.
Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www.shebbearcollege.co.uk
24th February 2017Issue No 129
visit from two members of the Hodge Podge Theatre Company who came to Shebbear to run a puppet workshop. The children had great fun playing some excellent drama games and then all experimented with making up and dramatising their own stories using paper puppets.
The thespian theme continued on Thursday when they visited the Plough Theatre in Great Torrington to watch ‘The Homeless Panda’ performed by the Hodge Podge Theatre Company. Poor Panda had lost her home and all of the other jungle animals helped to rebuild it to save her. It was lovely that the Reception children joined the Pre-Prep class for this trip and they all had a thoroughly good time despite storm Doris’ appearance.
News from the Prep School
More High 5 HeroicsWatching our U11 netball team produce yet another outstanding performance on Monday provided a wonderful start to the second half of this Lent term.
This impressive 13-2 victory against Holsworthy Primary School helped maintain the team’s unbeaten run in the High 5 league and highlighted what a tour de force they are becoming. Gabriella Gee stood out in particular, and her crisp passing and accurate shooting justifiably earned her the ‘player of the match’ accolade.
Down on the FarmYear 5 have a new ‘arrival’ in class - an egg incubator. Mrs Forester has kindly lent us her equipment, along with 20 freshly laid chicken eggs, for us to watch the process of chicks hatching, hopefully in time for Easter. The class discovered that there is much more than just yolk and white in an egg if you know how to look carefully enough. Later on we will ‘candle’ the eggs to see whether there are chicks developing inside. Meanwhile, we have the entertaining sound of the computerised incubator turning the eggs every hour!
Hodge Podge!Pre-Prep and the Reception children from Pre-School have had a very dramatic week. It all started on Tuesday when they had a
Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www.shebbearcollege.co.uk
24th February 2017Issue No 129
Flipping Marvellous!Pre-Prep have been flipping and eating delicious pancakes to celebrate Shrove Tuesday next week.
Harry’s pancake just kept bouncing and Ashton didn’t fancy eating his first attempt when it landed on the floor! Luckily, his second attempt was more successful!
Mike Furber
Next week in the Prep SchoolWednesday 1st MarchU9 football/netball v St Joseph’s School, home, 2.00pmYear 6 swimming, pm
Friday 3rd MarchYear 3 and 4 trip to Rosemoor GardensAssembly with Mrs Bearpark
UKMC ResultsForms 3 to 5 took part in the United Kingdom Intermediate Mathematical Challenge competition before half term and the fantastic results arrived in school on Monday.
Gold certificates were awarded to Merryn Alderson (best in school), Antonia Aliberti, Anna Walter and Matthew Honey. Silver certificates go to Alex Yiu, Tara Twomey, Smith Lin, Lizzie Flaherty and George Balkwill-Western. Bronze certificates went to Alessandro Aliberti, Jason Man, Immy Mathews, Will Cunningham, Mia Philpott, Eddie Hill and Patrick Faulkner.
Merryn and Antonia’s scores qualify them for the Pink Kangaroo which is the next round of the competition for their age group. Likewise Matthew Honey and George Balkwill-Western qualified for the Grey Kangaroo which is the equivalent competition in their age group. Well done to all participants.
Claire Cardoo
Winner of the AnnualSchools Art Exhibition 2017Congratulations to Art Teacher Dixie Wahl and to all our pupils who won prizes at the Burton Art Gallery in Bideford this week. Shebbear College has been chosen by The National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies as winner of the Annual Schools Exhibition 2017.
At the awards presentation on Tuesday, as well as winning the overall school award, specific works, namely ‘Homeless Project’ and ‘Unstill Life’ received a certificates of merit and Mikey received a prize for his piece ‘Funky Chickens’. Our Form 3 art pupils enjoyed a good look around the exhibition prior to the presentations. The exhibition runs until 13th March and we encourage everyone to visit.
Our Brief Plea for Uganda Continues ...The Finance Department are still collecting important items for the trip to Uganda to give to families out there. They need bras, knickers and pants (tagged or in packets please) for ladies and children, childrens’ clothes, sanitary towels and tampons.
Thank you to everyone who has donated so far, please drop any more items in to the school reception office. Thank you.
Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www.shebbearcollege.co.uk
24th February 2017Issue No 129
Sixth Form Experience WeekStudents in Form 5 enjoyed their Sixth Form Experience Week just before half term, with various activities to help prepare them for life beyond GCSEs. A number of staff spoke about opportunities that are available within the Sixth Form, and the week finished with presentations from teaching staff delivering courses at A-Level or BTEC such as Economics, Psychology, BTEC in Creative Digital Media Production and BTEC in Sport (with the optional bolt on of Outdoor Education). In addition to subject specific presentations, Mrs Aliberti outlined how the college supports students through the UCAS programme, she also gave some invaluable advice about what students can start doing now to prepare them for University applications. The week was well received by Form Five and hopefully it has given them plenty to think about.
Jamie Sanders
Plymouth University MasterclassBefore half term, Mrs Cardoo took four of the Form 1 ‘super mathematicians’ to Plymouth University to attend a Masterclass entitled ‘Polygons, Polyhedrons, Flexagons and Topology’. There are actually many ‘super mathematicians’ in Form 1 but unfortunately each school was only allocated four places.
The aim of the day was to dig deeper into mathematics and to start thinking about how we can prove things are true rather than just accepting it because our teacher says so!
Mitzi, Adam, James and Luke attended the day and especially enjoyed the afternoon where they made their own Flexagons which seems like a bit of mathematical magic! The event also gave the pupils an idea of what being at a University for a day might be like.
Opportunity for Year 12 StudentsWednesday 5th April 2017, 10.00am - 3.00pmThe Engineering Faculty at the University of Bristol will be running a Taster Day for Year 12 students who are studying a STEM subject at A-Level. The day will involve attending taster lectures in a range of different disciplines, allowing participants to gain some insight into studying that subject at university level. This will provide the student with further information into the subject and provide them with an overview of what to expect.
For more information please contact: [email protected]
Participants will only be able to attend if they have booked their space on the day, which can be completed online. Please note that as this is in the Easter holidays we will not be taking a group from school, therefore you will need to book in yourselves.
Judith Aliberti
Non-stop Sport in the Cunningham House!Thank you to Mr Roger Cunningham for keeping us up to date with the impressive sporting achievements in his family.
Will has been invited to trial for U15 Exeter Academy and has also played Devon U15s rugby, winning all their matches comfortably against Bristol and Avon, Somerset and Cornwall.
Angus played for Devon U17s water-polo in a recent tournament at Millfield, winning 3 out of 4 games and his Exeter U17 team also won the Bristol and South West water-polo U17 league, playing teams from Wales, Gloucester, Bristol and Devon. He has been selected for Exeter U19 NAGs (National Age Group) league team run nationally with three forthcoming tournaments. He has also been selected for Devon hockey again with an April 2nd tournament against neighbouring counties.
Evie is competing in Devon Sprints swimming in 2 weeks with strong competition expected!
Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www.shebbearcollege.co.uk
24th February 2017Issue No 129
Poland Trip 2018 - Don’t miss out!There are a few places still available for our wonderful enrichment trip to Kraków in February 2018, open to all current 4th, 5th and Lower 6th Forms.
Excursions to Auschwitz Concentration Camps, Oskar Schindler’s Factory, Kraków’s Old Town, Jewish Quarter, the Ghetto and a meeting with a Holocaust survivor guarantee a moving, thought-provoking experience.
To provide a lighter balance, pupils will enjoy visits to the Wawel Royal Palace, Wieliczka Salt Mines, the historic Jagiellonian University of Science and Medicine - where they can stand in the study rooms of mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and Pope John Paul II - and Stalin’s communist suburb of Nowa Huta. Very popular on the last trip were the shopping excursions, restaurants, live music and dancing.
This is a superb trip which encompasses history, religion, ethics, psychology, science, music, art and culture.
For full details please email me on:[email protected]
Mark Charman
More About Form 1’s Buckfast Abbey TripA letter from Lola Frisby Williams to the monk who spoke to the pupils on the day:
Dear Father Christopher,All of Form 1 really enjoyed the trip to Buckfast Abbey - it was really interesting. I can’t believe that only one of those five monks was a builder and yet they still built that whole abbey! It’s really amazing. The workshops on RE: Imagine and RE: Encounter were good, and I still have my little bead from one of them and the bracelet.
Inside the abbey was very beautiful too - (still amazing only one monk was a builder) and elegant. It was also interesting to hear what you think about being a monk, and why you became one. The interview showed us a lot about life at the abbey.
I have to say, Pablo was very impressed that you could play football!Thank you for having us!
Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www.shebbearcollege.co.uk
24th February 2017Issue No 129
Next Week in the Senior School:Sunday 26th FebruaryTen Tors: Walk 5School Play RehearsalBoarders’ Formal Chapel
WEEK 8: Fairtrade FortnightMonday 27th February5.15pm: Form Two Parent Teacher Meeting
Tuesday 28th FebruaryAll Day: ABRSM Music Examinations
Wednesday 1st MarchAll Day: Trinity Music ExaminationsF5 History - Hitler on Trial @ Exeter
Thursday 2nd March8.30am - 2.00pm: F4, 5 and L6 Lifeskills Event @ Plymouth Pavilions
Friday 3rd MarchShebbear Session for Year 5/6: Coding
Rugby 7sThe U13s finished in a very creditable second place when they travelled to West Buckland on Wednesday to take part in the North Devon Rugby Sevens.
In their first match, against Torrington School, they took a little time to settle in difficult conditions but finally ran out 31-0 winners, with the pace of Jacob Luxton proving too much for the opposition. The next match against Park School was more of a challenge, but after going behind early on, the boys began to play 7s rugby as it should be and recorded a 19-10 win.
The final group match saw the eventual winners, Bideford College made the most of our mistakes and despite a much improved second half performance, we lost 41-12, but still progressed to the winners’ group for two more matches in the afternoon.
The first match was against Braunton School and once again the pace of Jacob Luxton and winger Harry Brown helped the boys to a 20-5 win, with Joe Faulkner and Aaron Molnar both working to great effect throughout the match.
Our final match against West Buckland saw our top tackler Sean So keeping us in touch at half time and then two tries in the second half, made by skipper Harrison Mitchell’s strong running, saw us run out 15-5 winners and secure a well deserved second place.
All the boys showed tremendous spirit throughout what was a miserably wet and windy day and should take great credit for their performance.
The Squad: Harrison Mitchell, Sean So, Joe Faulkner, Aaron Molnar, Jacob Luxton ,Luke Maxa, Mike Ritzen, Will Robins, Will Priest and Harry Brown.
Andy Bryan
FootballThe 1st XI played West Buckland on Wednesday and beat their local rivals for the first time in 96 years (West Buckland haven’t played football since 1920!)
A goal midway through the first half from hard working striker Jake Weeks was followed by a slick finish by Alessandro Aliberti, to take the half time score to 2-0, but playing into the wind in the second half was always going to be a tough test for the defence. Centre backs, Ed Lindsay and Ryan Stairs were up for the challenge and with Stuart Williams controlling things in midfield, despite conceding a headed goal, the boys held on for a 2-1 victory.
Andy Bryan
NetballU15 North Devon Netball Tournament - 3rd PlaceOn Wednesday 22nd February the U15 netball team went to Bideford college to take part in the North Devon Netball Tournament. Mildly deterred by the gloomy weather, we got off to a slow start drawing 2-2 with Chumleigh Community College. However, we quickly regained our confidence after winning 8-2 against Torrington.
Unfortunately we lost 7-1 to West Buckland but after two fantastic wins of 15-1 against Holsworthy and 7-1 to us against South Molton, we were through to the finals.
Our first opposition was Park School who unfortunately beat us 6-1 (then went on to win the tournament). Our last match against Pilton however, was a success and we managed to win 8-1, securing third place overall. The whole team played fantastically despite awful conditions and kept the team spirit up all day.
Connie Gillies (Captain)
Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www.shebbearcollege.co.uk
24th February 2017Issue No 129
Picture this ... see more photos on our Facebook page
Times Higher Education teaching survey 2017
Key findings of the THE teaching survey 2017 include:
• 88% of university staff enjoy teaching, but do not have enough time to prepare lectures or seminars
• 29% of university staff say that they find teaching more rewarding than research but roughly the same proportion (30 %) value research more highly
• 51% of university staff say that they spend more time teaching than on research or administration
• 57% of academics prefer teaching in smaller groups than giving lectures • Academics express exasperation with growing class sizes and with students who
are becoming less engaged and more demanding • About half of university staff think that students turn up for seminars without
having done the required background reading and are not sufficiently prepared for higher study when they arrive at university
• A large majority of university staff say that students complain if their marks are lower than expected, while about a third believe that standards in higher education are slipping
• UK university staff strongly oppose the National Student Survey and the teaching excellence framework, claiming that the latter will do nothing to improve the status or quality of teaching
For more information, go to: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/the-teaching-survey-2017-results-and-analysis
How is pre-HE careers guidance impacting on careers readiness?
In the latest edition of Graduate Market Trends, Laura Aldridge of Liverpool John Moores University summarizes her recent research into pre-HE careers guidance, the key findings of which include:
• 65.6% of students recalled having a careers guidance interview • 60.1% of students indicated that they had received some form of careers
education • The majority of students were very positive about the careers support they had
received at school, but some expressed doubts about the expertise of the person who delivered their careers education
Other articles in the Winter edition of Graduate Market Trends include:
• Graduate resilience – success in the workplace • The early careers experiences of arts graduate • 21st century drifters – why students defer their career decisions
To download, go to: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/8031907d?utm_source=other&utm_medium=email_marcomms&utm_campaign=gmt#/8031907d/1
20th February 2017
Choices – the Greater Manchester Skills Show
Choices, at Event City Manchester on 29th and 30th March 2017, is a new, live and interactive careers, skills and apprenticeships show which provides opportunities for students to engage with over 100 leading businesses from across the north west, as well as other leading employers from across the country. The programme includes skills competitions, interactive have a go activities, live apprenticeship and other job vacancies, spotlight talks from industry experts and careers advice and guidance. For more information, go to: http://www.choicesshow.org/
Open Doors 2017
Open Doors, which runs between 21st March and 1st April 2017, is an opportunity for students interested in construction industry careers to see behind the scenes of major building sites across England, Scotland and Wales to discover how buildings and structures are constructed and the diverse range of skills and professions needed on site. For more information, go to: http://opendoors.construction/
Scottish cities in high demand amongst European students
Data from Student.com show that UK universities continue to attract a high number of European applications. London remains the most popular city, with Glasgow second and Edinburgh third. For more information, go to: https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/university-news/scottish-cities-high-demand-among-eu-students
WISE higher education statistics 2016
WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) reports that women accounted for 25% of STEM graduates in 2016. Although there was no significant change in the number of women graduating from UK universities with a core STEM degree in 2016, the number of women graduating in physics, engineering, technology, architecture, building and planning rose. For more information and an infographic, go to: https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/resources/2017/02/higher-education-statistics-2016
RSM school leaver programmes
RSM, the sixth largest network of audit, tax and consulting firms which employs 38,000 people in 760 offices across 120 countries, offers school leaver programmes in business areas including accounting, auditing, consulting, finance, fraud, IT, tax and technology. For more information, go to: https://www.rsmuk.com/careers/students/school-leavers
University of Bath residential taster courses
The University of Bath is running taster courses for Year 12 (or equivalent) students on:
• Monday 10 July - Wednesday 12 July 2017 (Humanities and Social Sciences) • Monday 17 July - Wednesday 19 July 2017 (Science and Engineering)
Each course provides an opportunity to:
• Attend academic workshops/lectures in a range of disciplines • Get inside information, advice and guidance about applying to a top university • Develop university academic skills • Stay in on-campus student accommodation and make use of sporting and social
facilities
For more information, go to: http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/ug/opendays/cannot-make-it/residential-uni-taster/index.html
Disclaimer: No responsibility can be taken for the content of external websites mentioned in this newsletter
Gap, volunteering and school leaver fairs
Inspiring Futures gap, volunteering and school leaver fairs, run in partnership with host schools across the country, provide information and advice for students (and their parents) on skills courses from learning to sail, acquiring business skills or preparing for medical school, to volunteering and travel experiences such as marine conservation projects in Fiji or teaching orphaned children in South America. Forthcoming fairs which are open to the public and for which tickets can be booked via Eventbrite include:
• St Swithun’s School, Winchester: 18:30 to 19:30, 7th March 2017 https://stswithunsgapfair.eventbrite.co.uk
• George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh: 16:30 to 18:00, 13th March 2017 https://georgeheriotsgapfair.eventbrite.co.uk
• Bromley High School: 18:00 to 19:30, 16th March 2017 https://bromleyhighschoolgapfair.eventbrite.co.uk
• Bootham School, York: 16:00 to 18:00, 21st March 2017 https://boothamschoolgapfair.eventbrite.co.uk
• Shrewsbury School: 14:00 to 16:00, 24th March 2017 https://shrewsburyschoolgapfair.eventbrite.co.uk
• Kimbolton School: 17:00 to 19:00, 2nd May 2017 https://kimboltonschoolgapfair.eventbrite.co.uk
University of Nottingham careers advisers' and teachers' conference
The University of Nottingham careers advisers’ and teachers’ conference on 27th April 2017 is designed to provide education professionals with crucial advice about the application process, the wide range of courses that are available to students and the excellent graduate opportunities that lie ahead. For more information, go to: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/schoolsliaison/careers-advisers-and-teachers-conferences/nottingham-careers-advisers-and-teachers-conferences.aspx
University taster courses
The University of London taster course programme 2017 provides year 12 students with a taste of what life at a university in London is like. Courses range from acting to zoology and include topics such as architecture technology, American literature, child psychology, events management, games technology, international development, mobile applications development, paleontology, robotics and visual effects. For more information, go to: http://www.london.ac.uk/5197.html
Technicians make it happen
The demand for technicians is growing. Their diverse skills are critical to the UK’s performance in the global business arena. Yet UK employers face a growing skills shortfall including the music, gaming, aerospace, film, automotive and fashion sectors. For more information about technician roles and case studies, go to: http://technicians.org.uk/ and http://www.gatsby.org.uk/education/programmes/the-technician-workforce
Mark Smith, Inspiring Futures
+44 (0)7736 821284 [email protected]
Inspiring Futures is part of Group GTI. Inspiring Futures has been working with young people in partnership with schools in the UK and internationally for over 70 years and provides impartial and expert careers guidance that includes psychometric profiling, personal guidance discussions, work-related learning and skills development activities, information events, workshops and conferences and much more.
