It was a wonderful occasion on Wednesday 3 July as all pupils, parents, and staff came together for the College’s Speech Day and Prize Giving ceremony, held in the Prize Giving Marquee. It provided us with the chance to reflect on the 2023-2024 academic year at Shiplake, present many prizes and awards, and listen to key speakers including the Chairman of Governors, the Headmaster, Heads of College, and our guest speaker.
As has been tradition over previous years, the Headmaster, Mr Tyrone Howe, was late to this year’s Prize Giving Ceremony as he was busy playing badminton with our guest speaker - Olympic silver medallist in Mixed Doubles Badminton (Athens 2004), Gail Emms MBE. After taking a beating in their first match, Mr Howe went away to train and prepare - all the while channelling his inner ‘Rocky Balboa’ - to face Gail in their rematch. As for the result of their rematch, we will never know what happened after Mr Howe’s between the legs shot on match point...
The Chairman of Governors, Sir David Tanner CBE, was first to address the audience where in his speech, reflected on a successful first year of co-educational education in Year 7 with the aim to be fully co-educational within the next four years. As well as paying tribute to all of the staff who work at the College, there was a special mention to Mr Alcock, who retires after 27 years at the College, and to the Headmaster, who has been at the helm for five years.
Mr Howe was next to address everyone where he reflected on his first five years as Headmaster of Shiplake. Much is said about our three Is – Inclusive, Individual, and Inspirational – however in his address, Mr Howe opted to use the three Bs – Brilliant, Brutal, and Bonkers - when describing his time at the College. Mr Howe concluded his address by inviting the brilliant Charles Peng to play the piano. Some would have heard Charles’ mesmerising play at the Winter and Soloists Concert and his performance at Prize Giving certainly lived up to expectation.
Deputy Head (Academic), Mr Paul Jones, then took to the lectern to read the names of all the prize winners who came on stage to shake the hands of the guest speaker, Gail Emms MBE, and the Headmaster, before collecting their prizes. There were academic prizes, Shiplake 7 awards, as well as many special awards for services to the College. A full list of these prizes and awards, including the recipients, can be found in the ceremony’s programme.
Joint Heads of College Tom Lebeau and Abi Botterill then gave their individual addresses which were inspiring in their nature. Both Tom and Abi reflected on their time at Shiplake, thanked the staff who had been with them along the way, and challenged the younger pupils to make the most of the opportunities available.
It was then time to hear from our guest speaker, Gail Emms MBE. Gail is a former England and GB badminton player, notably winning silver at the 2004 Olympic Games with her mixed doubles partner Nathan Robertson, and she has a host of other achievements to her name in international mixed and women’s doubles competitions. It was fantastic to welcome Gail to the College and hear about the challenges she faced when working her way up to playing professionally and the work she is now doing to inspire young people. Like our Heads of College who spoke before, Gail also issued a challenge to our young pupils to put in that extra 1% every day in whatever passion or interest they may have.
The ceremony concluded with the College Chorus singing their wonderful rendition of John Lennon & Paul McCartney’s Blackbird. Those present at the Winter Concert would have been lucky to have heard this before however the Chorus’ performance at Prize Giving gave everyone the chance to be wowed.
Charles Peng’s performance, the Chorus, and the entirety of Prize Giving can be watched in the video below:
Flickr album: Prize Giving 2024 |
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