Shiplake College News

We chat to one of the latest additions to the English Department in today's 'A Conversation With...'! Toby Scammell joined us at the start of the academic year and in this feature, we talk photography, teaching English abroad, and more!

What is your role and how long have you been at Shiplake?  

I am a Teacher of English, as well as Form Tutor to a group of Year 9 Skipwith boys. I started in September 2024! 

What were you doing before working at the College? 

Before working at Shiplake, I was teaching at Little Heath School. I've taught English Literature and Language abroad, and in the UK, for many years now.  

How have your first few weeks at Shiplake gone? Have you settled in well? 

The staff and children have been uniformly lovely, which has helped immensely! Moving schools is a bit like moving abroad: everything's the same, but radically different, too. In all the schools I've worked in, however, Shiplake seems to possess a uniquely fierce, yet disciplined, sense of joy - it's been exhilarating! 

What is a day in the life like for you? 

I'm a morning lark, so it begins with a brisk pre-dawn 8 km cycle ride through unlit lanes, spooking and getting spooked by the local deer, and listening to the BBC's World Service. Following this, I try to make as creative, inventive and productive lessons as I can. Singing in Chapel is a morning highlight as well. 

What are you most looking forward to getting involved with at Shiplake? 

There's a wealth of activities to help, it's hard to say! An off-road bike club, Duke of Edinburgh in June, a film-scripting club, staff singing, national writing competitions; these are all on my bucket list. 

You recently took some stunning photos from Lynch Island; how did you find the Lynch experience and is photography a passion of yours?  

Coming from the school photographer, I'm very gratified with the praise - thanks! My wife taught me how to take photographs on an old Minolta SLR and I've really enjoyed it, especially on travels. I find photography to be rather like descriptive writing in English, but considerably quicker! It's great to have the island back - I gather it had previously been out of action for a couple of years and I absolutely loved it! I really hope we can use it more in the future.  

Which countries have you taught in and what have been some of your favourite experiences abroad?  

I've spent by far the most amount of time in Budapest, arguably Europe's most beautifully situated capital. I arrived in 2000, when reminders of Hungary's turbulent 20th Century history were still very visible - be that battle-damage on buildings from the 1956 uprising, or Communist-era shops still just about surviving. 

What do you do outside of work? 

I play guitar, like to cook for the family, and catch the more interesting films in local cinemas. I will write when I can but cycling and hiking are great family activities as well!  

What does the future hold for you? 

I'm fully committed to the cliché of the English teacher who's written one unpublished novel or more, having completed my first in 2021, and I am plucking up the courage to send to publishers! Yet, as another Toby, Tobias Wolff wrote, 'In writing you work toward a result you won't see for years and can't be sure you'll ever see. It takes stamina and self-mastery and faith. It demands those things of you, then gives them back with a little extra, a surprise to keep you coming.' So, a future of surprises is probably the most accurate prediction I could make!