It has been a summer of change at Shiplake, with many staff members preparing to begin new roles when term begins in September. For most, the preparation has already begun, with six new Housemasters familiarising themselves with new environments ahead of welcoming pupils back to the College.
New Skipwith Housemaster Mr Alex Duncan is planning to build upon the work of his predecessor Mr Keith Settle, ensuring a great sense or team spirit and togetherness is felt in the House and spreads across all inter-House events. In his latest blog post, Mr Duncan reviews the progress made last year and set his expectations for the months to come:
“With the new academic year just three weeks away, it seems appropriate to review last year's sporting, music and drama achievements and set some targets for 2014-15.
The Baldry Cup is the prize for the House scoring most points through the year for various inter-house events. The final standings for 2013/14 were
Orchard - 155
Skipwith - 125
Everett - 109
Burr - 73
Welsh - 61
This shows there is a strong correlation between pupil numbers and success. There are plans afoot to make sure all houses can be competitive and therefore a more even contest is expected next year. The main successes for Skipwith were in winning Senior Tennis and Senior Cross-Country, whilst the Juniors won the Football and Hockey tournaments. The junior teams were generally more consistent across all sports, which is a good sign for the future!
In drama and music, Skipwith gave admirable performances but finished in mid table. The amount of musical talent in house is inspirational however, and we aim for a strong showing next year."
The target has to be to improve participation, achieve personal bests and enjoy all the activities. If we do that we can all be proud!”
To view more photos and read updates on the goings-on in Skipwith throughout the year, keep an eye on the Skipwith House Blog.
