The 2017-2018 academic year has been full of ups and downs, but one thing is for sure: we’ve got plenty of achievements to celebrate! With 25,327 excellence points awarded for good behaviour and academic success, our pupils have most certainly thrived this year.
The Final Assembly took place on Thursday 28 June, which presented the opportunity to reflect on the successes of the year. Mr Nick Brown, Deputy Head Pastoral opened proceedings by looking back on the last ten months, and the accomplishments that have been made in that time. Shortly after, Mr Brown handed over to departing Deputy Head Academic, Dr Gareth Hughes, who revealed the impressive number of excellence points awarded.
Among the prizes were the Shiplake 7 Prizes, awarded to the pupils who best uphold the seven core values of Shiplake College (curiosity, open-mindedness, motivation, reflectiveness, determination, creativity and independence). This was awarded to Croyde Cracknell and Blake Butler-Creagh, cox of the J14s. The Nielson Trophy, awarded for contributions to the arts, was awarded to House Music winners Welsh House.
The Headmaster’s Quaich, which is awarded for contribution to the sporting life of the College, was presented to Oliver Brown, Brooke Creighton, Lauren McNally, Fred Peck and Joe Tucker while the Alexander Everett Prize, for leadership in the College, was bestowed upon Darius Braun, Oliver Brown, Charley Burgess, James Grundy, Justin Janse Van Vuuren and Hannah Simonds-Gooding.
A slightly less obscure prize, the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, was given to Alastair Holbrough and Joe Swezda for a combination of volunteering, expeditions, residential and physical skills.
Mr Duncan Traynor, Director of Sport, then awarded the awards for sporting achievements. These included the U14 Player of the Year, presented to Henry Poustie, Girls VI Player of the Year, given to Emma Renwick and 1st VI Boys Player of the year; Alex Sutton.
Then, on Friday 29 June, Dame Katherine Grainger DBE presented the prizes at the annual speech day and Prize Giving event. Over 1000 people attended the event including governors, staff, pupils, parents and other members of the community such as The Mayor Henley, Cllr Glen Lambert, and the Chairman of the Shiplake Parish Council, Tudor Taylor.
Sixth Form prefects warmly greeted guests as they entered the marquee and kept them entertained with the music of Ludovico Einaudi, performed by Sixth Form music student William Kidd.
Deputy Headmaster Mr Nick Brown began proceedings by welcoming guests and introducing the Chairman of Governors, The Rt Hon. Tim Eggar. Mr Eggar talked about how academically ambitious Shiplake College has become but also announced that the Headmaster, Mr Gregg Davies, will step down at the end of the 2018-2019 academic year. Tim was followed by Mr Gregg Davies, who talked about courage of pupils and parents, before inviting Dame Katherine to an impromptu game of Basketball. He thanked staff, parents and pupils for their support over the last 15 years of his tenure and welcomed to the stage Deputy Headmaster, Dr Gareth Hughes, who announced the names of the prize winners.
Dame Katherine DBE, who awarded the prizes, gave an address on the importance of choices and the choices that she made to make her Britain’s most decorated female Olympian.
Head of College, Will Bailey, earned a standing ovation following his speech, which used famous film quotes to demonstrate how quickly time goes when at school, the importance of appreciating it and the need to grasp the opportunities presented to you in life as ‘you never know what you’re going to get’.
After the event, Dame Katherine said, ‘It was such an honour to be invited to celebrate the fantastic achievements of the students at Shiplake College – thank you all for having me! You have all done so well and I wish you all the very best for the future’.
