Class of 2018 - Five Years On

Ollie Brown
After leaving Shiplake I went on to study Sports Rehabilitation at St Mary's University in Twickenham. During my time studying there I undertook many placements in a variety of different settings, from Hospitals to Physio Clinics to Sports Clubs. I began working with London Irish Rugby Club in 2021 with the recovery team, which after graduating university with a 1st, later progressed into full time work, working with the Medical Team. I was also lucky enough to work with USA and Australia 7's sides in the lead up to Twickenham 7s tournament, as well as working with the Women's Barbarians International Side. More recently, I have been working in private clinics in Henley and Soho, as well as working for Bracknell Rugby Club. As of next year I will become the Head of Medical at Windsor Rugby Club, leading the medical and physio program at the club for the foreseeable future.

Tayla Caldeira

In 2018, after completing my studies at Shiplake, I enrolled in the Biomedical Sciences program at the University of East Anglia, intending to pursue a career in medicine through a graduate entry pathway.

After my first year at UEA, I learned about the University of Buckingham's one-year Pre-Med program, which presented an appealing opportunity. By completing the program with a first, I would secure an interview for their medical school.

I am proud to share that I excelled in this course and completed the rigorous interview process. In 2020, I was honoured to receive a place at the University of Buckingham's distinguished medical school, marking the most significant accomplishment of my academic career thus far.

Currently, as a third-year medical student, I have transitioned to my assigned hospital, where I am fully immersed in a clinical environment and actively involved in patient care on the wards. This hands-on experience with patients has affirmed my love for medicine. Upon graduating in 2025 with an MBChB degree, I will be a qualified doctor, prepared to practise medicine within the UK.

Fergus Elrington

I can't believe it's been five years since leaving Shiplake College which for me was an amazing experience and a great school. 

After leaving I took a year out, starting with a six-week inter-railing trip across Europe with two friends from Shiplake. We started in Bulgaria and finished in Amsterdam and had lots of fun exploring different cultures - including how different McDonald’s is in every country! After this I spent a brief time working at Leander Club in Henley while preparing to work a ski season in France.  

In December 2018 I left on my own for Les Arcs 2000. I worked for Ski Total as a chalet host and it was one of the best decisions I've made. I was there for six months; cooking, cleaning and hosting new guests in a chalet that slept 14. I met some amazing people and made new friends for life who I still see and meet with regularly now. I would recommend that everyone to do a ski season at some point in their lives, there is nothing quite like it and getting to ski everyday was amazing. My season ended in April 2019 where I headed back to England for a full summer of fun before starting university in September.

I spent the following three years studying Graphic Design at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), graduating in June last year with a 2:2. My course was brilliant and really expanded my understanding of design. All the courses at AUB are great and would recommend to anyone wanting to progress in the Arts that they consider it. I can honestly say that it was the social life that mainly attracted me to university, and Bournemouth did not disappoint. Living near the beach with friends from all over the country was so amazing that when my course finished I wasn't ready to leave so I stayed for an extra year. I spent the summer working on the beach in a pop up bar which was very entertaining  - it’s not an easy thing carrying trays of food and drink in the sand. Then in September 2022 I started a full-time job using my design skills as a Studio Artworker. By January 2023 I decided to leave as I realised that sitting at a desk 24/7 isn't what I'm built for, it just didn't feel the right 'fit'. I still learned a lesson though - don’t go for the first job you find and definitely don’t quit a job unless you have another in place!

So I am now coming to the end of my extra year in Bournemouth working in the hospitality sector once again and I plan to move back to Henley once my tenancy agreement ends in July. I don't know what's next, but hopefully it will bring new life experiences, friends and lots of fun. 

The original plan was to stay in the city and use my degree to move into something finance related but the disruption Covid caused unfortunately also affected my family and their business, which meant I moved back home early to help out where I could; which in the first lockdown mainly involved morally supportive platitudes and sunbathing with a beer but I like to think it helped.

Despite all of the disruptions and frustrating online lectures, I'm proud to have secured a 1^st class honours degree. I then made the difficult decision to end my degree at the bachelor level, as the prospect of another year of buffering online lectures coupled with watching my family struggle to make ends meet just wasn't for me at that point in time.

I realised fairly quickly by the second lockdown I wasn't moving back to London to resume what I had started so, since I would now be staying full time, we decided to try our hand at property development - of which my involvement was both in construction and the mortgage paperwork. After sourcing a dilapidated house and seven months of fairly obsessive 70 hour weeks, the first house was renovated and back on the market - there's definitely something therapeutic about taking something that's on its last legs and fixing it up to a condition you can be proud of. 

Since then, I discovered a love for the business world and now work in the business development side of the family where I am currently working on a property development business which I hope in the near future will be able to provide investment opportunities for clients - I've ended up using my degree in a different way but it still made for an interesting path which might still lead to finance after all. Now, my day to day is spent looking for the next house to renovate, developing the family businesses and even working alongside various other Old Vikings and the companies they've founded.

I will always be grateful to Shiplake for providing my closest friends and the type of environment that made me the person I am today. I hope the rest of the 2018 class are happy and healthy.

Marcus Hillman
After leaving Shiplake, I went to Loughborough University to study Geography. Looking back, in my first year, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to fully embrace student life and play tennis regularly. However, when the Covid Pandemic arrived in 2019, lectures moved ‘online’ and both socialising and sport were seriously curtailed! Although Covid restrictions were still in place the following year, my 12-month Planning Internship with Wokingham Borough Council went ahead with hybrid working. I then returned to university and achieved a 2:1 BSc Hons degree in Geography in my final year.  Since graduating, I have returned to Wokingham Borough Council as a Planning Officer and hope to start my MSc in Town Planning with Oxford Brookes in September 2023. My job role includes determining planning applications and investigating alleged breaches of planning control. This means my day-to-day routine varies, from carrying out site visits and meeting with planning agents to writing reports. I have continued to play tennis at my local club and participate in matches against other clubs across Berkshire. I must say, I miss the grass courts at Shiplake!

Tom Ibbitson
After leaving Shiplake in 2018, I went to Oxford Brookes University to study International Hospitality Management. I was there for four years and in my second year was put on a six month placement at the luxurious Gleneagles Hotel. Sadly this was cut short due to COVID and the rest of the placement was cancelled. However, despite the tough times at university and being in lockdown, I made some great mates and got stuck into various sports and activities, golf being the main hobby. My last pieces of coursework were completed in May 2022 and ended up graduating in September 2022. During that time I was unsure what I wanted to do, I ended up doing a ski season at Big White Ski Resort in British Columbia, Canada. During the time there I worked a ticket agent selling day tickets and season passes. I ended up as the top ticket seller of the whole resort nearly topping $400,000 CAD over the course of the season. As I am writing this I am in California doing a little bit of sightseeing before I come back to the UK to start the job hunt!

Jade Miller
After leaving Shiplake I took a gap year where I worked on the Isle of Tiree, the farthest island in the Outer Hebrides. After that I volunteered in Vietnam with the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation in Ho Chi Minh City, before coming back and working in a consultancy agency. I then went to study English Literature at the University of Buckingham where I graduated with a First Class. Despite having spent a majority of my degree online, I still managed to play netball, become Secretary somehow and win Sports Club of the Year.

I then worked at the Veterinary Centre in Henley as a Receptionist, quickly squeezed in working at Glastonbury before I then moved to South Korea. I lived in Ulsan where I taught at a hagwon, a type of after school academy. It was an amazing experience but also a steep learning curve, from adapting to a different culture, learning Korean and generally the whole moving abroad thing. However, I wouldn’t have changed it for the world as I got to teach some fantastic children who I miss dearly. Arriving back in England I’m now working as an Operations Support Manager for a consultancy firm.

In these past five years I’ve bounced around a lot, so you don’t have to have everything figured out. I still don’t and there’s plenty more things I want to do. If you have the chance, follow your passion and do something that makes you happy

Elizabeth Morgan (Former Staff)
I left Shiplake in 2018 to be Head of Theology and Philosophy at Warwick School. In December of the same year I got married and became Mrs Jacka. We bought our first house in Cirencester in late 2019 and also welcomed our first (fur) baby in the form of Hugo, a very fluffy and playful golden retriever. 

During my time at Shiplake I regularly heard Gregg Davies (HM at the time) recite his mantra 'challenge creates character' which got me thinking about vital role character plays in education. I had the opportunity to put my thoughts into action when I became Head of Character Education at Warwick in 2021, a unique role which has the best of my career to date. 

On 2nd January this year, Wilfred George Jacka was born and another new chapter of my life began as a mother. Maternity leave has been amazing, filled with minimum sleep and maximum emotions! My commute to Warwick was taking 2 and a half hours every day, so I recently made the decision to take a job part-time, closer to home in order to spend more time with family. In September I will start at Burford School as teacher of RS and who knows what the next 5 years will have in store!

Hannah Simonds-Gooding
I can’t quite believe it's been five years since leaving Shiplake, and what an interesting five years it's been, from being hit by a global pandemic, to proceeding to get back to a new normal. Since leaving Shiplake I have spent most of my time working seasonal roles, in some really amazing ski chalets, and then in the summer roles in private villas. I’ve loved every minute of all the work, and seen some beautiful places, and met such interesting people and clients. Working with the ultra-high net worth families, I found out quickly PJs weren’t pyjamas - they were private jets….

After working in these locations alongside brilliant teams, of chefs and hosts, I decided I wanted to learn how to do the cheffing side of the work. This led me to a 12-week intensive cookery course in Cork in Ireland at Ballymaloe. I loved it so much, from living on the farm, literally seeing the produce grow, to having early mornings making bread for the shop. Since this I have accepted a job working in a bakery and brunch cafe in London, and only a week in so far, but absolutely loving it. 

Brandon Tan 
Since leaving school in 2018, I immediately started working in the promotional marketing industry for an eco-friendly promotional goods supplier. This involved things like traveling to Germany to meet with clients, attending trade shows, organising manufacturers to ensure deadlines were kept. I stayed at this company for around 18 months before deciding I wanted to challenge myself further. In September 2019, I joined a local independent Estate Agency called Oakwood Estates, where I started my career in real estate. Fortunately when the COVID lockdown happened, Estate Agents were classed as key workers (not sure how) so we continued work as normal, actually breaking many company records in this time! During 2021, I joined the British Army Reserves, and completed my training in 2022 and was awarded a Commanding Officer's Coin for Excellence along with winning the Royal Logistic Corps Military Skills Competition (Reserve) as best male team and best mixed team. Also in 2022 I left Oakwood Estates, to join a luxury property agent called Bovingdons where I worked with Charley Burgess who attended Shiplake at the same time as me. I stayed there until very recently (Feb 2023), where I was offered a brilliant opportunity back at Oakwood Estates in Gerrard's Cross to be the Assistant Sales Manager. My future plans now are to commission into the Royal Logistic Corps before the end of 2024, and to ensure the future growth of the Gerrards Cross office and to make it the most successful in the area. 

Megan Tooley
Since leaving Shiplake I’ve completed my primary teaching degree at Oxford Brookes university. I moved back home and started my job as primary school teacher for a year at a mainstream school in Maidenhead which I loved. I then decided I wanted to teach in a more challenging environment. I moved to Oxford and I now teach at a therapeutic school in Witney for children that have experienced trauma throughout their life. Within the school I also run the social emotional curriculum to support children with their social and communication skills for their future. I have also just opened a pottery studio within school which I am excited to develop and give the children the chance to learn a new skill. This had been the most challenging, eye opening and rewarding job and I’m looking forward to seeing where my teaching journey takes me.