Issue No 130 Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www ... · Theatre in Exeter this week. The morning started with a ‘grade-booster’ workshop, showing students how to improve

Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www.shebbearcollege.co.uk

3rd March 2017Issue No 130

Dear Parents,

The Computer Department was alive today to the patter of ‘tiny’ (not really that tiny) feet as we welcomed three local primary schools - Abbotsham, Okehampton and Clawton to a ‘Coding Day’ organised by the force of nature that is Ms Davies. It is a requirement that primary schools teach some coding, but they do not always have the resources and so we are delighted to help them out. Our new ICT Suite in the Beckly Wing looks fantastic and the children seemed to have a rewarding day.

Our other type of keyboard (in the Music Department) was also given a good work out this week as various pupils sat their instrumental music exams. Everyone passed at the level they were entered and a range of excellent results were achieved from Grade 1 (everyone has to start somewhere) right up to Grade 8, where Anna Bennett in the Upper Sixth achieved the top grade for her piano playing. I am sure that last week’s concert prepared most of the candidates for this by getting rid of the cobwebs and calming the nerves. Other music exam results are detailed later in the newsletter.

We celebrated World Book Day yesterday and the Prep School dressed for the occasion. This also allowed many teachers to forego their usual work clothes and put on some of the clothes they would typically wear at home. I will let you decide the winner.

Our Ten Tors teams were out on the moor on Sunday. If you can remember the weather you will know that this was a proper training day. We counted them all out and we counted them in again - this should be brilliant preparation for the May challenge.

On Monday we will welcome back two other intrepid travellers. Toby Biggs and Freddie Stevenson have spent the last two months in Cape Town at the Newlands Cricket Academy - they will have a story to tell. I hope this will have been a life changing experience for both and I am sure they will come back as more confident young men. Our hope is to set up many more exchanges for our pupils in future years.

Simon Weale

World Book Day resulted in some unusual sightsaround the school this week



Those present on the day included: Anne Frank, Tin-Tin, Mr Messy, Pippy Longstocking, James Bond and Violet Beauregarde, blown up like a giant blueberry! There was also numerous Harry Potter characters, princesses, fairies, Millionaire Boys and even Willy Wonka made a return appearance this year.

All of these activities were organised by the unlikely, but effective teamwork of Wally (if they could find her!), Alice in Wonderland and Gangster Granny! Unsurprisingly perhaps, it was our Granny who seemed to embrace the role most completely, and was at one point overheard explaining to our rather bemused Chair of Governors, how she was planning on stealing the crown jewels!

The older pupils in years 3, 4, 5 and 6 also completed a carousel of activities throughout the day, which included character profiles, a quiz, poster making and re-creating weird and wonderful recipes from Roald Dahl’s ‘Revolting Recipe Book’ with two equally revolting chefs. Somehow the children ended up with delicious chocolate brownies in mugs, despite talk of some rather unsavoury ingredients. I even offered them some dandruff and ear wax of my own, but they didn’t seem too keen!

The KS2 carousel was led by an even more eclectic group, comprising of Fantastic Mr Fox, the Worst Witch, The Cat in the

News from the Prep School

Reading, Writing and the Ridiculous!Our news from the Prep School this week has to be dominated by the wonderful day we spent celebrating World Book Day on Thursday.

It was great to see the effort everyone made to make the day such a success and how all of children, from oldest to youngest, fully embraced all the ‘book-related’ activities that were laid on for them.The costumes were just brilliant and covered a range of well-known children’s classics.



Hat, Shakespeare’s Hamlet (with skull!) and the two aforementioned chefs. Thanks to all, for making it such a happy and memorable day.

Other news from the PrepIt’s been a week of frantic last minute practice and chewed finger nails, as many of our Prep School musicians have been involved in their music exams, the results of which will follow in next week’s newsletter, but let’s just say that all our music teachers are delighted with the pupils achievements and incredibly proud of them (as we all are).

On Wednesday, Shebbear hosted St Joseph’s in what turned out to be a fantastic game of U9 football. Shebbear started strongly and soon took the lead after some fantastic passing between, man of the match Jack Saltmarsh and Alfie Sealey, which led to Billy Finch scoring a well-worked goal.

Shebbear doubled their lead to make it 2-0 but St Joseph’s came back strongly and scored to make it 2-1 before halftime. In the second half the defense of Ben Clewley, Axel Middleton, James Fenwick and Jethro Middleton held strong and St Joseph’s could not score another goal. Two more late goals from Shebbear meant the final score was 4-1.

On the same afternoon, an excited U9 netball squad played a fixture against St. Joseph’s. We had two new players joining our team and they were rather thrown in at the deep end! Albert Odlin and Lottie Morton are new to netball but they threw themselves willingly into the fray and improved tremendously as the match progressed. Shebbear were rather too polite at the beginning of the match and allowed St. Joseph’s to gain possession of the ball on a few too many occasions. By the end of the match however, our defence had really sharpened up and as a result the team had grown in confidence. The final result was a loss for Shebbear but we feel that we grew as a team during the match and we are now looking forward to a competitive game against Kingsley next week.

Friday has been a particularly busy day for pupils in the Prep school. Representatives from Year 5 took part in the College’s ICT Coding Day, Year 3 and 4 were out at Rosemoor Gardens for the day and our Year 6 boys were involved in an eagerly awaited football match against local rivals, Bradworthy.

All this and pancakes to boot!.Mike Furber

Next week in the Prep SchoolMonday 6th MarchHigh 5s Netball v Bradford School, Holsworthy Leisure Centre, 4.30pm and U9 Football/Netball v Kingsley School, home, 2.00pm

Tuesday 7th MarchU9/U11 Football/Netball v St Petroc’s / West Buckland, away, St Petroc’s, 1.45pm

Thursday 9th MarchU11 Football/Netball v Kingsley School, home, 2.00pm

Friday 10th MarchAssembly - Mr Rodgers

From our Pre-SchoolWe celebrated World Book Day in Pre-School with Gangster Granny (Mrs Jones) and her class. The children were involved in craft, drama and reading activities as well as making book marks, bunting, designing a book front cover and acting out the ‘Three Little Pigs’. It was great to see so many costumes and the children confidently telling us about their favourite books.

For the next few weeks we will be talking about water and we started this week looking at some of the life sustained in our oceans. Next week we shall be going for a walk to return our tadpoles to the pond and looking to see the different areas in the school grounds where water is present.

Thank you to those who have bought in items for our outdoor area, the children are really enjoying real life experiences out there now, especially with our bricks brought in by James.

Hetty Thompson

Form 5 Experience ‘Hitler on Trial’Form 5 Historians from Shebbear College attended a thought-provoking GCSE History workshop and drama at the Barnfield Theatre in Exeter this week. The morning started with a ‘grade-booster’ workshop, showing students how to improve their examination grades, before an interactive play that dramatized key elements of the history of Weimar and Nazi Germany.

It was a little like two years of history lessons condensed into two hours. The cleverly written drama, depicting Hitler on trial for crimes against peace, was well written, a really clever and thoughtful presentation of the evidence in an interesting and stimulating way. Witnesses to Hitler’s rise to power, including Albert Speer and the SA, were questioned on the stage.

Unlike other charges that could have been presented, such as ‘Crimes against Humanity’, Hitler would not have obviously been found guilty. Furthermore, the witnesses used were well selected as they showed a wide range of people from different classes, professions and backgrounds, which were very relevant for the trial. In addition, the characters also gave an insight into different people’s opinions in Germany at that period of time, on both politics and the First World War. Finally, it showed why people were willing to support Hitler and help him to come to power.



The students, in their role as the jury, had to listen closely and vote on the evidence presented. This experience ties in perfectly with the thought-provoking and moving trip to Kraków, Poland that Shebbear 5th and 6th Formers will be attending in February next year, which includes visits to the extermination camps at Auschwitz and other World War 2 related locations such as Oskar Schindler’s Factory, and a very moving meeting with a Holocaust survivor. There are still a few places available on this trip.

Miles Rogers

Lower School Chamber Concert ReviewIt is always a delight to hear our younger musicians perform and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Little did the audience expect to hear such quality and variety in performances at last week’s Chamber Concert, which was an added joy.

The Reed Ensemble opened the concert with a lively jazz performance including improvised solos. This highly polished, tightly performed, rhythmic piece demonstrated excellent ensemble skills.

The pianists were out in force, enjoying the delicious tones of the Steinway Grand piano. Jason Towl performed confidently in his first ever concert, Alexander Ward showed poise and determination, Aleyna Singleton, Charlotte Odlin, Gracie Boycott performed with a clarity of tone and with a real understanding of their respective pieces. Oliver Temple and Sophie Temple continued the jazz feel with their rhythmic mastery of their challenging pieces, whilst Charlotte Nethacott’s performance created a real moment of stillness in the auditorium. The new pianos in the Music Department our clearly supporting the technical development of our pianists, enabling them to develop as performers.

Our young flautists Luke Honey and Niamh Shaw both produced a warm, rounded sound in their pieces. Kieran Lewis performed for the first time a charming saxophone piece and Adam Pennington’s saxophone solo wowed us with his use of dynamics and sophisticated understanding of his Debussy.

Eliza’s piano and classical guitar solos were both technically accurate and demonstrated her developing mastery of the two, very different, instruments. Tony Chen also performed on the piano and clarinet with confidence and flair.

Archie Boycott’s trumpet solo provided the audience with the opportunity to hear how beautifully mellow a trumpet can sound and Lola Frisby Williams continued to impress us with her mastery of of the Clarinet and Violin, her performances show a maturity well beyond her years.

The violinists, Katie Slee, Bess Scambler, Laura Priest and Timothy Parker, who continue to work very hard to master this difficult instrument, demonstrated musical maturity and a variety of tone colour with very promising performances for their forth coming examinations.

All in all, a wonderful evening, with so much promise for the future, these young musicians are already achieving great things.

Lisa Parker

Music Examinations SuccessThe Trinity College of London and Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Instrumental Examinations

Yet again a busy week in the music department has led to pupils achieving exceptional performances.

Shebbear College was able to host special visits for this term’s Trinity College of London and Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music instrumental exams and 37 exams were taken over the two days.

All enjoyed and benefited hugely from the opportunity to take the exams at Shebbear and the visiting examiners who examine in centres across the world were particularly impressed with the new Music Centre and the Steinway Grand piano.

Those entered for Trinity Exams have already received their results and everyone was delighted. All pupils achieved very good marks with the majority gaining at least a merit. Some of our younger instrumentalists deserve a mention. Adam Pennington (Form 1) achieved a Merit at Grade 6 alto saxophone which is equivalent to an AS standard performance usually associated with a Lower 6th Form pupil. Tony Chen (Form 2) achieved Merits at Grade 3 piano and Grade 5 clarinet and Lola Frisby Williams (Form 1) Merits at Grade 4 violin and Grade 6 clarinet.

Particular mention must also go to those achieving a Distinction. Jessica Prichard violin Grade 1 and Rosie Forwood cello Grade 1, both from Prep 5, Antonia Aliberti (Form 5) Grade 5 flute, Spencer Quance, (L6) Grade 6 piano and Anna Bennett (U6) Grade 8 piano.

Congratulations are due to all, both students and their dedicated and talented music tutors!

Kevin Parker

Our Brief Plea for Uganda Continues ...The Finance Department are still collecting important items for the trip to Uganda to give to families out there. They need bras, knickers and pants (tagged or in packets please) for ladies and children, childrens’ clothes, sanitary towels and tampons.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far, please drop any more items in to the school reception office. Thank you.

A Plea for Holsworthy HospitalElizabeth Flaherty has asked our readers if they would support a petition to save Holsworthy Hospital.

The petition can be found at:

https://www.change.org/search?q=save%20holsworthy%20hospital

Also, www.change.org and search for ‘Save Holsworthy Hospital’.Thank you.



World Book DayForm 1 students were transported back to 1840 this week in Mr Wolverson’s English lesson. As part of World Book Day the class explored the character of the the beadle, Mr Bumble, in Dickens’ classic novel ‘Oliver Twist’. Students researched life inside a Victorian workhouse and were even able to try some of Mr Wolverson’s homemade gruel! Sadly, unlike the novel, no one asked for more!

We rose to the challenge to ‘Do Something Booky’ with many events around the college. Teachers were seen disguised as book characters, books were on sale in the library and pupils puzzled over a quiz. The fun will continue for a few days and prizes will be awarded to participants.

Ten Tors Training - Sunday 26th FebruaryStarting out early at the Peat Cot, at the bottom of Dartmoor (on eof the furthest checkpoints from the Army Camp) the 55 Team made their way towards Two Bridges. Under foggy and windy conditions, but with sure navigation, we tried different routes to those previously taken, hoping to find a short cut, we made it into Postbridge.

From there, the 55s moved out towards Fernworthy Forest, a leg we’d done only a few weeks ago. After Fernworthy, 4 of the team carried on towards Hound and Cosdon, the wind and rain making it a horrible trek, we finally made it back to the minibus with a last spur.

After a long day, it was a super team effort, thanks to all the staff for bearing storm Doris with us.

Heather Mathews

Readathon Success!Well done to all those pupils - and their families! - who raised the magnificent sum of £551 (actually more - there is still some being collected) for Readathon. Our contribution means that the charity will be able to help more very sick children and their families while they are in hospital. In addition we benefit, not just from the satisfaction of helping others but also because Scholastic publishers credit us with a percentage of the money raised so that we can buy books for our library: next time we participate in Readathon there will be new books for our students to choose from. We all win - readers, from the benefits of reading for pleasure; very poorly children and their families; the College.Jane Welby

Support Pip in the Bilboa MarathonPip Mahoney, one of last year’s Sixth Form leavers, will be taking part in the Bilboa Marathon later this year in support of Meningitis Research.

Pip sent us this message ...

As a first year student at the University of Exeter, I was presented with the opportunity last month to sign up for a marathon as part of the uni’s ‘Raise and Give’ organisation. After a lot of deliberation, I decided to bite the bullet and sign up, going with the mentality of ‘how hard can it really be to run just over 26 miles!?’

This marathon is slightly different from others, in the sense that it is in Bilbao, Northern Spain, and is taking place in the middle of the night! It will undoubtedly be an exciting experience, and challenge on a personal level: I am already a keen runner, although I generally favour shorter distances of 6 to 8 miles. Nevertheless, I think the end goal of completing the marathon in October in good time (I’m aiming for 3.5 hours, or at least under 4) should give me the motivation to extend my running programme.

I’ve created a blog to keep a record of my training, trials and tribulations over the next few months. If all goes well, these should result in me crossing the finishing line in Bilbao in late October!



Aside from the running and pursuit of a healthy lifestyle - yes, even as a university student! - there is a charitable side to my challenge. Meningitis undoubtedly poses a huge threat to everyone, particularly university students: through running this marathon I aim to raise awareness and money to help fight this disease.

Please give the blog a quick visit, I would also be very grateful for any donations towards my challenge; there is a link to my fundraising page on the blog:

https://bilbaomarathon.wordpress.com/

Thank you, Pip Mahoney

Opportunity for Year 12 StudentsWednesday 5th April 2017, 10.00am - 3.00pmThe Engineering Faculty at the University of Bristol will be running a Taster Day for Year 12 students who are studying a STEM subject at A-Level. The day will involve attending taster lectures in a range of different disciplines, allowing participants to gain some insight into studying that subject at university level. This will provide the student with further information into the subject and provide them with an overview of what to expect.

For more information please contact: [email protected]

Participants will only be able to attend if they have booked their space on the day, which can be completed online. Please note that as this is in the Easter holidays we will not be taking a group from school, therefore you will need to book in yourselves.

Judith Aliberti

Next Week in the Senior School:Saturday 4th MarchPM - Boarders’ Trip to Barnstaple

Sunday 5th March8.00am - 4.00pm, Form 2 Dartmoor Walk

Wednesday 8th March5.15pm - Form Three Parent Teacher Meeting

Thursday 9th MarchGCSE Art Exam (3 hours)

Friday 10th March7.00pm - Fairtrade Fashion Show

Saturday 11th MarchTen Tors Camp Out

Sunday 12th MarchTen Tors Camp OutAll day - Production RehearsalBoarders’ Paintball Trip

Sports FixturesSports Fixtures for the week ahead are posted on the school website at the beginning of each week, under the ‘News’ drop-down menu select ‘Sports Fixture Updates’.

County Swimming Gold for Emily ForwoodLast weekend Emily Forwood, in Form 1, took part in the Surf Life Saving Devon Championships. In the flipper race Emily completed the 50m course in 26.53 seconds, winning Gold and achieving a faster time that all the boys!

Emily will now go on to represent Bideford Bay Surf Life Saving club at the National Championships in Cardiff in four weeks time, with high hopes for a medal place at her age group. So a big well done so far Emily and good luck at the Nationals. We can’t wait to hear how you get on.

Kate Burges

FootballU13/14. This match saw some really good awareness of passing and use of space in possession. However, at crucial times, positional sense on both sides showed a lack of concentration. It took 17 minutes for the opposition to break down our defence and when they did four players went to the same ball leaving the attacker free on the edge of the six yard area to convert the cross.

In the second half both teams continued to pass the ball well and the first of two gilt-edged chances fell to Cameron Young, who blasted the ball straight at the keeper. The counter attack led to Truro’s second and the match became an uphill struggle with only 12 minutes to play. Just a few minutes later Findlay Irish found himself unmarked in front of the keeper but the shot once again was fired directly at the keeper.

Cameron Young eventually made amends for his earlier miss with a deft header from 12 yards out which looped high into the net and with just seven minutes left the boys applied plenty of pressure with Owen Hendry’s free-kick from the edge of the box curling just over the bar.

The final two kicks of the game came from Truro, a long ball over the Shebbear defence and a simple finish made the score look flattering. This was a story of some good passing and movement with lack of potency up-front but the side will surely be a strong challenge for their next opponents. Final score: Shebbear 1 - 3 Truro.

Arron Steel



The 1st XI paid for a lethargic first half performance against Truro on Saturday when they conceded three goals in quick succession. However, a much improved second half performance saw the boys working hard to get back into the match and when Patrick Marks slotted home from the edge of the penalty area, they were very much in with a chance. Dominik Halasi then hit the bar and Ted Trott squandered a great opportunity, but the score remained at 3-1 to the visitors when the final whistle blew.

Despite outplaying their opponents for much of the game, the 1st XI paid the price for some sloppy defending and poor finishing, as they slipped to a 4-2 defeat at Wellington this week.

After going behind midway through the first half, they deservedly equalised when Alessandro Aliberti converted a pass from Stuart Williams, but they then missed two excellent chances to take the lead before the half time whistle.

In the second half the home side scored three times early on as the defence was caught out by long balls played over the top. Stuart Williams pulled one back with a cool finish from 25 yards, with their keeper off his line, but it was too little, too late as the final score stayed at 4-2 to Wellington.

Probably the result of the weekend was the U12s 5-4 victory over Truro in a match which saw the lead change hands a number of times.After going 2-0 down in the first five minutes, Pablo Nieto put Harry Brown through on goal and he slotted it home, before Henry Richards, one of four players stepping up from the Prep School, scored a screamer from the edge of the box.

Harry Brown scored twice more to complete his hat-trick, but Truro came back again to level the scores at 4-4 with just a few minutes remaining.Then Pablo went on another impressive run up the wing before crossing it for Tom Dart to smash the ball into the bottom corner and secure a remarkable victory.

Well done to all the boys but particularly, Harry Brown, Pablo Nieto, Henry Richards and Tom Dart.

Andy BryanNetballU12 Netball v Mount Kelly BIt took a while for us to settle down but we soon took the lead thanks to great shooting by Lillie Sealey and Chloe Stairs. Mitzi Irish also had a turn at shooting which is a position she never plays. In the second and third quarters, Evie Cunningham, Eliza Stenning and Freya Fong had some tough defending to do, but we still dominated the game. In the final quarter we let one goal in, but still held on for an easy 17-1 win. Well done to Jemima Vereka and Lola Frisby Williams for some great interceptions. Player of the Match: Emily Forwood.

By Emily Forwood

U12 Netball v Mount Kelly A We thought playing Mount Kelly A would be a much tougher match, but we started very well scoring some great goals and not letting any in from the opposition. In the second quarter, again we played well with some superb shooting from Eliza Stenning and Lillie Sealey and due to our brilliant defence, Mount Kelly still hadn’t scored.

We swapped around in between quarters, still managing to maintain a comfortable lead, but in the last quarter, Mount Kelly scored 2 goals, leaving the final score 20-2 to us. Well played girls, still undefeated! Player of the Match: Lillie Sealey.

By Mitzi Irish

1st VII v Mount Kelly (35-15 win)Last Saturday the VII 1sts netball team faced their 2nd match of the season against Mount Kelly at home. Having won in the previous match, we were sure Mount Kelly would be ready to make us work hard and want to win this match. In the first quarter we started well gaining an eight goal lead, only allowing Mount Kelly one goal. Despite having a great start, the girls knew they had to maintain their standard in play to keep Mount Kelly at bay for the rest of the match. The next two quarters saw us maintain our lead, however Mount Kelly were persistent and gained half our score for most of the match, up until the last quarter where we pulled away and secured an impressive win. Well done to all the girls for a lovely fixture and playing extremely well. POM – Niamh Martin

Kate Burges

HockeyU13 North Devon Hockey Tournament - 2nd PlaceShebbear v Park 1-0Shebbear v West Buck A 0-1Shebbear v Bideford 1-0Shebbear v West Buck B 4-2

Well done to a mixed Form 1 and 2 team, who came second at the North Devon Hockey Tournament this week. Considering the team has not played together since before Christmas, they played brilliantly and familiarised themselves with their hockey sticks quickly.

We managed to win three out of the four matches, only losing out to West Buckland by one goal from a short corner which was called 2 seconds before the whistle was blown for half time. Their last match against West Buckland B was by far their most spectacular with some outstanding goals from Jemima Vereker, Ellie Philips and Blythe Hill, really highlighting their impressive skills and great potential on the hockey field. Well done girls!

Kate Burges





Picture this ... see more photos on our Facebook page

an evening with

Thursday 16th MarchFriday 17th March

Saturday 18th MarchCurtain 7.00pm

in the Memorial Hall

Shebbear Pupils: £1.00Children £2.50 Adults £5.00

Numbered seating - please email Ross Wolverson to reserve tickets:Email: [email protected] www.shebbearcollege.co.uk

A light-heartedexploration of Shakespeare’s greatest work

ShakespeareSHEBBEAR COLLEGE presents

Documents

Issue No 130 Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster www ... · Theatre in Exeter this week. The morning started with a ‘grade-booster’ workshop, showing students how to improve