Shiplake v Henley College

Shiplake managed a healthy squad of 11 against the prestigious Henley College. However Shiplake was missing their Captain due to prior commitments, so it was up to our Vice Captain Kozhemyakina to step up and into Arnold's trainers!

The first quarter saw Shiplake with a new arrangement in the attacking circle, Barron-Cutts playing GS for the first time and White playing GA, a combination that hasn't had much practice so it took a while in finding their rhythm. Collings and Kozhemyakina fought tirelessly in the defence, limiting Henley College’s goal count to finish at 6-1 with Henley College leading. During the second quarter, Shiplake made changes in the attack and defence, bringing on Goodman as GS and Holloway as WD.  Harman and Cartwright worked well together offering a strong and fluid movement up and down the court and made some outstanding interceptions.  Shiplake never took their eye off the ball, half time score 10-4, Henley College lead. 

During the third quarter, more player changes were made which may of gone against Shiplake as Henley College score a further 12 goals compared to our 5 throughout the quarter, although the score does not reflect on court performance with Shiplake’s Seward (GD) who played an outstanding game on defence.

Reeder (WD0 playing her second game of Netball wanted to prove to herself and team that she was a valued member of the squad and didn’t tire of trying her best. Kononenko (GS) for a quarter meant business, she fought for every ball in the circle and she did not drop her guard, excellent passing in and out improved Shiplake’s goal difference, with White, (GA) taking every opportunity to shoot, end of Q3 22-9, Henley College lead.

The last and final quarter saw an interesting change to our challengers tally, only scoring three goals, this must be down to our defense Seward, Collings and Holloway battling to gain possession, along with our driven attack working their way back up the court delivering to our shooters. Shiplake scored 5 goals in the last quarter alongside the Henley College’s 3, but it just wasn’t enough, Henley College won 25-14. Well played Shiplake and congratulations to Alice White for winning player of the match!

However, something we did win hands down was that of Steve Beaumount’s match tea, not only did the away team polish off their share they helped themselves to ours, informing us that Shiplake have award winning chocolate brownies!!

NETBALL - Shiplake v Pangbourne

Shiplake was limited to 6 players, half of which have been newly introduced to Netball, so we considered today’s game to be an experience rather than a serious match. Pangbourne, obviously threatened by our prior victory's against them had decided to put out their A team, even after we requested their B team. Already at the disadvantage of playing a team above our standard and the dreadful weather we hoped that we would play some good Netball.

By the first quarter the whole team was blue and after the 3rd quarter both teams agreed that due to the slippy court and freezing temperatures, it was a good reason to end the match. As a team, we are still developing our skills and introducing the sport to many girls and even though the game was a loss, it was a valuable experience for us all.

Well done to Annabel Seward, who won player of the match for her versatility, playing both attack and defence and adapting to the position she was given. A special mention goes to Chloe Reeder, who participated in her first ever game, well done!

Poor weather conditions did not allow any photo opportunities so here is one from last week.

Written by Sophie Arnold.

The Colossal Birthday Cake

Once again, Katy Ward has outdone herself and produced a mammoth chocolate delight for Sissi’s birthday. The cake looked like it had been devoured by a swarm of locusts and obviously tasted as good as it looked. Looks like I will need to get my Mary Berry cookbook out as time is flying by and it won’t be that long before we lose our in-house baker.

The Birthday Girl!

HEALTHY LIVING



Healthy Vegetables to make crudités



This week's school theme is healthy living so Gilson has begun with some healthy eating instead of the usual tradition of eating pizza on a Wednesday evening. The girls weren't too enamored by the idea when it was initially proposed, but like a colony of rabbits the carrots were demolished rapidly and the low fat hummus went down a treat.

 

Smiles all round even though it is not pizza!

Girls' Rowing continues to grow and it’s fantastic to see so many of them down at the boat club.  If their new found interest is maintained then I’m sure there will be a healthy competition for seats in the near future.  The newcomers are typically spending time learning technique and boatmanship and I hope their enthusiasm remains as the darker and colder afternoons settle in.

ICT at the College

 

LETTER FROM THE HEADMASTER

Dear Parents,
Over the past few years, our ICT network has undergone rapid change in almost every area as we move towards implementing our strategy of fully integrating ICT into the classroom. We have invested heavily in ensuring that our network, especially the wireless network, is as fast as it can be and capable of supporting the many hundreds of devices that are brought into the College every day.
Many of our pupils already bring laptops or tablets in to school and we now feel that the infrastructure is in place to recommend that every pupil at Shiplake has some form of mobile device to bring to lessons.
Having a laptop or tablet is not an absolute requirement in order to attend the College, but we feel that the benefits are very clear. More and more prep. is being set online, many of our teachers are using ICT interactively in the classroom or distributing resources electronically. Pupils are using their devices to work collaboratively, to produce work using video and audio or to access our online library. ICT no longer takes place once a week in a room full of desktop computers, but should be fully integrated into teaching and learning at Shiplake. We feel that goal can be achieved most effectively by recommending that all pupils have a mobile device from September 2013.
In order to give parents the widest possible choice, we have deliberately designed our network so that virtually any type of device can be used. Mobile phones, Windows laptops, Apple Macbooks, iPads and Android tablets are all currently being used on site.  Mr Balderson has put together a guide for parents considering buying a device. He can be contacted on sbalderson@shiplake.org.uk if you have any further questions.
Gregg Davies
Headmaster

With further guidance from the Head of ICT:

As far as the College is concerned, our only requirement is that it can connect to our wireless network (which all modern devices can) and that it has a web browser, in order to give parents and pupils the widest choice possible. A basic laptop would be entirely sufficient, but our current pupils have a wide variety of devices, including iPads, MacBooks, Windows laptops, Android tablets and many others. The only real constraints are personal preference and budget!
If you are considering buying an iPad, we would strongly recommend using an external keyboard as well, in order to be able to complete longer, written preps more easily.
Simon Balderson
Head of ICT

Congratulations!

I'm delighted that Katy Ward and Maddie Newman won Silver medals in the Women’s J18 doubles in the Ball Cup at Dorney Lake last weekend.   Maddie and Katy had been keen rowers before they joined Shiplake and proximity to the river has given them the opportunity to train on four or five occasions each week, coached by Rebecca McKellar.  It is particularly pleasing to see their hard work and commitment being rewarded.

With the races taking place over a 750 metre course the competitors had windy conditions to contend with in the heats. Drawn against Ardingly RC and Kings College School the Shiplake girls made a slow start and were trailing after ten lengths. Finding their rhythm they pushed through the other crews and held the lead at the 500 metres mark. They continued to increase their lead and finished with a winning margin of around one and a half lengths.

The weather had calmed slightly for the final and the girls were able to have a much smoother race but in the final it was Cambridge City RC who made the better start. The Shiplake girls pushed them all the way to the line but still trailed by a length and a half at the finish to take the silver medals. Well done girls!