generation tennis tournament 2015

Weekly Newsletter from the Headmaster

Issue No 7412th June 2015

Dear Parents,The circle of life was much in evidence this week. On Friday we held a service to celebrate the Shebbear careers of this years’ leavers. Mrs Quirk gave the main address to the students, poignant and from the heart, and we then enjoyed a splendid reception of Champagne, Mitch Kingsland’s best canapés and, of course, sushi. At least one of these will be available on Speech Day.

On Saturday, as one lot went out the door the next lot came in and September’s new First Form enjoyed an Art session with Mr Barlow - a privilege for any budding artist. This event, in glorious Devon sunshine (15 degrees and with the odd shower) was set against a wonderful backdrop of cricket, with three of our four cricket teams prevailing against Plymouth College. The performance of the week, if not the year, was that of the U14s under the captaincy of Eddie Jones. Having been on the receiving end of heavy defeats against Plymouth in previous years they dug in and produced a marvellous and hard won victory by seven runs. In the end it was probably Jed Foster’s bowling which separated the teams, but this was a cracker to watch.

On Thursday evening the U15s came close to matching this by winning through to the Devon T20 U15 Cricket Cup Final. This was another magnificent game of cricket and the highlight was Jared Lovell’s hundred, his second of the week. The team will probably being playing Exeter School in next week’s final at Bovey Tracey on Tuesday.

My highlight of the week was the interview process for next year’s Prefect team, known at Sheb as ‘Sanctuary’. I suspect the participants didn’t find it as much fun as I did, especially as we threw in some fiendish questions about the school’s history to unsettle them. However, what became clear is that we have a wonderful group of young leaders coming through into the Upper Sixth and that ‘girl power’ will be very evident next year. When white smoke finally emerged, Ross Bennett and Abby Selwyn were appointed as the next Head Boy and Head Girl, and Will Murch-Seage and Meg Ryder-Green as their Deputies. They will lead a very strong team.

Meanwhile, the same musical chairs theme has been very much in evidence in the staff following the news of the retirements of Mrs Farrell and Mrs Quirk next term. I will write to parents at the end of term about all forthcoming staffing and curriculum changes, but the headline changes for next year are that we will have two Deputy Heads, not one, and that they will be Mr Newitt (Deputy Head - Pastoral) and Mrs Bearpark (Deputy Head - Academic). I am very excited to be working with them.

On a final note, our Speech Day guest will be Ian Yorston of Radley College - one of the top performing schools in the UK. Ian is at the cutting edge of understanding the potential use of computer technology. As a special favour he is giving an hour long talk to staff the night before - 5.00pm on Thursday 2nd July in the Junior School Assembly Hall. This will be a thought-provoking and challenging talk and is well worth hearing. His favourite phrase about technology is ‘You might not like it, but it is going to happen’. We will have a limited amount of space for parents, pupils, and our friends from the local community. If you wish to reserve a space please contact Naomi Giddy on [email protected] or phone her on 01409 282 001. These will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Simon Weale

Generation Tennis Tournament 2015

College Independence Party (SCIP) took over the running of the school for the day. Unlike most political parties it seems, SCIP kept to the promises they had made in their manifesto. As a result, there were many new teachers, no school uniform, no homework, no assembly, snacks from the Fair Trade shop, films, even more sport and extra playtime. The new staff even had their own staff room, complete with comfy chairs, hot chocolate, biscuits and a TV!

I am more than a little worried how popular the new staff were, but must give them credit for all their hard work. As with the election itself, the children worked hard to prepare lessons and organise a range of different activities for the day. I am sure that many of them will go on to be effective leaders in many different capacities in the future.

At the time of writing this I can only hope that the weather will be kind for both our den building for the children and our cream teas for the parents. By the time you read this, many of you will hopefully have enjoyed the experience of sharing the occasion with us and will have been impressed by your Year 6 hosts, and will have enjoyed the accompanying music and be well fed and watered, whether it was on the lawn or in the hall!

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity of thanking two of our parents from the Kindergarten - Mrs Twomey and Mrs Morris, who

News from the Junior SchoolDear Parents, This has certainly been a week of great variety in the Junior School. On Saturday morning many of our Year 6 pupils joined their future classmates from other schools to take part in Mr Barlow’s Art Fun Day. This was another opportunity for the children to cement new friendships ahead of next term’s move into the Senior School, as well as having fun getting messy - at least that’s what it looked like, judging from the state of their clothes when I called in to see how they were doing!

On Monday (and again on Wednesday) most of the same Year 6 pupils were then involved in the second phase of the Bikeability course. The sun shone on both days as the children were put through their paces, helping to ensure that they are all riding safely on the roads and are aware of the potential hazards they may face. As with our Year 5 group, the instructors were once again full of praise for our pupils. Ian Jewell left this message for me at the end of the session on Wednesday:

‘Both Mike and I had a great time with the children as they were very well behaved and did their best to carry out all the outcomes with accuracy. We cannot wait to come again next year. Many thanks for all your help in making Bikeability a success at Shebbear School.’

Keeping to the same theme, there was more biking success for Tiggs MacDougall from Year 6 last Saturday. Tiggs finished second in the Torbay Under 12 Road Race. Another triumph for our pocket-rocket!

On Tuesday our U11 cricket and rounders teams were involved in fixtures at West Buckland School. Mr Steel took

the boys in my absence and was full of praise for their attitude and endeavor as they faced a West Buckland side full of County players. Our batsman certainly applied the pressure by scoring runs freely, but finally succumbed to some accurate, and at times, quite speedy bowling!

Mr Steel singled out our own County star, Luke Maxa, as the star performer - with bat, ball and also as an effective and encouraging Captain.

Our girls were also up against it, facing a well-drilled West Buckland team in their rounders match. However, they were determined and fought hard, and despite losing there were particularly impressive performances from both Keira Gunning and Lola Frisby-Williams.

On Thursday, life in the Junior School was somewhat different from the norm. Following their victory in May’s election, the Shebbear

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



once again gave up their time to tackle the rather tangled and overgrown garden area outside Pyke House. It now looks wonderful, thank you so much.

And finally, another appeal from Mrs Lloyd-Webber herself! Mrs Jones has asked for all costumes for the upcoming Junior School Production to be in by Friday 19th June and to be clearly named - thank you!

Mike Furber

Next week in the Junior School:Monday: Year 6 Induction Day U9 rounders and cricket v Kingsley School (home) 2.00pm startWednesday: Parents Evening - Years 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6Thursday: U11 rounders and cricket v Kingsley School (home) 2.00pm start Parents Evening - Year 4 Friday: Junior School Sports Day

Lower School Chamber Concert3rd June 2015

This delightful event began with a cream tea, kindly prepared for us by Mrs Parker. There then followed a steady stream of pieces - solos and duets - piano, clarinet, voice et al - all performed by the youngers members of our school. Some performers were in the spotlight for their first time and perhaps they were a little nervous, but the audience only saw highly polished performances, belying the hours of practice underpinning their effort on the day. It is always a pleasure to see pupils excel in areas other than in your particular subject, and sometimes it is a surprise to see them in this different light and so such an event is also a real treat for teachers as well as parents. Many congratulations to all the performers, and many thanks to the peripatetic music teachers, and, of course, to Mr and Mrs Parker for organising the event so well.

Eleanor Bearpark

Visit us at Regional Shows this SummerIt is always a pleasure to meet pupils, parents and ‘old boys and girls’ at various shows over the summer season. If you are planning to visit any of the following shows, please do come and say hello.

Dowland Show 21st JuneWoolsery Show 27th JulyLaunceston Show 30th JulyNorth Devon Show 5th AugustOkehampton Show 13th AugustChagford Show 20th AugustHolsworthy Show 27th August

Junior School Pupils Join Alice in Numberland!Despite the poor weather, our pupils in Years 3 and 4 had another lovely day at Rosemoor last week. This was based on Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. Not only was he a very imaginative writer and storyteller, Lewis Carroll was also a

keen mathematician, studying Maths at Oxford University. He was the inventor of the Carroll diagram, a 4x4 grid for sorting objects according to set criteria.

To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the publication of Alice, the education staff at Rosemoor have devised a new workshop, setting children a variety of Maths puzzles and challenges in the garden, and our Year 3 and 4 pupils were the first to try out this new workshop. After a visit to the exhibition of the original illustrations for both the Alice books, the children were given the first challenges which were based on measure and capacity - finding the circumference of a circle, the volume of a cube, the flow of water from the fountain, the total length of a seating area - which then enabled them to answer questions about the Queen’s visit to the gardens such as was there enough room on the garden benches for all the visiting ‘bums to have a seat’!

The pupils then had Maths puzzles to complete in the brash, grass and woodland areas, all of which were great fun and taxed our mathematical minds, and were solved by many of the children.

The weather brightened after our picnic lunch so the children completed the trip by enjoying the play and musical equipment in the copse play area - a great day out! The exhibition of original illustrations, together with the sculptures of characters from Lewis Carroll’s books currently on show at Rosemoor are well worth a visit.

Fiona Goode



The children in Years 1 and 2 also enjoyed an interesting visit to see the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ exhibition at Rosemoor last week. They were encouraged to tackle a variety of mathematical challenges and worked in teams to solve them. Whoever would have associated caterpillars with odd and even numbers and pine cones with Carroll Diagrams? It was a very thought-provoking exercise and the children now look at problem solving in a completely different light.

Di Jones

Generation Tennis Tournament 2015The 9th Annual Generation Tennis Tournament was played last Sunday morning. With the exam season well underway and 4th Form exams looming, there were slightly fewer entries than normal. Therefore the preliminary round was played in a round robin format.

All the matches were played in good humour and Mr Trask only threw his racket a couple of times! At the end of the round robin, 3 partnerships were tied on 17 points. Gregoire Douin and Mr Trask automatically went through to the final for having won the most matches. Quentin Herbelin and Mrs Cardoo took the second spot in the final as they had beaten the other pair of Daniel Da Costa and Connor Roberts in the previous round.

Gregoire and Mr Trask had beaten Quentin and Mrs Cardoo in the previous round and seemed to be sure winners of the trophy as they got off to a 2-0 lead, but Quentin and Mrs Cardoo regrouped and with Quentin’s blistering forehand, claimed the next 3 games to win the title.

Thank you to everyone who played and for those that didn’t, there is plenty of time to practice before next year! Other participants were Joe Faulkner and Judi Faulkner, Patrick Faulkner and Patrick Faulkner (Dad), Simon Cornish and Ruth Cornish.

Author VisitCraig Simpson, author of the popular ‘Special Ops’ series, will be visiting Shebbear College on 1st July to give a presentation about his new book ‘Daniel’ to all members of Forms 1, 2 and 3.

The tour is in aid of The Teenage Cancer Trust and Craig will be selling hardback copies of ‘Daniel’ at the discounted price of £7.99 (instead of £12.99) and £1.00 from every book sold will be given to the charity.

Remember to bring money into school so that you can buy a book - and get it signed by the author!

Jane Welby

Fun at Birchill FarmFarmer Simon, a friend and neighbour of Mrs Ley recently invited our Kindergarten along to his farm, a family friendly holiday complex where each morning he takes visiting children to feed his animals.

Although a little wet, they helped feed the donkeys, ponies, lambs, alpacas, goats, pigs, ducks and chickens. Farmer Simon explained all about their different feeds and let them collect the eggs. Time was



then spent in the playhouse before lunch in the barn. The sun came out so they were even able to play in the outdoor play park.

The following day cakes were made using the eggs and a thank you card for Farmer Simon was created on which the children each drew a picture of their favourite animal. We all agreed we’d like to spend a holiday at Birchill Farm.

Jacqueline Biddlecombe

Online Library FacilityThe library has a new system which allows students, staff and parents to view our college library catalogue online; students are encouraged to us this to help with research, to write reviews about the books they have read and to search for new books that they might like to read.

The catalogue includes over 5700 books and audio-visual resources as well as many thousands of approved websites. You can access the system via the school website (Library page) or at:https://U009236.microlibrarian.net

Unless you are using Internet Explorer, the first time you access the system it may ask you to install Microsoft Silverlight; please allow this to be downloaded and installed on your computer as the system cannot run without it.

There is also an App called ‘iMLS’, available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android & Windows Phone 7. This App can be freely downloaded by going to your App provider and searching ‘iMLS’.

Having the library accessible in this way and having parents engaged with reading will help to support our commitment to improving our student’s literacy standards. If pupils are unsure of their log in details they should ask Mrs Welby; you may like to know what these are so

that you can track your child’s borrowing history, and perhaps help them to choose their next read.Please email me for details at: [email protected].

The school is strongly committed to promoting reading for pleasure. Data from the 1970 British Cohort Study provides strong evidence for the link between teenagers who read for pleasure and success in later life. I hope you find the new facility useful and welcome any feedback.

Jane Welby

Life Beyond 18Following on from last year’s very successful careers morning ‘Life Beyond 18’ we are in the process of organising next year’s event. We would like to invite speakers from many different career fields to come in for the morning and talk to our Fifth and Sixth Forms. The date will be Thursday 15th October 2015. If you think you may be interested or know anyone who could give us a morning of their time, please get in touch. Please email me, Judith Aliberti [email protected]

Stuart Williams - Torquay and ISFA ProgressTUFCStuart’s latest review confirms that Torquay have offered Stuart a 2 year contract which he has signed which will now see him playing in a mixed U15/U16 side in the coming seasons working towards a scholarship place in March 2017. Stuart was one of only 4 players taken forward by the club from the previous year’s squad.

ISFAFollowing the recent U14 National Representative Camp at The University of Nottingham, Stuart has been selected to represent the Independent Schools at U15 level at Harrow School from the 14th - 16th August 2015. This camp will involve matches against a number of academy teams and occasionally clubs from overseas. It is a considerable achievement to be selected, so many congratulations to Stuart!

The photo shows the U14 ISFA Squad at Nottingham University in April 2015

Arron Steel

CricketFour teams played against Plymouth College last Saturday and there were wins for the U12s U14s and U15s, with the U13s a player short, going down by 4 wickets.


EVENTS NEXT WEEKOn Tuesday 16th June, Victoria MacDonald from ISCO will be here to do some ‘Careers’ sessions with the Lower School. Form 1 will be doing a workshop about learning styles and skills development and Form 2 will be looking at personality and self awareness, with a view to thinking ahead to their possible GCSE choices next year and beyond.

On Wednesday 17th June, Vicki will be working with the Lower Sixth during the school day on writing personal statements. She will also be running a session for those students and parents/carers in the evening at 6.00pm entitled ‘UCAS Presentation’. There will be a talk from Vicki followed by a question and answer session.

The aim of both of these events is to help parents and students understand how the whole process of applying to universities works so that they are well prepared for making their applications next term.

Please contact me if you need any further information about the above events. Judith Aliberti.Email: [email protected]


The U15s had a crushing victory with Jared Lovell scoring 102 not out and Jabez Weale 42 not out in their total of 234-4 and then Jabez took 6-18 (the same figures as those he had at Plymouth last year!) to skittle the opposition for just 51 in reply.

The U12s also travelled to Plymouth and scored an impressive 143-8 in their 25 overs with Dan Shaw leading the way with 54. Then all the bowlers chipped in to help dismiss Plymouth for 85 giving the boys victory 58 runs.

Possibly the most impressive result came at home where the U14s managed to defend a total of just 85 against last year’s U13 County Cup winners. Eddie Jones and Jed Foster did the damage with the ball early on, but with Plymouth requiring just 8 runs to win with their last pair at the wicket, the skipper threw the ball to Will Blee who took a caught and bowled to give the team a well-deserved victory by 7 runs. Well done to all.

The U13s faced tough competition this week when they played a touring side from All Hallows Prep School and then Exeter Cathedral the following day. Some poor shot selection cost early wickets in the first match but a lively innings of 25 from Will Cunningham at least gave the bowlers a total of 91 to defend in 20 overs. Unfortunately, despite some accurate bowling by Sophie Gillies and Freddie Stevenson the visitors got home with wickets and overs to spare.

The captain chose to field first at Exeter and despite giving the opposition far too many extras, 42 in total, some outstanding catches meant a score of 135 to win was possible on a lively wicket and fast outfield. After losing an early wicket, Patrick Faulkner and Cameron Young (32) took the score to 50 before wickets tumbled and it was left to skipper Jack Joslin, with his first half century for the college, to see the team home with three overs and three wickets in hand.

Another outstanding performance by Jared Lovell, who scored his second century in a week, helped the U15s reach the final of the Devon Schools’ T20 Cup on Thursday in a match which produced nearly 340 runs (including twenty sixes) in just 40 overs.

Jabez Weale (36*) Carl Stanbury and Tatenda Shuttleworth-Richardson all gave good support as the U15s posted a target of 187 for visitors Exmouth College to chase. In fact they put up a great fight before going down by 36 runs as balls flew to all parts of the field.

They will now play either Exeter School or Kingsbridge in the final at Bovey Tracey on Tuesday next week.

Andy Bryan

Senior Sports Awards CorrectionIn the Senior Sports Awards article in last week’s newsletter, the award for Most Improved 1st Team Girls’ Hockey Player should have stated Niamh Martin. We apologise for any upset.

RoundersThe U14s dominated in their rounders match against Mount Kelly this week. Fielding first, we got all the opposition out in 27 balls for 4, some excellent backstop (Tara Twomey) and first post (Antonia Aliberti) action saw a number of the girls out on their first ball. No



great batting action from Shebbear, but we scored a solid 5.5 in our first innings. Kitty Scambler’s time to shine in the fielding second time around taking 4 fantastic catches out deep, knocking Mount Kelly out in 23 balls for 1.5. We cruised through our second innings scoring 6 more rounders, winning the game 11.5 to 5.5. Rosie Kivell was named ‘man of the match’.

The U13s played a touring side from Bath on Wednesday. Our fielding was spot on in the first half only allowing All Hallows to score 1 full rounder, keeping them to a respectable 5. Feeling confident, we scored 2 rounders in the first 9 balls but All Hallows were also strong in their fielding and kept us to 5.5. Second innings and some inconsistent fielding by Shebbear saw the opposition storm ahead, scoring a further 8 rounders. We came back strong and scored 4 in the first 9 balls, but unfortunately could not keep up the pace and went out at 26 with only 4.5. Final score Shebbear 10, All Hallows 13. Sophie Gillies was nominated fielder of the match and Jessica Biggs, batter.

The U13s had a very different game against St Joseph’s on Thursday. Batting first, we scored 8 off 29 balls and the opposition 2.5 off 25. We continued to bat and field strongly and went on to win the game 18-5. Sophie Gillies was again named fielder of the match and Amy Taylor, batter.

Serena Ham

The U12 girls had an excellent rounders game at St Joseph’s on Thursday. They fielded first and some tight bowling from Hazel Coward in both their innings restricted St Joseph’s to just 4.5 rounders. Hazel’s bowling was supported by some excellent fielding from Poppy Daniel at back stop, and Chloe Caudwell, Maggie Dorey and birthday girl Laura Priest in the field! With the bat, Bess Scambler (4 rounders) and Eliza Banbury were too much for the St Joseph’s fielders, and Shebbear finished on top by 10 rounders to St Joseph’s 4.5. Well done to all, especially Player of the Match, Bess Scambler.

Jamie Sanders

Congratulations Rob and TaraCongratulations to ‘Old Boy’ Rob Broad and Tara Dugdale (who used to work in our Finance office) who got married on 29th May at Bovey Castle.

Please Return Library and Text BooksPlease could parents ensure that all library books are returned before the end of term and all leavers have returned their text books to avoid additional charges to their school bills. Thank you.Finance Department

Important Note - Children Traveling on BusesPlease can parents of children traveling home on buses encourage them to cross the road safely when they get off of their bus. It has been brought to our attention that some pupils are walking around the back of their bus and walking out to cross the road without care and attention. For their safety please encourage them to wait until the bus has pulled away, then check both ways carefuly before crossing. Thank you.


Since being here from 2004 I have been asked one question frequently: ‘Is Shebbear a home away from home?’ I always answer:

“No, Shebbear isn’t a home away from home- it is home.”Throughout my time here at Shebbear I have been able to not only make friends but I have another family. A family that no matter what, will be there for you, will stick by you through thick and thin and to me that is the true meaning of a Shebbearian.

Starting at a young age and working my way through the College, I have been able to experience a number of life skills, talents and have also been able to accomplish a number of attributes that not many others have been able to achieve.

I remember my first ever visit to Shebbear College. I was greeted by Mrs Quirk and Mr Barnes, who both played a big role in my life from that day forward. From that little girl who would hid behind her mum because she was full of nerves, I changed from then on. But my story started off a little differently to other young boarders, I already had a family; those of you who can remember, I have two elder brothers, Christopher and Matthew, and it was from that day forward we were known as the ‘Prowsie’s’. Not only did everyone call us that then, but I still get called that now and it’s been 11 years since that day.

During my time here at Shebbear I have always been encouraged to follow and pursue whatever made me happy. This included a number of things for me, such as performing on stage, whether it was drama, singing or even reciting a poem in Year 4. I even enjoyed performing on the sports pitches, carrying on my family’s tradition of being in all and any long distance races that were either hosted by school or further afield.

I have memories that will always stay with me, such as performing at endless Christmas Boarders’ Extravaganzas, Bev Harman often

said that it was the ‘Jess and Ailis Show’, as myself and Jessica Lambert, a fellow Shebbearian and best friend, would perform non-stop. The first song I ever sang was James Blunt’s ‘Your Beautiful’ which at the age of 7 I find amazing that I was able to remember all the lyrics. I have sung every year since and for the audience’s sake I hope I got better. In this, my final year, I was able to dedicate a song to Mrs Quirk - a song that Jess and I sang at her son’s wedding blessing.

This year I have been able to take part in so many activities that will provide fond memories, such as being killed off in the ‘Great Gatsby’ murder mystery, singing at my last ever Boarders’ Extravaganza and actually running and not doing too badly on Sports Day.

My time is coming to an end at Shebbear, my curtain call is nearly up, therefore I not only want to say thank you to everyone who has had a part to play in my life at Shebbear, but I also want to give you all some advice:

“No matter how tough your life seems to get, always know that Shebbear will catch you

when you fall and will be there no matter what. Don’t hesitate to talk to a teacher, a prefect or a peer, because no matter what, they will always be there for you.”

Ailis Prowse

My time atShebbear Collegeby Ailis Prowse

Boarding Pupil 2004 - 20156th Form Leaver 2015

Ruddle House 2015

www.shebbearcollege.co.ukWeekly Newsletter from the Headmaster

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www.shebbearcollege.co.ukWeekly Newsletter from the Headmaster

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Shebbear College, Shebbear, Beaworthy, Devon EX21 5HJ Telephone: 01409 282001 Email: [email protected]


Billy Sanders enjoying a quiet walk on Beckly

For more info call 01409 282001 or visit www.shebbearcollege.co.uk

FREE!FDUANY

Family

for families with children under 7Saturday 20th June

10.00am - 2.00pm at Shebbear College Kindergarten

FACE PAINTING BOUNCY CASTLEOUTDOOR PLAY AREA INDOOR ACTIVITIESFUN and GAMES BBQ REFRESHMENTS

invite your friends!

generation tennis tournament 2015

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