Orchard's X-Factor

At today's Christmas lunch, each of Orchard's year groups had to perform a Christmas song of their choice and they were judged by Visiting Tutor's Mr. Gould, Dr. Snellgrove and our very own matron Julie Knight.

Despite a very high standard, Year 11 came out on top with their rendition of the Pogues' 'Fairytale of New York'.

Well done Year 11, we hope you shared your chocolate prize with everyone in the house?!

Rugby Awards 2012

The Junior and Senior rugby awards were held this week and we're proud to say that Orchard boys featured heavily in the prize-giving; from Year 13 right down to Year 9.

(above, Ed Warren delivers his Captain's Match Report)

Special mentions must go to Tom Howe and Alex Collis who won 'Players Player of the Year' and 'Coaches Player of the Year' for the 1st XV.

Other Orchard boys picking up 'Player of the Season' were Will Janes U16A, Billy Sayers U15A and George Cowley U14C.

Harry Emmanuel U14A,  Tom Williams U14B and Adib Wain U16B won 'Most Improved Player' and Ruairdh Scott was awarded 'Player with the Most Potential' for the 3rdXV.

(above, Harry Emmanuel receives his award from Head of Rugby, Mr. Beckett)

Joao Dias 2nd XV won the "Plato Plate' which is awarded to the boy who may not be the best player in the team but who gives 100% on and off the field; thus becoming a role model to younger boys.

Finally, numerous Orchard boys were key to the success of the U15C (or The Chargers as they are now known) who won 'Team of the Year 2012' as voted for by all Rugby coaching staff.

(above, Team of the Year U15Cs, including Ben Tait, Freddie Brady, Greg Holt and Mr Mallins from Orchard)

Well done to all the boys who represented Shiplake this year; it was a very successful season!

The date of a lifetime...

Yesterday's numerical significance did not go un-noticed; we've obtained this exclusive picture from  Mr. Mallins' Geography class. At 12.12pm on the 12/12/12 the class took a minute away from learning about the biosphere to reflect on this once in a lifetime moment. It was swiftly followed by cheers and applause.

For a bonus point, when will we see the date doing a similar pattern again?

Gentleman of the Year

The 'Jane Burtt, Gentleman of the Year' board is now up in the Junior Day Room.

This is a prestigious award in honour of our last matron, Jane Burtt, who retired earlier this year and it is awarded to the boys who consistently display the characteristics upheld by a true gentleman. The first winners of the prize were Joao Dias and James Dinsdale, but who will follow in their footsteps this year?

Cross Country Winners

Congratulations to all the boys and girls of Orchard House who completed the 2-mile cross country course today. All the times were added together and an average taken. We're very proud to announce that Orchard were the overall winners!

Juniors
A special mention must go to Orchard's Oscar Gutierrez and James Dinsdale who came first and third in the Junior competition. They were closely followed by their house mates George Greenaway and Jack Leigh who also made it into the Top 10!

Seniors
Matthew Herbert was Orchard's fastest senior, followed by Rob Waldron and Ben Peers (pictured above).

Girls
Maddie Newman was Orchard's fastest girl and we had no fewer than 5 girls in the Top 11; Antonia Claas, Sophie Arnold, Meg Barron-Cutts and Chloe Reeder.

Well done ORCHARD HOUSE!

Music News

Every Friday, some of our boys can be spotted singing along at the 'Rock Choir' organised by our Head of Music, Mr.P. Jones. Ruaridh Sheppard, pictured on the far left, is doing more than his fair share of singing at the moment, as he has also been rehearsing for his lead role as Joseph in the forthcoming school production!

Max Hearnden

Hot off the press, Orchard's Max Hearnden and Skipwith's Harry Vardigans have been selected to attend the GB Potential Camp in Nantes during the Christmas holiday. They have been selected to train with a group of 16 rowers that have also shown the potential to be in a top boat for Great Britain at this year’s races at the Junior World Championships and Coupe de la Jeunesse.

Congratulations boys!

Orchard Christmas Lunch

Orchard House will be coming together to celebrate Christmas in fine style on the 13th Dec; lunch will be served in the Great Hall and it will be accompanied by some very special awards and some live music! When we say live music, we mean that each year group has been tasked with choosing a Christmas song which they must perform in the inaugural 'Orchard Christmas Sing Off'.

Rumour has it that Year 12 are going with everyone's favourite Christmas classic 'Father Christmas is going straight to the Ghetto' by Snoop Dogg...mmmmmm. Thankfully, we've also heard that Year 11 are considering to sing 'Fairytale of New York' by the Pogues!

Paperless books

You may have heard that our new Head of English Mr.J.Davies is setting up an E-library for pupils and staff to use at Shiplake.

Lots of pupils and parents have been asking how it might work on all the different devices. Below are some guidelines:

1) The Amazon Kindle is not compatible

2) It is not necessary to have an 'ereader' - tablet computers may be more useful

3) The library will work with apple, android, blackberry and pc devices

4) Any device with internet browser can access

5) A good choice for an inexpensive ereader is the Nook

6) A normal laptop/netbook will work fine

Here at the blog, we're wondering what the new, modern word for a bookworm might be?

Iceland Trip

During half term, a number of Orchard boys and our Assistant Housemaster, Mr. Mallins, flew to Iceland to embark on a geographical tour of one of the newest land masses on the planet. Geysers,volcanoes, thermal power stations and hot spas were all on the itinerary, as was a very slippery walk on one of Iceland's many glaciers. The trip will hopefully be repeated in 2 years time.

International Stars of the Future?

We're very proud to see that Orchard House is home to some of Shiplake's finest sporting talent.

Tom Howe (Rugby) has not only been called up to the U18 England Rugby Squad but is now on the books of the England Senior Sevens Squad. It is perhaps no surprise that he has been nominated for Reading Chronicle Sports Personality Award. You can help him to win it by clicking on the link below.

  

1.       Click on the link: http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sports-personality

2.       Type in your name, e-mail, select Tom Howe

3.       Enter the word ‘awards’ into the box.

Max Hearnden (Rowing) competed at the GB Early Identification Trials at Boston last weekend and came 27th out of 136! He is now considered to be one of the Top 10 sweep rowers at J18. Next up is a GB training day at Caversham lake and if successful a weeks training in Nantes!

Harry Emmanuel (Hockey) has been flying the flag for our Year 9's; he has been selected for the Berkshire U14 Hockey Squad.

Well done boys!

Quiet House

We've noticed that Orchard House has been quieter then normal over the past 24 hours. This is because the majority of our Year 10's and Year 11's have escaped to the South Downs as part of their Duke of Edniburgh Award and we've been sent a photo from out in the field...well from a supermarket! It looks like Orchard's Sam Cooke, Will Janes and Ruaridh Sheppard have some serious eating activities planned.

End of Term Carol Service

Now the College has grown to 400 pupils we are faced with an excess demand for seats at the End of Term Carol Service. In order to fit into St Mary’s this year, the college is asking to limit yourselves to one parent per pupil except for Year 13 parents.

Mr Jones, Deputy Head writes: "I am sorry that we have to manage numbers in this manner and we will be considering other options for 2013."

Charity Walk Update

Although some money is still to come in, Orchard has handed over a fantastic total of 3518.00 pounds to our chosen charities. Well done to all involved and a big thanks to all those who gave so generously!

Thank You

We'd like to thank all those Orchard parents and boys, that very generously donated items to the Harvest Festival Collection. There was a very impressive pile of tins and packets stacked up in our hall way on Saturday morning. The Drop in Centre Reading will be very happy we're sure!

Orchard Flying High

Earlier in the week we saw the Year 9 and 10 boys romp to victory in the Junior House Football competition and on Saturday it was the Senior boys turn, with a comprehensive set of victories over the other houses in the Senior Rugby matches.

Harvest Festival Service

All are welcome to join us at the College harvest festival service, which will be held this Sunday 7th October at 7:30pm in the church.

As in previous years, we will be supporting the Churches in Reading Drop-in Centre which supports homeless and vulnerable people, particularly the young.

If you would like to make a donation, they would particularly like the following items:
Tinned Meat
Breakfast Cereals
Coffee
Sugar
Marmite
Chocolate spread
Squash
Tinned peas, carrots, custard or soup
Salad Cream
Peanut butter
Biscuits
Bottles of handwash

These items can be delivered to matron in house or to the Rev directly.

Canoe Star...

One Orchard boy who is making a splash outside school, is Year 9's Ollie Walker. Not only did he canoe the 20 mile route of the charity walk, he has also been busy competing in the Hasler National Canoe Finals on the Thames.

He had qualified for Division 8 K2 and pairing his usual Reading Canoe Club partner finished a credible 6th place. This is a great result, particularly as they were probably the youngest crew in their division. Well done Ollie.

A message from the Parents Association... 

Headmaster’s

Olympic Quiz Night

Saturday 6^th October 2012, 7.30p.m.

Enjoy fish and chips or basil infused ratatouille served in a filo basket topped with goats cheese

Make up a table with friends or join in with others - 15.00pp

Please contact Sue Bond - sbond@shiplake.org.uk

Another rugby star...

Well done to Orchard's Rob Waldron who has been selected for the U16 Oxfordshire rugby squad. We look forward to hearing about the forthcoming games!

The Charity Walk...

With weather warnings blaring over the media tannoys, the Shiplake College Charity Walk could not have picked a better day to happen. Undeterred, all staff and pupils braved the elements and set off on the 20-mile hike from Moulsford to home.

We're glad to say that everyone made it back, but perhaps not in one piece; Orchard boys have reported blisters, the size of which have never been seen before and talk of having aches in muscles that they cannot name. But, hey, it's all for charity and we're hoping that Orchard wil have raised a lot of money by the end of this week.

So did we pick up any gossip during the walk? Of course we did, that's what makes us bloggers:

1. One group of unnamed Year 12/13's turned the wrong way at the very first checkpoint and had to be rescued by a support vehicle 4 miles off course!

2. One group of matrons was left stranded in the rain without shelter. Their response? They headed for the nearest pub and were picked up 2 hours later. We hope they were only ordering hot chocolates!

3. We all know that Orchard is full of gentleman, but one Year 12 boy took this one step further by carrying one of our Shiplake girls on his back!

Well done to everyone involved - we look forward to the next one in 2 years time!

One week countdown...

It's just 7 days to go until our charity, 20 mile walk along the Thames Path. But not everyone will be walking; a little bird has told us that some of the teachers, including at least one of Orchard's tutors, are considering running the course! Orchard boy, Oliver Walker (Year 9) is also said to be ditching the walking boots and jumping in a canoe. We're all looking forward to it and hopefully we'll raise lots of cash for our chosen charities.

Horsing around...

Many congratulations to Jack Leigh (Year 9), an accomplished horse rider, who passed both the ridden and stable management elements of his C+ test and he is now able to start training for his B test which he will be able to take after his fifteenth birthday!

Orchard’s rugby stars…

One young man with more on his plate than most this year, is Tom Howe. In addition to studying for a high set of grades in his A-levels, Tom has been training hard with the England U18 Rugby Squad and made his debut for Wasps A (Senior 2^nd XV) last Monday; coming off the bench to play the last fifteen minutes and scoring in the process.

Many congratulations also go to James Sloman and Toby Howe, who despite being U16's, were called up to play for the 1^st XV against Bluecoat at the weekend. They both put in fantastic performances to help Shiplake win 28-19. We suspect they might be selected on a more regular basis!

Orchard’s new tutors…

To compliment last year’s tutoring team we would like to introduce the following members of staff who have joined us this term.

Head of History – Mr Liam Morgan, comes to us from Highdown School and Community Centre where he taught history and was Assistant Head of Achievement.  Mr Morgan enjoys cricket and football.  Pupils, beware he will enjoy challenging you at table tennis!

Modern Foreign Languages Teacher – Madamoiselle Claire Guilbert, comes to us from Fearndown Upper School and teaches both French and Spanish.  Claire is a keen musician and very enthisaistic about organising trips abroad – start saving your euros!

 

History Teacher – Mr Tom Rendell, actually joined Shiplake last year, but having seen what fine gentlemen Orchard boys were, he jumped at the chance to join up. However, he was too embarrased to write anything about himself so it was left to Mr. Mallins to write a few lines.

‘With his flowing locks and square jaw, Mr. Rendell is often mistaken for a modern day Prince Charming, but do not be fooled by these devilish good looks, as underneath lurks a well oiled brain; an Archeaology degree and a Masters in History no less. He’s also pretty handy in a boat; a key member of Shiplake’s coaching team and a member of Marlow rowing club.’

We wish them all good luck for this year.

Orchard's Real Boss!

Now we know who really runs the show - Billy Curtis!

Final over victory in Senior House Cricket

Following victory over Burr in the semi-finals, the Senior House Cricket Team took on Welsh House in the final. Despite posting a modest score, Orchard’s bowlers took control of the match midway through the Welsh innings. However, Welsh were not going to lie down and responded with some lusty blows towards the back end of the game. With nerves jangling in the last over, Orchard managed to hang on by one run. Congratulations to everyone who took part over the two games.

Scholars' Concert

On Friday 25^th May, the Music Department’s Scholars’ Concert took place in the Great Hall. The black tie event saw seven Orchard performances on the programme of sixteen pieces; each and every one of them incredible. The Headmaster commented on the high quality of performances throughout the evening and let Zahra Govani close the evening with a stunning vocal piece that sent shivers down the spine.

House Athletics Champions

Congratulations to everyone who took part in House Athletics this week.  Both ends of the House performed brilliantly, with Years 11, 12 and 13 winning the Senior Championship, and the Juniors coming a close second to Welsh House. Despite the 25-degree heat, everyone who participated did extremely well. The real highlights of the afternoon came in the sprint events, with the House setting four new school records as follows:

Senior 100m                                 Piers Chen 2012                11.0 sec

Senior 200m                                 Tom Howe 2012                23.8 sec

Senior 4 x 100m relay team A      Orchard 2012                     49.0 sec

Senior 4 x 100m relay team B      Orchard 2012                     50.5 sec

Thank you to all those who turned out to support our athletes in these Championships.

Orchard House Annual Music Concert - WOW!

The annual Orchard House Music Concert took place earlier in May, with virtually everyone from the House involved in one capacity or another. The House is blessed with a great deal of talent in a variety of activities, but the quality of music on this particular occasion was absolutely phenomenal. Well done to all the performers on the evening and a special thank you to Mr Adam Mallins and Oliver Smith for arranging the event. Also, a huge thank you to all the parents who came along to support this fundraising event (the Ladies of the Orchard House Fundraising Committee inform me that nearly £200 was raised for the Chiltern Centre as a result of your efforts).

Congratulations to our new School & House Prefects

Following a series of interviews and an intense selection process, the following boys will be College Prefects for the next academic year, 2012-2013:

Tom Waldron

Piers Chen

Henry Le Roy

Joao Dias

Many congratulations to these guys who I am sure will be outstanding ambassadors for both the College and the House.

Squash Championship's

Congratulations to Harry Chapples on winning the Beaconsfield Under 15 Junior Squash Championships. Along with this amazing feat he came 2nd in the under 17 event. This means that he won all but one game in the whole event, which - you will understand if you play squash yourself - is very difficult to do.

U15: Seed 1: Harry won the whole division/tournament for his age group and didn't drop a single game.  He won all his matches 3-0 (matches are first to three games).

U17: Seed 2: Harry came second (runner-up) in a close final. In other words, he came second in the age group above him.  Harry is 2 years younger than the people who play in that division.

Harry has been awarded a trophy and 30 pounds for the squash pro shop for his win in the U15 tournament, and 10 pounds for the pro shop for his U17 achievements.

Well done Harry!!!!! and congratulations on being put forward for the British Open! 

A New Term

Hello every-body, welcome back! We have a busy term ahead full with exams, sports and house activities, iIncluding the Orchard House Music Night next Wednesday night.

Orchard’s (and England’s) U17 Rugby Player – Tom Howe

During the Easter holidays Tom Howe played for the England U17 rugby team in an overwhelming victory over their Scottish counterparts. On Saturday Tom was in action again when England took on a very powerful French team (who had been unbeaten at 16-Group level last year). It was always going to be a tough encounter and so it proved to be. However, Tom scored a stunning try before helping England secure a 28-24 win with the last play of the game. We look forward to hearing of more of Tom’s rugby exploits in the coming months!

 

Orchard Boys supporting Local Doctor in Fundraising Evening

Dr Unwin has been Shiplake College’s school doctor for many years now and gives up two weeks of his holiday each year to work in the Kimuli Mission Hospital in Uganda; helping those less fortunate than ourselves. In an effort to improve the quality of the medical provision in this hospital Dr Unwin and a number of his colleagues held a fundraising evening at the Well Barn Estate near Moulsford on Saturday evening. The evening raised in excess of £20,000 and this was made possible by the efforts of six Orchard boys – George Le Roy, Charlie Hancock, Joao Dias, James Girling, Henry Le Roy and Tom Waldron. The boys gave up their usual Saturday evening to park cars in freezing conditions, serve food and drink and to generally wait upon the evening’s guests well into the early hours of Sunday morning. Each and everyone of these guys deserve a huge amount of praise for not only giving up their time for absolutely nothing but also for conducting themselves impeccably throughout the proceedings; a real credit to both House and College!