CO-CURRICULAR

Finally, this year the activities programme was able to operate to its full potential! Larger groups could be reintroduced and a degree of normality returned within our co-curricular offering. We have expanded our range of activities, enabling pupils to try out new skills and improve existing ones. This year we have organised our activities into four areas of interest: Action, Arts, Adventure and Academic and the programme has played a big part in enhancing the overall pupil learning experience at Shebbear.

With sports fixtures making a presence on our calendars again, many pupils were seen out on the sports fields. From rugby and netball to badminton and volleyball, many team sports were heard and enjoyed around the campus. The Trinity term has seen some of our individual sports being appreciated, including Athletics and Tennis, as well as cricket, rounders and volleyball - and we have been able to make the most of the sunshine!

Adventure

The adventure activities are aimed at encouraging pupils to have a go at something that they might not have tried before. Archery, trampolining and dance were hot favourites for many, whilst others enhanced their outdoor education skills with bushcraft, navigation, Duke of Edinburgh and Ten Tors training. Mr Clewley also ran a series of Saturday watersports sessions at Roadford Lake including SUP, windsurfing, sailing and kayaking which were extremely popular amongst pupils of all ages and abilities. Miss Kaur and Mrs Appleton-Wahl have run some fantastic new art activities including print making and a community art project. ‘In person’ cookery made a welcome return and woodwork has become so popular that an advanced woodwork activity began! Pupils have enjoyed the process of starting with a simple piece of wood and seeing their project develop into some very good pieces of work. In music, Mrs Sadler-Smith re-launched our School Choirs and we now have a thriving Girls’ Choir, Boys’ Choir and Prep School Choir. Meanwhile, the fantastic school production of Grease was rehearsed tirelessly in activity time, and the hard work paid off - this was a great success! Individual music and drama lessons have continued with some fantastic LAMDA, Trinity and ABRSM achievements.

Academic

The academic activities brought about individual subject booster sessions in English and Science for exam years. A new favourite of this year was the Forensic Science Club. The forensic scientists solved a ‘murder in the science block’ by collecting fingerprints, ink samples, footprints and fibres. Meanwhile, a fantastic new British Sign Language course begun in the Trinity Term - such a great opportunity for our pupils.

Next year we have even more exciting opportunities planned and I am looking forward to expanding our co-curricular programme further - with the help of the pupils, whose suggestions are always taken on board!

Miss Taylor Activities Coordinator

We were delighted to hold our Celebration Evenings again this year. These events were a great success and a chance for our school community to come together to celebrate our pupils’ achievements. We enjoyed some fantastic musical numbers from pupils across the school, and welcomed Oliver Sinden, the President of the Old Shebbearians Association, to the Senior School events, whilst the Prep School were joined by guest speaker Pete Twyman. We also paid a tribute to Mike Saltmarsh, who has just retired as our Chair of Governors after 28 years, and welcomed Nick Buckland OBE as our new Chair. Congratulations to all our Prize Winners and well done to all of our musicians.

Form 5 Ball

Form 5 celebrated the end of their GCSE exams in style with a formal ball held at The Pier House in Westward Ho! A fantastic chance to relax and unwind with their friends after all that hard work. We think you’ll agree, they all looked very well turned out!