The Annual House Music Competition was fiercely fought on Friday 3rdFebruary with excellent performances from all houses. It was a great afternoon, and well done to all. The results were:
HOUSE SOLOS:
3rdPlace – Welsh
2ndPlace – Everett
1stPlace – Orchard
JAILHOUSE ROCK:
3rdPlace – Skipwith
2ndPlace – Welsh
1stPlace – Orchard
OWN CHOICE SONG:
3rdPlace – Orchard
2ndPlace – Skipwith
1stPlace – Welsh
OVERALL
3rdPlace – Skipwith
2ndPlace – Welsh
1stPlace – Orchard
Queen Anne's School provided a snowy setting for the Ballroom Dancing competition on Saturday night and the Shiplake boys looked good. The Oratory boys brought their best moves, but time and again the taps on the shoulder (that’s a good thing) were coming our way! The following highlights and results were recorded and hopefully bear a close resemblance to what happened!
As the dancing kicked off for the evening the following boys were spotted at various times strutting their stuff - Harry Griffiths, Louis Miller-Bains, the Killer Alex Kallipetis, Ben Cousins, Oli MacLaurin, Tom Jones (who waived his normal appearance fee for the evening), Cameron Foster, Paul Vanner, George MacPhee, Zac Bigley, Cameron (not a hair out of place) Dempster, Charlie Foster, Charlie Simpson, Alex Kallipetis, Nick Arbuckle and James Shraga.
At the end of the Waltz fine performances saw Harry Griffiths and Cameron Foster moving with great grace with Cameron leading the way into the final.
In the Foxtrot – Louis Miller Bains, and Harry Griffiths were the last men standing - Louis went all the way to the final – so intimidated were the other couple by Louis’ moves that they literally crumbled!!
In the Cha Cha Cha – Tom Jones, Harry Griffith, Zac Jones and Cameron Dempster sailed without concern into the semi-final with Zac and Harry going through to the final stages. As the tension mounted it was left to Zac Jones to dance for the trophy.
In the Jive – Oli MacLaurin, Henry Leroy, Tom Waldron, Zac Jones, Cameron Foster, Tom Jones, Harry Griffiths and Ben Cousins were all seen gliding like skaters on ice in the later stages of the competition. Tom Jones, whose legs can do truly remarkable things – was in total control as he moved through to the final. The only competition at this stage for Tom was Oli MacLaurin who had given up waiting for the tap on the shoulder and instead was simply cheating. Unfortunately for Oli his disgraceful antics were spotted by sharp-eyed judges and he was removed by his shirt collar.
The low-profile award for the evening went to Nick Arbuckle. Untroubled by the judges' attentions he managed to prepare a super speech – his coolness and sophistication and appropriate expressions of gratitude were well received by our hosts – of particular note was the line ‘he was glad he could be part of it’.
The Results
Waltz – for the first time in its history the trophy went to Cameron Foster who danced a lovely waltz, his partner matching his moves as well as his leg length.
The Foxtrot – Louis Miller Bains –the crowd could be heard chanting ‘Easy, Easy’ it really had been that one-sided in the final.
The Cha Cha Cha – Alas went to the Oratory – we had to let them have some crumbs of comfort –it was good of them to come!
The Jive – Tom Jones won at a canter - he was simply awesome with what can only be described as ‘professional hands’.
Overall winners “Shiplake College”
What a night!
Tamesis Chamber Choir are planning a really big celebration for their next concert at 7:30pm on Saturday 3rd March in Reading. It's for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, one of the three Historic Times they are marking this season. As befits a right royal knees-up, Tamesis will be singing the most jubilant, regal, exciting and well-loved music by big ticket composers of their days.
Commissioned for Queen Elizabeth's 1953 Coronation, there is Walton's magnificent 'Te Deum' and Vaughan Williams' lyrical 'O taste and see'. The service also included 'Zadok the Priest', written by Handel for George II's coronation… if you weren't around to catch it then, you'll know it now either as a state occasion staple or as the Champions' League anthem or from the P&O and Subway adverts! Stanford's grandiose 'Gloria' was first performed at George V's coronation.
William Mathias' splendid 'Let the people praise Thee O God', dates from Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981. And bringing things bang up to date, we'll sing two pieces composed for Wills' and Kate's nuptials last year: 'Ubi Caritas' by Paul Mealor (of Military Wives' fame!) and Rutter's 'This is the day'. And there's much more - see www.tamesischamberchoir.co.uk for the complete programme.
It's going to be a truly uplifting occasion, so please come along and join in the celebrations (tiaras and sceptres optional!) Tickets are £12/£8 from Louise Rapple, (lrapple@shiplake.org.uk), from www.tamesischamberchoir.co.uk or call 0118 934 3200. We're hoping for a packed church for our concert at Greyfriars Church, Friar Street, Reading RG1 1EH. It's a fantastic central location, handy for the station or the secure Broad Street Mall or Garrard Street car parks.
In preparation for their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award expedition, which will take place in March, 16 Sixth Form students have been contemplating how to cook nutritious and delicious meals using only the limited facilities available when camping. This culminated in a Masterchef-style competition in which all the stops were pulled out on a tight budget.
The winning team produced a three course meal for only £2 per head, consisting of a smoked salmon and cream cheese starter, pasta with bacon, mushroom and tomato sauce and chocolate-coated bananas to finish. The judges agreed that these pupils know how to camp in style.
After the successful 2011 rugby season, five Shiplake boys were nominated for The Independent Schools National Team. Over 400 boys from across the country were nominated and had to make it through three different trials culminating in the ‘Divisional Festival’.
We are delighted that Teddy Hewins and Ian Brown have both been successful in making the 42 man national squad. They are now looking forward to five matches in the UK and a tour to Italy in the Easter holidays where they will face two tough tests against Italy U18 national team.
Photo: Ian Brown (l) and Teddy Hewins (r).
