The Michaelmas Term is well underway and I must say the world beyond Shoreham is somewhat stormy, quite literally. The Hurricanes that have plagued the Caribbean have been truly terrible and the politics of the world seems turbulent too, not least in nearby Spain.
At moments like these I personally draw great comfort from the fact that Shoreham College has much to celebrate and continues on its way undisturbed. As you know, we secured our best ever GCSE results (98% A*-C) in the summer and this surely is testimony to the hard work that the pupils put in and excellent teaching. We were placed in the top 300 schools in the UK for A*-A percentages by the Independent and for an inclusive school this is superb. We cannot be complacent, however, and the hard work now begins again to see what we can do working with our current Year 11s.
There has been some lovely sport so far this term and one of my favourite moments was watching Olivia Carpenter score three goals at Under 12s in a winning match against Brighton College. Our under 10 boys secured fabulously successful wins against Deepdene this half-term as did our Under 9 and Under 10 netballers, and these are just a few highlights.
Our two harvest events were lovely moments. The Reverend Grant came to us to bless hundreds of cans and packets of produce that our pupils brought in that have already been sent to Emmaus to be distributed to those who will most benefit from them and I have no doubt that Father James hugely enjoyed the juniors’ rendition of the hymn 'Big Red Combine Harvester'.
I also wish to thank the SCPA for a lovely evening of stool ball, which was very well attended. The match was fiercely contested between two mixed teams of pupils and parents and the quality of the sausages for the hot dogs seemed the best yet to me.
I should mention the Blackland Trip for our Year 9s. I visited them on Saturday morning and the mood in the camp was excellent. I watched our pupils climb trees and high-flying obstacles and the weekend was a splendid opportunity for our young people to literally step outside of comfort zones. Our new Leadership and Skills programme is off to a promising start in the senior school with archery and Young Enterprise now in the mix.
Academically, the seniors have enjoyed some wonderful trips, with our Year 11 Geographers heading off to Juniper Hall with Miss Geoghegan and Mrs Casserly has put on some tremendous printing workshops for Years 10 and 11 and I know these were greatly appreciated by the pupils.
Before we know it, half-term will be upon us and I do hope the families in our community will get out and about at some point to enjoy the marvellous surroundings that we all have access to here in Sussex. As I said to our nursery pupils only last week, I personally love the changing colours of autumn and the leaves that spin on sudden gusts. Before we know it, it will be bonfire season.
Mr Taylor-West, Headmaster