Shiplake College
Henley, Oxfordshire
Shiplake College
Henley, Oxfordshire
Overview
Located rurally in 63 acres of grounds near Henley, Shiplake College is only 10km from Reading's fast rail connection to London and 45 minutes by car from Heathrow airport. Historically a boys’ school, the Sixth Form has admitted girls since 1998 and now the whole College is gradually becoming co-educational. Not selective on academics alone, the College prefers to focus on value added, and so seeks students who can get the most from the opportunities available. Shiplake's buildings are mostly clustered together at the heart of the school, giving it an intimate, family feel and ensuring that the students are never far away from everything. 'Inclusive, Individual, Inspirational' are the mantras that drive the College’s approach in all areas.
At a glance
Academic
Innovations including extensive use of Microsoft OneNote enable teachers to connect with pupils of all learning styles, and daily academic support clinics allow pupils to work through tricky or challenging areas. The bespoke John Turner (JT) Building houses the “Thinking Space”, a multi-purpose area designed to foster creativity, collaboration and independence. Work here is supervised, enabling review and feedback, study-skill development and support with past papers. The JT is also home to the Learning Development Centre, where guided study support is offered to the 10-15% of pupils who need it. 25 subjects along with the EPQ are available in the Sixth Form, while on average 33% of A Level results are A*/A and 65% are A*/B.
Boarding
Well-appointed boarding houses with spacious common areas provide accommodation to students from Year 9. Of the 400+ Years 9-13 around 37% board to some degree and 4% are from overseas. Years 9-11 tend to share rooms of 3 or 4, with some individual rooms. All Year 12 & 13 boys now have their own room in College House. All boarding girls are in Gilson House and have a room of their own, with a few double rooms allocated for flexi-boarders. All students, whether day or boarding, are also members of one of 5 traditional Houses, each with a Houseparent supported by a matron and team of tutors, who together are responsible for the academic, co-curricular, emotional and social aspects of the students’ lives.
Sports
Sport is valued highly, for teaching key life-skills as well as for health and well-being, and Games lessons are timetabled almost every day. Ambitious, but with inclusivity as a guiding principle, the school runs multiple teams in a wide range of sports. Hockey has a long and distinguished history and a new full-size artificial pitch has recently been completed. With an impressive new boathouse on its own stretch of the River Thames and Henley just a few miles away, it should come as no surprise that Shiplake has a great track record in rowing. Along with a fleet of boats, the Davies Centre also houses a two-storey climbing wall, a room full of ergometers, a weights room and an indoor archery/rifle range.
Creative arts
As well as its academic functions, the JT Building houses the Music School, with a recording studio, 7 practice rooms and 2 large ensemble classrooms. Central to school life, music is regarded as a vehicle for team working, confidence building and leadership opportunities; all Year 7 pupils are entered in the lower school orchestra, regardless of ability. The well-resourced Art department is housed upstairs in light and airy studios and offers a broad range of techniques. DT has 2 well-equipped multi-media design workshops and a design studio. Elsewhere on campus, the Tithe Barn theatre is used for Drama teaching and smaller productions, while whole college Drama drama productions are performed in the professional Kenton Theatre in Henley.
Did you know?
- Shiplake is a dog-friendly school and there can be up to around 30 dogs on site at any one time! The 'Head Dog' is called Simba and he takes his job of welcoming visitors to Reception very seriously.
- In 2025 Shiplake once again had a crew qualify for each of the four Henley Royal Regatta junior events, with the girls' eight reaching the finals and the boys' eight winning their championship for the first time in the College's history.
