Autumn Term 1
17 October 2025 - Shelburne
It has been a pleasure to welcome 15 new pupils and their families into Shelburne this Academic Year. To mark their induction into the community, their names have all been placed onto our House Family Tree, and various activities have taken place to help them form friendships across year groups. These have included House family quizzes and the annual pumpkin carving competition.
It was also lovely to see so many parents join us for the annual Daws Hill Drinks event on Monday 29 September and to be able to show them the updates to some of the social spaces around the House. In Shelburne, we look forward to the renovation projects planned for our spaces over the 2026 summer break.
Miss Tay and I have been meeting with the Shelburne girls individually to better understand how we can support them in achieving their personal goals. We remain awestruck by the diverse talent and interests that our girls dedicate their time to. It is safe to say that the Shelburne girls have returned after the summer holiday with a renewed sense of purpose and energy, and we look forward to helping them channel this towards their passion projects and ambitions over the coming year.
LIV
The LIV have settled brilliantly into the new routines of a Senior House and have already developed strong friendships across year groups. During Activities Days, LIV travelled to Normandy and immersed themselves in French culture, with some girls even sampling snails!
“After an early start, a long bus journey and a ride on the shuttle, we arrived in France and went straight to the snail farm and boulangerie where we tried our hand at making bread. On the second day we visited the market and attempted to order our sandwich fillings. We then spilt up into two different groups and explored the chocolate and biscuit factory, where we all enjoyed eating lots of delicious sweets. We ended our day with a trip to the beach and enjoyed the lovely sunset. Going to France was such an amazing experience and I had a lot of fun learning French and doing all the activities the teachers planned out for us. This was certainly a great activities day in my opinion!”– Cathy
UIV
The UIV enjoyed a residential to Beaumanor Hall and Space Centre:
“The Space Centre had a rocket tower! Its unique shape and design fascinated us, fuelling our excitement for the activities ahead. We began with the Space Mission, an immersive experience where we got sent to Mars to solve various problems and collect samples in small groups, whilst collectively working together to find examples of life on Mars. Following that, we watched a planetarium show on astronauts and learnt about how they manage to survive in space, the space suits they wear and the training they must endure. My favourite activity was trying out the rocket launch simulation with my friends, gaining a hint of understanding of what astronauts and mission control crew do during take-off.
At Beaumanor Hall we took part in a range of team challenges, including building a structure that could hold all our team members with just six wooden poles and some rope to tie them together. We also did archery, a high ropes course (which I personally found very scary!) and the zipwire, which everyone found extremely fun. The nightline activity was the most memorable of all. This activity consisted of us being blindfolded, walking through a short trail being guided by a rope and the people in front of us. It was very interesting to experience a lack of sight and to discover how different the world around us seems without such an important sense.
Overall, it was a very memorable trip. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with all my friends, making memories together that I can look back upon with a smile.”– Muji
They are now working hard on their House Dance choreography ready for the inter-house competition in November!
LV
The LV have completed their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition this term. They superbly navigated the local Chiltern Hills, and Miss Tay and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them at their checkpoints along the way. We were really proud to see how brilliantly they worked as a team and how they chose to keep their spirits high through the challenges they faced.
UV
The UV travelled to Belgium and France to deepen their understanding of World War One. As well as visiting trenches and war cemeteries and the Lochnagar crater, they attended a moving ceremony at the Menin Gate where Isolda had the honour of being selected to lay a wreath on behalf of Wycombe Abbey.
LVI
The LVI have all taken on positions of responsibility and are doing a superb job of fostering a sense of community and leading by example. They have been hosting evening events to bring the House together, such as ‘hot chocolates and chats’ with individual year groups.
Zara and Victoria, our Head of House team, meet staff weekly to discuss their ideas to improve the boarding experience in Shelburne. They have plans for a ‘Random act of Kindness’ initiative after Long Leave, and have enjoyed helping the UIV and LIV prepare their ‘Guy’ and House Dance projects; sharing pearls of wisdom on how to work well as a team and have lots of fun along the way!
We are delighted for Dara, who has been appointed as one of the two School Almoners for this Academic Year. She prepares the Chapel before each service and works tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly. She has also given readings and led prayers, gaining superb public speaking experience.
Stella and Ivanka, Shelburne’s Charity Reps, are busy planning the upcoming charity stall for Bonfire Night. They are taking on the ambitious project of running three separate activities: a darts challenge, face painting and ‘guess the sweets in the jar’ to raise money for our School Charities.
Stella and Monique have helped Shelburne get off to a great start in sport as Shelburne’s Sports Captain team. They have kept everyone informed of their weekly House Games carousel activities and used their powers of persuasion to convince the girls to compete for Shelburne in both inter-house swimming and cross-country. Their organisation and ability to instil enthusiasm for school sport in others will hopefully help Shelburne to list the Sports Shield again this year!
Prim has been appointed as the L6 Pupil Voice Representative and will attend School Council on behalf of her year group. She will also work closely with Victoria, our House Conductor, on upcoming House Music projects.
In her role as New Pupil Mentor and Lower School Prefect, Eloise has been busy meeting the youngest pupils in our community that are new to the school this year. She has been fantastic at encouraging them to be open-minded and try new things. Eloise herself has thrown herself into a plethora of varied activities during her time at school and knows how valuable this is for growing as a person and finding like-minded people.
Candice is one of Shelburne’s EDI representatives. Despite being new to the School herself this term, she has been fantastic at helping others integrate into the House and is keen to ensure every pupil has a platform for their voice to be heard. Watch this space for exciting things to come from Candice.
As House Librarian, Claire is busy liaising with the English Department to prepare for Reading Week at the end of November. She has been tasked with planning reading-related activities for the House and collecting girls’ book requests to be purchased by the school for our House library.
“For Activities Days, LVI had the annual Communications Conference in which we worked in groups to deal with different PR crises and media interviews. In the evening, we watched the Sound of Music and ate Wagamama’s together in Mons as we were the only year group in House! On Friday, we participated in a life skills day which included a rotation of first aid, DIY, self-defence, and cookery where we made ginger shots. To finish off the day, we had a talk on budgeting from Mr Chatterton. All in all, an eventful and helpful couple of days.” – Zara
Activities
The Shelburne staff are always on the lookout for new and interesting projects and activities to do with the girls in the evenings. Although the usual favourites (crepes and trü-frü making) remain a weekly treat, we have turned our hand to making sushi, diamante art, clay modelling, jewellery making and baking this half term. We have also convinced some of the girls to watch the BBC series ‘The Traitors’ with us, although discovering that they knew very few of the celebrities made us all feel rather old!
In House Order, our weekly House meeting, we aim to celebrate examples of kindness, progress and achievement in all their guises. The Shelburne girls have been nominating each other for ‘Star of the Week’ as a way of recognising the kind gestures that might otherwise go unnoticed. A huge congratulations to Candice, Rita, Dara, Lydia, Belle, Nelly and Mij for their ongoing positive contributions to our House community so far. This year, the award has been elevated beyond a shout-out, as a photo of the girls wearing our new star costume goes up on the wall of fame. I hope you agree that the polaroid shots of them are fantastic!
One of our most successful activities this half term has been the ‘time capsule’ activity. Each girl was given a folder to fill with photos and trinkets that represent themselves, which will be buried away until the leave the House in LVI. They also each wrote a letter to their future self, which will help them to reflect on how far they have come when they finally receive it back.
WACMF
20 Shelburne pupils entered the Wycombe Abbey Competitive Music Festival this year, and I enjoyed going along to hear their fantastic performances across a variety of instruments. A particular well done to Rita, Kate, Daisy, Lydia and Nell who reached the final of their respective categories.
Individual Successes
Well done to the following girls:
- Nelly and Emmy, for being accepted onto the Australian and US Exchange Programmes,
- Juno, for becoming nominated as a Lacrosse Pupil of the Week this half term,
- Alexandra, for being the first ever Wellbeing Star of the Week,
- Penney, for completing her Grade 8 Piano,
- Kate, for winning three categories of WACMF and auditioning for the National Youth Orchestra,
- Milly, for being accepted into Berkshire and Buckinghamshire Netball squads,
- Carolina, for being accepted into Buckinghamshire County Cricket Team,
- Isabella and Sophie for making the School Ski Team,
- Ava, for being accepted into the Regional Lacrosse Academy,
- Anjola, for her impressive goalkeeping and being made MVP against Benenden,
- Lydia, for participating in the mock trial,
- Ivanka, for pitching her idea to develop a partnership between School and the charity ‘Bookmark Reading’, where secondary school pupils can volunteer to help teach primary school children to read.