Rotary Club of Shipston-on-Stour

Members help to prepare year 11  School students for college, university or work, by becoming involved in classroom discussions covering the preparation of a CV with each student encouraged to prepare their own CV, which then becomes the basis of a mock interview, each student receives guidance  on how to improve their techniques. 

By being involved in this process the students become aware of the importance of careful preparation of CV's and also it helps to remove the mystique of interviews. 

The Club are proud to be actively involved  in the Schools' Young Enterprise Programme which is key to preparing students to understand how key decisions, options and choices will directly affect their careers and happiness in  life in general. Students have the opportunity to gain experience of how business works, understand the role it plays in providing employment and creating prosperity, and be inspired to improve their own prospects, and the competitiveness of the UK.

The High School have for many years entered teams into the Rotary Youth Speaks competition and have had varying levels of success, always receiving the highest praise. In 2008, a year 7 team won through to the District Final with a topic "Should drink driving be lowered to zero?". Following up that success, in 2009 a year 8 team  again won through to the District Final, their topic was "Is there any point to school examinations". Both teams received wonderful praise from the audience and were highly acclaimed by the judges, their presentations were a credit to themselves and the school, their arguments were carefully thought through and excellent in the presentation

In 2008 Victoria BottIng progressed to the West Midlands Area Final of the Rotary Young Chef competition and was highly placed against competition from much older students

The students, in participating, extended their knowledge of the effect of plastic bags not only on the local environment but also on the environmental chain

The winning design was submitted by Bethan Lindley

138 entries were received, many to an exceptional high standard. The overall standard was very high therefore the Club decided to award, in addition to the winner, 2 joint runner up prizes and certificates and 10 highly commended certificates

 Pupils at Shipston-on-Stour Primary School will be leafing through the pages of their very own illustrated dictionaries, thanks to the generous fund-raising of Shipston Rotarians.

The picture perfect gifts were given to every Year 5 pupil at the school as part of the Rotary Club's commitment to literacy.

John Round, Chairman for Youth Activities at the Rotary Club of Shipston, presented 47 special Rotarian edition dictionaries to 9-10 year-olds at the school. Each of the Usborne illustrated dictionaries has a special plate for the child's name and comprises 1,000 illustrations, 10,000 entries and 20,000 definitions.

Rotary International's 'Dictionary 4 Life' project aims to boost literacy standards across the world and in 2008 the project benefited 40,000 children in the UK.

Shipston Rotary Club arranged a fundraising event to enable the purchase of the dictionaries and was delighted to present them to every Year 5 pupil at the school. It is hoped that this can be repeated during 2010.

Headteacher of Shipston-on-Stour Primary, Christian Hilton, said: "We are extremely grateful to the Rotary Club of Shipston for the beautifully illustrated dictionaries. They will not only help children with their school work, both in class and at home, but will also serve them well as they head for secondary school and the next level in their education