This weeks mailing is:
Letters
Notices
Term dates 2012/13
Term dates for 2012/13 have been published
Saturday Bus Service - Saturday 24 September
This Saturday sees the bus service in operation again following last week's Activities Weekend. We were pleased with the outcome of the first Saturday service despite the minor glitches. There has been one slight alteration to the Thame Service, in that the fifth stop on the this service will now take place at the Bus Stop just beyond the Post Office, instead of outside the Post Office itself. This will prevent the bus double parking with Saturday morning traffic. Please see the Saturday Bus Routes schedule (pdf) for exact details. The Woodstock Service may be slightly delayed coming through the centre of Oxford between Plantation Road (Stop 11) and Oxford Railway Station (Stop 12), due to heavy traffic. Do please be patient, the service is definitely running. The buses are due to arrive at Abingdon at 1130, where the boys can have lunch and meet with their coaches prior to departure for the fixtures against Eton College. Parents who intend taking their son's direct to fixtures must inform the relevant coaches of their intentions. All arrangements for the fixtures can be found at http://calendar.abingdon.org.uk and a summary on the match arrangements page. It is vitally important that parents contact the appropriate member of staff in cases of illness on a Saturday morning by 0900, so that replacements can be sought, and to ensure that the buses are not held up, waiting for someone to arrive, who is not going to arrive. Sanctions will be applied to those boys who fail to comply with this request. As ever, feedback is welcomed, and should be directed to andrew.hall@abingdon.org.uk.
Career Networking Dinner - Law - Friday 7 October 2011
All parents working in the legal sector are warmly invited to attend this professional networking dinner for law at Abingdon School, hosted by his honour Judge David Morris (OA 1959). The event offers current pupils and young OAs the opportunity to gain insight into the profession by chatting informally with established practitioners. In turn, more experienced lawyers have the chance to identify young talent and to network with fellow professionals. Tickets are available online as well as a copy of the guest list, which is being updated all the time. For further details, please see the OA club website or contact alumni@abingdon.org.uk.
Examinations this term
The only set of exams for any year group this term is the lower sixth tests which will take place during lessons in the week beginning 14 November. We are not keen on suspending the teaching timetable to pursue endless mock examining so you will find that this is the only semi-formal set of exams the lower sixth will have before they sit the real exams in the summer. As such, we take the boys' performance in the tests seriously (as we hope they do!) and reserve the right to recall any boys who we feel have under-performed for resit exams on the day before the Lent Term begins. By the time of the tests the boys will be more than a third of the way through their AS courses and the results they achieve in November are useful early indicators of their likely grades in the summer.
January resits
Our current policy regarding resitting of AS exams in the January of a boy's upper sixth year is unchanged: upper sixth boys may sit up to a total of four units in the January session. All administration for this will be handled by the Exams Officer (Mrs Rebecca Cottam) and she has already issued general guidance and instructions to the upper sixth. Boys need to remember to balance their commitment to their A2 work with the work necessary to make January resits a successful venture; advice should be sought from tutors and heads of department before making entries. There is no limit on the number of units that upper sixth boys may enter in the summer. We do not allow any other year group to enter for examinations in the January session.
South Africa Partnership Trip, August 2012
There is a limited number of places available on next summer's partnership trip to Limpopo Province in South Africa and Mozambique. The three week trip is open to all boys currently in the Lower and Upper Sixth and offers a unique opportunity for boys interested in Africa, school and missionary work experience, fundraising and all the challenges these things bring. Dates and price to be confirmed. For a report on our previous trip, please see the 2010 South Africa Partnership trip report. For more information, please contact Mr Loughe (andrew.loughe@abingdon.org.uk) as soon as possible.
Modern Languages Competition
The Modern Languages Department has invested in an exciting online resource to help all boys with their vocabulary learning in French, German and Spanish. By integrating text, images and audio, Vocab Express provides an engaging environment in which boys can build their vocabulary whilst their progress is being monitored and tracked by their teachers. Boys in all year groups are now benefiting from this facility, having been provided with log-in details by their teachers. In order to help celebrate European Day of Languages on Monday 26 September, we are running a whole school competition to discover which boys at Abingdon can learn the most vocabulary between 26 September and 3 October. There are iTunes vouchers, prizes and certificates to be won for all year groups and languages, so do encourage you son(s) to take part!
Paris and Disneyland Trip
There are still some places to be had on the French Department's third year trip to Paris and Disneyland at the end of term, just before the Christmas holidays get well underway (14 - 17 December). This wonderful opportunity to spend a day in one of Europe's most iconic capitals and enjoy the delights of the famous theme park is now open to ALL third year boys regardless of the language they are studying. If you wish your son to enjoy this cultural experience or would like any further information, please contact Jane Mansfield, Head of French at jane.mansfield@abingdon.org.uk
Open Day: Saturday 1 October 2011, 9.30am - 12.30pm.
Open Day is an occasion for all the family, with activities, displays and demonstrations about all aspects of the School. Whilst principally for prospective parents and their sons, many current parents also attend, as well as all the boys and staff. The day starts at 9.30am and finishes at 12.30pm. The Head's address will be at 10.00am and will then be repeated at 11.00am. You are welcome to arrive at any time during the course of the morning. Please refer to the outline of Open Day events.
All current boys should arrive at School no later than 8.55 am to register before beginning their Open Day activities. Request for absence on this day should, as usual, be made to the housemaster, as for a single weekday absence.
For boys who use the joint bus service, all the morning routes will be operating the weekday schedule running 30 minutes later than usual. For the return journey, the weekday 5.20 pm service will depart on all usual routes from the coach park at 1.00 pm.
Abingdon Fair: Monday 3 & Tuesday 4 October
Abingdon Runaway Fair: Monday 10 October
Correction! The fair is on 10th and 11th of October with the runaway on 17th October.
Parents should expect that traffic flow in Abingdon will be severely disrupted by the Abingdon Fairs. On Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 October vehicle entry to Park Road and Park Crescent will only be via the gate on Faringdon Road (along from the Coach Park).
Foundation Photograph
On Thursday 22 September the whole foundation, Abingdon Prep School and Abingdon School, were photographed outside Big School. Details of how the photo may be viewed and ordered online will be sent in a subsequent Weekly Mailing.
Weekly Mailing Downloads
All of the downloads from this term's mailings are now available to view in reverse date order, and can be found under the News tab.
