Students are nominated to receive a Head’s Praise for exceptional achievements and contribution to school life.
Headmaster’s Praise – 16 May 2023
16 May 2023
Today seven pupils received praise:
- Harry Litchfield for working with SHSK students on a series of RSE items responding to Andrew Tate including running assemblies at both schools and producing RSE materials.
- Freddie Stanford for working with SHSK students on a series of RSE items responding to Andrew Tate including running assemblies at both schools and producing RSE materials.
- Arran Bell for submitting a series of excellent book reviews for the Lower School Reading Challenge, ‘Desert Island Books’. The three reviews were in very different and creative styles: one written, one videoed and one audio. Each of them combined passion, precision and critical analysis, but the third review, in which Arran interviews himself about Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone in the style of Desert Island Discs, complete with theme music and interviewer voice, is truly outstanding. Arran’s efforts show independence of thought, a commitment to achieving excellence, and an element of fearlessness – being prepared to take on new challenges and push himself out of his comfort zone.
- Zach Broad for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Ben Simons for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Daniel Whittenbury for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Sam Corbett for taking ownership of the robot software for RoboCon Oxfordshire. Sam rebuilt the software solving numerous complex bugs and making it work with the new hardware and liaised with an electronic engineer from Cambridge to deliver working network.
Headmaster’s Praise – 11 May 2023
11 May 2023
Today 18 pupils received praise:
- Tunmise Adebutu for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Freddie Badcock for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Alex Cooper Marcos for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Rory Middlemiss for winning the prestigious Institute of Economic Affairs national prize.
- Tom Perrott for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Chester Shen for giving an ‘Open Book’ assembly to 3rd & 4th Year – an audience of almost 400 pupils and staff!
- Shawn Xu for being the Technical Director for RoboCon Oxfordshire. Shawn organised the roles for the pink shirts, safety checks for all robots, chief judge and technical problem solver for teams. Essential to the success of the event.
- Josef O’Connor for receiving third prize at the Abingdon Concerto Competition at Radley College, for his Von Webern Bassoon Concerto.
- William Riddell for being responsible for network building, management and running on the RoboCon Oxfordshire weekend. William built a network linking all the robots competing to give live video updates.
- Joseph Watkiss for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term as the Swimming Captain. Finishing 4th and 2nd in a national competition with the team, Joseph swam his heart out and was instrumental in the day being a success. He motivated the team and it meant a lot to him, he was visibly emotional after they came 2nd in the final, an achievement the school has never had.
- Fran Trotter for receiving Full Colours.
- Louis Trotter for receiving Full Colours.
- Max Struthers for receiving Full Colours.
- Alexander Smit for receiving Full Colours.
- Henry Beer for receiving Full Colours.
- Barney Fox for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Rohan Chandrasekaran for creating and delivering a recorded revision skills presentation for tutor groups across 3rd Year to Upper 6th with excellent tips and advice on self-care during the Easter revision period. Rohan was also nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term. Stepping up time and again to make presentations for PSLs.
- Arthur Monaghan for receiving Full Colours.
Headmaster’s Praise – 10 May 2023
10 May 2023
Today five pupils received praise:
- Nick Chan for achieving a bronze medal for epee in the Seniors Class in the Public Schools Fencing Championships 2023.
- Mark Taylor for working with SHSK students on a series of RSE items responding to Andrew Tate including running assemblies at both schools and producing RSE materials.
- Rufus Cox for winning the Individual gold medal at the Independent Schools Climbing Championships. Rufus also won the individual bouldering final; he has been an inspiration to many young climbers at Abingdon and has certainly helped to place Abingdon on the national map within schools.
- Josh Mensah for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
- Thomas Wilson for outstanding effort at Rosslyn Park U18 7s Tournament. The entire squad did themselves proud and reached Day 2, meaning they are in the top 21 teams of over 270 that entered.
Headmaster’s Praise – 4 May 2023
4 May 2023
Today 11 pupils received praise:
- Archie Leishman for achieving a Bronze medal in UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Ollie Sutton for consistent, committed and sensitive 1-1 peer mentoring of students in the Middle School. Ollie has also been working with SHSK students on a series of RSE items responding to Andrew Tate, including running assemblies at both schools and producing RSE materials.
- Clement Tsoi for achieving a Bronze medal in UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Fran Trotter for achieving a Silver medal in UK Linguistics Olympiad. Fran has also represented the school at the Independent Schools Climbing Championships and managed to rank 1 in the bouldering competition through the qualifiers and was placed 5th overall.
- Louis Trotter for achieving a Silver medal in UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Oliver Glover for an outstanding Oboe Concerto performance of the Kughardt Concertino at the Lent Term Concert.
- Barnaby Hindley for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term for Touch American Football. Barnaby has taken the initiative to set up this new OH activity, sorting a location and equipment, found staff to ‘run’ it and leads the session each week. He has taught complete novices to now play touch football effectively with minimal input from staff.
- Oliver Harvey for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term. Stepping up time and again to make presentations for PSLs. Oliver has also been creating and delivering a recorded revision skills presentation for tutor groups across 3rd Year to Upper Sixth with excellent tips and advice on self-care during the Easter revision period.
- Fin Bennet for achieved a bronze medal for epee in the Juniors Class of the Public Schools Fencing Championships 2023.
- Ben MacLennan for reaching the final 8 in the Epee Seniors Class of the Public Schools Fencing Championship 2023.
- Finn Gregory for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term as U16A Football Captain. Finn leads the team not only by example on the pitch but in every warm up and training session; he has lead with passion, compassion and a very mature approach.
Headmaster’s Praise – 25 April 2023
25 April 2023
Today eight pupils received praise:
- Will Grice for consistent, committed and sensitive 1-1 peer mentoring of students in the Middle School.
- Louis Chan for achieving a Gold medal in the UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Nelson Chan for achieving a Gold medal in the UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Freddy Chelsom for achieving a Silver medal in the UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Alex Mapplebeck for achieving a Silver medal in the UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Torsten Ayerst for achieving a Bronze medal in the UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Ewan Ellson for achieving a Bronze medal in the UK Linguistics Olympiad.
- Theo Shorrocks for achieving a Bronze medal in the UK Linguistics Olympiad.
Headmaster’s Praise – 22 March 2023
22 March 2023
Today 11 pupils received praise:
- Marius Williamson for being selected to represent England in the British Schools’ Smallbore Rifle Association match this year.
- Felix Nolan for being selected to represent Wales in the British Schools’ Smallbore Rifle Association match this year.
- Billy Brooks for being selected to represent Wales in the British Schools’ Smallbore Rifle Association match this year.
- Ben Knight for working extremely hard with Mandarin vocabulary and improving significantly in a short time span.
- Bertie Dinsey Bertie for being the guest on the O’Doherty’s Podcast. He talked intelligently and eloquently about the positives and negatives of AI.
- Hao Zhen for writing an excellent play called “Cosmos of Ducks” that has been selected as one of five finalists for the inaugural OX14 partnerships playwriting competition. Hao’s play will receive a public reading at the final.
- Arran Bell for writing an excellent play called “Cursed Blood” that has been selected as one of five finalists for the inaugural OX14 partnerships playwriting competition. Arran’s play will receive a public reading at the final.
- Jack Taylor for creating an excellent presentation of a German-speaking town.
- Rory Kind for consistent, committed and sensitive 1-1 peer mentoring of students in the Middle School.
- Max Siriwardene for consistent, committed and sensitive 1-1 peer mentoring of students in the Middle School.
- Felix Kind for committing to 1-1 mentoring in recent weeks, helping students in the Middle School with challenging situations.
Headmaster’s Praise – 14 March 2023
14 March 2023
Today 16 pupils received praise:
- Charlie Wallis for going to Abingdon Prep to speak with Year 8 pupils in small groups as part of the Year 8 Transition Workshop.
- Tommy Harris for writing and presenting the Safer Internet Assembly presentation on internet and social media addiction.
- Barney Fox for helping a first year pupil who was unwell and required an ambulance to take him to hospital.
- Rohan Chandrasekaran for writing and presenting the Safer Internet Assembly presentation on the positives of the internet.
- James Henderson for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half term. Leading his Young Enterprise team meetings, with a relentless focus on the need to plan and stick to an agenda.
- Louis de Chazal for gaining his ARSM performance diploma on the bassoon with a merit, just a few marks away from a distinction. This is an extraordinary achievement for such a young pupil. In addition, Louis is to be congratulated on being the principal bassoonist of the U13 National Children’s Orchestra, something he has modestly kept rather quiet about. He is therefore among the top players nationally in his year group.
- Daniel Zhang for gaining his ARSM performance diploma on piano with distinction. An outstanding achievement!
- Matteo Bignone for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
- Sammy Jarvis for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
- Jim Allen for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
- Jonny Evans for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
- Jasper Furniss for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
- Pedro Vasconcelos for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
- Kajan Sivakumar for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
- Josh Sharff for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
- Samson Morris for being an excellent ambassador for the school as part of the student panel that took part in the DHP interviews.
Headmaster’s Praise – 7 March 2023
7 March 2023
Today nine pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Oliver Sutton for going to Abingdon Prep to speak with year 8 pupils in small groups as part of the Year 8 Transition Workshop.
- Ge Wei Wang for an outstanding essay on the causes of the Anthropocene, bordering on A Level quality.
- Marc Sheriff for scoring 34 points in basketball vs MCS and scoring the clubs first dunk in club history in match situation!
- Fin Rhodes for being very helpful and helping a first year pupil who was unwell and required an ambulance to take him to hospital. Fin was able to help and was very willing to stick around whilst the Health Centre was making the calls etc.
- Henry Skelson for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term. Henry has played a leading role in the Eco Committee for the last few years and recently worked with Abingdon students, neighbouring school students, Abingdon School staff and members of our local community in helping shape and review Abingdon School’s One Planet Action Plan.
- Freddy Chelsom for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term. Freddy has worked tirelessly at editing our competition entry edition of The Martlet this term. He is meticulous and proactive in his communication and organisation and he chairs editorial meetings and whole team meetings really effectively. He is a good negotiator and works hard to include the ideas of other members of the team. He does all this despite a busy work schedule and participating in Grease. Freddy also compered the Literary Society dinner, expertly introducing and interviewing our guest speaker, the poet Ben Wilkinson.
- Joshua Braich for being awarded the prize of Student Leader of the Half Term. Josh took on the role of Deputy Stage Manager for Grease which involved him co-ordinating all the technical cues for the show (there were over 200 lighting cues and 20 follow spot cues). He was responsible for leading the student crew, making sure they were ready for the start of the show, pre-setting backstage and then leading the crew through the show. He managed to do this with very little assistance from the Theatre team.
- Philip Kimber for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term. Philip took the initiative in setting up this ‘rag’ to satirise aspects of school life, private-eye style. He has done it entirely off his own bat, he produces the magazine almost entirely unaided once every half term, commissioning other students and the ‘secret teacher’ to produce articles for each edition.
- Oscar Newton for being nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term. Oscar is a qualified paddlesports instructor and has led the beginners group at Monday P8 canoe polo in every session since September.
Headmaster’s Praise – 28 February 2023
28 February 2023
Today nine pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Ruairi Tilley for a great performance in The Visit at SHSK.
- Rowan Yin for his student leadership work as Chief Editor of Griffenomics.
- Chester Shen for his design work as Chief Editor of Griffenomics.
- Alex Vollmer for submitting a resolution to the Joint MUN debate with SHSK and confidently articulating his argument as the delegate of Turkey in front of about 30 much older students from both schools.
- Oliver Sherratt for the highest average grade increase in the 5th Year mocks from 4th Year exams in the year group, showing outstanding commitment to academic progress and dedication in his studies
- Harry Dewar for writing and presenting the Safer Internet Assembly presentation on anxiety caused by social media. Harry also receives Praise for going to Abingdon Prep three times to speak with Year 8 pupils in small groups as part of the Year 8 Transition Workshop.
- Barnaby Hindley for writing and presenting the Safer Internet Assembly presentation on the positives of the internet and for stepping in at the last minute when other presenters were late. Barnaby was also nominated for Student Leader of the Half Term for being the driving force behind the new OH activity of Touch American Football. He has found staff to ‘run’ it, has sorted equipment and pitches and has planned out a series of initial sessions which he runs himself.
- Tom Wormell for going to Abingdon Prep three times to speak with Year 8 pupils in small groups as part of the Year 8 Transition Workshop.
- Angus Carle for going to Abingdon Prep three times to speak with Year 8 pupils in small groups as part of the Year 8 Transition Workshop.
Headmaster’s Praise – 21 February 2023
21 February 2023
Today eight pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Harry Martin for his involvement in the AQA Student Advisory Group.
- Alastair Gray for a great performance in the Visit at SHSK.
- Warwick Jones for a great performance in the Visit at SHSK.
- Thomas Paddick for a great performance in the Visit at SHSK.
- David Camden-Smith for a great performance in the Visit at SHSK.
- Will Howat for setting up and recording the new O’Doherty’s House Weekly Podcast.
- Seb Rich for standing in at goal keeper for the U16Bs at the last minute and doing a fantastic job keeping a clean sheet.
- Henry Skelson for his student leadership with the Eco Committee and his involvement with Abingdon School Environmental Committee in helping shape the School’s One Planet Action Plan.
