Students are nominated to receive a Head’s Praise for exceptional achievements and contribution to school life.
Headmaster’s Praise – 7 February 2023
7 February 2023
Today nine pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- George Cooke for being nominated for Student Leader – Running a 3rd Year Service & Citizenship bushcraft session, when the main teacher was absent. George did a fantastic job running the session for 10 pupils, with just minimal teacher supervision. The session involved lighting fires to toast marshmallows. George was patient, clear in his instructions, aware of safety and ensured all groups successfully lit their fire.
- Christopher Nikolaev for winning Student Leader – Leading the Lower School Lego Architecture Club. Chris has been leading this club for the past year and a half. He creates and sets a project brief for each session. He has gained in confidence and the Lower School students really respect him.
- Luca Baleanu for fantastic singing in all three end-of-year Carol Services.
- Patrick Dineen for fantastic singing in two end-of-year Carol Services.
- Kajan Sivakumar for editing the inaugural joint SHSK and AS Biology magazine ‘Evolve’ and writing an excellent article on neurodegeneration. Kajan also won the Biology essay prize with an excellent discussion about “The advantages and disadvantages for organisms living in groups”. His essay was of an undergraduate standard.
- Nick Gurney for travelling to Sevenoaks on a Saturday to fill in at the last minute in the Knole Run. He is not a regular XC runner and rearranged his paid work shift to represent the school.
- Ben MacLennan for travelling to Sevenoaks on a Saturday to fill in at the last minute in the Knole Run. He is not a regular XC runner.
- Oliver Mallinson for a brilliant start to his art examination unit of work. In one night he produced more than anyone in his GCSE group.
- Oscar Chan for coming second in the Biology essay prize. His essay was incredibly well referenced and written to an undergraduate standard.
Headmaster’s Praise – 24 January 2023
24 January 2023
Today nine pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Julien Rohart for outstanding solo flute playing in the JCS production of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation. Julien really stepped up and produced some lovely solos which were commented on by a friend who presents on BBC R3’s Record Review and Building a Library!
- Walter Liu for his outstanding performances as the soloist in Beethoven’s 2nd Piano Concerto at the Christmas Concerts. He should feel proud of this magnificent achievement.
- Sam Dominic for hosting the Community Service tea party. Sam has also been nominated for Student Leader for working alongside new writers in the Polyglot team, taking the lead with the next edition and recommending others for colours and half colours.
- Can Tugcetin for being nominated for Student Leader. He stepped up to help give individual swimming coaching to a fourth year and has given up several hours of his time to help develop the best young swimmer in the school.
- Sam Wormald for being nominated for Student Leader for really driving his Young Enterprise team forward.
- Alex Elly for being nominated for Student Leader for driving the Young Enterprise team forward.
- Ben Morris for being nominated for Student Leader for stepping up and producing stock for the Young Enterprise team.
- Ned Holt for being nominated for Student Leader for being the 15A’ Captain. As a leader, Ned doesn’t say much but he doesn’t need to. However, he leads by example in training and matches. He realises what is needed off him and manages the team.
- Thomas Jackson for being nominated for Student Leader for waterpolo. Tom hasn’t missed a single training session or match this term. He is always on time, always keen and always helpful with getting equipment sorted. He is helpful to new players and always happy to play with anyone of any ability – a great example and great role model for younger students and his own peer group.
Headmaster’s Praise – 17 January 2023
17 January 2023
Today five pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Archie Wood for his work at Abingdon Hospital, where he volunteers on a ward.
- Yubo Gao for outstanding solo cello playing in the JCS production of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation. In particular Yubo did a great job with his cello continuo work in the recitatives, a demanding skill to learn.
- Freddie Stanford for hosting the Community Service tea party.
- Oliver Smith for showing superb leadership in both First and Chamber Orchestras at the Christmas concerts on 7 and 9 December – and we have benefited from his steadfast support of the school’s music throughout the Michaelmas Term.
- Ryan Ng for lead the school’s 2nd Orchestra with increased maturity resulting in some excellent performances at the recent Christmas Concerts.
Headmaster’s Praise – 10 January 2023
10 January 2023
Today 17 pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Ronnie Bellcourt for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Alfie Stevenson for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Ashwin Chandrasekaran for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Zac Petrou for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Jonathan Watcham for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Ben Farr for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Monty Derbyshire for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Hao Zhen for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Paddy Kelleher for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Sean FitzGerald for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Toby Chapman for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Bertie Smith for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Paddy Bowden for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”, including learning new lines very quickly as a result of cast illness!
- Edward Lam for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”, including learning new lines very quickly as a result of cast illness!
- Cosmo Harrison for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”, including learning new lines very quickly as a result of cast illness!
- Fred Mellor for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
- Ethan Wong for fantastic commitment to the rehearsals and performances of “Eleven.”
Headmaster’s Praise – 14 December 2022
14 December 2022
Today nine pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Oscar I’Anson for mentoring a group of primary school students during the Business Challenge.
- Oliver Glover for outstanding solo oboe playing in the JCS production of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation. Oliver delivered his usual high quality of playing and didn’t put a foot wrong!
- David Hrushovski for outstanding solo clarinet playing in the JCS production of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation. David produced an outstanding level of musicianship and courage in his playing – a revelation and an inspiration to the other clarinettists.
- Josef O’Connor for outstanding solo bassoon playing in the JCS production of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation. It was particularly impressive as Josef had been unable to make some crucial rehearsals but compensated by putting the time in to learn them. Very impressive!
- Oscar Chan for outstanding solo timpani playing in the JCS production of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation. Oscar demonstrated his flair as an accurate and stylish timpanist!
- Alex Serbinenko for making it to the final of Pygott’s House Public Speaking, despite delivering his speech in English (his third language!). Amazing effort.
- Nathan Shestopal for supporting another pupil in managing the twelve-strong team which comprises the Library Guild for the entire Michaelmas Term. Without Nathan’s attention to detail, excellent record-keeping, proactive reviews of processes and progress and frequent check-ins with Dr Gardner, the Guild would be in a far less strong position than it is today.
- Philip Kimber for taking the lead on managing the twelve-strong team which comprises the Library Guild for the entire Michaelmas Term. Philip has done a lot of metaphorical running around after other team members, has been tireless in his pursuit of excellence, and is always calm, good-humoured and full of good ideas for innovation.
- Sam Turner for an excellent season skippering the 2nd XV and for giving a fantastic speech on Saturday night.
Headmaster’s Praise – 13 December 2022
13 December 2022
Today eight pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Ralph Allen for competing in the national finals for school swimming. The teams broke every school record going and achieved the best ever results in Abingdon’s history.
- Harold Lethaby for regularly volunteering his spare time for the good and benefit of a very busy CCF, for example working tirelessly to keep all kit and equipment serviceable and available to the 200 cadets currently on the books of Abingdon CCF. Over the last month, Harold has transformed both stores into a cadet-friendly environment. He has done this completely off his own back for no other reason but wanting to help out.
- Tunmise Adebutu for mentoring a group of primary school students during the Business Challenge.
- Ludo Orchard for mentoring a group of primary school students during the Business Challenge.
- Lucas Dams for mentoring a group of primary school students during the Business Challenge.
- Alex Smith for mentoring a group of primary school students during the Business Challenge.
- Trystan Moore for mentoring a group of primary school students during the Business Challenge.
- Chester Shen for a truly outstanding EPQ presentation which was part of a project which is also truly outstanding. Chester has put a huge amount of time and effort into developing and realising his initial ideas. His presentation showcased a brilliantly-detailed fictional map which Chester has created and reflected on the story and journey behind it. Chester spoke superbly, with confidence, eloquence and passion, and made use of impressive visuals (including the map itself, handouts and slides).
Headmaster’s Praise – 8 December 2022
8 December 2022
Today 12 pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Tommy Harris for outstanding work on the challenging topic of Andrew Tate. Leadership, creation and delivery to all tutor groups of a well-thought through and balanced presentation for International Men’s Day.
- Charlie Wallis for outstanding work on the challenging topic of Andrew Tate. Creation and delivery to all tutor groups of a well-thought through and balanced presentation for International Men’s Day.
- Rohan Chandrasekaran for outstanding work on Anti-Bullying. Creation, acting in and delivery to all tutor groups of a well-thought through and tailored presentation for Anti-Bullying Week.
- Shawn Xu for the preparation and delivery of the RoboCon Oxfordshire 2023 Kickstart event. Shawn looked at everything that was needed for the launch – from 3D printing to orders from China. Whatever needed doing, he turned his mind to it and accomplished it, or organised someone else to do it. He also gave the launch presentation to 40 students and 15 adults. Very impressive!
- Thomas McGonnell for outstanding work on Anti-Bullying. Creation, acting in and delivery to all tutor groups of a well-thought through and tailored presentation for Anti-Bullying Week.
- Chris Skelton for competing in the national finals for school swimming. The teams broke every school record going and achieved the best ever results in Abingdon’s history.
- Alex Cooper Marcos for competing in the national finals for school swimming. The teams broke every school record going and achieved the best ever results in Abingdon’s history.
- Joe Watkiss for competing in the national finals for school swimming. The teams broke every school record going and achieved the best ever results in Abingdon’s history.
- Can Tugcetin for competing in the national finals for school swimming. The teams broke every school record going and achieved the best ever results in Abingdon’s history.
- Ethan Richards-Knight for competing in the national finals for school swimming. The teams broke every school record going and achieved the best ever results in Abingdon’s history.
- Monty Salmon for competing in the national finals for school swimming. The teams broke every school record going and achieved the best ever results in Abingdon’s history.
- Jose Lau for competing in the national finals for school swimming. The teams broke every school record going and achieved the best ever results in Abingdon’s history.
Headmaster’s Praise – 6 December 2022
6 December 2022
Today nine pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Barnaby Hindley for outstanding work on Anti-Bullying. Creating, acting in and delivering to all tutor groups for Anti-Bullying Week.
- Thomas Wormell for outstanding work on Anti-Bullying. Leadership, creating, acting in and delivering to all tutor groups for Anti-Bullying Week.
- Angus Carle for outstanding work on the challenging topic of Andrew Tate. Creation of a well-thought through and balanced presentation for International Men’s Day.
- Ollie Harvey for outstanding work on the challenging topic of Andrew Tate. Creation and delivery of a well-thought through and balanced presentation for International Men’s Day
- Sam Corbett for the preparation and delivery of the RoboCon Oxfordshire 2023 Kickstart event. Sam got to grips with a particularly complex software solution for the robot brains from Hills Road in Cambridge – which did not work! Sam was able to come up to speed with the software and understand how it should work, and then solve a series of software bugs to get all the brains working. This took a considerable amount of his own time over the past two months and was finally completed minutes before the launch itself. The engineering consultant from Cambridge who worked with us on this project said that Sam’s ability would not be expected until someone had spend several years in Industry.
- Charles Geday for representing Abingdon School at the Abingdon Music Festival Gala evening.
- Thomas Zhang for representing Abingdon School at the Abingdon Music Festival Gala evening. Thomas is also an outstanding solo harpsichord playing in the JCS production of Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation. In particular Thomas did a superb job with his harpsichord continuo work in the recitatives, a demanding skill to learn.
- Laurence Peverall for representing Abingdon School at the Abingdon Music Festival Gala evening.
- Walter Liu for representing Abingdon School at the Abingdon Music Festival Gala evening.
Headmaster’s Praise – 22 November 2022
22 November 2022
Today six pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Theo Shorrocks has been selected as one of just three directors for a new venture called ‘Project Paradiso’ after being invited to join the British Film Institute’s ‘Young Film Academy’. This is a prestige project offering a select group of 16 of the YFA’s most promising students (past and present) the chance to create a short film in a cinematic location in Sicily, Italy, during the February half term week. YFA’s ambitious collaborative project unites educational training with a real-world film industry opportunity – offering participants the experience of a lifetime. The intention is for Project Paradiso’s completed film to premiere at an international film festival, and screen on the festival circuit with all the creators’ names on it – the ultimate-calling card! This is a real feather in Theo’s cap, and a very significant achievement.
- Oliver Smith for outstanding leadership in the House singing competition as conductor for Stockdale’s, taking on the musical re-write and managing an ‘enthusiastic’ group to eventual second place in the competition.
- Ryan Ng for achieving 2nd Place in the 2022-23 Senior Solo Instrumental Competition playing Wieniawski’s 2nd violin concerto.
- Alex Fontana for being the first 3rd year pupil in the Chess Club to win his first four school league fixtures in a row, already playing on Board 4 for the school in his first term and showing excellent commitment to the team and the club, contributing to the current position at the top of the ODCL Division 3 table.
- Tom Wormell for being awarded the first Student Leader of the Half Term prize: Tom was nominated by Mr Taylor for his work leading the digital photography club. We have been particularly impressed by how he has guided both his peers and younger students effectively, as well as how he has stepped up to stand in for staff where needed.
- Calum Forrest for an excellent term of rowing training, showing great dedication and leadership as a Lower Sixth pupil. Culminating in achieving Ergo score to be invited to GB trials in November.
Headmaster’s Praise – 15 November 2022
15 November 2022
Today 10 pupils received Headmaster’s praise:
- Alex Cooper Marcos for breaking the school 4×50 Medley record in ESSA qualifying.
- Fin Bennet for coming 3rd in a national fencing competition, placing him 21st in the country in the age group above his own.
- Jose Lau Jose for breaking the school 4×50 Medley record in ESSA qualifying.
- Thomas Wright for being the first in the year to complete Gold DofE which takes a minimum of 12 months, having already completed Bronze and Silver level. He completed challenging expeditions in the Yorkshire Dales and in the wilderness of Glencoe Scotland where he and his team camped in wild, remote locations. As part of his award Tom completed a residential adventure training camp, rowed for his club in Wallingford and completed additional online physics courses.
- Leon Guan for consistently seeking out opportunities beyond the curriculum in psychology, pushing himself beyond his comfort zone. For example, he worked over the summer with a professor in China (organised by Leon himself) to research links between screen time and ADHD. Leon then presented the findings at a conference aimed at post graduate psychologists. He also recently wrote an article for the school science magazine.
- Samuel Wormald for creating a fantastic video clip in German presenting the school.
- Matthew Robson for creating a fantastic video clip in German presenting the school.
- Callum Alderman for creating a fantastic video clip in German presenting the school.
- Walter Liu for being the winner of the 2022-23 Senior Solo Instrumental Competition, playing a Chopin Etude, and for his beautiful rendition of Schubert’s Impromtu No3 in a Sixth Form assembly.
- Oliver Glover for achieving 3rd place in the 2022-23 Senior Solo Instrumental Competition, playing Klughardt’s Konzertstuck for oboe.