11 October 2018
Dear Parents
One of my personal highlights of a busy first half of term was the sponsored walk, which saw the entire school take part in a ten-mile outing along the banks of the Thames. The event raised money for two important charities, Crisis UK, supporting homeless people in the UK, and Mary’s Meals, which gives a meal to over a million chronically hungry children every day. We were blessed with perfect weather and it was great to spend the day with various groups of pupils who were all excellent company. I particularly enjoyed walking part of the course with some of our third year boarders who were experiencing the Thames Valley countryside – and a ten-mile walk – for the very first time. The next charitable initiative will be the home clothes day on Friday 12 October, when boys are invited to make a suggested donation of £2, to raise funds for the support of victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia.
The spirit of service is a key part of the Abingdon ethos. A powerful expression of this is our long-standing partnership with Moldova which sees sixth formers visiting this country, the poorest in Europe, to assist in a school and then run a summer camp for Moldovan children. But there is also plenty going on closer to home. The Third Year Service scheme currently involves about 135 pupils, while Community Service is a popular Other Half option which involves pupils visiting local old people’s homes, organising a board game club in a local community centre and volunteering at Abingdon Community Hospital. Our end-of-term parties for local senior residents are always particularly popular and well-attended events. Other key parts of the Other Half such as CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award have strong elements of service at their heart and it was good to hear stories of our current Lower Sixth taking part in the National Citizen Service over the summer. It is crucial for the successful education of our pupils that we remain outward-looking and aware of the wider society in which we live, and conscious of the part that we can play to make our society better.
Our pupils also give significant service to the School including at our recent Open Day, for which I am very grateful. We welcomed a record number of visitors and the pupils did a fantastic job of showing them round. Many of our guests commented on how impressed they had been by the boys.
Beech Court was very well received by our open day visitors. The new library has been a hive of activity since September, with younger pupil librarians learning the ropes from their older counterparts, while groups of journalists beaver away on the next round of publications like The Abingdonian, The Martlet and Words and That.
As ever at Abingdon, there is no shortage of highlights to reflect upon, even from a comparatively short half of term. We were treated to some magnificent piano playing at the inaugural outing for the new Steinway piano in the Amey Theatre, where I also recently enjoyed some outstanding academic presentations from middle school pupils. The topics were certainly diverse, ranging from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia to dissociative disorders, from the Black Death to the rise of populism. A presentation on the history of the atom confirmed to me that my understanding is probably situated in about 1850… I certainly have work to do to catch up with quantum mechanics.
Our rugby players have dealt admirably with the frustrations of overly dry and tough pitches, and have put in some committed and courageous performances. I hope you’ll enjoy reading more about the highlights of the term by following the links below.
The formal opening of Beech Court will take place on 9 November although of course pupils and staff have been enjoying use of the building since the start of term. We have also submitted planning permission for a new building that will be known as Faringdon Lodge and will occupy the site next to the Yang Science Centre, where the (temporary) Porters’ Lodge is currently situated. This building will include two larger houserooms as well as a home for Economics and Business and the Computer Science department. It will provide improved Reception facilities, as well as a new home for the Second Hand Uniform Shop. If permission is given, we hope to begin development during the later stages of this academic year, with a view to opening the building in September 2020. I hope to be able to share plans for this building with parents at forthcoming parents’ evenings and school events.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to share some exciting news from our catering team. A new executive head chef, Steve Unwin, has just joined the School and he will be managing all food production within Abingdon School and Abingdon Prep. He brings a wealth of experience and culinary knowledge. He joins us from Chateau Impney, a luxury hotel, wedding venue and exhibition centre in Worcestershire, where he spent five years as Executive Head Chef. His extensive CV also includes time as Executive Chef at Malvern College. His focus will be to review our current offer, implement menus that contain good, hearty and nutritious meals and build a strong culinary team in both schools. We are also joined by Ewa Jankwoska who will be focusing on patisserie, desserts, baking and so on. Ewa’s previous employment includes the Gourmet Handcrafted Cake Company, Hilton Hotels and the Ox and Finch in Glasgow, where she was senior pastry chef. We can look forward to some wonderful puddings!
There is a wide variety of trips and visits taking place over the half-term break and I wish all the best to pupils and staff taking part in them. Indeed, I wish everyone in the Abingdon community an enjoyable break and look forward to welcoming everyone back, refreshed and re-energised, for the second half of term on Monday 29 October.
Best wishes
Michael Windsor
News
First years’ first impressions
Staff and students enjoy whole school sponsored walk
Pupils celebrate National Poetry Day
Eleven films debut at AFU annual screening
CCF walk, run, cycle, swim and row 1253km
Lower School – Be the Best You Can Be 2018/19 Launch, Team Building & Rugby, Lower School Assistants on duty
Dr Ben Still talks particle physics to the Sixth Form
Fourth year aspiring engineers visit Crofton Beam Engine
Pre Senior Baccalaureate Philosophy Conference
Moldova project update
National Schools Croquet Championship
Boarders
Getting to know Oxford
Blackwell adventure
Abingdon Orientation
Murder Mystery
Football v Warwick
Abingdon Science Partnership
Ogden Trust's Abingdon Primary Science Partnership
Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine Podcast
OA Carl Olaveson inspires Science Ambassadors
Royal Society Partnership Grant
Primary School Inspiration Day
Music
Steinway Piano Inaugural Concert
Sport
Rugby – Colston and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Cranleigh; Craighouse on tour from Chile; Caldicott Prep, Abingdon Prep; Berkhamsted; Oratory Prep, Sherborne
Cross-country – Abingdon Relays, Longworth 10km
Badminton – Harrow & Oratory, Cheltenham College
Sailing Training at Farmoor
