6 July 2017
Dear Parents, Colleagues, Governors and Boys of Abingdon,
The last couple of weeks have seen us enjoy some great events with which to finish off the academic year and in particular to say farewell to our Leavers. The Leavers’ service and then last Saturday’s Griffen Ball will in particular remain long in the memory. There have been many trips and visits taking place recently too and the spirit of adventure thrives at Abingdon, with large numbers taking part in expeditions to go towards the various Duke of Edinburgh Awards. It is clear that our Leavers have a keen interest in travel too with many of them set for exciting trips both in Europe and further afield, and I wish them all the very best for these journeys, as well as for A Level results day on 17 August.
We say farewell at the end of term to a number of teachers who are moving on. Mr Aitken and Mr Swarbrick are retiring after nineteen years’ service to the school, though Mr Swarbrick will be returning on a part-time basis next term to offer support with UCAS applications. Mr Davies is taking up the post of Deputy Head (Academic) at Kingswood School in Bath, while Mr Edgar and Mr Stuart are moving on to City of London School and Cokethorpe respectively. Mr Green is leaving to take up a post at Bradfield while Mr Pemberton moves on to the Royal Agricultural College for further study. Finally, we wish well to Mr Domm, Mr Jones and Mr Griffin in their new roles. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all these teachers, and indeed all my colleagues both in teaching and support roles, for their hard work over the past academic year.
Construction will continue over the summer of the Beech Court project, which will include a Sixth Form Centre and Art department, as well as a library which will be approximately twice the size of our current facility. The first steels have now been erected and we are all excited to see the scale of the new building, which is due to open in September 2018. The summer break will also see a complete revamp of our gym with new equipment designed to support a programme of strength and conditioning, which we hope will give pupils the chance to improve in their sport while also giving them strong foundations for health and flexibility in later life.
There has been a great deal of collective endeavour over the past term and I am sure pupils will be ready for rest and relaxation over the summer. I am all in favour of this but I would urge every pupil to take advantage of the time freed up over the next few weeks to read widely and freely. There are of course many and varied benefits to reading but a good selection of books over the summer should give ample opportunities for escapism, reflection and excitement. The English department and the Library have set all our pupils a reading challenge featuring some wonderful books and I really hope that many boys will engage with this.
I have very much enjoyed getting to know so many Abingdon parents over the past year. It is a great privilege to lead this school and I am looking forward to sharing our vision for the future with parents early next term. I wish all Abingdon families a wonderful summer, confident that 2017-18 will be another action-packed and exciting year for the school.
Best wishes,
Michael Windsor
Latest News
- Aspiring young writers publish anthology
- BAFTA Young Game Designers Success
- Martlet wins Shine Media awards
- Challenging calculus in the Lower Sixth
- TeenTech competition
- Physics of Scalextric
- First years’ mission to Mars
- Commended in the Peterhouse, Cambridge Vellacott History Prize
- Be the Best celebration
- Abingdon residents tea party
- Lower School go to Film School
- The Fitzharrys Partnership
- The Carnegie Forum
- Raising funds for Sobell House
- Chinese Dragon Boat Festival
- Success in Triumph Design Awards
- Saturday Science Club
- Martian chemistry workshop
- First years explore DT
- Science Partnership update
Music
Sport
- Cricket: Reading School, MCS County Cup Abingdon Prep & King Alfred’s
- Athletics: ESSA, Marlborough
- Rowing: National Schools Regatta, Bedford Star Regatta
- Golf: South of England Schools' Golf Championships
- Tennis: ISTA Championships, Road to Wimbledon, National Championships
- “Radlingdon” tennis tournament
- Sports day
- Lower school sports day
- England hockey squad selection
- New fitness suite for the autumn
Out & About
- Geographers in the field
- First years visit Fishbourne
- V&A trip for Chinese studies
- Fourth years visit Berlin
- Yachting in the Solent for Bronze DofE
