Head’s Letters

Friday 12 October 2018

Dear Parents

The warm weather made a welcome return this week with some beautifully autumnal misty mornings greeting us on the way into school.

On Monday our Reception boys visited Cogges Farm where they were fully involved in bread making, goat feeding and finding out all about the food that ends up on our dinner plates. This was a lovely follow up from the Harvest Festival last week. They absolutely loved their day out and I really enjoyed hearing all about it from the boys.

Our Year 5s visited the Black Country museum yesterday and experienced first-hand life in Victorian England and the industries that dominated the towns and cities. It is a wonderful open air museum with reconstructed buildings from a bygone era with a rather narrow tunnel to walk down to experience life as a coal miner! The boys certainly enjoyed it and their creative writing about Victorian England will be so much more vivid as a result. There was some level of horror when they discovered that Victorian sweets often contained arsenic and mercury. I think they will be sticking to Haribo!

Despite a rather wet start to Saturday, our Open Morning was a very busy affair and as always, our boys were the star attraction. The Year 7 tour guides did a brilliant job and appeared to really enjoy sharing their thoughts and experiences of life at Abingdon Prep with our guests. I had a lot of positive comments about how well the boys were working in the classrooms, especially given it was a Saturday morning!

Yesterday’s assembly saw the award of the House Merit Cup for this half of term with Dragon being victorious. Congratulations to all of the boys for earning so many merits in the first six weeks of the year. The results are as follows:

1st – Dragon 1666
2nd – Phoenix 1598
3rd – Griffin 1569
4th – Unicorn 1549

Rugby this week pitted the U10s, U11s, U12s and U13s against Beachborough and the boys acquitted themselves very well with some great results for our B and C teams with high scoring games taking place across the board. Our U8s and U9s also enjoyed some high scoring matches against Oratory Prep with a highlight being a resounding win for the U9As. Our U11s are competing in a festival on Saturday, despite it being half term and I hope they have a great day out and I wish our biathletes all the best for Abingdon Vale competition on Sunday. Our U13s football squad came so close to qualifying for the IAPS national finals last Saturday, losing a penalty shootout for the final spot. This was a great effort in such trying conditions. It has certainly been a busy week on the games field.

I wanted to take this chance to remind you all of our upcoming Fireworks event and the Christmas Bazaar which both occur in November. They are great events, so do get the dates in your diaries and sign up for your fireworks tickets.

I read that there were only 11 Fridays until Christmas this week. Now there’s a scary thought! I hope you all have a great half term break, whether you are enjoying a holiday abroad or a quiet time at home. I am looking forward to spending some time with my wife, Quinn and Dizzy on long autumnal walks in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside.

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 5 October 2018

Dear Parents

As the calendar flicked over to October this week, my wife made me turn the heating on at home despite my protestations, and we had to switch it on at school too after such a chilly start to the week. I have though, enjoyed standing at the front gate in the autumn sunshine welcoming the boys into school.

Yesterday our Years 4-6 enjoyed meeting author Nicki Thornton who gave a fantastic talk about writing and inspiration and I know the boys’ creative writing will have benefitted hugely from her passion and advice. Many of the boys bought a signed copy and I am certain they will enjoy reading her novel, ‘The Last Chance Hotel’.

Our Year 8s visited the Natural History Museum in Oxford this week for a combined Art and Science trip and judging by the photographs, they had a great time learning about scientific discoveries and drawing many of the display items they saw. Trips are such an important part of learning and create memories that last far beyond school. Our Year 7s were also out today visiting the Roman Baths in Bath. Having been there on numerous occasions myself, I know what an incredible place it is first hand and I look forward to chatting to the boys about it on their return.

A small group of Year 5 and 6 boys are also competing in the MCS quiz this afternoon and I know they will have acquitted themselves very well with their all-round knowledge of the wider world and current affairs.

Sport this week saw our senior teams take on some very strong Cheltenham College sides. Matches here finished honours even with 2 wins and 2 losses which was a super effort. Our middle section saw 8 teams playing in some incredibly close matches against Chandlings which ended in 4 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. It is great to see so many boys involved in matches and enjoying being part of a team. I would also like to wish our U13 boy’s football team the best of luck as they compete in the regional IAPS qualifiers this Saturday.

Our Pre-Prep celebrated the Harvest Festival today with a beautiful service. For our reception boys this was their first chance to perform to an audience and they really seemed to take it in their stride. Our Year 1s and 2s seemed like seasoned pros as they presented to their families in the audience. Their confidence and clarity of expression always impresses me, especially considering how young they still are. I would like to extend a huge thank you to all of our parents for their incredibly generous donations of food which will be taken to The Gatehouse, a homeless charity in Oxford. I know how immensely grateful they are and it is so important to support our local community.

Tomorrow sees our Open Morning take place and I am looking forward to showing our fabulous school to prospective parents. Our Year 7s will be touring them around and I know our visitors will enjoy seeing the boys in action and chatting to them about our school. We have much to be proud of and our boys are by far the best way for us to show others what it means to be part of the Abingdon Prep community.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 28 September 2018

Dear Parents

Apologies for not being able to greet many of you at the front gate this week but I have been away for the last three days at the IAPS Heads Conference in Wales which has involved a fascinating series of talks and seminars with the theme of ‘Tomorrow’s World; Global Citizens’. Apologies, therefore, for the shorter letter that I have put together today.

On Saturday last week we played Cokethorpe on the rugby pitch and managed to secure a clean sweep of wins for our four teams involved. It was lovely to watch all the boys playing for each other and embodying the team spirit that is so important to any community. On Wednesday our U13A and B teams took on Abingdon School and two high quality matches ensued, with the As putting in an impressive win and the Bs just narrowly missing out on a victory, though it was close match.

On Thursday our U8s and U9s played CCCS and produced some lovely rugby with strong performances. All of our teams performed well, with the U8s having a draw and a loss, and the U9s As and Cs claiming fantastic wins, and the Bs only just losing out. These performances came on the back of a very successful cross country meet run by Abingdon School last week where APS were again victorious in a field of six other schools including Abingdon School, Caldicott, Magdalen and Cokethorpe. Cross Country continues to go from strength to strength.

Representing the Abingdon Foundation our U10 and U12 Swimmers, along with boys from Abingdon School competed in the annual Griffin Gala against the Abingdon Vale Swimming Club. All of our swimmers enjoyed a full programme of swimming and gained a great deal experience from the event.

The junior section assembly this week discussed new beginnings and making the most of opportunities available to us. It was enlightening to hear from the teachers what their new beginnings and goals were for this academic year and the boys responded well in thinking about theirs. Many boys are taking the opportunity to perform at the concert platform tonight, and I wish them luck and look forward to hearing about it upon my return.

I hope you all have a very enjoyable weekend. 

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 21 September 2018

Dear Parents

This week has been our Safety Week at school with the boys learning about different aspects of how to keep themselves safe, both in and out of school. There have been some very interesting discussions about the internet and social media with many of the older boys, whilst some of the younger boys have been eagerly discussing playground and road safety. As with so many areas of life, common sense is so often the answer. Our Pre-Prep were treated to a visit from the fire service today which was a definite highlight for them.

Our Year 4s have undertaken their first ever residential trip this week. They have been walking along the Ridgeway with an overnight stay at a Youth Hostel. I was lucky enough to join them for the evening and hear about the excitement of the days walk and the very blustery wind. Luckily it appears to have been blowing them towards their destination for most of the day! The rain dissipated for Thursday afternoon and the sun was shining today for them. It is a great way to start the year and sets them up nicely for future school residentials.

Rugby this week saw us playing Pinewood with all boys in Years 5 and 6 representing the school. For a first match of the season the standard from both teams was incredibly high and our U11 teams were victorious whilst our U10 teams lost some matches which were very close. Much was learned from this as it should be the case with all matches. Our U13 As were unbeaten at the Pinewood festival, continuing their strong start to the season, whilst our U13 Bs and U12 As both enjoyed good wins. Our U12 Bs lost by a single try in a super game between two evenly matched sides. Our Year 3s also made their rugby debuts this week playing in mixed teams against The Manor. The boys all seemed to really enjoy their first taste of matches, and indeed their first taste of match teas!

Our School Council from last year completed their handover and gave a lovely assembly on all of the good work and projects that they have been involved with over the year. Some of these are ongoing and our new council members were announced in assembly. I know they are all excited to get started and looking forward to having a say in what is happening at school. I would also like to thank all of the boys who stood in the school council elections, whether they got voted into a position or not. It is great to have so many boys wanting to be a part of this school group.

I spent a good deal of time in CDT this week and was lucky enough to take part in Jitterbugs, jigsaws and a buzzwire game. The boys had produced some fabulous work with super use of fretsaws, and electronic components to design their creations. CDT is thriving at Abingdon Prep.

Our first Art workshop of the year took place last Saturday which was based around the theme of sculpture. It was a great success and extremely popular with the boys who were able to create some very impressive pieces. I know the upcoming workshops will be equally popular and enjoyable.

Tomorrow sees our first Saturday Rugby fixtures against Cokethorpe and I look forward to watching our boys from Year 4 to Year 8 and seeing many of you on the sidelines.

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 14 September

Dear Parents

It was lovely to welcome so many of you to the Informal Parents’ Evening on Tuesday. I hope that you found the talks with the form teachers useful and informative and that you got to meet some of our new parents too. I certainly enjoyed chatting to many of you and catching up after the summer break.

Very rarely would I wish for rain at any time of year but sadly our first rugby matches of term had to be cancelled due to the hard ground, so with any luck we might have a few heavy showers next week to help soften the ground, or at least a few more of the misty mornings that signify autumn is very much on its way. However, our U13 As did compete at the Dragon tournament against some impressive opposition. Our boys performed admirably losing to Caldicott and The Beacon but beating St Hugh’s, St John’s Leatherhead and Abingdon School. Ashley was delighted with their first run out and the boys came back injury free and looking forward to their upcoming matches.

Class pairings took place for the first time this year on Thursday and it was based around the theme of construction. It was great to see our older boys helping our younger ones as they designed and built a range of different structures, from boats and planes to houses and islands. Cross year group friendships are something that are always in evidence at Abingdon Prep and help to bind our community together.

Tomorrow we have the first of our art workshops with the theme being Sculpture. I know that it will be an inspiring course and I am looking forward to seeing the finished products.

Safety week begins on Monday and the boys will have many opportunities to learn about safety in different situations, from online safety to road safety. I know there will be a lot of interesting discussions in classes so that the boys have a better understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe. An extremely important life lesson.

I hope you all have a good weekend and as autumn starts to take hold, perhaps some conker collecting and blackberry picking is in order!

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 7 September

Dear Parents

Term has finally started and we have been welcomed back with some great weather and a school full of boys with energy and enthusiasm. It has been lovely for me to start to get to know so many of our new pupils and I hope that both they and their parents are already feeling part of our Abingdon Prep community.

As with all our terms, the Michaelmas term is a busy one with fixtures, trips, our Saturday Open Morning which all the boys attend, Firestorm, the Christmas Bazaar and lots of work both inside and outside of the classroom. I firmly believe that being busy at school is a great thing and I am looking forward to all of these events. We have wasted no time in getting started and yesterday our Year 6 boys departed for their Cornbury Bushcraft adventure. There were a lot of smiling faces and clean clothes as they got onto the minibuses. I am sure the smiling faces will still be there on their return but perhaps not the clean clothes, especially for those boys who opt to eschew the tents and sleep in the dens they have created!

My first assembly of term focused on three messages that I want all of our boys to make a key part of their lives at Abingdon Prep. These were – Work Hard, Get Involved and Be Kind. I sometimes feel that life can be over complicated with so many different instructions and rules to abide by, but if we all embrace these messages, then we will continue to build a strong and very successful community within the school.

One of my favourite things about being a Headmaster is that I get to wander around school popping in and out of different lessons. This week, I watched our Year 8s studying DNA and the role of chromosomes and I saw our Year 4s playing number games in Maths by rolling dice to create a number and then having to work out the remainder to get to 100. Our Year 3s were creating booklets about their first week at school and in French our Year 6s were writing about their hobbies whilst Year 1 were making marmalade sandwiches with exercises about Paddington Bear!

Our delightful new Reception class have been out in the play area on the trikes and were telling me all about the hole in the road, so the trikes had to go around it to keep safe. Our ‘Learning Lions’ seem to have been smiling all week and certainly learning much about their new school.

The ‘Other Half’ activities have started with a bang and our new prep club for the junior section has proved popular too.

I hope you all have a great weekend and that the boys are not too tired after the exertions of their first week of term. I look forward to catching up with many of you at the informal parents evening on Tuesday night.

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 31 August

Dear Parents

I hope you have all had a great Summer holiday and that your boys, and yourselves, are looking forward to getting back to a new academic year at Abingdon Prep. We will have 48 new pupils joining our community and I know that they will be welcomed as warmly as I was this time last year. The holidays have flown by with some fantastic weather to get out and about in.

It was lovely to see so many Year 5 – 8 boys at pre-season Rugby yesterday for a bit of early season practice. The weather was kind and a little bit of rain in the preceding weeks had turned the playing fields back to green after the desert like appearance through the summer! They were certainly not soft but more than playable for a game of Rugby. It was lovely to meet some of our new boys and for them to meet up with some of their contemporaries prior to the start of term. Our two new GAP students joined us and showed off their rugby knowledge. They are Ned and Nathan. Ned is with us from the USA (Minnesota) for the year and Nathan is more local from West Hanney. We are delighted to welcome Sam back as he joins us again for another year.

We have a number of other new staff joining us this term. Many of the boys will have met them at Move Up Morning but please do come and introduce yourselves to them when you have the opportunity. Natasha is our Head of English, Drama and Year 6 form teacher, Rebecca is our Head of Science, Russell our Head of French and Year 7 form teacher, and Helen our new junior Science teacher. Lucy Hamerton has also joined the administration team and you will meet her in the mornings in the school office.

I look forward to meeting all of our new parents at the informal drinks tonight and others of you at the informal parents evening on the 11 September, at the gate in the mornings or on the side of the pitches at fixtures!

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 6 July 2018

Dear Parents

It seems like only yesterday that I stood outside the front entrance welcoming the boys into school on the first day of term in September, rather conscious of the fact I did not know any boys’ names, let alone parents’ names! The year has simply flown by, and I certainly feel far more comfortable standing outside welcoming you all into school now!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year here at Abingdon Prep, and feel very fortunate to be part of this warm community with such delightful and talented boys. It has been a very special year for me with the birth of our first child coinciding with becoming Headmaster here. I think I can safely say that I am looking forward to a more restful first week of the holidays, if Quinn shows willing…

Yesterday evening’s Summer Concert was an enchanting way to wrap up such a busy term. It was lovely to see all of the boys involved and showcasing their musical talents. We are very fortunate to have so many outstanding musicians in school.

Our end of term Prize Giving was a splendid way to celebrate the achievements of the year and to recognise our impressive cohort of Year 8 boys, many of whom have been with us since Reception. They have distinguished themselves in so many different areas over the years and I hope they will look back in years to come with fond memories of their time here and the friendships they have made. I know they will be moving on to their new schools well prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

On Tuesday this week three of our boys travelled to the Alexandra Stadium in Birmingham to compete in the National Prep Schools Athletics finals. Rather impressively, all three won medals so we now have the U11 High Jump champion, the U13 Long Jump Champion and the second fastest U13 1500m runner in our midst. I have never before worked in a school where such results have been achieved at this event. The boys should be immensely proud of their efforts.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of those involved with our Abingdon Prep community a very enjoyable and relaxing summer holiday and I look forward to welcoming the boys back in September, hopefully knowing a lot more names this time around! I try not to tempt fate by mentioning the World Cup but we can live in hope. Too late – I have mentioned it!

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 29 June 2018

Dear Parents

Summer feels like it is well and truly upon us. The boys have been in shirt sleeve order all week and the sun cream has been a necessity. The boys have continued to be busy and working hard in the lead up to the end of year celebrations.

We welcomed our Year 8s back from France with sun tans topped up and plenty of stories to tell. The theme park rides after a heavy lunch seem to have been a highlight, or lowlight, depending on who you talk to! It was a wonderful way for them to celebrate the end of their school careers at Abingdon Prep and create lasting memories of their time here with us.

Perhaps my highlight of the week was the unbelievable performances at the house music competition. The standard was remarkable and it proved that Music is flourishing here at Abingdon Prep, from the youngest boys right through to the Year 8s. What heartened me further was the obvious appreciation of the musical talent on show from the boys watching. The Summer Concert next week is not one to be missed, judging by the performances this week!

There have been cricket matches aplenty this week with close matches against Pinewood last Saturday and equally good games for our U8s and U9s against MCS. It was a pleasure to see so many boys playing on Wednesday and I took the 7ths across to St Hugh’s where we succumbed to a 6 run defeat. We have six matches this Saturday against Cothill so I look forward to seeing many parents on the boundary.

On Tuesday it was Move Up day and we were delighted to welcome 42 boys into Abingdon Prep. It was a great opportunity for them to meet our boys again and the start of many new friendships were formed, as well as a chance for our boys to meet their new form teacher for September.

Year 7 have had a very busy week. Yesterday saw them taking part in a Courtroom Experience and today they are visiting the High Ropes and Laser Tag centre. I think the boys were quite surprised by the procedures in the courtroom, especially when it was our very own French teacher, Lynne, who was sat before them in the dock! It was certainly a great learning experience about the justice system in this country and I would like to thank all those involved for bringing this experience to life.

Today, Reception and Year 1 have visited Cotswold Wildlife Park and I will look forward to hearing all about the animals they have seen when I visit their forms later on. There may well be some tired boys after walking round on such a hot day. Our Year 8s may be just as tired as they have also been out today, walking along a section of the Ridgeway. If you have never done parts of this walk before then I would recommend you try it out over the summer as some of the views are simply spectacular.

Last Saturday evening we had a wonderful time at the Summer Ball. The whole evening was fabulous with some rather impressive 80s outfits on show and an impressive band playing covers of every 80s song you could wish to hear. Thank you to the wonderful team for organising it and to all those who attended. I thoroughly enjoyed the night and I know those I spoke with felt the same.

As we move into the final week of the school year, may I remind you that on the Friday, for those boys in the Pre-Prep and with siblings in the Pre-Prep and boys who use the mini-bus service, term ends at 12 noon. For all other boys in Years 3 to 8, parents can collect between 12.15 and 12.30, with Year 8 leavers joining their parents for a reception straight after Prize Giving.

This final week is a great opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the year and even to set goals for next year. Before then though, we have our final week of term which will be busy and full of celebration.

Best wishes

Craig

Friday 22 June 2018

Dear Parents

It is hard to imagine a busier week at Abingdon Prep than the one just past. So much has been happening and the boys are certainly enjoying being outside in the warm weather.

On Monday Year 7 visited Sutton Courtenay Environmental Centre where they launched themselves into a range of environmental activities and gained so much knowledge about a topic that will be very important to them as they move through their lives. Taking care of our environment and endeavouring to leave it in a better state for the next generations is something towards which we should all be trying to work. After all, we only have one planet and we should be looking after it.

Our matches this week saw us take on a very strong set of teams from The Oratory Prep School and some of the cricket on show, batting in particular, showed our boys what can be achieved. The 100 not out from an U11A player was an exhibition of impressive batting and our boys will have learnt from watching it. We also participated in an U12 and U10 cricket tournament where shorter games were played and we acquitted ourselves well at both events. Tomorrow we have fixtures against Pinewood and I look forward to taking our U10s over there for their games.

Today, Pre-Prep held their Summer Concert and Teddy Bear’s Picnic. The standard of music and performance was very high and I think it is very clear that we have some excellent musicians coming up through the school. It was a pleasure to celebrate the end of the year in such a way.

Pre-Prep have had a very busy week with their Sports Day taking place on Monday. The weather was kind and all the boys ran, threw, and jumped their way around different events. Unicorn ended the day victorious and certainly enjoyed their victory lap of honour. It was delightful to see the boys enjoying each and every event.

Yesterday we held our Year 3 and 4 House Swimming Gala. Although I was unfortunately unable to attend, I have heard great reports about it and have been told that we have some very talented swimmers in the junior section. It was a very closely contested event but the eventual winner was Phoenix.

For Years 3 to 8, last Saturday was a great highlight in the sporting calendar with Sports Day taking place at Tilsley Park. We are extremely lucky to be able to host this event at a real athletics track and stadium, and the boys certainly rose to the occasion. There were a number of school records and some outstanding performances. It was very rewarding to see the boys supporting each other and their houses with such enthusiasm. Again, an extremely close event saw Phoenix as the victorious house.

Athletics also took centre stage on Tuesday with the Mercia Regional qualifiers at Tilsley Park. Our boys performed admirably in an event for over a thousand participants and three of them have qualified for the National Athletics Finals at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. This is a fantastic achievement, and I look forward to seeing them compete against the very best in the country in their respective age groups.

Our Year 8s have been having a wonderful time in Normandy this week and will return at midnight tonight. Lynne has been keeping me updated with their sandcastle building exploits and talent show mishaps! I look forward to hearing all about it directly from the boys next week.

Our annual Book Swap took place this week too, and it has been encouraging to see so many books being taken to new homes and enjoyed by their new owners. Thank you to our library staff for organising this.

The Verse Speaking Competition took place this week for Years 3 to 6, and again I was full of admiration for the boys’ clear and confident delivery of their chosen pieces at such a young age. I know that I would certainly have struggled to do that back in 1985!

House Captain hustings took place yesterday and I am looking forward to announcing the names of the new house captains and vice-captains for next year, to the respective houses. I was thoroughly impressed by the thought and preparation that had gone into the boys’ speeches, and they certainly had some interesting ideas for next year.

Finally, I would like to thank the JPA, and Susie in particular, for all their work in organising the Summer Ball tomorrow. It will be a very enjoyable evening and I am looking forward to seeing many of you there. I have opted for black tie rather than the 80s outfit, but I cannot wait to see what some have been able to find at the back of their wardrobes!

Best wishes

Craig