Head’s Letters

Thursday 8 June 2023

Dear Parents

I hope that you all enjoyed the half term break and we are very much looking forward to a busy and exciting second half of the summer term.

Year 1 to 4 thoroughly enjoyed their French Morning on Tuesday, immersing themselves in the culture of France, learning French songs and producing some lovely pieces of work. It was great to hear them speaking the language too in their various activities and the lunch of croque monsieur and frites, with crêpes for pudding, was a very popular menu choice.

Congratulations to our Year 8 pupils who have almost completed their final set of exams at Abingdon Prep. It has been fascinating to chat to them about how they have got on and to hear of their impressive efforts to revise and prepare for them over half term. I am sure that their efforts will be rewarded with positive results. Year 7 have also been working hard in the lead up to their exams and I am sure will have similar success.

Our Year 6 pupils spent the first three days of this week on their Bushcraft trip, with a few brave souls trying to sleep in their shelters on the first night, until the drop in temperatures forced them back into their tents! They had a fantastic time and were a real pleasure to take away, showing great camaraderie and teamwork skills throughout. There may well have been a few lengthy showers needed after three days away camping, but they seemed in great spirits on their return and thoroughly enjoyed the activities they undertook.

Year 2 has been busy learning about biographies and discussing different famous people and how they told their stories through a book. I was especially interested to hear about Ben Stokes as the children discussed his life and how he came to be captain of the English cricket team. Winston Churchill and Barack Obama also featured in the biographies being spoken about.

Year 5 are visiting Portsmouth Historic Dockyard today and I know they will really enjoy the trip. HMS Victory is an amazing ship to explore and will bring to life their study of this period of history.

Matches took place this week with all our U8s, U9s and U10s representing APS against St Andrew’s and St Hugh’s. The children played some impressive cricket, coming away with a fairly even split of wins and losses, but most importantly, they all enjoyed playing the game.

On Friday, it is the turn of our Year 7 and 8s to compete in their House Swimming Gala at Abingdon School. The Year 5 and 6s performed brilliantly just before half term with a number of records broken and hopefully we will see more of the same tomorrow.

This Saturday sees our very popular skateboard deck art workshop return. I know the children who have signed up are very much looking forward to it and it will be great to see their designs next week. Good luck too to our U11 tennis team who compete in the Oxfordshire Doubles tournament on Saturday.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 25 May 2023

Dear Parents

It has been a glorious week of weather at school and it has been lovely to be outside watching the children playing with their friends at break times and enjoying spending time together. Pupils in Year 3 to 6 have been working really hard during their assessment week and certainly will have earned a rest over the half term break. They should all be congratulated on their efforts across the week. It will be the turn of Year 7 and 8 after half term and I know that they have revision plans in place to support them in the lead up to their exams.

It has been great to see younger age groups taking them seriously and trying their best, whilst also developing exam technique and good practice – checking after finishing has been high on the agenda! For those not undertaking exams this week, it has been good to see them working hard in Pre-Prep and Year 7 and 8. I spent a fascinating 15 minutes listening to some Year 8 pupils explaining their Crest science projects. The first was to investigate temperature, humidity, Ozone and Carbon Dioxide levels in and around the school site. The children were hypothesising about the reasons for higher readings internally and also around the sunken area of the MUSA. The second was to investigate the change that occurs when baking bread by altering ratios of yeast, milk, water and salt. The taste test was an additional bonus to this set of experiments. I am very much looking forward to seeing their completed projects and hearing the conclusions they have drawn.

We have played 12 cricket matches this week against Christ Church Cathedral School, Magdalen College and The Dragon. The games were enjoyed by all with a number ending up with very close finishes and super individual and team performances too. All the practice being put in is certainly starting to pay off.

Tomorrow, the Griffin house charity event takes place to raise money for Helen and Douglas House. It is a sports based event with teachers also taking part. We hope that all the children will want to be involved and come into school wearing a sports shirt of any description along with their usual school shorts or trousers.

Thirty two athletes from Years 5 to 8 are competing this afternoon at Radley for their athletics meet. We wish them all the best in what will be for many of them, their first competition this summer.

We are very much looking forward to the first of our house swimming galas tomorrow for all the pupils in Year 5 and 6. I hope that many of you with children in those year groups will be able to attend at the Abingdon School pool to see the children compete for their houses in both individual and relay races.

I hope that everyone has a lovely half term break and enjoys the sunny weather that has been forecast. I feel there may be some barbeques being dusted off from sheds in the coming days.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 18 May 2023

Dear Parents

I must start my letter this week by thanking everyone for their support during our inspection last week. The children were a real credit to APS throughout and it was lovely to be able to show the inspection team all that we do at school. It will be a number of weeks yet before the report is published and I will be able to share the findings from inspection with you all.

Year 1 has been learning all about hummingbirds this week. They have read books about them, written letters home about them, had their photos taken with them (albeit superimposed!) and eagerly shared a huge number of facts about them with me in their classroom. I found out today from Year 1 that a hummingbird beats its wings 80 times a second! They are truly amazing creatures.

Year 3 have been working on persuasive writing skills and this week they wrote letters to the leadership team trying to persuade us with requests that should be allowed by school. Their letters were very impressive and we are minded to support a number of them. Topics ranged from adding some new and exciting other half clubs to our list for next term to an adjustment in school uniform policy. It was great to read such well crafted letters and structured arguments as they made their case for changes.

In Science, Year 6 has been learning about cells and have produced some stunning 3D models whilst Year 7 have been continuing their studies in Biology by dissecting a lung and even reinflating it to show how the various systems work to provide oxygen around the body.

Cricket matches on Wednesday this week saw 11 teams take on Moulsford. Some fantastic cricket took place with great individual and team performances. Our U11A and B teams should be congratulated on their impressive wins. Our 1st XI are playing in the 2nd round of the IAPS Nationals against Bishop’s Stortford this afternoon. Our senior tennis team have played twice in recent days, taking part in the Radley Doubles festival and also taking on Moulsford and they thoroughly enjoyed their first tennis matches of the season.

Good luck to the children performing in the concert platform tomorrow and also good luck to our cricket teams who play Oratory Prep on Saturday and our tennis teams who are at Radley for a tournament on Sunday. We also look forward to welcoming a number of families to our Open Morning tomorrow and thanks to our Year 7 children who will be acting as tour guides.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 11 May 2023

Dear Parents

I hope that everyone enjoyed the Coronation celebrations over the weekend. It was great to hear from the children how they spent their weekend with some volunteering on the Monday for The Big Help Out, some attending community parties and we even had a church bell ringer playing his part!

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to complete our inspection questionnaire. It is always good to receive feedback on the education that we are providing to the children. I am delighted to say that your parents’ feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Thank you. It is an intense few days but I am looking forward to the inspection team seeing our pupils in action.

We had a fantastic turnout to our Art and Design exhibition on Tuesday evening, with over 75 parents and grandparents attending. It never ceases to amaze me how creative the children are and the range of work on display was truly stunning. Katy and some Year 8 pupils gave a wonderful assembly this morning on ‘awe inspiring design’, looking at objects from the past and what they look like now. It was great to see the children so engrossed with it and learning about how design has changed over time.

On Wednesday we welcomed over 100 children from local primary and independent schools to our cricketing skills morning. It was just brilliant to see all the children learning new skills and working with our teachers and coaches on developing their cricketing ability and hopefully we were able to inspire a new generation to participate in the sport.

Wednesday also saw some terrific cricket matches taking place against Abingdon School. Despite the damp weather, all 4 matches were completed with 3 of them being decided on the final ball. There were victories for our 1st and 2nd XI teams, whilst our 3rds and 4ths were defeated. Our 5th and 6th XI teams take on Cothill on Friday afternoon for their first match of the season.

Twelve of our senior children are at Tilsley Park today participating in the English Schools Athletics Association regional qualifiers. Hopefully the rain will hold off long enough for them to produce strong performances across the range of track and field events.

Finally, good luck to our U13 tennis team who are competing at The Oxfordshire Festival on Saturday.

I hope you all have a good weekend ahead.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 4 May 2023

Dear Parents

Our APS Bake Off this week has been a terrific success with some of the best bakes I have seen, and indeed tasted, in recent years. We also raised an amazing £410 from selling them off which will go to our school charities. I am eagerly awaiting the announcement of the finalists who will be asked to bake in school in the coming weeks.

Mr Windsor and I enjoyed our weekly walk around classrooms this morning and it was great to see the children working hard and fully engaged on the tasks in hand. We enjoyed finding out from Year 5 in their computing lesson how they were using Vector software to create penguin drawings by zooming in and adding fine detail. Some very impressive penguins were produced.

This week we have been celebrating the upcoming Coronation of King Charles III with some fantastic portraits from our younger year groups, an assembly today about primogeniture and a whole school barbeque tomorrow at lunchtime. Hopefully the weather will be kind enough that we can have it outdoors.

On the cricket pitch, our U11s and U10s were in action on Wednesday playing some great cricket against Chandlings. We competed well with some terrific individual performances again, leading to another clean sweep of wins.

I would like to flag up for you our Art and Design Exhibition which is taking place on Tuesday next week, 9 May, between 4.10-6pm. It is a wonderful opportunity to see and celebrate the fantastic work that the children have been producing in their Art and DT lessons over the past year. I do hope that many of you will be able to come in and enjoy touring around the exhibition.

We have shared in the mailing this week a link to a wellbeing podcast put together by Abingdon School. It is focused on managing stress and anxiety in end of year exams, so whilst primarily aimed towards older children sitting GCSEs this year, there are some really useful suggestions as to how support can be offered to children of any age at what can be a stressful time for them.

Finally, good luck to our 1st XI cricketers who are playing in the 1st round of the IAPS Cup tomorrow afternoon against Swanbourne House from Buckinghamshire.

I hope you all have a lovely bank holiday weekend and enjoy the Coronation celebrations if you are getting involved with them.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 27 April 2023

Dear Parents

I had the pleasure of hearing a number of Year 8 presentations this week in English lessons. The children have been studying ‘Of Mice and Men’ and they were presenting to their peers information about key events in 1930s America and the Great Depression. It was fascinating to learn more about the drought stricken Southern Plains and associated dust bowl alongside the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the effects on people living through it.

Today, our Year 8s were given taster sessions in Spanish and German by Abingdon School teachers to help them make decisions about language options as they move across to their senior schools. The children thoroughly enjoyed finding out more about both languages and it was great to hear some of them talking about picking up a new language in September.

Year 6 were learning all about magnetism in Science this week and were making predictions about a wide range of objects and materials that they were experimenting on. It was great to see them so engaged in the task and keen to answer questions and make their predictions.

Pre-Prep have been very busy getting ready for the upcoming Coronation celebrations. They have been finding out lots of interesting Coronation facts, designing their own crowns and writing about what they would do if they were King. There might be some unusual changes if this ever came to fruition!

It was great to get our cricket season underway on Wednesday this week with matches against New College for our Under 11 A and B teams and our 1st and 2nd teams. The children can be very proud of their performances with all 4 teams winning with very good individual and team performances. Hopefully the weather will warm up a little more in the coming weeks!

Year 7 is currently away in France and having a fantastic time exploring the Normandy area. I am told they had a fantastic day yesterday exploring how some of the local food and drink is produced and sampling it as well. Immersing themselves in the culture and language for a few days will really help to further develop their linguistic abilities.

Food takes centre stage next week and we are looking forward to our APS Bake-Off competition. I have heard from a number of children that they will be undertaking some exciting bakes over the long weekend and I am very much looking forward to tasting some of them next week.

I hope you all have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend ahead and I look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Tuesday next week.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 20 April 2023

Dear Parents

It has been lovely to welcome the children back to school after the Easter break. They have all returned in good spirits and it has been lovely to hear about their holiday activities.

At the end of last term we were running a series of interviews for key roles to start in September. I am delighted to announce that we have appointed Jane Taylor as our new Head of Geography. Jane currently teaches children from Years 7-13 at Magdalen College School and has a passion for the environment and travelling, alongside educating children, and we are looking forward to her bringing all this first hand experience into her Geography lessons next year.

Emma Penfold has been appointed as our new Director of Music. Emma’s passion for educating children shone through at interview and she is a very talented instrumentalist herself. She is currently teaching Music at St Joseph’s College to children from Reception age to A Level. Emma will be a great addition to APS and continue to drive forward APS Music.

The children will all get a chance to meet our new teachers at move up morning later this term.

Before the start of term, it was great to welcome so many children to pre-season cricket training. Sadly the weather prevented us from being outside but we held full sessions in our sports hall. We were delighted to be combining our Year 7-8 session with Abingdon School pupils and staff as well.

We start the term in the fashion that we mean to go on with lots of activities taking place. Our first platform concert of the term takes place tomorrow and it is lovely to see so many pupils signed up for this already.

Reception are visiting Cotswold Farm Park tomorrow and I know that there is great excitement about seeing the farm animals and playing in the enormous sandpit.

Year 6, over the course of this week and next, will be undertaking some First Aid injury and accident prevention training. These are incredibly valuable life lessons and I know that they will enjoy the chance to learn new skills.

Finally, I want to wish our Year 7s all the very best as they go off on their residential French trip to Normandy early next week. I know they will have a fantastic time and enjoy speaking the language and embracing the culture of France.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend ahead.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 23 March 2023

Dear Parents

We have almost reached the end of the Spring term and it has been a wonderful few months with a huge amount being undertaken and accomplished by the children. This final week has continued to be as busy as ever and the children have thrown themselves into their activities with great gusto.

Year 7 and 8 pupils were fully focused on Drama in the early part of this week, rehearsing for their production of Oliver! Jr. On Tuesday evening, parents, grandparents, siblings and teachers all made their way to The Amey Theatre at Abingdon School to watch the children in action. It was a quite brilliant performance, thoroughly enjoyed by the audience and the children performing. The acting, singing, choreography and technical aspects of lighting, sound and backstage were all of the highest standard and I know that the children relished the opportunity to perform to such an appreciative audience. I am sure that for many of our Year 7 and 8 pupils, this will not be the last time they take to the boards at The Amey.

On Monday, our Year 6 pupils all competed in Hockey matches against Chandlings. Despite the driving rain, they performed admirably and should be very proud of their improvements in this sport which is new to so many of them.

Wednesday afternoon saw our final sporting event of the term, with the house cross country taking place. Reception to Year 8 all took part and they should all be very proud of their efforts. The children tried incredibly hard and this year, for the first time, all finishers scored points for their houses. There were some quite amazing performances from numerous pupils and I look forward to sharing the final result with the children in assembly tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning sees our Junior section House Music competition taking place and it will be lovely to hear so many budding musicians performing to their friends and teachers. I know how hard many of them have been practising their pieces to get prepared for this event. I wish them all the best with it.

Finally, I hope that you all have a well deserved rest over the Easter break and that those of you venturing further away from home enjoy safe travels. I am looking forward to a trip to Devon next week with my family and the start of the cricket season the week after, albeit I fear that my first few matches may well be rain affected!

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 16 March 2023

Dear Parents

Science has taken centre stage this week and has been a great success so far. I am very much looking forward to judging the children’s posters on the topic of science connections. It was lovely to welcome Wootton Primary School Year 5 and 6 pupils to APS to join our talk from Science Oxford on Forces. The crime scene tape was all over the lab on Monday as Years 7 and 8 were taken from a forensic crime scene examination into a courtroom to hear evidence and be fiercely cross examined. They learnt a huge amount about this line of work and the role of crime scene investigators – perhaps a career for a few in the future! Science has been a focus in Pre-Prep too. They have been looking at seismic waves, fingerprints and bridge building (alongside our Year 8 pupils). We also welcomed a parent guest speaker on Wednesday who spoke to our Year 4s about neuroscience and connections between the nerves throughout our bodies. The children have really enjoyed the focus on science this week.

Year 8 visited The Globe Theatre in London to watch an evening performance of The Tempest. It was a fantastic opportunity to experience a play at a Tudor theatre and I know, despite the late return, the children enjoyed it immensely. Drama is very much at the forefront of our senior pupils’ minds currently with Oliver! Jr being performed at The Amey Theatre next Tuesday evening. I am very much looking forward to seeing them all in action.

Five Abingdon School Upper Sixth pupils, who are Peer Support Leads, came across to APS to talk to our Year 8s about life at senior school, Other Half programmes, work, and expectations. This was a great chance to get their questions answered and hear more about what to expect as they prepare to move schools in September.

There has been lots going on in the sporting arena again this week. There were some great results on the football pitch with senior matches against Abingdon School and U11s all playing at Davenies. Our Under 11 and Under 12 teams all managed to score at least 6 goals in each of their 5 matches, winning them all – a fantastic effort.

Last Saturday saw our first joint tennis coaching camp with Years 7 and 8 at Abingdon School. It was great for Elliot to coach the children and further develop our tennis coaching offering for some of our keenest players.

Congratulations to the three children who competed in the National Biathlon finals in Redditch last weekend. They all performed admirably and should be very proud of their high placed finishes.

Year 5 were in Oxford on Tuesday visiting Pitt Rivers and The Natural History museums to support both their science and history curriculums. They handled Mayan artifacts and learnt more about Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection. Their busy week continues with their soiree this evening showing off their performing talents with drama, music and poetry all on show.

We had 16 pupils undertaking ABRSM exams for a variety of instruments and grades on Wednesday. I know those involved have been practising hard and I am sure they will have acquitted themselves very well. Friday afternoon sees our music carousel which should be great fun with both children and parents invited to hear and try out a range of different instruments. In assembly this morning, our seven piece cello ensemble, Cellissimo, performed ‘Eye of the Tiger’ which was a treat to listen to.

Finally, good luck to all those who are undertaking the sponsored swim on Sunday at Abingdon School pool. They are raising money for the Turkey / Syria Earthquake appeal and will be swimming as many lengths as they can.

I hope that everyone enjoys the weekend ahead after such a busy week at school.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster

Thursday 9 March 2023

Dear Parents

It has been an interesting week with the snow arriving and a return to cold weather. The children have been as busy as ever though.

On the sports field, huge congratulations should go to our U11 and U13 cross country teams who performed so well at the national finals last Sunday. Our U11s came a creditable 15th out of 42 schools whilst our U13s came 3rd, a tremendous achievement given 3 of the 4 runners were a year young and will be competing again next year.

On the football and hockey pitch, every child from Year 3-8 represented the school this week with some terrific matches, skills and teamwork on show, leading to an even split of wins and losses, against Moulsford, St Hugh’s and Cothill.

Our Year 5s have been working hard in Science this week, learning about key parts of the body, culminating in a dissection practical of a heart at the end of this week. This is the first time they will have undertaken this skill and there has been much excitement and perhaps some trepidation in the lead up.

This morning was our class pairings, with a focus on reading. It was lovely for our Reception class to read to our Year 8s for the first time rather than the other way around.

I wanted to take this opportunity to update you about some changes in staffing for September. I am delighted to say that Nick Barwick (our current Year 5 class teacher) has been appointed as Head of Maths for September. Nick has a very strong Maths background and a real passion for the subject, having previously been Maths Lead for The Hamilton Trust. He was the stand out candidate for the role and I know he is looking forward to working closely with Anne in the coming months.

I am also delighted to say that Stefan Gerrard, currently Assistant Head Academic and Head of Geography, will become our Head of English for September. This means that we are currently recruiting for a Head of Geography role.

Sadly, Sean Fitzpatrick, our Director of Music, will be leaving APS at the end of this academic year and we have started to recruit for this role as well. We wish Sean all the best for his new venture.

We are looking forward to our Open Morning tomorrow with our Year 7s pupils showing round prospective parents. They always do a terrific job and it is great to get such positive feedback from parents about their tour guides.

I hope that everyone has a lovely weekend ahead.

With best wishes

Craig Williams
Headmaster