Abingdon News No.48

22 September 2018 Abingdon Development Supporting Croquet at Abingdon In 2012, croquet started at Abingdon with three pupils who played only on a Wednesday. Now, around 60 pupils play up to five times a week – but such growth means heightened demand for equipment that fits players’ needs. Increased play had taken its toll on the basic wooden mallets used by the boys, so we were delighted to assist Mrs McRae in purchasing nine new carbon fibre mallets of greater quality and durability. With pupils now playing fiercely competitive fixtures against top croquet schools such as Winchester College, and taking part in the National School and Junior Championships this September, professional mallets will help our croquet players to excel. Summer Garden Party at Lacies Court Whether they have given a gift or their time, there are many members of the Abingdon community who have shown a huge amount of support for the School in recent years. On Thursday 28 June they were thanked for their dedication in person by the Headmaster and his wife at a special drinks reception in the beautiful garden of Lacies Court. Thank you again to all those who choose to support Abingdon School. Annual Fund 2018 – Update Thanks to donations from Abingdon School parents, governors, OAs, staff, volunteers and friends, we have already seen a number of our 2018 Annual Fund projects spring to life and benefit pupils across all year groups. The Merlyn Spin Bowling Machine, for instance, has accelerated the development of our batsmen’s techniques against even the trickiest of bowled balls, while the School’s very first computer with Virtual Reality software has now been cleverly constructed and enthusiastically trialled. Even the Headmaster could not resist the opportunity to test its impressive capabilities! The race|result timing system is recording our young runners’ races to a tee at Tilsley Park, and the Formlabs 3D printer is already helping to enhance and hone the CAD and CAM skills of our future engineers and creatives. We are only a short way off our goal of £34,000. To see which projects need support and to make your mark, please visit www.abingdon.org.uk/annual_fund. We are ever grateful to those who give. Next summer Abingdon School’s First Orchestra and Big Band are undertaking an exciting and ambitious tour to Japan and Hong Kong. The last time our Orchestra travelled to Hong Kong was in 2006, so now a new generation of Abingdon School musicians will be able to experience this unforgettable musical and cultural exchange. The opportunity to forge new friendships whilst polishing musical, technical and performance skills is hugely valuable to our young musicians, many of whom will only experience such a tour once in their lives. We hope to bring our entire First Orchestra and Big Band on the tour, which would involve taking up to 70 boys and accompanying instruments. In order to enable as many boys as possible to come along, we want to keep the cost of pupil places as low as we can. If you feel able to support the tour, please do use our online donation form at www.abingdon.org.uk/donation to make your gift. All donations will help us to subsidise places for boys who would otherwise be unable to take up this unique opportunity. First Orchestra and Big Band Tour to Japan and Hong Kong 30 June - 10 July 2019