Abingdon News No.48

www.abingdon.org.uk 5 Race for the Line Regional Finals Four lower school teams, Mavericks, Team Italia, Vroom Vroom and TALA Engineering, took part in the rocket car regional finals at RAF Brize Norton. The teams first had to test their engineering skills building their cars in the allotted 1.5 hours. The cars were then raced against the 27 teams competing. The Abingdon teams did really well but did not make the top three positions which go on to the next stage. Experimenting with Virtual Reality Abingdon’s VR computer rig is set up and ready to go. Ben Broadbent and Freddie Nicholson ordered, built and installed the computer as part of their Other Half activities. Amongst the first to experiment were the Headmaster and tutors and all enjoyed the experience. From September the VR rig will be installed in the Science Centre. Many thanks to ASPA for their donation as part of the Annual Fund 2018. Chess Megafinal Twelve boys played in the West Berkshire “Megafinal,” a county stage of the UK Chess Challenge. After six rounds of rapidplay, with 20 minutes on each clock plus a ten second increment, Abingdon had won five trophies as well as three second-place medals. Section winners and players on more than 3 points qualified for the Southern “Gigafinal” in July. Ross Tselos had already qualified for the Southern Gigafinal by winning the U14 trophy at the Oxfordshire Megafinal in April, heading the combined U14-U18 section there, so all in all it has been a highly successful year for Abingdon School Chess Club in the UK Chess Challenge tournament. In May, Richard Pygott took over as Housemaster from Robin Southwell-Sander who took up his new position as Director of Partnerships at the beginning of September 2018. Richard studied Geography at Cambridge University and graduated in 2006. Despite the rest of his family being teachers, he left university to work for four years in international marketing as a graduate at Kingspan. A career in teaching was inevitable, however, and after a PGCE and Masters at Oxford, he worked at Hereford Cathedral School before spending the last four years at Magdalen College School, latterly as a Head of Year. Pygott’s Abingdon News Abingdon School Open Day Saturday 29 September 9:30am – 12.30pm