ASiP Newsletter: Volume 1

9 8 Abingdon School in Partnership Abingdon School in Partnership Sports Partnerships Business Challenge Six primary school teams competed in our very popular Business Challenge. They were asked to design, advertise and promote a new health drink. With the assistance of sixth form Business and Economics students, they developed a range of novel and interesting beverages and then pitched their product to a panel of judges. The overall winners were Long Wittenham. Long Furlong won the marketing prize and Sunningwell the logo prize. Fun With Languages The Fun with Languages event was enthusiastically supported by local primary schools. Year 5 and 6 pupils had the opportunity to learn about Chinese New Year and linguistic codes. They also experienced an introduction to Spanish, German and Italian and learnt about Russian culture and language. They were really excited to discover the similarities and differences between the world’s languages. Pottery Throwdown We are looking forward to hosting a Pottery Throwdown in the Summer term, when local primary school pupils will have the opportunity to use our brand new kiln room and art facilities to create their own sculptures. ~ Victoria Middleton Primary School Liaison Returning for the third year this Summer term, pupils from Fitzharrys, Larkmead and Abingdon Schools will be working collaboratively over 5 weeks of joint year 7, 8 and 9 swimming masterclasses under the guidance of senior swimmers from all schools and overseen by Abingdon Vale Head Coach, Amanda Ford. ~ Tom Donnelly Performing Arts Partnership Arts Partnership activities at Abingdon began in September 2018 in two areas — filmmaking and playwriting — but there are also plans for Abingdon students to work with their counterparts at partner schools on the staging of a music theatre production before the end of the academic year. The Abingdon Film Academy launched this term with filmmaking programmes run by the Abingdon Film Unit (AFU) tutors at Larkmead and Fitzharrys Schools. At Larkmead, 5 pupils in Years 11–13 have come forward to work on their own films while also creating a short promotional film for Larkmead’s website. This film is now ready, and the students started working on their own projects in January 2019. At Fitzharrys, an initial taster workshop with 9 students drawn from Years 9–13 was followed by further filming sessions at Abingdon in shooting and editing, and 6 students in Years 9–11 are preparing to make their own films. Meanwhile, the AFU has been working with Raw Workshop in Blackbird Leys — a social enterprise that manufactures bespoke furniture from recycled wood and supports the rehabilitation of people who have overcome significant challenges such as addiction, homelessness or imprisonment — on the making of a promotional film for the organisation’s website. On the drama front, Abingdon is running the National Theatre’s New Views Playwriting scheme in which professional playwrights guide students through the process of creating their own thirty- minute plays for entry into a national competition that offers winners the chance to see their work staged by the National Theatre in July 2019. There are currently 5 students from Larkmead in Years 10–13 taking part. Finally, Abingdon sixth form pupils are in discussion with Andrea Phillips, the Head of Performing Arts at Larkmead, about plans to collaborate on a music theatre production involving Larkmead’s Year 7 and 8 pupils in July 2019. More projects and partners are in the pipeline. ~ Jeremy Taylor