Page 5 - Abingdon News

www.abingdon.org.uk 5
Abingdon News
Chemistry Masterclass
We welcomed many distinguished
speakers to School this term including Dr
Peter Wothers from Cambridge University
who gave the prestigious Royal Institution
Christmas Lectures in 2012. Students
from all secondary schools in Abingdon,
together with Headington School, attended
the informative and humorous lecture.
Our sixth form chemists also enjoyed Dr
Wothers’ masterclass on shapes and
maths of Atomic Orbitals. Dr Wothers
teaches the First Year Natural Science
Chemistry course at Cambridge.
Climbing in
Peak District
DofE expeditions
The DofE expeditions this term have included canoeing on the River Thames, climbing Kinder
Scout in the Peak District and sailing on the south coast. The latter involved upper sixth
sailors completing their Gold DofE expedition sailing from Plymouth harbour in a 36ft Bavaria
Yacht. Tough conditions with very strong winds and big waves tested their skills with the trip’s
highlight being a night spent in Cawsand Bay moored at anchor!
Each year approximately 200 boys sign up for DofE. The School runs all their expeditions
in house using teachers as supervisors to give the boys extra support and mentoring. By
completing the Award boys demonstrate team work, commitment and organisational skills.
German
Partnership
During this year’s visit from our German
exchange school, the Ratsgymnasium,
Bielefeld, pupils took part in a joint project
to commemorate the centenary of the First
World War. When war broke out the pupils
at the Ratsgymnasium were in the middle
of their final exams. One of the essay
questions they answered was: ‘The present
– a serious but a good time for Germany’.
The exhibition quoted extracts from their
essays, which throw an unexpected light on
German public opinion at this time.
Model United Nations
– MUNTH
At this year’s MUNTH, Abingdon boys
represented Chile and Egypt across
seven different committees. The standard
of the debate was impressive, with
wide-ranging issues, such as the Darfur
Crisis, Underrepresentation of Women
in Government and the Legalisation of
Marijuana. Representing Egypt, Brett
Chung and Liam Frahm were awarded Best
Delegate in the Environment and Political
committees respectively; Sam Farrar was
Highly Commended for his performance in
the Disarmament committee with Johnathan
Goves being commended in Health. The
Egypt delegation was also awarded Highly
Commended for the tact, skill and diplomacy
of its delegates.
Boys entertained
residents at the
Christmas Tea Party.
Community Service