Abingdonian 2017

103 www.abingdon.org.uk House Reports tennis and swimming respectively. The regular inter-tutor group competitions are always entered into with a healthy sense of rivalry, and no one tutor group had it all their own way this year. In the first year, 1P and 1S tended to battle it out for supremacy in the sporting events, with 1M preferring to excel in the more cerebral activities of public speaking and reading (until the very last day of term when they showed their muscle by winning the tug of war in convincing fashion), while in the second year 2H won half of the year’s events, meaning they joined 1P as the overall year group winners. When all the points were totalled up however, the overall Lower School Cup went to 1S and 2W, who beat 1P and 2C by a mere two points. The House Singing Competition gives the Lower School boys their one chance of the year to take on the older boys in inter-house competition, and this year they rose to the challenge with a fine rendition of Justin Timberlake’s I got this feeling . Andy Liu (piano) and Toby Hammond (drums) did a great job of providing the accompaniment while Oli Liddell was in commanding form as conductor, even encouraging the entire audience to join in with the final chorus. First place eluded us once again, but it can only be a matter of time… There were plenty of opportunities for Lower School pupils to explore outside the school, with the two Adventure Trips in the Easter holiday being greatly enjoyed and the Modern Languages trip to Normandy including visits to Mont St. Michel and the beaches of the D-Day landings around Arromanches. Day trips out saw the first years visit Fishbourne Roman Palace, learn more about the history of the school on a tour of Abingdon town, and hear the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performing live in concert, while the second years travelled to the Roman baths of Aquae Sulis, Hampton Court, and saw a performance of Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. The boys, joined by their parents, heard from Talan Skeels-Piggins again in the last week of the academic year at the Be the Best Celebration event. Since his last visit, he had come second in the Le Mans World Cup, broken the British land speed record on his motorbike, and taken up long bow archery, certainly living up to his promise to be the best he can be! The end of year prizes were then presented, with the Academic Prizes going to Tom Walters (1M), Philip Grotjahn (1P), Rory Kind (1S), Alexandre Peuch (2C), Ethan Walker (2H) and Isaac Mortiboy (2W) and Baker Awards going to Eoin Chippendale, Matthew Jarvis, Harry Watkins and Finn Wilson. Max Siriwardene was awarded the Broadbent Cup for Sporting Excellence and Alexander Bryant the Cooper Cup for Excellence in Reading. Harry Watkins, a real stalwart of the Charities Committee throughout his time in Lower School was also awarded the Dillon Cup for Service, while the Woodgett Cup went to Ben Lisemore. There is not much that the second year boys have not been able to achieve when they have supported each other and worked together, and when they have seen their mistakes as opportunities to learn – that they have got more and more capable of doing so over the last two years is in no small part down to the great work done with them by their tutors, Miss McCutcheon, Dr Howe (and before her Mr Edgar) and Mrs Wigmore. My thanks go to them and to Mrs Coull, Mrs McRae and Mr Price for helping the first years get off to such a great start. We say a temporary goodbye to Dr Howe as she goes on maternity leave and a farewell from Lower School to Miss McCutcheon as she moves to become a boarding tutor. I wish the second years all the best as they move on to face the greater challenges that lie ahead for them in Middle School and trust that they will remember the lessons that they have learned during their time in Lower School. Adam Jenkins