Abingdonian 2017

105 www.abingdon.org.uk Staff Farewells Language Assistants Déborah di Nino joined the Modern Languages Department from the University of Reims as a French Assistant. She had just successfully completed a degree in English language, literature and civilization and was keen to make the most of the opportunity to spend a year in this country. Déborah fitted into the department very well. She was most efficient in her preparation and planning of lessons and soon built up a good working relationship with her students. She has been unfailingly cheerful and conscientious and her work has been much appreciated by boys and staff alike. Déborah has enjoyed her time here so much she plans to remain in the UK and hopes to find a job in London. We wish her well. Jane Mansfield Kimberley Poppmacher joined us in September 2016 as the German Assistant. She was in the process of finishing her Master of Education Degree at Bielefeld University when she joined the school. She also holds a Master’s Degree in German as a Foreign Language from the University of Alabama, where she studied for three semesters before returning to Bielefeld. In her time at Abingdon she assisted the fourth and fifth year students in their preparation for their GCSE oral exams to ensure that the boys would get the best possible results. She did the same for the Lower and Upper Sixth Pre-U students, with particular focus on the latter as their exam drew nearer. She also assisted the German Department by preparing and creating new material for class, as well as creating displays to promote German language and culture. In her free time she immersed herself in British culture by playing Rugby for a local team when she was not travelling around the UK at weekends to explore the country or visit friends and family. Alexandra von Widdern Xiaoling Hu graduated from Guangzhou University in 2016. She then worked as a volunteer Chinese teacher for three universities in Mexico from January 2015 to December 2015. She joined Abingdon as a Chinese Assistant through the Chinese Hanban and British Council programme. Xiaoling has been prompt, reliable, trustworthy and always willing to help with whatever was required by the Chinese Department and her other colleagues. She helped to create Chinese teaching resources, as well as providing oral lessons to our Chinese class pupils. Xiaoling enjoyed working at Abingdon and found this to be a very positive teaching experience for her. She is now applying to be an overseas sponsored Chinese teacher of Confucius Institutes and Hanban in China. We wish her all the best in the future. Gao Zhang Staff Farewells