Abingdonian 2017

106 The Abingdonian David Domm Sadly after just one year, we say farewell to David Domm, Economics & Business teacher, sixth form tutor and football coach. David settled quickly, establishing a role for himself within the department and beyond as goalie coach within the Other Half, whilst heading up the U15 football A team. He has been busy in another successful year with Young Enterprise in the fourth year and regularly helped out with geography trips to Oxford. His tutor group has thrived under his leadership. He is moving on to head up a busy department at Kennet School in Thatcham in September and we wish him all the very best in his new role. Nicola King Charlie Griffen Charlie joined Abingdon in September 2016. As a very enthusiastic English teacher, he brought energy and passion to his lessons and to the English Department. He successfully completed his NQT year and thoroughly enjoyed engaging in the range of literature he was teaching with the boys. Charlie also made vast contributions to the Other Half, supporting CCF and sailing as well as rugby on a regular basis. He was also a committed boarding tutor who worked hard to get to know his fourth year tutor group and build excellent relationships in the house. We wish him the very best of luck as he continues his teaching career in London. Joanna Bridgeworth Nathan Jones Nathan Jones came to Abingdon in September 2016. He has completed his NQT year in the Mathematics Department teaching several classes and getting involved with sport in school. He is a keen runner and completed the Oxford Half Marathon in an impressive time. He has also been helping with the Cross Country, Squash and Athletics Clubs. Nathan has been a very good tutor and has worked hard to get to know his tutees. We wish him well as he embarks upon a career in the financial sector. Samantha Coull John Davies John Davies arrived in January 2015 as Abingdon’s first Director of Teaching and Learning and, as such, had the advantage and responsibility of defining properly what that role should be. By the time he left in August 2017, we all had a very powerful sense of what the position could do for us. One of his defining qualities when at Abingdon was an evangelistic promotion of teacher improvement as an essential priority for all schools - it does not matter how long a teacher has been teaching, they always have something to improve on. In pursuing this, his own research was very evident - he was a very wide reader of up-to-date educational theory and, crucially, highly astute in divining what of it was actually useful and applicable to Abingdon’s context. His gentle approach to improvement following the coaching model proved very successful in making teachers not feel threatened by his approach but very strongly supported and appropriately challenged and was also central to his success. He created some systems where they were needed, but was sure to create those as a collaborative effort with groups of leaders, so that the final products already had a wide endorsement and he led on the substantial change to teacher appraisal that is now in its first year of implementation. Beyond his restless and roaming role prodding and poking teachers into self- reflection and improvement, John was also in the English classroom as a teacher himself and, of course, set the highest standards there too. On the pastoral side, he was a visiting boarding tutor in School House and contributed to sports coaching, from Rugby to Ultimate Frisbee, as well as impressing on the dance floor in Teachers Come Dancing! He is a man who likes to make himself busy. As a colleague, he was highly convivial - humorous, fun-loving and supportive - and as a friend I already miss him greatly. He left us for a Deputy Head Academic role at Kingswood School, Bath, and it will not be long, I suspect, before we see him moving into headship. I do hope that when he gets there, he will take some time to smell the flowers (and the baking bread) a little more. Graeme May James Green James started in the Art Department in September 2015 and quickly settled into life at Abingdon. He was both respected and liked by boys and teachers alike and he built up a particularly brilliant rapport John Davies