Abingdonian 2017

107 www.abingdon.org.uk Staff Farewells with his GCSE boys. James’ artistic skills are outstanding and he would regularly set up his easel out in the art garden and would produce beautiful landscape paintings in his free periods. His knowledge of materials also extended into printmaking and ceramics and he was always willing to share ideas and techniques with others. James helped run numerous art clubs over the years, including Saturday workshops and these were all well attended and provided the boys a chance to improve and develop their skills. He was a calm and valued member of the department and we shall miss him hugely but wish him all the best at Bradfield School. Emily O’Doherty Oliver Pemberton Oliver Pemberton joined the Maths Department in 2015. He has completed his PGCE and NQT years with us and has developed into a confident teacher of Mathematics. He has an enthusiasm for problem solving and has enjoyed challenging his classes. He has been involved with CCF, attending field days and camps. Oliver is also a keen rower and was often to be found at the boathouse. He has also been a reliable boarding tutor, working with the boys in Crescent House. Oliver will be missed next year, as will his perfectly trained dog, Bagsie, who has been a hit with his classes and in the boarding house. He leaves us to take up an engineering post abroad for a year before attending Agricultural College. Samantha Coull Alex Stuart Alex Stuart joined the Maths Department in 2015. Although only at Abingdon for two years, he has made positive impacts across a wide area of school life. He has taught Mathematics in Middle and Upper School, organised the pupil of the fortnight initiative in the department, has the best decorated classroom and successfully ran the various team competitions, selecting teams and taking them to regional rounds, reaching the finals with the senior team last year. He has coached Lower School hockey teams but his real outdoor passion is working with all the D of E groups. He has been on every walking expedition at all levels, driving the minibus and collecting and dropping off staff members across the countryside. He leaves us now to return to Cokethorpe as their Head of Mathematics and we wish him well for the future. Samantha Coull Matthew Edgar Matthew Edgar joined the History Department in September 2013 straight from his PGCE course. Although a newcomer to the profession he quickly established himself as an effective classroom teacher. His no-nonsense approach ensured he had few problems settling in and it was quickly apparent that students enjoyed his classes. I always felt his Geordie accent helped him project more of a ‘hardman’ image than was possible with the normal BBC accents prevalent in the school and he was always happy to play up to this as the situation required. As a Lower School tutor the fact that (as Adam Jenkins noted) he was ‘both pedantic and a pedant’ certainly helped him manage what can sometimes be a chaotic year group with authority. This was always helpful on school trips where I could deploy Matt as the ‘enforcer’ if the antics of the boys seemed to be spiralling out of control. He helped out with D of E and his nickname of ‘firestarter’ in no way implied anything other than he was good at starting fires. Outside of school Matt was a keen guitarist and could rock a mean Led Zeppelin roadie look when he let his beard grow. He also was a massive fantasy/sci-fi James Green Matthew Edgar