Abingdonian 2018

98 The Abingdonian didn’t make sacrifices. During her time at Abingdon, she has also led the sixth form, covering for a sabbatical absence. In this role, as well as her tutoring, Nicky gained great satisfaction from mentoring students in their ambitions outside of economics. In her final year, Nicky took on the lead role in University Admissions. Nick O’Doherty Dan Mason Dan Mason joined the Physics Department in January 2015 bringing with him great enthusiasm and a catalogue of inspiring teaching ideas. The most prominent of these is “The Table Game” combining the tactics of “Risk” with competitive physics questions - many a class of students have left Abingdon School remembering this along with the care and commitment he showed to their education. In his final year at the school he held the role of second in physics, pushing initiatives to further develop the teaching and learning in the department and encourage others to be innovative. Outside the classroom Dan contributed to the running of the Masters’ Common Room as President of the MCR where he has represented the views of all members of teaching and support staff. He has also dedicated a huge amount of time to the Other Half throughout his time here. He coached swimming sessions several times per week but perhaps will be remembered more for his management of the 4th XI football team. He took the running of this almost as seriously as a professional manager, taking video analysis, producing videos and photos of the highlights of each game, and even forming a management committee. Dan moves back to Cokethorpe School as Director of Digital Learning. He will be sorely missed as a member of the Physics Department where he has been an excellent colleague, mentor and friend to those who have worked with him. Ben Simmons Claire Vickers Claire Vickers joined the English Department in 2014 having previously taught English at Godolphin and Latymer School. Claire was a super asset to the English Department, with boys’ academic achievement always at the forefront of her mind. Her lessons were engaging and highly intellectual, displaying her passion, enthusiasm for, and impressive knowledge of the subject, particularly at A level. Her willingness to support the English Department on a wider scale by running additional classes for boys was extremely well-received and she was highly thought of by staff and students alike. During her time here, Claire also took on the role of second in the English Department, where she assisted the team through the A level syllabus change. In December 2017, Claire left Abingdon to move to Canada with her husband, who was taking a sabbatical. Since then, Claire has returned to the UK and is now undertaking a Master’s degree in Psychology to complement her commitment to wider educational research and reading. We wish her all the very best for the future. Joanna Bridgeworth Ben Ponniah Ben Ponniah arrived at Abingdon to teach Economics and Maths in September 2013, having previously taught at Stowe and Ibstock Place. He quickly established himself as a dedicated teacher who had a gift for explaining concepts, and who was able to combine seriousness of purpose with a keen, but gentle, sense of humour. His desire to do his best by his students lay at the heart of his teaching practice: his high expectations meant that he always sought to ‘do things better’ and, for Ben, ‘good enough’ was simply never an option. Indeed, his industry was such that he could often be found in the common room marking his students’ scripts late into the evening and first thing in the morning (one wondered if he ever went home). He also spent hours editing the school’s Economics magazine Griffenomics, with each publication always being produced to a highly professional standard. This commitment to his students, his innate kindness and his strong subject knowledge were the hallmarks of his pedagogy; it commanded the respect of his pupils. Outside the classroom, Ben was heavily Claire Vickers Dan Mason