Abingdonian 2018

104 The Abingdonian the challenges of dealing with lessons that were being delivered in a language that was not their own, but also provided them with considerable guidance and emotional support as they got used to being in a country far from home with often inexplicably different customs and ideas. In 1999, at the suggestion of the then Head of English and through a desire to be more fully involved in the day to day life of the school, Sue became a Lower School tutor. Seeing English as a subject that was really beneficial in helping her get to know the boys under her care better, she requested to teach it to her tutor group, taking on her first 1W English class in 2001, and then gradually transfered to teach English full-time at all levels of the school. As an English teacher, Sue always made it clear to the boys that she had a very real love of reading and writing and was determined to pass this love on to them. She was a natural story teller and could effortlessly keep a Lower School group completely enthralled as she read to them from a well-chosen novel, that would often have a moral message that just happened to tie in with the various social issues that might be bubbling away between the boys. She was meticulous in her preparation, often working late in to the night to ensure that every lesson had a clear and easy to follow structure that would help the boys understand exactly what they had to do to meet the examiners’ requirements. Every single piece of prep that her classes produced was marked to within an inch of its life, with lots of detailed but concise advice on what was needed to take things to the next level, while apostrophes, semi- colons, and the dreaded comma splice were all effectively explained, explained again, and explained yet again until every boy, even the most punctuation-adverse in the room, could deploy them correctly. In her penultimate year at the school, Sue embraced the challenge of teaching A-level for the first time. As with everything else she did, Sue threw herself into to the task, quickly becoming expert in American Literature and its historical context. Her passion for the topic was infectious and inspired many boys to go on to read more by Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Steinbeck. The outstanding marks her students scored on their final exam papers were testament to her rigorous, academic approach. The Department will miss her passionate advocacy of the importance of English to the Abingdon curriculum, and remember her fondly as a kind and generous colleague who always put the interests of the boys first. Sue saw her role as a Lower School tutor as incredibly important, believing strongly in getting the youngest boys in to good routines from the very start of their time at Abingdon and instilling in them the values that would help them to be the best that they could be in school and, perhaps more importantly, in life in general. She was not afraid to discuss difficult ideas with them and was always ready to hold them to account when necessary, but she did so with such a light touch, often using literature as a medium, that the boys were quick to respond and reflect on where they had gone wrong. Sue was a highly regarded member of the Lower School tutor team, who was always happy to step in to help out with a supervised prep session or act as a sounding board for the latest crazy scheme of the Lower School Housemaster, and many of the younger tutors who have worked in Lower School over the years have benefitted greatly from her wisdom and experience. Every so often Sue’s very competitive side became apparent, be it when in a dragon boat on a PGL trip or when cheering her boys on in a tug of war competition, and the annual inter-tutor group public speaking competition was always an event that she particularly looked forward to, relishing the chance to watch the boys develop their ability to use the power of words effectively. Having helped out with a wide range of Other Half activities during her time at Abingdon, it was public speaking that became Sue’s main focus in the last few years as she took charge of the Lower School Debating Society and really made it her own, encouraging the boys to structure their arguments properly, with just the right level of subversive wit (something which Sue herself was somewhat expert at demonstrating, especially when faced with the latest technological fad!) and leading several successful trips to the Winston Churchill Public Speaking Competition at Blenheim Palace. No fewer than 10 Lower School tutor groups have had the good fortune to be known as 1W and it is clear from the number of times that Sue has been fondly mentioned to me at OA events in recent years that those generations that have now left the school and gone on to university and beyond still feel that they owe her a great debt for looking after them so well in their first two years at Abingdon. Sue leaves Abingdon for a very well- earned retirement, during which she plans to pursue her love of words through studying for a creative writing qualification in Oxford. We wish her every success and look forward to reading the fruits of her labour in due course. Adam Jenkins and Emma Williamson Sue Wigmore