Abingdonian 2018

94 The Abingdonian It has been another very busy and successful year in Lower School and, as ever, it has been a great privilege to watch the boys develop, be it the first years adapting and settling in to life at secondary school or the second years taking on more responsibility and preparing for the move to Middle School. Toby Garbett, Olympic and double World Champion rower, was our guest speaker at the start of the year and told the story of how much work he had to put in to succeed in his chosen field. Under his guidance all the boys (and some of their tutors!) had fun working together on a partnered squats trust exercise and Jim Allen and Samuel Dominic got to take each other on in a triathlon changeover, complete with wetsuit and goggles, against the clock on stage. The next day saw the new first years bonding and listening well during a morning of team-building activities. There were plenty of early opportunities for Lower School boys to perform on stage this year in the musical and dramatic arenas. A joint production with Fitzharry’s School of Romeo and Juliet was a great success, while Black River Bridge , a specially commissioned piece about child soldiers during the American Civil War, allowed the boys to get stuck in to some loud action sequences set in the midst of battle, but also sensitively display the great cost of war. The Lower School musical ensembles went from strength to strength as the year went on and the boys were always in good voice when given the chance to sing at various concerts. The choral highlight of the year was undoubtedly the House Singing Competition – our rendition of I Just Can’t Wait To Be King from The Lion King was awarded joint third place by the judge, our best result for several years. The final moment when a stuffed cuddly Simba was lifted to the skies was carried off to perfection – and possibly helped lead to the judge’s charge that we were “almost too cute”! On the sporting front a successful rugby season saw plenty of victories for Lower School teams and a trip to Twickenham to watch England take on Samoa. It was particularly pleasing to welcome back Theo Brophy Clews OA to present the trophies at the annual rugby awards dinner. Theo is now a full-time professional at London Irish, having played rugby for Abingdon throughout his time here, starting in Lower School, and went on to captain England at U18 and U20 level. He had plenty of words of wisdom for the boys on how to make the most of their time playing together. Hearing from speakers like Toby and Theo really gave the boys the chance to see the ideal of “be the best you can be” being put into practice and a highlight of the Lent Term was having the opportunity to hear from another inspirational speaker in the shape of James Ketchell. In 2014, James Lower School