9
School House staff
Mr Swanwick, his wife Sue, their
daughter Sadie, son Rex and their dog,
Buster all live in their residence within
School House. There is also a resident
tutor who lives in a flat on the top floor
of the house.
School Prefects and pupils
School House has a great community
of pupils who are all here to develop
their academic understanding but
also their broader social skills and to
educate themselves in the broadest
sense. They all have their own
interests and work hard to pursue
them and make the most of the
opportunities offered by the school.
School House boarders come from all
over the world and they get to know
each other really well very quickly.
Although there are times when they
disagree they learn to compromise
and work out their differences. A
key element in the relationships
between the pupils is that they are all
thoughtful about each other and kind
and considerate when dealing with
other pupils and also other people’s
possessions. The house prefects are
some of the leaders in the house and
they have learnt to get the best from
life as a boarder. In addition there
are dayboys who spend time in the
house between 8.30am and 5.15pm
during the week. Like the boarders
they are friendly and work hard to
be respectful of everyone else in the
house. Boarders and dayboys share
classes and tutor groups so they are
quick to get to know each other and
to make friends.
Boarders and dayboys
Most boys at Abingdon School are
dayboys. This means that they arrive
at school in time for 8.35am and leave
at 5.00pm every day. There are nine
houses in the school but only three
of them are boarding houses where
boarders live. All three of the boarding
houses have dayboys as well as
boarders in them.
There are parts of School House that
dayboys can access and other parts
that they can’t. You will also find that
Who will I be
living with?
in your tutor group there will be a mix
of dayboys and boarders. This means
that you get lots of opportunity to get
to know and befriend the dayboys.
Housemaster
Your housemaster is Mr Swanwick
and he runs the boarding house. He
is responsible for making sure that
you are happy and successful while at
Abingdon. He is also responsible for
discipline in the house. He will work
with you to sort out your evening and
weekend activities. He is in charge of
all of the house staff. If you have any
problems Mr Swanwick is there to
help you sort them out.
Tutors
School House has a number of tutors.
These are teachers who help the
housemaster run the house. They help
supervise the house in the evening
and at weekends.
You will be in a tutor group that will be
made up of some dayboys and some
boarders. Your tutor is responsible for
making sure you and the other boys
in your tutor group are happy and
successful at school. Your tutor will
work with Mr Swanwick to look after
you. Your tutor will be there to help
you sort out any difficulties you have.
You should make sure you work hard
to develop a positive relationship with
your tutor.
You will also meet your tutor for
registration every morning. On a
Wednesday you will have a lesson
with your tutor and tutor group, which
will be aimed at giving you support,
making you think about things outside
school, and helping you establish
friendships with the other pupils.
House Matron
One of the most important people in
your life in theboardinghousewill be the
housematron. Thematron is responsible
for running the team of cleaners. She
also makes sure that your clothes and
bed linen are washed regularly. Most
importantly she is someone you can go
to for help if you need help. She will be
happy to talk with you, to help sort out
any medical problems you have, mend
your clothes and many other things. It
is really important that you are friendly
and polite to the matron, so make sure
you always say hello and ask how her
day has been and say please and thank
you when you ask for help.
Support Staff
Running a school and a boarding
house is a difficult job. As a result
there are lots of support staff who are
not teachers at the school but who
help us. These include the cleaners
and the maintenance team who you
will meet occasionally and who help
keep your boarding house and the
school running smoothly.
