The Abingdonian 2019

9 www.abingdon.org.uk Michaelmas Term outcomes. I am delighted with the work that they have all presented for our exhibition at the Celebration of the Arts festival. This year we have had five A-level students moving on to some of the top universities to study fine art, product design and architecture. They have done exceptionally well to meet the examination board’s assessment criteria. The GCSE boys also displayed some very high quality work. Their exam topic this year was Reflection. Some highlights from their exhibition included a sculpture of a fish made from sunglass lenses and exceptional photography albums. I also feel the quality of drawing and recording has improved at the school. The Celebration of Art was well attended by parents and students, and the teachers across all the arts subjects exhibited some brilliant student work. The events this year at Beech Court have helped strengthen the importance of creativity. We are positively moving forward at Abingdon School. In September we are planning to increase our Other Half provision with clubs that will encourage all ages and ability levels. The students will have to book their places quickly to join the likes of Smart Phone Photography, Doodle Book Architecture and our Up-cycling club. I would like to thank all students, parents and teachers for their support this year. Paul Williamson In this past school year we have learnt a variety of exciting skills including painting, drawing and making clay models of aliens. Personally, my favourite artwork was drawing my shoe. For the first attempt we had no help. The second time round we could help each other, and finally we were shown how to draw and shade it accurately. After we had finished our shoe I developed it into a painting. We also created a shoe cast out of cling- film and sellotape. I really enjoy studying other artists’ work and working out ways they could influence my own projects. I can honestly say I have improved my artistic skills a lot at Abingdon School. grounds from the top floor, and also lend a hand in lighting the large space. The classrooms transitioned from their traditional school look into resembling a museum or gallery, meaning doing work in there felt a lot more of a privilege. A lot more artwork is on display in the new department too, which means you can get much more of an idea of what is being produced by all of the different years. The glass cabinets around the department holding various sculptures and intriguing three-dimensional forms again give the feeling of an exhibition all year round. The desks in the classrooms are very large and spacious, which means you can make a space for yourself within lessons and don’t feel at all claustrophobic. The Sixth Form studio also looks outstanding, and although I have not yet had the chance to use it as I am in Middle School, doing so is something I am looking forward to taking advantage of next year. Sam Penrose, 5AMB I am also doing a lot of independent project work and enjoy art very much. Roddy McVie, 1SCVM My experience in the new Art Department this year has been very positive. I have been at the school since Lower School, so having spent four years in the old department it was a shock to move to a new building, though it soon felt very familiar. We moved into the department at the perfect time for my year as we were in the second year of GCSE coursework, which meant we were going to be in the department a lot more. The modern and minimal look of the whole of Beech Court is very appealing, but the Art Department’s studio-like lighting and clean, white architecture was most stunning to me. Whereas the old art classrooms had felt small and somewhat dark, the new build felt very open and bright, which made spending time there a much better experience. The many large windows and skylights give a remarkable view of the school