11 Jan 2024

WEEKLY MAILING

Message from the Head

Dear Parents

I hope the Christmas break offered you an opportunity for some rest and relaxation and that 2024 has started well for you. 2024 has been termed the Year of Democracy with just under half the world’s population taking part in elections over the next twelve months. I know that many of our students have a keen interest in current affairs and will be following events closely; we certainly want to encourage them to be active participants in the democratic process. I’m sure the Paris Olympics will also be a particular highlight of 2024 and hopefully a successful one for Team GB…

Here at Abingdon the term has started positively and I’d like to commend our 5th Year pupils in particular for the focus and commitment that they have shown in their mock GCSEs so far this week. It’s not an easy way for them to start the term but the experience of doing their mocks will undoubtedly stand them in good stead when it comes to the real thing this summer.

We are also looking forward to welcoming candidates to our 11+ entrance assessments which take place this Saturday. I’m grateful to my colleagues who will be supervising and marking these tests, as well as to the group of Sixth Formers who’ll be in to help look after the candidates on the day.

Best wishes, Mike Windsor

 

UPPER SCHOOL

  • 6th Form Parents: Gap Year Advice Evening Webinar, Tuesday 23 January 2024, 7.00-8.15pm, on Zoom
    • Is your L6 or U6 child thinking – even remotely – about taking a Gap Year? If they are, this is an event they and you will not want to miss. You both are invited to attend a Gap Year Advice Evening Webinar on Tuesday 23 January 2024, 7.00-8.15pm on Zoom. The event is being co-hosted by Abingdon School and St Helen and St Katharine and is open to all students in the OX14 Learning Partnership. The webinar starts with a brief presentation on electing, planning, and managing a Gap Year. This is following by a further presentation from Independent Gap Advice (https://independentgapadvice.org/) on travel abroad during a Gap Year. Then, a panel of school leavers from Abingdon School and SHSK will share their individual stories of what they did during their Gap Year and how they felt about the choices they made. This will be followed by a Q&A session for any of the speakers or panellists. To attend, you must register in advance: bit.ly/GapYearAdvice2024.  Questions?  Contact Michael Triff on [email protected].
  • Parents of 4th to U6 students: Careers Leading from the Study of Geography, Monday 29 January 2024, 4.10-5.05pm, Lecture Theatre, Duffield Library, St Helen and St Katharine
    • All Geography students in Years 10, 11 and Sixth Form have been invited to attend this event to gain insights into how knowledge and skills developed through the study of Geography open doors to all sorts of different professions. The event begins with a brief presentation on the range of professions geography students can access and is followed by presentations from a panel of Abingdon School and St Helen and St Katharine leavers who studied Geography at A-Level and then university and are now working in a range of professions. They will explain how their study of Geography prepared them for their chosen career, and how they use the knowledge and skills of a Geographer in their current jobs. Students should book in advance at: bit.ly/OX14-GeographyCareers. Questions? Contact Michael Triff at [email protected].

MIDDLE SCHOOL

  • 5th Year Parents: Parents’ Evening Letter
  • 5th Year Parents: Summer Work Experience Placements:
    • If your 5th year child has already applied for, and even secured, an online or in-person summer work experience placement, please praise them for their initiative! The ‘early bird catches the worm’ when it comes to summer work experience, especially at employers with popular schemes. If your child has not yet applied for a summer work experience placement, please encourage them to do so…and soon. The late winter/early spring period is when many schemes are advertised, and there is a special page on Firefly (the pupil intranet) with links to employers who offer online and in-person placements. Of course, your child can also approach employers of interest who don’t run formal schemes, but may be happy to host a placement from time to time.  Parents are strongly advised to download from this web page a checklist of things to consider when preparing for their child’s work experience placement. Your support and encouragement is very much appreciated. Michael Triff, Head of Career Guidance.
  • Parents of 4th to U6 students: Careers Leading from the Study of Geography, Monday 29 January 2024, 4.10-5.05pm, Lecture Theatre, Duffield Library, St Helen and St Katharine
    • All Geography students in Years 10, 11 and Sixth Form have been invited to attend this event to gain insights into how knowledge and skills developed through the study of Geography open doors to all sorts of different professions. The event begins with a brief presentation on the range of professions geography students can access and is followed by presentations from a panel of Abingdon School and St Helen and St Katharine leavers who studied Geography at A-Level and then university and are now working in a range of professions. They will explain how their study of Geography prepared them for their chosen career, and how they use the knowledge and skills of a Geographer in their current jobs. Students should book in advance at: bit.ly/OX14-GeographyCareers. Questions? Contact Michael Triff at [email protected].
  • 5th Year Parents: Elevate Revision Workshop
    • Elevate is a company that supports students in a wide number of schools with their revision. They will be coming into Abingdon later in the term to run a revision workshop for all our 5th year students.  They also run regular free 60-minute webinars for parents offering advice on how parents can support students with their revision and exam preparation.  A number of Abingdon parents attended these webinars last term.  At the start of this new term, their latest programme is below:
      • 1. How To Help Your Child Improve Their Note Taking – Tuesday 23 January, 6pm
      • 2. How You Can Make Technology an Ally (& Not the Enemy!) – Tuesday 6 February, 6pm
      • 3. How You Can Help Your Child Prepare for Exams – Tuesday 5 March, 6pm
      • 4. How You Can Support Your Child During Exams – Tuesday 19 March, 6pm
      • These free webinars are run by Elevate so if you would like to attend, you need to use this LINK to sign up.

WHOLE SCHOOL

  • Abingdon News: The latest issue of Abingdon News is now available to read here.
  • Snow:
    • Parents are reminded that, should we have to close for day pupils, we aim to send a text message and an email to parents by 6.45am.  However, we would expect to have been able to advise of the possibility of any disruption the day before.  There would also be messages on the front page of the website.
    • The school will remain open for boarders.   Therefore day pupil parents who need their child/ren to be supervised can send them into school to the Library (with laptop and headphones), assuming it is safe to do so and they are confident that they can be picked up safely.   Please email me ([email protected]) for each day that your child is attending.
    • Work will be put on pupils’ Firefly accounts for the lessons they would usually have on that day.   Should disruption continue for more than a day, we would expect to move to a ‘remote learning’ model (e.g. lessons on Zoom) starting on day 2 of the disruption.
    • Parents can check the status of the Joint Bus Service here (updates will be clearly posted as banners on the Vectare website).  Updates, including disruption on specific routes or changes to afternoon bus departures, will also be sent by text message and by email to parents directly from Vectare.
  • From the Head of Wellbeing and PSHCE/RSE: 
    • Dear Parents and Carers, please refer to THIS link for details of the 2024 RSE/PSHCE curriculum for your child for the rest of this academic year.  Best wishes for 2024.
  • From the Deputy Head Pastoral, Helen Keevil, to parents of users of the Joint Bus Service (JBS):
    • May I take this opportunity to wish you all a happy new year for 2024. Those students arriving on buses in the morning using the JBS service have been reminded by Tom Peeke to bring their cards with them to enable a more effective tap on and off process this term. The company has trialled this reminder during the first week back as passengers travel to and from home.
    • Similarly for bus passengers, we will now be signing in late arrivals using the JBS cards and/or tapping in on the visitors’ screen at Faringdon Lodge rather than walking across campus to sign in manually with the Attendance Secretary.
    • From Monday morning if your child arrives late on a school bus (after 8.55am so misses tutor time attendance) they will be registered at Faringdon Lodge and should proceed to period 1. Rest assured that late arrivals due to the JBS service will not affect your child’s attendance record.
    • We are monitoring attendance and punctuality closely this term, whilst remaining mindful that Oxfordshire traffic and weather conditions can cause significant disruption, which is out of our control.
    • Many thanks for your support on this initiative.
  • Music:
  • Reminder from the Chair of ASPA, Richard Stone:
  • Reminder from the Chair of Touchliners, Mark Noctor: Touchliners Annual Dinner, Saturday 3 February 2024
    • Our Touchliners Annual Dinner is on Saturday 3 February and we’re excited to be holding it, for the first time, in the new Pavilion dining and event space! Touchliners is a parent led support group for the school rugby club and the evening is always great fun, and a vital fundraiser for the Abingdon school rugby community.  Many tickets have already been sold but if you haven’t got yours yet, we would love to invite you along to meet new rugby supporter parents or old friends from the touchline from all age groups.  The black tie evening (for parents only) begins with drinks at 7pm and then continues with a three course dinner.   We’re delighted that this year’s guest speaker is former England international, Mark Cueto MBE.   To reserve places at the price of £75 per ticket, please complete this form https://forms.gle/PyTUx2zCsBiwc8mx9 as soon as possible.
  • OX14 Learning Partnership Upcoming Events
  • News from the week
  • Food menu for the following week – Week 2
  • School calendar
  • Weekly mailing archive
  • Box Office:   
  • Bookings now open for our Elite Athletic Development for Rugby Camp – February half term.
    • Based at Abingdon School Sports Centre.  Monday 12 – Thursday 15 February (8.30am – 4.00pm on each day). Participants aged 8 to 15 years
    • This camp is designed to teach aspiring young athletes to move correctly, efficiently and safely, while building full body strength and balance. Participants will be shown how to fuel themselves with the correct nutrition, to breathe correctly and to help them to achieve a mindset for a happy, positive and successful sporting career. This camp includes:
      • Fundamental rugby skills and game-play
      • Sprinting technique
      • Agility, movement and proprioception
      • Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
      • Core strength and stretching
      • Correct breathing patterns and techniques for physical and mental health, as well as helping to reduce anxiety
      • Mindfulness, mindset, goal setting and visualisation techniques
      • For further information and to book, please click here.