This week's mailing is:
Letters:
- To parents of boys in First Year to Upper Sixth – SHSK Government Inspector Drama Rehearsal Schedule
- For parents of boys in Third, Fourth, Fifth and Lower Sixth – Geography Slovenia Trip
Notices:
Term Dates and Key Dates
Boys will be given a hard copy of the calendar at the start of term, but, for information for new parents, there is an online calendar which is kept regularly up to date. It is available from the front page of the website under 'Information'. In addition, there is a Term and Key dates page for 2019/20. This page highlights events such as parents' evenings, social evenings and evening presentations to parents.
End of Term Reports
These will be published to the parent portal over the weekend. If you cannot see the report on the portal by Monday 17 December, please contact [email protected] which is also the contact if you do not currently have a log on to the portal but think that you should have one.
Residential Trips 2019
The trips list has now been updated to include trips planned for the Michaelmas Term 2019, too.
Christmas Concert DVD Film
Many parents who attended the Christmas Concerts last week were able to place an order for a professional DVD recording of the Thursday evening concert, in a programme that included several of our senior ensembles. The programme is available here. If any other parent or guardian would like a copy, priced at £10, please click here to see the form and either send it to the Music Secretary by hand of boy, scan it and send to [email protected] or simply send her an email request. The cost will benefit the Japan Tour in 2019 and can be added to your school bill next term.
Holiday Reading
The English Department and the Library would like to encourage the boys to read for pleasure over the Christmas period. The following Christmas Cards suggest books the boys could try according to their age and interests:
Saturday Bus Service
This service will start on Saturday 12 January 2019. Please see the attached document which identifies the six different bus routes, including the individual stops and the designated times. We are very keen for as many boys as possible to use this service. It has been set up to ease the burden on parents of getting their sons to School for the inter School fixtures. There is no charge for this service.
The buses are scheduled to arrive at School at 11.30am, allowing the boys time to have lunch in the Dining Hall, have a brief team meeting, and depart for their fixtures on time. Those boys who are involved in home fixtures will be catered for and supervised until the start of their matches. This service applies to all boys involved in sport on a Saturday afternoon, whether it be in cross country, badminton, hockey, football or any other sport. If you would like to make any comment, or have any queries in this regard, please contact the Director of Sport and PE, Pete Bignell. If you intend to utilise this service, please ensure that you son is at the appropriate stop 5 minutes before the scheduled departure.
Inter School Fixtures
Abingdon has a strong tradition of participating in inter school fixtures across the age ranges. In recent years we have strengthened our fixture list, and been more ambitious in the schools we have been playing. Boys are expected to be available for matches against other schools unless specific permission has been sought from, and granted, by the Headmaster. Please avoid asking for leave of absence. Any request should be made well in advance, at least one week before the fixture. The Director of Sport and PE, Pete Bignell should be copied in on any such leave of absence request.
To assist parental planning, the Sport and Physical Education Department email teamsheets for each of the age groups to parents on a Thursday evening. This will be sent to the primary contact, which we have stored on iSams, our internal database.
It is vitally important that parents contact the appropriate member of staff in cases of illness on a Saturday morning so that replacements can be sought, and we do not end up in the embarrassing situation by being short of players to fulfil our fixtures. Sanctions will be applied to those boys who fail to comply with this request. Parents may also contact the Abingdon School Sports Centre Reception on 01235 849062 in case of any problems arising.
School Dress
Parents are asked to provide their growing sons with shirts sufficiently large for them to have their top buttons done up throughout the day. Boys may wear jumpers under their jackets, but they need to be dark blue, V-necked and without a zip. The exception, for the sixth form, is that their V-necked jumper may be monochrome and of sober colour. The full uniform list and dress code is on the website.
Middle School Scholars' Newsletter and Podcast
Please find attached the new Middle School Scholars' Newsletter, a termly, paperless newsletter, which showcases the best of independent thought and inquiry from some of our scholars. This issue has been written by our fifth year academic scholars, so please do take a moment to read. Johan Nerlov and Will Taylor have also produced their own short podcast review of the term, including a discussion on the rapid progression of technology, for which I've also included a link, and hope you enjoy that too.
To all Hockey Parents and Hockey Players
Please save the date Saturday 23 March 2019 for the end of season hockey dinner. This is a black tie event and usually books out very quickly. Tickets will be released in the new year.
New Year, New Courses
Join us for our brand new Street Cardio and Ballet Fit courses taking place in the New Year, taught by ex-professional dancer and now Principal of the renowned Abingon based Marsh Tompsett School of Dance, Selina Marsh. We are delighted to be able to offer you a buy one get one half price offer on these courses, so you can bring a friend or book onto the second course for half the price. Please click here to download the full details.
Abingdon Box Office
André Rieu: 2019 New Year's Concert From Sydney – 7pm, Saturday 5 January
Ruby Wax – How To Be Human: The Manual – 7.30pm, Tuesday 8 January
NT Live: Antony & Cleopatra – 7pm, Thursday 10 January
Next Term
Term begins on Tuesday 8 January 2019 at 8.35am with tutor time, followed by lessons from 9am. It will be a week B timetable.
