This week’s mailing is:
Letters:
- To parents of Second year pupils – Preference for Third year subjects
- To parents of Third and Fourth year pupils – PSHCE Programme of Study, Summer term 2021
- To parents of Third, Fourth and Fifth year pupils – Ski trip to Les Deux Alpes, February 2022
- To parents of Abingdon Tennis players – High Performance Tennis Academy
Notices:
From the Headmaster to all parents:
Dear Parents
The happy confluence of Weekly Mailing with St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday, as well as the return to school after the holiday, is as good an excuse as any to quote the Bard:
From you I have been absent in the spring,
When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in everything,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him.
The return of pupils to the school site after the Easter break has certainly ‘put a spirit of youth in everything’ at Abingdon and it’s been a joy to hear the sounds of our students enjoying one another’s company around school this week. The fine weather has ensured a great start to the term and we are looking forward to our first cricket fixtures since 2019 this weekend; another small step on the return to normality.
Certainly life is feeling more normal in and around school but I would like to remind you that we strongly encourage pupils who are in the UK to sustain a regular Covid testing regime (twice a week, e.g. Wednesday and Sunday evenings). These tests play a valuable role in preventing cases developing in school and provide significant reassurance for pupils, staff and families who are anxious about Covid. Results should be reported to the School and to the NHS.
I hope all Abingdon families are able to enjoy the weekend. I fear it may not be an easy couple of days for the Windsor family as my hometown club, Bristol Rovers, look set to be relegated to the depths of League Two, unless we can pull off a miracle of which St George himself would be proud. Fingers crossed for the great escape…
Best wishes, Mike Windsor
Term dates 2022-23
Term dates for 2022-23 can be found here.
Study Leave for 5th Years during assessment week
From Tuesday 4 – Wednesday 12 May, the 5th Year will be sitting assessments in their GCSE subjects. There will be two sessions in the morning and one afternoon session. Students will not have assessments in every session. (They have all received an individualised timetable.). If they do not have an assessment during a session, the students are not required to be in school and they may revise at home on study leave. However, if they use the bus service and are in school for the whole day, there will be timetabled rooms for quiet study and revision for all of their free sessions. If students have a free session in the middle of the day, they must make use of the rooms allocated for private study. They may not go around the school or leave the school site and go into town. I hope this clarifies the arrangements.
Visitors to the school campus – Covid 19 restrictions
Unfortunately, Covid-19 restrictions mean that we cannot allow visitors, including parents, onto the school site at the moment. We are very much looking forward to the time when parents can come back into school for concerts, productions, fixtures and events. We will let you know as soon as this is possible. If you would like to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns then your first port of call should be your child’s tutor.
Annual Data Check
The Annual Data Check forms will be sent on Wednesday 28 April via iSAMS email, please complete and submit by Friday 14 May. The Data Check is an online process that takes a few minutes to complete.
Music:
For parents and friends of the school, here is a round-up of our music events in the coming term.
- Solo Concert Platform 5, Wednesday 12 May, 6pm – online and streamed (recordings to Michael Stinton and Adam Treadaway by 5pm on 5 May). Our final solo platform of the academic year gives an opportunity to a group of young solo performers. Please contact the box office for a link to the “live stream” – or wait to view on the website at the end of the week.
- Lower School Gala Concert, Thursday 17 June, 6pm – Venue TBC – Amey Theatre or online. Lower School Choir, Lower School Band, Ensembles and Solos. This may also be an online only event – but perhaps in school and socially distanced in the theatre. The concert gives the younger musicians a chance to show what they can do, either as soloists or in ensembles. If it’s online, please apply to the box office for the link to the recording/live-stream.
- Summer Concert, Thursday 1 July, 7pm – Venue TBC (Amey Theatre or online). This will be a final musical fling for our distinguished leavers – the concert will either be in school or online via a link from the box office.
- Celebration of the Arts “All but Classical”, Monday 5 July, 5.30pm, Yang Science Centre forecourt or online. Again, we hope that this outdoor performance of Jazz/Gospel/Blues can be seen and heard live – this time outside the Yang Science Centre adjacent to Waste Court Field. Otherwise, online, in what has now become time-honoured fashion.
The John Rayson (OA 1942) Award
All current pupils of Abingdon School are eligible to apply for the John Rayson Award, a memorial to the late John Rayson (1924-2012), an Old Abingdonian (1942) who gave a lifetime of service to Abingdon School. The award, which carries a value of £250, will be given to a current pupil to help fund a personal project/experience that embodies the defining characteristics of John Rayson himself – adventure, courage and resilience coupled with service, loyalty and commitment. Further information, and a link to the application form, is available here. Application forms must be submitted no later than Saturday 1 May 2021.
ASPA / OA Club Travel Awards
ASPA and the OA Club have joined forces to offer travel awards to upper and lower sixth pupils undertaking some form of UK or overseas travel and activity either during the summer or in their gap year. The awards range from £50 to £500 depending on the activity and its benefits. Further details, and the conditions attached to the awards, can be found here. Application forms must be submitted no later than Saturday 1 May 2021.
Abingdon News – the School’s newsletter
The latest edition of Abingdon News is out now with a round up of all the news from last term plus interesting insights into the Drama department, the Schools Clean Air Monitoring Project, wellbeing tips and a look behind the fall of the Berlin Wall with Frau Von Widdern.
There’s an impressive range of news, from Olympiad and other competition successes to DT innovation. Alongside music and sport you can also read the latest updates from the OA Club, Abingdon Development, ASPA and the Abingdon archivist. Please take a look: Abingdon News. Hard copies of Abingdon News will be given to students in the First, Second and Third Years and posted to families of boarders.
The Changing Face of Biology – school blog
Simon Bliss who teaches biology has written this fascinating blog about how biology has changed over recent years and how teaching has adapted to suit. A very interesting read.
ASiP Presents, Emotional Wellbeing For You and Your Family – Wednesday 19 May 2021 at 7:30pm
We are hosting this parent webinar on Wednesday 19th May with 2 special guest speakers, Natasha Devon MBE and Kate Silverton. They will be sharing advice for parents/families on not only looking after our children’s wellbeing and understanding the early signs of mental health difficulties, but how to look after our own wellbeing as parents and working against toxic feelings of shame and guilt. It is a free event exclusively for the parent/carers of our 6 partnership schools. We only have capacity for 500 attendees, so it will be first come, first served. You can book your place here.
Abingdon Box Office:
Second Hand Uniform Shop (SUS)
SUS will be opening every Wednesday and Saturday during term time from Wednesday 21 April. Dates and times are available here. Please note that only three people are allowed in the shop at any one time and masks must be worn.
Young Enterprise – Sustainable Signs
We are a group of 4th year students involved in the Young Enterprise entrepreneur programme with a mission of making sustainable wooden products available to all, in order to do our bit to help the environment.
Currently, we offer to you bespoke wooden signs, customisable with text of your choice and inscribed by hand by ourselves, made from quality wood sourced from old pallet wood from the School and FSC-certified plywood, for just £8.99.
Please visit our website at woodstuff.org.uk for more information and to place an order, simple as that.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected], we will always be friendly to assist you.
Check out and follow our social media at https://linktr.ee/WoodStuff for regular blogs/posts about protecting our planet, and inspirational tips on how you could do your bit to save the rainforests, or simply by ordering one of our eco-friendly signs for your bedroom or office door.
News from the Week:
Food Menu for the coming week – Week 2
School Calendar
Please continue to consult the School Calendar for up to date information.
Here is the link to previous weekly mailings.
