8 Sep 2017

WEEKLY MAILING

This week's mailing is:

Letters:

Notices:

Road Closure of Stert Street, Abingdon from Monday 18 to Friday 22 September 2017

Traffic in Abingdon will be affected by this road closure.  The road south out of Abingdon to Culham will, effectively, not be accessible to south bound traffic.  The diversion is to turn south from Ock Street along the road to Drayton, and then east through Sutton Courtenay.  Attached are maps supplied by Oxfordshire County Council. More will follow to parents by email from Tom Peeke of the joint bus service about the effects on School bus routes and timings.

Behaviour on the Buses

I am told that the Joint Bus Service is the biggest school bus service in the country, with over 1100 pupils from The Manor, SHSK and Abingdon using the bus service: Abingdon alone has over 650 boys using the Joint Bus Service. 

Most behave impeccably but there can be moments of poor behaviour, ranging from nagging irritations, such as the persistent leaving of litter on the floor and use of bad language, to the safety issue of boys not wearing seat belts. Inevitably the people who tend to bear the brunt of this bad behaviour are the drivers. The boys know our expectations of them, but please reiterate to your sons that they are representatives of Abingdon School and that they must behave accordingly. Equally it is a requirement, not an option, that they wear seat belts.

In the course of that conversation could you please also remind them that if they cannot adhere to the requisite standards of behaviour, then they will receive a Friday Detention. If they continue to misbehave, we reserve the right to ban them from the buses for a period of time, probably 3 to 5 days in the first instance. The level of the sanction will obviously be dependent on the severity of the offending behaviour.

Exam Remarks

Parents are asked to remind their sons that the deadline for exam remarks is fast approaching. Requests should be made by 3pm on Tuesday 19 September, and any requests received after will not be processed.  Rebecca Cottam will be available in her office in Park Lodge for pupils to make application. To contact Rebecca Cottam please email or call 01235 849035.

Chaplaincy Welcome Event for Parents – Thursday 12 October 7.45-9.15pm, Sports Centre, Hospitality Suite – from the Chaplain

Come and learn about the work of the chaplaincy at Abingdon and about Christian activities in the life of the school.  Our guest speaker will be Hugh Bradby.  Hugh served as a Headteacher for 21 years, first at an international school in India and then in Hoylake.  He currently serves as General Secreatry of TISCA (The Independent Schools Christian Alliance).  Hugh is also a trustee of Interserve and of the Association of Christian Teachers.  He is married to Ruth and they have three grown up children.

There will also be a presentation by Anthony Bewes.  Director of Lymington Rushmore, an organisation that supports the work of chaplaincies in independent schools and runs outstanding holidays and revision camps.  This will be a joint event with parents from St Helen and St Katharine.  Refreshments will be provided.  I look forward to seeing you.

Music

  • Joint Choral Society for Parents  – first rehearsal Wednesday 13 September at 7- 8.30pm in the CMR (below the chapel).  Come and sing in the school's Joint Choral Society! We are singing Mozart and Rutter under the direction of Dr Jason Preece. We join with pupils from both schools for a concert on Sunday 19 November in the Amey Theatre. Parents, Staff and Friends of the school are all welcome (no audition necessary). Please see the rehearsal schedule here.
  • Music lessons and ensemble rehearsals start from next week!  The boys should now know their teacher and the date and time of their music lesson. For parents of pupils new to the school (as well as old hands, perhaps), please encourage your sons to tell you when their music lesson is. They should have made a note of this on their music lesson card, in their Prep Diaries – or perhaps on a mobile device. Boys have been tasked to check their music lesson times and will have been emailed by Mr Fletcher-Campbell with their times for the first two weeks of term. They also need to check their teachers' timetables which are posted on the boards.

Abingdon News

The latest edition of the School's newsletter, Abingdon News, has been given to your son to bring home this week.  Boys who are full boarders will have a copy posted home.  The newsletter can also be viewed online.  Any feedback regarding school publications is very welcome, please email [email protected].[email protected]

The new Foundation video and keeping in touch 

We thought you might like to see the new Abingdon Foundation video and we also wanted to let you know that if you would like to keep in touch with all that goes on at Abingdon you can follow the school on social media.
 
Instagram: @abingdon_school
Twitter: @abingdonschool
Facebook @abingdonschool
 
To view the new school video please follow this link.

Weekly Mailing

We aim to send an email each Friday at 4.00pm which provides a link to that day's Weekly Mailing. All editions of Weekly Mailing may be found on the website, under the Information tab. We would encourage those who missed the link to view last Friday's Weekly Mailing, which was the first mailing of the term.

For Parents of 5th Year Pupils: COA Preview Programme – IMPORTANT INFORMATION

You will have previously received an email about the Preview career guidance programme designed and delivered by an external company called Cambridge Occupational Analysts. Preview is operated by Abingdon at a cost to parents and on an opt-out basis. The cost for a 5th Year pupil to participate is £79 (including VAT), which will be charged via your next school bill.  To read more about Preview, go to: https://www.abingdon.org.uk/coa_preview_programme.
If you do not wish for your son to participate in Preview, you may opt-out. To opt-out, a parent or guardian must email Michael Triff at [email protected] no later than midnight on Friday 15 September; otherwise, your son will be enrolled automatically in the Preview programme and the £79 charge will be made. We regret that refunds will not be possible after this date.

Come and experience Abingdon Sports and Leisure 

Family and friends, welcome! Abingdon School Sports Centre will be holding an Experience Day on Sunday 17 September 2017 from 11am-4pm.  Everyone is welcome. All the facilities will be open to view with a range of taster sessions for our brand new exercise classes, squash and climbing, fun in the pool with inflatables plus our bouncy castle and Zorb football games will be available to try out. EVERYTHING IS FREE!

  • You can also join the Abingdon Sports and Leisure Club – Memberships from £19.50 per month.
  • No joining fee and one month FREE if you sign up on the day*.
  • Membership includes: the completely refurbished Strength and Conditioning gym, exercise classes, squash, badminton, tennis and swimming. The weekly Tilsley Park Boot Camp is also free for members.

Click here to download the full Experience Day programme and for your chance to win a year's FREE membership to the Abingdon Sports and Leisure Club! 

Dropping off and collection of pupils by car

Parents are reminded not to drop off or collect boys from the Park Lodge area, or Lower Field car park, please. This is because the area is already busy with pedestrians, pupils and school traffic. We therefore ask that parents drop and collect boys in Park Crescent, operating a one-way system travelling clockwise past the private housing to the west of Albert Park, and ending up near the boarding houses. The Crescent ends at a cross roads, where halting is obligatory on these private roads. Wheel clamping operates on Park Road and Park Crescent, so you are advised not to leave a car unattended.

Food menu for the coming week: Week 2