Abingdon Boarders' Handbook

What are the benefits of boarding? Friendship You will find that living in close proximity with other pupils  creates the conditions in which strong bonds of friendship  develop. Your room- and housemates will quickly become some  of your best friends. Our current boarders feel that one of the  best things about boarding is making friends for life.  Time The school day at Abingdon starts at 8.35am and ends at  5.00pm. During that time most pupils are very busy with their  academic lessons and “Other Half’ (extra-curricular)  commitments. When you add a bus journey of over an hour for  some pupils, to the beginning and end of the day, time becomes  a highly valuable commodity. As a boarder you will live in school  so have a much more relaxed pace of life. It also makes it much  easier for you to attend the many evening lectures, classes,  rehearsals and sports training sessions that take place. This is  especially beneficial if you are someone who is serious about art,  drama, music, rugby, cricket and rowing or about getting the  best possible grades.  Independence Over the course of your time as a boarder you will learn to  organise yourself and become far more independent. You will be  responsible for managing your own time, work and  commitments. As a result you will develop self-reliance and learn  to motivate yourself, valuable attributes once you move on to  university and the world of work after school.  Abingdon School  We believe Abingdon provides its pupils with a fantastic  education. Anyone who meets an Abingdon pupil is quick to  recognise this. Please browse our website, visit us for an open  day or arrange a tour if you don’t believe us. The only problem is  that not everyone lives close enough to Abingdon to join us as a  dayboy. Boarding allows you, wherever you live in the world or  the UK, to benefit from an Abingdon education either as a full  boarder, staying in school seven days a week, or as weekly  boarder, who can arrive on Monday morning and leave on Friday  evening staying just 4 nights in your boarding house. As a weekly  boarder, however, you are always welcome to stay until Saturday  afternoon and return on Sunday if you prefer.  Facilities As one of the 140 boarders at Abingdon you will also benefit  from being part of a much larger school. In the evening and over  the weekend you have access to fantastic facilities designed for  1000 pupils! The swimming pool, sports hall, fitness suite, music  school, library, tennis courts, squash courts, climbing wall and  dance studio, are all available for your use. In addition you have  access to the facilities of the House, which includes a kitchen,  games room, TV room, and computer room.  How can I cope with the challenges of boarding in a new school? Adjusting to a new life Everyone who moves into a new boarding school, from one  country to another or even from one part of the UK to Abingdon,  will need time to adjust to their new life. Before you leave home it  is normal to have very mixed feelings. One minute you might be  excited about the opportunities of a new life, the next minute you  might feel apprehensive or nervous. One thing you can be sure  of, every boy who is preparing to come to Abingdon to study is  having the same feelings; they are normal. On arrival in the new  country, there is usually a period where you feel very excited and  thrilled by all the new people you meet and things you see. Some  people then may feel sad and homesick, isolated or that they  don’t fit in. This is normal and is called culture shock. It takes  time to make new friends and to get used to the food, music,  sport etc. After about six weeks, you should be starting to feel  more at home. If you feel worried your Housemaster, your Tutor,  the matron and the prefects are there to help you. There is also a  school counsellor who you can contact if you would like to speak  to someone confidentially. Calling home is good but it is not  helpful if you spend so much time on the phone that you do not  make new friends here.  Language shock It may be that, like many of our boarders, English is not your first  language. Although your English is good and you have done well  to get selected to come to Abingdon, you will find it a bit of a  shock when you are suddenly in an environment where everyone  speaks English 24 hours a day. You may feel you do not  understand what is being said because people speak fast and  have a variety of accents. You need a period of time to adjust;  this is called ‘tuning in’ and usually takes about six weeks. Don’t  think you have suddenly lost all your vocabulary when you arrive.  Academic shock You are clever; you have passed all the tests to get selected to  come to Abingdon so we know you are ready for a challenge.  What you may find is that the way classes are taught is very  different to your last school or home country.   At Abingdon, teachers enjoy interaction in class. They judge their  students’ understanding and involvement by the questions they  ask and answer. It is considered good to be curious and even  critical. Having an opinion and being able to give reasons to  support your thoughts is very important. This may seem odd to  you at first. The teacher will not always tell you the right answer,  you will be expected to decide what you think is right and then  explain why. Sometimes students work in groups. This is not  easy, especially when not everyone comes from the same  country. Many people have had different experiences of school  in the past, making group work even more of a challenge. The  purpose of group work is to learn to work in a team and to  collaborate. This is a skill you will need in your working life in the  future. Being in a group allows you to practice skills like leading,  negotiating, encouraging, motivating, organising and  co-operating. Sometimes there are conflicts in groups; learning  to deal with these is also part of becoming a socially adept adult.  You may not be used to reading or writing extended passages.  Your teachers know this and will guide you to the skills you need.  The EFL and SEN departments are also there to help you learn to  write in an academic style. Teachers at Abingdon know that you  are making probably the biggest change in your life by coming  here to board. It is important not to be silent if you are finding  things difficult; tell your Tutor or Housemaster. They can arrange  extra support for you.  3