Abingdon Boarders' Handbook

Who will I be living with? House staff Living with you in the house will be several members of staff. Each Housemaster and their family live in one section of the house. There  are resident Tutors who also live in the house and other Tutors who live on the School site and do evening duty in each house.  Housemaster A Housemaster runs the boarding house. They are responsible for making sure that you are happy and successful while at Abingdon.  They are also responsible for discipline in the house. They will work with you to sort out your evening and weekend activities. They are  in charge of all of the house staff. If you have any problems your Housemaster is there to help you sort them out.  Tutors Each house has a number of Tutors. These are teachers who help the Housemaster run the house. They help supervise the house in  the evening and at weekends. You will be in a Tutor group that will be made up of some dayboys and some boarders. Your Tutor is  responsible for making sure you and the other boys in your Tutor group are happy and successful at school. Your Tutor will work with  your Housemaster to look after you. Your Tutor will be there to help you sort out any difficulties you have. You should make sure you  work hard to develop a positive relationship with your Tutor. You will also meet your Tutor for registration every morning. On a  Wednesday you will have a lesson with your Tutor and Tutor group, which will be aimed at giving you support, making you think about  things outside school, and helping you establish friendships with the other pupils.  House Matron One of the most important people in your life in the boarding house will be the house matron. The matron is responsible for running the  team of cleaners. She also makes sure that your clothes and bed linen are washed regularly. Most importantly she is someone you can  go to for help if you need help. She will be happy to talk with you, to help sort out any medical problems you have, mend your clothes  and many other things. It is really important that you are friendly and polite to the matron so make sure you always say hello and ask  how her day has been and say please and thank you when you ask for help.  Support Staff Running a school and a boarding house is a difficult job. As a result there are lots of support staff who are not teachers at the School  but who help us. These include the cleaners and the maintenance team who you will meet occasionally and who help keep your  boarding house and the school running smoothly.  Other pupils Each house has a great community of pupils who are all here to develop their academic understanding but also their broader social  skills and to educate themselves in the broadest sense. They all have their own interests and work hard to pursue them and make the  most of the opportunities offered by the school. Boarders come from all over the world and they get to know each other really well very  quickly. Although there are times when they disagree they learn to compromise and work out their differences. A key element in the  relationships between the pupils is that they are all thoughtful about each other and kind and considerate when dealing with other  pupils and also other people’s possessions. The house prefects are some of the leaders in the house and they have learnt to get the  best from life as a boarder. Prefects are senior boys who have shown that they are capable of handling responsibility, have good  leadership potential and are able to set an example for others. They are there to help you and the other younger boys during your time  at Abingdon.   Most boys at Abingdon School are dayboys. This means that they arrive at school in time for 8.35am and leave at 5.00pm every day.  There are nine senior houses in the school but only three of them are boarding houses where boarders live. All three of the boarding  houses have dayboys as well as boarders in them. There are parts of each boarding house that day boys can access and other parts  that they can’t. Boarders and day boys share classes and Tutor groups so they are quick to get to know each other and to make  friends.  4