Griffen 2014

20 Common Room Past & Present / Additional Information / The Loose Limbed Collective COMMON ROOM PAST & PRESENT From the Second Master With 929 boys in the School, due to a high demand at third year entry level, the academic year began in September 2012 with excellent exam results. The Head’s letters and our comprehensive website pay tribute to the boys’ achievements and in many aspects of the Other Half during the year. Significantly for the future development of the School, planning permission was granted for the Science Centre, for construction to begin in 2014, and the academic year ended with the School agreeing to lease Tilsley Park, just over one mile north of the School, to enhance the sporting provision for the School and the town from September 2014. Fittingly both were achieved in the year we were celebrating the 450th anniversary of John Roysse’s endowment. Common Room Leavers Hannah Allcock joined us as a teacher of English in September 2011 and was also the exchange co- ordinator. Sara Northey was a part-time teacher of History: her family were relocating. James Fox joined us as Director of Rowing from Winchester College in September 2012. He returned to Winchester in September 2013 as a housemaster. Mark Earnshaw, historian and erstwhile coach for the Great Britain rowing team, replaced him. Piers Taylor spent the year teaching chemistry and coaching rugby. James Barker , Upper Master, left to become Assistant Head at RGS, Worcester. In his three years he was responsible for a good number of innovations which included the redesign of the Westridge Room; he was heavily involved in helping an ever increasing number of boys with their applications to American Universities, and he transformed the Upper Sixth’s last day before revision leave into a wonderfully fitting occasion enjoyed by all. He was a firm guiding hand for those in the Upper School especially those who received extra academic guidance. Nick O’Doherty became Upper Master, and John Cotton a housemaster. David Wickes came to Abingdon in 2008 as Upper Master, and was promoted to Deputy Head Pastoral two years later. David was our guide and guru in all matters pastoral, taking on this huge responsibility with a lightness of touch and a seriousness of purpose. He was a constant and dynamic presence in the School: greeting the boys off the buses in the morning, guiding our reflections in Chapel services, running to the classroom to provoke historians into proper argument and going off to coach rugby to the highest level. Aside from all that, was his main job: working alongside all the housemasters and their teams to strengthen the pastoral provision. He left to take on the lead deputy head position at Warwick School. Mark Hindley, formerly a housemaster at Radley, joined the Senior Leadership Team as Deputy Head Pastoral. Many OAs will remember David Bickerton, physicist and master in charge of sailing, who came to Abingdon in 2001 and retired at the end of the summer term. Ever active on the water, David organised a multitude of trips, and expanded this to include sailing trips as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. Leo Dudin now leads sailing. As science co-ordinator David completed the detailed design of the new science centre. He was succeeded in this role by Richard Fisher, who will see our plans through to fruition. During the coming months much work will continue to secure the funding of this exciting project. David Dawswell Second Master