Abingdonian 2020

92 The Abingdonian problems through to setting up a firefly page. We liked him and he liked us so much that he gave us another year of his time. In retirement Pete is looking forward to spending more time out sailing as well as continuing to train and walk his dog Rosie - although I suspect it won’t be long before another school is tempting him back with a further offer of work. Ben Simmons Helen Wenham Helen Wenham joined Abingdon School in September 2014 directly from the International School of Paris. Swapping the glamorous left bank of the Seine to the right bank of the Thames may have come as a shock but she quickly adjusted to life at Abingdon. I was not surprised as she had been extremely accomplished at interview. In fact making a short list on Skype of potential applicants for the post was the first time I had interviewed someone online or used video conferencing (something we are now all wearily familiar with) and I was not sure how it would work but Graeme May and I both agreed we could have probably appointed her just on the strength of her online interview. This was confirmed when she arrived at the school the next week. She gave the best interview lesson I had ever seen and was appointed. Helen had done lots of interesting things before arriving at Abingdon. After studying History at Cambridge University she had taught for a couple of years and then worked as Schools Officer for the Museum of London before moving to Paris to teach there. She rapidly established herself as a popular and engaging teacher with lots of interesting ideas about how to liven up the curriculum and teach the skills that she felt our students needed to become better historians. She taught across the year groups but her particular expertise was teaching the American Civil Rights course to the sixth form and she managed to cajole even our most socially unaware students into enjoying some fairly niche topics from the course over the years she taught it. As well as teaching Helen threw herself into the Other Half. She set up a Gospel Choir society that met on Friday afternoons and performed at various school functions in a scarily professional way and also got involved in coaching football and running the Eco-Committee with genuine enthusiasm (something I do not feel she felt for the charity walk she organised a couple of times). She also joined the department trips to the Battlefields and Berlin which I think she enjoyed on everything but the dietary level. In fact, she would often complain vocally about the lack of salads and healthy food on offer as we tucked into another meal of chicken and chips. Helen had a very wide range of snack options for all occasions and we as a department were very much involved in the whole process of Helen’s consumption of them - I will miss hearing her contemplating them on the long bus journeys to Ypres or Hampton Court Palace. Her children Holly and Edward (or the ‘goon squad’ as she fondly titled them) were also lively and regular visitors to the department and I am sure are still keeping her busy, especially in lockdown. Helen always had something of a restless spirit and clearly wanted to try other types of schools and jobs rather than just settling at Abingdon School for the duration (unlike some of us). She applied for one of the ADTL positions as soon as they were advertised and enjoyed it, but I think was sometimes frustrated by the various limitations of the role at Abingdon. She decided to take a gap year to see what she wanted to do and at the end of it has decided not to come back. This is a shame as she is a natural teacher and was great to work with. However I am sure she will end up coming back into teaching in one way or another as I believe she will miss it - until then we wish her all the best in whatever she does. David McGill Victoria Griffiths Victoria Griffiths joined the Physics Department in 2013 from Our Lady’s, Abingdon. She is hugely hard working and has always put in more hours than being part-time requires due to her caring nature and always wanting to do the best for the students. Over the past seven years she has inspired many boys to continue with the subject at university and they look back fondly on her lessons. Whilst the pupils are grateful to her, the rest of the teachers in the Physics Department will miss her the most. As Second in Physics, she has helped shape James Green