Abingdon News No.58

www.abingdon.org.uk 25 Abingdon News Connecting parents, supporting school life A warm welcome to all new parents to the School and welcome back to those whose boys are returning for their next year. As ASPA, we will continue to connect parents and bring them together with the wider Abingdon School community. As well as being social we also arrange fundraising activities that all members of the school community can join. Although Covid-19 has restricted so many of our plans and activities, we are looking forward to 21/22 with renewed focus and vision. We send a HUGE thanks to Karen Hope who, after many years, has stepped down from ASPA and the Chair’s role. Her contribution has been invaluable, and I know her experience, leadership and good cheer will be sorely missed. We welcome Richard Stone as the new Chair. He has a son in Year 4 and as an OA, he brings a wealth of understanding of the School and has a clear vision and passion to support the School’s objectives. Annual AGM The AGM was held in May 2021. We welcomed Richard as Chair and Jay Hunt as Vice Chair. The other officers have kindly agreed to carry on their roles. We thank the officers and the year representatives for their continued voluntary support. How can you help? If you’d like to help out in any way, even as a one-off, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line at [email protected] Lower School canvases “Many thanks for this grant – I got a total of 15 canvasses which is enough to cover the whole of the main Lower School houseroom” - Mr Jenkins Geology “We have used all of these items already in our teaching and will continue to do so - being able to illustrate our teaching with real samples is amazing.” - Mr Pygott Geography Field Kit “These handheld units will be fundamental in supporting our A-level students in their independent investigations.” - Mr Stockdale D&T “Thanks to ASPA for their kind donation allowing us the opportunity to purchase a commercial quality vinyl plotter. This machine enables the boys to convert graphics or text that they have created on a computer into vinyl decals or transfers.” - Mr Hughes Vertical Garden Wall/ Biology “We have the hydroponics kit, and we are now trialling out which plants grow. We aim for it to be a focal point for the redevelopment of the Biology floor in the Yang Science Centre.” - Mr Whitworth Charity Quiz Working with the Charity committee ASPA helped run a fantastic family focussed quiz in May. The lower sixth students who ran it did a great job of compering and setting the questions. Great fun was had by all. Year events Our year reps have been setting up many informal ‘get togethers’ with parents, always with one eye on the Covid-19 restrictions. A bakery was over-run in June in Steventon as many third year parents met for the first time over coffee and cake! To connect to other parents please do use ClassList. Travel Awards Working with the OA Club committee ASPA has been able to award three boys with Travel Awards of £500 each, funded equally by the two organisations. Congratulations to: Tom Anderson - Volunteer Teaching Assistant at the Ocean of Light International School in Tonga. Lachlan Jones - Working on a coral nursery and restoration project with Marine Conservation Costa Rica . Alex Hankinson - Volunteering and expedition in Nepal with Raleigh International. ASPA grants We awarded several projects with grants in November 2020, a number of these are now coming to fruition.