Abingdon News No.58

www.abingdon.org.uk 3 Photo: Simon Berger Many thanks to Philip Kimber in the Fourth Year who delivered a meticulously researched and well-illustrated assembly for Pygott’s House on the politics of map projections and the importance of compromise. Cartography The Abingdon Apprentice Lower School Assistants Noah Chakravarti and James Healey have been running a Tuesday lunchtime activity for lower school boys inspired by the BBC’s, The Apprentice. Using just cardboard, the boys had to work in teams to design, make, and promote an innovative product which they pitched to Lord Sugar (aka Mr Jenkins). Lego Mindstorms Progress is well underway with building and programming robots in the Lower School Lego Mindstorms Club. Youth Climate Action Fourth year Lawrence Dew has set up a youth climate action group in his home town of Watlington. Lawrence set up the group for the volunteering element of his Duke of Edinburgh award. Talking to the local paper, The Henley Standard, Lawrence said, “I wanted to get more young people involved and to make the action group more welcoming for people my age. I’ve always been interested in nature and the environment and I think more and more people are now aware of the fact that our climate is not going in the right direction and it’s becoming even more important to care and do something about it.” Professor Sir Martin Landray Congratulations to OA Martin Landray on the knighthood he received in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to public health and science. Martin, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Oxford, is the Deputy Chief Investigator at RECOVERY, established in March 2020 to conduct randomised controlled clinical trials for the rapid evaluation of COVID-19 therapies. The discovery that Dexamethasone is an effective treatment was their first success followed by the announcement that the Regeneron antiviral treatment can reduce fatalities in patients who have no natural antibodies of their own. The importance of nature We marked Mental Health Awareness Week by recognising the importance to our mental health and wellbeing of being in nature. The Mental Health Foundation says that: “45% of us report that being in green space has been vital to our mental health during the pandemic.” Each day of mental health awareness week a member of staff shared their own thoughts about how nature has had a positive impact on them. Their thoughts are shared on the website.