Parents' Guide to Boarding

5 The Boarding Houses are + kept secure and the safety of boarders is enhanced in various ways Money Bank accounts can be set up with any bank in Abingdon. If necessary, housemasters will provide a letter from the School confirming your son’s residence at Abingdon, although if possible, overseas’ students should seek assistance from their guardians in setting up a bank account prior to arriving at Abingdon. Clothes and Laundry Name tapes for labeling all clothes are required and parents should order these in good time. Spare labels should be given to your son’s house matron. Please ensure everything is named prior to your son arriving at Abingdon. A charge is made for any naming of clothing done by school staff. Clothing requirements: Boarders wear school uniform until 5.00pm when they may change into their own clothes. In addition to school uniform, we suggest that your son should have: 10 pairs of socks and underwear 2 changes of nightwear Slippers / flip-flops 2 bath towels and personal toiletries Single duvet, a p i l l ow , 2 duvet covers and t w o pillow covers School swimming trunks, goggles and swimming hat Own clothes for evenings and weekends Where possible, we encourage parents to provide their son’s bedding as it helps personalise their room. Please do not send your son with too much extra clothing or excessive amounts of personal items as space is limited in boys’ bedrooms. As a guide, your son should be able to fit all his luggage in one suitcase and one holdall. Similarly, if your son is unlikely to use an item more than a couple of times a term, it probably is better left at home. Limited storage capacity for a single suitcase is available over the holidays in the house. New boarding parents should note that it is not possible for you to store any luggage in the house prior to your son’s arrival on the new boarding induction day. If you do need to store luggage before this date, you should make arrangements with your son’s guardian. The exception to this is uniform ordered from the School’s uniform supplier. School uniform can be purchased online or from the uniform suppliers shop in Oxford. For details as to how to purchase please see: http://www.abingdon.org.uk/school_uniform/ The Laundry Your son’s laundry is done in the School Laundry. He will have a named shelf to store spare clothes and Matrons will place clean laundry on the shelf. Bed linen is changed weekly and boys place used sheets and pillowcases in the laundry baskets by 8.30am on change-over day. Socks are packed into sock bags (please note, these are provided by the School and charged to the bill). Fire Regulations and Practice Fire-extinguishing equipment is checked monthly, fire safety checks are carried out regularly and fire practices are held at least once a term. All boarders are briefed on fire evacuation procedures during their induction days. Electrical appliances are checked every term for safety and every boarder’s electrical items are regularly tested.