www.abingdon.org.uk 25 Travel awards Each year, ASPA and the OA Club donate up to £2,000 to be shared amongst pupils applying for a contribution towards a travel project and this year, two Lower Sixth students got through to the interview stage in May, both receiving an award. Jonathan Pannett-Smith went to Morocco to help teach English to Primary school children and work in an orphanage. We were impressed by his commitment to budget travel and his motivation to help others which had begun in lockdown when he volunteered more locally. Due to his age, it was difficult for Jonathan to find a placement but he had persevered admirably. Jamie Firth volunteered with the Nasio Trust, a charity with connections to his home town of Dorchester, which works to build houses for destitute families in Kenya. Jamie worked alongside the Kenya Red Cross and engaged with children in Nasio’s two-day care centres. We liked the idea of one community helping another. Both Jonathan and Jamie will give talks over the course of this academic year and we hope their experiences will inspire others to apply for a travel award this coming year. Abingdon News Connecting parents, supporting school life Dear friends, I hope you are well and enjoyed a good summer break. It hardly seems possible we are once again at the beginning of a new school year. For ASPA, your parents’ association, our principal aim of enabling parents to connect with each other, continued to be slightly hampered last year by some pandemic related interruptions which impacted our normal flow of events. It was good, though, to start getting back to some degree of normality and see parents returning to events, sports matches and other activities on the school site. Hopefully, this coming year will see an even greater degree of ‘normal’ activity return. We already have plans for a Cheese and Wine evening for each of the Lower School, Year 3 and Year 4 parent groups. These will take place this term, hopefully helping to build connections at this early stage, which is especially important for those of you new to the school. Beyond that, in the Lent term, we plan to hold a whole parent body quiz evening and then, in the Summer term, a fundraising dinner. Please keep an eye out for more details of all these events. Finally, we would like to encourage everyone to reach out to other parents in their son’s form and house. Please ensure you have downloaded the app and are registered on Classlist as this is the best resource for communicating with each other and making those all important connections. We encourage you to organise your own informal gatherings in those smaller groups – either at someone’s house; a coffee after the school run; or an informal lunchtime gathering. If you need ideas or suggestions for venues, please get in touch. I hope everyone has a successful year and that we get to meet at one or more of our events this year. With best wishes Richard Richard Stone, Chair of ASPA Our volunteers Gayle joined ASPA in September 2021 when her son joined 1st Year. Joining ASPA as a new first year parent has been a great way to become part of the Abingdon community. The step up from a primary school can be as daunting for parents as it is for their children, but the committee is very welcoming and it has been enjoyable to be part of. Overall, the past year has been one of ‘relaunch’ as we tip-toe our way out of the pandemic and, while it has been relatively quiet in terms of bringing parents together, there is a growing sense of normality. It’s clear we’ve all missed the kind of bond ASPA provides between parents and school. That’s why the Cheese and Wine evenings that were held last March were such a huge treat for parents both old and new across many year groups. It was great to see folks mingling over a free glass of sparkling wine and getting to know one another or reuniting. So, should you get involved? Committee meetings are infrequent, run like clockwork and it’s been exciting to hear about the events that are planned for the next school year. A good sized and enthusiastic committee means there is the option to do as little or as much as you feel able to. I would recommend becoming a year group rep; everyone is welcome and 2022/23 promises to be a fantastic year for ASPA. How can you help? If you would like to join the ASPA committee we are looking for reps across the years. Please do get in touch via [email protected] 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] Project Funding In November 2020, we awarded several projects with grants and you can find full details and pictures of these on our website. The exciting news is that Capt Edwards has ordered the canopy for CCF. We can’t wait for it to be delivered and fitted. “ ”
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