4 April 2023 Students from Abingdon and St Helen and St Katharine gathered together in January for a joint Philosophy and Theology dinner with guest speaker, Professor Luca Castagnoli from Oriel College, Oxford. Professor Castagnoli gave a thought provoking talk about Aristotle’s seminal work ‘Nicomachean Ethics’. Students then enjoyed music from the jazz band (which featured players including Mr Windsor, Mr Barnes and 6th Formers), before enjoying a delicious supper, hosted by Abingdon’s catering team, Sodexo. Abingdon News Eco Week The week commencing 30 January marked Eco Week across The Abingdon Foundation. The initiative began with Abingdon School hosting a student-led event with our partnership schools to co-create a One Planet action plan to make our community more sustainable. Other initiatives included a focus on reducing food waste, making sustainable food choices at meal times and recycling empty pill packets. In addition, our Green Gym students continued to promote sustainable garden initiatives including using timed watering to minimise water use; recycling pots; home composting; using a manual grass cutter, rather than petrol or electricity run alternatives; and home growing seasonal vegetables. Philosophy and Theology Dinner on Nicomachean Ethics On 29 January, a group of 20 boarders went to Escape Hunt in the Oxford Westgate Centre, to take part in the challenges of their escape room puzzles. Four groups attempted 2 separate rooms, and each had an hour to complete them. One group successfully completed Alice in Puzzleland in 31 minutes, giving them a position on the monthly leaderboard. All our boarders enjoyed the activity, and the chance to put their puzzle solving skills to the test. The Great Escape A poetic evening The Abingdon and St Helen and St Katharine Joint Literary Society welcomed esteemed poet and critic Ben Wilkinson as guest of honour to their annual dinner. Ben addressed over 50 guests with readings of poetry from his collection ‘Same Difference’ before being interviewed by Freddy Chelsom, who is one of many Upper 6th students intending to pursue English at university. The evening was thought provoking and fun, with a fiendish quiz accompanying superb food and service from our kitchen and hospitality staff. On Shrove Tuesday, student volunteers entertained the residents of Old Station House care home with their pancake flipping skills. Despite quite a lot of pancakes ending up on the floor(!), they were rewarded for their enthusiasm with some fresher pancakes and jam. Well done everyone. Pancakes anyone?
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