AbingdonNews September 2010 | No. 24 The Newsletter of the Abingdon Foundation Schools HAIL AND FAREWELL! A new era has dawned – Abingdon School has its first female Head, Felicity Lusk, who is not just the first woman to lead the School during its centuries-long history but also the first woman in the UK to head a major all-boys boarding public school. Felicity Lusk, a New Zealander, has been Headmistress of Oxford High School for Girls for the past thirteen years. She takes over from Mark Turner who, after eight and a half years at Abingdon, has taken up his new appointment as Headmaster of Shrewsbury. We wish them both well in their new appointments – hail and farewell ! n 04 Star Results News Congratulations to all last summer’s exam candidates: at A level an impressive 70% of results were at A or A*, the latter a new grade introduced this year to stretch the brightest candidates, 24% were at A* itself whilst two boys, Joe Mason and Richard Moon, achieved A* in all five of their subjects. At GCSE for the third year running almost 80% of all grades were at A and A* with four boys, Edward O’Brien, Christian Reedman, Thomas Salt and Sarab Sethi gaining eleven A* grades each. These exam results are all the more impressive in that Abingdon boys participate at the highest level in a multiplicity of 09 n ‘Other Half’ activities in addition to their academic studies. Sport 14 Out of the Past www.abingdon.org.uk PEOPLE Meet the Head Felicity Lusk is looking forward to meeting past, present and future members of the Abingdon community. Current parents and prospective parents will have an opportunity to meet her at a variety of events during the Michaelmas term. Current parents are invited to a Head’s Reception, arranged by year groups, which will be held throughout September on the following dates: 1st Years: Monday 6 September, 3.45-4.30 pm Lacies Court Garden – Tea 2nd & 3rd Years: Wednesday 8 September, 6.30-8.00 pm Felicity Lusk Sports Centre Hospitality Suite – Drinks and canapés Born and educated in New Zealand, Felicity 4th & 5th Years: Wednesday 15 September, 6.30-8.00 pm Lusk attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate Sports Centre Hospitality Suite – Drinks and canapés School, an all-girls school in Wellington, after Sixth Form: Monday 13 September, 6.30-8.00 pm which she read Music at Victoria University Sports Centre Hospitality Suite – Drinks and canapés of Wellington. She was Director of Music at Wellington East Girls’ College and at Aotea Lower Sixth boarders: Sunday 5 September, 4.00-5.00 pm College, a co-educational state secondary Lacies Court Garden – Tea school, before coming to England in 1990 Prospective parents are invited to a variety of events ranging from coffee mornings, which as Director of Music at Hasmonean High need to be booked via our website, to the annual open day on Saturday 2 October. School, another co-educational state secondary school this time in north London. Prospective parents should visit our website www.abingdon.org.uk/visit_abingdon After three years she was appointed deputy for further details about visiting Abingdon and booking an event. head before becoming Headmistress of Oxford High in 1997. n Portrait of an Artist Portrait of a Jonathan Hills, who painted the portraits of both Mark Turner and Michael St John Headmaster Parker, was educated at Winchester College and Queens’ College Cambridge where he read Art History and decided that his interest was in making pictures not in talking about them. By what he describes as “a piece of unforgiveable deceit”, Jonathan was introduced to Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame as, “one of Europe’s leading canine artists” and was awarded the commission to draw Graham’s beloved terrier. Graham quite liked the portrait of the dog but was more impressed by the portrait that Jonathan had surreptitiously painted of Graham himself. From then on he found himself designing posters, illustrating books and painting anyone who would sit still. Now married and living in Kent Jonathan admits that while he still may not be ‘one of At the end of last term the Europe’s leading canine artists’ his portraits have been seen at the Royal Academy’s Governors presented the School Summer Exhibitions and at the Royal Society of Portrait Artists. with a portrait of Mark Turner by Jonathan says that it was a huge treat to be asked to paint a second Abingdon the painter Jonathan Hills. n headmaster, especially as Mark was so charismatic and approachable. n 2 September 2010 ABINGDON NEWS More Goodbyes Governor Profile: Nick Barnard at the end of Tanya Hawley Tanya joined the Governing Body in 2007 nominated by the Mercers’ Company last term... of which she is a member as was John Roysse, one of Abingdon’s most significant benefactors. She is chairman of the Staff Committee and a member of the Finance and General Purposes Committee. She has special responsibility for Child Protection matters to the Governing Body. Tanya was brought up in a boys’ boarding school where her father was headmaster. Nick Barnard, the Estate Manager After Cambridge and L.S.E., she trained as (Buildings), has worked at Abingdon for a social worker in Birmingham. She started 23 years starting as a carpenter/joiner. He work as a probation officer in north London. remembers the School in 1987 as a very Later she joined Social Services in Surrey different place with the boarding facilities and, finally, worked in Education Welfare in in particular being pretty basic – School Reading. House had long open dormitories with a single open bath at one end. It was Alun Watkins, who has been Deputy his responsibility to plan and institute the Head Pastoral since 2005, has left necessary improvements and he designed to take up a new appointment as and manufactured the original cabin beds, Headmaster of Victoria College, Jersey. which, with a few modifications, are still in Alun arrived at Abingdon in September use today. 1989 as a Biology teacher and the Technology has transformed the job master-in-charge of rugby. n over the years, in particular the Building Management System, which makes it possible to monitor the whole site from a single location. He enjoys showing this to Third-formers as part of an In retirement she has been a board member Other Half activity designed to increase for three different regions of a major housing their awareness of energy usage and trust focusing on community development conservation. and turning round failing housing Nick Barnard grew up in Wantage and was associations. She is a Trustee of the Friends educated at King Alfred’s Grammar School. of Dorchester Abbey. After a four-year apprenticeship at Harwell Her particular concerns are ‘the average he worked there for a further six years boys’ at Abingdon. She believes that they before joining Abingdon. He is married with should find their feet, have the opportunity two daughters who were both baptised to excel at something special, work hard, in the School Chapel. His wife, Jane, is a enjoy themselves and leave well prepared for HLTA at Larkmead School responsible for life after school. She is also interested in the KS4 Foundation Learning. provision for the boarders, some of whom Formally a Parent Governor and now a are a long way from home. Will Phelps came to Abingdon in 1992 Community Governor at Fitzharry’s School, to teach Religious Studies. Since Tanya’s main leisure interest is singing as Nick has been involved in the Government’s 2001 he has been housemaster of a back row alto in local choirs so she is Building Schools for the Future programme Phelps’ House, Waste Court. He delighted by the widespread excellence of locally. He has found the Governor role goes to be Headmaster of the British music at Abingdon. She travels the world fascinating and says that although he joined International School, New York, with the International Law Association hoping to be able to offer some of his charged with the responsibility for its started by her husband and supports her expertise to Fitzharry’s he has also learnt development and expansion. n scientist daughter and her three lovely little a great deal, especially the complexities of grandchildren. n Local Authority funding! n www.abingdon.org.uk 3 NEWS Shadowing the Helping to Build the Nations Carnegie Every year the Chartered Institute of Librarians award the Carnegie Medal to the writer of, in their view, the most outstanding book for children, and every year schools The Abingdon South Africa Partnership, Province where they were hosted by the all over the country shadow the award. At which operates under the aegis of the Shayandima School of Tomorrow. The Abingdon, teams of eight readers from charity Build the Nations, provides the group helped to build a school playground each of the towns six secondary schools means whereby pupils from the developed and mend a village well and worked read their way through the short list before world can contribute to projects designed as classroom assistants as well as on meeting up to decide which book they to help develop communities in South outreach projects. The group had raised think should win the medal. This year Africa. Over the summer holidays, seven £2,000 over the past school year to help the Librarians chose Neil Gaiman’s The Abingdon sixth-formers spent three fund all these projects. n Graveyard Book; the Abingdon schools and a half weeks in Venda, Limpopo chose Laurie Anderson’s Chains.