APS News No. 22

6 January 2020 Abingdon Prep In and Out of School There was great excitement in October when a team came to re-home the swarm of honey bees that had been resident behind the weatherboards in our school hall roof-void since late last spring. They had not been bothering us unduly, but as the weather got cooler, they were becoming more angry when agitated by any nearby noise and vibration. Removing the boards revealed a whole row of honeycombs. The bees were gradually sucked into a special box to transport them to their new homes in a local apiary, and the combs removed – the wax structures were dripping with honey! Many of the boys came to look, and the beekeepers showed them the special box and talked to us about bees. If you put your hand near (but not on) the grille you could feel the heat coming off the hundreds of buzzing bees, including the queen, inside. Soon, any remaining bees were all gone. Our Bees Move House! Year 3 and 4 Art Club At the end of October, Year 3 and 4 Art Club was getting into the Halloween spirit making ‘batty bats’ with help from two of our Year 8 art leaders. Fangs, oversized wings, and googly eyes featured aplenty in the boys’ spooktacular 3D batty creations. More of the Other Half Two Abingdon Prep teams went to the annual Worldwise Quiz hosted by Magdalen College School. The teams faced several rounds of questions, all of a geographical nature, ranging from locational knowledge to map reading. Both teams performed soundly in a large field of entrants. The Prep’s B team enjoyed some success – ie they won some chocolates! – by winning the round on fieldwork-based questions. Two teams from Years 5 and 6 competed in the annual Prep Schools Quiz Challenge at Magdalen College School in Oxford. They pitted their quizzing skills against a number of local preparatory schools. Rounds included questions on high culture, geography, history, politics, art and literature. Both teams fared very well, with the teams finishing in respectable mid-table positions out of the 22 teams that took part. APS Quizzers at MCS In November, our two Young Leaders taught a wonderful session on ‘Marbling’. The pupils were able to choose their own colours and create some beautiful marbled wrapping paper in time for Christmas. Thank you to Ned and Edward for running a very exciting and creative club! Hand ‘X-Rays’ in Up & Atom Year 3-4 Science Club Year 3-4 Outdoor Explorers Table Tennis, Years 5-6, and Years 7-8 Wellbeing - Years 3-6 Cookery for Years 5-6 Building a water wheel in Brain STEMs Years 5-6