AN46

20 January 2018 It doesn’t matter whether you are an Olympic athlete, a Nobel Laureate, or a teenager struggling to make sense of the world - things not going according to plan is an unavoidable fact of life. At Abingdon we recognise this, and try to help the boys embrace these moments: as Einstein put it, “failure is success in progress”. The important thing is not the curve balls that life throws at us, but the mindset that we have in approaching Kipling’s two imposters, Triumph and Disaster. That is why we have timetabled sessions on mindsetsinthe Sixth Form. This enables us to carve out a pastoral “lesson” to give the boys space to think critically about the way that they approach life whether that be their work habits, their relationships, their eating and sleeping patterns, or their work life balance. Given the additional levels of stress inflicted on teenagers by social media, the fallout from Brexit, or their fears about what sort of world they will graduate into, being reflective about the ups and downs of life is even more important. At Abingdon, our goal is clear: be proactive and seek to grow from life’s experiences, sometimes that involves being magnanimous in success, more pertinently it involves bouncing back from tough experiences. Mark Hindley , Deputy Head Pastoral Boarding News Thirty-three new boarders from near and far joined at the start of term. After a busy first week of induction, making new friends and beginning their academic studies, they helped celebrate the start of the year with a Boarders’ welcome chapel and dinner. This was followed by dragon boating and orienteering over the weekend. Later in the term boarders explored Oxford on an orientation trip, visiting Pembroke and Christchurch Colleges, the Radcliffe Camera, and Carfax Tower, before using some free time to explore the city. Lower Sixth Mindsets Programme Trying their hand at bread making Bowling at the Kassam Stadium Exploring naval history at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard ... ... from Henry VIII’s favourite warship to the newest addition to the British fleet School House celebrate Halloween To remember remember the 5th of November! Dragon Boat racing Crescent boarders getting ready for Christmas