Abingdon Boarders' Handbook

The town of Abingdon The town of Abingdon Abingdon School is located in Abingdon, a town of about 36,000 people in Oxfordshire, about 12km south of Oxford. Boarders are able to sign out to the town centre (about a 5 minute walk) to use the local amenities. These include: Supermarkets: The biggest supermarket in Abingdon town centre is Waitrose. It sells good quality food. There are several smaller, cheaper supermarkets close to the school: the Co-operative and Spar are two closest to the school. There is a small Thai shop selling Asian food on the High street. Barbers/Hairdressers: Abingdon seems to have quite a few of these! It is worth asking the price before you have your haircut - prices vary from ten pounds to thirty pounds. You will not usually need an appointment. If you want the hairdresser to keep your existing style, you ask for a trim. Post Office: You can buy stamps and post parcels from the Post Office counter INSIDE the Co-Operative Supermarket (Co-Op) on West St Helen’s Street. Banks: Lloyds TSB, Santander, Natwest, HSBC and Barclays banks have branches in Abingdon. Usual opening hours are: 9am- 5pm weekdays and 10am to 1pm on Saturdays. ATM machines are open 24 hours a day. To open a bank account, you will need a letter from the school confirming you are a student here. Ask your Housemaster to arrange this. Photo Booths: If you need passport photos for any reason, they can be taken at Timpsons (the shoe repairers in the precinct). Stationery: There is a stationery shop called WH Smith in the precinct and another called Prices on Stert Street. ‘Mostly Books’ on Stert Street and ‘The Book Shop’ in the precinct have a good selection of books and will order any books for you. Restaurants: Abingdon has quite a few restaurants: Italian Pizza Places, Chinese, Thai and English Fish and Chips to name but a few. The boys here will be able to recommend their favourite places to eat. Pubs serve food but will not serve alcohol to people under 18. You will be asked for proof of your age if you look young. Pubs serve soft drinks. Drinks are served in pints (big glasses) or half pints (small glasses). There are also a number of coffee shops right in the centre of the town. Churches and places of worship The school has a strong Anglican Protestant tradition. You will attend a 20 minute morning chapel service for your year group once a week. There will also be a Chapel service for boarders on a Tuesday evening once a month that you will need to attend. You will also attend whole school services in St. Helen’s Church at the start and end of each term. However, we recognise that you may hold different religious beliefs and so may want to access religious services outside school. If you would like to do this then you should speak to your Housemaster or Tutor and they will help you make arrangements. Below are some of the local places of worship that you may be interested in. Churches: There are at least ten churches in Abingdon. If you do an Internet search for ‘Churches in Abingdon’, you will be presented with a list. By visiting their websites, you can find out about services and other activities. Here are some of the main ones: ● St Helen’s (Church of England/ Anglican), Bishopsgate Road ● Our Lady and St Edmund (Catholic) ● Trinity Church (Methodist), Conduit Road ● Abbey Baptist Church [ www.abbey-baptist-church.org.uk ] ● There is a Chinese Christian Church in Oxford [ www.oxccc.org ] Mosques: There are two main Mosques in Oxford (both in the Cowley area). The Central Oxford Mosque is in Manzil Way, Cowley, Oxford. The Bangladeshi Islamic Education Centre and Mosque is at 57 Cowley Road, Cowley, Oxford. Temples: There is currently no Hindu Temple in Oxford but a project is underway to build one [ http://www.oxfordhindutemple.org ] 11