Abingdon Boarders' Handbook

The Abingdon Boarding Experience Part of what makes the ‘Abingdon Boarding Experience’ special is the range and variety of activities and opportunities you will have in  your time at Abingdon. Many of these are through the whole-school Other Half programme, while others are specific to boarders and  take place at the evenings and weekends. Some of the trips and activities will be compulsory, but we really encourage boarders to  have the mindset of wanting to try and experience new things and new places and make the most of your time at Abingdon School.  Evening Activities For boarders there are a number of evening activities available. The sports  centre is open most nights and you have access to the swimming pool,  squash courts, fitness suite, and sports hall (for football, basketball and  badminton). The music practice rooms are also open in the evening. On  Friday and Saturday nights there are social events that take place: trips out  (go karting or 10 pin bowling for example), social evenings meeting girls  from the local boarding schools, meals out, and events in house like film  nights and board games. There are also social events for Tutor groups,  which will involve both boarders and dayboys. It is a good idea to do as  many of these as possible if you want to make friends, learn social skills and  get the most of your time as a boarder. In addition the Tutors in the house  run social activities after prep time each night of the week.  Boarding Trips and Activities There is always something going on at the weekend. If you are  in a sports team then there will often be fixtures that you will be  playing in over the weekend. In addition there will also be either  social events, activities, or day trips every weekend. It is a really  good idea to make the most of these opportunities if you want  to make friends, learn social skills and get the most out of your  time as a boarder. There are several big day trips over the  course of the year and you will be expected to sign up for a  certain number of them depending on what year you are in.   Activities Priority and May Bank Holiday weekends Once a term there is an Activities Priority Weekend. This means  that there are no sports matches and instead other clubs and  societies run activities. The CCF and Duke of Edinburgh Award  Scheme do expeditions, for example, and academic  departments might run a trip. In the Summer Term there is a  long ‘Bank Holiday’ weekend which includes the following  Monday. On that weekend all members of the 3rd Year in the  boarding houses are required to join in with a trip away to an outward bound centre. If you are in the 3rd Year and really don’t want to  come or your parents do not want to pay then you need to go and stay with your guardians. The 4th Year, 5th Year and Sixth Form  spend the weekend revising for their examinations so they are allowed to stay in the house.  18