Abingdon Boarders' Handbook

The Other Half Like all members of the school you will be required to participate in the Other Half (co-curricular) programme at Abingdon. We believe  that it is very important. If you have decided to come to our school then you have also decided to join in the Other Half programme  with enthusiasm and energy. You are required to participate in a minimum of two sports sessions per week. You must also do an  activity on a Wednesday afternoon. In the 3rd Year you must do a service activity on a Tuesday during period 8. There is a vast array of  sports available so you have plenty to choose from. There are also a great many other activities including science projects, music,  drama, academic societies, debating, CCF, Duke of Edinburgh Award and much more. It is a good idea to do as many of these as you  can and we recommend that you try something new each term. However, it is important that you take care to manage your time. You  should also know that not all activities are available to all year groups. Sometimes it might be that two activities you want to do take  place at the same time. In this situation you need to decide which one to do. You can’t do both! You will choose your Other Half  activities in your first week at school.  Food All boarders’ meals take place in the school dining hall (breakfast, lunch and dinner). We are always trying to improve the quality of our  food so we are very happy to listen your views. If you come from another country you may be worried about English food. However,  you should make sure you always go to meals and try our food. It may be different but it is very nice and food is an important part of  experiencing a new culture. Each house has a kitchen where you can make snacks, or cook your own food at the weekends.  Sometimes in the summer the houses have a barbecue in their gardens.  Laundry You need to be organised with your laundry if you are a boarder. You will need to make sure that everything that goes into the wash  has your name clearly on it, with either a printed label or written on clearly with marker pen on a prominent label. You need to put all  your dirty clothes into the baskets that you are given and take them to the laundry collection point in your house. In addition, you need  to strip your beds once a week and put your sheets, duvet cover and pillow covers in the wash too. You will also be given two sock  bags with your name on it: one for black and coloured socks and another for white socks. You need to put your socks in the bags and  then put the bags in the wash to stop your socks getting mixed up with everyone else’s! You can imagine how difficult it is to work out  who owns which sock from a loose pile of black and white socks! If you need a couple of items washed in a hurry you should speak to  the house matron. If you are very nice and polite she will be able to wash them more quickly for you.  Rubbish At Abingdon we believe in recycling. If you decide to come to our school it is important that you also accept that you need to organise  your rubbish so that it can be recycled. As a result there are two types of bins in the boarding house: one for recycling and one for  non-recyclable. There are many of these different types of bins all over the house. You will be told what can/cannot go in each bin  when you arrive. It is very important that you listen to this.  8