Abingdon News No. 57

www.abingdon.org.uk 13 Lower School work exhibition Lower school tutor groups held an online work exhibition, giving them the chance to display and talk about a recent piece of work that they were particularly proud of to their classmates. A wide range of work was on show, from gladiator projects to 3D models of Iraq, and from Mark Powell- inspired art to persuasive writing in English. Abingdon News The annual UK Linguistics Olympiad, UKLO, went ahead online this year. There are four levels of difficulty in the UKLO, and 26 Abingdonians were up for the challenge of taking on the highest level; the advanced paper consists of five fiendish problems decoding real or invented languages from a few cryptic pieces of information. The students pulled off an outstandingly successful year for Abingdon; ten pupils earned awards that placed them amongst the best students in the country. Three of the ten, Charlie Franklin, Joseph Betts and Ethan Walker, won gold awards, putting them in the top 5% in the country. These three go through to compete in the second round, attempting to qualify for the national squad, which will compete in an international competition. A French breakfast Second year students made Flipgrid presentations in French on what they and their family like to eat and drink for breakfast. Shakespeare’s soliloquies The first year students have been working on bringing Shakespearean soliloquies to life in drama lessons this term. Videos can be seen in the news section of the website. Lower school detectives Over 80 lower school students enjoyed the chance to test their detective skills in an online escape room activity. Working in small groups in breakout rooms, they had to solve a series of clues to find the perpetrator of a murder and their motive for the crime! UK Linguistics Olympiad English Speaking Union’s Schools’ Mace competition. “This House believes that government economic policy should prioritise the collective happiness and wellbeing of the population over economic growth”. This was the topic up for debate at this year’s competition where the Abingdon team were up against Aylesbury Grammar School, St Helen’s and Radley College in the first heat. The team opposed the motion and gave a strong performance but their speeches went over time leaving the way open for St Helen’s to go through to the next round.