Abingdon News No. 60

10 April 2022 Abingdon News La phonétique et la politique In February, two teachers from Alliance Française Oxford gave a 2 hour workshop to our Lower Sixth students. They discovered the names and political manifestos of French candidates running for this year’s Presidential election, and then practised their French pronunciation with phonetic exercises on nasal sounds and tongue twisters. We now look forward to hearing their best accents in our French lessons. Tingewick Panto Performance raises over £10,000 We were delighted to hear that Tingewick raised well over £10,000 from their seasonal pantomime which took place at Abingdon School in December. The money raised will go towards the Oxford Hospitals Charity and Calon Hearts. During the first half of term, the Lower School Science Club worked in groups to research and present a science demonstration of their choosing. Students had to plan their method and apparatus, decide what equipment they would need to perform their demonstration, rehearse, make posters to explain the scientific concepts behind it, and then present their science demonstrations to their peers and a panel of judges (made up of teachers and sixth form students). The imagination and creativity on show, plus the scientific explanations, were extremely impressive - demonstrations included flying teabags, density columns, self-inflating balloons, rockets, and even a human Newton’s cradle! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s a flying teabag! My father doesn’t understand me! In January, 2nd Year pupils were treated to a quirky French play entitled ‘Mon Père Ne Me Comprend Pas’, which follows the story of a girl who is misunderstood by her family on her birthday. The pupils enjoyed the opportunity to hear some French on stage and were able to ask the actors some questions at the end about life in France and their experiences travelling around the UK. Putting our heart into sustainability As we continue in our aim to make sustainability part of our everyday school life, we are delighted to say that Abingdon School’s electricity supply is now 100% REGO (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin) certified. This has been helped by the installation of solar panels on school buildings and further cements our commitment to improving the School’s sustainability. The Eco- Committee students are now focussing their efforts on how we can reduce energy consumption. Traditionally made during the Christmas festive season in Germany and other German speaking parts of the world, German Plätzchen are delectable little butter biscuits. Germanists in our Lower Sixth very much enjoyed baking these traditional delights in the last lesson before half-term. Our 2nd and 3rd Year linguists enjoyed the hilarious play, ‘Horoskop’ delivered by the Onatti Theatre team in the lead up to half-term. Aimed at students who have completed at least one year of German at secondary level, the play follows the story of Mia, a girl who reads that love is on the horizon in her horoscope and then can’t understand when things don’t quite go as her stars predict. Our students were enthralled by the play and came out full of confidence at how well they could understand the plot. Germanists