18 Abingdon Prep • January 2023 ABINGDON NEWS At Abingdon, part of our strategic vision is investing in modern, flexible and ‘fit for purpose’ facilities which will help our students succeed academically and support them pastorally in the modern world. This is part of an investment story which has, in recent history, seen the construction of our Sports, Science, Business and Economics and 6th Form Centres. Just as investment in these projects has benefited our current student body; investment in projects today will benefit current and future generations. This is the reason we are so excited about our boarding house and dining INVESTING IN THE FUTURE pavilion projects which are well underway and taking shape. Once complete in September 2023, these initiatives promise to significantly enhance the Abingdon experience for our whole school and wider community for years to come. As sustainability is so central to so much of what we do at Abingdon, we are also mindful of the environment and are making sure that these projects incorporate a full range of sustainability features such as air source heat pumps and solar panels. You can find out more by visiting abingdon. org.uk/about/building-the-future/ The thirteen new films shown at the 19th annual Film Unit screening took the number of films produced by members of the AFU to over 200. As always, the students’ films covered a remarkable range of subjects. The audience spent time with an American Air Force drone 19th Annual Film Unit Screening pilot, an Italian photographer, an Oxfordshire artist, a wildlife volunteer and a community group running a cycle training facility for young people. They were transported to the Isle of Mull; discovered what some boarders really get up to while away from their families!; heard what it’s like to work with a distinguished orchestral conductor; learned why film photography is making an unexpected comeback amongst young people, and even taken to a trio of fictional destinations to amuse, unsettle, inform, or in one case, positively spook us! Afterwards, Mr Taylor congratulated the filmmakers on their tremendous achievements, and awarded The Spirit of Grigsby and The Young Filmmaker of the Year Awards to Alex Heffernan and Theo Shorrocks respectively. ACCLAIMED POET VISITS FOR NATIONAL POETRY DAY As part of our National Poetry Day celebrations on 6 October, our Literary Society, together with that of St Helen and St Katharine, were treated to a reading of Flèche, a Costa Poetry Prize winning debut collection by acclaimed poet Mary Jean Chan. After the reading, the poet held a Q&A session, covering topics such as their Hong Kong heritage, their writing process as well as advice for budding poets. It was a wonderful event to get our National Poetry Day celebrations underway.
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