6 Abingdon Prep • April 2023 During this era it was illegal to practise Catholicism, so we quickly began to spot signs of Catholic worship in the house, from little hints like shells and rosemary, to wow moments like secret wooden panels, tunnels and priest holes - which were put to good use when the house was raided. The constables found the equivalent of 3 million pounds hidden away, whilst a priest hid in the roof space above them! Then we went to work on the Tudor farm, learning how to milk cows, churn butter, grind grain, spin yarn, wattle bamboo and make our own fires. TRIPS YEAR 4 VISIT UFTON COURT Year 8 went to the Globe Theatre in London to see a special production of The Tempest, which they have been studying this term. We walked over the Millennium Bridge to approach the theatre and ate our tea on the steps outside while appreciating the views back across the river to St Paul’s Cathedral and the skyscrapers of the City. Then into our seats for the play which was very lively and colourful, cut down from the full Shakespeare text to 90-minutes but retaining all the key parts and themes for the mainly teenage audience. We were encouraged to whoop and cheer and the audience certainly did when Ferdinand and Miranda declared their love, then guffawed at the drunken antics of Trinculo and Stefano, and gasped when the spirit Ariel flew down on wires from inside the roof. It was a great experience for Year 8 to see this fantastic play in such a wonderful venue. Year 4 concluded their Tudors History topic with a memorable trip to the Elizabethan manor house of Ufton Court. The pupils were employed as constables working under the parish’s Justice of the Peace, where they were instructed to look out for any ‘strange goings on’. Adam, Max and Horace from Year 6 took part in the Prep Schools’ Debating Competition at the Oratory School. After morning workshops focusing on public speaking and debating skills, they were given a motion and prepared their speeches in the Oratory’s Tolkien Room. Competing against 9 other schools from the region, they proposed the motion ‘This House believes that living in the countryside is preferable to living in a city’. The team acquitted themselves well, and were very highly commended by judges. THE TEMPEST AT SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE THEATRE ‘LET’S DEBATE’ COMPETITION AT THE ORATORY
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