Co-Curricular

Celebrating Pupil Achievements Outside School

It always impresses us just how much our pupils achieve in addition to their academic studies. So many regularly take part in co-curricular activities, managing the demands of training, competing, performing or even fundraising in addition to their busy school lives.

The College is always keen to hear of pupils’ endeavours so that we can celebrate their commitment and dedication, so do please continue to share their news.

The latest co-curricular news includes:

Year 7, William Harvey has been selected for the Warwickshire county tennis squad, he attended his first training this September having achieved a national ranking of 63. Over the summer he took part in the Leamington Grade 3 U11 Open winning both the singles and doubles and more recently took the U12 and U14 titles at the Rugby Lawn Tennis Club Championships. All very exciting. 

Year 7, Thomas Zanyi, is a budding sailor, and is a member of Draycote Water Sailing Club's youth section. He was awarded a Special Award for Resilience at the Sailing Club’s Annual Youth and Junior Championships that took place on Saturday 11 September. Well done Thomas.

Year 9, Olivia Monk competed in 21 separate athletics competitions over the course of the 2021 athletics season, including Opens, Midlands Counties Athletics Association events and Warwickshire Schools County Championships. Competing in the U15 classes, she had a great season, consistently improving her personal bests in track and field. Olivia even achieved gold and silver medals at the Charnwood Athletics Club Stars of the Future meet at Loughborough. Olivia’s commitment to athletics is commendable and is clearly paying dividends. We can’t wait to see what her next season brings.

Year 11, Thomas Phillips has made it through from the Worcester Developing Player Programme to the Worcester Academy. A fantastic achievement.

Year 11 , Erika Zanyi recently took part in the English Symphony Orchestra Youth's Advanced Summer Residential. The four-day course included all day rehearsals and a fantastic concert in the grounds of Bromsgrove School. Erika played a repertoire that included Johannes Brahms: Academic Festival Overture and Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 7. An amazing opportunity that she really enjoyed.

We congratulate them all.

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Salters' Chemistry Club - Reminder

Princethorpe College is offering pupils the opportunity to take part in the Salters’ Institute Chemistry Club, an online, interactive learning platform for 11-14-year-olds. The Chemistry Club aims to demystify chemistry and showcase the breadth and depth of chemistry as a subject and future career.

Providing daily new and engaging content on topics that involve chemistry including: Medicine, Cosmetics, Emotions, Oceans and the Environment, the platform offers pupils the opportunity to grow their independent knowledge and interest in the subject.

Teacher of Chemistry, Jo Smith, comments, "The Salters’ Chemistry Club aims to increase the accessibility of chemistry for young learners at the start of their secondary education, a time when chemistry is perhaps not on their radar. It is a great tool that promotes independent learning and offers additional subject knowledge and support in a fun and engaging way. We will be introducing the club to pupils in the classroom and through our STEAM initiative."

Anyone interested in finding out more should visit https://salterschemistryclub.co.uk/register to register.

Michaelmas Term 2021 - Co-Curricular Calendar - Reminder

The Co-curricular calendar has started very well this term, so many thanks to all the pupils who are attending the activities and the parents who are supporting this; staff are thrilled to have the numbers. We have had to make some further tweaks to the programme so please find attached here the most up to date Co-curricular programme. This version now supersedes the printed version in the calendar and is also available on the MySchoolPortal Princethorpe - Co-curricular page. The major changes are: 

  • Beginners Archery is now full with new places being available in the Trinity term; 
  • Photography will start after half-term with Miss Plenderleith;
  • After no climbing last year, this club has been inundated with interest. If pupils wish to be added to the rota please see Mr Bower as he is organising a 6 week rotation of sessions for pupils to join;
  • Table tennis will start in the Lent term; 

Following Mr Hester's letter in Friday 10 September, you will be aware that Year 8 and 10 have had to pause their competitive fixtures against other schools. This has now been extended to Year 9 as well. This will be reviewed at regular intervals and an internal programme will be put in place until we are able to continue with our competitive fixture list for these age groups.

For all sporting information, please use www.princethorpesport.co.uk or MySchoolPortal to know when the fixtures are, their venues and whether pupils have been selected. This term pupils must continue to arrive in school in full Princethorpe sports kit on the days when they have their Games afternoons.  

Neil McCollin
Assistant Head - Co-Curricular

Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award - Complete Your Award 2020-21

Please continue to prioritise signing off your volunteering, physical and skill sections.  Many have already completed their award in full.  Guidance can be found on a DofE Completion email sent to you and your parents, the advice documents below are also available on MySchoolPortal.

For help, please refer to this eDofE Completion Guide and the Electronic Assessor Report Guide. You may also find it useful to refer to the Temporary Changes Summary or Gold Temporary Changes Summary documents.

The Y10 Bronze eDofE lunchtime drop-in clinic continues this week on Thursday 13.05 in LG01.  The Y11 Silver clinic takes place on Tuesday 13.05 in LG01.  The Certificate Presentation Evening will take place on Tuesday 18 January 2022.  However, the final deadline for completion for those aiming to move from bronze to silver is October half term, for those stopping at bronze it is Christmas.

Will Bower 
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager 

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Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award - Signing Up 2021-22 - Reminder

Please click on this link to view the DofE Parents’ Information Evening video, information booklet and enrolment form on MySchoolPortal.

The deadline for enrolment is Friday 15 October (half term).  Please complete the form and submit the £50 deposit as soon as possible. Instructions regarding payment of the deposit can be found at the back of the Information Booklet. I will be in contact after half term to explain the next steps and hand out course materials.

Here is a reminder of the eligibility criteria: 

Award Stage        Age Requirement 
Bronze                  Year 9 
Silver                    Year 10 
Gold                     16 years old (must be in the Sixth Form) 

Will Bower 
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager