The Flagpole

As we come towards the end of term, the new Science Centre project is well underway. So far 720 tonnes of earth have been excavated and removed, with a further 1400 tonnes to be distributed on site. 30% of the foundations and bases have also already been completed. Work has commenced offsite on the steels which are scheduled to be craned into place during May.

The hoardings surrounding the new Science Centre construction compound have been given a makeover with three brightly coloured information boards. They look amazing and share how we are making our dreams for Science a reality, how you can support the Science Centre and how to keep up to date on progress. You can't miss them as you walk up the Limes Walk to the Sports Fields and Astro.

To find out more about our new Science Centre visit: www.princethorpe.co.uk/science-centre

In March pupils from Princethorpe College took part in the 2022 UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Intermediate Pink and Grey Kangaroo Challenges, two prestigious national problem-solving competitions that recognise the best young mathematicians in the country. The Challenges involve answering multiple choice questions and are sat under normal school exam conditions. The papers are then marked by UKMT and all pupils in the country are awarded Merit and Qualification Certificates.

The competition is the follow on round of the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge and only the top scorers in the country, in Years 9, 10 and 11, can take part. It is a demanding exercise designed to stretch and test pupils’ mathematical skills, so the College is delighted that this year five Princethorpe’s mathematicians took part. Joseph Newborough, in Year 11, was the top performing pupil and achieved a Certificate of Merit. Year 10, Ed Twyman and Year 9s Zach Hawkins, Sophie Nicolle and Dylan Williams all achieved Certificates of Qualification.

Well done to them all for taking part, we hope they enjoyed the challenge.

Theo Scoutas
Post 16 Mathematics Co-ordinator

Foundation Bursar and OP, Eddie Tolcher, took time out of his busy schedule on Tuesday 29 March, to plant two new beech trees. Helped by Foundation Grounds Manager, Edd Robertson, the five-year-old trees were soon in the ground ready to be watered in.

The trees are replacements for two that Eddie originally helped to plant nearly fifty years ago when he was a pupil at Princethorpe College.

Running along the Coventry Road on the College’s sports field, the row of 10 beech trees were planted back in 1973 and 1974 by former Biology Teacher Richard Whittle and pupils attending the College at the time. They were part of the British Government sponsored scheme, ‘Plant A Tree In ‘73’, that encouraged the population to plant trees to replace loses across the country from a virulent new strain of Dutch Elm disease.

Eddie said, “Over the years I have watched these trees mature and always taken great pleasure from the sight of them. I wanted to replace the two that hadn’t survived and was delighted to personally donate the cost of purchasing the new trees. I hope they give future generations of pupils just as much pleasure as they have always given me.”

The termly Celebration of Achievement Lunch recognises pupils from across the College for contributions, commitments and achievements. This Lent Term, 80 pupils from across the year groups were nominated by members of staff and invited to the Sixth Form Lecture Theatre by Assistant Head - Co-Curricular, Neil McCollin, for an informal, celebratory lunch.

All of the pupils had risen to the challenge of the College’s ethos; they had done their best in many different ways, both in and outside of school. Some had been nominated for academic perseverance; others invited along for their contribution to sport, drama or music; a number for voluntary and charity work and some for their dedication and contribution to school life. Mr McCollin congratulated every one of them and thanked them for the many ways that they enrich the College community. As always, the pupils seemed surprised by the attention they received and were modest when praised for the commitment, motivation and tenacity of effort - all qualities that the Celebration of Achievement Lunch recognises and rewards.

More information is available here.

Princethorpe College’s pupils achieved a stunning six top ten finishes in the Independent Schools Associations’ National Cross-Country Championships on Saturday 19 March.

Ten pupils had qualified to represent the Midlands team running in the Senior, Intermediate, Junior and Minor Boys events and the Intermediate, Junior and Minor Girls races against regional teams from all over the country.

Always a hotly contested competition, this year’s event took place at Worksop College in Nottinghamshire and attracted 636 runners from 168 schools.

Against a field of 28 runners, Year 10 pupil Felix Batty delivered Princethorpe’s best finish of the day running the U16 Boys 4.5km course superbly to finish in 17 minutes 56 seconds. He claimed third place and a well-deserved bronze medal. Hot on his heels was Year 11 Guy Dawkins who finished 6th in 18.27. In the U16 Girls race, Year 11 Grace Darcy just missed out on a medal after finishing the Girls 3.8km course in 4th place in 16.04 against a field of 31.

Running in the U14 Girls 3km race, Year 8 Lily Hunter also ran well against 43 runners to finish in 4th place in 12.42. In the U14 Boys race, Year 8, Toby Iley ran a good race to finish in 8th place in 14.55 and Year 8 Abbas Hazra-Omer ran solidly to finish the 3.8km course in 36th in time of 16.00 out of a total field of 45 runners.

For the U18 Open Boys, Year 11 Toby Convey ran the 5km course in 20.05 and finished in 9th place out of 11 competitors.

Both the U12 Girls and U12 Boys ran 2.7km. Year 7 Rosa Davis finished in 12.26 to finish in 11th place out of 47 while William Smith finished 12th in 11.29 and Ollie Hawkins finished 40th in 13.05 also out of 45.

Midlands Team Manager and Assistant Head Co-Curricular, Neil McCollin, was delighted, saying “Another really good day for the Princethorpe team, full of consistent sure-footed running. Six top ten places at the Nationals – what a great way to end the cross-country season.”

Saturday 19 March was a very busy day for our runners as Princethorpe College also sent four cross country experts to the English Schools Cross Country Championships to compete for the Warwickshire team. The event, which brings together the best athletes from England’s 46 counties to compete for the honour of being the best in the country, took place at Hop Farm in Kent.

The start of each race was particularly spectacular, with each county’s runners lining up in their pens in the order in which they qualified. The ground literally shook at the start of every race as around 350 runners took off en masse and jockeyed for the best position.

Year 10 Ben Smith ran in the Inter Boys 5.75km race finishing in 167th place while Year 10 Kate Pomerleau competed in the Inter Girls 3.875km race finishing in 209th place. Year 9 Jesse Esler took on the Junior Boys 4.395km race coming over the line in 208th place and Year 9 Martina Grace ran in the Junior Girls 3.19km race finishing in 209th place. It was the first time Ben, Martina and Jesse had been selected for the English Schools Championships, Kate had competed before. All of the team ran brilliantly and missed their peers Year 8 Charlie Atkins and Year 10 Ava Farren who had been selected but were unable to run on the day.

Congratulations to all our runners on a great day of running at both events. 

The College’s First Team Dinner took place on Saturday 26 March in the Sixth Form Centre. It was an opportunity for Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, and the PE and Games staff, to thank pupils for their longstanding commitment to sport here at Princethorpe College, to reflect on their many talents, to celebrate this year’s successes and to wish those moving on at the end of the year well.

Many thanks to the Games Prefects for organising such a lovely evening.

Photos from the event can be found here. 

On Friday 18 March, pupils from Year 7-13 performed Out Of Darkness, a Lenten reflection on the Stations of the Cross. The performance took place in Our Lady Of The Angels Chapel and included meditations through reflections, mime, music and singing.

The Stations of the Cross is a devotional commemoration of Jesus Christ’s last day on Earth as a man. The 14 stations, focus on specific events of his last day. The journey from station to station is often considered as a mini pilgrimage, and at each station there is the opportunity to reflect and meditate on a specific event from Christ’s last day.

The reflections and prayers used in the production were based on the words of Fr Slavko Barbaric who for many years served as parish priest in Medjugorje, Bosnia Hercegovina, a place of pilgrimage and devotion to Mary, Queen of Peace.

Feedback on the performance included:

"What a talented bunch of students. It was lovely to see the pride they had in performing the wonderful piece."

The dramatic interpretation provided a poignant and moving performance, with pupils rising superbly to the challenge of portraying the stations. Congratulations to them all and thank you to the staff who supported the event.

A collection was taken for Aid to the Church in Need for their work supporting refugees and for the Friends of the Holy Land for their work supporting Christians in the lands of the Bible. 

On Tuesday 22 March 35 A-level Politics, History and Law students visited the Houses of Parliament and the Supreme Court.

Lower Sixth Former, Tom Paling, describes their visit:

“Our day began with an early 6.30am start, and after a lengthy journey we arrived at 9.30am right outside the Houses of Parliament. We went through security and crowded through the corridors into the vast, open and historic Westminster Hall. The immense hall was once the largest of its kind in the world, witnessing events like the trial of Charles I, that played a huge role in shaping Britain and the world today.

We then were taken on a comprehensive tour through the halls and the division lobby, with some of us being able to see the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, opening the session of parliament for the day. The historic and ornate architecture was impressive. We were also fortunate enough to sit and watch the proceedings of parliament, witnessing debates on justice reform and the postmaster scandal.

We spotted MPs like Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab, former Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson and even the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock. We then met with our local MP, Jeremy Wright, and we asked him a number of topical questions related to our studies such as ‘What influence do ordinary members of political parties have over their MP?’ and ‘What role do you think social media plays in modern politics?’.

The rest of our day consisted of a walking tour around Westminster and St James’s Park, seeing famous sites like Buckingham Palace and Horse Guards Parade. We also enjoyed a tour of the beautiful Middlesex Guildhall, home to the UK Supreme Court. We heard about the wide range of cases previously brought to the court, everything from Human Rights to Boris Johnson’s wrongful prorogation of Parliament. It was fascinating end to a day that proved to be both informative for our A-level studies and a great experience.”

Three Princethorpe Year 7 pupils travelled to Market Harborough Showground in Leicestershire, to compete in the National Primary School and Year 7 Cross Country Championships. The event took place on Saturday 26 March, with competitors from across the country. It was a great opportunity for the young runners to gain experience against some of the UK’s very best.

Representing Warwickshire, the runners faced a traditional undulating course that was 3km long.  The weather was perfect and the going underfoot good, but with average fields of over 100 runners in each race pupils needed their wits about them as all the runners pushed and jostled to gain positions at the start.

Rosa Davis was fifth home for the Warwickshire team placing 63rd in a field of 118, in a time of 12 minutes and 20 seconds.

For the boys Will Smith also finished fifth for Warwickshire in 80th place out of a field of 115, running the course in 11.29 while Louis Reynolds finished 110th in 12.18.

PE Teacher, Will Bower, was pleased with their performance saying, “Well done on an excellent run.  It was fantastic to see the College so well represented at the UK National Championships. This was a really good experience for these young runners who were up against club teams.  I am sure this bodes well for the summer athletics season on the track.”

We were delighted to welcome parents and friends to our spring LAMDA Showcase in the Clarkson Theatre on Monday 28 March. The informal performance was a wonderful opportunity for families to see a range of examination pieces performed by our LAMDA pupils.

Including pieces for Acting (Solo and Duo), Speaking Verse and Prose and Reading for Performance, from Grades 3 to 7, performed by pupils from across the school, it proved to be a super celebration of their talent, much appreciated by all.

Congratulations to all the performers involved:

Year 7 pupils - Emme Edge, Charlotte Gower, Annabelle Kuhnert, Ellie Maffey, Clea Roach, Joseph Sheeran and Thomas Zanyi

Year 8 pupils - Isla Farrelly, Orla Fleming, Abbas Hazra-Omer, Charlie Miller and Jorja Parris

Year 9 pupils - Issy Farrow, Anna Johnson, Isabella Price and Andrea Zanyi

Year 10 pupils - Alexandra Bonsall and Finley Shields

Lower Sixth Former - James Maclean

With special thanks to Year 8 pupil, Euan Nelson, who stepped in at the very last minute to operate the lighting for the event.

On Tuesday 22 March, our Year 10 Scientists visited Birmingham’s Symphony Hall to attend GCSE Science Live! - a nationwide tour providing pupils with an exciting, fast-moving and thought-provoking opportunity to see and hear from five of Britain’s top scientists, all working at the cutting edge of their specialisms.

All leaders in their field and publishers or broadcasters, the speakers showed that most cutting-edge research is based on the principles learnt at GCSE, in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The speakers all used key words and scientific ideas, in thought-provoking and relevant contexts.

The presenters included, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Prof Andrea Sella, Prof Robert Winston, and Prof Alice Roberts. Dr Aderin-Pocock spoke about space travel and how the new James Webb space telescope was launched; Prof Andreas Sella demonstrated how amazing water is and how its chemical properties make it so unique; Prof Robert Winston talked about reproduction and how an egg travels through the fallopian tubes to get to the uterus; and Prof Alice Roberts explained the latest research on archaeological biology.

The day also included a very useful session from a GCSE Principal Examiner, with many tips on how to improve examination performance, most of which will have been also applicable to other GCSE subjects.

It was a very useful and informative day.

The latest edition of the College's Admissions Update e-newsletter has just been published and can be found here. 

It is full of articles and news to give prospective parents and pupils a feel for College life, information on forthcoming open days and events and helpful advice about the admissions process. It will be of particular interest to those looking at entry to the school in September 2023, in Years 7 to 10 and Sixth Form.

The newsletter is issued twice a year to coincide with key admissions periods, and the next edition will be published in Autumn 2022, just prior to our Entrance Exams on Saturday 5 November 2022.

For further information on admissions please do contact the admissions team at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or call 01926 634201.

More than half of the Elements for Princethorpe’s new Science Centre have already been snapped up by generous benefactors, who will now see their name engraved on an element in the striking Periodic Table display situated upstairs on the first floor.

At a projected cost of £8 million, the College is committed to raising a proportion of the funds needed for the new Science Centre through fundraising. There are many ways for individuals to get involved, from smaller donations for names on a Brick, Periodic Element or Paver to more significant donations for naming equipment and laboratories. The aim is for the Princethorpe community to join together to make the vision for Science a reality, regardless of the size of your support.

The Periodic Table Elements are proving to be a popular choice, but there are still plenty available. Why not choose one for your family? Or a Brick or a Paver to leave your mark on Princethorpe College for generations to come.

For more information, and to take advantage of this one-off opportunity, please visit the school website here or contact the Development office at makingadifference@princethorpe.co.uk. Donations can be paid over a period of months please contact the Development Office for more information.