The Flagpole

College athletes put in fantastic performances in the first round of the English School Track and Field Cup this week taking top spot in both the Inter Girls and Inter Boys competition, the Junior Girls also did well finishing in second place overall with the Junior Boys coming third. The event took place on Tuesday 16 May at Rugby Athletics Track with teams from 12 local independent and state schools taking part.

The English Schools Track and Field Cup is a competition for school teams, pupils score points based on their individual performances, with their scores contributing to the team total. It’s all about the combined team effort and Princethorpe’s athletes certainly performed, a testament to the strength of sports here at the school!

For the Inter Girls (Years 9 and 10) Grace McCollin was outstanding in the Hurdles, finishing in 11.8 seconds and scoring 28 points, then Olivia Monk did not disappoint earning 25 points after a super 26.5 second run in the 200m and a further 21 points after jumping 9.82m in the Triple Jump. Lily Hunter and Evie Marston also both ran strongly in the 1500m gaining 24 points and 22 points respectively in times of 5.16.9 minutes and 5.24.4. Super performances across all the events by the 14-strong team accumulated a final overall total of a 357 points.

The Inter Boys scored the top team score in the whole competition earning a whopping 414 points across the afternoon. André Onyekwe sailed over 1.85m in the High Jump claiming 29 points, Oscar Civzelis ran the 300m in 39.7 seconds for 22 points, and Max Phillips-Gore, Eddie Arkesden and Jesse Esler all delivered 21 points in their respective events. Max ran the 200m in 24.8 seconds, Eddie the 800m in 2.16.8 minutes and Jesse the 1500m in 4.44.2 minutes. Their scores were supported by fine performances across all the disciplines from the 14-man team.

Best performances in the Junior Girls team (Years 7 and 8) came from Marley Adnitt in the 800m, a time of 2.48 minutes earning her 22 points, and from Issey Cleary and Rosa Davis, who also scored 22 points after running the 1500m in 5.45.3 and 5.46.8 minutes respectively. The 12 strong Junior Girls team amassed an overall score of 294 points and claimed second place.

Then for the Junior Boys, Will Smith ran the 1500m in 5.03.1 minutes to claim 21 points as part of a strong overall team performance by the 14 boys that earned Princethorpe 316 points and a third place team finish.

Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, said, “It was a very good day for Princethorpe with outstanding performances across the school years. Everyone worked hard for their team, showing determination and resilience as every single point counted. We look forward to seeing the Inter Girls and Boys perform in the regional finals.”

Competing for Princethorpe were:

Inter Girls
Emily Evans
Amy Farquharson
Martina Grace
Caitlin Horan
Lily Hunter
Penelope Jones
Evie Marston
Grace McCollin
Olivia Monk
Grace Paybody
Lim Self
Lauren Tebbatt
Delilah Teeton
Bella Ward

Inter Boys
Eddie Arkesden
Charlie Atkins
Max Black
Oscar Civzelis
Samuel Divers
Jesse Esler
Conor Horan
Xzavier Hutchinson-Hayes
Freddie Knott
Mark Message
André Onyekwe
Max Phillips-Gore
Hunter Staveley
Dan Tomlinson

Junior Girls
Marley Adnitt
Dami Ajagunna
Issey Cleary
Rosa Davis
Jess Eddleston
Lola Esler
Lillibee Harris
Emily Knight
Amy Robinson
Hattie Sarkies
Georgie Sowter
Darcey Wolsey

Junior Boys
Myles Bowley
Cody Glen
William Harvey
Rob James-Pantoja
Max Kiely
George Knott
Charles Leech
Harry Messenger
Isaac Nelson
Josh Olner
Louis Reynolds
Jo Sheeran
Henry Sims
William Smith

Princethorpe College’s Junior Girls, Minor Girls and Inter Boys teams delivered top scoring performances to finish in first place at the Warwickshire Schools Combined Events Championships. Hot on their heels were the Inter Girls and Minor Boys whose determination led to third place finishes, with the Junior Boys coming in only one place behind, finishing in fourth overall. It was another excellent athletics outing for Princethorpe at the Warwickshire Schools Combined Events, at The Pingles Stadium, in Nuneaton, last week on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 May.

16 schools from across the county sent their best athletes to the two-day event. Standards were high as competitors aimed to accrue as many points as possible across the track and field events.

The Inter Girls took on the Heptathlon competing in the 80m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot, 200m, Long Jump, Javelin and an 800m middle distance run. Martina Grace finished 7th overall, Lim Self 12th, Caitlin Horan 13th and Emily Evans 16th, together they claimed a team third place overall.

The Junior Girls Year 9 team competed in the Pentathlon, with the athletes enjoying the 75m Hurdles, Shot, High Jump, Long Jump and an 800m run. The girls put in an outstanding performance with Grace McCollin finishing 3rd overall, Penelope Jones just behind in 5th and Lauren Tebbatt 10th, together they amassed a super score to take first place overall.

The Minor Girls also did very well delivering consistent results in the 80m, Long Jump, Shot and 600m run. An excellent performance in the Long Jump helped Issey Cleary finish 2nd individually, while Lillibee Harris came in 7th and Dami Ajagunna 9th ensuring the girls also claimed team first place overall.

The Inter Boys had the Long Jump, High Jump, Javelin, Discus, Shot, 100m Hurdles, 400m and the 1500m to contend with in their Octathlon event. André Onyekwe was dominant in the Long Jump jumping 5.83m and in the High Jump, sailing over a huge height of 1.93m, to help him finish in 1st place overall, his team mates also performed well with Oscar Civzelis 4th, Jesse Esler 7th and Max Phillips-Gore 8th, together they claimed another team first place for Princethorpe.

The Junior Boys took on the Pentathlon with the 80m Hurdles, Shot, Long Jump, High Jump and 800m events. Hunter Staveley finished 4th overall, Dan Tomlinson 13th and Conor Horan 17th, their team finished fourth overall.

Then the Minor Boys took on an 80m sprint, the Long Jump, Shot and a 600m run. George Knott finished 5th overall, James Bostock 11th and Alvin Wamala 12th, taking the team to third place.

After a very successful two days, Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, was thrilled with excellent early season results, commenting, “Princethorpe’s athletes shone across all the disciplines delivering outstanding performances in both field and track events to help the College to a super set of results. Well done to them all.”

Increasing numbers of girls at Princethorpe College are choosing to study Computer Science to learn the skills necessary for them to create new technologies. Thirteen girls have opted to study Computer Science in Year 9 next academic year, recognising the subject as an interesting and viable career option.

Those who choose to study Computer Science at Princethorpe College are very successful at it, with girls currently studying the subject on track to achieve outstanding grades in their Computer Science GCSE and A-level courses. Pictured are some of the girls choosing to study Computer Science with Computer Science Subject Ambassador, Chris Lock.

Computer Science is a core part of the Year 7 and Year 8 curriculum, with the department team providing a positive environment where girls and boys are encouraged to develop computational thinking skills and learn how to code. The Computer Science department works hard to promote the subject to girls by actively championing female role models for the subject, such as computer scientists Grace Hopper and Margaret Hamilton. The Computer Science teachers network girls interested in the subject and provide lunchtime and after school opportunities for all pupils to learn more.

Teacher of Computer Science, Edward Musson, says, “Through positive exposure and targeted encouragement, we are seeing an increase in the number of girls opting to study Computer Science and develop in demand programming skills. Our older girls are great role models for the younger years, helping to breakdown stereotypes and show that girls at Princethorpe achieve at the highest level. In Year 10, three of our top four attaining pupils studying Computer Science are girls.”

It’s fantastic to see girls embracing the opportunities Computer Science provides - learning skills to enable successful 21st century information technology careers.

Back in April, pupils from Princethorpe College took part in the 2023 UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Junior Challenge, a prestigious national problem-solving competition that recognises the best young mathematicians in the country. The Challenge involves answering multiple choice questions and is sat under normal school exam conditions. The papers are then sent away to be marked by UKMT and the best pupils in the country are awarded Bronze, Silver or Gold Certificates.

The competition is aimed at pupils in Year 7 and Year 8 and Princethorpe selected 92 able mathematicians to participate in this year’s Challenge. It is a demanding exercise designed to stretch and test pupils’ mathematical skills, so the College is delighted that this year, Princethorpe’s mathematicians achieved exceptional results.

Congratulations to Year 8 pupils, Jay Patil and Tara Rodgers who were awarded a Gold certificate, and took the joint award for best performing pupils in school, and to Year 7 pupils, Dillon Horan and Charles Packe, who were awarded a Gold certificate, and took the award for best performing pupils in Year 7. Gold certificates were also awarded to Year 8 pupils Woody Osborn, Noah Cowlishaw, Theo Read-Jones, Thomas Zanyi and Jessie Murphy and to Year 7 pupils George Knott. Jay Patil and Tara Rodgers performed so well that have also qualified for the follow-on round, the Junior Kangaroo Challenge.

Silver certificates were awarded to: Isaac Frith, Erik Windham, Ayla Plumb, James Sinclair, Katherine Lee, Oscar Rexton-Watts, Elena Raiseborough, Callum Chadwick, Jo Sheeran, William Sutton, Dami Ajagunna, Noah Walker, Eve Tilley, Ellie Maffey, Jasper Nicholls, Teni Okusanya, Bohdan Nicholl, Charlotte Gower, Victor Ball, Jake Mainwaring and Jack Phillips-Gore.

Bronze certificate: Noah Thompson, Millie Lammas, Tyler Moreton, Drew Ovens Gibbs, Chloe Sarkies, Andrei Bodorin, Jacob George, Louis Reynolds, Reuben Allen, Teddy James, Jake Swords, Ollie Hawkins, Emily Beadle, Isaac Fowle, Sachin Gupta, Victoria Benbow, Georgina Sowter, Stephanie Bolton, Henry Spicer, Ali Maddams, Noah Dando, John Owen, Freddie Stephenson, Veer Chayra, Jack McKay, Lucas Ross, Edward Hunt, Dax Frost and Arthur Reid.

Well done all and many thanks to all the pupils who took part, we hope you enjoyed the challenge.

Theo Scoutas
Post 16 Mathematics Co-ordinator

What a finale we had to this year’s Forensic Science Club on Wednesday 17 May. Over the course of the Trinity Term, our Year 8 crime scene investigator trainees have been busy learning all about different forensic science techniques, from fingerprinting and blood splatter analysis to footprint evidence and soil samples, as well as how to process a crime scene and handwriting analysis.

After a body was found in the cellars, Year 8 were called upon to investigate, reviewing witness statements, examining the crime scene and collecting and analysing evidence. The pupils donned their protective clothing and set off to search the school for evidence. There was plenty to find, as the careless criminals had left many, many clues! It was a deadly mystery, but Year 8 were more than up for the challenge.

Science Teacher, Sam Curtis, was impressed by them all, commenting, “All Princethorpe’s trainee forensic scientists passed their assessment with flying colours, piecing together the evidence to solve the mystery and recover the stolen diamonds. They certainly weren’t fooled by all the double crossing going on.”

Well done to all the super-sleuthing scientists who took part!

Longstanding staff at Crescent School are looking forward to catching up with old pupils when the school celebrates its 75th Anniversary in June. Many of the school’s staff have worked at the Crescent for an awful long time, in fact when we totalled it up those pictured here have 265 years of service between them. With the lovely catering ladies leading the way having served school dinners for an amazing 82 years!

Many Princethorpe families have connections to Crescent School and will be familiar with these faces. All former pupils, staff and parents are invited to attend the school’s anniversary fête which takes place on Saturday 10 June from 12.00pm to 2.30pm. In addition to stalls, activities and a BBQ organised by the wonderful Friends of Crescent on the school field, all Old Crescentians will be able to tour the school, visit our archive room, help us identify past pupils, visit our 'memory booth' as well as catch up with fellow past pupils and former and longstanding members of staff.

Everyone is most welcome so please do come along. If you would like to attend, please sign up on Princethorpe Connect here: https://connect.princethorpe.co.uk/event/75th-anniversary-fete

House Bake Off was, as always, a popular competition with a tantalising display of 30 creative entries lined up for the judges in the College’s Food and Nutrition Room. The ‘Literary’ theme produced an incredible array of ‘book’ themed bakes with Harry Potter, The Hobbit and The Very Hungry Caterpillar featuring among the designs.

Mrs Newborough and Ms Scott took on the arduous job of judging all the entries, supported by Mr Cowlishaw and Mrs Sharpe, they considered taste, decoration and relevance to the theme. Staff and pupils crowded in at break time to chose their favourites too.

House Activities Leader, Jess Newborough, commented, “Our House bakers are just incredible, the effort and creativity put into making these cakes was amazing. House Bake Off is always a super competition. Well done to everyone who took part.”

The results were:

Decoration

1st Sophia Deery

2nd BEM Tutor Group

3rd Eloise Keil

Staff Mrs Cowan

Taste

1st Damiola Ajagunna

2nd Amy Bull and Hannah Atkinson

3rd George York

Staff Mrs Munford

Popularity Vote

Marco Rodriguez Hernandez

Scroll through the gallery to see all the amazing entries. All entries to the competition were awarded house-points.

Princethorpe’s U13A Girls Cricket team batted and bowled their hearts out at the Nottingham High Cricket Festival last weekend. In a superb performance, they won all their matches and took first place in the Cup competition.

The festival took place on Saturday 13 May at Nottingham High School and was for Year 7 and 8 pupils. Six schools took part in each age group category, the U13s and U12s. With the three teams scoring the most runs going through to the cup competition, while the lower scoring teams went through to the Plate competition.

The U13 Girls played two games in the pool stage, winning both:

Princethorpe 262 runs scored vs Loughborough High School 246 runs scored
Princethorpe 234 runs scored vs Nottingham High School 231 runs scored

The girls qualified second out of the six schools and progressed to the cup competition. Here the team upped their performance to win both of their games by a significant number of runs:

Princethorpe 261 runs scored vs Ratcliffe 217 runs scored
Princethorpe 253 runs scored vs Bablake 207 runs scored.

Team coach, Ellie Callan, said, “The girls were fantastic on the day. Each and every one of them played a role in the team to help them secure the festival win, whether that be taking a wicket, catching the opposition out, hitting a six or showing strong communication and leadership skills throughout the tournament. The girls were commended by several schools on the quality and consistency of their bowling, which ultimately helped them to knock down the run total of other teams.”

Anabel Davis received the coach’s player of the tournament award for bowling the best overs of the day and hitting a big six.

Charlotte Gower was awarded most improved player. She listened to feedback and was able to improve elements of her game in most of the matches we played.

Well done also to the U12s team, the tournament was a fantastic opportunity for them to gain valuable match experience.

On Wednesday 17 May, 43 Year 9 and 10 pupils from Princethorpe College visited the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge. As part of the day the pupils got to take part in taught sessions on controlling physical devices using Python code and 'The Megaprocessor' in support of their GCSE Computer Science studies. They also had chance to look around the museum and to have hands of experience of a wide range of computers going back to the 1960s. Head of Computer Science, Adam Depledge, said, “This was a really valuable experience for the pupils which will not only help them with their studies directly but also give them a deeper appreciated of the history of the topics they are learning.”

On Thursday 11 May, 42 Year 10 Geography GCSE pupils set off for Preston Montford, one of the Field Studies Council’s specialist outdoor centres. Lying close to the Welsh border, to the west of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, the field centre is a fantastic outdoor classroom where pupils were able to put into practise the geographical field skills they have been studying in their lessons. The two-day trip supported the geographical investigations modules that pupils undertake within their Geography GCSE.

Pupils spent one day exploring human geography topics, investigating the impact of internet shopping and consequent retail changes in the central business district in the county town of Shrewsbury. As part of their investigations, they completed questionnaires and took photographs which they will now put together with secondary data sources to complete their analysis. Then they also spent a day investigating physical geography topics in Carding Mill Valley, Church Stretton. There they surveyed the rivers, undertaking measurements and investigating how river channel characteristics change and how they relate to flooding downstream.

Helen Baker, Joint Head of Geography, said, “Preston Montford is an excellent Field Centre. Thankfully, we enjoyed dry and at times sunny weather and the pupils’ engagement and conduct was exemplary. We had a very busy two days and the trip has given pupils a fantastic head start in Component 3 of their GCSE, Geographical Investigations: Fieldwork and UK Challenges.”

Princethorpe’s boys took four titles at the ISA National Tennis Tournament which took place on Wednesday 10 May at Rugby School. Princethorpe’s pupils were runners up in a further event, took third place in another and also won a Sportsmanship Award, making for a very respectable performance from the College teams.

Jen Law, Head of Girls’ Games, said, “Pupils played brilliantly. The standard of tennis was high, and we had some fantastic results. All in all, it was a very successful day.”

The results included:
U13 National ISA Champion – Will Harvey (Year 8)
U13 National ISA Plate Champion – Will Smith (Year 8)
U13 National ISA Doubles Champions – Will Harvey and Will Smith
U13 National ISA Doubles Plate Champions – Angus Griffin (Year 8) and Noah Walker (Year 7)
U15 National ISA 3rd place and Sportsmanship Award Winner – Henry Fox (Year 9)
U15 National ISA Doubles Runners-Up – Will Gower (Year 10) and Alex Sykes (Year 9)

Well played to all the pupils who took part.

Head of Religious Studies, Cyp Vella, took the Lower Sixth RS students to the Stratford Literary Festival on Friday 5 May to listen to a discussion about the existence of God between David Baddiel, a secular Jew, and Rev. Giles Fraser, a Church of England vicar.

David Baddiel explained why he doesn’t believe in God, and Rev Giles Fraser gave his perspectives on why he does believe. It was a really interesting and thought-provoking talk that was directly relevant to the A-level syllabus the students are studying. It provided plenty to debate further and will support students in a key element of their studies, evaluating the different arguments for the existence of God.

It was wonderful to host a large group of interested OPs, former staff and parents at our OPs Science Centre Preview and Brunch on Saturday 13 May.

The group, who were warmly welcomed by Foundation Principal, Ed Hester, enjoyed a delicious brunch in the Refectory before setting off in three groups to be ably toured round the construction site by Architect, Tony Pugh, Project Manager, Alex Darkes and Deputy Head (Academic), Michael Spencer.

Contractors were hard at work while the parties toured the two floors, taking in the ten laboratories, break out area, prep rooms and staff bases. All were suitably impressed by the progress to date including the space, facilities, views and the positive impact the Science Centre will have on other areas of the campus when it comes online.

The build is on schedule to be handed over to the College in the summer and will be officially opened early next academic year.

The next OPs event is the Summer Supper Reunion on Friday 23 June, this event is aimed specifically at those celebrating their 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th year of leaving the College, so if you were in a Leaving Class with a 3 at the end of it or know someone who was, visit Princethorpe Connect for more details and to sign up. OPs from other year groups are most welcome too of course.

https://connect.princethorpe.co.uk/event/summer-supper-reunion-2023

On Saturday 13 May, Princethorpe College hosted its popular annual ‘Say Hello to Hockey’ taster session. Despite the decidedly cold temperatures, the weather stayed dry and nearly 50 Year 4 and 5 pupils, from surrounding primary schools, enjoyed a fun introduction to this exciting field game.

Rotating through different training drills, the children learned about the key skills of dribbling, passing, tackling and shooting. They quickly got to grips with the fast-paced sport. After a quick pit-stop the children then took part in a mini-tournament in front of a crowd of enthusiastic parents, it was great to see their new hockey skills being used so effectively.

Princethorpe College Games Teacher, Rachael Mack, was impressed at how well the children took to the sport commenting, “Some children were nervous at the beginning, having never been to Princethorpe or ever held a hockey stick before but everyone soon settled, and they were all chatting like old friends by the end of the morning. They progressed enormously and the standard of hockey played in the mini-tournament was really very good.”

At the end of the session, Princethorpe’s Headmaster, Grove du Toit, spoke to the children and their parents before everyone was sent on their way clutching a legendary Princethorpe cookie.  

A big thank you to all the staff and Sixth Formers who gave up their morning to run the event.

The College hosted its annual U10 Football Tournament this week. Nine teams from local primary schools joined us on Monday 15 May and enjoy the chance to play football on the College’s Astro.

Princethorpe’s Primary School Sport Liaison Teacher, Hannah Carminati, masterminded the event and had the teams quickly out on to the two pitches playing eight minute, one-way matches. Split into two pools the teams started with a round-robin of games. Refereed and supported by Princethorpe Sixth Formers, Finn Osborn, Jacob Illey, Darcey Heritage and Mary-Ellen Boyle, the mixed teams of girls and boys threw themselves into each game enjoying the opportunity of putting their skills into practice in a competitive environment.

The coaches gave good side line support shouting advice to their players whose enthusiasm was clear to see. Matches were fast paced, and the teams focused. The ball was moved skilfully up and down the pitch and there were some excellent shots at goal. At the end of the pool round the scores were added up and the teams then all finished with one final game playing their matching placing from the other pool.

Congratulations go to overall winners Grange Farm Primary School who just pipped Bilton CofE Junior School on penalties to take first place. Finishing in third place was Foundation Prep School, Crescent School.

Miss Carminati enjoyed seeing all the talent on display, saying “I thought the event was a real success. It was lovely to see the children having so much fun; they all deserve huge congratulations for their energy and enthusiasm. It was fantastic to have nine teams participating and it proved to be a very exciting end to the day.”

Our thanks go to all of the staff and pupils involved in the organising and running the tournament and to the many parents who turned up to support the children.

Playing in the tournament this year were Barford Primary School, Bilton CofE Junior School, Crackley Hall School, Crescent School, Crick Primary School, Dunchurch Boughton CofE Junior School, Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School and Grange Farm Primary School.