The Flagpole

Further to the Parent Questionnaire that we conducted in the Trinity Term, it was really encouraging to see that a good number of parents would like to be more involved in supporting the school across a number of areas. 

Specific areas where we would welcome help include:

• The Parent Teacher Association
• Careers-related activities: interviews, the Careers Fair (which will take place on Saturday 17 March 2018) and Work Experiences
• Co-curricular activities
• Parent focus groups

If you currently do help us in any way, or would like to think about offering your help in the future, I would be very grateful if you could fill in the brief on-line questionnaire which can be accessed here, by Friday 13 October please.

An enormous “thank you” to you all for your continued support of the College, it is hugely appreciated by both staff and the pupils.

E D Hester
Headmaster

Princethorpe College has presented a cheque to Warwickshire Young Carers for £5883.84, following a year of fundraising by pupils and staff at the school. The charity had been nominated by pupils as House charity for the school year 2016-17.

The Chief Executive of Warwickshire Young Carers, Deb Bignell, visited the school on Wednesday 20 September to receive the donation and she was presented with a cheque by Sixth Form Charity Prefects Ben Haden and Samantha Bromage-Eccles.

Deb Bignell was delighted and commented, “We will use this money to organise a residential activity week for 40 young carers. It will make a difference to their lives by allowing them to have a break and to have some fun. I know from feedback we have received before how much such an opportunity means to young carers and their families.”

Fundraising events held at the College over the year included a House Talent Show, a Bags2School collection (recycling unwanted clothes), teachers taking to the stocks, stalls at the Christmas and Summer Fairs, a carwash and lots and lots of cake sales.

House Activities Co-ordinator, Faye Roberts, said, ”The College has a strong ethos of kindness, every year we ask pupils to work together to fundraise for a charity they have chosen. There is always a lot of inter-house rivalry so the events we organise are a lot of fun and we know we are doing good too. This is a fantastic fundraising total; I am really proud of our pupils.”

The College has adopted Headway, the brain injury charity, as its chosen charity for 2017-18.

With just six weeks to go until the College's Entrance Exams for admission in September 2018, the deadline date for registrations, Friday 6 October, is fast approaching.

Registrations are flooding in post Open Afternoon and the Admissions Team is expecting more over the next week following the popular Year 6, 7 and 8 Taster Days.  Early registration is advised to enable the seeking of references from junior schools, which is a critical part of the admissions process. 

The exams for Year 7 to 10 entry will take place on Saturday 11 November from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

Open Morning on Thursday 2 November from 10.30am to 12.30pm, will give prospective pupils one last opportunity to look around the College before the exams and to quiz younger pupils who will be on hand to conduct tours for visitors.

For more information on the admissions process click here to visit the Admissions Update newsletter.

If you have any queries relating to admissions please feel free to email the Registrars at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or call them on 01926 634201.

What was once prime time television, Ready Steady Cook, returned this week, as our latest inter-house College competition. On Tuesday 26 September teams of Sixth Formers from each House took part in a hotly contested cooking challenge, serving up two plates of food, a main and a dessert, in the Food Technology suite.

The students had just 25 minutes to produce their mouth-watering creations from a bag of mystery ingredients.

The kitchens were quickly a whir of activity with knives chopping, whisks beating and pans bubbling as the teams of three set to work. Onlookers encouraged from the side and House Activities Leader, Faye Roberts, called out regular time checks, as the time ticked quickly away.

Representing Austin were Abbie Baker, Luke Tallis and Alex Hutcheson. They put together a stir fry with noodles and a pastry cum marshmallow concoction. For Fisher it was Fennah Jones, Will Stone and Freya Barnett who rustled up stuffed peppers, pasta and pancakes with raspberries and chocolate sauce. Benet’s team were Head Girl Miriam Isaacs, Charlotte Martin and Bryn Lewis who cooked a Spanish omelette and pancakes with chocolate and raspberry sauce. Finally, for More it was Alex Tubb, Mark Hewlett and Haydn Connell whose nifty number included loaded nachos, wraps and more expertly flipped pancakes.

The judges assembled drawn by the lovely smells and took their places at the table. Under the watchful eyes of the competitors and their supporters they taste-tested the delicious assortment of dishes, deliberating long and hard before finally ordering the plates, à la ‘bake off’, in order of preference.

The final results were:

Mains: 1st Benet, 2nd Fisher, 3rd More, 4th Austin
Dessert: 1st Fisher, 2nd Benet, 3rd More and 4th Austin

Another marvellous House competition! Huge thanks to all of the competitors for their enthusiastic efforts, to Faye Roberts for providing the organisation and ingredients, to Charlotte Hetherington for keeping control in the kitchens and to our fearless judges Hattie Brember, Tom Knowles and Becky Underhill who dived into the dishes on offer.

Our Sixth Formers cooked up a storm – they certainly won’t be starving students when they go off to university.

The newly formed Development focus group was kindly hosted by Princethorpe parent Robert Lee at the stunning offices of Wright Hassall solicitors in Leamington Spa. The group, consisting of five current and former parents, generously give their time, guidance and advice to the Development team, giving valued feedback on latest projects such as the bursary campaign’s ‘Cut the Coffee’ regular giving initiative.

The group meets termly and is a very convivial, informal, and creative forum for discussion. The Development team values such donations of time and expertise greatly, and it is wonderful to have such a mix of skills around the table. The group, which represents a cross section of parents at the College, gives invaluable feedback and direction to all our fundraising work.

The Bursary campaign, launched in March, aims to transform the lives of children who would otherwise be unable to attend Princethorpe College. The Fund provides opportunities to those families whose circumstances prevent them from accessing the fantastic education, care and support that a Princethorpe education offers. The regular giving campaign, invites Princethorpe supporters, to sacrifice just three cups of coffee a month and join the growing number of families who give small, regular donations to benefit other children and transform lives. Further details can be found here.

A big thank you to those parents who are part of the focus group. If any parents, grandparents, or supporters of the College would like to know more about the group, please contact Rachel Hadley-Leonard, Director of Development, at rachelhadleyleonard@princethorpe.co.uk or by telephoning 01926 634265.

In mid-September 25 Upper Sixth students headed off for four days to a new destination for this year’s Biology Field Trip, the Isle of Wight. For once the weather outlook was promising with glorious sunshine forecast, rather than the rain and wind that has battered so many of our previous outings.

The group’s first stop off the ferry was to Monkey Haven, an Owl and Monkey rescue sanctuary, in Newport, where the students enjoyed learning about ex-situ conservation as well meeting the rascally meerkats.

Their next few days were spent at the Medina Valley Outdoor Education Centre where the students completed two of their required assessed Biology practicals, as well as getting useful hands on experience of real field work. Small mammal traps enabled them to sample the local population of shrews and they were thrown in at the deep end on the first night dissecting owl pellets for skull remains and other bones to identify what the owls had been eating – fascinating but rather smelly!

Practical work was completed on the salt marsh and rocky shores with plenty of time for rock pooling for crabs, starfish and the filter feeders sea squirts.

The return journey was broken up with an informative stop off at Southampton University’s Oceanography Centre. As well as a lecture on climate change and a tour of the laboratories and aquariums the students took a fascinating trip out on the University’s Research Vessel - Callista. Our students carried out five different experiments including tests for abiotic data, and they even deployed the trawler nets to find all sorts of interesting creatures. It was the highlight of the day.

Head of Biology, Faye Roberts, commented, “I was really proud of our students’ enthusiasm and willingness to get stuck into new challenges. They made the most of every experience, learnt a lot and hopefully had some fun too. The sunshine was a fantastic welcome bonus to a very successful trip.”

Huge congratulations go to Princethorpe Sixth Former Finn Nicholas who completed the inaugural Vélo Birmingham 100-mile cycling event on Sunday 24 September.

17-year-old Finn took to the course in aid of Cure Leukaemia and was joined by his dad, Mark, who was recently diagnosed with Leukaemia, plus a group of his dad’s friends and members of the charity from across the West Midlands.

The epic cycling challenge saw the team take on a very ‘tough and lumpy’ course with over 7000ft of climbing. Finn’s dad was particularly proud of him as he still took part in the ride even after playing a whole rugby match in the front row for Princethorpe the day before! Well done Finn!    

All money raised by Mark and Finn will help Cure Leukaemia support the £3.2million expansion of the Centre for Clinical Haematology (CCH) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, which is leading the global fight against all forms of blood cancer.

If you would like to sponsor Finn and his dad Mark, please visit:

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/finn-and-mark-nicholas-cure

Incredibly there are some 24 official languages and over 200 different spoken dialects in Europe alone. Back here in the UK four out of five adults regret not having learned another language, but that is something no Princethorpe pupil will ever be able to say!

At the College there are many opportunities to get excited about languages and the European Day of Languages, this year Tuesday 26 September, is just one of them. Set up by the Council of Europe in 2001, the day promotes the importance of language learning and the cultural diversity Europe provides.

Championed by our MFL team, pupils across the College were informed about the joys of learning another language; not just for the purpose of public examinations but for lifelong learning and inter-cultural understanding.

Even the College catering team, Holroyd Howe, got behind the theme of linguistic diversity with a cornucopia of European delights such as; stroganoff, arrabiata chicken and focaccia served in a European flag-decorated dining room.

Throughout the week all sorts of activities have been taking place. A design a t-shirt competition, trivia quizzes, European language film showings and the MFL photo booth have all run alongside the usual provision for Spanish, French and German lessons.

Mademoiselle Charlotte Verleure’s enthusiasm for languages is evident. “Through the lessons we teach and pupils’ day to day life they are encountering different European influences on a regular basis. I hope the events that have taken place this week have been enjoyable and will inspire everyone with the languages they learn.”

On Sunday 24 September Princethorpe opened its doors wide and gave a warm welcome to hundreds of prospective parents and pupils. With the College’s Entrance Examinations now taking place in November our Open Afternoon was much earlier in the academic calendar and we were delighted to be able to take advantage of the September sun.

All afternoon the school was at its sparkling best, a well organised hive of activity; departments had prepared informative displays, staff and present pupils were on hand to take questions and talk with parents and of course there were plenty of fun subject-related activities for younger (and older) visitors to enjoy. Rewards were on offer for all those who ‘had a go’ with stickers to collect and a choice of snazzy prizes for the children on their way home.

Outside many chose to try their hand at archery and to visit a new attraction, Switzerland, our ‘outdoor classroom’. In the Limes the climbing wall was as always a popular draw and the classrooms were abuzz with parents and children exploring IT, Maths, English and MFL.

Music echoed around the Roundhouse and mini drama sketches attracted audiences to the newly refurbished Theatre. Through the length and breadth of the school, visitors were invited to ‘have a go’ at dissection, control mini robots, taste test scones, watch some explosive experiments and explore mother boards.

Ed Hester, Headmaster, welcomed parents and children with an inspiring address in the Chapel, talking about the school, its plans and the ‘Spirit of Family’ ethos that allows Princethorpe to help every child to succeed.

Visitors were up on last year with nearly 200 families visiting the College, many completely new to the school. For all it was a great chance to soak up the special Princethorpe atmosphere and to get a flavour of day to day life.

A huge thank you to all the staff, pupils, prefects and parents who helped on the day and those involved in the preparations. The school looked amazing and the feedback from our visitors as they left was very positive.

On Monday 18 September the College was delighted to welcome back educational researcher, Martin Griffin, the CEO of Mindset Character Education.

Martin visited the College to talk with this year’s Sixth Form, Year 11 and Year 10 pupils. He spoke about the characteristics of a successful pupil and shared his wisdom on the different techniques and mindsets required to achieve top grades. He is more than equipped to give expert advice in this area, having spent many years in teaching, including as Deputy Head Teacher at the Blue Coat School in Oldham, and in roles as Head of Faculty and Head of Department. He has seen a lot of successful and not so successful pupils over the years, so his strategies are based on real pupil experience and his presentation was full of excellent practical advice.

For all of our pupils Martin’s advice was timely, informative and constructive but it was especially relevant for our Lower Sixth and Year 10s who are at the start of their examination courses.

Dr Michael Reddish, Director of Studies, said, “We are delighted that Martin has returned to present his A-level Mindset to our Sixth Form again, and especially pleased that this time he is also sharing his GCSE Mindset with Year 11 and Year 10 pupils. This is in response to the feedback we received from pupils and parents after his visit last year. His strategies have inspired much of our new study skills curriculum so staff will be following through on Martin’s visit today to reinforce his advice and techniques in the classroom and in exam preparation.”

He continued, “At Princethorpe we want our pupils to be the best they can be. We work hard to create a ‘can do’ environment and we know getting a ‘growth mindset’ as they focus on their studies will make a difference to their final grades.”

Click here for copies of Martin's presentations.