The Flagpole

Our biennial Careers Fair returns on Saturday 17 March 2018. Open to all Princethorpe pupils from Year 10 to Sixth Form, this year's fair is set to be our biggest one yet!

With a wide range of speakers and organisations on hand to offer advice and guidance on careers, universities and gap year options, there really will be something for everyone! If you haven’t registered yet, don’t miss out – registration has been extended to 3.30pm on Monday 5 March.

There will be over 40 speakers covering a whole wealth of careers from accountancy to engineering, physiotherapy to dentistry, flying helicopters to property, film design to the music industry, design to entrepreneurship and many, many more. We'll also have universities from across the country, such as Cardiff, Southampton, Loughborough and Surrey, with stalls in the exhibition part of the Fair.

Pupils and families are asked to register in advance, choosing three workshop sessions they would like to attend (in order of preference), plus one reserve choice. Based on this information, personalised timetables will be created and be ready to collect on the day. Please note, sessions are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information about the talks and to register, visit: http://bit.ly/PCCareersF18

Click here to access the twenty seventh issue of the Old Princethorpian which was published just before half term on Friday 16 February.

This issue includes the latest Foundation and College news plus plenty of news and updates from OPs across the decades.

If you are an OP or know an OP who would like to share their news or pictures with us for the next issue due out in early May please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk by the end of April

If you would like to be added to the distribution list please email Old Princethorpians' Secretary Melanie Butler.

On Saturday 10 February, the College was delighted to welcome back Old Princethorpian and professional actor, Emilio Doorgasingh (1983), to officially open The Clarkson Theatre.

The theatre underwent a dramatic transformation last year, with retractable seating and state of the art lighting and audio visual equipment installed and has been named The Clarkson Theatre after former Headmaster Fr Bill Clarkson MSC.

Comments current Headmaster, Ed Hester, "Fr Bill Clarkson had such a huge impact on Princethorpe College in the early days and was so respected and loved by the pupils and staff in his care. We wanted to take this opportunity to remember him for posterity in the daily life of the school."

The opening ceremony coincided with the last night of the College's production of Arabian Nights, and Emilio, who has a string of TV, Theatre and Film credits to his name, generously took time before the show to talk to the young cast and answer questions about his life as an actor. Questions ranged from how to combat nerves, the best ways to get into acting and what was it like appearing in A Game of Thrones!

In his opening speech Emilio spoke eloquently about his time at the College and how the teachers had inspired his love of the theatre and set him off on his career. He also spoke movingly about Fr Clarkson and how his wise counsel helped him through his teenage years.

The production of Dominic Cooke’s adaption of Arabian Nights, was directed by Aileen Cefaliello, supported by Vicky Roberts, Joint Heads of Drama, and performed with verve and passion by Princethorpe College’s wonderful troupe of pupil players.  For three night captivated audiences were transported to a colourful world of larger than life characters, tall stories and Eastern promise.

Ed Hester continued, "Our thanks go to Emilio for making this such a special evening for the cast and all concerned with the production and refurbishment of the theatre."

Commenting on his visit, Emilio said, “It was fantastic to be back at Princethorpe 35 years after leaving, to reopen a theatre I had played in all those years ago, when Fr Clarkson was headmaster. A place that had originally been the gym where I did P.E. To see pupils that same age perform a show I have since done professionally; watched by teachers who taught me there and then. How magical!"

Emilio now lives in London and is currently playing Leonato, Hero's father, in Shakespeare's Globe Theatre’s production of Much Ado About Nothing.

Eighteen-year-old, Princethorpe College student, Liam Jarrett, is celebrating after being awarded a Finance and Accountancy degree apprenticeship with one of the big four accountancy firms. The Upper Sixth Former, who is studying for A-levels in Economics, Geography and Law, went up against hundreds of hopefuls and came out on top bagging one of the much sought after apprenticeship places at leading firm, KMPG.

KPMG’s 360º Apprenticeship Scheme is run in conjunction with a number of top universities for three or six years. During the first three years, Liam will rotate around KPMG’s audit, tax and advisory teams whilst attending Birmingham University on a day release scheme. After that he can then choose to specialise and study for a professional qualification such as the ACA, the ICAEW’s chartered accountant qualification.

The big four accountancy firms are leading the way in recruiting bright, ambitious school-leavers who want to launch their careers early rather than go on to further study at university. They claim that 18-year-olds who start work straight after their A-levels are often more focused and motivated than graduates who join in their early twenties.

Liam certainly has a ‘can-do’ and tenacious attitude having completed an online application, psychometric tests and an audio interview before being invited to an assessment centre where he undertook group exercises, written tasks and had a further in-depth hour-long interview.

Liam commented, “To be offered this opportunity with such a well-regarded company is a dream come true and I am determined to make the most of it. I know I will be learning every day and gaining invaluable hands on experience.”

Added Jacqui Quinney, Princethorpe Head of Careers, “This is amazing news for Liam. His degree apprenticeship will develop invaluable skills that will certainly help him with his future career. Many of the top accountancy firms are recruiting degree apprentices and these make an excellent career choice for aspiring school leavers.”

Over the February Half Term a six-strong team of young robotics engineers from Princethorpe College travelled to Italy to compete in the First Tech Relic Recovery Europe Invitational Challenge. The First Tech Challenge is an international initiative that aims to ignite an enthusiasm for science and technology and teach STEM skills to children aged 12-18 years.  Competing teams had designed, built and programmed robots to work together in alliances with other teams to complete set tasks. 

Princethorpe’s team, The Robot Cavaliers, comprised Year 9s Max Critchley, Archie Hancock and Stan Brocklebank and Year 7s Harry Kelly, Alexander Leret and Jake Lambert.  They were one of only two teams from the UK out of twenty teams competing in the invitational competition from countries across Europe including Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Before being allowed to compete the robot had to pass a series of tests and inspections. The competition was very structured and the team had to work within set parameters to undertake the challenge. This year the robot was required to pick up and stack foam cubes in a three by four pattern and to then place a relic (that looked a little like a plastic jelly baby) over the edge of the arena.

The Princethorpe team finished 9th overall, an excellent result for the young team, especially as most of the other competitors were Sixth Form students. The team were especially delighted to be awarded the Rockwell Collins Innovation Award which is given to the team for the most innovative and creative robot design solution.

ICT Teacher Jan Ryalls, who accompanied the boys, commented, “The team were really pleased with their performance, they learnt a lot and not just technical skills, the competition challenged their problem solving and team working skills.  Their robot had some balance issues, which they will need to address, but they have come back having made new friends and with recognition for their inventive design and engineering work.”

Special thanks go to engineering expert Mark Brocklebank for the help, support and encouragement he provided to the team.

‘This is our God, The Servant King, He calls us now to follow Him, To bring our lives as a daily offering, Of worship to The Servant King’, went the words of the classic worship song as staff and pupils entered the College Chapel for a special Mass on Ash Wednesday.

The theme for the service was ‘one small step’ and on entering the Chapel pupils and staff passed a pathway designed by Year 10 pupils Sophie Cheshire and Hannah Bryer to illustrate this. Explaining the theme Fr Alan Whelan MSC described the period of Lent as a journey of 40 days, a time for followers to reflect, discern and put faith into practice, no matter where the journey leads. The key to that journey beginning was, he pronounced, one small step of faith taken on Ash Wednesday.

Lent is both a communal and personal journey and pupils were invited to reflect on the ‘one small step’ they would personally take. Before receiving the ashes, they were asked to write their one small step on footprints which were then arranged by Year 7 pupils Chloe O’Carroll-Bailey, Erika Zanyi, and Amelie Hancock on the pathway.

This was followed by the assembled congregation watching a CAFOD video, reflecting on its message of the importance of taking that one small step and then Year 11’s Lara Vohrah and Year 8‘s Mark Dunkley read the prayers of Intersession.

Commented Head of Religious Studies, Spike Lane, “As Lent begins and we take our one small step of faith and action, we know that our God is a God who walks with us on our journey.”

The latest issue of The Pinnacle, out in time for the start of the new half term, showcases yet more of our pupils' excellent work.  

This edition includes updates on our da Vinci programme and showcases flair across all subjects and year groups including Languages, Drama, Sport, Science (including a space mission to Rendezvous with a Comet), History and creative writing. There’s also coverage of some of the wonderful GCSE and A-level Art, which will appear in our Summer Art, Photography and Design Show in June, which all are welcome to attend.

A double-sized Minnacle is included too, with equally impressive work by Crackley Hall pupils from Reception to Junior 6 and Crescent pupils from Reception to Class VI. It's super to showcase their talents too!!

Copies were distributed to all pupils via their Form Tutors earlier this week.

Click here if you would like to download a copy of The Pinnacle and here if you would like to see The Minnacle.

Helen Pascoe-Williams
Co-ordinator of the da Vinci Programme

Sixth Formers Tom Steventon, James Fletcher and Ed Williamson impressed the judges to finish as runners up in this year’s Youth Speaks, the Rotary Club’s annual public speaking challenge. In the competition, which took place on Thursday 8 February at the Northgate Methodist Church in Warwick, the Princethorpe College students competed against teams of pupils from local schools, Warwick, King’s High and Myton.

Youth Speaks requires a team of three students to stand up and deliver a speech on a subject of their choice. Each team comprised of a Chair, a Speaker and a Vote of Thanks. The Chair starts with two minutes to welcome the audience, introduce the Speaker and to inform the audience on the expertise of the Speaker. The Speaker then has six minutes to make their speech and a further two minutes to consider and answer a question. The Vote of Thanks finally has two minutes to propose a vote of thanks and remark on both the content of the main speech and the response to the question. The structure of the event makes for an entertaining and diverting session where the students not only have to present clearly, but also spontaneously respond.

Competing in the Senior section, Tom Steventon gave an excellent presentation on the subject of excess plastic packaging. He was eloquent and convincing as he spoke about the serious waste issue it presents. He was well supported by James and Ed who both made strong contributions to the team’s performance. Their speech was very well received with the audience engaged throughout.

The students had worked hard to prepare thoroughly. They were helped and supported by Head of English, Chris Kerrigan who commented, “Tom, James and Ed were an absolute pleasure to work with, they did a wonderful job and I felt deserved to be prize-winners. It really was an outstanding effort and performance.”

The boys, who narrowly missed out on first place to Warwick School, thoroughly enjoyed the evening and learned a lot from listening to the other speakers who took part.

On Wednesday 7 February 35 Foundation pupils from Princethorpe, Crackley and the Crescent swapped their normal lessons to ‘Rendezvous with a Comet’. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) based challenge took place in the Challenger Learning Centre which is part of the National Space Centre in Leicester.

For the challenge pupils took on the roles of scientists and engineers on a daring mission to take an up-close look at a comet as it streaks its way across the solar system. Their goal is to plot a successful course to rendezvous with the comet and launch a probe to collect important scientific data. After a briefing by Space Centre Commanders Rob and Matt, the children started by constructing a space probe and then plotted the correct intercept course. The routine mission quickly evolved as obstacles and problems emerged and all of the pupils worked together as a team to come up with solutions.

Foundation pupils took on various different roles, in both mission control and on the space shuttle. They included working in the Navigation, Communication and Data, Isolation, Medical and Remote Teams. During the two and half hour mission our Year 6, 7 and 8 pupils had to communicate effectively, plot accurate co-ordinates, swap data, test chemicals, identify gases and colour spectrums. A particularly memorable moment was when the Shuttle's Communication Officer reminded those back on Earth that they still needed the location of the CO2 sponges if they were to avert a capsule failure and a mission catastrophe.

The teams got a heroes’ welcome home when they returned to Mission Control safely. Da Vinci Co-ordinator, Mrs Pascoe-Williams commented, “It was another excellent mission – this is the sixth time that we have taken pupils to the Space Centre and I was impressed with how well the pupils from our three schools worked together. The atmosphere was fantastic and the enthusiasm boundless, all in all it was a great opportunity for cross-curricula learning.”

The mission-critical trip ended with a film in the 3D planetarium and that all-important visit to the gift shop to purchase some souvenirs to remind everyone of their rendezvous with the Comet Cre-ackleythorpe!

Individual red and white carnations were hand delivered by Sixth Formers to classrooms across Princethorpe College on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 February, all in celebration of St Valentine’s Day.

In the preceding weeks Princethorpe’s Sixth Form students had been busy promoting their charity fundraiser in aid of the British Heart Foundation.  Late on the Tuesday afternoon, Princethorpe’s very own Cupids, began preparing the flowers, delicately wrapping and handwriting personal messages for the anonymous gifts, before beginning their surprise deliveries. There were red carnations for that very special someone and white carnations as a thank you to a great friend.

This year there were over 70 lucky recipients and the Sixth Formers raised £130 all of which will be donated to help the British Heart Foundation in their mission to ‘fight for every heartbeat’.

Princethorpe Upper Sixth Former Autumn Wells has beaten off the competition to land a prestigious degree apprenticeship with Rolls Royce.  Autumn is to be especially commended for her amazing achievement as competition for places on the apprenticeship scheme was hugely oversubscribed, with some 7,000 applicants for just four commercial roles.

Autumn, who is studying A-levels in Maths, Psychology and Law, is thoroughly looking forward to starting the programme later this year.  She underwent a rigorous selection procedure; after completing an online application, eligibility and psychometric tests and a video interview she was one of just 30 applicants invited to an Assessment Centre.  There she was put through her paces further with competency and technical interviews, group tasks and a presentation.

Asked to comment on the apprenticeship programme, Autumn said, “I am really looking forward to the mix of university and on the job study.  Over the four years I will have eight placements in department such as Finance, Contracts, Sales and Marketing.  I will have the chance to meet and work with a wide range of people and put many of my classroom skills into practice.”

She continued, “Rolls Royce is a very prestigious company with a strong global presence.  I am hoping to take advantage of the international opportunities, as I very much enjoy travelling.”

Comments Jacqui Quinney, Princethorpe Head of Careers, “We are absolutely delighted for Autumn. Apprenticeships are an excellent career choice for many young people.  A degree apprenticeship may take longer to complete than a traditional degree at university but Autumn will be paid a salary, incur no tuition fees and will not need a student loan.  On completion of her apprenticeship she will not only be awarded her degree, she will also have years of relevant on the job experience.”

The College is looking forward to welcoming back the Sudden Impulse Theatre Company in June for two outdoor performances of William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors.

The Comedy of Errors is believed to be one of Shakespeare's earlier written plays; a true farce ahead of its time. The story involves two sets of twins, separated at birth, being thrown together in a tale of mistaken identity.

The performances are open to the public and will take place on the Sixth Form Lawn as follows:

Friday 8 June - 6.30pm to 10.00pm

Saturday 9 June - 3.30pm to 7.00pm

The PTA will operate a bar, bring a picnic, settle down in your camping chair and enjoy some perfect summer entertainment.

Tickets will be available soon from www.suddenimpulse.co.uk and will be priced at £12 or £10 for concessions.