The Flagpole

We are in the throws of planning the return visit of our Dutch hosts from Hopbel Hockey Club last autumn. We are looking forward to reciprocating the fantastic experience which our pupils received during their visit. The return dates are from the evening of Saturday 25 April 2020 through to the morning of Wednesday 29 April 2020.

We are expecting girls and boys (mainly girls) of a variety of ages, between 12 and 15 and are asking for host families.  This may be of interest if your child would like to attend the Holland visit in October 2020, however this invitation is open to all families and we appreciate all help offered.  In order to host, we are looking for families who can offer accommodation for two (or more) Dutch visitors and are willing to entertain and involve them in your family life for the four nights. We will organise an itinerary of fixtures, activities during the school day and a BBQ for our guests with their host families on the final evening. We will let you know who the other host families are so that you can organise other events together if you wish. Transport to school will be through the normal way your child comes to school (we will supply the bus tickets for the Dutch visitors) but they will need to be picked up after fixtures each day from College.

Due to requisite safeguarding checks, all adults within the household must hold a DBS certificate sent for by the Princethorpe Foundation, even if they currently have a DBS certificate from another employer or have a DBS from the exchange last year. If they have subscribed to the DBS Update Service, please do let us know. To allow plenty of time for the DBS certificates to be received before the tour, we need to apply for them in February. Each adult over the age of 18, not in full time education, in the household will need to apply. Please complete this form indicating your availability to come in and apply, preferably during Half Term, 17 to 21 February 2020 or there are some appointments the week after, 24 to 28 February 2020. It should only take 15 minutes per person to apply for the DBS certificates. Please see the attached entitled Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks for the documentation required. 

Once we have confirmed the host families we will liaise with families on further information, such as pets and bus routes so that we can appropriately match host families and Dutch visitors. 

Many thanks for your continued support of Princethorpe sport and we hope that you can continue this by hosting some Dutch guests in April. 

Neil McCollin
Foundation Director of Sport

Our PE and Games Department have created a helpful guide for the Lent Term 2020 (click here) which includes: 

• A list of team coaches and how you may contact them
• Instructions on how to access the Princethorpe Sport app
• Information about fixtures, including selection and cancellations
• Postcodes for away fixtures (which can also be found in the Lent Term calendar)

If you have any questions, please direct them to your son/daughter's team coach or email Mr Turns (Acting Head of Boys' Games) or Ms Law (Head of Girls' Games). 

Neil McCollin
Foundation Director of Sport 

Many congratulations to Princethorpe College’s Equestrian team who competed in the School Equestrian Games Arena Eventing at Weston Lawns on Sunday 26 January.

Grace Paybody and Claudia Newman rode in the 80cm class with Grace securing a fantastic second place on Extravagent Edition.

Harriet Boyd, Lucy Watts and Lottie Paybody represented the school in the 90cm team competition and together secured 6th place.

We are really proud of their achievements but also and more importantly their sportsmanship as this wet winter is requiring real dedication to keep horses fit and in training.

Thanks also to the very committed parents who have to be drivers, grooms and coaches at the competitions.

We are keen to increase our awareness of different sporting activities pupils are taking part in outside of school. If you are a keen golfer, sailor, martial artist or clay pigeon shooter, we would love to hear more. Please email Neil McCollin, Foundation Director for Sport, at neilmccollin@princethorpe.co.uk to share your experiences. In particular, he would like to hear from any pupils who are interested in or play American Football.