The Flagpole

Yesterday, Thursday 8 October, the College hosted its first full Virtual Parents’ Evening for Year 8 pupils. The event had been meticulously planned with appointments for subjects scheduled though Microsoft Teams. The evening worked really well and feedback has been very positive from both the parents and teachers involved.

Parents were sent a link through Office 365 that allowed them to book slots for their son’s or daughter’s different subject teachers. That created a list of five-minute calendar appointments in Outlook and Teams. At the allotted time Teachers and Parents joined their scheduled Teams meeting.

Comments, Deputy Head Academic, Dr Michael Reddish, “We were delighted to be able to host our first Virtual Parents’ Evening last night and have been very grateful for all the positive feedback that has been sent in by parents. It’s so important to do all we can to maintain face-to-face engagement between parents and teachers and last night’s Teams-based event proved to be a real success. As with the traditional approach parents were able to discuss their child’s progress and focus on next steps, but this time all from the comfort of their own homes. The evening was conducted with military precision and I most grateful to both parents and staff for keeping their conversations focused and succinct allowing the evening to run smoothly. We will keep the system under review and continue to look for ways to best support families in these extraordinary times.”

Art Teacher, Sue Harris, agreed, “Several parents commented on how tightly run the evening was and how much they appreciated the individual feedback from staff - one parent said this was just another example of Princethorpe going the extra mile to keep everything going as normally as possible under challenging circumstances. Most were able to speak with many more staff than at a regular parents’ evening and felt well informed about their child's progress within the five minute slot. Some who would normally have struggled to get to Princethorpe in time due to work commitments were grateful of the opportunity to speak with staff from home with a cup of tea. It was a fast paced but highly effective evening - and I speak from both a teacher and Year 8 parent’s perspective!”

There has been plenty of positive feedback from parents too including:

“I’d like to thank you for such a successful Year 8 parents’ evening last night. The booking was easy (probably helped by the fact that I did it quickly to avoid missing out) and the evening went very smoothly. All teachers were there and gave concise feedback. I think it could be the way forward even when COVID days are behind us, as it means we didn’t have to venture out or queue in the Sports Hall. Just missed the cookies and sausage rolls!”

“I am delighted with how smoothly the virtual parents evening has gone tonight - I had a total of eight appointments and all ran to time. It was lovely to ‘meet’ the teachers. I congratulate you on the success of this evening.”

“Just wanted to let you know how well parents’ evening went this evening. It ran really smoothly for us, we spoke to all the teachers we wanted too, all on time and very informative. We are on a group chat and there have been lots of incredibly positive comments. Lots of parents saying it was much better than queuing in the Sports Hall, how organised the email links were and how efficiently the staff used the time given.”

The Year 11 Academic Review meetings and Year 7 Parents’ Evening will follow a similar format when they take place after half term in November.

Princethorpe Lower Sixth Former, Stan Brocklebank has been awarded an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship. The accolade, which comes from The Smallpeice Trust, the UK’s leading STEM Education Charity, is the most prestigious scholarship of its type in the UK. The scholarships support high calibre students while they study for their A-levels, inspiring and encouraging them to pursue careers in the fields of engineering, computing and technical design.

The scholarships are awarded to students through a rigorous selection process, Head of Design and Technology, Paul Scopes, explains, “The Arkwright Scholarship is for talented Year 11 pupils who are interested in a career in Engineering. Pupils are nominated by their teachers, and submit an application focused on their engineering activities, interests and future plans. Applicants then take a two-hour examination where their problem-solving skills and engineering potential are put to the test and if successful they attend a rigorous interview at University. Pupils must be studying Design Technology and must plan to take Maths at A-level. Last year the College nominated five pupils, and Stan and, former Year 11 pupil, Carys Burchell were both successful and awarded scholarships. This was the first time the College had participated in the scheme and as these scholarships are really tough to get, we are very pleased to have two awarded in the first year.”

Paul continues, “Stan is currently studying A-level DT, Maths and Physics. He has always stood out as a focused and talented engineer. He has been a member of the College’s Robotics team, competing in Holland and Italy where he took a leading role as well as mentoring younger pupils. He was appointed DT Subject Leader in Year 10. His GCSE DT project was a new suspension set up for Autograss race cars and he completed it to an excellent standard. He has a bright future ahead of him in engineering and it really is a pleasure to teach him.”

Those lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship, receive a financial award and the support of a mentor who works with them throughout their time in Sixth Form. They are also given the opportunity to take part in courses and events for Arkwright Scholars. They benefit from networking opportunities with like-minded students, gain confidence and knowledge in their subjects and often relevant work experience. They are ideally positioned to pursue Engineering, Computing or Technical Design at university or a higher-level apprenticeship before moving into industry to progress their career.

On receiving the news, Stan said, “These scholarships are one of a kind for people who are young and aspiring engineers, there is nothing to lose going for one of these awards and the rewards are incredible.”

Stan plans to go on to study Automotive Engineering at university, and is hoping to then work in the Automotive industry, he would like to work for a World Rallycross team.

He continued, “The most challenging part of the application was the online part where you described yourself and your out of school interests in engineering. I had so much to talk about and I needed to be succinct. I felt really pleased and proud when I heard the news that I had received an award.”

Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie, comments, “Arkwright Scholarships are highly sought after as they provide exceptional support. Pupils who successfully obtain an award have access to unparalleled opportunities. Arkwright Engineering Scholars achieve excellent academic success and are known to make enviable career progress. Stan has done incredibly well to receive this accolade and we congratulate him on his success.”

More information on the Arkwright Scholarship is available at www.arkwright.org.uk

Over the summer holidays pupils joining Year 7 took part in an exciting Reading Challenge. Their task served two purposes, engaging and encouraging their literacy skills but also acting as an introduction to Microsoft Teams, an important learning platform used by the school.

Extreme Reading was all about choosing an unusual or odd place to read a book and the new Year 7s proved most inventive. Pupils read books whilst canoeing, up climbing frames, in the car and in the countryside. They read on horseback, underwater, up trees, on mountains, by the beach and in their gardens. We had readers with rabbits, with alpacas and one reader who even read with a dinosaur! There was no end to their creativity. They recorded their exploits with a picture that was then uploaded to Teams.

Pupils then completed an assignment, a choice of writing tasks that included a letter to the author, a further chapter to the story or a piece of writing exploring a scene, they also posted brief book reviews and read the reviews that their new classmates had submitted.

There were so many ingenious entries that staff at the College were astounded. Their heroic reading efforts have been celebrated here in school in a fascinating display in The Limes. Pictured here are three of the resourceful readers: Soren Wasley who read Fish Boy by Chloe Daykin, Alex Lloyd who read Crocodile Tears by Anthony Horowitz and Alexa Holland who read Sky Dancer by Gill Lewis.

Assistant Head of Teaching and Learning, Dr Liz Pyne, who set the challenge said, “I was so pleased with the efforts and ingenuity of our new Year 7s who tackled the task so enthusiastically. Seeing the photos appear through the holidays brightened up my summer and I am sure they enjoyed the experience too. Their desire to read and share recommendations for books was infectious. Plus, they all engaged with Teams, a tool that will help facilitate their learning here in school.”

Well done Year 7 you did brilliantly with your extreme reading and learned that books aren’t just for classrooms – you can read them anywhere!

Princethorpe College pupils and staff have marked World Porridge Day by raising money for the Scottish charity Mary’s Meals. Championed by our Sixth Formers and Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Rod Isaacs, pupils participated in a posse of Scottish and porridge fundraising fun.

At break time pupils were invited to dig deep and purchase a traditional Scottish breakfast, a pot of porridge, with a selection of luxurious toppings. Steaming pots were lined up all along the counter in the Refectory.

The Scottish theme continued out on the school fields where only the brave participated in the William Wallace Welly Wanging Challenge. This year organised in pupil year group bubbles, representatives from tutor groups enthusiastically flung, hurled, chucked and tossed the wellies across the fields.

The winning throw came from Year 11 pupil, Harry Cheshire with a magnificent throw of 32.8m for Benet House, Mr Hester was a close second for Fisher at 31.3m. Year 11 pupil, Evie Philips, from More House, threw her welly a tremendous 23m to claim the longest throw for the girls. 

Final House standings were: 1st Benet, 2nd Austin, 3rd Fisher and 4th More. Well done to all the pupils who participated.

Rod Isaacs explains, "Princethorpe College has raised over £110,000 for Mary's Meals in the last 14 years through epic sponsored walks, welly-wanging and cake sales. Last year alone we raised over £10,000 and we are committed to continuing our fundraising for the forthcoming year.”

He continued, “We have had a lot of fun and laughter today. Many thanks to all the Sixth Formers and staff who helped to organise the events. We raised £140.03 which equates to about 470 meals for the College’s ongoing feeding programme at Makalanga School.”

World Porridge Day, held annually on 10 October, is a fundraising event organised by Mary’s Meals in aid of starving children in the developing world. The charity provides daily meals in a place of learning addressing both the immediate needs of hungry children whilst encouraging them to go to school where they can gain an education that can help them out of poverty. Through their school feeding programmes in 14 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean they feed over 1.3 million children every year. It costs just £15.90 to feed a child for a whole year.

You can find out more about Princethorpe’s fundraising for Makalanga or make a donation here.

On Sunday 4 October Princethorpe opened its doors and gave a warm welcome to nearly 120 families visiting for a socially distanced Open Day.

In three carefully planned and managed events, the Year 6 pupils and their parents were welcomed by the Headmaster, Ed Hester, in the Sports Hall before undertaking a self-guided tour around key locations. Staff were of course on hand to point the visitors in the right direction, but all the visitors were provided with a printed tour guide to help them find their way around the route.

Starting in the Sixth Form their tour took them to the Chapel, the Quad, the Refectory and then headed on to Music and Drama. They exited the Roundhouse and then came back in to the building through Science before visiting Design Technology and then Art. The visitors then returned to The Limes to collect takeaway refreshments before exiting up at the top of the building to go on to see some of the College’s many sports facilities. At the end of the route the Headmaster and members of the Senior Leadership Team were on hand to answer any questions before the visitors departed and staff prepared for the next arrivals.

In his address, Ed Hester, welcomed parents and children, talking about the challenges this year has presented and Princethorpe’s proactive response. He spoke about the school and its plans for the future and the ‘Spirit of Family’ ethos that allows the College to help every child to succeed.

It was the College’s first actual open event since the start of the pandemic and many of the visitors commented on how much they appreciated the opportunity to be able to come and see the school in person.

“Our son very much enjoyed attending the Princethorpe Open Day and is very excited about the opportunity to come back for the Taster Day.”

“We were very impressed with the school, despite all the Covid interventions. Listening to the Headmaster and talking to the teachers we were able to pick up on the nurturing and caring aspect of the school.”

“Just a short note to thank you for today's Open Day. It was great to be able to see the school again first hand. Please pass on our grateful thanks to the Headmaster and your team for guiding us around so safely.”

A huge thank you to all the staff who helped on the day and those involved in the preparations. Despite the dreadful weather the school looked amazing and the feedback from our visitors as they left was very positive.

On Thursday 1 October Sixth Form students from Princethorpe College challenged the residents at Barchester Healthcare’s Cubbington Mill Care Home to a game of bingo.

The Care Home is one of a number that students traditionally visit as part of their Sixth Form enrichment opportunities and the Zoom Bingo challenge was a great way for the Sixth Formers and residents to stay in touch.

It was a very competitive two rounds of Bingo, with Upper Sixth Former, James Walker, calling the numbers out in Round 1 and Cubbington’s Activities Co-ordinator, Hannah Fawcett, doing the honours in Round 2. Cubbington claimed victory and the College Sixth Formers have organised a box of Heroes and a card to be sent to the winners.

The Sixth Form students all wore silly hats which made the residents laugh and in return Cubbington Mill’s very own Shakespeare and resident ambassador Gerald wrote a poem for the occasion.

Hannah Fawcett, said “The residents had great fun and a big thank you to all the pupils who made us laugh with their silly hats. We can’t wait to see you again. This has been a brilliant way for our residents to keep their connections and sense of community with the school.”

Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Rod Isaacs commented, “It was great fun and wonderful to see the old and the young just enjoying the moment. We are looking forward to a rematch soon.”

Princethorpe Connect, the Foundation’s online alumni community, has passed another milestone as membership numbers reached 600. Our congratulations go to Father Teddy O'Brien MSC who was the community's 600th member. To mark the occasion we were delighted to present Father Teddy with a bottle of brandy which he was very pleased to receive. 

Aimed at past pupils, past parents and former staff, Princethorpe Connect allows the Foundation's alumni to find and network with old friends and former colleagues from across the Foundation schools and to keep up with all the Foundation's news and events.

The College is keen to re-engage with all former pupils, parents and staff so please do encourage those you know to register. They can do this easily themselves by going online to connect.princethorpe.co.uk/ and you never know they might be the lucky winners in our next membership prize draw.

Fine art prints of a new painting by Debbie McLaughlin - The Soaring Redbrick Tower - are now available to buy from the Princethorpe Connect online shop.

Local artist Debbie has a long association with the College having worked closely with the Marketing Department on all its design work for the past 14 years.

The new painting, completed during the lockdown, is in the artist’s favoured urban sketching style and depicts the famous Princethorpe tower and the main reception entrance to Princethorpe College.

Debbie grew up in the small village of Offchurch and has been drawing from an early age. She always wanted to have a career in the creative industry and went to Exeter College of Art & Design to do a degree in Graphic Design. Although she also loves painting portraits she started sketching her favourite subject, buildings, when she worked in London and always has pen and paper to hand in case she gets inspired.

Debbie told us, "I love architecture and buildings and like to give them character rather than producing a straight copy. Some weekends I gather up my pens and watercolours and meet up with the Oxford Urban Sketchers Group and we spend the day sketching buildings around the city. I was lucky enough to join the Hanoi Urban Sketchers group recently whilst on holiday and had a day sketching beautiful Vietnamese buildings. I run my own business, Dam Design Creative, and enjoy working with the Marketing Department at Princethorpe College, I really feel part of the team. When driving up to meetings at Princethorpe I have always been in awe of the beautiful soaring tower, so was thrilled to have the chance to paint it."

The high-quality, fine art giclée prints have been reproduced from the original painting using 11 lightfast inks to provide a gamut of colour and printed on 285gsm, 100% cotton rag white portrait paper.

Available in A3 and A2 sizes, they are supplied rolled in an 80mm postal tube, ready for framing. Individual A5 greetings cards with the same design are also available to buy.

This first run is strictly limited numbers, so please order early to avoid disappointment. A perfect gift for birthdays or Christmas for all Princethorpians, all profits from sales will support the Making A Difference at Princethorpe campaign.

Our Development Director, comments:

"It’s been nearly 20 years since Princethorpe College last commissioned a painting of the building, and we thought it was right time to commission a new artwork, which in itself could support Making A Difference at Princethorpe."

"Debbie’s painting is fabulous and really captures the spirit of Princethorpe in 2020. It’s very exciting that we’re able to offer fine art prints to the Princethorpe community."

"The prints and the cards would make perfect gifts for Christmas. The A3 print is almost identical to the original painting in size, but for those who want more of a statement piece, the A2 print really makes an impact. Scanned from the original painting in super-high resolution and reproduced using the giclée printing process, the result has been amazing. This initial run is strictly limited, so please do order early to avoid disappointment."

The A3 and A2 giclée prints and greetings card can be ordered online here. The A3 print is priced £25 (plus P&P), the A2 print is priced £40 (plus P&P) and greetings cards are available for £3 each (plus P&P).

Click here to access the thirty-fifth issue of the Old Princethorpian e-newsletter which was published on Friday 2 October. The newsletter aims to keep our alumni community in touch with each other and news, developments and events at the College.

We are always happy to hear from our alumni, so 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 mid February please do email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk.

If you would like to be added to the distribution list please register with Princethorpe Connect or email the Old Princethorpians' Secretary Melanie Butler.