The Flagpole

Our Virtual Careers Fair takes place next Saturday 20 March 2020 from 9.30am to 12.30pm. Open to all Princethorpe pupils from Year 10 to Sixth Form and their parents, this year's fair is set to provide a wealth of information so make sure you don’t miss out.

The fair will commence with a talk by our keynote speaker, Dr Charlotte Cowie, Head of Medicine at the Football Association.  Her session will be followed by a series of workshops from a wide range of speakers and organisations offering advice and guidance on different careers and universities. Pupils and their families can choose from 37 speakers covering a whole wealth of careers from accountancy to engineering, physiotherapy to chartered surveying, film design to cyber security, veterinary to entrepreneurship, social work to law and many, many more. There will also be universities from across the country, such as Reading, Warwick, Leeds and Nottingham Trent sharing insights into what they have on offer.

More information on the Careers Fair and an overview of the speakers is available on our website here.

Pupils and their families should register in advance, here, and links to the talks will be shared shortly before the day.

The registration deadline has been extended to Monday 15 March so be sure to register for this very useful and informative event.

Across the school Princethorpe College has been marking British Science Week, taking the opportunity to celebrate science and technology. This year’s theme has been Innovating For The Future and there has been plenty of exciting events, challenges and competitions going on. Activities have focused on enabling pupils to develop skills such as being observant and logical as well as creative and imaginative, which are all needed to be successful in scientific careers.

Our STEAM Prefects, Lauren Mason and Praj Prabakaran led an assembly on Smashing Stereotypes In Science to challenge preconceived ideas about what scientists look like and share the diversity and the variety of scientific paths that can be pursued. They highlighted that not all scientists wear white coats and work in a lab! Both Lauren and Praj aspire to follow careers in Science and they did a great job of showing the range of paths pupils could follow and hopefully they inspired some future budding young scientists too.

Lauren Mason organised the College STEAM essay competition, a challenge to write a 300-500 word essay about an inspirational STEAM innovator. The deadline to enter the competition has been extended to Friday 19 March and we are looking forward to featuring the essays in the Flagpole soon.

Older pupils have seen success in the Science Olympiads this year, national competitions to stretch and challenge pupils on their knowledge of the curriculum and beyond. After success in the Chemistry Olympiad, during British Science Week pupils and students in Year 11 and Year 12 have taken part in the Physics Olympiad competition while Year 13 students have faced the challenge of the Biology Senior Olympiad, with all enjoying the opportunity to show their wider knowledge and interest in the different scientific fields.

In the lower school pupils in Years 7 and 8 have been encouraged to create posters for a competition on the theme of Innovating For The Future featuring their own ideas or exploring innovations that have made a difference. Entries close next Friday and we can’t wait to see what they produce.

In school in Science lessons, pupils in Years 7 to 9 have been learning about the recent landing of the Perseverance Rover on Mars and how much our own oceans are still unexplored. Pupils investigated how submarines work by modelling them with carrots and created fish pictures using acids and alkalis, while also learning about the damaging impact of microplastics on the oceans of our world.

Then there were the 'Kitchen Science Experiments' shared in the last edition of the Flagpole, all explained by our enthusiastic Science Ambassadors. Pupils can still send in pictures of these or other ‘Kitchen Science Experiments’ to gain merits and the best entry will receive a prize too! You can find out more here.

British Science Week has been an inspirational opportunity to celebrate innovation and science and Princethorpe has really enjoyed getting involved.

Princethorpe College will finish for the Easter holidays as per our published Term Dates on Friday 26 March. Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 March are in-service training (INSET) days at Princethorpe. These days will be used by the teaching staff for important safeguarding training, to revise our curriculum and schemes of work for all year groups in the weeks and months ahead and critically, to progress the work of gathering evidence, analysis and preparing the assessments that are required by the government to produce Teacher Assessed Grades for Year 11 and Upper Sixth in order to be able to award their GCSE and A-levels in the summer.

Both the Foundation preparatory schools, Crescent School and Crackley Hall School, have decided to forego their planned training and extend their term by two days to enable the children to have additional in school learning and will finish on Tuesday 30 March.

Back in February pupils from Princethorpe College took part in the 2021 UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Intermediate 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. This year the challenge was taken on-line. The papers were then marked by UKMT and the best pupils in the country awarded Bronze, Silver or Gold Certificates.

The competition is aimed at Years 9, 10 and 11 with 71 Princethorpe pupils being selected to take part. 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 William Hawkins in Year 11, who was awarded a Gold certificate, and took the award for best performing pupil in school. William Hawkins, Silvie Brocklebank-Crowder and Oliver Edgar all performed so well that they have qualified for the follow-on round, the Intermediate Kangaroo Challenge.

Silver certificates were awarded to: Ed Sharpe, Zak Abba, Harry Kelly, Rahul Samra, William Gibson-Sexton, Alexander Leret, Silvie Brocklebank-Crowder, Oliver Edgar, Harry Hewitt, Radley Evans, Joe Glover, Madoc Williams and Joseph Newborough.

Bronze certificates were awarded to: Ben Smith, Dominic Lee, Joel Simon, Adam Ledbrook, Ollie Hutton, Timothé Peyret, Alex Allison, Emma Sarkies, Priya Somel, Zak Johnson, Joseph Simon, Jamie Smith, Noella Mbanga, Lauren Bach, Jack Dando and Anjola Okusanya.

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

Following the successful transition to a Bring Your Own Device model for Years 10 to Upper Sixth from September 2020, we are pleased to announce that we will shortly also be launching a similar model for the current Years 7-9. Enhancements to teaching and learning through access to a personal digital device in the classroom have been well-received by staff and students alike in Years 10 to Upper Sixth, and we aim to build on this success with a 1:1 scheme for the younger years, meaning all year groups in the college will be using a digital device in the classroom before the end of the 2020-21 academic year.

We have worked hard to put in place a scheme for parents to buy a device through the College, with the option to pay for the device over two years, and will be in a position to launch this over the next two weeks. This is hugely exciting as it provides a comprehensive package to meet the needs of the pupils and parents and will further enhance our ability to make use of our learning platforms both in and out of the classroom, opening up new ways of learning and collaborating to the whole school. The 1:1 Digital Device Scheme is primarily aimed at pupils in Years 7-9, but will be available to those in older year groups as well.

Please look out for further communication on the scheme over the next two weeks.

Andy Compton
Assistant Head - Director of Digital Strategy

Last week’s World Book Day prompted lots of lovely opportunities to engage with books across the school.

Mrs Newborough organised perhaps her best House Challenge ever in The Masked Reader. Based on the popular TV Show The Masked Singer, it had everybody in the Princethorpe community guessing. Just who are Viking, Queen Bee and Butterfly, who are the mystery teachers reading a passage from their favourite books?

The first instalment of readers was released on Tuesday 2 March with a second following this week, on Wednesday 10 March. It was such a challenge and within the House Teams there has been plenty of speculation. Mrs Newborough is keeping her mystery readers well and truly under wraps. Of course, the big question is just how well have pupils really been listening in lessons – do they recognise the voices - we will all just have to wait and see?

The College also marked World Book Day in English lessons with pupils in Key Stage 3. Activities included – a blast from the past with staff sharing books from when they were young; discussions about current reading; book quizzes; listening to podcasts by authors; details of an 'author recommended' reading list and a simply super 'shelfie' competition – where pupils were challenged to match the English teacher to their bookshelf. Mr Kerrigan, Mrs Challinor, Mrs Pascoe-Williams, Mrs Newborough, Miss Forde, Mrs Borman, Miss Mack and Mrs Moon all shared photos of their book-shelves for the competition. It was great fun finding out who had been keeping a beady eye on the background in their Teams English lesson and just what does an English teacher have on their bookshelf at home.

There is just so much fun to be had from books!

Lower Sixth Formers, Joe England, Ishbel Kempton, Jack Rochford, Ben Scares, Emily Scrivens and Ciaran Smith have been appointed as Duke of Edinburgh Young Ambassadors. All the students are actively working towards their Gold Award and were nominated by Head of Outdoor Education, Will Bower, to take on the ambassadorial role.

Will Bower explains, “We had our very first Duke of Edinburgh’s Young Ambassadors last year and Jack and Luke did a great job. I am really pleased that this year we have six students taking on this important role, working alongside Princethorpe’s Duke of Edinburgh’s team promoting, guiding and mentoring pupils participating in the Awards scheme. Joe, Ishbel, Jack, Ben, Emily and Ciaran are going to make great ambassadors, they are helpful and enthusiastic about outdoor education and with the Bronze and Silver DofE Awards already under their belts they are superb role models for our younger pupils.”

The students completed their Ambassador training last half term, but in recognition of their new role, on Monday 8 March, the first day back in school, Mr Bower, presented them with their Duke of Edinburgh’s Young Ambassador badges.

Commenting on their training and on their hopes for their new roles:

Ishbel Kempton said, “I’ve found my DofE ambassador training really helpful and I learned lots more about the DofE Awards. I am looking forward to working with pupils, encouraging and helping them to complete their awards.”

Ben Scares added, “The Ambassador training was really useful both in terms of resources we can use with pupils but also in teaching us all the new rules based around what can and can’t be done because of COVID.”

Emily Scrivens, commented, “I am looking forward to being a part of the ambassador team and am excited to get started.”

Ciaran Smith, “Our training introduced us to the Certificate of Achievement which is an award pupils can get for signing off the skills, volunteering, and physical sections. We also went over some problem scenarios and how to solve them and finally we went over a plan for what we can do to help with D of E in our school.”

The new Young Ambassadors can’t wait to get started and Mr Bower has plenty lined up for them to do. They will begin their new role by helping Year 9 pupils make progress as they take on the challenge of the Bronze award.

Lower Sixth Former, Archie Shields has just completed his Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Volunteering by taking part in the District of Warwick’s People’s Inquiry Into Climate Change. Taking advantage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award temporary programme changes, Archie has been part of a panel of 30 district residents meeting virtually to discuss and answer the question ‘What do we need to do in the Warwick District to help address climate change by 2030?’

Archie, explains, “The People’s Inquiry met over thirteen evenings online, beginning in November and culminating at the end of February with two launch events. Warwick Council declared a Climate Emergency in June 2019 and the People’s Inquiry was an important part in helping to shape the council’s current work and future plans. During the Inquiry we talked about issues, shared ideas and came up with a set of recommendations which we presented to the District Councillors and members of the Oversight Panel, and stakeholders and residents. During the first few sessions we considered what climate change meant to Warwick and what steps were being taken to address the problem. Throughout the process we were joined by a series of expert commentators such as councillors, professors, Extinction Rebellion, the Chamber of Trade, NFU and directors from construction and energy companies, who talked about the science of climate change and practical options for how we can make a difference locally and of the impact of industry, business and transport. Finally, we agreed a set of recommendations that we presented back to the council at the launch events.”

Head of Outdoor Education, Will Bower, commented, “This is just what the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award wish to encourage; leadership, initiative and engaging in an important issue for the good of the local community. It is an absolutely outstanding example of what the volunteering section is all about. His commitment and engagement to the project has been superb and it has delivered great value to his local community. A fantastic effort from Archie.”

Archie really enjoyed working on the Inquiry, adding, “The Inquiry has increased my knowledge on climate change, an issue that is important for us all and I really felt that I was helping the area where I live to solve a very difficult problem.”

The findings and recommendations of the People’s Inquiry will now be used by Warwick Council and other organisations, as part of an Action Plan helping to achieve the District’s target of becoming as close to zero emissions as possible by 2030.

You can read the Inquiry’s recommendations here.

On Saturday 27 February the Old Princethorpians and Development Office hosted their first ever OPs in the Americas Virtual Reunion bringing together former pupils now located in the United States and North America and it proved to be a very convivial affair. The Stateside OPs were joined by a contingent from the UK including Princethorpe College Headmaster Ed Hester, former Headmaster Father Alan Whelan MSC, former Director of Boarders Father Teddy O’Brien MSC, lifelong Princethorpian and teacher Alex Darkes and the Chair of the Old Princethorpian Committee Peter Rollason.

The virtual reunion included a Blessing, a virtual tour of the school and a fascinating chance to delve into the Princethorpe archives. It also included plenty of time for former pupils to swap stories, share photos, reminisce and to renew their connections with each other and their former school.

We were joined by OPs from across North America from as far afield as California, Minneapolis, Nevada, New York, Illinois, Washington, Ontario and Barbados as well as the school staff team. The Old Princethorpians excitedly shared their news and caught up – telling of their lasting friendships from their time at school.

The former pupils had mainly attended the College during the seventies and eighties and with many having boarded there were plenty of memories of lively escapades to recount including one particularly tricky Chemistry homework incident where the boys were hauled before Headmaster, Father Clarkson expecting to be punished severely only to receive a masterclass in Chemistry to help them finish their work.

Foundation Archivist, Jannette Ratcliffe was especially delighted to see so many new photographs and hear so many stories about life as a boarder, and our thanks go to all the attendees who so willingly filled in the gaps.

Melanie Butler, Old Princethorpians’ Secretary said, “The virtual reunion was a wonderful chance for us to reconnect with our many Stateside OPs and bring them up to date with events at the College. It was a very enjoyable evening, afternoon or morning depending on where you were! We are very much hoping to organise a proper reunion in the States post the pandemic and would encourage any America-based OPs from across the generations to get back in touch so that we can keep you informed of our plans.”

Recordings of the reunion including the virtual tour and archive presentation are available to view please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk and we will send you a link.

It was wonderful to reconnect with all our friends across the pond and if anyone is still in touch with former pupils Richard Burke, Mickey Hindley and Alistair Rumbold (at Princethorpe in the seventies) and Paul Brennan (who attended in the late eighties) then they have some old friends Stateside who would very much like to get back in touch.