The Flagpole

The trustees of the Princethorpe Foundation are delighted to announce that Grove du Toit has been appointed as the new Headmaster of Princethorpe College with effect from January 2023.

Mr du Toit went through a rigorous month-long selection process to secure the post against a strong field of candidates.

Mr du Toit is currently Deputy Warden (Senior Deputy Head) at Forest School, a co-educational independent day school for children aged 4 to 18, located on the edge of Epping Forest, a position he has held for five years. He is responsible there for the day to day running of the school, which comprises some 1,500 pupils and more than 300 staff. His extensive remit encompasses oversight of many elements of school life including staffing, recruitment, operations, professional development and staff wellbeing. He also teaches Religious Studies to GCSE and A-level.

Married to Marike, with whom he shares two daughters, aged 13 and 10, Mr du Toit, 42, is a practising Christian. South African by birth, he moved to the UK in 2005 and after a brief period teaching in the maintained sector, he has held a variety of leadership roles in HMC independent schools in and around London.

Mr du Toit has two degrees from the University of Pretoria (a BA in Educational Guidance and Counselling and a BA in Biblical and Religious Studies) and a BEd from the University of South Africa in Educational Management. He also holds an MA in Educational Management from King’s College London and is currently studying for an MBA at Salford Business School.

He has a strong background in the co-curricular life of the school, in particular sport and the performing arts and in his spare time Mr du Toit loves to spend time in the outdoors with his family and dog and his interests include golf and outdoor cooking.

Current Princethorpe Headmaster, Ed Hester, who has been in post since 2009, will take on a new dedicated role as Head of the Princethorpe Foundation when Mr du Toit takes up office. This will allow him to focus on the strategic direction of the Foundation as a whole.

Comments, Liz Griffin, Chair of Trustees, “The Foundation Trustees were unanimous in the decision to appoint Grove to be the next Headmaster of Princethorpe College. His passion for education and young people shone through throughout the selection process. He has immense vision and energy combined with a wealth of experience and leaderships skills, but most importantly his personal values marry perfectly with the ethos of the College. We are delighted to welcome him and his family into the Foundation and will introduce him to staff, pupils and parents at the earliest opportunity.

She continues, “Our thanks go to Ed Hester, who has done an outstanding job as Headmaster of Princethorpe College over the last 13 years. Of course, Ed will continue to have a very keen interest in life at Princethorpe and will be on hand to ensure a smooth transition and successful handover to Grove, who will be supported by Princethorpe’s excellent Senior Leadership Team.”

Comments, Grove du Toit, “I am excited and honoured to take on the Headship of Princethorpe College and lead the school into the next stage of its development, building on the excellent work of Ed Hester. I recognise and fully appreciate what a special community Princethorpe is and upholding its ethos and spirit of family will be central to my role. I look forward to immersing myself in school life and building relationships with staff, parents and pupils alike.”

Current Headmaster, Ed Hester, adds, “Grove is a great fit for Princethorpe and brings with him a vast amount of experience and skills. I am delighted to be able to hand over the reins of running the College to him and am really excited at the prospect of working with him over the years ahead.”

Many congratulations to OP Clemmie Milnes, her fellow directors and students at the Born to Perform Dance School.

Fans of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent will have seen Born to Perform’s amazing audition last Saturday which earned them a golden buzzer and a ticket through to the live Semi-Finals.  Dancing to Hairspray’s You Can’t Stop The Beat, the troupe of young performers aged 14 to 24 absolutely wowed the judges with their performance. 

Born to Perform is an inclusive dance and performing arts school specialising in disability and SEND, based in Northampton. The sessions the school runs aim to improve its students’ confidence, communication and overall mental and physical wellbeing.

One of three directors at the dance school, Clemmie, who left Princethorpe in 2008, has worked in the Performing Arts industry for over 12 years. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Choreography, specialising in Contemporary Dance and also worked towards a Master’s Degree in 'Drama and Movement Therapy' whilst studying at the Royal Central School for Speech and Drama in London. Whilst there she worked on placements within the SEN sector and found her passion for bringing the best out of people with disabilities with her unique and personalised approach.

Comments Clemmie, “We are overwhelmed with pride for our students and school! It’s a huge achievement and the group are working endlessly now on their semi–final piece.”

We wish them all the best and can’t wait to see them dance again!

To watch Born to Perform's audition click here.

Thanks to the hard work of the construction team and plenty of fine April weather the new Science Centre project is making excellent progress. The foundations are now finished with the take-offs for the steels complete. Work continues with excavations for the new netball courts and the dumper trucks were kept busy in the holidays relocating 1500 tonnes of spoil elsewhere on site where it will be used to level up the land.

The team have been finalising the lab designs with a specialist supplier and work is just about to start on the drainage. Work continues offsite on the steels which are currently scheduled to start being craned into place on Monday 23 May. The steels are being supplied locally by Warwick Steel who are based just south of Southam in Deppers Bridge. 

The IT team have erected a time lapse camera to capture the build as it happens day by day, and we are looking forward to sharing the first footage of the project next week. It will be exciting to see our plans for Science coming together.

To find out more about our new Science Centre visit: www.princethorpe.co.uk/science-centre

Princethorpe College came together on Wednesday 27 April to celebrate a whole school Eucharist, the first for two years. We gave thanks that we could once again gather as a community and reflected on the school theme for this year of ‘Hope’. We remembered that the greatest gift of Easter is hope, that hope is part and parcel of life and that when the world says give up, hope whispers try one more time. We listened to readings from the Easter story and the hope of the resurrection and joined together in prayers of hope.

Father Alan Whelan MSC reminded us that it is not enough to just have hope as hopes require action. Pupils then considered how their Hopes, Opportunities, Perseverance and Effort could help them take action for their Hopes, recording their thoughts on a card.

Together as a community we prayed for the school, for our families and for all those in the world who need our hopes.

Thanks to the Junior Chaplaincy Prefects and to Father Alan for leading us in our service.

The new Princethorpe College Prefect Body for 2022-2023 was formally inaugurated into office at an end of term ceremony on Tuesday 5 April. Parents and friends of those who have accepted their roles of office were invited to College for a buffet lunch before the afternoon’s formal ceremony began.

Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie, introduced the incoming prefects who were presented with their prefect badges by Ed Hester, Headmaster. The outgoing Heads of School, Anthony Convey and Caitlin Mason, handed over the keys of office to the incoming Heads of School, Freya Mills and Pratheesh Prabakaran. The College extends warm thanks to the outgoing prefect body, they have given unstinting service this last year.

The 2022-2023 Prefects smartly attired in their new uniform for the first time, spoke to the gathered audience of pupils about their hopes for their new roles. We wish them all well as they take up their duties.

The roles of office are as follows:

School Leaders
Freya Mills
Pratheesh Prabakaran

Deputy Leaders
Eve Farquharson
Annabel Koster
Edward Moon
Toby Pearton

Pastoral Prefects (incorporating House Pastoral Prefects)
Laurel Arkesden
Jasleen Birdi
William Butler
Amelia Greig
Zara Hendy
Helaina Holt
Wilf Sansum
Jamie Smith

Austin Captains
Edward Foster
Ruby Harris

Benet Captains
Eleanor Page
Grace Thomas

Fisher Captains
Will Gibson-Sexton
Keira MacRae

More Captains
Evie Phillips
Lara Tripp-Smith

Social Prefects
Zoe Wallis
Amber Williams

Charity Prefects
Noella Mbanga
Maddie Wilde

Academic Prefects
Joshua Apaya
Erin Arriordaz
William Hawkins
Madoc Williams

Marketing and Communications Prefects
Amber Cowie
Millie Giffin

Environment Prefect
Tom Paling

Games Prefects
Molly Harper
Mia Johnson
Harry King
Lucy Randall
Evan Ridd

Fisher House is celebrating after winning the most hotly contested competition in school, the House Cup. Their victory was announced by House Activities Leader, Jess Newborough, in the Prefect Inauguration ceremony at the end of the Lent Term. The House Cup was presented to the outgoing Fisher House Captains, Greg Burford and Elizabeth Boyes, as jubilant Fisher pupils cheered across the school.

Before announcing the result, Mrs Newborough spoke of the challenges of the last year, her delight at how Princethorpe pupils had responded and the camaraderie and sense of community that the House activities provides. She spoke of the many House events and the importance of taking part, as just 200 points separated the winners this year. Whether the regular weekly fun of the Friday quizzes or the big events such as House Activities Day every single point contributes.

Across the year it was a steady and consistent performance that helped Fisher pupils amass their huge total of points and finish first across the line but well done to all pupils across the school who participated in the events so enthusiastically. The final results this year were: 1st Fisher, 2nd More, 3rd Austin and 4th Benet.

Huge thanks also to all the House team, including the House Activities Co-ordinators and House Captains for all they do to organise and run House events.

Over the last year The Princethorpe Foundation has welcomed two new members to the Board of Trustees. Mr Jatinder Birdi and Mrs Helen Knight have both joined the governing body to work with fellow Trustees to oversee the overall management and strategic direction of the Foundation.

Mr Jatinder Birdi is an accountant, with his own practice since 1998. He has two children, the eldest left Princethorpe College in 2020 and is now at University, while his youngest daughter is in the Sixth Form. Since June 2006, Mr Birdi has chaired the Warwick District Faiths Forum working to promote equality and diversity through mutual understanding and co-operation between faiths groups.

Mr Birdi, commented, “Both my children have thoroughly enjoyed their time at Princethorpe College. I am grateful for the opportunity to and privilege of joining the Board of Trustees, enabling me to support the Princethorpe community deliver a high level of education and experience for pupils.”

Mrs Helen Knight brings a wealth of educational experience having worked in secondary education for 36 years, including time as headteacher of Cardinal Wiseman School.

Mrs Knight, commented, “Since retiring in 2016, I have become a part-time PhD student at Durham University researching the development of Catholic secondary education for girls at the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. I am a member of St Anne's parish and regularly attend services at Princethorpe, so I was delighted to be asked to become a trustee of the Princethorpe Foundation. I remain passionate about Catholic Education, where I spent most of my career, and the opportunities education in a faith-based setting can give to students.”

Eddie Tolcher, Foundation Bursar and Clerk to the Trustees said, “Our Trustees bring valuable experience to the Foundation’s Governing Body. Their support and advice is much appreciated and we are delighted to have them on our Board of Trustees.

The Easter holidays saw the successful start of this year’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition season. With Princethorpe’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Group A participants completing their practice expeditions. Bronze Group B will have their first taste of self-sufficient walking next weekend. Always a key part of the Award, the expeditions provide an unforgettable experience that develops team and leadership skills and builds independence and confidence.

From Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 April, 40 Gold students braved very cold conditions in the Lake District spending three days of walking and camping. In six teams they walked circular routes from Braithwaite to finish in Keswick camping at Borrowdale and Buttermere. Between them, along the way, they enjoyed the stunning views of fells such as Ard Crags, Knott Rigg, Rannerdale Knotts, Haystacks and Catbells.

Then at the end of the Easter holidays, Friday 22 to Sunday 24 April, 61 Silver pupils travelled to the White Peak, where they trekked from Mandale Farm near Bakewell following routes through beautiful Dovedale, the Manifold Way and along the Tissington Trail to Ilam Hall near Ashbourne, navigating unfamiliar terrain and completing two days of walking and two nights camping. Pupils were split into nine teams, and they all successfully completed their practice expedition. Group nine included walkers also completing their Bronze qualifying expedition, showing great tenacity and determination.

To cap off this mammoth DofE effort, the same weekend the first of the group of 55 Bronze Award pupils also completed their practice expeditions in the local Princethorpe countryside, undertaking two days of walking and one night of camping, walking down to Long Itchington and back. Let’s hope they enjoyed their first expeditions, carrying all their own food and tents and getting to grips with the challenge of cooking your tea on a trangia!

Will Bower, Head of Outdoor Education, said, “Pupils worked hard showing good navigation and camp-craft skills and the weather was mostly kind to us making for good walking conditions. We had plenty of happy, tired faces at the end.”

All the pupils now need to start planning for their qualifying expeditions, that take place later in the term; Gold in Snowdonia, Silver in the Dark Peak and Bronze in the Cotswolds. Silver and bronze have a review and planning session on Sunday 15 May.

And the very best of luck to the Bronze Group B who will undertake their practice expeditions next weekend.

Lower Sixth Form student, and newly elected Head of School, Pratheesh Prabakaran fought off tough competition to win the Midlands regional round of the 2022 Catenian Association's Public Speaking Competition for students from Catholic schools.

Up against fifteen competitors from schools across the Midlands area, the competition took place at Newman University on Thursday 31 March. Pratheesh impressed judges with his presentation on the topic of ‘The biggest problem in the world today is?’ He will now join the regional winners from across the country at the Catenian Association’s National Public Speaking Final in September.

16-year-old Pratheesh, who is studying A-levels in Maths, History and English, commented, "We were presented with a choice of ten topics - all of them raised interesting questions, like ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ and ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. However, there was one which instantly stood out to me, ‘The biggest problem in the world today is...’ where you could finish that sentence with whatever you pleased. I knew that the Catenians valued originality, so I decided to choose something I have been studying and observing for a while, the Ego."

Competitors were marked by the judging panel on a variety of criteria from content, delivery, elocution and appearance and securing the Midlands victory was a fantastic achievement for Pratheesh who was up against strong competition.

Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Rod Isaacs, commented, “All the competitors gave incredible performances on the day so Pratheesh’s victory is something that we are very proud of. It was fantastic to see so many schools competing. With such a broad range of topics covered, it really was a challenging and thought-provoking session.”

Princethorpe last won this leg of the competition in 2017 so it is wonderful to have the title return to Princethorpe College once again.

Princethorpe College’s Winter Sports Awards took place on the last day of the Lent Term, Tuesday 5 April. It was an opportunity to recognise the achievements of the College’s young sportsmen and sportswomen at all levels and across all sports.

Host for the event was Assistant Head Co-curricular, Neil McCollin, who led the celebration of this season’s sporting endeavours, presenting the awards were Foundation Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, and Head of Girls' Games, Jen Law.

The award ceremony began with a summary of the performances of the College’s teams, with awards recognising endeavour, progress, coach's player and most valuable player. The wide range of sports and the sheer numbers of pupils involved, a testament to the importance of sport to life at the College.

Miss Law and Mr Cassell then went on to announce the teams of the season for which there were many contenders. Reflecting on the team’s success, the numbers of fixtures played and the opponents faced, the Girls Sports Team of the Year was awarded to the First XI Girls Hockey team recognising their success across the year, including reaching the semi-finals in the England Hockey National Schools Championships. For the Boys Sports Team of the Year, after considering the strength of the opposition and the fixture lists, the award went to the U13A Rugby team, they were this year’s ISA Rugby Sevens National Cup winners.

A number of pupils were awarded prestigious full colours recognising their commitment and dedication to sport both on and off the field.

Then it was time for the individual awards they included:

Junior Sports Girl of the Year – Martina Grace
Junior Sports Boy of the Year – Fin Calder
Senior Sports Girl of the Year – Tilly Houghton
Senior Sports Boy of the Year – Alexander Hammond
Sixth Form Sports Girls of the Year – Eve Farquharson and Evie Phillips
Sixth Form Sports Boy of the Year – Edwards Sharpe

Director of Sport, Lee Cassell commented, “Congratulations to all the award winners; it has been another very successful season for the College with plenty to celebrate across the school. Huge thanks to all the pupils for their commitment and effort and to the coaching staff and parents for their dedication to school sport.”

On Sunday 3 April, a small group of Sixth Form students and staff took on the Coventry Way Challenge and walked an amazing 40 miles in just one day.

Their route circumnavigated the city of Coventry, starting in Meriden at 6.00am and walking through Kenilworth, Stoneleigh, Wolston Brinklow, Bedworth and Corley Moor before finally returning to Meriden at 8.53pm.

Our superhuman team of walkers were raising funds to support our longstanding commitment to providing a daily meal in school to the 675 children at Makalanga School in Malawi.

We are incredibly proud of them all. Please do consider supporting them. You can find out more information and donate here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/princethorpe40

As part of their Science studies, Years 10 and 11 were visited by Sharan Gill from Severn Trent Water’s Education Team. Sharan gave a series of talks, taking pupils through the water cycle and explaining the journey water makes to and from our homes.

As well as explaining how Severn Trent deliver clean water to our taps, pupils also discovered how dirty water is treated and recycled and some of the problems and strange items that Severn Trent regularly encounter in the sewers (everything from mobiles to false teeth).

It was fascinating for pupils to hear about Severn Trent’s sludge scientists and their sustainability work that is helping to harness the power of poo.

The enrichment talks supported pupils studies on potable water, one of the topics in their GCSE Chemistry specification. Many thanks to Severn Trent and to Sharan for such a fascinating session.

On Tuesday 5 April, in the end of term assemblies, the new Junior Chaplaincy Prefects for 2022-23 were announced. Appointed this year were: Year 7s: Michelle Gichiri, Isabella Kay, Emily Knight, Annie Kowal, Alicia Maddams, Carrie Roberts and Ruby Terry, Year 8: Marco Rodriguez Hernandez and Year 10: Jemima Teeton.

The Junior School Chaplaincy Prefects play an important role in school taking on responsibility for supporting the work of the Chaplaincy team. They help with the planning and preparation of materials for the whole School and Year Group Eucharists, as well as the November Remembrance and Christmas Star school activities. They also support the annual shoe box appeal, not only promoting the initiative to Tutor groups but also collecting, sorting and packing contents as well. They provide ideas for the daily prayer and the ethos questions for the Friday Quiz.

Junior Chaplaincy Prefect, Jemima Teeton, spoke on behalf of the group in the assembly, she said, “The junior prefects will try to do their best to support and promote the ethos of the College.”

Congratulations to them all.