The Flagpole

The College is preparing itself for its Entrance Exams Day tomorrow, Saturday 5 November, with nearly 300 children due to sit the exams across four age groups. 

Comments Melanie Butler, Assistant Head Marketing, Admissions and Communications, "This year we have had particularly high levels of interest and, following a successful Open Morning in September and Year 6 Taster Days, the registrations have continued to flow in. We know that positive recommendations from current families will have played a large part in this success."

"We wish all the candidates the very best of luck, and look forward to seeing them bright and early in the morning!"

Arrangements for the Entrance Exams Day (11+, 12+, 13+ and 14+) are as follows:

Saturday 5 November 2022 - 9.30am to 3.45pm

Candidates are requested to report to the College between 8.45am and 9.30am; it is advisable that candidates should not arrive prior to 8.30am. Please enter the school via the Pupils’ Entrance in the playground. Candidates should wear comfortable clothes and bring a coat. The day is planned to give plenty of time between the exams for breaks, a hot lunch and time to play outside if the weather allows.

The examinations will end at 3.40pm or 4.20pm for those with agreed access arrangements, refreshments will be available upon collection of the candidates.

Thanks in advance to all the staff and students who help on the day and with the marking of scripts.

Nine Princethorpe College swimmers have qualified for the ISA National Championships at the London Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park, in early December, after success in their events at the Midlands ISA Swimming Gala at Walsall Gala Baths on Thursday 13 October. Princethorpe’s squad of 20 put in excellent performances helping the College achieve second place overall after the 52 events were completed.

The College’s team brought home an amazing haul of medals, with 13 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze medals collected and a number just missing out on top three finishes. Their amazing performance in the pool helped Princethorpe finish second overall at the regional event.  

For the Year 7 girls team, Issey Cleary claimed a Gold in the 25m Breaststroke in 17.75 seconds and the 25m Butterfly in 15.38 seconds while her teammate Stephanie Bolton did just as well with Gold in the 25m Backstroke in 16.50 seconds and in the 25m Freestyle in 14.41 seconds. The Year 7 Girls also swam brilliantly to take Silver in both the Medley and Freestyle Relays. The Year 8 Girls did nearly as well with Charlotte Gower claiming Gold in the 50m Backstroke in 34.71 seconds and the 50m Freestyle in 30.18 seconds while Tara Rodgers claimed Gold in the 25m Butterfly in 15.12 seconds. Then the Year 9&10 Girls team swam steadily to claim Bronze medals in both the Medley and Freestyle Relays. For the Senior Girls (Years 11,12 and 13), Year 11 Lottie Hunter took Gold in the 50m Freestyle in 28.79 seconds and then Bronze in the 50m Breaststroke in 39.39 seconds.

For the boys, Year 8, George Fry put in a solid performance for a Bronze medal in the 50m Backstroke, completing the course in 36.11 seconds. In the Years 9&10 classes, Year 10 André Onyekwe swam well to take Gold in both the 50m Backstroke in 28.47 and in the 50m Freestyle in 25.26. His teammate Harrison Guest finished first in the 50m Breaststroke in 36.93 earning himself a Gold medal. The Years 9&10 Boys also took Silver in both the Medley and Freestyle Relays. For the Senior Boys, Connor Silvester finished first in the 50m Breaststroke in 34.64 and in the 50m Freestyle in 27.87 collecting himself two Gold medals.

Assistant Head Co-curricular, Neil McCollin commented, “These results are a great achievement, the result of many long hours of training for our pupils with their swimming clubs. The ISA Championships are a superb opportunity for our swimmers to showcase their skills in the competitive school environment. Princethorpe is always a force in the water, and I was delighted to watch the scores build over the day.”

The eight gold medalists have qualified for the Nationals with George Fry also being selected to compete in the Midlands Relay team.

Representing Princethorpe were – Year 7 pupils: Stephanie Bolton, Issey Cleary, Sophie McCormick and Harriet Mulhall. Year 8 pupils: George Fry, Charlotte Gower, Isabella Knipe, Ruth Oritsejafor and Tara Rodgers. Year 9 pupils: Sam Grindal, Sophie Henry, Alexa Holland and Ewan Pearce. Year 10 pupils: Amelia Fry, Harrison Guest, André Onyekwe and Mia Webb. Year 11 pupils: Charlotte Gledhill and Lottie Hunter. Sixth Former: Connor Silvester.

Back in October, pupils from Princethorpe College took part in the 2022 UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Senior 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. The papers are then sent away to be marked by UKMT and the best pupils in the country are awarded Bronze, Silver or Gold Certificates.

The competition is aimed at students in the Sixth Form and Princethorpe selected 27 able mathematicians from both the Lower and Upper Sixth to participate in this year’s challenge. 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 Lower Sixth Former, Joseph Newborough, who was awarded a Gold Certificate, and took the award for best performing student in school, and to Upper Sixth Former, Edward Sharpe, who was awarded a Silver certificate, and took the award for best performing student in the Upper Sixth. Joseph performed so well that he has also qualified for the follow-on round, the Senior Kangaroo Challenge.

Silver certificates were also awarded to: Joshua Apaya, Christopher Lock, Alexander Flegg, Emma Sarkies, William Hawkins, Alex Hill, Oscar Page.

Bronze certificates were awaded to: Alexander Allison, William Gibson-Sexton, Madoc Williams, Amy Hogg, Eleanor Page, Rahul Samra, Natasha Thomas, Thomas Dodsley.

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

Three talented Upper Sixth Leavers have been recognised in the Independent Schools Association Midlands Art Competition. The local round of the prestigious competition took place back before half term, on Thursday 6 October, at St Dominic’s Priory School in Staffordshire.

Art and Photography student, Grace Leigh’s stunning and atmospheric photograph Phantom Of The River took a well-deserved first place in the Key Stage 5 Photography class. Her picture was one part of her triptych that was presented at the College’s Art Show this summer. The photo is an original unedited work, and the water in the lake was by all reports very cold. This is the third year on the run that a Princethorpe student has taken first place in the KS5 Photography class.

Then Art Scholar, Tillie Benford’s compendium of drawings, Last Day Of High School took first place in the very competitive Key Stage 5 Sketchbook class. Exploring themes of nostalgia and sentimentality her sketchbook submission showcased her preparations for her final piece that was also of an incredibly high standard.

While Art Scholar, Mary Lomas’ graphite pencil drawing Reflections Of The Dark Triad took second place in the Key Stage 5 Drawing class. Her drawing of a photographer poised to take a picture featured a self-portrait and reflection.

Princethorpe College Head of Art, Paul Hubball, was delighted, commenting, “Many congratulations to Grace, Tillie and Mary. Their pieces were exceptional, a product of many hours of work as they prepared for the A-level examinations. The girls received many compliments on the quality of the work and it is marvellous to see their talent rewarded in this way.”

Feeder school Crackley Hall also scooped two awards in the regional competition celebrating the artistic talent we have across the Foundation.

Mr Hubball went on, “This year’s judges were very tough. Their experience made them look for the best technicians on show so we were very pleased to have three students recognised.”

As class winners Grace and Tillie’s pieces now go forward to the ISA National Art Competition, that takes place at the ISA Autumn Conference later in November.

On Tuesday 1 November, 26 family teams (pupil and parent) competed in the Year 7 Science Family Challenge. They watched exciting demonstrations involving fire, explosions and tricks of the mind, before tackling some challenging tasks across the fields of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. They had to apply practical skills and also answer challenging questions. Congratulations to all who took part and a special mention to our top three teams:

1st place - The Bunsen Learners
2nd place - Bow Ties Are Cool
3rd place - Pro-tons

The calibre of the teams competing was unbelievable with the winning team 'The Bunsen Learners' scoring a very impressive 50 out of a maximum of 57 points (after bonus points for team names and dragons were included).

Thanks also to our wonderful Laboratory Technicians, pupil helpers and Science staff who made the evening possible. We hope the pupils and parents all enjoyed taking part.

Look out for our inaugural Princethorpe College Science Christmas Lecture coming to the Clarkson theatre on Tuesday 13 December.

Twenty Upper Sixth History students enjoyed a wonderful opportunity to walk in the footsteps of royalty at Hampton Court Palace this week. As part of their study of Tudor England they spent a morning discovering Henry VIII’s Royal Apartments, admiring priceless Flemish tapestries in the Great Hall and sitting in the Council Chamber where Thomas Cromwell forged his new plans for the English State. A highlight of the trip was a guided tour of the site, exploring the driving forces behind the Reformation. Pupils enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to adopt the roles of Henry VIII and his advisors as they ‘tried’ the heretic John Lambert. Everyone agreed that the experience brought their study of the period vividly to life.

Over the Michaelmas half term Princethorpe’s U15 Boys and U14 Girls hockey teams travelled to the Netherlands for the first leg of this year’s annual Hockey Tour. It was great to have the exchange trip back in the calendar again, organised by the Princethorpe Sports department, over the years thousands of pupils have participated in the hockey training camp and enjoyed the opportunity to experience another country and culture.

The five-day tour had an early start and a long day of travel on Saturday 15 October. On arrival at Hopbel Hockey Club the tour party were greeted warmly and whisked away by their Dutch host families to make friends and experience traditional Dutch family life.

In addition to three days of training and tour matches the pupils and their hosts managed to squeeze in plenty of fun, including a cycling tour round Rotterdam, a tour BBQ, mini-golf, bowling and a walking tour of the local town, Den Bosch, some even managed a tour of PSV Eindhoven.

Hockey wise, we were up against some very good opposition. Princethorpe battelled well and showed great improvement throughout the course of the tour, making use of all that extra coaching and practice. In their first two matches the boys went down 1-6 and 2-6 but remained resilient were pleased to take the final match 7-1. The girls also had a challenging run just losing out in their first match 4-5, drawing the second 2-2 and then losing 0-3 in their final game.

Director of Sport, Neil McCollin, commented, “We have had another very successful hockey tour and I am very proud of all our pupils. They made the most of the intensive coaching sessions, played skilfully and gained a good insight into how another country plays the game. Unfortunately, this time both trophies stayed in Holland but the pupils represented the College superbly and we look forward to welcoming our Dutch friends back once again in April 2023 for the return leg of the tour.”

Huge thanks go to all the staff involved in supporting and running the hockey tour: Jen Law, Neil McCollin, Dominic Phelps and Paul Whitehead.

Over the half term holidays Princethorpe’s PE and Games Department took 38 Year 8 and 9 pupils on a four-day tour along the south coast. The 15th Annual Junior Sports Tour included training and matches interspersed with plenty of off-pitch activities and fun. It was a great chance for all to hone their skills and practise technique against friendly but competitive teams.

The Year 9 boys had a very successful tour, their hard work in training paying dividends with three excellent wins. They faced Portsmouth Junior Rugby Club first and comfortably won the game with a super 39-5 score line. Their second match was a much greater challenge against the disciplined and never before beaten Dauntsey’s School. Dauntsey’s proved a tough test, but the boys weathered the storm well and their resilience and effort resulted in well organised and professional tries. Head of Boys’ Games, Joe Jackson, was thoroughly delighted with their performance and an excellent 45-24 win. The boys then faced Bournemouth School For Boys claiming a third resounding victory 33-5.

Joe Jackson, said, “All three games were fantastic team efforts with Dauntsey’s proving to be the toughest test. The boys were energetic both on and off the rugby field, although I think their personal highlight was Splashdown Water Park!”

The Year 8 netball girls also had some great results in their games, and what was most pleasing was their progression throughout the tour. Fielding two teams, the girls first played Portsmouth High School with both the A and B teams winning their matches, 16-5 and 10-6 respectively. Their second fixture was against Bournemouth School For Girls. The U13A team came up against fierce competition and a team that was very well practiced. With a slow start from us the girls managed to close the score line with grit and determination, however, it wasn't enough to secure a win and the match finished with a loss 7-11. The U13B team however, played with consistency throughout their fixture and secured their second win 8-3 of the tour.

On tour, off the pitch is always a great chance to build team spirit through lots of different activities. Pupils enjoyed Splashdown, the all-action, flume filled waterpark in Poole, had time for shopping at Gunwharf Quays and of course enjoyed a competitive sunshine-y morning of games on the beach.

Head of Academic PE and Tour Leader, Hannah Carminati, commented, “There was plenty of learning for our sports teams this year and pupils made a lot of progress as they wound their way along the south coast. They were a really good group, impeccably behaved, they mixed well with their opponents and with each other, but what pleased us most was how enthusiastic our pupils all were. It made for a very successful tour.”

Huge thanks to the dedicated sports staff who accompanied the tour: Lee Cassell, Hannah Carminati, Joe Jackson and Ellie Callan. A big thank you of course to the schools and sports clubs that hosted us; their hospitality was outstanding, and we look forward to continuing the relationship with them for future tours.

Princethorpe’s aspiring young chefs showcased their superb cooking skills this week when they took part in the Springboard’s FutureChef competition. The first-round heats took place after school on Monday 31 October and Thursday 3 November with nine contestants tasked with cooking and serving up a main meal in just one hour.

The FutureChef competition challenges young people aged 12 to 16 who are keen to learn more about cooking, to cook their way through a series of rounds, allowing them to gain experience, meet professionals and develop their skills, all whilst learning invaluable lessons and getting an insight into the culinary industry.

All of our would-be chefs really wowed the judges, Jacqui Scott, Ed Hester, Grove du Toit and Lower Sixth Former, and previous competition Warwickshire round winner, Chloe O’Carroll-Bailey, with their culinary creations, serving up a range of tempting meals. From the off, they worked quickly, demonstrating technical skills such as knife work and pasta making and the finished plates of food looked tantalising and were full of flavour and seasoned expertly. What's more the contestants’ attention to detail was superb with plates polished, the food presented artistically and their work surfaces scrubbed.

It was a hard decision to choose between them all and the judges deliberated carefully as they argued the pros and cons of first one dish and then another. In the end they decided that Sophie Henry and Finlay Ross had managed to hold their nerve and execute their dishes superbly to jointly win the Princethorpe heat. The pair will now progress on to the local final where they will compete against the winners of other school heats. Henry Curnow took second place and Sophia Deery came third. If Sophie and Finlay are successful they will then have the chance to go on to the regional final, and maybe even the national final which will be held in London, in March next year.

Commenting on this first stage of the competition, Teacher of Food Technology, Jacqui Scott said, “There was so much enthusiasm, teamwork and skill shown. Pupils all cooked food to be proud of in a very short period of time. I have been really impressed with the level of interest in the FutureChef competition. It was really very difficult to pick our winners and the judges thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful we tried. We have two strong competitors going through to the next stages and I’m very excited to see how far they can go in the competition.”

Huge congratulations to our two worthy winners and well done to all of the participants who took part, it was an excellent effort all-round.

Taking part this year were Year 7 pupils: Olivia Burley, Sophia Deery and Liana Fairlie, Year 8s: Michelle Cichiri, Henry Curnow, Lola Esler and Emily Knight and Year 9s: Sophie Henry and Finlay Ross.

Princethorpe College has been delighted to welcome Sports Psychologist, and former Great Britain athelete, Hannah Dunderdale, into school to work with pupils from the Elite Sports Group this last half term. Hannah will continue to work with the pupils over the course of the academic year. She will be delivering various workshops on topics from mental preparation to anxiety strategies, with the aim of developing pupils' mental skills to support and aid their sporting performance.

"It’s been a pleasure to welcome Hannah into school, as a former athlete she brings a wealth of experience, and pupils are making the most of the opportunity of working with her to develop their mental skills," said Lee Cassell, Foundation Director of Sport.