The Flagpole

Thanks to the hard work of the construction team and their contractors, work on Princethorpe’s new Science Centre continues to make great progress. As at Week 38 of the build, work on the roof is almost complete with the majority of the tiles now in place and we are looking forward to the official topping-out ceremony which will take place at the end of November.

The College’s new Science Centre is situated at the top of The Lime Walk. Due to officially open in September 2023, the ten teaching laboratories will provide state of the art science facilities for the next generation of pupils to come through our doors.

On Wednesday 16 November we sent our photographer on site with Foundation Assistant Head, Alex Darkes, who is overseeing the project, to record the progress so far. The structure and layout of the ten new teaching laboratories was clear to see with the internal walls all now in place. The large spacious laboratories, five on each floor, supported by preparation areas, workshops and storage spaces. The break-out area on the first floor, the staff bases, offices and plant room are all now visible within the structure, as are the breakthrough points from The Limes. With the roofing slates almost all in place and the roof lights due to be fitted next week the building is really starting to take shape.

The first fix of the electrical and mechanical works is well underway. The new Science Centre will be an ‘intelligent’ building, driven by an integrated digital Building Management System to optimise heating and ventilation; underfloor heating will shortly be put in place and work is well underway to install the latest standards of insulation. Infrastructure will allow a progression, in time, to Ground Source Heat Pumps, for reliability. There will be LED illumination throughout, with presence sensors and daylight sensors to control light levels. An energy performance monitor in the ground floor circulation area will be visible to all will give a real-time picture of the building’s energy performance.

The building’s location at the top of The Lime Walk places it central to the College’s campus and the views from the laboratories are stunning but on their tour this week Mr Darkes made it up on to the roof where the views were even better, as you can see in this clip, it’s all very exciting for us here at Princethorpe!

Much anticipated and always hotly contested, the House Talent Show did not disappoint providing yet another sensational evening of entertainment for the College community and a real conundrum for the judges facing the almost impossible challenge of choosing the winner. This year’s show returned to a fully live format and took place on Thursday 10 November, in the Clarkson theatre in front of an audience of enthusiastic supporters.

A huge thank you to all who took part and to the technical team who so ably assisted, your hard work, dedication and sheer talent are what makes this event so hugely enjoyable. Thanks also to this year’s judges, Graduate Teaching Assistants, Georgia Newborough and Izzy Arevalo who had the impossible task of picking the eventual winners.

Compered by House Activities Leader, Jess Newborough, the show included an array of dazzling dance routines, stunning instrumental and vocal solos and fabulous bands. After the serious acts had performed, the audience then had the pleasure of a special, surprise act, the House Captains’ Band, singing and playing Valerie, originally by The Zutons.

This year’s winners were Squad 7 a Year 7 contemporary dance troupe including Josie Friend, Annabel Hetherington, Mimi Legge, Orla McDonagh and Millie Nealon. Taking second place were RJNE a Year 8 band who played Hotel California by the Eagles, including Noah Dando, Jacob George, Rafferty Jones and Elliot Oyekunle. In third place was Jonjo Boyle who performed an Irish dance routine.

As well as being a great night out, the event was also about fundraising for this year’s House Charity, Shelter, with donations on the evening raising £270.

We were super impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment to their House of all our performers. A huge well done to them all, it really was a sensational House Talent Show.

Huge congratulations to the Boys 1st XV Rugby team who put on a dominant display to claim an excellent 44-12 win against Hereford Cathedral School in Round 4 of the Schools Vase on Wednesday 9 November. In an exciting match full of brave tackling the team played an impressive game.

The boys now progress to the next round, where they will face Dr Challoner's Grammar School on Wednesday 23 November (2.15pm kick off at home - supporters welcome).

Well done to them all.

Scroll through the gallery for photos of the action.

Congratulations to the Boys 1st XI Football team on an excellent third round 4-1 win in the Independent Schools Football Association’s Boodles Cup. The team played away at Mill Hill School on Tuesday 15 November, and in a well fought game Toby Nicoll made the most of his chances claiming a hat-trick with Barnaby Hammond taking Princethorpe’s score to 4. That great result means the boys have reached the final sixteen. A huge well done to them all! 

Princethorpe College’s cross-country runners have been busy this month with the Warwickshire Inter Area in Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday 5 November and the English Schools Cup Regional Final at Bromsgrove School one week later, on Saturday 12 November. Cross country running has always been a strength of the school, so it was great to see so many pupils taking part and upholding the tradition.

The College took 16 runners to the Inter Area event and 11 pupils qualified to run for Warwickshire in the Inter County Race which takes place tomorrow, Saturday 19 November at Himley Hall in Dudley. Good luck to Year 7s, Charlie Leech and James Bostock, Year 8, William Smith, Year 9s, Lily Hunter and Charlie Atkins, Year 10s, Evie Marston and Jesse Esler, and Year 11s, Ava Farren, Kate Pomerleau, Ben Smith and Felix Batty.

Princethorpe had qualified four teams to run in the ESAA Schools’ Cup Regional Final, a first for the school, and was delighted that the Senior Girls team ran superbly finishing third overall to earn themselves a place in National Finals that will take place on Saturday 3 December at The Grammar School Leeds. Commiserations to the Senior Boys who just missed out finishing fourth.

Head of Outdoor Education, Will Bower commented, "Well done to all of our runners, who put in a great effort against strong competition. I am very pleased with the results. A huge thank you to all the parents who took the runners to the races. It was really great to have so many pupils competing."

Many congratulations to the U15 Boys Rugby team who won the ISA Midlands 10-a-side Cup at Worcester RFC on Monday 14 November.

This was a new event in the calendar and Princethorpe's boys played a superb game with plenty of attacking rugby and a number of outstanding tries.

The boys won the Group stage with wins against Quinton House 39-0, Pitsford 29-0 and Worksop College 21-7 and progressed to the Cup playoffs. In the semi-final they put on another dominant display winning 36-0 against Bowbrook House before comfortably seeing off Worksop again 17-0 to take the title.

Well done to all the players on a very successful day.

Our U15A Girls Hockey team were celebrating last week after earning themselves a Silver medal at the ISA National tournament.

The team travelled to the Lee Valley National Hockey Stadium in the Olympic Park on Wednesday 9 November where they faced 20 schools from across the country. The tournament started with a pool round where the girls put on a confident display winning their four group games comfortably without letting a single goal across their line.

That put them through to the Cup playoffs where the girls held their nerve, played superbly against Farnborough Hill and were delighted with a 1-0 win. In the final, the girls faced local King’s High School in a closely contested game. Princethorpe got into some good attacking positions and were unlucky not to score more. In the end the girls went down 4-1 to finish in second place and take the silver medal.

An excellent effort, congratulations to them all.

Perhaps the most challenging Physics test available to Sixth Form students, set by the British Physics Olympiad, was tackled by some of Princethorpe's finest physicists with resounding success. The College’s Upper Sixth Physicists sat the Year 13 Physics Challenge, based on the curriculum and featuring questions that relate to A-level topics, to stretch their thinking into the application of Physics.

Congratulations go to Ed Sharpe, Oscar Page, Madoc Williams, Josh Apaya, Tom Dodsley, Joe Glover, Tom Knight, Dan Webb, Alex Allison, Alex Hill, Ed Mitchell, Henry Walker, Harry Scott and a very special mention goes to Harry Hewitt who achieved the highest possible accolade of a Merit.

At the Eleventh Hour on the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month – We Will Remember Them.

On Friday 11 November the College community gathered together outside on a windy school playground to silently reflect on the bravery and the selfless sacrifice made by so many of our country's service men and women.

Deputy Head (Pastoral), Beth Sharpe opened the proceedings with a prayer. Year 7 pupils, Dami Ajagunna, Alvin Wamala, Reuben Allen and Sophie McCormick read out a thought-provoking reading on ‘Why Do We Wear A Poppy?’ Then College trumpeter, Year 9, Henry Corbin sounded the melancholic and moving notes of the Last Post.

The one-minute silence offered all a time for reflection, a shared moment to remember those who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today. Sixth Form students, Connor Silvester, Radley Evans, George Wild, Sophie Gray, Alice Whittaker, Maisie Edge and Joseph Newborough, read out For The Fallen before the College community sang the hymn Abide With Me.

A wreath was hung at the Pupils’ Entrance by, Air Cadet and Year 10, Ben Heywood and Michael Luis from the Foundation’s Estates team.

Finally, Ed Hester, Headmaster, brought the proceedings to a thoughtful close with a prayer for peace.

Thanks to our College musicians, Henry Corbin, Lottie Corbin, Chloe Hurworth and Chloe Sarkies who played during the service.

A recording of the service can be viewed here.

During November, the College has been reflecting on the theme of Remembrance. The month is the last in the Church’s calendar and commemorates all those who have departed from life. It begins with the Feast of All Saints, a tribute to the saints, and is followed by the Feast of All Souls, when we pray for those who have died, particularly our loved ones.

In Tutor groups pupils have considered the theme of Remembrance, the legacies of war and why we commemorate those who fought and served in the World Wars, and in more recent conflicts, and the sacrifices they made.

Year 7 pupils, Merryn Cleary, Lottie Corbin, Hattie Godfrey, Chloe Sarkies and Ro Somerset, cut out over 1,000 poppies, enough for every member of the school community. Form Tutors shared the poppies with their Tutor groups and encouraged pupils to record their remembrances, personalising the poppies with their dedications and messages. The poppies were then assembled into a prominent and impressive display in the Limes by Emily Knight (not pictured) and Isabella Kay.

The poppy is our society’s symbol of collective remembrance and the symbol of all our hopes for a peaceful future. The display provides our community with a powerful focus for prayer during this contemplative month of November. It is especially poignant for us all this year.

Thank you to all the pupils for their hard work and help putting together our poppy display.

Over the last few months the Planet Princethorpe team have been working to improve Princethorpe’s recycling and sustainability. To help, pupils were tasked with designing stickers to cover recycling bins, to help people recycle correctly.

We had some fantastic submissions and the College is delighted to announce that Year 8 pupil, James Henderson Martin, was chosen as the winner, with Year 8, Felicity Underwood, taking second place and Year 7, Dami Ajagunna, coming third. Congratulations to them all.

Princethorpe College celebrated National Poetry Day on 6 October. The theme this year was the ‘Environment’. The poetry writing competition organised by the library was won by Genevieve Slater-Tucker in Year 11, with her poignant entry entitled Deathly Climate.

The runner up was Dami Ajagunna in Year 7 with her creative acrostic poem entitled The Environment Needs Us Now. Congratulations to both pupils.

Among the many entries, there were other noteworthy entries from Alex Ainsworth and Evie Johnson, both pupils in Year 7. Well done to all who took part.

Beautifully illustrated signed copies of the 40th anniversary edition of the classic story War Horse by Michael Morpurgo were presented to Genevieve and Dami.

Deathly Climate by Genevieve Slater-Tucker Year 11

The Environment Needs Us Now – Dami Ajagunna Year 7

AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on amazon.co.uk. The difference is that when you shop through the smile.amazon.co.uk web address, AmazonSmile donates 0.5% of the net purchase price (excluding VAT, returns and shipping fees) of eligible purchases to the charitable organisation selected by the customer.

So whenever you make an eligible purchase from Amazon via AmazonSmile, the charitable organisation benefits at no additional cost to you.

The Princethorpe Foundation is a charity and within the Foundation, the Development Office work to enable the provision of more bursaries to deserving pupils, to update our facilities and buildings, and to meet our strategic development plans. You can find out more about the work of the Development Office on our school website here. 

The Development Office is asking the Princethorpe community to consider choosing The Princethorpe Foundation as their nominated charity on AmazonSmile. 

How do I shop at AmazonSmile?

To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.co.uk from the web browser on your computer or mobile device.

Can I use my existing amazon.co.uk account on smile.amazon.co.uk?

Yes, you use the same account on amazon.co.uk and smile.amazon.co.uk. Your shopping cart, Wish List, wedding or baby registry, and other account settings are also the same. Simply visit smile.amazon.co.uk and log in to your usual Amazon account.

Which products on AmazonSmile are eligible for charitable donations?

Millions of products on AmazonSmile are eligible for donations to charities by Amazon. You will see eligible products marked 'Eligible for smile.amazon.co.uk' on their product detail pages. Recurring Subscribe-and-Save purchases and subscription renewals are not currently eligible.

How do I select to support the Princethorpe Foundation when shopping on AmazonSmile?

On your first visit to smile.amazon.co.uk you need to select a charitable organisation to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping, simply search for and select 'The Princethorpe Foundation'. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.co.uk will result in a donation to support Development Office projects.

How will you use the donations you receive?

All donations received via smile.amazon.co.uk will go towards our Annual Fund. Each year, this fund supports the purchase of necessary academic and extracurricular equipment, ensures educational, enrichment and entertainment opportunities for students, and helps maintain the School’s academic and sporting facilities. Your Annual Fund contributions are at the heart of all that we do, and all that we give to our pupils.

If you are on the hunt for presents, we have a wonderful range of Old Princethorpian merchandise available from ties to cufflinks, pin badges to scarves and, not to mention, some very snazzy socks that would make a perfect Christmas gift.

Copies of A Spirit of Family, the first fifty years of Princethorpe College, by Alex Darkes and Nick Baker are also available.

Then we have prints and greetings cards available featuring the Soaring Red Brick Tower image and prints also of St Joseph's School.

Finally, the 2023 College calendar featuring 12 superb images of the College and its grounds is a perfect present and is sure to be a handy addition for any kitchen or office.

To ensure UK orders can arrive in time for Christmas, orders and payment will need to be received by 12 noon on Monday 19 December 2022 please.

Purchases can now be made easily via our online shop at https://connect.princethorpe.co.uk/shop or from the OPs/College stall in the Sixth Form Centre at the PTA Christmas Fair on Sunday 27 November.