The Flagpole

Grove du Toit has taken on the Headship of Princethorpe College with effect from January 2023. He succeeds outgoing Headmaster, Ed Hester, who has held the post since 2009. Mr Hester now becomes Foundation Principal, a dedicated role with responsibility for the strategic vision and direction of the whole Princethorpe Foundation, its three schools and nursery.

Mr du Toit was appointed as Headmaster back in May 2022 after a rigorous selection process and until December was 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 held for five years.

Married to Marike, with whom he shares two daughters, aged 14 and 11, Mr du Toit, 43, 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. Following his under-graduate studies at the University of Pretoria, he completed a MA in Education Management at King’s College London, and has recently completed his MBA at Salford University through their Business School.

Comments, Liz Griffin, Chair of Trustees, “We are delighted to finally welcome Grove on board. The Foundation Trustees were unanimous in the decision to appoint him as the next Headmaster of Princethorpe College. His passion for education and young people shone through throughout the selection process and our many encounters with him since. 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.

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.”

Outgoing 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.”

The Princethorpe Foundation educates some 1,400 pupils aged 2 to 18 years across its senior school, Princethorpe College, and prep schools, Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery in Kenilworth and Crescent School in Bilton, Rugby.

Plans for the College’s Careers Fair on Saturday 18 March are taking shape with the confirmation that freelance consumer affairs journalist, OP, Felicity Hannah (née King-Evans) has kindly agreed to be the keynote speaker for the 2023 event.

Comments Head of Careers, Jacqui Quinney, "We are delighted to have Felicity on board to open the event and set the tone for the day. She has forged an amazing career in broadcast journalism and her presentation promises to be one not to miss."

After leaving Princethorpe in 2001, Felicity studied Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. She then spent several years as a print journalist, writing for The Times, The Independent, The Mirror, The Herald and others, and is now a freelance journalist. Felicity regularly presents the Radio 4 programmes Money Box and Money Box Live and Wake Up To Money on BBC Radio 5 Live. She co-presents the BBC's Big Green Money Show with Deborah Meaden from Dragon's Den, and she's a regular on Radio 4's Today programme, providing the business news. Felicity has made a number of TV and radio documentaries, and has been named Broadcast Journalist of the Year at the Headlinemoney Awards for three years in a row. 

The bi-annual Careers Fair is open to Year 10 to Sixth Form pupils and their parents. It provides a ‘one stop careers shop’ with a wide range of speakers and organisations on hand to offer advice and guidance.

The Careers Fair will run from 9.30am to 1.00pm and, as well as the keynote speaker, attendees will be able to attend up to three workshops depending on their personal interests and visit an exhibition zone, with stalls from many well-known companies, charities, institutions, universities and gap year organisations.

Mrs Quinney continues, "Registrations will open in February and there will be plenty to interest and inform our pupils and their parents."

Pupils, staff, trustees, parents and friends of Princethorpe College celebrated and gave thanks at the end of the Michaelmas Term for outgoing Headmaster, Ed Hester’s, thirteen-year tenure at the College.

Over his time in office Mr Hester has driven many significant milestones and developments at the College and indeed the wider Foundation, which now comprises Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery in Kenilworth and Crescent School in Rugby. The school has grown from 762 pupils and five form entry in 2009 to six or seven form entry and around 930 pupils today, its optimum size. Thanks to Mr Hester and the team he has built around him, the College has grown in credibility and stature over the last thirteen years and is now a ‘first choice’ school for many families. The Foundation has grown and developed too, and now numbers some 1,400 pupils aged 2 to 18 years.

At a surprise event for Mr Hester, invited guests took a look back at some of the highlights and developments of his headship including successful mergers with Abbotsford School and Crescent School, the College’s ethos and its links with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, excellent ISI Inspections, membership of the prestigious Headmasters and Headmistresses’ Conference, significant campus developments, the College’s Golden Jubilee celebrations and handling of the Covid pandemic.

The event also celebrated academic, pastoral and co-curricular success and achievements at the College and the central part Mr Hester has played in this over the years. From his enthusiastic involvement in many academic, musical, charity and house events from results day and jazz band to welly wanging and abseiling down the iconic Tower.

At the final assembly of term Mr Hester was presented with a cut glass tankard by the pupil body and a commemorative book signed by all the pupils. One last surprise was in store when the whole Princethorpe community launched into a rousing rendition of ABBA’s Dancing Queen, dedicated to the ‘Greatest Edmund we’ve ever seen!’ For once Mr Hester was lost for words.

We thank Mr Hester for his outstanding leadership, dedication and contribution to the success of the College and Foundation to date and wish him good luck in his new exciting role as Foundation Principal.

Staff and OPs will once again be pounding the pavements and paths this January to raise money for Mary’s Meals. Rod Isaacs, Cyp Vella, Andy Compton, Clare White, Ellie Callan and Ben Collie will be joined by OP Tom Pilling on Saturday 29 January to navigate a half marathon off road route starting and finishing at Newbold Common in Leamington.

The hardy runners are fundraising for a charity close to Princethorpe's heart, Mary's Meals, and specifically the project to feed the 600 pupils of Makalanga Primary School, near Blantyre in Malawi.

Keen to get in shape for the challenge, Rod Isaacs has also pledged to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) on each of the previous four weekends in January making it four and one for good luck.

If you would like to show your support for their intrepid efforts please follow the link below.

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

Sad news reached us just before Christmas of the sudden death of longstanding Princethorpe bus driver, Trevor Nicklin.

Trevor was a familiar face to many and will have been well known and liked by pupils and parents as he drove buses for the College for over 25 years. Over the course of his time with us he drove routes including Coventry, Stratford and Solihull, originally working for DeCourceys and then transferring to Ridleys Coaches six years ago.

Trevor was a thoroughly nice chap, unsurprisingly perhaps he was also quite the transport enthusiast and used to enjoy attending the College Motoring Festival.

His passing has come as a shock and our sincere condolences go to Trevor’s family, friends, colleagues and the pupils who knew him, at this sad time. He will be missed by the Princethorpe community and we thank him for his faithful service.

Princethorpe College’s PE and Games Department celebrated another super season of sport at the end of the Michaelmas Term. It was an opportunity to recognise the achievements of the College’s young sportsmen and sportswomen at all levels and across all sports.

In assemblies on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 December, pupils from Years 7 and 8 and then Years 9 and 10 gathered to celebrate this season’s sporting endeavours, that included 362 fixtures this term with 64 different teams representing Princethorpe.

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 is a testament to the importance of sport to life at the College.

Director of Sport, Lee Cassell commented, “Congratulations to all the award winners; it has been another successful term 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.”

For details of the award winners please click on the links below:

U14-15 Michaelmas Term Sports Awards

U12-13 Michaelmas Term Sports Awards

Crescent School, the Princethorpe Foundation's prep school in Bilton, Rugby, is celebrating its 75th anniversary during 2023. The school has exciting plans to celebrate this wonderful milestone, with opportunities to get together, renew and strengthen relationships and revive old memories.

The year will begin with the school marking Founder’s Day on Monday 16 January. Founder’s Day is a new celebration in the Crescent calendar and will provide an opportunity for the Crescent community to reflect back to its founding in January 1948 and to commemorate and thank all who have contributed to the school’s history. To mark the start of the anniversary year pupils will also be spending Friday 20 January looking back to 1948, with teachers leading themed lessons exploring life in the 1940s.

During the year the school is planning to update A History Of Crescent School last published on its 60th anniversary.

At Easter, the school would like to welcome a panel of old pupils back in to school to talk to the children and they are looking for volunteers and for any memorabilia former pupils and parents may have from their time at Crescent School. Photos, school reports, examples of schoolwork, programmes from plays and concerts and even old school uniform would all be welcomed. Please contact the school office at admin@crescentschool.co.uk if you would like to get involved or the Foundation’s archivist catherinelewis@princethorpe.co.uk if you have anything to donate.

Then in the summer, the school will be inviting past pupils to visit the school when they hold their 75th anniversary celebrations on Saturday 10 June as part of the school’s annual Summer Fête.

More details of the events will be shared once plans are finalised. If you are interested in being kept up to date with the Crescent School's plans, then do please join our alumni community Princethorpe Connect https://connect.princethorpe.co.uk/ so we can stay in touch with you.

Crescent School look forwards to sharing this important milestone with you all.

There are just a few 2023 College Calendars remaining, so if you didn't receive one as a Christmas present then you still have time to order one now.

Featuring 12 superb images of the College and its grounds and complete with term and key dates, it is sure to be a handy addition for any kitchen or office.

Purchases can now be made easily via our online shop at https://connect.princethorpe.co.uk/shop or from the College shop.