The Flagpole

Princethorpe College has a new Headmaster, Mr Grove du Toit, and last week, as he settled into life at Princethorpe, the Heads of School, Freya and Pratheesh, sat down with him to ask him questions submitted by pupils from across the school. House points have been awarded to all those who submitted questions.

The question-and-answer session was recorded and is being shared with pupils on Teams, to help them all get to know more about their new Headmaster.

This week on our social media we have also been sharing his answers, to introduce the wider Princethorpe community to Mr du Toit. If you missed the clips, you can find the full video on our school website here.

As the Year 11 Mock Reports are available from today on My School Portal, we would like to remind Year 11 pupils and parents of the Sixth Form Scholarship process for September 2023 for internal candidates and the deadline for applications which is this coming Monday 23 January 2023.

All of our Year 11s are able to apply for Sixth Form Scholarships - Academic, Art, Music, Organ, Drama and Sport. To do so they must complete a Sixth Form Scholarship Application Form and write a 'personal statement' outlining their achievements to date and why they feel they would make an excellent candidate for the scholarship (maximum 500 words).

Those pupils who currently have a scholarship, will normally retain their award for Sixth Form, but must also complete a Sixth Form Scholarship Application Form to re-apply for the scholarship.

Applications should be marked for the attention of the Registrar, Mrs Vanessa Rooney.

Depending on the scholarship, prospective award holders may be interviewed and/or take part in a scholarship assessment in February or March.

Details of any awards will be confirmed when the Sixth Form Offer letters are sent out in writing during week commencing Monday 20 March 2023. Some awards may be dependent on final GCSE grades.

The criteria for each of the scholarships can be found on our website here and in the Sixth Form Admissions Information Booklet 2023. It is essential that pupils and parents look through these in detail before making an application. The Sixth Form Application Form for current Princethorpe Year 11 pupils can be found here. The form can be filled in electronically and returned via email to admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

We hope that this will be another motivational factor for our Year 11s as they focus on their studies and revision in the build up to the exam season.

Last Friday 13 January, the Foundation’s Development Team welcomed donors to Princethorpe for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour. Organised as a thank you for those who support the work of the Foundation, over 100 visitors enjoyed a fascinating evening uncovering a little of Princethorpe’s unique history and the stories of three very special Old Princethorpians who attended St. Mary's Priory between 1900 and 1910. Visitors were given a glimpse into the lives of these special OPs and of the subsequent impact they had on the world once they left school.

In this the third ‘Hidden Princethorpe’ event, guests were first treated to a presentation by Catherine Lewis, the College's Archivist before they began their tour. They explored many of the College’s hidden places, including a visit to the Organ loft and basement, Mount Zion in the Chapel and the College cellars, areas not typically open to pupils or the public.

After all that exploring, the evening finished with refreshments and drinks and plenty of convivial chat. Development Director, Steve Kowal, commented, "We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our donors who joined us at our ‘Peeps of Princethorpe’ event. We hope you enjoyed learning more about the rich history and vibrant community here at Princethorpe. Your support, and the support of all donors to the Foundation, is greatly appreciated and helps us to continue providing exceptional educational opportunities for all our pupils. Thank you to you all for being a part of the Princethorpe family."

The event was a great success and the donors left with a deeper understanding of the College's rich history and heritage, many thanks to all the donors who attended. The College is looking forward to hosting more events like this in the future.

To find out more about the work of the Development Team please visit https://connect.princethorpe.co.uk/supportus

Princethorpe College’s STEAM Scientist competition attracted plenty of entries and Dan Lee, Head of Physics and STEAM Co-ordinator, and the Sixth Form STEAM Ambassadors, Joseph Newborough and Emma Sarkies, were delighted with the response.

Pupils were asked to choose six famous scientists representing a range of different science backgrounds, whose scientific achievements pupils felt to be exceptional, and to write a brief paragraph about each of the scientists, explaining why they had selected them to be featured on the walls of the College’s Science Centre.

The new 10-laboratory Science Centre, which is currently being constructed, has space for graphics on a number of the wall panels and the competition offered pupils the opportunity to get involved with the design of the finished building by choosing their favourite scientists to celebrate on the walls.

Year 7 pupil, Noah Walker, was chosen as the winner and visited the construction site last week, on Tuesday 10 January, to be presented with his prize. During the visit Foundation Assistant Head, Alex Darkes and Trendgrey Construction Managing Director, Nick Henderson gave Noah, Joseph, Emma and Mr Lee a short tour of the new building that included the likely locations of the scientist wall graphics.

Noah had suggested an amazing six scientists, who in his opinion, changed the world. They included renowned scientists such as Alan Turing and Steven Hawking but also those perhaps less well known, such as Katherine Johnson, a pioneer space scientist, and Nikola Tesla, whose surname we are all familiar with, who was a physicist who amongst other things invented AC current. His six scientists also included Allen Bard, who is considered to be the creator of electrochemistry, and then a very important biochemist, Katalin Kariko, whose research into ribonucleic acid laid the foundations for the vaccines that shielded the world from the coronavirus pandemic. The competition judges were all agreed that Noah’s six scientists were excellent choices that would make for a superb display.

Eight highly commended entries, that were all awarded Da Vinci merits, included: Year 7s, Charles Packe and Jake Mainwaring; Year 10, Abigail Mandava; Year 11s, Bea Boakes, David Ikuomola, Seb Hume-Chignell and Lampros Papadogiannakis; and Lower Sixth Former, Tom Lomas.

Well done to all who took part in the competition, it was fascinating reading about your scientists and many congratulations to Noah, whose six scientists will make a superb display on the walls of the new Science Centre.

You can read Noah's winning entry here.

There's still time for parents who are interested in getting more involved in school life to respond to the recently issued Parental Involvement Survey, which was sent out by Mr du Toit last Friday.

The survey comes on the back of the Parental Questionnaire issued last term, where a good number of parents expressed interest in supporting the school across a range of areas.

As the questionnaire was anonymous, we would be very grateful if you currently do help us in any way, or would like to offer your help in the future, if you could complete the brief online form which can be accessed here, by Monday 23 January please.  Only the information on the first page of the form is a “required field”. All other sections can be completed as relevant to save you time.

Specific areas where we would welcome help include:

• Careers-related activities: doing presentations on a specific career or profession or as a business taking part in the exhibition at the Careers Fair (which will take place on Saturday 18 March 2023), interview practice and offering Work Experience
• The Parent Teacher Association
• Co-curricular and sporting activities
• Parent focus groups

A number of parents also kindly indicated that they would be interested in supporting our fundraising efforts and there is opportunity in the form to expand on that too. 

An enormous “thank you” to you all for your continued support of the College, it is hugely appreciated by both the staff and pupils.

On Monday 9 January Lower Sixth History, Politics and Law students visited the Houses of Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Royal Courts of Justice to gain insights and experiences to inform their A-levels studies.

The students toured Parliament, learning about the history of Parliament as well as contemporary debates, such as the future of the House of Lords. They then met Reece Parslow, Parliamentary Support Officer for Sir Jeremy Wright MP for Kenilworth and Southam, who spoke to the students about the routes for young people into working in Parliament and for an MP. Then it was straight off to Committee Room 5 where the students were met by Mark Pawsey MP for Rugby and Bulkington, who spoke about the role of an MP and fielded questions from the students. The Lower Sixth had a wide range of interesting questions; George Wild asked Mark Pawsey on his stance on votes for sixteen-year-olds, a topic that he is currently writing his EPQ on; Zara Simpson asked Mark what the hardest part of his role as an MP was; and Toby West asked a very specific constituent question about Ansty’s green belt.

After a quick lunch, students headed to the Supreme Court where Mrs Essery delivered a fantastic self-guided tour. The group got to visit the court rooms of the highest court of appeal in the land. From there the Sixth Formers went on to the Royal Courts of Justice, stopping to see 10 Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade and Trafalgar Square on the way.

Grey Lyttle, Teacher of History and Politics, commented, “It was a fascinating day, full of experiences, with lots of steps on the pedometer and lots of new information learned!”

Preparations for the College Careers Fair on the morning of Saturday 18 March are shaping up nicely.

Online registrations for the event, which is open to all pupils from Year 10 to Sixth Form, will open in mid February.

A wide range of speakers and organisations will be on hand to offer advice and guidance on careers, universities and apprenticeships.  To date we have representatives from organisations as diverse as the Police and Price Waterhouse Coopers to Lotus Cars and J P Morgan giving presentations, and universities from across the country, such as Cardiff, Sheffield, Plymouth and nearer to home Warwick, with stalls in the exhibition part of the Fair.

Comments, Jacqui Quinney, Head of Careers, "Attendees will be able to select three workshops to attend over the course of the morning, alongside a visit to the Careers Exhibition.  We are delighted with the breadth of careers we will have on offer, there promises to be a wealth of information and advice available."

An email will be sent to parents with pupils in Years 10 to Sixth Form in the next few weeks with a link to the online registration page and information about all the speakers.

Princethorpe College was delighted to welcome guest speaker Dr Rachel Molitor, Lecturer in Psychology and University Admissions Tutor for Coventry University, on Monday 9 January, to talk to our Upper Sixth students about making the leap from A-levels to University.

Dr Rachel’s advice was informative and constructive. Her presentation was full of useful information and insights, as she explained the advantages of going to university and what to expect when you arrive there. Dr Rachel explained how degree programmes are structured and delivered and the support universities offer using insights from her own experiences and specialism, Behavioural Psychology.

It was a fascinating, lively and timely presentation for Year 13, many thanks to Dr Rachel for joining us.

Aspiring young singers from local primary schools enjoyed a super day of song when they joined Princethorpe's Director of Music, Gil Cowlishaw, Music Teacher, Alison Wakeley, and members of the Princethorpe College Choir for a fabulous Choral Fun Day.

The Year 5 and 6 pupils tackled a variety of choral pieces from popular favourites including Pharrell Williams’ Happy and Miley Cyrus’ The Climb, to old favourites such as Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.

As well as rehearsing furiously, the visiting children took part in a musical team scavenger hunt and enjoyed lunch in the Refectory.

The day culminated in an impressive gala performance of their newly learnt pieces in front of an enthusiastic capacity audience of family and friends in the College's Clarkson theatre, followed by refreshments for all.

Commenting on the day, Gil Cowlishaw said, "We were really impressed by the children. They achieved such a lot in just a few hours, learning so many songs and then taking to the stage to perform in front of an audience is no mean feat, a huge well done to them all!"

And a special thank you to all of the fantastic Princethorpe pupils who came along to support the Choral Fun Day.