The Flagpole

On Friday 22 September Princethorpe welcomed award-winning engineer and innovator, Yewande Akinola MBE, to officially open its brand new state-of-the-art Science Centre. 

Boasting 1,800sqm of floor space with ten state-of-the-art laboratories, dedicated prep rooms, break out, study spaces and staff bases, Princethorpe’s new Science Centre will provide outstanding teaching and learning facilities and bring Science to life for pupils of all ages. 

In a welcome to a gathered audience of over a thousand pupils, staff, invited guests and trustees, Foundation Principal, Ed Hester, thanked all who had helped to deliver the magnificent building, Tony Pugh and his team at AT Architects, project manager Steve Joyce from Ainsleys and Nick Henderson and his team at Trendgrey Construction. He went on to thank the College’s many friends and supporters, including donors, who had all helped the building become a reality. He expressed special thanks to Foundation Assistant Head, Alex Darkes who had worked so hard and done more than anyone to bring the amazing building to fruition. 

In her keynote speech, Yewande praised the design of the intelligent new building, that includes an integrated digital building management system, she spoke of her journey to becoming an engineer and her work innovating, designing and problem solving for buildings. She shared her passion for Science and spoke about its role in bringing positive improvement to people’s lives. She encouraged Princethorpe’s pupils to embrace opportunities, ask questions, be innovative and express their creativity, urging them to be curious and see where Science could lead them. 

Her delightful, easy and enthusiastic manner, warmth and interest in young people and education and her sheer passion for science and engineering were an inspiration for all at the event. 

Yewande was joined by invited guests including Tim Cox, Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, and Sophie Hilleary, High Sheriff of Warwickshire for a formal ribbon cutting and official unveiling of the Science Centre plaque. 

Attached here is the Science Centre Opening Booklet, which includes a message from the Foundation Principal and facts about the project.

"What is the Sixth Form at Princethorpe really all about?" That’s the question that followers of the school’s social media were teased with last week.

The College repeatedly posed the question alongside a series of images and information on Sixth Form life in the countdown to a big reveal on Thursday 21 September, at 4.00pm, when the new Sixth Form film, Princethorpe People, was premiered.

Comments, Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie, "As the film explains, the Sixth Form at Princethorpe is about academic achievement, exploring new passions and preparing for the future, but most importantly of all, it’s about people. At Princethorpe we have a dynamic community of young people with individual talents, interests and aspirations. The majority move up from within the College, but a significant number also join us from other schools. It is our job to support them all to become whatever they want to be and get them to wherever they want to go."

Produced by the Foundation Marketing Team and award-winning Affixxius Films, the concept for the film was developed following research amongst last year’s Lower and Upper Sixth. The film was shot in the Trinity Term and captures glimpses of Sixth Form life and individual portraits of Sixth Formers and some of the members of staff who support them along their journeys.

With thanks to the students and staff who took part and the film crew for bringing what makes our Sixth Form so special to life on the screen.

Click here to view Princethorpe People.

We hope you enjoy it. We'd love you to like and share it on social media too!

This week, children from across the Foundation and from local primary schools have been enjoying Princethorpe’s fabulous facilities when they attended Science Investigators’ Workshops in the College’s brand new Science Centre. It was one of the last opportunities for prospective pupils for September 2024 entry to visit the College before the Entrance Examinations' registration deadline on Friday 29 September.

Ably assisted by Miss Cooper and her team of specialist science teachers and pupil helpers, the children were put through their paces with some fun Chemistry, Biology and Physics activities. They found out how long it takes for an alka seltzer rocket to explode, discovered the favourite conditions for meal worms to live in using a choice chamber and last but by no means least, designed and constructed paper bridges that withstood some amazing masses.

A huge well done to them all, we hope they enjoyed their science investigations and that it will fuel a love of Science and STEM subjects in secondary school!

Many thanks to the staff and pupil helpers who made the workshops possible.

It was European Day Of Languages on Tuesday 26 September and what better day could there have been for Princethorpe’s Year 10 Language Leaders and their teachers to visit Foundation Prep School, Crackley Hall School, to work with their Junior 3 pupils.

Junior 3 were excited to welcome the Year 10s and really enjoyed the structured, interactive sessions they delivered that built on and practised the vocabulary the young pupils have been learning in their lessons. In groups they took part in four Spanish activities on the topics of numbers, greetings, pets and the weather. There were plenty of smiles all round as the youngsters enthusiastically engaged, answering questions and playing matching games.

It was a fantastic learning experience for them all.

13 keen and enthusiastic souls travelled to the Roaches in the Peak District for a spot of climbing on Saturday 23 September. The day trip, led by Head of Outdoor Learning, Will Bower, was a great opportunity for the College’s Climbing Club to put into practice all the skills and techniques they have learnt in Climbing Club on the College’s own Climbing Wall.

The Roaches is a prominent rocky ridge of gritstone situated above Tittesworth Reservoir and the town of Leek. On the day the sun was shining and the views from the ridge were magnificent. All of the pupils were venturing onto rock for the first time and they successfully climbed a variety of classic routes graded from ‘very difficult’ to ‘severe’ near to Whillans Hut. A great time was had by all and everyone enjoyed refuelling at the Roaches Tea Room.

Thanks to Aimee Brookes and Al Stapleton for supporting the trip.

From Friday 15 to Monday 18 September, 21 Upper Sixth students visited Swanage in Dorset for this year’s Biology Field Trip. An essential part of their A-level studies, the trip allowed students to complete two required assessed Biology practicals, as well as experiencing a variety of field work techniques.

The group were based at Leeson House Field Studies Centre in Langton Matravers, on the Jurassic Coast. Across their long weekend the biologists visited the River Piddle to do a comparison between the species found in slow- and fast-moving water as well as Kimmeridge Bay to undertake work on the rocky shores examining the distribution and morphology of limpets and periwinkles, both perfect opportunities to practise their sampling techniques. Their field trip also included studying Studland sand dune succession, surveying wood lice populations and examining mammal and moth traps. The Upper Sixth also had the opportunity to take part in an Oceanography Discovery Day at Southampton University, which included a three-hour boat trip as well as a lecture on climate change.

Head of Biology, Catherine Warne, commented, “Our Sixth-Formers made the most of their jam packed itinerary, they learnt a lot but had plenty of fun too. It was a very successful trip.”

On Tuesday 19 September, the Drama department ventured out to see Frantic Assembly's acclaimed version of Metamorphosis at The Curve Theatre in Leicester.

Combining the fluidity and lyricism of Lemn Sissay’s adaptation and Frantic’s uncompromising physicality, it proved to be an unmissable retelling of Franz Kafka’s shocking tale of cruelty and kindness; a visceral and vital depiction of humans struggling within a system that crushes them under its heel.

Frantic's signature style of fast paced choreography, sound tracking and design impressed all of our GCSE and A-level Drama and Theatre Studies pupils and was invaluable preparation for the live theatre and scripted and devised elements of their upcoming examinations.

The English Department enjoyed their inaugural Enrichment session on Wednesday 27 September, when 30 pupils from across a range of year groups and a number of staff from multiple disciplines attended a lecture after school from 4.00pm to 5.00pm.

Dr Annina Heiney, from Aston University in Birmingham, introduced pupils and staff to the fascinating world of Forensic Linguistics and together they explored how language can be analysed to solve crimes. Not only was the guest speaker fascinating to listen to, she also offered them the opportunity to participate very actively. They listened to an audio clip and analysed dialect and accent to profile the speaker. Next they read extracts of authentic documents used as evidence in court and identified linguistic traits in order to solve a criminal case. Pupils were thoroughly engaged in the process and offered some brilliantly insightful ideas.

Head of English, Helen Pascoe-Williams, said, "Thank you to everyone who joined us. Dr Heiney's session was fascinating and we look forward to inviting her back in the future. We also look forward to our next English Enrichment session which will take place at the end of October when we invite pupils and staff to a special free worldwide stream of the National Theatre's Othello. Keep an eye out for more details nearer the time."

Many thanks to Dr Heiney for visiting Princethorpe and providing such an interesting insight into the world of Forensic Linguistics.

At the College there are many opportunities to get excited about languages and our annual House competitions marking European Day Of Languages are always popular events.

In school this week, the MFL and House teams have challenged staff to use a foreign language in their lessons, either speaking it or including it in the lesson activity, with pupils acting as judges and completing feedback forms. While pupils have had the chance to answer language-based questions in a break time trivia quiz. With every correct answer winning a point for their House, the quiz has been fast and furious and very competitive. It's all been a lot of fun while helping to inspire a love of languages.

Many thanks to the Sixth Formers and staff who have organised and supported the House events this week.

It was National Coding Week last week, an event that highlights the importance of coding skills for today’s increasingly tech-driven society. Here at Princethorpe, pupils get the chance to code every week, with Computer Science a core part of the curriculum in Years 7 and 8, and optional from Year 9 to A-level. There are an array of co-curricular coding activities for pupils to explore their passion for programming as well.

The College’s ‘Cyber Stretch Club’ meets every Tuesday lunchtime, with Mr Musson and Mr Carter providing a positive learning environment, where pupils are encouraged to develop their computational thinking skills. Computer Science Ambassador, Chris Lock, is on hand to support our younger coding enthusiasts too.

Pupils attending the club this term are working towards the Bronze iDEA Award (Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award), a programme that enhances digital, enterprise and employability skills. The award provides pupils with the opportunity to complement their Computer Science curriculum studies and can also qualify as the ‘Skill’ section for pupils undertaking their Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Award. This year, there is the extra incentive of a da Vinci on offer for pupils who complete the award by Christmas.

Open to Year 7 to 9, it's all about having fun while developing subject knowledge and essential life skills. Keep working on your coding skills everyone!

Year 7 begin their Religious Studies lessons at Princethorpe with an introduction to the origins of the College and its predecessor, the catholic community of St Mary’s Priory. Exploring the College’s history gives an excellent insight into the school and its ethos and is a really great way to bring pupils’ initial RS studies vividly to life.

In their first few lessons, pupils have toured the school exploring the wealth of religious artefacts and treasures around the school site. They have spent time in Our Lady of the Angels Chapel, the Cloisters and the Nun’s cemetery, reflecting on the incredible history of Princethorpe College.

Year 7 have found it all fascinating and have asked plenty of interesting questions and it’s their turn now to add to the College’s unique history.

They have made a great start - well done Year 7!

You can find more on the College's history on the OPs Page of our website here.