The Flagpole

The College is preparing itself for its Entrance Exams Day tomorrow, Saturday 11 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 Afternoon 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 11 November 2023 - 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.

Talented Art Scholar, Genevieve Slater-Tucker has been recognised as one of the highest performers in her GCSE Fine Art exam.

Now in the Lower Sixth, Genevieve was delighted to recently discover that she had scored one of the best results in the country in the OCR exam board’s GCSE Art and Design: Fine Art qualification.

Genevieve said: “I was amazed and very proud to hear I had done so well. I have always enjoyed art and worked really hard on the development of my GCSE assessed pieces. The news was unexpected, and I am really thrilled.”

College Head of Art, Paul Hubball, commented: “We are so proud of Genevieve, it was a delight to receive this news. We have had comments from the Moderators before but nothing in writing. It isn’t easy to achieve top marks, but her work is innovative, skilful and complex and worthy of this recognition.”

To mark her success, Mr Hubball presented Genevieve with a special certificate in her Art lesson just before half term.

Genevieve is pictured here with one of her paintings, That Living Mystic Tree inspired and named after the line in the Rossetti poem The Blessed Damozel.

The much-anticipated History, Politics and Design and Technology trip to the United States took place over the Michaelmas half term. 44 pupils and five staff headed off on an exciting and enlightening adventure to explore and experience the American way of life. The eight-day trip visited New York and Washington providing plenty of cultural enrichment while making memories that will surely last a lifetime.

During their time in New York, pupils visited the moving 9/11 Memorial, taking time to reflect on the impact of that fateful day. They also had the chance to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to learn some of the extraordinary individual stories of immigration to the USA. Their action-packed trip included a trip up the Empire State Building, where pupils were graced with mesmerising views of the city’s imposing skyline, an incredible new attraction that flies you through New York, Rise NY, and a fascinating and informative walking tour of Harlem, as well as all the unmissable sights, Grand Central Station, Central Park, Wall Street and Times Square. The Design students also squeezed in a visit to the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Of course, no trip to the Big Apple would be complete without a show on Broadway and everyone enjoyed the musical comedy The Book Of Mormon.

Then it was on to Washington where the group explored its many amazing monuments by moonlight, including the imposing Lincoln Memorial with its Reflecting Pool. They were also entertained by a team scavenger hunt around the American capital and had the chance to visit subject specific museums. History visited the National Museum of American History where they saw the original Star-spangled flag and the National Museum of African American History and Culture which supported their GCSE and A-level studies of Slavery, Civil Rights and Obama’s election. Product Design students enjoyed the National Building Museum and Fashion Design students the George Washington Textiles Museum. Everyone was impressed by the White House Visitor Centre.

Head of History and Politics, Adelaide Fretwell, said, “We had an unforgettable and educationally inspiring seven days, and despite walking what felt like a thousand miles, we had an amazing time. Thank you to a fantastic group of pupils and dedicated staff team, the laughter, smiles and looks of awe never stopped – truly a trip of a lifetime.”

Our thanks go to all the staff who accompanied the trip: Adelaide Fretwell, Paul Scopes, Jess Newborough, Greg Lyttle and Helen Pascoe-Williams.

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

On Friday 10 November, the College community gathered together outside on the school playground to remember the bravery and 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. Then Year 7 pupils, Sam Barlow, Gilbert Millward-Boyton, Austin Newbold and Adelaide Teeton read out a thought-provoking reading Why Do We Wear A Poppy? before College trumpeters, Year 12s, Chloe Hurworth and Robyn Shaw, sounded the moving and melancholic notes of the Last Post.

The two-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, Seb Bainbridge, Blessing Katanda, Alice Minshull, Reneé Ndungu, Mia Samra, Megan Shipton and Ben Smith, read out For The Fallen before the College community sang the hymn Abide With Me.

A wreath was hung at the Pupils’ Entrance by Headmaster, Grove du Toit. Then Foundation Principal, Ed Hester, brought the proceedings to a close with a prayer for peace.

Thanks to our College musicians, Robyn Shaw, Chloe Hurworth, Theo Cowlishaw, Jasper Nicholls, Louie Tilstone, Gilbert Millward-Boyton and Alex Lawrence who played during the service.

Back in October, pupils from Princethorpe College took part in the 2023 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 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 Upper Sixth Former, Joseph Newborough who was awarded a Gold certificate, and took the award for best performing student in school, and to Lower Sixth Formers, Blessing Katanda and Mia Samra, who were awarded a Silver certificate, and took the joint award for best performing students in the Lower Sixth. Joseph Newborough, Christopher Lock and Alexander Flegg performed so well that they have also qualified for the follow-on round, the Senior Kangaroo Challenge.

Gold certificate: Joseph Newborough, Christopher Lock and Alexander Flegg

Silver certificate: Jack Grindal, Lola Ahley, Blessing Katanda and Mia Samra.

Bronze certificate: Zachary Abba, Emma Sarkies, Adam Ledbrook, Zachary Johnson, Natasha Thomas, Anjola Okusanya, Ollie Hutton, Jack Fleming, Dominic Lee, Archy Walker, Andrew Wills and Roman Thearia.

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

The ISA U14 and U16 Regional Rugby Sevens took place on Wednesday 8 November at Market Bosworth RFC.

Princethorpe’s U14 boys powered through their games with convincing wins against: Twycross House 28-14, Stafford Grammar 56–0, Lichfield 42-7, Derby Grammar 38-0, LGS Stoneygate 64–0 and Pitsford 28–0. The team’s discipline and power in defence blending well with skill and intelligence in attack ensured they finished top of table claiming a well-deserved Gold medal. 

Six teams took part in the U16 competition, Princethorpe was slow to start and went down 21-0 to Twycross House in their opening game. That was a wakeup call for the boys and from then on, they were firing on all cylinders, winning their next four matches against: Bowbrook House 26-7, Derby Grammar 21-7, LGS Stoneygate 19-7 and Tettenhall College 33–0. They finished second overall to take the Silver medal.

Foundation Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, commented, “It was a great day of Rugby that gave the boys the opportunity of playing a different format of the game. Both teams worked hard and enjoyed the day despite the weather. The tournament was good preparation for further Rugby Sevens competitions later in the year.”

Much anticipated and always hotly contested, the House Talent Show did not disappoint providing yet another sensational evening of entertainment for the College community. The show took place on Thursday 9 November, in the Clarkson Theatre in front of an audience of enthusiastic supporters.

Compered by House Activities Leader, Meg O’Gorman, ably assisted by the House Captains, the show included an array of amazing vocal and instrumental performances alongside dazzling dance routines. It presented a real conundrum for the audience who this year had the impossible challenge of choosing the winner.

After the serious acts had performed, the audience had the pleasure of three special, surprise numbers. The Upper Sixth BTEC Musicians performed Radioactive by Imagine Dragons, while Upper Sixth Former, Noah Kemp, delivered a moving a cappella version of Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley and the House Captains rounded the evening’s entertainment off with a brilliant Barbie dance medley.

This year’s winners were Chloe Henderson and Robyn Shaw, for Fisher, for their incredible rendition of For Good from Wicked. Taking second place was Abby Henderson and Tallis Alford, also for Fisher, for their powerful performance of When We Were Young by Adele. In third place was Leani du Toit, for More, who sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables.

As well as being a great night out, the event was also about fundraising with a collection for the school’s charity Mary’s Meals.

A huge thank you to all who took part, we were super impressed by your enthusiasm and commitment to your House and also to the technical team who so ably assisted. It really was a sensational House Talent Show.

Performing were: Jemima Teeton, Delilah Teeton, Adelaide Teeton, Dami Ajagunna, Penny Thomas, Abby Hewson, Tallis Alford, Laura Beake Illana, Louise Gambling, Dan Taylor, Chloe Henderson, Robyn Shaw, Jack Fleming, Leani du Toit, Olivia Burley, Isla Edwards and Grace Johnson

24 Princethorpe College swimmers competed in the ISA Regional Swimming Gala at Walsall Gala Baths last Thursday 12 October. The College’s team brought home an amazing haul of medals, with 7 Gold, 14 Silver and 6 Bronze medals with a number just missing out on top three finishes.

For the Year 7 girls’ team, Bebe Hesketh-Reynolds claimed two Silver medals in the 50m Breaststroke and the 25m Butterfly, while her teammate Harriet Reynolds did nearly as well with a Silver in the 50m Backstroke. The Year 7 Girls also took a Silver in the 4x25m Freestyle Relay. The Year 8 Girls did even better with Issey Cleary earning a Gold in the 50m Breaststroke and a Silver in the 25m Butterfly while Stephanie Bolton took two Silvers in the 50 Backstroke and the 50m Freestyle. The Year 8 Girls also claimed a Gold in the 4x25m Freestyle Relay and a Bronze in the 4x50m Medley Relay.

Charlotte Gower claimed a Gold and a Silver for the Year 9&10 team, finishing first in the 100m Backstroke and second in the 100m Freestyle. Then for the Senior Girls (Years 11,12 and 13), Year 12 Lottie Hunter took two Silvers in the 100m Backstroke and the 100m Freestyle while her teammates Year 11 Mia Webb took Silver in the 100m Breaststroke and Year 11 Amelia Fry took Bronze in the 50m Butterfly. The Senior Girls also won a Silver in the 4x50m Medley Relay.

For the boys, Year 7s, Sam McCormick claimed two Golds in the 50m Backstroke and the 50m Freestyle while Leo Warne took a Gold in the 25m Butterfly and a Bronze in the 50m Breaststroke. For the Year 9&10 team, Year 10 Matthew Crawford took Bronze in the 100m Backstroke while Year 10 Ewan Pearce earned himself a Bronze in the 100m Freestyle. The Years 9&10 Boys team also claimed Silver in the 4x25m Freestyle Relay and Bronze in the 4x50m Medley Relay.

For the Senior Boys, Year 11 André Onyekwe took Gold in the 100m Freestyle and Silver in the 100m Backstroke.

Foundation Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, 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.”

Eight Princethorpe swimmers have been selected to swim for the Midlands team at the National Championship: Stephanie Bolton, Issey Cleary, Charlotte Gower, Lottie Hunter, Sam McCormick, André Onyekwe, Ewan Pearce and Leo Warne.

Princethorpe College’s cross-country runners have been busy with the Warwickshire Inter Area race in Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday 4 November and the English Schools Cup Regional Final at Bromsgrove School just a few days later, on Tuesday 7 November. Cross country running has always been a strength of the school, so it was great to see pupils taking part and upholding the tradition.

The College took 13 runners to the Inter Area event and five pupils have qualified to run for Warwickshire in the Inter County Race which takes place at Princethorpe College on Saturday 18 November. Good luck to Year 7s, Esme Card and Rufus Jones, Year 8, Issey Cleary, Year 9, Will Smith and Year 10, Lily Hunter.

Princethorpe had qualified three teams to run in the ESAA Schools’ Cup Regional Final, the Junior Boys, Senior Boys and Senior Girls. Our cross-country athletes all ran well delivering respectable finishes for their teams: Senior Girls 4th, Senior Boys 6th and Junior Boys 7th overall.

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."

Princethorpe’s U13 Hockey Girls had a fantastic day out at the National ISA Tournament at the Lee Valley Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Thursday 9 November.

Facing the best players from 20 schools from across the country, the girls began with a morning of round robin games for the group stage. They had a solid start holding Crosfields School to a 1-1 draw, and their confidence grew with wins against Thorpe Hall School 2-0 and S. Anselm’s 2-0. They finished the first round with a tight goalless draw against Akeley Wood Senior School. That put them at the top of the table, and they qualified for the afternoon’s Cup competition.

In their semi-final the team faced Cranford School. In a fast and exciting game, the girls worked hard and scored to take the win 1-0. They then faced King’s High School in what was a tough final where despite never giving up, they went down 1-0. They finished second overall taking a well deserved Silver medal.

Team Coach, Ellie Callan, said, “The girls played great hockey and represented the College excellently. We had a fantastic day. The girls learnt lots and should be really proud of finishing second in the Cup competition.”

Congratulations to them all.

Back before half term, Mrs Wilford’s Year 10 Business Studies class enjoyed a practical session on Market Research courtesy of our amazing Holroyd Howe team. Regional Development Chef, James McCarroll, and Catering Manager, Andrew Williams, shared the planning and processes behind creating new menu choices and the decision-making behind the choice of locations to sell the different food and drink items.

Pupils have been studying customer needs; including price, choice, convenience and location, in their lessons, and the talk gave Year 10 a valuable, practical insight into the application of this concept.

The pupils enjoyed taste testing different menu items including a range of Paninis, BBQ Chicken, Antipasto, Tuna Crunch and Hummus as well as a Chicken Goujon Pot and a Sweet Chilli Tart. They provided their feedback online using an online questionnaire.

The class spent time discussing the value of gathering research through online questionnaires, and agreed that when processing quantitative information, it makes it far easier and quicker to make a judgement on the potential menu item. However, they also appreciated that focus group recordings would gather much more detail but that it would take time to process and form judgements on this information.

Business Studies Teacher, Laura Wilford, said, “Huge thanks to our Holroyd Howe team for all the time and effort they put into supporting this session for Year 10. It was fantastic for pupils to hear and see first-hand how market research works.”

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. 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 21 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 and a walking tour of the local town, Den Bosch.

Hockey wise, as always, the teams were up against some very good opposition. Princethorpe battled well and showed great improvement throughout the course of the tour, making use of all that extra coaching and practice.

The girls played exceptionally well, their tenacious approach and focus on teamwork helping them claim four good victories, 8-1, 10-0, 9-0 and 5-2. The boys also played well, their strong performance giving them a 5-1 win in their first match, a tight 2-2 draw in their second game and an unfortunate loss 2-4 after a spirited encounter against an experienced U18 side in their third.

Assistant Head Co-curricular, Neil McCollin, said, “We have had another very successful Hockey Tour and I am very proud of all our pupils. They made the most of opportunity to get to know their host families, played some excellent hckey and gained a good insight into how another country plays the game. Both teams were victorious across the tour, so the Hopbel-Princethorpe exchange trophy has returned to the College and is now on display in The Limes. We look forward to welcoming our Dutch friends in the spring for the return leg of the tour from Saturday 20 to Thursday 25 April. If you are interested in being a host family for the our 50 visiting Dutch hockey players please look out for the Flagpole article in January.”

Huge thanks go to all the staff involved in supporting and running the hockey tour: Neil McCollin, Rachael Mack, Victoria Howell and Paul Whitehead.

Before half term, on Tuesday 17 October, 26 family teams (pupil and parent) enthusiastically took part in the Year 7 Science Family Challenge.

The teams 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.

The calibre of the teams competing was unbelievable. Congratulations to them all but particularly to the winning team ‘The Howitzers’ who scored 42 points out of 47, just beating ‘Cool Chemists’ into second place by answering the tiebreak question ‘What is the average distance between the Earth and the Moon?’ Answer: 384,000km.

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

Princethorpe’s Chaplaincy Team is supporting the St Anne's, Wappenbury, Parish Shoe Box Appeal, to provide gifts for children overseas who would not otherwise receive a Christmas present.

This year, a grand total of 173 boxes have been assembled, the most ever collected, ready to bring happiness and joy to children at this special time of the year.

The boxes will be distributed by Teams4U and will be given to a vulnerable child, or family, through schools, nurseries, hospitals and orphanages. T4U share the gifts through relationships with local communities as part of a long-term commitment to their children.

Each shoebox is packed full of little gifts and includes educational and hygiene essentials, and each and every one also contains a personal message handwritten by a Princethorpe pupil.

Our thanks go to all the pupils, parents and staff who have donated to the appeal and to our team of pupils, Jemima, Genevieve, Maria, Alexa, Ruby and Liv who have so kindly supported the appeal by organising, assembling, sorting and packing all the boxes.

During last half term, we carried out a Science poster competition, with the intent of displaying the top few in the new science block. The entries we received, each showcased a lot of detail, balancing information and creativity.

We had prizes of Amazon vouchers for the winners for each of the sciences picked by myself and Mr Lee, along with one overall winner, picked out by Mr du Toit.

We would like to congratulate:
Headmaster's Prize £20: Sasha Mangwiro (Year 8)
Biology £10: Alex Lloyd (Year 10)
Physics £10: Josh Gorbutt (Year 10)
Chemistry £10: Noah Cowlishaw (Year 9)

All entries were greatly appreciated and clearly thought out, displaying lots of imaginative ideas and making it hard to finalise. The winners we did choose, evidently put a lot of effort into their entries and have a talent for design, whether digitally or on paper, including an impressive drawing of the human muscular system and equations.

Well done to everyone who took part.

Lola Ashley
Upper Sixth Former and STEAM Ambassador

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 16th Annual South Coast 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 faced Portsmouth RFC first where despite a strong performance they went down 12-42. Their second match involved a trip across the water to the Isle of Wight where they faced Ryde School. The team played well and comfortably won the game 40-12. They finished their tour facing Pates Grammar School, who were a much tougher test, they played well but lost 10-28.

Head of Boys’ Games and Tour Leader, Joe Jackson, commented, “The boys were competitive across each of their three fixtures. They came up against tough competition but scored a number of fantastic tries. The group played an excellent brand of Rugby that looked to exploit space in the wide channels, and they came closer together as a group over the duration of the tour. Angus Griffin was awarded boy of the tour for his consistently excellent contributions both on and off the field. The Rugby was a big success, and the group is well prepared for the remaining games of the season.”

The Year 8 Netball girls had good results too, their games included good ball handling and individual play and what was most pleasing was their progression throughout the tour. Fielding two teams, the girls first played Ryde School. The U13A girls came up against fierce competition and a team that was very well practiced. They played with grit and determination but that wasn't enough to secure a win and the match finished with a 16-28 loss. The U13B team played with consistency throughout their fixture and secured an excellent 15-10 win.

In their second match the girls faced Pates Grammar School where both teams played a disciplined game to win their matches 22-4 and 8-4 respectively. Girl of the tour went to Thomasina Spencer.

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, went ten pin bowling, rose to the challenge of Callan’s Quiz Night and of course enjoyed a competitive morning of games on the beach.

Joe Jackson, continued, “We had a great tour group this year. Pupils were impeccably behaved, 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: Ellie Callan, Tom Gleghorn, Joe Jackson and Carly Walton. 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.

Keen to get everyone hungry for books, the College Library has introduced a new ‘snack bite’ taster scheme. On the menu in the Refectory alongside all the usual College favourites, are short extracts of popular books for pupils to peruse as they enjoy their break or lunch. With the bonus that if they like what they read, then they are all available to borrow from the school library for free. That sounds like a tasty treat to us and a fantastic way for pupils to explore new books in a fun and engaging way.