The Flagpole

Princethorpe College Year 11 pupil, Martina Grace, has been selected for the U16 England Hockey Squad. Martina received the exciting news just this week after attending a series of six assessment sessions. It’s fantastic recognition for this talented young player.

Foundation Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, commented, “We are incredibly proud of Martina and congratulate her on her selection. She worked extremely hard through the assessment phase and takes every opportunity to stretch and develop her hockey skills both inside and outside of school. I know she will learn a lot from this amazing opportunity.”

Martina has been playing hockey since the age of six-years-old. As well as playing at school, she also plays for the Ladies 1st team at local Olton & West Warwickshire Hockey Club and she has progressed through the England Hockey Player Pathway, first playing for the County when she was just 11-years-old. Her commitment to her sport has her training in school and with her club for up to 10 hours each week and she does this all alongside working for her GCSEs.

Martina said, “I am thrilled to have been named in the squad and excited to represent my country. I am really looking forward to the training and the chance of selection for an international game.” Martina credits Princethorpe College for supporting her throughout her time at school, adding, “The coaching at Princethorpe has allowed me to grow as a player both technically and tactically and I am very grateful for the support of the school.”

Princethorpe Hockey coach, Rachael Mack, said, “All credit to Martina for her hard work and dedication to her hockey, she has worked hard and deserves this reward. We are absolutely delighted for her and look forward to supporting her in her hockey ambitions.”

It’s an amazing achievement, congratulations to Martina, everyone here at Princethorpe looks forward to following your hockey progress and development.

Many congratulations to the 1st XI Football Team on an excellent second round 4-1 win in the Independent Schools Football Association’s U18 Shield. Having overcome University College School on penalties in a nail biting first round match, the team faced Abingdon School at home this week, on Wednesday 22 November. In a well fought game Barnaby Hammond made the most of his chances claiming two goals with Alistair Forinton and Blessing Katanda adding one each to take Princethorpe’s score to four.

That great result means the boys have now reached the quarter finals. A huge well done to them all!

On Tuesday 21 November, our Sixth Form physicists had an interesting and informative day trip to A-level Science Live at the Emmanuel Centre in London. Part of their curriculum enrichment activities, they heard from five inspirational scientists working at the cutting edge of their specialisms.

The presenters included theoretical nuclear physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili who spoke about the exciting field of Quantum Biology, Dr Jessica Wade who shared her work on developing new carbon based materials at Plastic Electronics, Roma Agrawal who gave insights about Physics Careers in Engineering, Dr Emma Chapman who talked about her work on First Light and Dr Melissa Uchida an expert in high energy physics and Ghost Particles.

The Sixth Form students commented:

As A-Level Physicists, we ventured far into the wilderness of London to see some exciting and insightful lectures that showed us just how broad the opportunities of physics research are, ranging from Quantum Biology to Astrophysics, it was an inspiring day for us all.

One student said, ‘While the topics of the lectures were extremely deep and complicated, the scientists were phenomenal explainers, which meant anyone with any academic background could follow the science.’ Another student stated, ‘I found the talk on neutrinos to be fascinating, as it went in depth into an unfamiliar topic, whilst informing everyone to a high level of understanding.’

One excellent lecture on Quantum Biology was presented by Jim Al-Khalili, famous for his work presenting science documentaries for the BBC and other public scientific outreach media. A student commented on their great interest in the previously mentioned Quantum Biology lecture, taking a unique look at quantum entanglement and how quantum properties affect birds’ sense of direction using photons.

Many of the lectures will undoubtedly play an incredibly important role for the future of human development, and it was an incredible opportunity to see the future of science explained by experts. Additionally, the lectures unveiled exciting speculations in Physics, from future discoveries to the mysteries of the Big Bang. These discussions highlighted the importance of theoretical knowledge in understanding our universe and shaping future scientific endeavours. This fascinating journey into Physics’ potential future and past left a lasting impression, emphasizing its crucial role in scientific exploration.

The day also included useful sessions from A-level examiners, with tips and guidance on how to improve examination performance.

All in all it was a fascinating day, and one made particularly special by the opportunity of a photo with Professor Jim Al-Khalili.

This week we were once again delighted to recognise and celebrate the many pupils who have risen to the challenge of the College’s ethos.

At lunchtime, on Monday 20 November, Assistant Head Co-curricular, Neil McCollin, congratulated pupils from across the College who had been nominated by members of staff for recognition for their achievements. All had tried their best; some had excelled or showed commitment to sport, performing arts, charity work or academic studies, whilst others had gone over and above for their House or Tutor group. All were an outstanding example for their peers.

Mr McCollin thanked each and every one of them, recognising the commitment and effort they put in and all that they do to enrich school life.

This term congratulations go to:

From Year 7: Eloise Burchill, Esme Card, Delilah Clay, Rufus Jones, Esme Luck, Austin Newbold, Ria Pathania and George Williams

From Year 8: Stephanie Bolton, Issey Cleary, Katie Dodd, Grace Johnson, Bohdan Nicholl, Lewis North, Ro Somerset, Thomasina Spencer, Josh Taylor and Kian Thandi

From Year 9: Sophie Collett, Noah Cowlishaw, Amy Robinson, Tara Rodgers, Will Smith, Alexa Thoday, Harry Turvey and Elwin Williams

From Year 10: Sam Grindal, Lily Hunter, Daniel Ovens Gibbs, Jorja Parris and Delilah Teeton

From Year 11: Isabel Barnes, Amelia Chard, Samuel Divers, Zach Hawkins, Anna Johnson, Alex Lawrence, Evie Marston, Sophie Nicolle, André Onyekwe, Emmi Parmenter, Anna Powers, Theo Sparkes and Nell Tilstone

From Lower Sixth: Georgina Barnes, Tom Bucknall, Jayden Carr, Ruby Clark, Jack Fleming, Louise Gambling, Charlotte Gledhill, Freddie Hadley and Chloe Henderson, Giorgio Kleinmann, Niamh Perks, Megan Shipton, Joseph Simon, Emily Slinger, Ben Smith, Jemima Teeton, Kaena Wasley, Henry Woodrow and Krystina Yuen.

From Upper Sixth: Sam Astle, Alex Flegg, Chris Lock, Joseph Newborough, Katie Richards, Esmé Saunders and Connor Silvester

More information on pupils’ achievements can be found here.

The U15 Boys Rugby team took part in the ISA Midlands Rugby 10-a-side competition this week, at Worcester RFC on Wednesday 22 November.

Playing in Group B, the boys got their tournament off to a good start, powering through their group round games. Their first match was against Quinton House School and the team quickly secured a good 43-0 win, they then saw off Derby Grammar 19-0 and Tettenhall College 47-0.

That put them through to the Cup competition in the afternoon. In the semi-final they met Lichfield and claimed another excellent 41-0 victory. In their last match of the day, the final, the boys faced Worksop College. The team delivered another strong performance and despite conceding their first try of the day, their hard work and commitment ensured they emerged victorious wining 24-7 to take the Gold Medal.

Foundation Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, said, “It was an excellent day, and the boys were a credit to the College playing some outstanding rugby. Well done to them all.”

Playing for Princethorpe were: Matthew Crawford, Alex Sykes, Zach Rose, Josh Gorbutt, Dan Tomlinson, Oscar Robbins, Hunter Staveley, Conor Horan, Henry Fox, Joshua Baker, Harry Gallagher, Leo May and James Wright

Our Lower Sixth chemists enjoyed an exciting and thought-provoking day when they attended the Chemistry A-level Science Live event in London on Tuesday 14 November.

They heard from five inspirational scientists working at the cutting edge of their specialisms who shared how science can offer solutions for many of the world's great problems. The presenters included Professor Serena Cussen who spoke about the ongoing hunt for new batteries, Dr Peter Wothers who gave interesting insights into the Periodic Table, Professor Andrea Sella who explored philosophical questions about the study of molecules, Professor Lucy Carpenter who explained the relationship between Chemistry and the world and Dr Tim Gabriel who spoke about Chemistry and careers.

Their day also included two very useful sessions from A-level examiners, with tips and guidance on how to improve examination performance.

All in all, it was an interesting and very informative day!

On Friday 17 November, Princethorpe College welcomed Patrick Flynn and Mark Lloyd from Online Behaviours into school to work with pupils from Year 7 up to the Sixth Form as part of the Foundation’s Digital Wellbeing Day.

Patrick and Mark explained what makes a good digital citizen and explored steps and strategies for a positive, safe and empowering experience online. Their presentations reminded pupils of what constitutes risky behaviour and the difference between risk and harm and discussed the actions we can all take to engage online in a positive way. They reflected on the importance of guarding your digital reputation and on how that begins right now and highlighted six key behaviours to support showing respect.

Their presentations were informative and interactive and gave pupils plenty to think about. Many thanks to Patrick and Mark for supporting our Digital Wellbeing Day.

Mr Walton and the Princethorpe Precious Plastics Club have converted their plastic shredder to pedal power. They are now able to shred plastic for recycling much more efficiently. The shredded pieces are remoulded into plastic billets ready for reuse.

The next billets of plastic produced are destined for Year 11 who will use them to complete their GCSE coursework project making chess pieces.

If anyone has any pedals with toe clips that they no longer use for cycling that they would be happy to donate please drop them off at Pupil Hub marked for the attention of Mr Walton.

During November, the College reflects 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. Form Tutors shared poppies with their Tutor groups and encouraged pupils to record their remembrances on them, personalising the poppies with their dedications and messages.

The poppies were then assembled into a prominent and impressive display in the Limes and Cloister Corridor with the help of Year 9 pupil, Alex Thoday.

The poppy is our society’s symbol of collective remembrance and the symbol of all our hopes for a peaceful future. The displays provide our community with a powerful focus for prayer during this contemplative month of November.

Thank you to all the pupils for their contributions for our poppy display.

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 at the sale price of £10 plus postage and packing.

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 2024 College calendar featuring 12 superb images of the College and its grounds, and priced at just £6, 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 18 December 2023 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 10 December.