The Flagpole

Another exceptional year of achievement, progress, creativity and contribution was celebrated at Princethorpe College’s annual Prize Giving Ceremony at the Butterworth Hall, at Warwick University’s Arts Centre on Friday 24 November.

Before the ceremony, the Old Princethorpians Committee hosted a special Drinks Reception for the returning Class of 2023 and their parents, providing a welcome opportunity for last year’s cohort to get together and catch up.

Chair of Trustees, Mrs Liz Griffin, opened the proceedings, warmly welcoming parents, friends of the College and Princethorpians old and new to the occasion and then Father Alan Whelan MSC then led the assembled community in an opening prayer.

In his formal address, the Headmaster, Grove du Toit, gave thanks to all those who make Princethorpe the special place it is. He reflected on all that has happened this last year and encouraged us to celebrate and appreciate the journey of our pupils. He reminded pupils that they are, and always will be, a part of the Old Princethorpian family and encouraged them to stay in touch.

All evening the atmosphere was joyful and celebratory and there were superb musical interludes from the school String Orchestra, Concert Band and the Year 7 Chorus, whose performance of Shine and This Is Me were both enthusiastic and uplifting.

Then it was time for the presentation of the awards. Listening to the citations was truly inspiring and humbling. The talent in evidence, the grit and determination, the passion, enthusiasm and commitment were all applauded and honoured.

Finally, we came to the main award, the Princethorpe Shield, the oldest and most prestigious College award presented annually to the student who is seen to embody the spirit and ethos of the College in many facets of their school life. It was a very popular decision this year, with the audience cheering a delighted and surprised Grace Thomas who was thrilled to receive the Shield.

Foundation Principal, Ed Hester then spoke echoing Mr du Toit’s congratulations, before the current Heads of School, Natalya Elden and Izzy Wright, gave an eloquent vote of thanks.

The evening came to a close with the singing of the College Hymn, Here I Am Lord.

The full list of Prize Winners can be found in the Prize Giving Programme here.

Emails with links to the photo galleries will be sent to the Class of 2023, GCSE certificate recipients and the Prize Winners, however, you can access the photos below by clicking on the relevant links. 

Leavers of 2023
Click on the relevant links below to view the three galleries of photographs:

• The OPs Reception
• A-level Certificate Presentation
• Prizes Presentation

(NB you will need to login to view the galleries. Please note there are several pages of photos within the galleries to click through. If you are not currently a member of Princethorpe Connect, please click here to join.)

By engaging with Princethorpe Connect you can also enter our Christmas Hamper Prize Draw, which closes on Friday 15 December.

GCSE Certificates
The photographs of last year's Year 11s being presented with their GCSE certificates are available to view, please click here.

Year 7 - Upper Sixth Awards
To view photographs of our other prize winners please click here.

The photos are free to download for personal use, just click on the link, and it will take you directly to the album.

Following on from the Year 11 mocks, we would like to remind Year 11 pupils and parents of the Sixth Form Scholarship process for September 2024 for internal candidates.

All of our Year 11s are encouraged 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.

The deadline for this application is Monday 22 January 2024. Applications should be marked for the attention of the Registrar, Mrs Catherine Rogers.

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 18 March 2024. 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 2024. 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.

Princethorpe is an 11 to 18 school, and the expectation is that pupils will continue with us through to Sixth Form, providing they meet the academic requirements and embrace the College’s ethos. Princethorpe Year 11s are not required to reapply for Sixth Form, however notice in writing is required to the Headmaster (copying in the Registrar at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk) by Wednesday 17 April 2024 should a pupil not be intending to return.

Princethorpe College is celebrating after pupils had a super successful outing at the Independent School Association’s National Swimming Championships. Together pupils brought home six Gold, two Silver and four Bronze medals, a fantastic haul.

A team of seven pupils had qualified to swim for the Midlands team and on Friday 1 December they travelled down to the London Aquatics Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to take part.

Year 8, Issey Cleary was on fine form winning three Gold medals, the first in the 50m Breaststroke in 35.59 seconds and then as part of the team in the 4x50m Medley and Freestyle Relays in team times of 2.15.59 and 2.01.50. Year 9, Charlotte Gower also swam superbly, claiming Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. She finished first in the 4x50m Medley Relay in a team time of 2.11.60 seconds, second in the 100m Freestyle in 1.03.14 and third in the 100m Backstroke in 1.09.49.

Year 10, Ewan Pearce had a great swim to take a Bronze medal in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay in a team time of 1.51.48 seconds while Year 11, André Onyekwe claimed a Silver medals in the 4x50m Medley Relay in a team time of 1.56.61, and two Bronze medals in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay in a team time of 1.47.00 and the 100m Freestyle in 0.55.95 seconds.

Year 12, Lottie Hunter swan brilliantly to take two Gold medals in the 4x50m Medley and Freestyle Relays in team times of 2.08.95 and 1.54.86 respectively.

Together all of the pupils helped the Midlands team finish in third place overall at the national event.

Foundation Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, was delighted and said, "Our swimmers have traditionally done well in the ISA Swimming Championships, and they have had another really successful outing this year. Well done to everyone who competed in both the National Championships and in the qualifying regional competitions."

Princethorpe pupils swimming for the Midlands team were Year 7s, Leo Warne and Sam McCormick, Year 8, Issey Cleary, Year 9, Charlotte Gower, Year 10, Ewan Pearce, Year 11 André Onyekwe and Year 12 Lottie Hunter.

Computer Science pupils from Year 9 through to the Sixth Form took part in the annual UK Bebras Computing Challenge at the beginning of November.

This well-respected challenge allows pupils to apply their computational thinking skills to solve a variety of logic problems against the clock.

Altogether, 104 Princethorpe pupils from across the age ranges were recognised with an award, with 30 pupils achieving a ‘Merit’ and a further 30 pupils achieving a ‘Distinction’.

11 pupils placed in the top 10% nationally, resulting in an invitation to compete in the prestigious Oxford University Computing Challenge in January. Congratulations to Year 9s Jasper Nicholls, Elwin Williams, William Long, Noah Cowlishaw, James Sinclair, Woody Osborn and Callum Chadwick, Year 11s Alex Lawrence, Zach Hawkins and Wilf Grindal and Upper Sixth Former Alex Flegg. Daniel Ovens Gibbs in Year 10 will also compete having prequalified based on exceptional performance in the OUCC in 2023.

Ed Musson, Head of Computer Science, was delighted and said, "Well done to all who took part! These are superb results. This year, Princethorpe College entered all pupils opting for Computer Science from Year 9 upward into the Bebras competition, leading to a significant rise in the number of pupils qualifying for the OUCC. We look forward to supporting pupils who will be taking on the OUCC in the new year!"

Today the College celebrated Feast Day, marking the date, 8 December 1854, when the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart was founded. At lunchtime the school came together in the Sports Hall to celebrate the anniversary. The assembly began with Father Alan Whelan MSC explaining the reasons why we observe Feast Day and reflecting on the history of the College.

That was followed by the presentation of awards to those pupils receiving House Progress and Achievement Prizes from the last academic year. Then it was time for what has become an important school tradition, the much-anticipated House Singing Competition. In turn the Houses rose to their feet to perform their pieces. First were More House who belted out Let It Go from Frozen, then Benet confidently performed How Far I’ll Go from Moana, up next were Austin who sang Love Is An Open Door also from Frozen and we finished with Fisher who delivered a lively rendition of We’re All In This Together from High School Musical.

The competition was judged by House Activities Leader, Meg O’Gorman, and the House Activities Co-ordinators, together with Father Alan. A huge well done to all the staff and pupils for wholeheartedly entering into the spirit of the day. The results were for Years 7 to 10: 1st Fisher, 2nd Benet, 3rd More and 4th Austin and for Years 11 to Upper Sixth: 1st Austin, 2nd More, 3rd Benet and 4th Fisher.

You can watch clips of the House singing here.

Over three evenings last week, the Drama department’s talented cast and crew delivered a imaginative, gripping and merciless interpretation of the acclaimed novel by Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls. Packed audiences joined Conor O'Malley on a journey of love, loss and hope as he comes to terms with the devastating fury of grief in the College’s Clarkson theatre.

It was another in a string of phenomenal productions by our brilliant Drama department who over the years have enthused pupils both in the classroom and far beyond. This year’s sell out production was just incredible, both powerful and unrelenting, moving many to tears with its heart-rending story.

It was a simply brilliant performance of a tragic tale. Our thanks go to all the cast and the behind the scenes team who worked so hard to pull this extraordinary production together.

Many congratulations to Year 10 pupils, Sophie Henry and Finlay Ross, who cooked up a storm in the Springboard Futurechef Warwickshire Final on Thursday 30 November at Caludon Castle School in Coventry.

Before the event, Sophie and Finlay had prepared thoroughly, putting a lot of time into menu planning and practising their dishes, the brief for which was that the meal should reflect something about themselves. On the day the talented pair produced beautifully presented plates of food of the highest standard. Sophie prepared Chicken Fricassee with Pommes Français while Finlay a Chicken Kyiv with fries and green beans.

After much deliberation by the judges, Sophie was awarded first place. She was presented with a certificate and has qualified for the next round, the Futurechef Regional Final which will take place in the new year at Birmingham University.

Teacher of Food Technology, Jacqui Scott, said, “I am extremely proud of both of Princethorpe’s young chefs, they did brilliantly and received really positive feedback from the judges. Many congratulations to Sophie whose dish was outstanding, I am delighted she has qualified for the Regional Final.”

A huge well done to Sophie, she clearly has the makings of a master chef.

On Monday 4 December, Sixth Form Politics students participated in an A-level Politics Conference where they had the opportunity to hear from, question and engage with an incredible range of senior political figures, including Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Jeremy Corbyn, David Davis, Jess Phillips and many others. 

The conference was held in the stunning Methodist Central Hall in Westminster and was attended by over 2,000 A-level students. The discussions were lively with all sides of the political spectrum represented and the debates and discussions were directly linked to what students have been studying, including political ideology, pillars of the constitution and the impact of referenda such as the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Princethorpe's Politics students thoroughly enjoyed the day and found it extremely useful for their studies. 

A full write up will be available in the next edition of the Pinnacle so please look out for that.

Sixth Form House teams gathered excitedly at lunchtime today, Friday 1 December, for the annual House Sixth Form Christmas Tree competition. House Activities Leader, Meg O’Gorman, turned up the Christmas songs as the crowds gathered and the anticipation built.

The four teams of students opened boxes, took off their jackets and rolled up their sleeves. In front of them lay the components of an artificial tree and decorations. As they quickly pieced together the jigsaw of branches, the trees began to take shape. Lights were unravelled and artistically draped, decorations hung and then with seconds to spare, and one final stretch, stars were positioned on the top.

Judging considered the originality, appearance, environmental friendliness and House qualities and the results were – in first place More followed by Austin, Fisher and Benet.

Well done to everyone, the countdown to Christmas has truly begun.

It has been a great term for Netball and Princethorpe College Head of Girls’ Games, Carly Walton, has a lot to smile about with 11 Princethorpe netballers scoring representative honours this season. She says, “Things are looking good, commitment is strong across the year groups, the practice courts are full after school and we have 11 girls who have been selected for development programmes. I am delighted that their dedication and hard work is being rewarded.”

Year 8s, Issey Cleary and Katherine Lee, Year 9s, Lola Esler, Faith Katanda and Darcey Wolsey, Year 10s, Amy Farquharson and Issy Thompson and Year 11s Frankie Kelly and Hannah Wildey have been selected into their age groups for the Warwickshire netball squads. Chosen from a pool of several hundred girls, from some twenty plus schools across the county, the Princethorpe contingent will join either the Development or Progression squads playing against other counties from across the country.

Three girls have also been selected for Seven Stars programmes. Frankie Kelly and Mia Webb for their Nova Performance Centre and, Year 10, Bella Ward for their Player Development Pathway Programme.

Netball is an exacting sport; demanding an instinctive feel for the ball, hawk like precision and the capacity to make lightning decisions. The sport is growing in popularity with more people playing than ever before.

All of these girls are dedicated to their sport, they work hard year in year out and they fully embody the College’s ‘do your best’ ethos. With such depth of talent across the year groups we are looking forward to hearing news about their impact on the game in College fixtures.

On Wednesday 6 December, Princethorpe College Sixth Formers hosted a special Senior Citizen's Christmas celebratory lunch. Their guests included residents from a number of local care homes including Overslade House, Greenways, Town Thorns Care Centre, Galanos House, Castel Froma, Homewood, James Hirons, Willowtree Nursing Home and elderly parishioners from St Anne's, Wappenbury.

The lunch is an annual community event and the visitors enjoyed turkey and all the trimmings, prepared by the College catering team and waited on by College Sixth Formers. Held in the Sixth Form Centre, delicious smells wafted across the atrium whilst all around there was chatter and laughter.

Our guests were entertained by pupils from local primary school Our Lady’s in Princethorpe who did a sterling job singing festive tunes and Christmas carols. Before they left, all of the visitors were presented with a personalised Christmas card with handwritten messages from the Sixth Form students.

Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie commented, "It was wonderful to see old and young chatting and making memories together. They really embodied the true spirit of Christmas. A huge thank you to our Sixth Formers and staff for organising such a lovely festive event."

Our annual Christmas card competition has two winners this year with the Foundation Principal, Ed Hester and Headmaster, Grove du Toit both choosing designs from the many stunning entries submitted by pupils.

For the College, Mr du Toit selected, Year 7, Rosie Russell’s super drawing featuring the iconic Princethorpe tower, framed by Christmas holly and red berries. While for his Christmas card, Mr Hester chose Lower Sixth Former, Amaanya Bose’s striking lino print design of the Princethorpe tower and star of Bethlehem against the night sky.

Head of Art, Paul Hubball, commented, "We had a strong field of entries this year, with plenty of original ideas, bright colours and lots of attention to detail. Both designs are worthy winners and are great choices for this year's Christmas cards."

Congratulations also go to the Highly Commended entries, whose designs feature as cameos on the reverse of the cards: Year 8, Mabel Chapman, Year 11, Bea Taylor and Lower Sixth Former, Genevieve Slater-Tucker.

The Malawi Christmas Fundraising Wreath Making Evenings on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 December were a great success.

The Sixth Form Centre was a hive of festive activity as parents and staff, led by Vicky Bridgewater, grappled with evergreen foliage, baubles, pine cones and ribbons to create wreaths that any high-class florist would be proud of.

Supported by the Sixth Form team, and their Malawi trip helpers, the wreath makers enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies and also took part in a festive raffle. While the College's PTA kindly ran the bar. 

Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie commented, “It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves. Thank you to all for your support of our fundraising for the long awaited trip to Malawi.”

Do you have aspirations to train to become a Modern Languages, Maths or Physics teacher? Or do you know someone who does?

We are working in collaboration with Oundle School on two National SCITT Teacher Training programmes and both their National Modern Languages SCITT and National Maths and Physics SCITT have places available for September 2024 and 2025.

Contact Clare Douglas (cdouglas@oundleschool.org.uk) for more details or follow the links to the programmes below.

https://www.nationalmodernlanguages.com

https://nmapscitt.org.uk

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.