The Flagpole

The deadline for the acceptance of places for September 2024 Year 7 entry to the College is fast approaching. Over the last few weeks, a high number of acceptances have been coming in and it is looking to be a tremendous Year Group.

Parents wishing to accept their child's offered place are reminded that they need to send their signed Confirmation of Acceptance Form and £300 deposit back to Mrs Catherine Rogers, the Registrar, by Tuesday 5 March 2024 please, to secure their child’s place. 

Please be aware that we can only guarantee places that are accepted by the above deadline date.

Do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries, Mrs Rogers and Mrs Holt, our friendly Admissions Team, can be contacted on 01926 634201 or 297 respectively or you can email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Preparations are well underway for celebrations to mark the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Jules Chevalier MSC, the founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, the religious order which established Princethorpe College in 1966 and ran it until the late 1990s. 

We will be celebrating the occasion within school in a variety of different ways, including curriculum-related activities, assemblies, a special dinner for the MSCs based in the UK and Ireland and a display of archive material focusing on the MSCs longstanding connection with the College. 

Our new archivist, Jo Wong, is busy getting material together for the display and was delighted to recently receive a copy of a late 1960s St Bede's and Princethorpe College prospectus from Old Princethorpian, Adrian Charlton (Class of 1973).

Adrian had found the prospectus while sorting through his parents’ papers. The booklet was in excellent condition and makes for fascinating reading. It includes wonderful descriptions of the settings of both schools, it touches on the education provided, health and diet, physical training, the uniform and sportwear required. Admissions arrangements and vacation weeks are outlined and the Princethorpe fees are stated as 35 guineas per term for day pupils and 85 guineas for full boarders.

We look forward to seeing the full display in due course. Look out for more details of our festivities in the next edition of the Flagpole. 

Princethorpe College is introducing a new BTEC Level 2 Performing Arts Dance programme from September 2024, strengthening our performing arts pathways and providing an exciting new creative subject for pupils to study.

Leading the subject will be Rachel Fox, an experienced dance teacher, performer and choreographer, who will be joining us from Birmingham’s renowned specialist Performing Arts Academy BOA. With a first-class degree in Dance, postgraduate teaching qualifications and plenty of experience of teaching BTEC Dance at Level 2 and beyond, Mrs Fox will deliver a highly creative course that enables pupils to refine their performance skills, explore diverse styles and choreograph their own work.

The new BTEC Level 2 qualification is open to all pupils who are currently in Year 9 for a September 2024 start. Find out more on our website here.

The addition of Dance to the curriculum will be reflected in our PE, Games and co-curricular offering of clubs and activities and Mrs Fox will also be available to other pupils, where possible, to assist with dance work related to out of school commitments.

Over 300 pupils, parents, invited guests and staff gathered together on Thursday 8 February for the College’s annual Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Celebration Evening. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on pupils’ achievements in Outdoor Education and in particular to celebrate those who have successfully completed their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. It was particularly special to welcome a number of families, where multiple siblings have completed the award.

Will Bower, Head of Outdoor Education, began the evening by summarising the last year. He spoke about the College’s commitment to Outdoor Education and the variety of activities pupils take part in, including orienteering, climbing, walks offsite, bushcraft and the John Muir Award. He talked about the commitment pupils make in undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, the independence, perseverance, strength of character and sense of humour they show and how seeing their achievements in such a wide variety of activities is a great privilege.

Then the College was delighted to welcome special guest, Olympic Silver Medallist and former Director of DofE Central England, Phil Brown. Phil spoke honestly and humorously about his experiences as part of the team who won the 4 x 400m Relay Silver medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. He had some amusing stories regarding the highs and lows along the way. He highlighted the significance of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for personal development and reminded pupils of the skills and experience they’ve picked up that will aid them in future life.

Other special guests at the evening included Richard Lea from PAU Expeditions, Keir Mulcahey from the DofE Operations Office and Tamsin Frost our Award Verifier. We were delighted they were able to join us in celebrating pupils’ achievements.

Across the evening, pupils were presented with their Certificates to mark the completion of their Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.

Mr Bower, commented, “The Awards celebration was a superb opportunity to get together to celebrate the achievements of our young people. I am always impressed by the breadth of their endeavour to do their Awards and to do them well!”

There is still time for anyone who has not quite completed their award to get it finished. Pupils are encouraged to attend the Tuesday lunchtime eDofE drop-in clinics in LG02 for help.

Many congratulations to Jasper Nicholls (Year 9), Daniel Ovens Gibbs (Year 10) and Alex Flegg (Upper Sixth) who were the College’s top performing pupils in their age categories in this year’s Oxford University Computing Challenge (OUCC). Jasper attained so highly that he was awarded a Merit certificate, placing him in the top 10% of those who took part in the OUCC competition.

The OUCC is an invitational event for those who finished in the top 10% of the UK Bebras Challenge. Both challenges test skills such as logical thinking, pattern recognition and decomposition, as well as computer programming. The OUCC encourages pupils to develop their skills one stage further, consisting of three sections of problems for pupils to solve. It is renowned for being an exceedingly tough challenge and for the first time this year, the competition had a time limit.

15 Princethorpe pupils from Year 9 through to the Sixth Form had qualified for this year’s OUCC competition, a real achievement in its itself. All were awarded certificates.

Head of Computer Science, Ed Musson commented, “Computational thinking is an incredibly useful and powerful skill and all of these pupils have mastered it to a level well beyond their years. It was great to see their abilities being recognised in such a prestigious competition.”

The College was proud to see two Princethorpe pupils win medals at the England Athletics Age Group Championships in Sheffield at the start of half term. The event took place on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 February with pupils representing their athletics clubs.

Year 11, André Onyekwe, and Year 10, Grace McCollin, both put in personal bests and we applaud their success.

André competed in the U17 Boys High Jump and claimed the Silver medal with an amazing jump of 1.95 metres. He also took Bronze in the U17 Triple Jump with an outstanding hop, step and leap, and personal best, of 13.46 metres.

Grace ran in the U17 Girls Hurdles and sprinted her way to a Bronze medal in a fantastic personal best of 8.63 seconds.

Congratulations also to, Year 11, Olivia Monk who qualified for U17 Girls 60m semi-final with a new personal best of 7.83 seconds and, Year 10, Penelope Jones, who ran a personal best in the U17 Girls 60m Hurdles of 9.37 seconds. It is a fantastic achievement for all these athletes to be competing at this elite level of sport.

You can watch André and Grace in action on the College’s Sports Instagram @princethorpefoundationsport

We are looking forward to watching this next generation of young Olympians develop, it is going to be a really exciting summer of sport!

Year 9 pupil, Faith Katanda has just had her selection confirmed for this summer's International Children’s Games. Faith has been chosen to represent Team Coventry, and will play for their Girls Football team, when they compete in Lèon, in Mexico, in July.

The International Children’s Games are an International Olympic Committee-sanctioned event that takes place every year where children from around the world, between the ages of 12 and 15, participate in a variety of sports and cultural activities.

It’s an amazing opportunity and is sure to be an incredible adventure. We wish Faith the very best of luck and look forward to hearing how she gets on.

The latest issue of the Pinnacle has just been published, showcasing yet more of our pupils' excellent work. The magazine's new editorial team, Julia Lindsay, Jo Evans and Sarah Duran, have given the Pinnacle a bit of a revamp and they hope you like its restyle.

The Pinnacle has always celebrated our pupils at their best and this edition includes plenty more examples of their outstanding efforts. History features, with project work from Year 7, 8 and 9, on the Romans, Richard III and World War Two. As does MFL, with excellent examples of descriptive writing from Year 7 and Year 8 in Spanish and in French.

There is a special Photography Club feature exploring evening photography and a cross foundation spread showing the different initiatives that take place across all the Foundation schools.

A double-sided Minnacle is included too, with equally impressive work by Crackley Hall and Crescent pupils. It's wonderful to celebrate their talents.

Printed copies have been sent home with pupils or you can read a copy of The Pinnacle on our school website here.

Many congratulations to Year 10 pupil, Sophie Henry, who was commended for her technical skills and ability in a hotly contested Springboard Futurechef Regional Final at Worcestershire College, before half term on Tuesday 6 February.

Six future chefs from across the Midlands competed in the event, preparing two courses in 90 minutes for a budget of just £10. Sophie, who is studying Food and Nutrition at GCSE, had prepared thoroughly putting a lot of time into planning her dishes. The food she produced was of the highest standard and beautifully presented, it included a main course of Chicken Normande and Dauphinoise Potatoes with a dessert course of Chocolate and Raspberry Swiss Roll.

The competition was fierce, with the judges complimenting the contestants for the standard and talent demonstrated.

Princethorpe’s Teacher of Food Technology, Jacqui Scott, said, “I am extremely proud of Sophie, she did brilliantly. Her two-course meal was outstanding, her timing brilliant and she received really positive feedback from the judges.”

A huge well done to Sophie, although she didn’t win this time, we think she truly has the makings of a master chef.

The renowned Princethorpe Binns Organ located in Our Lady of the Angels Chapel was purchased and installed in 1901. It was procured from and built by James J Binns, of the Bramley Organ Works, Leeds, and the original receipt shows it was purchased for £1,199-1s-3d.

In the Foundation's Archives we have a fascinating insight into its purchase from numerous letters that were written between Peter Paul Pugin and Sister Procurator of the Priory regarding the organ construction and the delay in placing the organ. An extract from one of the letters says:

30 March 1901

...."it is all nonsense Binns saying the organ would be finished long ago if he had had a design for case. I sent him the design for case with full working drawings which he never acknowledged. He could have worked on it at once. The console is quite a separate affair. When I see Binns I will give him a bit of my mind. I was not at all extravagant in the design for the case and a tracing of it is now enclosed which you will kindly return after M Prioress has seen it. I will send on details of console as soon as I can!"

When originally constructed the organ was powered by water. A large water tank was situated in a room in the Tower, and this provided hydraulic pressure (by gravity) to bellows which pumped the organ. The water settled in a tank under the engine house (now a garage) and was pumped up to the top of the tower by a Lister-Petter donkey engine which ran on petrol or paraffin. The hydraulically powered bellows and the colossal water pipes and valves are still in place.

The console was moved from adjacent to the south transept to the gallery around 1908 to make way for a statue of St Peter which was gifted that year. The photo attached is dated 1905. You can also see the acetylene gas mantles in this picture. This statue was subsequently taken by the nuns to Fernham when they left St Mary's Priory in 1965.

A 3-phase electric blower was fitted by the British Organ Blowing Company from Derby in 1953, shortly after electricity was installed at the priory by Lee-Beesley of Coventry. Prior to this, the chapel and school building had been lit by acetylene gas which was made on site.

In a letter to the College dated 1975 from a partner at an organ builder who had been in to survey the organ, it was described as “A very fine example of its type. It is well voiced, generously planned and of excellent workmanship throughout.”

By 1983, when Hugh Page first encountered it, the organ was virtually unplayable as much of the action and leatherwork had perished and six stop slides were completely jammed. Between January and June 1984 Hugh re-leathered some five hundred pneumatic motors and re-set the jammed slides, necessitating the removal of some four hundred pipes. He cleaned all of the pipes and carried out considerable work to reduce wind leaks. Hugh always loved coming to Princethorpe and the organ truly became his pride and joy. For the remainder of his life, he visited at least once a week to keep it all in working order.

His dedication to Princethorpe’s Organ is recognised in the College’s annual Hugh Page Memorial Organ Recital which takes place each year in June.

The rank of tuba pipes added to the choir organ, with electric action, were installed in August 2017 by Peter Spencer, as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

The College repaired the Driving Motor and Fan Bearings at the cost of £3,200 in August 2023. This work was completed by Organ Blower and Humidifier Engineer, Stephen Lemmings of Derby.

The organ is registered on the National Pipe Organ Register here and the listing contains full details of the organ. For the last twelve years the organ has been maintained by Bubbenhall organ builder Peter D Spencer.

Sadly, the organ bellows now need removing and releathering, having already been patched 20 years ago when wear and tear was evident through splits and leaks, and this will be a costly exercise.

Princethorpe’s historic organ constitutes an irreplaceable part of the College’s and the country’s national heritage, and we are keen for it to be preserved and restored. It has played its part in many services held in the Chapel and its sound will be immediately familiar to all Old Princethorpians.

We would be grateful for the support of our community with this important restoration project. If you would like to donate please visit here.