The Flagpole

Friday 10 May, was an emotional day for our Upper Sixth leavers as we marked their last day in school. The students came in fancy dress and started their day with a special Thanksgiving Service. They enjoyed reflections on their time at Princethorpe, presentations and awards and then a special celebration out on the Sixth Form Lawn. The camaraderie, resilience and focus of this year group has been amazing and we wish each and every one of them the very best of luck in their upcoming exams and for the future.

Year 11 have marked their official last day in school before they start their study leave with plenty of celebrations. After a morning of lessons, pupils gathered in the Refectory for lunch together as a year group after which they were allowed into the hallowed ground of the Quad for the traditional signing of shirts and to take photos with their friends.

They finished their day with a year group assembly in the Clarkson theatre. When the bell sounded for the end of the school day, Year 11 were led out for what we hope will become a new tradition here at Princethorpe, a ‘Good Luck Parade’. Pupils walked the halls and corridors of the school where they have spent their secondary years learning. They passed along the Cloister Corridors, out across to the Limes and up through the building to the new Science Centre. Their route was lined with pupils and staff clapping and cheering wishing them all well. They were greeted with applause, high fives, joy and happy tears, from a school full of pride.

Our Year 11s have shown huge determination and resilience over the last five years, and we hope they all enjoyed their last day of lessons. We wish them the very best for the upcoming examination season. Today’s walk was a reminder to them all of just how far they have come. We are proud of their hard work and accomplishments – good luck Year 11!

Watch out for clips of the walk on social media.

We said our farewells to, Foundation Assistant Head, Alex Darkes, on Tuesday 30 April, who was retiring after 45 years of working at the school. Alex joined Princethorpe College back in September 1979 when Father Bill Clarkson MSC was Headmaster and he has seen many changes and developments over the years, serving under no fewer than eight Headmasters. His association with the College goes back even further though, as he was also a pupil here for seven years (1968-1975) and, in his leaving year, the winner of the coveted Princethorpe Shield. Throughout his time at Princethorpe he has embodied the school’s ethos, and his love of the College has always shone through.

Over the course of his career, Alex has delighted in passing on his knowledge and enthusiasm for so many things, not least his main subject, Physics. Generations of Princethorpians have benefited from his excellent teaching, pastoral care and immeasurable kindness.

His contribution to the College, however, has been far greater than just in the classroom, he has been involved in so many aspects of College life. In addition to teaching and being a form tutor, he led marketing, admissions, operations and IT, and even managed the bus services. He was at the very heart of co-curricular activities such as Photography Club, equestrian events, school trips far and wide, the Arts Society, the Old Princethorpians’ Association and the popular annual Motoring Festival, which he organised for 26 years. In more recent times, he played a key role in mergers, environmental sustainability planning, the introduction of the Development team and the project management of all the Foundation’s major building projects, including the new Science Centre. He even co-wrote a history book about the first fifty years of the College for its Golden Jubilee in 2016-17.

All this he has done with good humour, kindness, tenacity and determination and as, Foundation Principal, Ed Hester, said in Alex’s leaving presentation, “Alex embodies our 'Spirit of Family' Princethorpe ethos. He is one of the finest colleagues I have had the pleasure to work with. When I arrived, he was my right-hand man who having done so much, in so many areas, knew pretty much everything about everyone.”

Indeed, Alex is renowned for his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Princethorpe, his amazing memory for names and faces, his skilful masterminding of projects and meticulous attention to detail and his wonderful wit, cheerfulness and sense of fun. Alex is our very own ‘Mr Princethorpe’ and therefore, on his retirement it is most appropriate that there will be a corner of Princethorpe, and particularly a Physics laboratory in The Science Centre, his final and most ambitious project, named after him in perpetuity.

At midnight on Tuesday 30 April he officially became an Old Princethorpian, although he will be maintaining his relationship with the Foundation, as Alex has kindly agreed to take on the role of Archivist Emeritus, so he can continue to play a part in the College’s rich history. It’s a role that has commenced already with Alex recently recording a retirement interview where he answered questions posed by Princethorpians old and new. If you would like to listen to the interview you can find it here.

Unassuming as ever, at his leaving presentation, Alex Darkes said, “Thanks to my many wonderful colleagues and pupils, I have had a blast of a time. Thank you everyone for your friendship and kindness.”

Alex leaves us with our very best wishes. He was presented with cards and gifts, including a new cabin suitcase, the perfect present for Alex who loves to travel. We are delighted that he now finally has the chance to fulfil his and every teacher’s dream – to take a holiday in term time!

As part of our new Commercial Enterprises activity we hope very soon to be able to let parents know full details about the Summer Holiday Camps we will be offering this summer at Princethorpe.

The camps will be run in partnership with an experienced Ofsted registered external provider, who will offer an exciting sports and multi-activity programme for children aged 5 to 16. The camps will be open to Foundation and non-Foundation children from Monday to Friday for the majority of the summer holidays.

The Crackley Hall Holiday Club will continue to run as normal.

We will communicate with families as soon as more information is available.

On Tuesday evening we were delighted to host a special workshop event for alumni representing all our Foundation schools and heritage schools to look at the key strategic pillars for our alumni and development programme.

Over 40 alumni took part, they were grouped according to their leaving decades from the 60s/70s right up to the present day. Guided by the Foundation team, they gave their opinions and enthusiastically discussed activity ranging from connectivity and engagement, to careers and networking, social events, the structure and responsibilities of the committee and how the alumni can best support the Foundation’s development efforts.

We will feedback to the wider community in due course once we have compiled all the information, but we would like to thank all those who took part for giving of their time so generously. We were really overwhelmed by the buzz in the room and the positivity and support expressed by the group. It really bodes well for the future of the alumni association and a mutually beneficial relationship with all our schools. We are excited to map out the next steps over the coming weeks.

Princethorpe College’s Inter Girls, Senior Girls and Senior Boys teams delivered top scoring performances to finish in first place at the Warwickshire Schools Combined Events Championships. Hot on their heels were the Minor Girls, Junior Girls and Inter Boys whose determination led to second place finishes, with the Junior Boys and Minor Boys finishing in fourth overall. It was another excellent athletics outing for Princethorpe at the Warwickshire Schools Combined Events, at The Pingles Stadium, in Nuneaton, on Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 May.

Schools from across the county sent their best athletes to the two-day event. Standards were high as competitors aimed to accrue as many points as possible across the track and field events.

The Senior Girls took on the Heptathlon competing in the 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot, 200m, Long Jump, Javelin and an 800m middle distance run. Individually Anna Reay finished individual 1st overall with Lottie Hunter 2nd, Tami Yusuf 3rd and Alice Minshull 4th ensuring the team a first place finish.

The Inter Girls also took on the Heptathlon competing in the 80m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot, 200m, Long Jump, Javelin and an 800m middle distance run. Grace McCollin finished 2nd overall, with Penelope Jones 5th, Lauren Tebbatt 11th and Mia Brander 13th, their hard work also claiming team first place.

The Junior Girls competed in the Pentathlon, with the athletes enjoying the 75m Hurdles, Shot, High Jump, Long Jump and an 800m run. The girls put in an excellent performances with Dami Ajagunna finishing 1st overall, Marisa Lumani 11th and Lola Esler 15th, Issey Cleary 16th, Ayla Plumb 20th and Faith Katanda 21st their scores helped Princethorpe’s two teams finish second and seventh overall.

The Minor Girls delivered consistent results in the Quadrathlon events, 80m Sprint, Long Jump, Shot and a 600m run. A super performance helped Ellie Gane finish 3rd individually, while Natalya Harwood came in 5th and Emily Divers 10th ensuring the girls also claimed team second place overall.

The Senior Boys had the 100m, Long Jump, Shot, High Jump, 400m, 110m Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault and Javelin to contend with. Ben Smith finished 1st overall with Anjola Okusanya 2nd Blessing Katanda 3rd and Vincent McNevin 4th. Their results delivered another team first place.

The Inter Boys had the Long Jump, High Jump, Javelin, Discus, Shot, 100m Hurdles, 400m and the 1500m to contend with in their Octathlon event. Hunter Staveley, Dan Tomlinson, Conor Horan and James Wright competed for Princethorpe, and the team placed second overall but we still await confirmation of the individual placings.

The Junior Boys took on the Pentathlon with the 80m Hurdles, Shot, Long Jump, High Jump and 800m events. Max Kiely finished 8th overall, Will Harvey 11th, Louis Reynolds 16th, Rob James Pantoja 19th, Nashe Darare 23rd and Harry Messenger 24th their scores helping Princethorpe’s two teams finish fourth and seventh overall.

Then the Minor Boys took on an 80m sprint, the Long Jump, Shot and a 600m run. Rufus Jones finished 8th overall, Wilfie Rack 14th and Billy Faizey 16th, taking the team to fourth place.

After a very successful two days, Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, was thrilled with excellent early season results, commenting, “Princethorpe’s athletes shone across all the disciplines delivering outstanding performances in both field and track events to help the College to a super set of results. Well done to them all.”

Back in April pupils from Princethorpe College took part in the 2024 UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Junior 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 Year 7 and Year 8 and Princethorpe selected 92 able mathematicians 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 Year 8 student, Erik Windham who was awarded a Gold certificate, and took the award for best performing pupil in school, and to Year 7 student, Evelyn Waterworth, who was awarded a Gold certificate, and took the award for best performing pupil in Year 7. Gold certificates were also awarded to Year 8s Isaac Frith, Bohdan Nicholl and Drew Ovens Gibbs and to Year 7 Ethan Simons who all performed so well that they have also qualified for the follow-on round, the Junior Kangaroo Challenge.

Gold Certificate: Dillon Horan, Emily Beadle, Katherine Lee, John Owen, Oscar Rexton-Watts and Arthur Reid.

Silver certificate: Theo Cowlishaw, Darcey Sutton, Veer Chayra, Charles Packe, Luka Vrljicak, Lottie Corbin, Evie Johnson, Noah Walker, Jay Jonah, Lucas Ross, Emilia Novissimo-Richards, Lewis North, Tegan McLeod, Stephanie Bolton, Chloe Sarkies, Florence Munn, Sophie McCormick, Krishan Patel, Rufus Jones and Austin Newbold.

Bronze certificate: George Williams, Elena Raiseborough, Dylan Llewellyn, Gilbert Millward-Boyton, Dami Ajagunna, George Knott, Jacob Swords, Sam Dunn, Amelia Heatherington, Aidan Morris, Sofia Papadogiannakis, Leani uu Toit, Freya Hillman, Amelie Shay, Martha Coburn, Eloise Burchill, Ellie Gane, Amalia Lee, Max Wither, Reuben Allen, Mimi Legge, Ro Somerset, Lennon Alcock, Sachin Gupta, Samuel Eynon-Hill, Delilah Clay, Adelaide Teeton, Leo Warne, Tasha Gichiri, Gwenan Roberts, Tyler Moreton, Teddy Rushbrooke, Nell Kiteley, Isaac Fowle, Jack McKay, Charlotte Nichols and Jack Phillips-Gore.

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

Princethorpe’s Lower Sixth physicists had their second opportunity to take part in the British Physics Olympiad Year 12 Senior Physics Challenge. Competing against over 6,000 pupils from more than 300 schools nationwide, the students sat a tricky one hour long written paper, where none of the marks were easy to get.

Head of Physics, Dan Lee, was delighted with their results, commenting, “Congratulations to all, it is great to see our students succeeding in the toughest school-level Physics competition there is.”

A special mention for Jack Fleming who earned the highest scores of the Princethorpe contingent and our congratulations also go to Joseph Baker, Ruby Clark, Leo Flannery, Seb Hume-Chignell, Ollie Hutton, Albert Jackson-Bettles, Blessing Katanda, Giorgio Kleinmann and Anjola Okusanya. All the pupils who took part received a Bronze certificate.

Princethorpe College came together in the Sports Hall on Wednesday 23 April to celebrate a whole school Eucharist.

Father Alan Whelan MSC reflected on the story of Easter, reminding us all that it is a time of new beginnings. He spoke about the work Jules Chevalier, who’s anniversary we celebrated last term, and of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and of how Chevalier’s resilience affects us all here at Princethorpe today. Father Alan reminded pupils that resilience was particularly important for all those sitting exams.

Pupils were also given a card commemorating the birth of Chevalier.

Then, as a community, we prayed for the school, for our families and for all those in the world who need our prayers.

Our History, Politics and Performing Arts A-level students took a trip to the West End on Tuesday 23 April to watch the amazing Hamilton and it was outstanding in every sense.

The musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. It blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and traditional show tunes to narrate Hamilton's life, from his rise as an orphaned immigrant from the Caribbean to his role in shaping the country's early politics and policies. It explores his relationships with other historical figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Aaron Burr, as well as his personal struggles and triumphs. The musical delves into themes of ambition, legacy, love, and the complexities of human nature while offering a contemporary lens on the founding of the United States.

It was an exciting evening of world class theatre that provided engaging cultural capital that compliments their A-level studies.

Springtime is the season for wildflowers and here at Princethorpe that always means bluebells. The bright violet-blue native perennials carpet the woodlands around the College site every year from late April to late May. After the mild winter, this year the bluebells have flowered early and have been glorious once again.

Almost half the world’s bluebells are found in the UK – they are relatively rare elsewhere. Bluebell colonies take a long time to establish, so we are especially proud of the display in the woods along the Mile Walk.

For all Princethorpians old and new, the bluebells are synonymous with Princethorpe. We popped out to take some photos to share, we hope you enjoy looking through them and seeing this year’s display.