The Flagpole

The Foundation is constantly looking closely at all ways to reduce our costs and consequently keep our fees as low as possible - not least with the announcement that VAT will be chargeable on tuition fees from January 2025. 

One significant cost, despite having a highly competitive agreement, relates to the charges we incur when fees are paid by debit or credit card, currently in the region of £50,000 per annum. Direct debit and bank transfer are entirely without additional costs.

We want to start saving money without delay, so have withdrawn the card payment option. If you currently pay by card, we would now ask you to please pay your fees by one of the following alternative methods:  

• direct debit – a form is linked here,  please sign and return the form to the School Office marked for the attention of the Bursary (fees are due on the first day of term so please allow sufficient time for processing);  
• direct bank transfer - bank details can be found on your termly invoice;  
• school fee plan - leaflet is linked here.   

Whilst we recognise that paying by card is a convenient option for some parents, we believe that it is better to use this money to help reduce the amount payable by all parents from January. This is one of a range of cost saving measures we will be implementing over the coming year.

We apologise for the short notice, but hope you will understand that by working together we can reduce the impact of the imposition of VAT. 

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

We would like to remind parents of some useful contact details.

To report a pupil absence please do so on My School Portal.

For other enquiries please use the email addresses below:

Bus related queries - princethorpe@vectare.co.uk

School Shop - uniform@princethorpe.co.uk

Medical Centre - pcmatrons@princethorpe.co.uk

School fees -  accounts@princethorpe.co.uk

General enquiries - post@princethorpe.co.uk

Lost property - lostproperty@princethorpe.co.uk

Wisepay catering - cashless@princethorpe.co.uk

Email addresses for members of teaching staff can be found on My School Portal.

A reminder that our bus services commence on Tuesday 2 September and those wishing to book a new single or return bus pass or ad hoc journeys should do so from our bus website here. New users need to first set up an account.

If you were a user last term, unless you gave a half term's notice you will have been billed and need to rebook, so you receive your child's pass for this year.

The site shows clear information on all bus routes, stops and fare information.

Bus passes are booked on an annual basis and are invoiced termly, starting with the Michaelmas Term fees. Payment must be made by the start of each term in order to guarantee the place. A half term's notice is required if your child no longer needs to use the bus services.

Ad Hoc Journey Bookings
All ad hoc users must pre-book a seat to travel. A £10 penalty fare will be charged per journey for those who fail to do so. You are able to make multiple ad hoc journey bookings at the same time. All ad hoc journeys must be paid for at the time of booking using a debit or credit card.

Bus Passes
Vectare will email parents of all bus users with a digital wallet pass before the start of term, the pass is similar to those used for plane and train travel, which they will be able to load onto their child's mobile phone. Should your child not have a suitable phone for this purpose, please respond to the email and Vectare will issue you with a Swipe card. Bus users must scan or swipe on the bus in the morning and on and off the bus in the afternoon.

Safety
The safety of pupils using the bus service is of paramount importance. We ask parents to talk to their children about how to keep safe going to and from the bus stop and ensure they know what to do if the bus doesn’t arrive. There is a briefing for pupils who use the bus service at the start of each academic year. The College’s risk assessment of the bus service is attached here and a copy is also on the Parent Portal.

Buses Customer Service
Vectare, our transport consultant handle the customer service for the buses on the College’s behalf, the Vectare team are very familiar with our bus routes and do this already for a number of schools with great success. They provide parents with support between 6.00am and 10.00pm, seven days a week. For any live operational matters (i.e. stood at a bus stop), please call Vectare on 0115 777 3185. For any matter that is not live, and operational, please use the contact form on the website, or contact them via email at princethorpe@vectare.co.uk.

Should you have any queries relating to any of the above information please do not hesitate to contact the team at Vectare and they will be more than happy to assist.

Please find below the Term Dates for 2024-25 and 2025-26.

2024-2025 (two page document) - revised Sixth Form Open Evening and Christmas Fair dates. Updated June 2024

2025-2026 (two page document)

Please see below our current vacancies:

Princethorpe College

• Learning Support Assistant

Full details and how to apply are available via the following link: Join Us

Should you know anyone who might be interested in these posts, please do share this information with them.

• Adhere strictly to the speed limits and instructions given by College staff
• Never hold or use a mobile phone whilst driving
• Park in designated areas and never on double yellow lines
• Stop for pedestrians wishing to cross at designated crossing points
• Ensure that pupils only exit or enter cars when safely parked in designated areas
• Music should be kept to a minimum level
• Be patient, kind and courteous 

• Pupils arriving to school at the normal time can be dropped off in the area adjacent to the pupils’ entrance. Please note, this is for quick drop-offs only. Should you need more time or have to wait, please use the main playground area instead.
• The playground is closed to traffic from 9.00am to 3.30pm. Parents arriving within this period are asked to park in the ‘Short Stay’ parking (yellow hatched area between Reception and the Roundhouse) and go to Reception or the Student Hub.
• If you are collecting your child at the end of the day, please avoid arriving before 3.00pm. If you are queueing, please keep yellow hatched areas by the main gates clear to enable our Estates Team or Emergency vehicles access.
• Sixth Form parking is available only to those issued with permits. A designated Sixth Form car park has been provided next to the sports field. Permit holders must park in their designated space as issued by Mr Collie.
• Should you require access to the Student Hub, please park in the Short Stay parking area next to Goods In and follow the sign to the Student Hub.

• Parking on site is very restricted. If you are wishing to attend the College to watch sport, please use visitor, short stay or overflow parking however, we cannot guarantee this will always be available.
• We encourage drivers to turn off their engines whilst waiting to reduce pollution.
• The whole site is non-smoking/vaping and dogs must be kept on leads.

To help families new to the school, and as a reminder for all, here are some top tips for navigating the College's e-newsletter, The Flagpole, on your mobile phone.

Each edition of The Flagpole has a general overview message followed by an index list of the news, events and other information, split into categories, with clickable title links.

• Click the title link of the article or event you are interested in.
• From here you can scroll through all the articles in this category.
• To get back to the top of a category quickly, use the arrow in the bottom right corner of your screen. Click this and you will jump to the top of the page and see the category index.
• Select Newsletter Index, to return you to the main newsletter index listing all the categories and articles.
• To move between different editions of The Flagpole use the dark blue button with three white lines towards the top right of the newsletter. Click on the button and choose which edition of The Flagpole you would like to read.
• To find a topic quickly use the the search function with key words.

The Flagpole is one of the College's main communication tools and is always a good first place to look for information and news. Bookmarking https://flagpole.princethorpe.co.uk/ will allow you to get to the newsletter quickly.

Did you know that we are on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn? We use social media to share all that goes on, day in day out, in our school, posting regularly to keep you up to date with school news and school life, and to share all the amazing activities and wonderful work our fantastic pupils do.

If you engage with social media, why not check out our pages and be sure to follow us so that you never miss a post.

Princethorpe College accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/theprincethorpefoundation/

https://www.facebook.com/princethorpecollege/

https://x.com/PrincethorpeCol/

https://uk.linkedin.com/school/princethorpe-college