The Flagpole

House Bake Off is always a popular competition and what a tantalising display of creative cakes the entries made when they were all lined up in the Food and Nutrition Room. The ‘Environment’ theme had produced an incredible array of ‘green’ themed bakes with brilliant bugs, fabulous flowers, plastic planets, edible earths and of course reduce, reuse and recycle messages in every shape and form.

The excitement was palatable as pupils and staff crowded in for the lunchtime viewing with everyone marking their favourites with a sticker.  This year’s judges took their time considering the presentation, taste and relevance to the theme.  Miss Verleure, Miss Law, Mr Turns, Ms Lewis and Ms Scott had all volunteered for the arduous job of judging all the entries.

House Activities Co-ordinator, Katharine Darwood-Bredin commented, “Our House bakers are just incredible, the effort and creativity put into making these cakes was amazing.  House Bake Off is always a super competition. Well done to everyone who took part.”

The results were:

First Place: Jasmin Rose and Leah Burford – Vegetable Patch Cake
Second Place: Kaena Wasley – Plastic Bottle Cake
Third Place: Ruby Harris – Melting Ice-Cream Cap Cake
Pupils’ Choice Award: Bertie Critchley – Mushroom And Bugs Cake

The final overall house placings were:

1st Benet
2nd More
3rd Fisher
4th Austin 

All entries to the competition were awarded house-points.

Many congratulations to Foundation Director of Sport, Neil McCollin who has been appointed to the role of Acting Assistant Head (Co-Curricular) for the College from September.  Neil takes over from Greg Hunter who is moving to a Deputy Headship at King's Canterbury.

Neil has worked at Princethorpe since 2000 in a range of PE and Games roles before promotion to Director of Sport in 2006 and with the expansion of the Foundation he took on the Foundation Director of Sport role in 2013. Alongside his teaching commitments he has been an OCR examiner and practical moderator and is currently the Midlands ISA Regional Sports Representative, more recently he has also become Assistant Educational Visits Co-ordinator.

Neil will retain his Foundation Director of Sport role alongside his new wider co-curricular remit.

Ed Hester commented, "I am delighted to appoint Neil to this position and wish him well in his new role; with his extensive experience and leadership skills he is well placed to take on this new challenge."

Comments Neil, "I am incredibly excited to be able to take my experiences in the sporting arena and apply them to the full range of co-curricular activities on offer, especially Music and the Performing Arts. I know the impact that success, and celebrating it accordingly, in activities outside of the curriculum can have on the confidence, self-esteem and resilience of our young people and I look forward to developing this crucial aspect of Princethorpe still further."

An intrepid band of Princethorpe College staff, parents, Old Princethorpians and even our Chair of Trustees bravely took on an epic challenge over the May half term holiday when they cycled between the French towns of Saumur and Amboise in support of the College's chosen charity, Mary's Meals.

This was the second time the College has undertaken a cycling pilgrimage, the first one being during the College's Golden Jubilee Year, two years ago.

The 22 cyclists and their supporters travelled to France by coach and cycled the 110 miles over two days, with a rest day in between in the beautiful chateau town of Azay-le-Rideau. Over the course of the challenge the cyclists encountered monsoon like rain, punctures, chain breaks and their fair share of drama and injury.

They travelled along country roads and canal paths, through lush meadows and poppy fields, beside the beautiful Loire and up steep hills in order to complete the challenge. 

Comments, Headmaster, Ed Hester, who led the trip, “110 miles in two days is no mean feat and all the pilgrims deserve to be congratulated. Once again there was a fantastic sense of camaraderie, which really epitomised Princethorpe’s spirit of family. We were received most warmly by the French people on our route, who were fascinated by the challenge.”

Thanks go in particular to our wonderful coach driver, Keith Price from Catteralls, the route master general, Peter Griffin and French liaisons, Andy Compton, Alison Gallagher and Miriam Isaacs.

The cyclists have already raised over £1,500 towards the £2,000 target they set themselves in aid of their chosen charity, Mary’s Meals, amazingly enough to feed 144 children at Makalunga Primary School in Malawi for a year.

If you would like to support them please go to their fundraising page here.

Generous Princethorpe pupils have donated their hair to help children and young people living with cancer. 

The three Princethorpe princesses decided to give up their lovely long locks after hearing about the work of the charity. Together over the past year they have donated over 30 inches of hair.

Pictured from left to right, Year 7 Alice Minshull, her sister Molly who is in Year 10 and Year 9 Lara Tripp-Smith have all donated their hair to the Little Princess Trust, a charity that provides real hair wigs for young people who have lost their own hair through treatment for cancer or other illnesses.

The girls recognised that the loss of hair has a huge impact on a young person's confidence, and that the Little Princess wigs help lessen the impact of treatment.  They are encouraging everyone to donate, as it is easy, anyone can do it and it makes such a difference. They all agreed it doesn’t really take that long for your hair to grow again.

Head of Benet House, Lisa Challinor, said, “I am humbled by the girls’ kind gesture, what a wonderful selfless act. They set an example to us all just quietly getting on and helping others.  I am very proud of them all.”

Well done girls you set an example for us all.

More information on the work of the Little Princess Trust and on how to donate can be found on their website here. 

Just before half term the Old Princethorpians held their annual London Meet, this year at the Bulldog Bar in The Clarence on London's Whitehall.

The evening was hosted by members of the OP Committee including the Headmaster, Ed Hester, Assistant Head, Alex Darkes and Foundation Bursar Eddie Tolcher.

It was lovely to see some of our London stalwarts along with some new faces catching up with each other and the latest Princethorpe news. It was particularly good to welcome Former Director of Boarding, Fr Teddy O'Brien, MSC.

Our next OPs event is the Summer Supper on Friday 28 June. Aimed at the leavers of 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999 and 2009, we have had a lot of interest so please do get in touch with Melanie Butler, the Old Princethorpians Secretary, if you would like to join us for what is always a lovely convivial evening.

Back before Easter 12 Year 10 pupils took part in a workshop titled Maths And Beyond organised by the University of Warwick.  Focusing on engaging and practical applications of Maths the workshop offered the Year 10 pupils the opportunity to appreciate how Maths could apply in the real world.  The day was all about inspiring pupils to continue with their study of Maths at A-level and beyond.

Year 10 pupil, Isabel Nelson summarised the day:

We headed to the Mathematics Institute at the University of Warwick, where we were split into two groups.  After a welcome by the organiser, we paired off with another school.  Our group – group C – began with a session called ‘Introduction to Game Theory’, it started with mind games that we had to try to win and then looked in depth at logical ways you could win every time. It included solutions to commonly known problems such as the Prisoner’s Dilemma.

Our next workshop was on the topic of SynBio: an introduction and ethical discussion on synthetic biology. It considered the futuristic idea of modifying and tampering with DNA in animals and plants to help with real life situations. This could include anything from bringing back the woolly mammoth to creating glow-in-the-dark plants to replace streetlights. We had some interesting ethical discussions.

Our final workshop took place after lunch and was on Japanese grid puzzles and we spent the session learning how to solve a nonogram – similar to Sudoku but more time consuming and puzzling!

Princethorpe’s second group took part in a workshop called ‘Magical Maths’ and learnt magic tricks that use complex Maths. This included a ‘mind reading’ trick, Carys Burchell had to think of one of the shapes shown on the board and say it out loud. A video then played, giving the same shape that she had chosen. Carys was successful with this magical mind reading trick several times. The group learnt three more Maths-involved magic tricks in an interesting session.

Overall, the whole day was a fun and interactive experience that we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Invited guests from nine local care homes and elderly members of the local parish, were welcomed into the College for a special summer tea party on Thursday 6 June. The annual community event was this year themed to mark the 75th anniversary since D-Day.  The airy atrium of the College’s Sixth Form Centre was decorated in patriotic red, white and blue and playing in the background was a medley of wartime music.

Sixth Formers served their guests a delightful selection of sandwiches, sausage rolls and tasty cakes accompanied by a choice of drinks.  Everyone enjoyed the chance to linger over lunch and to chat to the younger generation.  All around was the sound of friendly chatter and the clink of china cups.  It was a lovely opportunity to share stories, find out about school life, enjoy a change of scenery and savour some top class refreshments.

The event is a great example of Princethorpe’s ‘spirit of family’ and is one of a series of community events the College’s Sixth Formers support.

Our thanks go to Mrs McKenzie for organising the party; the new prefect body and Sixth Form volunteers for generously hosting our guests, Will Puchy for organising the wartime medley and to our fantastic catering team for the fabulous spread of food.

On Wednesday 5 June Princethorpe welcomed prospective parents and pupils into school for the College’s flagship Summer Open Evening.

Bathed in sunshine the school and grounds looked their best and everywhere was a hive of activity.  Departments had prepared informative displays and had plenty of exemplar work on show, staff and current pupils were on hand to take questions and talk with parents and of course there were plenty of fun subject-related activities for younger (and older) visitors to enjoy.  Rewards were on offer for all those who ‘had a go’ with stickers to collect and a choice of Princethorpe prizes for the children to collect on their way home. 

Outside many chose to try their hand at archery, explore the outdoor classroom, watch the tennis display or visit the Catteralls school bus.  In the Sports Centre the climbing wall was a popular attraction, as was the bustling Limes atrium with its da Vinci display and refreshments. Elsewhere the classrooms were abuzz with parents and children exploring subjects such as IT, Maths, English and Languages.

Music entertained our visitors in the Chapel and the PALs drama rehearsals attracted audiences to the Clarkson theatre.  Through the length and breadth of the school, visitors were invited to attempt a dissection in Biology, to taste mini pizzas in Food and Nutrition, to watch explosive Chemistry experiments or to delve into the archives in the Library. 

Ed Hester, Headmaster, welcomed parents with an inspiring address, talking about the school, its plans for the future and the ‘Spirit of Family’ ethos that allows Princethorpe to help every child to succeed.

Some 140 families attended the evening, many completely new to the school.  For all it was a great chance to soak up the special Princethorpe atmosphere and to get a flavour of day-to-day life.  The sun shone brightly all evening and everywhere enthusiastic staff and pupils extolled the virtues of Princethorpe’s tailored individual approach.

A huge thank you to all the staff, pupils, prefects and parents who helped on the evening and to those involved in the preparations.  The school looked amazing and the feedback from our visitors as they left was very positive.

Over the Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday 25 to Sunday 26 May, Princethorpe College played host to the 2019 National Inter-Schools Two-Day Event.

Run in conjunction with Stoneleigh Riding Club some 240 competitors took part in the two-day competition, the only ‘long format’ event open to schools and riding clubs in the UK.  It included dressage and show-jumping on the Saturday and roads and tracks, steeplechase and cross-country on the Sunday.

This was the fifth year running the College has hosted the event on the Princethorpe estate and the course looked magnificent against the backdrop of the Princethorpe Tower.  Returning for a second year and causing much excitement was the challenging permanent cross-country water jump generously built by one of the event’s main sponsors, The Wigley Group.  As well as being a fantastic enhancement to the course, the deep pools within the water jump are also used by pupils year round supporting environmental and wildlife curriculum studies.

The competition takes a huge amount of organisation, so our thanks go to the school staff and Stoneleigh Riding Club who, together with an army of volunteers, ensured the event was such a success.

Princethorpe’s riders rode superbly and the school was incredibly proud to see them taking part.  Representing the College for the first time, Year 7 pupil Harriet Boyd took part in the 80cm competition on her horse Ollie, finishing in fourth place. Harriet also picked up best Warwickshire school competitor.  Year 9s Lottie Paybody and Libby Chapman finished 2nd and 12th in their classes respectively and earned themselves a fourth place in the schools 90cm team competition.  Lottie Paybody also won best Warwickshire school individual in the 90cm section 7 class. Year 10 Robyn Field rode her horse Two Tone Tilly in the 100cm class and collected the best Warwickshire school individual award.  Year 10 Lucy Watts rode in the 100cm class on her horse Barralands Boy but unfortunately, this year did not finish the cross-country course.

Assistant Head, Alex Darkes, Princethorpe’s equestrian event organiser, said, “The College was delighted to welcome school and riding club competitors to the Princethorpe estate for this year’s two-day event.  It was great to see such a strong presence of school participants, many of whom had travelled long distances to take part in the competition. The water jump was an exciting attraction in the cross-country course and we enjoyed seeing competitors tackle it enthusiastically.  Our thanks go to members of Stoneleigh Riding Club, the events key sponsors The Wigley Group and Howkins & Harrison, our Catering, Grounds and Estates Teams and all the volunteers, without whom we would have been unable to stage such a busy event.”

There will be more equestrian action taking place at Princethorpe shortly - the Inter-Schools’ Dressage Competition is scheduled for Saturday 29 June and spectators are most welcome.

St Anne’s church sits on a large fortified Iron Age settlement dating back to approximately 700BC known as the Wappenbury camp, the river Leam forming part of its defences.

An early Catholic directory mentions a Catholic Mission at Wappenbury in 1734 and therefore this implies that there was Catholic activity in the 1600s.

The first Diocesan records of the Mission start in 1744 with a record of baptisms. The priest at this time and recorded at Wappenbury was Fr W Walmsley OSF, 1744-1768.

The small chapel built by Lord Clifford is reliably assumed to be the current Sanctuary. The new chapel was built and completed in 1849 extending from the north side of the old Clifford chapel and opened by Bishop Nicholas Wiseman and dedicated to the Mother of Our Lady, St Anne. The church was the first Catholic parish church to be built in the diocese since the reformation.

The incumbent priest of St Anne’s would offer Mass for the nuns at St Mary’s Priory, which is now Princethorpe College.

St Anne’s was completely renovated and refurbished between January and September 2014. The re-dedication of St Anne’s took place on Saturday 18 June 2016. 

The church will be open from Friday 13 September to Sunday 22 September from 9.00am - 5.00pm. Refreshments will be served on Saturday 21 September between 10.00am and 12noon and on Sunday 22 September between 10.00am and 1.00pm.

For further information about the parish of St Anne's please click here

We would be delighted to see you!