The Flagpole

The Headmaster sent the following message by email to all parents on Thursday 25 February.

I am delighted to be writing to you to confirm that following the Prime Minister’s recent announcement Princethorpe College will be opening for all pupils on Monday 8 March. This letter gives you details of how we will manage this as safely as possible.

Asymptomatic Testing

As I am sure you are aware, the government strategy of re-opening secondary schools is based on a foundation stone of mass asymptomatic testing of pupils; the tests are to be undertaken initially in school and then at home. 

This additional control measure, along with our extra cleaning measures, additional handwashing, wearing of masks and social distancing will help prevent the spread of the virus and reduce the risk of us having to send large numbers of pupils home from school to self-isolate. As such, we fully support the lateral flow testing and are very grateful to parents for your help and support in this matter. Although the tests are not compulsory, we strongly endorse this approach to help keep pupils and staff as safe as possible.

The guidelines from the DfE are that pupils need a negative test result before returning to the classroom, followed up by two further tests in school each within 3-5 days of each other. For more information about the DfE mass testing programme, please click here.

To conduct these tests, we do need parental permission. Whilst the vast majority of parents have filled in the consent form, there are still a few outstanding. If you have not yet filled in the form, please can I ask you to do so now by clicking here.

To facilitate the above and a crisp return to the classroom for all year groups on Monday 8 March we are planning to perform the first test for each Year Group as follows:

The two further tests which are required will be performed during the week beginning Monday 8 March during the school day with minimum disruption to learning and we will also be using Saturday 13 March (please note this date was incorrect on the original email) for most year groups. Further details with all three testing dates and times will be sent through early next week.

If you have any concerns about the above, or there are any changes to your home circumstances, or you feel that your child may not be able to return to school on Monday 8 March, please can you contact Mrs Sharpe directly at bethsharpe@princethorpe.co.uk

Key School

Key School will remain open until Thursday 4 March, due to the time needed for preparation for the reopening of the school we will not be able to offer Key School on Friday 5 March. 

Staff preparing for pupils’ return to the classroomAs previously advised, we will use Friday 5 March as a training day for teachers in school to ensure we are fully prepared for the pupils’ return and also to perform a COVID test for our staff. There will therefore be no live lessons on Friday 5 March although the pupils will have work set to complete.

School shop

Parents wishing to update any uniform items before Monday 8 March, should contact the uniform shop directly as soon as possible at uniform@princethorpe.co.uk. New school uniform orders will be prepared and available for pupils to collect on Monday 8 March when the shop will be open as normal at break and lunchtime for pupils. Pupils are expected to wear Princethorpe uniform each day except for the day they have Games afternoon when they can wear their Princethorpe games kit to school.

School Routines from Monday 8 March

All “normal” routines as per last term will operate from Monday 8 March. We will be operating a full after-school co-curricular programme following government guidelines, which will be sent to you by Friday 5 March.

Bus Services will resume from Monday 8 March and bus users will be sent an email with details of their child’s seat allocation next week.  It is most important that pupils sit in their allocated seats and the wearing of face masks whilst on the bus is compulsory, unless there is an exemption.

Catering services will also resume as per last term and we will be operating split lunches as before.

Preventative Measures and Contact Tracing on Return to School

Once we are back at school, all the now-normal routines and safety measures will again be in place. These include year-group bubbling, distancing pupils and staff, one way-systems, the wearing of facemasks around the campus and enhanced cleaning regimes.

If we do have a positive case in school then, as last term, we will perform our own contact tracing, with close contacts being sent home (the government has dropped the idea of regular testing for close contacts in school) and the requirement is now to self-isolate for 10 days.

Face Coverings

There has been one major change to the guidance on face coverings which now states:

“face coverings should be worn in classrooms or during activities unless social distancing can be maintained. This does not apply in situations where wearing a face covering would impact on the ability to take part in exercise or strenuous activity, for example in PE lessons”.

This means that for most lessons now, pupils will need to wear a face covering. We are expecting this to be a short-term measure until Easter.

Public Examinations

Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education, made a statement today in the House of Commons and, as I write, Ofqual has just issued guidelines for schools on the awarding of GCSE and A-levels. They appear to be very much in line with what we anticipated but we will read the guidelines very carefully and prepare plans for their implementation over the coming days. The guidelines reference further detailed guidance yet to be published so we look forward to receiving that to aid us in finalising those plans. We will contact parents and pupils directly about this next week.

Whole School Assembly

All parents are invited to the live on-line Whole School Assembly at 10.35am on Monday 1 March when I will give more specific information and guidance on all the above. The live assembly can be accessed by clicking here.

Finally, many thanks as always for all your support and kind words which are hugely appreciated. We are all very much looking forward to seeing the children back in school.

Ed Hester

Following a rigorous selection process Princethorpe College is delighted to announce our new Head Boy and Head Girl.  Our congratulations go to Caitlin Mason and Anthony Convey who will take on these senior roles after the Easter holidays.

Competition for these important roles was fierce and Caitlin and Anthony were appointed after taking part in a series of tasks and presentations, a staff vote and a final interview with Headmaster, Ed Hester and Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie.

The position of Head Boy and Head Girl are the most senior student roles in our school, they are the leaders of our pupil community and provide an important link between pupils and staff.

Reacting to the news of their appointment Caitlin Mason said, “I am delighted to have been chosen for the role of Head Girl. I feel honoured to have the opportunity to represent the student body and I am excited by the prospect of the work we can do.”

Anthony added, “It is a privilege to be selected as Head Boy. I hope I can make the school proud and can be approachable for all students. I am looking forward to working with the wider Prefect Body.”

Full details of the full Prefect team will be announced shortly, and details of the Prefect Inauguration will be confirmed soon. All the Prefect team will begin their new roles after the Easter break.

Our Sixth Formers play an ambassadorial role within the school and at high profile public events such as Open Days and Entrance Exams, led by the Prefect team they act as role models for the wider school community.

The deadline for the acceptance of places for September 2021 entry to the College is fast approaching. Over the last couple of weeks a good number of acceptances have been coming in, but parents wishing to accept a place are reminded that they need to send their signed Confirmation of Acceptance Form and £300 deposit back to Mrs Vanessa Rooney, the Registrar, by Thursday 4 March 2021 please, to secure their child’s place.

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

As we finish one year's admissions cycle another one begins, and we are now accepting registrations for September 2022 entry. The Entrance Exams for 2022 will take place on Saturday 6 November 2021. There will be carefully managed opportunities for prospective pupils and their parents to visit the College during the Trinity Term, including our summer Open Evening on Wednesday 9 June from 6.30pm to 8.30pm, which will again operate on an appointment only basis.

If you have any questions about the admissions process please contact the Admissions Team, on 01926 634201/262/297 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Registrations for the College’s Virtual Careers Fair are now open. The Careers Fair takes place on Saturday 20 March from 9.30am to 12.30pm and will provide a wealth of information, guidance and advice on careers and universities. Pupils in Years 10 to Sixth Form should register now and select the sessions they want to attend. Find out more information here.

A wide range of speakers and organisations will be on hand, with representatives from organisations as diverse as JLR to Nettitude and Aldi to Howkins Harrison giving presentations, alongside universities from across the country, such as Reading, Warwick, Leeds and Bristol. There will be sessions on Accountancy, Architecture, Estate Agency and Chartered Surveying, the Armed Forces, Art and Film making, Computer Gaming and Cyber Security, Engineering and IT, Fashion, Retail, Business and Marketing, Medical, Law, Teaching, Entrepreneurship, Product Design, TV and Radio as well as the University talks.

The link to choose your talks now includes the Warwick University Student Finance talk in the 10am slot. Apologies to anyone who tried to book this; it is now available.

Parents are more than welcome to book themselves on to alternative talks to their sons and daughters. This might be particularly relevant for some of the university talks or student finance. If you wish to do this then please just register as yourself via the link.

The Careers Fair is a great opportunity to explore future careers so make sure you put the date in your diary and we look forward to seeing you there.

The latest editions of the Pinnacle and Minnacle have just been published.  They showcase exceptional work by pupils from across the Foundation and are an inspiring read.

They are a testament to the dedication of pupils and staff to continue with their studies in the face of the ongoing pandemic restrictions. Including Oxbridge and Arkwright success, stunning sketchbooks and musical collaborations, Maths and Physics awards and creative writing challenges, the magazines showcase flair and ingenuity across a wide range of subjects and year groups.

The Pinnacle focuses on the work of pupils here at Princethorpe College, while the Minnacle includes equally impressive work by the Foundation junior schools, Crackley Hall and Crescent School. 

Why not enjoy our celebration of their studies in The Pinnacle and The Minnacle.

Hard copies will be distributed to pupils on their return to school.

Last summer, 25 pupils and four staff should have travelled out to Malawi to visit the African country where Mary’s Meals, a charity close to the College’s heart, first began. There they would have taken part in a two-week project with the charity Classrooms For Malawi, helping to refurbish a school block at Lauderdale Primary School.

Lauderdale School was the first school that Princethorpe College worked with in Malawi when back in 2007/8 pupils fundraised to provide new kitchens to support the Mary’s Meals feeding programme at the school.

Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Rod Isaacs, explains, “After more than 10 years of fundraising, we were looking to take the College’s charity work in Malawi one step further and a project to refurbish school buildings was a perfect choice, providing opportunity through education for the local community while allowing our pupils to actively contribute. We were introduced to Classrooms For Malawi and it all began from there.”  

A significant part of the Malawi 2020 project challenge was for pupils to raise the funds to pay for materials and supplies for the classroom refurbishment project. So, throughout 2019 pupils organised a series fundraising events that together raised £10,174. Marathon runs, wreath making, music concerts, stall at Christmas fairs, CDs, sponsored outdoor swims and sponsorship from the annual 24-mile Sixth Form walk around the Coventry Way all contributed to the total.

During their two-week trip to Malawi, Princethorpe’s pupils would have spent time helping to refurbish the school block while also assisting with teaching, sports and drama activities at Lauderdale School. They would have had the opportunity to visit the pupils at Princethorpe’s current sponsored school, Makalanga Primary School to meet the children and see Mary’s Meals feeding programme there as well as to visit the Mary's Meals headquarters in Blantyre.

With the onset of the pandemic, schools across the world were impacted and like many, the schools in Malawi were forced to close. Eventually the sad decision was taken to cancel the College trip. However, all was not lost as the classroom refurbishment project was able to continue. The work was undertaken by the local building contractors supported by the community, and the funds raised by the College were used to fund the materials and labour required.

Work on the project began in August 2020 with the removal of the roof and breeze block windows. Supporting beams were strengthened, new windows and roofing installed, drainage issues addressed, the floors levelled, the walls freshly painted, and chalk blackboards installed. The work was finished in January and the classrooms are already in use.

Amy Blake, Chief Executive of the charity Classrooms For Malawi, said, “This project has been amazing and the help and support from Princethorpe College has been so commendable especially given the circumstances, we are so sorry the team didn’t make it across to Malawi to help with the refurbishment. Lauderdale School and the local community are delighted with their building. It’s made a real difference to their ability to provide an education for their children. I really hope that one day the Princethorpe’s pupils can visit Malawi to see the result.”

You can watch a video on the Malawi project here.

The latest edition of The Old Princethorpian, The Foundation's e-newsletter for past pupils, staff and parents, old and new, has just been published and was sent to subscribers at the start of half term.

The newsletter aims to keep our alumni in touch with each other and with news, developments and events across the Foundation.

All past pupils from the Foundation's schools and legacy schools are encouraged to stay in touch and are welcome to attend Alumni events.

If you have any comments on the e-newsletter or news to contribute to the next issue, which is due out in May, please do email us at oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk.

You can read the newsletter here: oldprincethorpian.co.uk

Our OP Friendly Faces scheme aims to link new first year university students to past OP pupils already established at university. Providing a friendly, familiar face to meet up with over a coffee (compliments of the OPs) or having someone to call in their new Uni town or city, does, we know, make for a smoother experience in those first few weeks away from home.

We will shortly be contacting our current Upper Sixth with more information, to introduce them to the OP Friendly Faces scheme and to the benefits of joining the Old Princethorpian Association.

Comments OPs Secretary, Melanie Butler, "We have OP Friendly Faces in around 30 university towns and cities and would like to expand on that significantly this year and get more of our leavers matched up for the next academic year. Understanding where our current Upper Sixth hope to study will help us plan for next year's scheme."

All leavers and their parents are automatically given free membership of the OP Association and are welcome at all of our events. They can also sign up to PC Connect our online alumni community to stay in touch with the school.

For more information please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk.

Our events programme carries on with many events online, for more details see the College website or My School Portal.

A summary of upcoming key events can also be found below:

• Upper Sixth Online Parents' Evening - Thursday 4 March 2021
• Year 10 Online Parents' Evening - Thursday 11 March 2021
• Virtual Careers Fair (Year 10 to Upper Sixth) - Saturday 20 March 2021 (register by Friday 5 March)

Saturday 6 March 2021 - 10.30am to 11.30am 

On Saturday 6 March 2021 from 10.30am to 11.30am Crackley Hall will be holding a Virtual Open Morning to give prospective families an insight into the many aspects of school life at Crackley Hall and Little Crackers and the firm foundation they give children for their future learning.

From September 2021 the school will be having two Reception classes. There is also availability for places in Year 3 next year with some places also available in other years. The final deadline for applications this year is Friday 21 May 2021.

The nursery has recently undergone a refurbishment and places are currently available in our Badgers (Pre-school), Hedgehogs (3s) and Dormice (2s) age groups.

For more information and to register for the event please contact Admissions Secretary, Mrs Jenny Vaughan on 01926  514410 or email admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk.

Saturday 13 March 2021 - 10.30am to 11.30am

On Saturday 13 March Crescent School will be holding a Virtual Open Morning.

Hosted by Joe Thackway, Headmaster, the event will comprise some short pre-recorded videos, including a tour of the school. There will be the opportunity to listen to presentations by senior members of staff that will give an insight into different aspects of the education the school provides, how Crescent supports its pupils to achieve great things and the admissions process. There will also be the opportunity for parents to ask questions during the live event.

The school has availability in Reception and Year 1 for September 2021 entry, there is quite limited availability in other years, for details please speak to our Registrar, Helen Morley. The final deadline for applications for 2021 entry is Friday 21 May 2021. Registrations are being taken for Reception 2022.

For more information and to register for the event please contact the Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley, on 01788 523851 or email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk.

The Parents' Reading Group has been running for many years now. A group of parents get together once a month to discuss a book we have all previously agreed on. It's an opportunity for readers to share their reading interests with others and to pick up suggestions to broaden their own reading. We are very eclectic in our tastes and completely unpretentious. We'd welcome newcomers and can guarantee all a warm and friendly welcome when we are once again able to meet.

As circumstances will not permit us to meet at present many of us have kept in touch about books via email.  Please let me know if you’d like to be on the reading group emailing list (chriskerrigan@princethorpe.co.uk) and I’ll add you to it. We look forward to welcoming a few new faces when permitted to meet, but until then we’ll continue to share reading suggestions via email.

Chris Kerrigan
Head of English

British Science Week takes place every year in March as an opportunity to celebrate science and technology.  This year the theme is Innovating for the Future and there will be competitions and special projects in science lessons.  These will enable pupils to develop their skills such as being observant and logical as well as creative and imaginative, which are all needed to be successful in scientific careers. 

Our STEAM Prefects Lauren and Praj are also preparing an assembly on Smashing Stereotypes in Science to challenge preconceived ideas about what scientists look like and celebrate diversity and the variety of scientific paths that can be pursued. 

To encourage scientific investigation in our pupils please follow this link to see a collection of fun experiments that can be carried out at home, all explained by our Science Ambassadors. Pupils can send in pictures of these or other ‘Kitchen Science Experiments’ to gain merits and the best entry will receive a prize too, further details can be found in the link.  Years 7 – 9 can get started on celebrating Science Week by taking part in a poster competition on this year’s theme with further details here.  All entries can be emailed to fayeroberts@princethorpe.co.uk       

To celebrate British Science Week, that takes place from 5 - 14 March, we are offering pupils the chance to win lots of house points and earn a Da Vinci merit! We would like them to write a 300-500 word essay about a STEAM innovator who they find inspirational. These can include: scientists, engineers, artists, mathematicians, designers, computer scientists, and more!

Princethorpe's STEAM Ambassador, Deputy Head Girl, Lauren Mason explains, "When choosing an innovator, pupils should think about diversity, as we are interested in innovators from all over the world. Then also, how current they are, as we are looking for interesting people who are having an impact on their field right now. Perhaps there is someone your family know who they can write about?"

In the essay, pupils should include:

• What the innovator’s job is
• What they are currently researching or working on
• Why they admire them
• A bibliography of any resources they use

The competition is open to all pupils and judging will be in two separate categories of KS3 and KS4/5. Prizes will be 10 house points for every entry, with a 1st prize of 100 house points and a Da Vinci, 2nd prize 75 house points and 3rd prize 50 house points.

The closing date for entries is Friday 5 March and details of how to submit entries are on the House Teams.

Good luck everyone!

Year 9 parents will have received a communication from me on Friday 12 February at approximately 3.30pm with links to recordings from the Options Information Evening on Thursday 11 February and reiterating the next steps in the GCSE Options process including completing the GCSE Option Choices survey.

Please make your choices by completing the survey by 9.00am on Monday 1 March 2021.  The survey can also be accessed here.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic

The Upper Sixth Parents’ Evening will take place on Thursday 4 March 2021 from 6.00pm to 8.30pm. It will be hosted virtually through of a series of Microsoft Teams meetings with your child's teachers. Meetings will be booked online in five or ten minute slots and you will have received details this week by email of how to book appointments. 

Dr Liz Pyne
Assistant Head – Teaching and Learning

Reports for Year 7 will be published on Friday 5 March 2021.  They will also be available to view on My School Portal.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic

The Year 10 Parents’ Evening will take place on Thursday 11 March 2021 from 6.00pm to 8.30pm. It will be hosted virtually through of a series of Microsoft Teams meetings with your child's teachers. Meetings will be booked online in five-minute slots. Further details will follow on how to book the appointments.

Please be aware that for subjects where teachers teach more than one set, teachers may be in contact with you via email before the Parents’ Evening to update you as to your child's progress as there will be more pupils than available meetings.

You can find a list of your child's teachers under Teacher Contacts on MySchoolPortal.

Dr Liz Pyne
Assistant Head - Teaching and Learning

Reports for Year 8 will be published on Friday 19 March 2021.  They will also be available to view on My School Portal.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic
 

Progress Reports for Year 9 will be published on Friday 19 March 2021, and will be available to view on My School Portal.  

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic 

DT Teacher Mr O’Hara is delighted with the work his Year 7 pupils completed for their recent Robots project. Pupils spent three weeks in the latest lockdown sketching, designing and creating Robots out of materials they had available at home. They developed their free hand sketching and practised a range of design and construction techniques and the results were really impressive.

Mr O’Hara said, “Pupils put in a lot of effort, mastering a range of technical skills and I was very impressed with the results. I wanted to share their great designs with parents.”

You can see some of the pupils' robots in the gallery.

There has been some seriously scary creativity happening in our Year 7 DT Club. Challenged to design, make and build a monster, Mr Scopes has been truly frightened by the results. 

Well done to everyone and especially to Soren Wasley and Sophie Henry whose work is pictured in the gallery here.

Head of Design Technology, Paul Scopes, has been delighted with the detailed work of his Year 12 Product Design students while they have been under lockdown at home.

With no workshop access they have used the opportunity to develop their design ideas and concepts ready for testing when they are back in the workshops

He shares examples of excellent work by Freya Caine, Joe England, Dan Hatfield and James Jennings here. 

As vaccination jabs are being rolled out in ever increasing numbers and we start the process of lifting lockdown restrictions, this might be a timely moment to reflect on the past months and what as a country, as a community, as a family and as an individual we have learnt from our isolation from what was so familiar a little more than twelve months ago.  Resorting to teacher speak ‘What did you learn?’  Maybe something that can bring us through the next few months, something about ourselves, for example, a greater appreciation of others and how reliant we are on each other.  The term ‘splendid isolation’ has taken on a whole new meaning after many months of being confined to our homes with a longing to see and interact with others.  So, as we hopefully come out of isolation what did you learn?  Scripture has a few examples that might be worth considering.

A reflection on what are you coming out of isolation with?

After 3 days of isolation inside a fish, Jonah came out with a mission and changed a city.

After 40 days of isolation on a mountain, Moses came down with 10 commandments and changed a nation.

And after 40 days of isolation in the wilderness, Jesus come out with power and changed everything.

So, what are you coming out of isolation with?

Following a pause in activities due to COVID-19, JLR are relaunching their Jaguar Land Rover school Education Programme with a two-week virtual work experience initiative for young female and non-binary students, taking place between Monday 8 and Friday 19 March 2021. During these two weeks students will complete a range of online activities providing insight into the different aspects of automotive design and technology, engineering and manufacturing. Students will also learn how to prepare for a career in the automotive industry and discover what early career opportunities are available to them at Jaguar Land Rover.

There will be live virtual Q&A sessions with industry professionals, chances to meet current Jaguar Land Rover employees and complete activities specifically designed to help students to launch their career.

To apply for this programme, students must identify as female or non-binary, attend a school or college in the UK and be in Years 10-13. Applicants must have, or be predicted to achieve, the following qualifications, which are aligned to our Advanced Apprentice programme: Maths and English GCSE at Grade 4-9 or above accompanied by 3 GCSEs including Science, Engineering or Technology at Grade 4-9/A-C.

For more information about the programme, including how to apply, please visit www.springpod.co.uk/jaguar-land-rover-work-experience/

Further weeks will also be available over the coming months focusing on general careers insight, Engineering and Design.

Throughout this virtual insight week, you'll have the opportunity to gain valuable skills, and explore your career options with PwC. You may be interested in doing an apprenticeship, going to university, or maybe you are still unsure, and you simply want to find out more about PwC and the different areas you could consider. The virtual insight week will help you to answer these questions by giving you a flavour of the different business areas on offer, and you’ll hear from staff who have joined PwC from a range of pathways and programmes. 

You will also get to experience some of the business areas for yourself through interactive workshops and demonstrations. Some of the technical skills sessions will be differentiated so that you’re able to select either a ‘beginner’ or ‘advanced’ level based on your individual experience of a topic. You’ll also take part in a variety of skills sessions on topics such as wellbeing, resilience and personal values. These sessions will equip you with the skills and knowledge to help you succeed with a future application to PwC and beyond.

This event is due to take place from 26 to 30 July 2021. Apply for a place here.

Although circumstances are very difficult at the moment, we still hope that our current Year 11 and Lower Sixth might be able to gain some work experience this summer, even in the virtual world. A small number of pupils did manage to undertake a placement last summer, which was a real bonus. Once we have more clear guidelines from the Government about any testing which could take place in the summer, we will be in touch again. Many thanks for your continued support.

Mike Taylor
Work Experience Co-ordinator

The last day before Lent Half Term is traditionally Blue Day here at Princethorpe College with our Sixth Formers wearing blue for charity. Despite the lockdown the fundraising still went ahead, this year in aid of The Graham Fulford Charitable Trust.

To entertain their peers the prefects put together a motivational movie clip that was shared in Tutor Time. They donned an eclectic mix of blue costumes and sang and danced along.

Charity prefect, Hannah Bryer, co-ordinated the production of the clip putting everyone's cameo performances together. Hannah explains, “Unfortunately we couldn’t celebrate Blue Day in person this year, but I didn’t want the event to be forgotten. The prefects liked the idea of a Blue Day Video overcoming the barrier of lockdown, so we all voted for the songs we liked best and they sent me footage of them dancing which I then edited together. It was a fun event to do as we come towards the end of our year as prefects. We chose to donate to the Graham Fulford Charitable Trust this year, as they both test for and spread awareness of prostate cancer, helping people catch it early and treat it sooner.”

Together the Sixth Form raised £131.50 including gift aid. If you would like to support their fundraising you can do so on their justgiving page here.

Help us raise money for our school for free every time you shop online

Princethorpe College PTA is now registered with easyfundraising and you could help us to raise funds for the school at no extra cost to you.

Since our usual fundraising events are on hold at the moment, this is a great opportunity to keep raising much needed funds for the school. When you shop online, with over 4,100 of your favourite retailers, including John Lewis & Partners, Amazon, eBay, notonthehighstreet, you will raise free donations for Princethorpe College PTA.

If you’re not already signed up, it only takes a few minutes, then you can begin using the easyfundraising website or app straightaway - simply shop online as normal. This will be an enormous help to the school, at no extra cost to you.

Visit our easyfundraising page here to get started and thank you for your continued support of the PTA.

The Broadway Arts Festival’s short story competition is taking place again this year. The Julia & Martin Wilson Short Story Prize was introduced to encourage creativity and imaginative writing and we were very proud that last year’s U16 winner was Princethorpe College Year 11 Seb Dibb.

If you are interested in taking part in this year’s competition then you can find out more information here: broadwayartsfestival.com/short-story-prize

The closing date is Wednesday 31 March.

Well done to those who have managed to continue with their physical, volunteering and skills sections despite lockdown.  Do please keep logging your hours and recording evidence.  Some pupils have even signed off sections, a fantastic effort! 

If you haven’t started, you should consider utilising the DofE temporary changes.  DofE have provided additional options so that you can complete your award despite the pandemic.  

https://www.dofe.org/dofewithadifference/activities

In addition to the email sent to pupils and parents with full details, further resources can be found on MySchoolPortal.  

Expedition Update  

Following the Government announcement on 22 February we are working on a plan for the expedition element of the award.  Please keep an eye on your emails, I will contact pupils and parents directly next week with further information.

It is also looking very likely that we will use the Option 2 expedition plan where pupils complete local day walks rather than overnight camping for the bronze and silver practice trips.  The gold practice will be postponed until the June qualifying dates.

Well done for your continued efforts to complete your award, my priority remains to provide the best possible DofE expedition experience for pupils. 

Will Bower
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager

Bronze 

Well done to all who have completed their award so far; certificates will be distributed in due course.

For the remainder of participants, please prioritise this over the coming weeks by uploading your physical, volunteering and skills section assessor reports. 

For help please refer to the DofE temporary Changes Update, eDofE Completion Guide and the Electronic Assessor Report Guide.

Mr Robertson and I will be in touch to complete the DofE Completion Drop-In Sessions online.

Silver and Gold

Well done to those who have managed to complete their physical volunteering and skills sections; excellent work. An update regarding the qualifying expeditions will be sent out in due course as the lockdown restrictions are lifted.  

For help please refer to the DofE temporary Changes Update, eDofE Completion Guide and the Electronic Assessor Report Guide.

I will contact participants to help you to sign off your volunteering, physical and skill sections. 

Will Bower
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager

Please see below our current vacancies:

• Teacher of Chemistry (Princethorpe College)
• Teacher of Science and DT (Crescent School)

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

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

Please remember to top up your child's catering account to help ensure a smooth return to school on Monday 8 March. 

You can quickly and easily check your child's current balance and top up online using WisePay here.

A very warm welcome back to school from all the Holroyd Howe catering team.

We are pleased to announce our new menus have been created,  compiled from the feedback on the survey which you all completed back in December of last year.  Thank you for taking the time to do this for Holroyd Howe.

The menus will be in place from Monday 8 March 2021, so make sure to look out for your suggestions.

Please view the menu for week 1 here and week 2 here. 

Those all-popular meal deals and special offers are also back, so don’t forget your loyalty cards for those coffee breaks and lunch time offers.

There is still so much more to come over the next few weeks and months.

Look out for our themed days and taster tables for you to sample new foods, dishes and ingredients and ideas for you to take home and create for yourself and your family

We are looking forward to the coming weeks to enable us to share with you all our new ideas and themes.

Andrew Williams
General Manager - Holroyd Howe

Cyber-crime – please be extra vigilant

Parents are asked to be vigilant when reading emails relating to the payment of school fees and any other items to the Foundation. You can protect yourselves by only making payments to us in line with our normal, published methods. Any email offering a large discount on fees for the coming academic year if paid immediately is fraudulent.

There has been no change to the bank details of Princethorpe College, Crackley Hall or Crescent Schools and there is no intention to make any changes in the foreseeable future. Any electronic notification that appears to be from any of the Foundation schools changing these details may be fraudulent. Our bank details are available on the Parent Bills, the Online Payment Portal and in the Information Booklet for each school, and only those details should be used.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or my colleagues in the Bursary if you are have any doubts about the correct details or indeed if anything appears suspicious.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar