The Flagpole

The new Princethorpe College Prefect Body and Subject Ambassadors for 2021-2022 have been announced. They will take on their new roles after the Easter break but the students were confirmed in their new roles and presented with their badges of office in school last Friday.

The College wishes good luck to the new prefect body and subject ambassadors for the year ahead and extends warm thanks to the outgoing prefects and ambassadors, they have given great service and we wish them all the best for their upcoming assessments and future endeavours.

As previously announced the new Head Boy and Head Girl are Anthony Convey and Caitlin Mason. They will be supported in their roles by Deputy Head Boys Ben Scares and Ciaran Smith and Deputy Head Girls Victoria Heritage and Nell Johnston.

Full details of the full 2021-2022 Prefect Body can be found here.

Details of the 2021-2022 Subject Ambassadors can be found here.

We look forward to working with the senior student teams and congratulate them all.

The Foundation has recently announced that it is seeking a new Director of Development.

We are now actively recruiting for a highly experienced and passionate Director of Development to take our fundraising to new heights. 

Comments, Ed Hester, Headmaster, “We thank Chris wholeheartedly for all his efforts and hard work over the last two years. He has successfully raised the profile of bursaries and our Science + Campaign. Under his leadership the team has made good progress and we are now at a critical stage in our fundraising, particularly in regards to the new £8 million Science Centre, which we hope to be able to go to tender for in the autumn.”

He continues, “We are looking for a very special individual who is completely in tune with our values and ethos. They will report directly to me and will sit on our Executive Senior Leadership Team. We hope to appoint by the end of April, with a view to the new Director of Development joining us in the summer, in the meantime I will be working very closely with the Development Office and championing our fundraising efforts.”

For more information on the new role visit https://www.theprincethorpefoundation.co.uk/join-us.

Head of Benet House and English Teacher, Lisa Challinor, is to take up a new role from September, as Director of Wellbeing, Values and Skills at King’s High School.

Comments, Ed Hester, Headmaster, “We would like to congratulate Lisa on her new role. She has been an important part of the Princethorpe family for 11 years and we offer our heartfelt thanks for her commitment to and support of our pupils, as part of our teaching and pastoral teams. We wish her all the very best in her new endeavour.”

The College is delighted to announce that Faye Roberts has been appointed as the new Head of Benet House. Faye, who is currently Head of Biology and Acting Head of Science and was previously House Activities Leader, will take over the reins at the start of the Michaelmas Term.

Faye has taught at Princethorpe for 11 years fostering her many pupils’ love of the biological sciences and encouraging engagement and participation during her time as House Activities Leader. She has led the College’s Expeditions to Costa Rica, Ecuador and Borneo and during the 2018-2019 academic year took a sabbatical, to travel and volunteer in the developing world. In her spare time Faye likes to get outside and go camping and hiking.

Comments Ed Hester, "Faye is a long-standing and valued member of the Princethorpe community with a wealth of experience. Her warm, positive approach will provide a supportive environment for Benet pupils that will help get the best out of everyone."

Faye Roberts added, "The Spirit of Family ethos here at Princethorpe means so much to me and I am looking forward to getting to know all the Benet pupils over the coming months.”

Princethorpe’s STEAM essay competition attracted plenty of entries and Deputy Head Girl and STEAM Ambassador, Lauren Mason, was delighted with the response.

Lauren explains, “I was very impressed by both the large number and excellent quality of the essays entered into our British Science Week competition. The submissions were thoughtful and well researched, covering a wide spectrum of different careers in STEAM. It was good to see an even mix of men and women, and many different nationalities represented, smashing stereotypes and truly showing just how diverse the world of STEAM really is. Innovating for the future was the theme of this year’s British Science Week, and Princethorpe’s entries embodied this sentiment perfectly.”

After careful consideration prizes were awarded as follows:

1st – Jack Dando (Benet, Year 9) for his essay on Peter Zumthor, a Swiss architect
2nd – Mia Petrucci (More, Year 7) for her essay on Erin Smith, a teenager who developed AI technology used to detect early signs of Parkinson’s disease
3rd – Amaanya Bose (Austin, Year 9) for her essay on Issey Miyake, an innovative Japanese textiles designer

In addition, there were eight highly commended entries written by Year 9 pupils, Ed Twyman, Sammie Borland and Jack Fleming; Year 8 pupil, André Onyekwe; and Year 7 pupils, Soren Wasley, Charlie Atkins, Megan Thandi and Alex Lloyd.

For his first place Jack receives 100 house points and a da Vinci merit, in second place Mia receives 75 house points and a da Vinci and Amaanya’s third place earns her 50 house points and a da Vinci. Housepoints and merits were also awarded to all of the entries as the standard of the submissions was so high.

Congratulations to all of the entrants, we were really impressed by your thoughtful and well-constructed analysis of your chosen inspirational STEAM innovators.

You can read the winning essays in a booklet attached here. 

Congratulations also to all our other British Science Week competition winners who were presented with their prizes by Mrs Roberts in school this week: Soren Wasley, Kaena Wasley, Isla Farrelly, Jess Sarkies, Ben Jones, Pip Evans, Penelope Jones, Noah Nix, Cara Ridd, Martha Harris and Jonjo Boyle.

Congratulations to Year 8, Chloe Potts who has won the Warwickshire-based charity Kissing It Better's poetry competition for schoolchildren.

More than 70 children entered the Kissing it Better and Leycester House Care Home competition, helping to light up the lockdown for residents of the care home with their poems, and Chloe was one of two winners in the 11 to 14 years age group.

The theme for the poetry competition was ‘What happiness means to me’ and this week on Wednesday 25 March, Chloe was invited to read her poem to the Leycester House Poetry Club, over Zoom.

Caty Oates, Project Director at Kissing it Better commented, “The residents have been delighted by the amazing response to the competition, and touched that so many children took the time to think of brightening the day for them. The quality of writing was incredibly high and the residents were impressed with the powerful imagery in many of the children’s poems.”

Head of Benet House and English teacher, Miss Challinor, commented, “Chloe’s poem is so beautiful and I loved reading it, I found it so moving. We are all very proud of her.”

A huge well done to Chloe! You can read her lovely poem here.

We had hoped to give you more information on our 1:1 Digital Device Scheme in this issue of The Flagpole, unfortunately this is not possible currently. We hope to be able to communicate further after the Easter holidays.

Please be advised that while we hope to move to 1:1 devices for Years 7 to 9 before the end of the Trinity Term, we will only move ahead with this when the scheme is in place.

Andy Compton
Assistant Head - Director of Digital Strategy

The Oxford University Computing Challenge 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 identification and decomposition as well as computer programming. The Oxford University Computing Challenge encourages pupils to develop their skills one stage further and consists of three sections of problems for pupils to solve.

Year 7 pupil, Daniel Oven Gibbs competed in the Junior section against just over 2,700 pupils who had qualified for this year’s OUCC competition. Daniel finished in the top 15%, achieving a Merit grade for his submission. It was a super result.

Head of Computer Science, Adam Depledge said, “This is a really fantastic achievement by Daniel. Computational thinking is an incredibly useful and powerful skill and Daniel has shown he has mastered it to a level well beyond his years. It’s great to see his abilities recognised in such a prestigious competition at such a young age and we look forward to seeing what he can accomplish in the future.”

Designed to challenge and inspire, the UK Chemistry Olympiad is a national chemistry competition run by the Royal Society Of Chemistry. Hosted annually, it is aimed at students in the Sixth Form and offers a unique opportunity for chemistry students to develop their thinking and problem-solving skills and test their existing knowledge of chemistry in situations from the real-world.

The results of this year’s competition have just been received and all three Upper Sixth students who took part in the 2021 Chemistry Olympiad have achieved a certificate. Lauren Mason and Alex Rejali are awarded Silver certificates (Lauren was just two marks off a Gold), placing them in the top 23% of all the participants. Lizzie Ridd was just one mark off a Bronze and received a well-earned participation certificate. The Princethorpe trio faced tough national competition and we congratulate them all on their excellent results.

As the Lent Term draws to a close it is time once again to recognise and celebrate the many pupils who have risen to the challenge of the College’s ethos.

This term Assistant Head Co-curricular, Neil McCollin, congratulated 142 pupils from across the College who had been nominated by members of staff for recognition for their achievements. All had tried their best; some had excelled or showed commitment to the performing arts or academic studies, whilst others had gone over and above for their House or Tutor group. All were an outstanding example for their peers.

Mr McCollin thanked each and every one of them, recognising the commitment and effort they put in and all that they do to enrich school life.

This term congratulations go to:

From Year 7: Charlie Atkins, Jonjo Boyle, Glenys Chapman, Kathryn Flegg, Ariana Gray, Alexa Holland, Conor Horan, Daisy McMurdo, Theo Memetovic, Kyla-Mae Milestone, Rosie Moreton, Daniel Ovens Gibbs, Jorja Parris, Mia Petrucci, Annabelle Ritson, Skye Rotheram, Jess Sarkies, Ellie Stern, Lucas Summers, Megan Thandi, Bella Ward, Ethan Wright and James Wright

From Year 8: Luke Abrahamson, Andre Barnett, Sean Birtley, Bobby Chapman, Emily Glover, Anna Johnson, Jessica Lane, Lorna McCloughlin, Jack Mills, Ben Moore, Sophie Nicolle, André Onyekwe, Chloe Potts and Charlie Wilcox

From Year 9: Jayden Carr, Matthew Carr, Jack Dando, Kobby Enyimayew, Chloe Henderson, Sebastian Hume-Chignell, Lottie Hunter, Giorgio Kleinmann, Harriet Louch, Hamish O’Brien, Zack Oldfield, Kate Pomerleau, James Reynolds, Robyn Shaw, Megan Shipton, Thomas Smith, Jemima Teeton and Sage Westbury

From Year 10: Joe Bird, Mary-Ellen Boyle, Emilia Case, Aryan Chima, Lara Convey, Guy Dawkins, Ella Dunkley, Jess Evans, Amelie Hancock, Darcey Heritage, Amy Hogg, Oliver Llewellyn, Julia Loftus, Oscar Low, Ben Putt, Darcy Reeve, Natasha Thomas, Kyran Vaughan, Toby West, Alice Whittaker, Izzy Wright and Erika Zanyi

From Year 11: Zoha Abbas, Roualeyn Alford, Laurel Arkesden, Elizabeth Boyes, Tom Dodsley, Eve Farquharson, Molly Harper, Mia Johnson, Tom Knight, Ben Murray, Oscar Page, Pratheesh Prabakaran, Rosie Pritchard-Jeffs, Jasmin Rose, Freddie Sutton, Dan Webb and Maddie Wilde

From Lower Sixth: Amelia Burgess, Greg Burford, Freya Caine, Joe England, Robyn Field, Poppy Hainge, Dan Hatfield, Milly Hemmings, Eve Howard, James Jennings, Elsie Kelley, Ishbel Kempton, Tobias Lambe, Caitlin Mason, Ella Mason, John Rabeti, Jack Rochford, Ben Scares, Emily Scrivens, Archie Shields, Ciaran Smith, Olivia Ward and Charlie Wollaston

From Upper Sixth: Lauren Abba, Ben Abrahamson, Hannah Bryer, Sophie Cheshire, Zara Cooke, Tom Crowfoot, Will Crowfoot, Amelia Cunnington, James Gallagher, Arran Knight, Ross Low, Josh Mander, Lauren Mason, Calan McIntosh, Angus Potter, Prajeet Prabakaran, Alex Rejali, Lizzie Ridd, Trinnie Seaman, Seb Shaw, Esme Tolley, Claudia Tyler, Isabella Wardman and Daisy Walker.

This year the Lower Sixth undertook the Physics Olympiad while in home learning: a national competition, notorious for its difficulty. The Olympiad consisted of two multiple choice papers that encouraged students to think creatively within the subject of Physics. It was an opportunity to apply their understanding to a wider context beyond the curriculum.

While being challenging, the Olympiad offered an incredibly valuable experience, by allowing the students to compete with the country’s top young Physicists. The questions ranged from general Physics knowledge to relevant calculations, which kept the challenge fun as students weren’t constrained to only one type of question. Furthermore, due to social distancing measures at the time, the Association responsible for the Olympiad formatted all the questions to be multiple choice, which made the competition completely different from the previous year’s. As it is not graded, there was no pressure to perform and this allowed the students to enjoy the whole experience.

Caitlin Mason commented, "It has encouraged me to approach problems with a different outlook: considering the basic principles of Physics and recognising patterns. I hope to take this on in the future. It was a fantastic challenge, although daunting at the time, and I enjoyed the chance to apply what we have learnt to real-life challenges."

Archie Hancock, said, "My advice to anyone considering taking part in this challenge is to give it a try. It is no secret that it is unorthodox in the questions asked with some relating to the Nobel prizes awarded to Physicists, but it offers an incredibly fun opportunity with a recognised association and I can only thank the Physics department for encouraging me to get involved."

Dan Lee, Head of Physics, added, "The Lower Sixth students took on the Physics Olympiad with great enthusiasm. I am proud of their results and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all those who took part."

The following students were awarded certificates:

Archie Hancock - Silver
Louis Beck - Bronze
Joshua Rawlings - Bronze
Ben Scares - Bronze
Caitlin Mason - Bronze
Mary Lomas - Bronze
Charlie Wollaston - Bronze
Daniel Hatfield - Commendation
Stan Brocklebank - Commendation

The College’s fifth Careers Fair took place virtually this year but that didn’t stop it offering a wealth of insightful information and advice about a whole host of careers. Headmaster, Ed Hester welcomed a capacity crowd of pupils, parents, staff and contributors, all online, on Saturday 20 March, for what proved to be an informative and very valuable event.

Thirty-seven speakers, including current and former parents and Old Princethorpians, gave their time to present on a wide variety of careers and professions. From Accountancy and Law to Veterinary, Engineering, Cyber-Security and Social Work, individual presentations gave pupil attendees from Year 10 to Sixth Form the chance to consider careers, research jobs, listen to advice and ask questions.

The morning began with a keynote speech from guest speaker and Princethorpe parent Dr Charlotte Cowie, Head of Medicine at the Football Association. Dr Cowie’s address was full of words of wisdom. She began by sharing her route to her current role, the challenges and opportunities faced along the way and the breadth of responsibilities it includes. Before moving on to talk about the different career opportunities available in her industry. Her three myth busters were applicable to us all, encouraging but to the point they summarised the reality of the working world. Her advice that ‘talent is not enough – it is discretionary effort that counts’, ‘you need to learn to love what you do’ and ‘you don’t have to know what you want to do – just fake it until you make it’ are applicable to anyone at any stage in their career in any industry.  Dr Cowie spoke from the heart and was inspiring to all.

Thanking Dr Cowie, Ed Hester summed up with the hope that the Careers Fair would succeed in ‘getting pupils on the right track’ and with that the attendees were off for a fruitful morning of exploring careers and universities and life post Princethorpe.

Across the morning pupils attended three virtual sessions, for many this was their first step on the career ladder and it enabled pupils to have a taste of some of the different sorts of career choices available to them.  Feedback has certainly been very positive with parents and pupils commenting on how useful and informative the event was including:

“Please pass our thanks on to all involved; really inspirational and helpful stimulus for the students.”

“It was a great insight into future opportunities and ideas. Dr Cowie’s initial talk was just amazing and so inspiring on so many levels.”

“The speakers made it very interesting and gave a lot of information. It was so helpful. Also we would like to thank Dr Cowie she was so inspirational.”

“Following the Careers Fair on Saturday, I now know exactly what I want to do!”

We are immensely grateful to all the Old Princethorpians, parents, contributors and staff who supported the Careers Fair and to the Careers Team for their organisation of the event.

Recordings of all the virtual sessions are available for pupils to access here. Pupils will need to log in using their school email and password.

The Library and MFL department are pleased to announce that we now have a new collection of popular books written in French and Spanish for pupils to use within their MFL lessons. The idea for the new collection came about as a result of a request made by Jess Lane in Year 8 via the Student Council, and has been generously financed by the College PTA.

The collection includes popular titles such as Harry Potter, Matilda, BFG and the characters Max and Lili. There are also short stories, picture books and factual information books for all ages.

This is a super idea from Jess to encourage pupils to extend their vocabulary and comprehension in a relaxing and fun way.  Any pupils wishing to read the books should contact the Library or the MFL department.

Many thanks to the College PTA for supporting this initiative.

Recent leaver, Dominic Turner-Burr has been awarded first place in the Key Stage 5 Photography category of the Independent Schools Association’s prestigious National Art Competition.

Dominic’s winning work, titled Fighting Back, was part of his A-level Photography portfolio. His striking image explores the challenge of managing the negativity that people experience in their daily lives. It depicts how using numbers and codes helps people to identify and label different coping strategies.

His work took first place in the Regional ISA Art competition back in November and Princethorpe College Head of Art, Paul Hubball, is delighted that Dominic’s work has gone on to take top spot in the national event.

Paul comments, “Many congratulations to Dom, he is a worthy recipient of this award. His entry was exceptional and is a product of the many hours of work he put into it. It is marvellous to see his talent rewarded in this way.”

This recognition is also a testament to the depth and range of talent in Princethorpe's Art and Photography Department.

A huge well done to Dom!

Five of our top Physicists in Year 11 took part in the Intermediate Physics Olympiad on Wednesday 17 March. It's a competition that tests pupils’ knowledge and understanding of basic physics principles, with really challenging problems that go well beyond the standard curriculum. 4,700 pupils from over 200 schools took part this year and were awarded certificates - Commendation, Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Due to the pandemic, this year's competition took the format of two 25-minute multiple choice papers sat online, a contrast to the written hour-long paper that would usually consist of short and long answer questions.

Many congratulations to the participating pupils, who were all awarded certificates:

Ed Foster - Commendation
Harry Scott - Bronze
Tom Knight - Silver
Madoc Williams - Silver
Will Hawkins - Silver

Madoc commented, "I found the Physics Olympiad a fun challenge that pushed me and made me take my Physics knowledge to the next level."

Will said, "I really enjoyed the challenge, especially seeing how physics is useful in the real world. Although I was glad it was multiple-choice!"

Tom added, "I saw this as a challenge that I could overcome, and pushed myself to see how much Physics I truly understand."

It was a great enrichment activity for the boys.

Year 10 are up next, save the date for Friday 7 May.

Dan Lee
Head of Physics

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: 

• Jesus Christ Superstar streamed - Thursday 1 April to Thursday 8 April 2021
• Spring Concert - Friday 23 April

Streaming Thursday 1 to Thursday 8 April 2021

Tickets are now on sale for our fabulous virtual production of the 1970s rock opera hit, Jesus Christ Superstar.

It promises to be a highly entertaining show, featuring a number of classic rock musical numbers including Gethsemane, I Don’t Know How To Love Him, Everything’s Alright and of course the powerful anthem Superstar.

The virtual production will be streamed over the Easter period from Thursday 1 to Thursday 8 April 2021. Tickets cost £15 per family and you will be able stream the show as often as you like during that week. Due to the strict copyright laws, it will then be taken down after a week, never to be seen again. 

Tickets are available to Princethorpe Foundation families through My School Portal by clicking here. If you would like to invite family and friends to purchase a ticket then please ask them to use the booking system here and select any date and time.

Please purchase your tickets by 9.00am on Monday 29 March. The streaming links will be sent out on Wednesday 31 March. 

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

Thursday 1 July and Monday 5 July 2021

We can now confirm that the Headmaster’s Thanksgiving Service and Buffet Lunch will be held on Thursday 1 July and the Year 11 Prom will be held on Monday 5 July at Coombe Abbey in Coventry. We sincerely hope that these events can take place - we have our fingers crossed.  

We hope Year 11 and their parents will be able to join us for these celebratory occasions.

Progress Reports for the Lower Sixth will be published today, Friday 26 March 2021, and will be available to view on My School Portal.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic 

Please click for here the Easter holiday homework expectations.

Thank you 

Dr Liz Pyne
Assistant Head - Teaching and Learning

Individual timetables for the Final Internal Assessments have been sent to pupils and their families via email. Please do keep an eye out for this and contact me should you have any queries.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic 

The Upper Sixth Bridging Programme has been put together specially this year to support our Upper Sixth with their onward studies and future plans. The programme will run from Monday 14 June to Friday 25 June, following their Final Internal Assessments (FIA).  We understand that both students and families may have other plans and so whilst we encourage students to attend, the programme will be optional.

The programme will be on-line on the Monday and Tuesday and then in school on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It will include presentations and drop-in support for university guidance, careers advice and work experience options. We will run classes on topics including personal finance, student loans, pensions, cooking, ironing and basic sewing. On the Friday we plan to host a BBQ and will have our usual last day fun activities as part of the experience.

It is essential that our Sixth Form students feel prepared for the next stage of their lives and our bridging programme aims to support this; it is a unique experience aimed at the needs of this particular year group.

We are available to help students both pastorally and academically throughout the rest of their time with us, and of course we will be available on A-level Results Day (Tuesday 10 August) too, in order to support them in the best way we can.

As you will be aware, at the end of the term, we will celebrate the end of the year with the Headmaster’s Thanksgiving Service and Buffet Supper on Monday 28 June. This will be followed by the Leavers’ Ball on Tuesday 29 June at Warwick House.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss anything at all.

Ben Collie
Head of Sixth Form

To further support our Year 11 pupils with their transition to post-16 studies, we are delighted to be able to offer a Bridging Course programme which will run from Monday 7 June until Tuesday 29 June. This will involve pupils being in school every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the above period (normal school hours).

A major component of this programme is that the pupils will attend lessons in their chosen A-level and BTEC courses. Our experience from last year showed that these sessions supported the transition to A-level studies very successfully and that the pupils felt more prepared for their start in the Sixth Form. In addition, the programme will also include career guidance - including individual interviews, EPQ lessons, games afternoons and other fun activities with their Houses.

On the Thursday and Friday of each week, pupils will be expected to engage in independent learning tasks set by their teachers and will be able to access study skills materials and activities on-line. These two days can also be usefully used to further any opportunities with regards work experience using any contacts you may have.

Those pupils who are not continuing into our Sixth Form may wish to access bridging courses at their new schools or colleges. Alternatively, they can attend our bridging courses when lessons are appropriate and we can provide supervised independent study during the day. They are of course welcome to join in with all the other activities offered during the time of the bridging courses and we will try to accommodate any additional needs.

Pupils will be given a full timetable for the bridging courses nearer the time. We hope the above information will help with your planning of the Trinity Term.

As you will be aware, following the bridging courses we will celebrate the end of the year with the Headmaster’s Thanksgiving Service and Buffet Lunch on Thursday 1 July. This will be followed by the Year 11 Prom on Monday 5 July at Coombe Abbey.

Now that all pupils in Years 7 and 8 should have finished reading their free Bookbuzz book, they have the opportunity to take part in the Bookbuzz Challenge for 2020-21.  They can aim to complete three, five or all ten of the activities set by BookTrust (Bookbuzz Challenge sheets are available from your child's English teacher and online here).  We are running this as an in-house school competition and will be judging first, second and third places in each year group, as well awarding merits and even da Vinci Merits for outstanding work.

The activities give plenty of scope to demonstrate commitment and creativity, so please do encourage your child to get involved.  The deadline for the Challenge is Friday 23 April.  We are looking forward to seeing what the Year 7 and 8 pupils produce.  

Note: Please ensure activities are completed in a Covid-secure manner - for example, in order to 'read your best friend's favourite book', it will need to be put into quarantine first.

Our wonderful Chaplaincy Team have provided the following prayers and blessings for the upcoming Easter Weekend.

A prayer for Good Friday:

Jesus,
Today we pause to remember your sacrificial love,
That shone light into the darkness,
That bore life from such emptiness,
That revealed hope out of devastation,
That spoke truth through incrimination,
That released freedom in spite of imprisonment,
And brought us forgiveness instead of punishment.
Thank you that we can now walk in the light of your life,
Hope, truth, freedom and forgiveness,
This day and every day. Amen.

From www.lords-prayer-words.com

And an Easter Morning Blessing:

May the glory
and the promise
of this joyous time of year
bring peace
and happiness to you
and those you hold most dear.

And may Christ,
Our Risen Saviour,
always be there by your side
to bless you
most abundantly
and be your loving guide.

Author Unknown

Today our Year 11 pupils were able to collect their hoodies and they were all quick to put them on. Now a tradition for most schools, we know that the hoodies will always be a tangible memory of their time at Princethorpe and their fellow pupils. They provide a sense of belonging and of community and in the long distant future we hope they will prompt wonderful memories of their Princethorpe school days.

The Immunisation Team will be back in school on Friday 23 April to offer all Year 8 pupils the first dose of the Human Papilloma Vaccine (second dose due in Year 9)

This will also be an opportunity for Year 9 Pupils to catch up on any vaccinations missed during this academic year. (HPV 1 and Diptheria Tetanus/Polio and Meningitis ACWY). There may also be a very small number of Year 10 pupils who have missed a vaccine.

Year 9 pupils were scheduled to have their second dose of HPV in June 2021; this date has now been postponed to allow the Immunisation Team to cope with a backlog caused by our most recent lockdown.

I will send out further details and consent forms nearer the time.

If you have any queries please do contact me at paulagreig@princethorpe.co.uk

Mrs Paula Greig
Senior Matron 

We are delighted to announce the new dates for the end of year celebrations:

Tuesday 29 June Upper Sixth Leavers' Ball - Warwick House

Thursday 1 July Lower Sixth Formal Social - Coombe Abbey

The Swansea University Law and Criminology Showcase is a two day virtual event, which will introduce you to studying law or criminology at degree level. This event will offer you a range of live taster sessions, as well as provde useful resources for you to get a real taste of student life at Swansea.

Highlights include live taster sessions, talks from guest speakers, an opportunity to research your career options and to learn more about the student experience.  

The event is due to take place on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 April 2021, and is open to Year 12 and Year 13 students. 

Find out more and register here. 

Video recordings of the industry and university speakers, that spoke at the 2021 Virtual Careers Fair are now available for pupils and parents to view. They cover a wide range of careers and professions from Accountancy and Law to Veterinary, Engineering, Cyber-Security and Social Work. The individual presentations give pupils a great insight into different careers.

Pupils can watch their chosen sessions again or explore different sessions by following the link here and logging in with their school email and password.

We have hosted our annual House netball competitions over the last couple of weeks and it was the turn of the Senior Girls last Wednesday. Due to the year-group bubbles the Senior Girls roped in the Senior Boys to make up numbers for their House teams. All the year groups played their tournaments with great spirit and a huge amount of enjoyment. The boys had a quick crash course on the rules and although they did struggle in getting to grips with them, what they lacked in knowledge they made up for in enthusiasm and athleticism.

A huge well done to them all. The final results were:

Year 11
1st Austin
2nd More
3rd Benet
4th Fisher

Year 12
1st Fisher
2nd Benet
3rd More
4th Austin

Year 13
1st More
2nd Austin
3rd Benet
4th Fisher

Please don’t forget that Princethorpe College PTA is registered with easyfundraising. So, although we’re unable to get together and hold fundraising events in person, we can continue to raise free funds, at no extra cost to you.

When you shop via the easyfundraising website or app, with over 4,100 of your favourite retailers, including John Lewis & Partners, eBay, Amazon and many more, you will raise FREE donations for the school.  

If you’re not already registered, please visit our easyfundraising page here:

This will really make a difference to our school! Thank you for your support.

An exciting new club is starting for Year 7 pupils after the Easter holiday. During weekly training sessions Academy Trainees will learn all about different Forensic Science techniques, from fingerprinting and blood splatter analysis to footprint evidence and soil samples. As well as how to process a crime scene and even hand writing analysis.

All this will build up to a final Crime Scene Challenge on Tuesday 29 June (4.00pm to 6.00pm) where pupils will have to search the college to find evidence and process crime scenes to solve a deadly mystery that will take place at Princethorpe. Certificates will be awarded at the end of the challenge as our trainees become Princethorpe Forensics Scientists.

Interested pupils can contact me at fayeroberts@princethorpe.co.uk to express an interest and should come along to the first session on Tuesday 20 April in LF65 at lunchtime.

Faye Roberts
Acting Head of Science

Year 9 Bronze 

Following the recent meeting, an email will be sent over the Easter holiday containing the final information for the practice expeditions. This will include a reminder about the kit, timings, Covid protocols and a summary of what is required to complete your volunteering and skill sections. 

Any outstanding consent, code of conduct and kit forms should be posted to Mr Bower as soon as possible.  

Year 10 Silver 

A reminder that the Teams training seminar will take place on Monday 29 March, 11.00am to 12 noon. Prior to this please ensure you submit the 10 online training booklet quizzes. 

Any outstanding consent, code of conduct and kit forms should be posted to Mr Bower as soon as possible. Final expedition details will be confirmed via email over the Easter holiday. 

Lower Sixth Gold 

Please refer to the email regarding the amended expedition dates sent earlier in March. I will arrange a meeting early in the Trinity Term to discuss the plan. 

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

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.  

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; a fantastic effort!  Certificates have been sent directly home.

For the remainder of participants please prioritise this over the Easter holiday 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 with an updated plan for the DofE Completion Drop-In Sessions. 

Silver and Gold  

Please refer to your emails for details of the new Year 11 Silver and Upper Sixth Gold Qualifying Expedition dates.  

Well done to those who have managed to complete their physical volunteering and skills sections; excellent work. 

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

Please contact me if you need help to sign off your volunteering, physical and skills sections

Will Bower
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager

Parents are reminded of the notice requirements according to our terms and conditions.

A term’s notice is required if a pupil will not be returning to the school. Notice must be in writing, addressed to the Headmaster, via the Registrar, Mrs Rooney by the first day of term.

All letters are acknowledged within seven days; if you do not receive an acknowledgement then please contact the Registrar immediately. 

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

To assist us with our planning of teaching sets and timetabling, please could you let us know in writing to Mr Hester by Wednesday 21 April 2021, if you do not wish to take up the offered Sixth Form place. 

This would meet the term’s notice of withdrawal as set out in our terms and conditions.

If a decision is made subsequently not to take up the offered Sixth Form place and a term’s notice has not been given, you will be liable for the term's fees.

Eddie Tolcher 
Foundation Bursar

Please see below our current vacancies:

• Foundation Development Director
• IT Infrastructure and Network Manager
• IT Engineer

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 find below the Term Dates for 2020-21 and 2021-22.

2020-21 (two page document) - updated 20 November

2021-22 (two page document) 

Lent Term 2021 Notice

Princethorpe College will finish for the Easter holidays as per our published Term Dates on Friday 26 March. Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 March are in-service training (INSET) days at Princethorpe. These days will be used by the teaching staff for important safeguarding training, to revise our curriculum and schemes of work for all year groups in the weeks and months ahead and critically, to progress the work of gathering evidence, analysis and preparing the assessments that are required by the government to produce Teacher Assessed Grades for Year 11 and Upper Sixth in order to be able to award their GCSE and A-levels in the summer.

Both the Foundation preparatory schools, Crescent School and Crackley Hall School, have decided to forego their planned training and extend their term by two days to enable the children to have additional in school learning and will finish on Tuesday 30 March.