The Flagpole

As we come to the end of a busy half term I’d like to congratulate our pupils and staff on all their many and varied achievements over the last few weeks, from the setting and taking of online assessments, to huge levels of engagement in House Challenges and Tutor Time and unwavering commitment to their Home Learning and Post-16 Courses. It is truly amazing to see what we have achieved together as a community.

The planned re-opening of the College for Year 10 and Lower Sixth after half term is of course, foremost in our minds. Our team has worked tremendously hard to pull together what we feel is a robust and comprehensive plan to enable these year groups to have meaningful face to face contact with their teachers and a positive educational experience, whilst minimising the risk of infection.

Our approach necessarily differs somewhat from that of the Foundation junior schools where creating a ‘bubble’ for the pupils, as outlined by the government for primary schools, is possible. The government guidance for senior schools is much more limited but recognises for secondary schools that there will be some subject specialist rotation of staff. 

With GCSE and A-level option choices and setting in key subjects such as English and Maths, it is our view that it would simply not be possible for pupils to be limited to just one group when coming into school. Rather we have focused on strict social distancing measures between pupils and staff at all times and a thorough cleaning regime throughout the school day to minimise the risk of infection.

Comprehensive risk assessments and final planning documents are now mostly in place and will be further scrutinised over the days ahead to ensure we are fully happy with compliance of regulations, health and safety.

As I write, I am aware that the Independent SAGE Report has just been published and we are also expecting a further government announcement next week; we hope these will give further clarity and that we get the green light to go ahead as planned. We will of course communicate our full plans with parents, pupils and staff in good time for the planned return to school on Monday 1 June.

Wishing you all a very good Bank Holiday weekend and half term break.

Ed Hester

We are now ending our sixth week of home learning. Here at Princethorpe we have been tackling the challenges day to day to provide the best experience possible for our pupils. Both pupils and teachers have found themselves facing new encounters with technology; it has been an example of resilience by all! We have been amazed by the standard of work submitted by the pupils and their unwavering support of the House challenges, activities and school ethos. Teachers have been delighted by the commitment shown by the pupils to their studies. And of course, parents have played a vital role in the home learning experience too, providing support and encouragement when needed.

We will be moving to our next ‘phase’ of home learning after half term. New challenges will continue but we have been making plans to ensure that all pupils continue to receive the best possible experience allowing for safety and progress.

For our Year 10 and Lower Sixth, contact with their teachers will provide the much-needed dimension to support their exam studies. Individual timetables will be issued and staff are looking forward to seeing and teaching their classes in school. This will support their home learning which will continue on the days they are not at Princethorpe.

For our Years 7 to 9, home learning will continue as per their timetable. We have found that providing the structure of the school day is very supportive to the progress of the pupils and has allowed them to maintain their engagement with their teachers.

The change for Years 8 and 9 concerns the subjects that pupils are currently taking but won’t be continuing with in September. We are making some changes to allow these pupils some extra flexibility.

• For Year 9, they will of course continue with English, Maths, Science and Religious Studies, but then may concentrate on their Option subjects for Year 10 if they wish and leave behind those subjects that they aren’t continuing with. Those Option subjects which will be new to them (Sports BTEC, Sports ED, Business and Psychology) will be setting up Teams to provide background reading material to get the pupils ready for September. This will mean that they will have a head start on their studies and will be motivated to learn.
• For Year 8, it will mean that they will continue with their normal curriculum but will not have to submit any work for those subjects they are not continuing with into Year 9.

In both of those instances, the pupils are of course very welcome to continue as members of their Teams and submit work if they would like to.

We will continue to assess the home learning offering for all pupils in the weeks ahead. What does not change, is our continued desire to provide the best possible learning experience for all pupils.

Dr Liz Pyne
Assistant Head - Teaching and Learning

After a sensational first Social Distance-Sing Spring Concert, Princethorpe’s Director of Music, Gil Cowlishaw, has now pulled together a second virtual Princethorpe At Home Recital for the school community to enjoy.

The event will stream tonight at 6.00pm and promises to be every bit as enjoyable as the Social Distance-Sing Concert was before.

Mr Cowlishaw has once again masterminded the whole event which this time includes 27 performances submitted by pupils from Year 7 up to Lower Sixth, at Grades 1 to 8, some serious, some light-hearted, some downright silly (and wonderful!) and one pupil even using technology to perform a quintet with herself! The performers include pupils, staff, peripatetic teachers and look out for a special performance by the Headmaster, Ed Hester, as well.

The lockdown recital also includes two very special group performances. The first a 12-piece a capella rendition of a mashup of Beyoncé’s Halo and Katrina and the Waves’ Walking on Sunshine and, in support of and as a tribute to Captain Tom and his NHS fundraising walk and all frontline medical staff working in the current crisis, a stirring 40-piece rendition of the moving anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Gil Cowlishaw explains, “Traditionally at this time of year, we have a music recital evening for pupils to share solo and small group items with their parents. The event is always popular so I knew we would have plenty of pupils wanting to perform. I also put out a call to see who would be interested in another group performance and had a great response. It was a lot of work putting it together but I know you will agree that the finished performance is both inspiring and uplifting, it really is very special!”

We will post the finale piece at 7.00pm on social media so do share it with family and friends.

A huge thanks to Gil and his wonderful Princethorpe vocalists and musicians.

It promises to be super entertainment for a Friday evening!!

Pupils and staff have really enjoyed the weekly House Challenges. It has been great to see the enthusiasm and participation in the online House Teams. The new House Captains and the House Activities Co-ordinators have been offering plenty of encouragement and support, keeping all our spirits high and giving this year’s House Cup challenge a bumper start.

Over the last two weeks there have been two more exciting events. In the run up to the VE Day anniversary, pupils were asked to create the British flag, it could take any form but could not be simply painted or drawn. There were some wonderful creative and unusual entries, we had flower flags, cake flags, button flags, flags made from rosettes and from clothes, they were all amazing to see.

Well done to Fisher and Benet Houses who were the joint winners of the Flag challenge. The individual winners included: Anya Watson, Charlotte Fitzpatrick, James Walker, Joseph Newborough, Sophie Cheshire, Wilf Grindal, Dr Gane, Mrs Fielding and Mrs Challinor.

Then came the Land's End to John O'Groats Challenge, making the most of the beginning of the relaxation of the lockdown rules. House Activities Leader, Jess Newborough, challenged everyone to get out and get exercising. To walk, run, swim, ride, cycle or row from Land's End to John O'Groats. It was the not quite Sports Day challenge and every little distance helped.

First over the line, with a superb effort, completing the full distance to reach John O’Groats, was Austin House. In second place and reaching Perth in Scotland were More, third were Benet who made it up to Northumberland and fourth Fisher who reached Long Eaton in Nottinghamshire.

A huge shout out to all who took part, you can see the top 10 contributors for each house in the spreadsheet here.

Many thanks to Jess Newborough and her wonderful House Activities Co-ordinators and House Captains for all their passion and endless energy with the weekly House Challenges. We hope pupils have enjoyed taking part just as much as we have enjoyed seeing all their superb entries.

It has been a fabulous half term of House fun that was finished today with a special afternoon of activities. More on that in the next edition of the Flagpole.

We had a great response to our first ever OP Virtual Event - a Quiz Night held on Friday 15 May 2020 with attendees videoconferencing in from around 30 locations. The event replaced our London Meet which has had to be postponed to March 2021 due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Participants from across the decades included former pupils and parents from the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s and beyond, current staff and former teachers Peter and Liz Griffin, Ed MacFetridge, Greg Hunter and Robert Startin. Dedicated Hong Kong and Asia based OPs Alan Young, Vitus Leung and Anthony Ku even stayed up until the early hours of the morning to join us.

The fun kicked off at 8.00pm, with two quiz sessions with an interval in the middle and the final quiz-goers signed off from the call at around 10.30pm.

Hosted by Headmaster Ed Hester over Zoom, the quiz tested general knowledge, vehicular, sport, film and musical know how in seven challenging rounds. The final round related to all things Princethorpe and a tie breaker of ‘your funniest memory of Princethorpe’ put an additional 20 points up for grabs.

There were several strong teams in the field - special mention should go to the Johnsons, the Rogers family, John Sage, the Campbell/Potters, Moira Rollason, Eddie and Ann Tolcher, the Dodds, the Sharpes, the Roberts and the McBride families.

When it came down to the tie-breaker however it was between the O’Gormans (Lee, Paddy and Meg), who had been very strong contenders from the outset, and the leavers of 2013 (Dan Lane, Chris Bond, Lucy Tallis and Carmen and James Simpson). The 2013 leavers’ memories of Mr Hester in the sports hall on the exploding space hopper, was judged as the ‘funniest Princethorpe moment’ and gained them the extra 20 points they needed to clinch first place with a fantastic overall score of 74 points.

Well done to all the participants, we were delighted to be able to get everyone together via the wonders of Zoom and hope that a good time was had by all.

Many congratulations to Year 11, Seb Dibb, who has won the Broadway Arts Festival’s The Julia & Martin Wilson Short Story Prize.

Introduced to encourage creativity and imaginative writing during the lockdown, in particular by young people, the competition received some 193 entries from writers across the world. The judges, Julia and Martin Wilson, were impressed by the high standard of the stories commenting, “We were surprised and very gratified by the large number of entries and by the very high standard of so many of the stories. Both the prize-winning entries in the Adult and Under Sixteen categories were beautifully written and highly original.”

Seb was inspired to write his story having read Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol and plans to buy some A-level reading material with his prize. He will be studying English Literature, History and Geography in the Sixth Form and will continue to write prose, poetry and play scripts in his spare time. Seb said, “The news that I had won the competition certainly brightened the lockdown. It came as a real surprise.”

Seb’s prize-winning story Broken Heating can be read on the Arts Festival website, along with the Adult winner and the stories awarded ‘Highly Commended’, here: www.broadwayartsfestival.com/short-story-prize/

Well done Seb, we were delighted to hear of your story-writing success.

Former pupil and talented rugby player, Jamie Allenby (who was at Princethorpe from 2015-2018), applied to a number of American universities for a sports scholarship to play rugby.

Jamie was considered for a number of top flight teams, including Life University in Georgia and Lindenwood in Missouri, both of which are Division One Rugby League Universities. Jamie applied via the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), took the SATS (the test for College admissions), sent a show-reel via an agent to support his application and then took part in a number of Skype interviews.

Jamie was aggressively recruited by seven Division 1 colleges and eventually signed and committed to Life University in Georgia. Life (The Running Eagles) are the back to back champions for Division 1 in the NCAA and have only lost one game throughout the USA in the last three years. Jamie will be out in the USA for five years, whilst he studies for a degree in Business and Finance.

It is a very exciting time for Rugby over in the USA, as from October 2020 the sport is rolling out a draft system for talented college graduates similar to the NFL. Rugby is developing into a hugely popular sport.

Jamie left Princethorpe College after Year 11 and went onto Hartpury College. He plays on the second row and as a flanker, and as well as playing for Hartpury, he plays for Old Leamingtonians.

His pre-season training will start in early September with College starting in October.

Jamie said, "I would like to thank Princethorpe College for the huge role they have played in helping me achieve this success, both in terms of the rugby coaching I received and also the help I had to get my GCSE's."

Jamie has set up a fund raising page to help him travel to the USA and is asking that people donate the price of their favourite drink in their local pub, just as if they were buying Jamie a drink to celebrate his success. You can find the page here.

Good luck Jamie we were really pleased to hear your wonderful news and hope you have a fantastic time in the USA.

On Thursday 14 May Princethorpe College shared a virtual ceremony with pupils across the school. The video assembly announced the names of the Sixth Form students awarded the prestigious Princethorpe Diploma and then went on to introduce the College's new Subject Ambassadors.

Headmaster, Ed Hester, opened proceedings by reflecting on the importance of the Princethorpe Diploma, an award created to recognise all those students who give so much to the school. The Princethorpe Diploma is given to Sixth Formers who evidence commitment and contribution across the board, to Academic Studies, Community and Ethos, Service To Others, Work Experience, Co-curricular and Attendance And Punctuality.  It is a testament to these young people's qualities and skills. 

We offer our congratulations to this year’s Sixth Formers awarded the Diploma. A list of recipients can be found here:

Princethorpe Diploma 2020

Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie, was then delighted to announce the new Subject Ambassadors.  A list of the Subject Ambassadors can be found here:

Subject Ambassadors 2020

Assistant Head – Teaching and Learning, Dr Liz Pyne, spoke about the important role of the Subject Ambassadors, the passion they have for their subjects and the work they do to support the wider school community. Princethorpe’s Subject Ambassadors host lunchtime clinics, support pupils attending Princethorpe Prep, promote their subjects, encourage their younger peers to get involved with their subjects and generally work to further the pupil community’s understanding and engagement in their subject area.

The new Subject Ambassadors then spoke to the community to introduce themselves and share their plans for the year.

We congratulate our new Ambassadors on their appointment and offer our thanks go to the outgoing Ambassadors for all their hard work this past year.

The BBC's Father Brown is back on iPlayer so if you missed seeing Princethorpe featuring in this popular detective series then now is your chance.

The College's church and gardens were used in Series 1 in the sixth episode, called the Brides of Christ. The episode was filmed back in the summer of 2012 and featured some of Princethorpe's pupils as nun extras.

The series is based on G K Chesterton’s stories involving the crime-solving Catholic priest Father Brown, played by the Fast Show and Harry Potter films' Mark Williams.

In the episode two nuns die in mysterious circumstances at St Agnes convent, and Father Brown investigates with the aid of Sister Boniface, an eager young fan of detective novels.

Why not settle down to watch - you will see the College in a whole new light!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q8k18

Princethorpe’s very own Learning Support Assistant, Katrina Brittain has been busy upcycling during lockdown and her latest creation was so stunning that it even featured in the newspapers and on TV.

Put off by the price of a lavish light fitting Kat set about creating her own stunning replica using some unconventional craft supplies, bags of pasta shells.
Kat cooked the pasta, rolled it into balls and assembled the balls on a wire frame. After leaving the pasta to dry, she then took her creation into the garden to spray paint it white before hanging it up in her newly decorated house. It took her nine days to make but cost just £5.60, a tiny fraction of the price of the original chandelier.

Kat said, "I love upcycling things I find from Facebook. The house is full of furniture of all different colours now. It's so easy to sand down and repaint a cupboard but building a chandelier out of pasta from scratch well that is definitely something new even for me."

Her imagination and creativity were praised in the press too as Kat and her chandelier featured on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine television show and in the Sun newspaper.

It’s fabulous Kat, we are all very impressed - you will have to do a piece for the Summer Art, Photography and Design Show!

Tuesday 12 May was International Nurses Day, celebrated around the world every year on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birthday.

This year, International Nurses Day gave us the perfect opportunity to salute all the nurses working so hard across the NHS and to especially recognise our very own matron, Paula Greig, who answered the call to return to the NHS. Paula is currently working in A&E in Nuneaton.

So to Paula and to all nurses who provide care and attention to those unwell and in need, we say thank you for all that you do.  

We are looking to get more OP Friendly Faces on board to widen the support network of OPs in universities across the country for the leavers of 2020.

OP Friendly Faces aims to link past pupils established at university with first year OP students. 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 are hoping that many of those who were helped last year will be prepared to be a Friendly Face this year, and that many of those already signed up to help will also be prepared to continue. 

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 new academic year."

The Upper Sixth were emailed with a link to enable them to sign up for OP Friendly Faces and to be added to PC Connect, our alumni database, to receive our termly OP e-newsletter before lockdown. Their PC Connect accounts will go live after half term and their parents will be invited to sign up too. We appreciate that in the current circumstances decisions about university destinations may be somewhat up in the air, so will survey the Upper Sixth again after Results Day to confirm what their plans are and get the ball rolling with OP Friendly Faces as appropriate.

All leavers and their parents are automatically given free membership of the OP Association and are welcome at all of our events.

For more information call 01926 634284 or email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk.

Click here to access the thirty-fourth issue of the Old Princethorpian e-newsletter which was published on Friday 15 May.

This special COVID-19 issue includes the latest Foundation and College news, plus plenty of news and updates from OPs across the decades, including insights into how our community is dealing with the crisis and being in lockdown.

If you are an OP or know an OP who would like to share their news or pictures with us for the next issue due out in mid October please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk by the end of September.

If you would like to be added to the distribution list please email Old Princethorpians' Secretary Melanie Butler or join our Alumni community Princethorpe Connect.

The school remains closed to most pupils, so our usual calendar of events is sadly suspended until further notice. However, we have in place an interim Covid calendar and you can see what is planned on the College website or on My School Portal.

The following key events will go ahead in a modified format:

• Weekly House and Sixth Form Assemblies
• Virtual Musical Recital - Friday 22 May
• Virtual Open Evening - Wednesday 3 June
• Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 Exam Reports - Friday 5 June
• Year 7 and 8 Academic Review Evenings - Monday 8 to Thursday 11 June
• Year 9 and 10 Academic Review Evenings - Monday 15 to Thursday 18 June
• Summer Art, Photography and Design Show 2020 - Thursday 18 June
• Lower Sixth Full Reports Published - Friday 19 June

The format of events will be confirmed nearer the time and details of other events will be published over the coming weeks.

Wednesday 3 June 2020 – 6.30pm onwards

Prospective pupils and their parents are warmly invited to the College’s first ever Virtual Open Evening on Wednesday 3 June from 6.30pm.

The evening will consist of a link to a pre-recorded video comprising an address by our Headmaster, Ed Hester, a visual tour of the College, short video clips of some of our pupils from Year 7 to Sixth Form and fun, interactive subject activities for children to participate in at home. The evening will also provide information as to the admissions process.

The pre-recorded video will be followed by a live streamed Q & A session with Mr Hester, Mrs Rooney, the Registrar, and the senior team from 7.30pm, which parents will be able to submit questions to in advance or on the evening via a chat function.

To sign up for the Virtual Open Evening, please complete the short online form here by Wednesday 27 May.

You will then be emailed the link to the Virtual Open Evening and instructions for the Live Q & A Session on Wednesday 3 June.

If you have any other questions related to the admissions process or Princethorpe generally please contact Mrs Rooney, the Registrar, at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or call her on 07930 601877.

Thursday 18 June from 6.00pm

This year we will be holding a virtual celebration of our pupils GCSE and A-level Art, Photography and Design work on Thursday 18 June from 6.00pm.

On the evening we will publish a link on the College website and social media to a virtual gallery, which will include a range of design technology projects, from resistant materials to textiles, will be showcased alongside the stunning art and photography work the College is renowned for.

Comments, Paul Hubball, Head of Art, "We did not want this year to pass without sharing our pupils' fantastic creativity with a wider audience and through the wonders of technology we will be able to make this happen."

Added Head of Design Technology, Paul Scopes, "Our pupils have worked so hard and it's important that collectively we should celebrate the fruit of their labours."

Across the school home learning has continued with pupils continuing to work hard and engage well. In the History department History teacher, Abigail Adams, has been incredibly impressed by:

Jimmy Frazier in Year 8 produced a super piece of work on Recruitment In WWI - he showed a good understanding of propaganda and excellent insight into the positives and negatives of the PALS Battalions. 

Theo Knight also in Year 8 included fantastic detail on his trench warfare worksheet, really impressing his teacher. Well done Theo! Trench Warfare Worksheet

Dylan Williams in Year 7 took on the challenging task of writing an acrostic poem on the positives and the negatives of becoming a nun in medieval times. Not only did Dylan write poems on both he also cleverly included humour. Acrostic Poems

Ally Forinton also in Year 7 produced and amazing Castle project on Kenilworth Castle. In particular he analysed his sources really well. Castle Project

James Gallagher smashed his end of year essay on: 'Are UK's main political parties becoming increasingly ideologically similar?' The second and third paragraphs really reflect well on the ideology of and manifesto promises made by the political parties in the 2019 election. James will receive a Da Vinci for his excellent essay. Political Parties Essay

Over the past Half Term there have been many excellent example of work across the school, so much so that Mrs Pascoe-Williams is now putting together a special edition of the Pinnacle that will showcase and celebrate pupils' home learning efforts.

Lower Sixth Form Art students have produced some sophisticated work while in lockdown, including exceptional studies exploring different themes.

Claudia Tyler has been looking at the way in which we view the female form and examining issues around body image. Inspired by Jenny Saville she has explored how, in being dissatisfied by what we may see in the mirror, we may try to morph our faces into grotesque poses in an attempt to, ironically, change our appearance for the better.

Keeley Jarrett has been looking at the theme of 'Contrasts' which has led her down the path of considering contrasting light in portraiture and also contrasting emotions. Her self-portraits in different media are inspired by the angst found in the work of Kathe Kollwitz.

Sebastien Shaw has investigated the theme of 'Rituals'. This portrait is a result of his exploration into various psychological disorders including Pica, a compulsive eating disorder in which people eat non food items with no nutritional value.

It is all original and thought-provoking work, as I am sure you will agree.

Firstly I wish to thank you for all of the support for the home learning programme that you have been providing to your child/children.

I am writing to let you know about a new home learning support resource we have put in place for all of the pupils at Princethorpe College in order to help them to make the most of home learning and to be able to use our home learning platform, Microsoft Teams, as effectively as possible.

This new resource is the Pupil Home Learning Guides channel, which is available on our internal video service, Microsoft Stream, and contains a wide range of support videos, explaining how to use a number of features on Teams and Office 365 on both PCs and mobile devices. As an internal service, the pupils must be signed into their Princethorpe accounts to access this, but for your reference the link to the channel is below. I have also attached a contents list, with links, of the videos currently available. The pupils were informed of this new resource on Friday afternoon, and so already have access to this.

Pupil Home Learning Guides channel (requires pupil Princethorpe account sign in)

I hope that you and your children find this a useful resource to help with the technical aspects of home learning. We will be adding further content to this channel over the coming days and weeks, including providing videos specific to accessing and completing online tests for the upcoming assessment week. 

Please also be advised that many other useful documents and resources are available via the Home Learning 2020 section on My School Portal, available here.

Kind Regards

Andy Compton
Assistant Head (Director of Digital Strategy)

Fr Alan Whelan MSC and Mrs Mary Benham, our wonderful Chaplaincy Team, share their thoughts and prayers with us all to help support us during these anxious times.

The phrase, familiar to all parents, ‘Are we there yet!’, seems applicable to our present times. Much like the Israelites as they travelled on their exodus journey and the end was far from being in sight, so too for us as, we travel through this COVID-19 pandemic as we await our liberation from restrictions and eagerly await a return to what we hope and pray to be some form of normality. Little did we think about or possibly appreciate the freedom to interact with our close family and friends. Loved ones now cocooned for their own safety with loving words now communicated through closed windows, ‘phone or internet. Home schooling reminding parents as to how the curriculum has changed since their days behind a desk but grateful appreciation for online classes from teachers. But a glimmer of hope is on the horizon, back to work for some, travel restrictions lifted in part, Princethorpe College opening for Year 10 and Lower Sixth students after the half term break, small gradual steps but a sign of hope. And so we pray:

For the heroes who have ministered to the sick and dying in our hospitals and care homes

For the heroes who have ensured food is in our supermarkets and shops

For the heroes who are searching for a vaccine

For the heroes who have engaged with home learning

For the heroes who now live with the uncertainty of their job security

For the heroes who feel frightened and lonely at this time

For the heroes who have been strengthened by the love of family and friends

For the heroes who have prayed for us during this pandemic

For the heroes … [insert your own intention]

God of Love, we turn to you with prayerful hearts and with confidence in your loving presence among us now and in every moment of our lives. We stand before you as a people of hope, trusting in your care and protection. May we be comforted by your love in these anxious times.

We make our prayer through Christ Our Lord. Amen

UCAS.com has a wealth of information to help you make sense of the application process, as well as a monthly parents’ newsletter. Sign up here to receive all their latest news.

Also, if you’re confused about what loans are available for students and how much you’ll be expected to pay then visit this link at MoneySavingExpert.com for plenty of helpful advice.

Jacqui Quinney
Head of Careers

Whilst the College is closed, Jacqui Quinney, our Head of Careers, will still be providing the following services remotely:

Year 10

Careers Interviews will continue by phone during the school day. Interview times will be emailed directly to pupils on their school email and pupils will be phoned at home at the allocated time. They will need access to the internet preferably using a computer or tablet (not a phone) during the call.

Year 11

Any careers related queries, please email jacquiquinney@princethorpe.co.uk 

Lower Sixth

Students will still be supported as they prepare to make university applications or apply to higher level and degree apprenticeships.

One-to-one interviews will continue by phone – times will be emailed to individual students.

Resources relating to personal statements, choosing universities, choosing a course etc will be sent to students as appropriate, using Teams.

Upper Sixth

Please email any queries regarding university or jobs to jacquiquinney@princethorpe.co.uk

Student Finance applications for students starting their university study later this year are open now.

Please see below some top application tips.

Gather together the right information
To apply, students will need to gather the following information:

·         Passport (or original birth/adoption certificate)

·         University and course details

·         National Insurance number

·         Bank details

Parents who are supporting the application may find it helpful to have their P60 for 2018/19 and any other income information to hand.

Apply early
Students should apply early to ensure that you receive your loan payments in time for the start of the university term. You can do this by visiting www.gov.uk/student-finance

If you are planning to take a gap year, then you don’t need to apply now; you will need to make your application at this time next year.

Apply even if you don’t have a confirmed place
It doesn’t matter if you haven't yet decided where it is you want to study. Just apply using your current first choice and this can be updated easily later through your online account.

Jacqui Quinney
Head of Careers

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 has to be received by the first day of term. Notice must be in writing, addressed to the Headmaster, copying in Mrs Rooney, the Registrar.

All letters are acknowledged within seven days; if you do not receive an acknowledgement then please contact the Registrars immediately at registrars@princethorpe.co.uk

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

Please note that half a term's notice is required if a pupil no longer needs to use the bus service provided by the school.

Parents wishing to give notice should write to Barbara Bromwich in the Bursary or email buses@princethorpe.co.uk.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

Parents may recall paying a deposit when their son or daughter first started at the College. We will write to the parents of pupils in the Upper Sixth regarding instructions for the return of deposits this term and return them in the summer holidays.

We will write to parents of Year 11 pupils who do not return to the Sixth Form in early September. Deposits will be returned at the end of September/beginning of October.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

Please find below our updated Term Dates and Key Dates document for 2019-20, along with the dates for 2020-2021.

2019-20 (two-page document)

2020-21 (two page document)

We will be publishing the Term Dates for 2021-22 after half term.

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.

We continue to receive reports regarding spam emails.  The latest scam offers a large discount on fees for the coming academic year if paid immediately.

This is probably trying to take advantage of the fact that some independent schools have offered discounts for this term and that parents may therefore be more open to such a suggestion. You can always protect yourselves by only making payments to us in line with our normal, published methods.

As advised, there has been no change to the bank details of either Princethorpe College, Crackley Hall or Crescent 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 for Princethorpe in the Information Booklet 2019 – 2020 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