The Flagpole

I hope that you and your families are well. As we move into the final half term of the academic year, I want to thank you for the support that you have given us with the Home Learning programmes and also for the kind messages of thanks, appreciation and support you have been sending in to us – these are hugely uplifting and appreciated by us all.

End of Year Assessments and Feedback

We were really pleased with the way these went within the constraints of remote learning.

Years 7 to 10 all pupils will receive an assessment report, which are published via My School Portal today. This will be followed up with an on-line Academic Review Meeting between the pupil, parent and tutor.

• Year 7 and 8 Academic Review Meetings will take place week beginning 8 June
  
  
• Year 9 and 10 Academic Review Meetings will take place week beginning 15 June

For further details of the Academic Review meetings, please see this section of the Flagpole from Dr Liz Pyne, our Assistant Head (Teaching and Learning). 

Lower Sixth will receive a full report for each of their subjects which will be published on My School Portal on 19 June.

Please note that current Lower Sixth will have an additional set of assessments in week 3 of next term (when we hope they are back in school).

In addition, we have added an extra event: a Virtual UCAS Information and Live Q & A session for Lower Sixth parents from 6.00pm to 7.00pm on Wednesday 1 July. Further details will be sent directly to parents and pupil.

Year 10 and Lower Sixth Return to school on 15 June

After the frustrating news that the earliest return to school for Year 10 and Lower Sixth has been put back until 15 June, we have been working very hard with our timetable planning to deliver a really good programme for these pupils and are really looking forward to getting them back into school.  Further details of this will be emailed directly to parents on Friday 5 June.

Year 11 and Upper Sixth End of Year Celebrations

Whilst we will not be able to hold the Year 11 Prom or the Leavers Ball for Upper Sixth at this time, we are still aiming to organise these later in the year as and when we are allowed.

In the meantime, we will be holding “live” on-line thanksgiving services for these year groups to celebrate the end of an important stage in their education.

• Year 11 will be at 7.00pm on Friday 19 June
  
  
• Upper Sixth will be at 7.00pm on Tuesday 23 June

Both services will include readings, prayer and reflections as well as brief addresses from some staff.  Parents and students will be invited and there will be the facility for the pupils to contribute to the service. We will contact parent and pupils directly with further information in the next week or so.

Finally, in response to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, there has been a proliferation of social media coverage of issues relating to racism. Some of it is empowering, such as Barack Obama’s message on Wednesday, however, some of it is inflammatory, misleading or derogatory which may be very difficult for our children to negotiate. There is clearly a lot for us all to reflect upon and we are putting together resources to help our pupils make sense of the situation; if you do have concerns or would like any support with associated issues, please do contact us at school.

Very best wishes to you and your families.

Ed Hester
Headmaster

The College has announced the decision to move the Entrance Examinations Day for September 2021 entry from November 2020 to Saturday 23 January 2021 in the light of the COVID-19 situation.

The news was shared with prospective parents at a Live Q & A Session on Wednesday 3 June, following the College’s first ever Virtual Open Evening.

The event was very successful with over 400 families taking part. The Live Q&A was especially well received and there has been plenty of positive feedback on the whole event.

Comments, Ed Hester, Headmaster, “We hope the decision to push back the date for Entrance Exams will be welcomed by prospective parents and pupils alike. We are aware that many parents will be concerned about their child’s preparedness for the exams after this long period away from normal school life. By January we hope that families will have had the chance to visit the College in person and that candidates will have settled back into school life and be in a much better position to take the exams.”

The new deadline for registration for the exams is now Friday 4 December 2020.

Full details of the entrance exams, scholarships and bursaries are available in the Revised Admissions and Entrance Exams Booklet for 2021 Entry here.

For further information the College’s Admissions Team can be contacted by email at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or by telephone on 07930 601877.

Princethorpe Connect, the Foundation’s online alumni community, has just reached the major milestone of 500 online members and congratulations go to OP Melissa Scott who has won the latest prize draw.

Melissa, who left Princethorpe in 2016, joined PC Connect towards the end of May. We randomly selected her from the last 100 members to join and she was delighted to hear the good news. Since leaving Princethorpe Melissa has completed a Law degree at the University of Leicester in 2019 and is now in the process of doing her Legal Practice Course (LPC) combined with an MSc in Law and Business in Birmingham.

Aimed at past pupils, past parents and former staff, Princethorpe Connect allows the alumni to find and network with old friends and former colleagues from across the Foundation schools and keep up with news and events.

This year’s Upper Sixth have all been offered the opportunity to register on PC Connect and next week their accounts will go live allowing them to stay in touch with the community as they move on in their lives.

The College is keen to re-engage with all former pupils, parents and staff so please do encourage those you know to register. They can do this easily themselves by going online to https://connect.princethorpe.co.uk/ and you never know they may be the next lucky winners of our new members prize draw.

Are you missing out on Princethorpe? The serenity of the Chapel, the iconic Tower and Quad, the vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows, the echoing tiled corridors, the peace of the Library, the bustle of the Refectory, the hubbub in the Sixth Form Centre, the light airy spaces of the Limes, the acres of sports pitches, the rolling green campus and even those always industrious classrooms?

If so, you might just enjoy our new Virtual Tour. Put together for this week’s very first online Open Evening, it takes you on a trip around the College.

Get a bit of Princethorpe back in your life - we hope to be back there before long!

Virtual Tour

The Princethorpe At Home Recital was the College's second virtual concert and proved to be a real treat.

Princethorpe’s Director of Music, Gil Cowlishaw, had masterminded the whole event which included 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 included pupils, staff, peripatetic teachers and a special performance by the Headmaster, Ed Hester, as well.

The lockdown recital streamed on the Friday before half term and included two 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 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 the finished performance was both inspiring and uplifting!”

If you missed it then the finale of You'll Never Walk Alone can be watched here: https://vimeo.com/421441005

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

At the end of Assessment Week, on Friday 22 May, just before Half Term, the College organised a virtual ‘Friday Fun House’ activities afternoon.

Working together in their Forms, pupils completed a series of seven interactive challenges. Put together and co-ordinated by Assistant Head Co-curricular, Neil McCollin, alongside the House Activities team, the Friday Fun House afternoon of fun included all the traditional Trinity Term House activities, put together with a few extra special new ones.

There was a Question of Sport Quiz with five rounds, that included the famous picture board, a series of quick fire multiple choice questions, Princethorpe’s sporting names and logos challenges and even a guess the mystery sports coach round. Then there was the Spelling Bee, where pupils took part in online tests and the best score for each year group in each form earned points for the Tutor team. There was a very popular Mario Kart race, a Mastermind Quiz round with the specialist subject, the Princthorpe Ethos, a Crystal Maze Treasure Hunt and of course Princethorpe’s very own University Challenge. Finally, there was the weekly Tuesday Challenge were pupils were asked to recreate a famous sporting moment and upload a photo or clip to their House Team.

All of the quizzes were run live in Tutor Team meetings and gave pupils the opportunity to catch up with their Tutor Group as they unwound from the serious studies of assessment week.

The afternoon proved to be fantastic fun for all. Neil McCollin said, “We had a really great afternoon, thank you to all the pupils and staff for joining in so enthusiastically. There was plenty of friendly competition and I really enjoyed joining the forms and seeing it all in action.”

After totalling up all the points the results were very close, with just one point between the top two teams. The results were: 1st Austin, 2nd Fisher, 3rd More and 4th Benet.

After all the scores for all the House activities last term, the Friday Quizzes, the Weekly House Challenges and the Friday Fun Activities afternoon, were collated the housepoint totals now stand at:

1st More 1259
2nd Austin 1169
3rd Benet 990
4th Fisher 813

Well done to all, and thank you to all the pupils and staff for your enthusiastic participation, and a huge thank you to all who work so hard on putting all of the events together.

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
• 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
• Year 11 Thanksgiving Service - Friday 19 June
• Lower Sixth Full Reports Published - Friday 19 June
• Upper Sixth Thanksgiving Service - Tuesday 23 June
• Virtual Induction Event - Wednesday 24 June
• STEAM Lecture - Exo-Planets: Famous Firsts, Boisterous Births And Destructive Deaths - Thursday 25 June

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

Tuesday 16 June 2020 – 6.00pm

Crescent School will be holding its first ever Virtual Open Evening for prospective parents and children on Tuesday 16 June from 6.00pm.

The evening will comprise some short pre-recorded videos including a tour of the school, interviews with our Year 6 pupils and the chance to view our new Crescent promotional film, followed by a live event at 6.30pm hosted by Headmaster, Joe Thackway and other senior members of staff. The live event will cover different aspects of the education the school provides, how it supports its pupils to achieve great things and the admissions process. There will be the opportunity for parents to ask questions during the live event.

The school has announced that this year it will have two Reception classes for September 2020 entry and there is still time for parents to apply. There is limited availability in other years, for details please speak to our Registrar, Helen Morley.

To register for the Open Evening please click here. For more information on admissions please email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk or call 01788 523851 and speak to our Registrar, Helen Morley.

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."

Tuesday 23 June 2020 – 6.00pm

Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery are holding a Virtual Open Evening for prospective parents on Tuesday 23 June from 6.00pm.

The evening will begin with an address by the Headmaster, Rob Duigan, it will include some short, pre-recorded videos including a tour of the school, interviews with our Year 6 pupils and an overview of the admissions process. The event will give prospective parents information on the education the school provides and on how Crackley Hall nurtures and supports its pupils to achieve great things.

The Admissions Secretary, Jenny Vaughan, will follow up with prospective parents after the event to answer any questions they may have.

To register for the event please click here.

For information on availability in the different year groups or any other questions please email admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk or call 01926 514410 and speak to our Admissions Secretary, Jenny Vaughan.

Thursday 25 June - 6.00pm

Princethorpe College is pleased to announce that it has been able to reschedule the lecture on Exo-planets by Dr Dimitri Veras.  The event will now take place as a virtual event on Thursday 25 June at 6.00pm.

Details of how to register for the event will be published in the next edition of the Flagpole.

The field of exo-planetary science is now a quarter of a century old, and its prominence was heightened last year with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physics to two pioneers in this subject. In this talk, Dr Veras will provide an overview of the mounting discoveries of these exo-planets, their smaller cousins exo-asteroids and exo-comets, and the theories which explain their formation, evolution and fate. He will highlight noteworthy exo-planets which, for example, may harbour life or are in the process of breaking up and will conclude by detailing how both the UK and West Midlands will provide significant contributions to this field in the upcoming decades.

Dr Dimitri Veras

Dimitri Veras is an Astrophysicist in the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick who researches the contents of exo-planetary systems in a wide variety of contexts, across both time and space. He has published academic articles about forming, destroying and evolving exo-planets, exo-asteroids, exo-moons and exo-comets while they interact with their parent star or stars. His most significant current research focus is on the future and fate of exo-asteroids, exo-comets, exo-moons and exo-planets: how they traverse the violent giant branch stellar evolution phases and “pollute” their host stars after they become 'white dwarfs'.

In these uncertain times, many of us may find more time than usual for reading.  Although the Reading Group will not be able to meet in the circumstances, please keep in touch via email regarding book recommendations which might be of interest to others - hopefully something warm and upbeat which is what we possibly need right now.  

If any new parents would like to join please email me at chriskerrigan@princethorpe.co.uk

Chris Kerrigan
Head of English

Over the next two weeks you will be invited to a Microsoft Teams meeting with your child’s tutors and co-tutors to discuss progress and future targets. The meetings will follow a very similar format to what would normally occur at our Academic Review Evenings on site.

To support home learning and to be as effective as possible to give you feedback about your child’s progress, we have made some slight changes:

Year 7 and 8

These meetings will occur during the week beginning Monday 8 June. Tutors will have made appointment times with parents. It is expected that pupils will also attend the meeting to discuss their home learning and then to agree their targets for improvement. An overview of academic progress will be discussed.

Year 9

These meetings will occur during the week beginning Monday 15 June. The Academic Review meeting with the tutor/co-tutor will replace the written report for this term. At the meeting, tutors will have all academic data needed to give you a clear overview of progress during home learning. Your child’s tutor/co tutor will be in touch (by email) to make an appropriate time for the meeting. It is expected that pupils will also attend the meeting to discuss their targets for improvement.

Year 10

These Academic Review meetings will take place the week beginning Monday 15 June.  This meeting replaces the Year 10 Parents' Evening for this term. Tutors/co-tutors will be in touch (by email) to make a convenient time for the meeting. During the meeting tutors/co-tutors will have information to share about progress and the results of the assessments for your child. It will be an opportunity for you to discuss all subjects and overall study skills. Importantly, targets will be made for further improvement and summer work and therefore it is expected that pupils will also attend the meeting.

All pupils will revisit their targets in September when returning to school to provide continuity between home learning and the classroom.

Dr Liz Pyne 
Assistant Head - Teaching and Learning

Year 8, Ed Twyman's DT Teacher, Tom Walton, and Form Tutor, Will Bower, have both been very impressed by Ed's practical application of his DT skills during the the lockdown.

Together with his father, Ed built a skateboard ramp, following a design and build video he found on You Tube. They sourced materials, then shared the cutting, drilling and joining tasks 50:50, but Ed did all the measuring and marking out himself. Although the design looks quite simple there are a number of places where there's not much margin for error and Ed's father was very impressed with how accurate his measuring was.

Then as a second challenge Ed got involved with sewing much needed scrubs. He was provided with fabric and a pattern by a member his local village sewing group who was coordinating their local effort. He then used instructional videos on You Tube to work out how to sew the scrubs together.

It is fantastic to see Ed's skills put into practical application and we are very impressed by the results of both projects.

Art Teacher, Sue Harris, is very pleased with Bea Boakes' latest submission. All Mrs Harris' Year 8 artists have been busy working on the Food Glorious Food topic and Bea's oustanding work really caught Mrs Harris' eye.

A super piece of work. Well done Bea.

Art Teacher, Rebecca Blunsom-Washbrook's Year 9 pupils have been enjoying working on the Food Glorious Food Project this term. Their submissions have been excellent and have really impressed Mrs Blunsom-Washbrook.

Evie Teall has been awarded a Da Vinci merit for her realistic drawings of a coke can and a M&M's packet. Evie has been incredibly motivated even though she has been working from home and her work has been really pleasing.

Joseph Newborough is also awarded a Da Vinci for his accomplished drawing, it is a stunning composition with such a realistic presence on the page.

Well done to all of the following pupils, whose work can be viewed in the Gallery.

Evie Teall
Joseph Newborough
Toby Convey
Dina Parmenter
Natalya Elden
Charlotte Lewington
Mary-Ellen Boyle
Emily Andrews

DT Teacher, Tom Walton awarded Year 9, Izzy Wright a Da Vinci merit for her fantastic robot cake. Izzy decided to go ahead and make the cake after completing research tasks in her lessons. It was, reportedly, very yummy. Well done Izzy, it really looks amazing!

English Teacher, Lisa Challinor, was very impressesd with Year 10 Amelie Friess' recent assessment commenting, "Amelie achieved a rare perfect score achieving all 45 marks available for the GCSE response. Amelie writes with a very sharply-observed and entertaining style as she constructs an article focused on how these times bring out the best and the worst in people. The quality of expression, tone and clarity of voice (written in exam conditions) is thoroughly impressive and in my view, of publishable quality."

Her exceptional written response can be read here.

English Teacher, and EPQ Co-ordinator, Helen Pascoe-Williams has been delighted with the submissions she has been receiving from Year 11 pupils completing the EPQ Bridging Course. 

She explains, "There are 175 Year 11 pupils in the EPQ Bridging Team. They are using this period of lockdown to get ahead of the game in the EPQ course and make a serious start on researching Project proposals. The students have engaged brilliantly in the course so far. They have completed weekly tasks which familiarise them with what an Extended Project involves, how they are structured and what a good one looks like. They have explored topics they are interested in, found a variety of different sources and taken their first steps in project management. I have been very impressed by the standard and detail of the work they have been submitting."

Here are some excellent examples:

Jack Scott

James Clifford

Molly Minshull

Joe England

Ethan Smith

Remo Volpe

Archie Shields

Ciaran Smith

Seb Dibb

DT Teacher, Miranda Porter, has been very impressed by Year 7, Liv Fox.

Liv has started her own enterprise 'Liv's Little Stitches' and has been making masks for her family, friends and neighbours.  

Mrs Porter said, "Liv is very industrious, her masks are absolutely gorgeous. She is setting herself up as a business, it's early days, but she is working on her logo and slogan and thinking about her packaging and how she can promote her products. Such enterprise!"

Well done Liv.

With the ongoing Coronovirus situation, it is unrealistic to expect work experience placements to take place this summer.

Normal practice is for the current Year 10 and 11 pupils to take part in placements, and many pupils had already secured opportunities. Very many thanks to all of the parents who had helped their son/daughter to arrange a placement; hopefully many will be able to go on the 'backburner' until it is safe for them to take place. 

If possible we would encourage pupils to see if their placements can go ahead at October half term this year; this would be for current Year 11 (Year 12 by October), and Year 10 (Year 11 by October).

We do realise that the current situation is very uncertain for many places of work. If you are able to rearrange the placement please let Mr Taylor or Mrs Quinney know. We will provide more information to pupils and parents in due course.

Mike Taylor
Work Experience

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 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

We are currently putting together a plan for the expeditions; participants will be emailed directly regarding these details.

The continued priority should be to complete the physical, skill and volunteering sections. Please refer to the attached electronic assessor report guide illustrating how you can get your award signed off during lockdown conditions.

Assessor Report Guide

This is a summary of the temporary changes DofE have introduced to help you complete on time:

• Participants can now volunteer for family members – e.g. mentoring or coaching younger siblings
• Participants can now change activities more than once – time spent on previous activities will still count. You will need an assessor report for both activities though.
• Timescales - you can now choose to do your section activities less regularly, but for a longer period – so instead of doing an hour each week, you could think about doing two hours every other week if that fits better with your chosen activity. The activity must still be spread across the number of months you’ve chosen to spend on that section but you could do four hours per month on one day.

If you haven’t yet started one of your sections this is the perfect opportunity, the DofE requirements have never been more flexible! The link below provides some example activities that can be completed at home.

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

The DofE have also provided some useful FAQs for participants:

https://www.dofe.org/coronavirus/faqs-participants

It is also worth checking the opportunity finder if you’re still struggling for ideas:

https://www.dofe.org/opportunity-finder/opportunity-for-dofe-participant/

Here are some tips if you can’t find someone to be your assessor, though I’m sure Princethorpe Staff (for example your tutor) will happily help you out:

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

Well done to all DofE participants for their continued commitment to the scheme in the current climate.

One of the very few positives to come out of this awful pandemic appears to be the increased popularity of exercise outside. Families have taken the opportunity to reengage with the outdoors in their local area. In beautiful weather, walking, running and biking the local footpaths and bridleways has become a national pastime.

Having been inspired by the efforts of Princethorpe pupils in PE, Games and their ‘permitted daily exercise’ Cross Country Club have decided to take on a June Challenge.

They will be recording their daily run, walk and biking distances and calculating the monthly totals. The aim is part motivational tool, part healthy competition. Clearly the keen cyclists will have a strong advantage! There has already been a strong uptake from the 30 runners who attend the weekly Cross Country Breakfast Club and represent the school in fixtures.

2019-20 was an excellent season. 15 qualified for the cancelled ISA Nationals and there were excellent performances from the six who ran at the ESAA Nationals. Two Y7 athletes qualified for the cancelled Y7 National Championships. 12 runners competed for Warwickshire County.

Equally satisfying were the team results. The U15 boys, U15 girls, U13 boys and U13 girls were ISA Midlands champions. The Senior boys, Inter boys, Junior girls and Minor girls placed first at the County Championships. Princethorpe entered the most runners of any school in Warwickshire at the Area and County Championships. What was most impressive of course was the weekly commitment to Breakfast Club, an awesome effort!

Princethorpe has a proud tradition in endurance running, despite current conditions it has been heartening to see the continued efforts of our athletes.

Why don't you take up the June challenge and see how you fair against the Cross Country squad?

This week we heard from OP Georgina Dadson, Class of 2014. Always a talented musician, Georgina went on to study at the Birmingham Conservatoire and graduated in the summer of 2018 taking the prestigious Doris Newton Music Club Prize. Georgina then moved into Artist Management and has since been working for IMG Artists but her desire to play and perform has always been strong.

Georgina said, “I am going to be concentrating more on playing and teaching guitar and, once the lockdown is over, I am looking forward to performing with my voice and guitar duo. I am part of the NYGE (National Youth Guitar Ensemble) Fellowship which is made up of people studying or recently graduated from music college. I joined the NYGE when I was in the Sixth Form at Princethorpe and it's what inspired me to go to music college, I highly recommend it.”

The National Youth Guitar Ensemble are now accepting VIDEO auditions to join any of their regional ensembles, they are open to students aged 12-25 and grade 5 to diploma level and Georgina has offered to chat to any students that are interested. More information on the NYGE can be found here: nyge.org.uk.

It was really great to hear Georgina's news and about the NYGE opportunities, and we look forward to seeing her performing when this is all finally over!

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

Please find below our updated Term Dates for 2019-20 as this term has been extended due to the COVID-19 situation and the newly published 2021-22 dates, although key dates are still to be confirmed.

2019-20 (one-page document - updated)

2020-21 (two page document)

2021-22 (one page document - key dates to be confirmed)

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

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