After what seems like a very long, wet winter the welcome signs of Spring are starting to appear around the College grounds in the shape of green shoots and snowdrops. As January comes to an end we hope to escape the cold, and look forward to warmer and lighter days. 

This Saturday morning we are hosting our 'virtual' Entrance Examinations and we wish all the children taking part the very best of luck! 

Watch out for the next edition of the Flagpole on Friday 5 February.

Click here to email The Flagpole.

Preview

News

College Prepares For Entrance Examinations

The College is preparing itself for this year's Entrance Examinations which take place virtually tomorrow morning, Saturday 23 January.

The Entrance Exams will comprise of three tests of 45 minutes each, English Comprehension, Mathematics and a Free Writing paper with short breaks in between.  After a brief live welcome from the Headmaster, candidates will complete the tasks and submit their responses online within a given timeframe. Detailed instructions have been emailed directly to the parents of the children registered for the examination today.

Comments Melanie Butler, Assistant Head - Marketing, Admissions and Communications,

"We have had high levels of interest this year and we know that positive recommendations from current families will have played a large part in this."

"Our change of plan to virtual examinations has been at relatively short notice, but the College believes that this new approach combined with the reference from children’s current school will be the fairest way forward for all candidates in the current circumstances."

"We wish all the candidates the very best of luck for tomorrow morning."

The Admissions Team will be on hand on 01926 634201/262/297 or by email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk tomorrow morning.

Sixth Formers Celebrate Oxford Offers

Huge congratulations to Princethorpe College Sixth Form students who have received offers for places at the University of Oxford. Grace McGrory will be reading Law at Pembroke College, Hannah Porter will be reading History at Trinity College and James Gallagher will be reading Law at The Queen’s College.

We are very proud of these talented young people and of all our Upper Sixth students applying to study at University next year, the majority of whom have now received offers through the UCAS system.

The University of Cambridge will be making its offers next week and we are keeping our fingers crossed for further success.

OP Jordan King Gives Sixth Formers An Insight Into His Life In Motorsport

Professional racing driver, Jordan King, returned to his old school, Princethorpe College, on Thursday 14 January. It was a virtual visit, because of the lockdown, but the welcome Sixth Form students and staff gave Jordan was just as warm.

Jordan attended Princethorpe’s Sixth Form and left the College back in 2012 to pursue a career in motor racing, a sport that he said ‘has put a smile on my face’ from the day he first sat in a go-kart at Mr Karting on Harbury Lane, just south of Leamington Spa.

Jordan’s talent and indefatigable drive have taken him from Karting through Formula 3, on to GP2, then IndyCar, World Endurance and the heights of the Indy 500 and Le Mans. An incredible career for a 26-year-old.

Interviewed by College top motor sport fan, Head of Mathematics, Sharon McBride, who could scarcely contain her excitement, Jordan spoke to Sixth Formers and staff about his life in the competitive world of motor racing. He answered questions with generosity and candour and his anecdotes helped students understand the preparation, practise, determination and resilience required to be so successful in his chosen sport.

Jordan spoke about the importance of the wider racing team, a close-knit community who work alongside him and the hard work and attention to detail that goes in to preparing cars and drivers for a race. He explained his work ethic, how he ‘always wanted to forge his own career’, how ‘his life is his work’ and ‘the days are long but thoroughly enjoyable’. He also talked about the fitness and endurance required to compete at this elite level and about how he manages mentally with the dangers drivers face.

Jordan clearly enjoyed his enthusiastic audience and the questions that came thick and fast, commenting, “It was really great to reconnect with Princethorpe, I am still in touch with many of the friends that I made there. The teachers were always supportive and friendly and I enjoyed all the subjects I studied but I particularly enjoyed the sport – it appealed to my competitive nature. I remember Mr McCollin once asking me ‘Do you play tennis?’ and when I replied yes, he said, ‘Great you’re in the team’ and that was it, off I went to Warwick to play in a match!”

Our thanks go to Jordan for such an informative session and for answering our students’ questions. The College has many connections with the automotive industry. Last term Head of Brand Marketing at Lotus Cars and OP, Nigel Bromley visited the school, and last year we welcomed the CEO of Lotus Cars and former parent, Phil Popham, together with world-famous British Jaguar car designer, Ian Callum CBE. Such visitors are great role models for our students, inspiring and encouraging our young people to follow their dreams.

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The Planet Needs You

Princethorpe College is relaunching its school ‘environmental team’ to rally pupils and staff to address the global crisis of climate change. Building on the work of the school’s ‘Green Team’, the project will bring like-minded pupils and staff together to develop and share ideas of how we can all take responsibility for the current planet emergency. Together the group will seek to identify and implement environmental and sustainable changes at the College, that reduce our carbon footprint and make the campus and the world we all live in a better place.

The Planet Needs You campaign was launched this week in a video put together by our new ‘environment’ team leaders, teachers, Jacqui Scott and Tom Walton. Including an endorsement from the Headmaster, Ed Hester, and with messages from teachers and pupils across the school, Old Princethorpians and clips from ‘climate crisis’ icons David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, the video reminded us all of the planet emergency we face and the responsibility we have as individuals to take action.

Princethorpe College wants to lead by example and has already started to make its own small changes, switching from plastic to paper school shop bags, changing the grounds team vehicle fuel to biodiesel, installing new more fuel efficient boilers, an ongoing programme to change all lights to LED, ensuring recycling bins are available around the school site and in classrooms, reducing paper printing, reviewing and adjusting bus routes to better serve the pupil population and offering discounts for siblings to encourage take up, but the new environment team will really help the school play its part. The College knows that pupils’ skills, passion, enthusiasm and experience are vital for driving this initiative forward, not just for the College but for the wider world and that our individual small actions, the many marginal gains will all come together to make a big difference.

Assistant Head, Co-curricular, Neil McCollin, is looking forward to seeing the new group grow and thrive: “Princethorpe is keen to see sustainability embedded in everything that we do, having pupils take the lead on environmental issues will make a great difference. I can't wait to see what ideas the group bring to fruition.”

It’s an important issue and the College is encouraging all of the community to take part.

 

Keynote Speaker Confirmed For Virtual Careers Fair

Plans for the College’s Virtual Careers Fair on Saturday 20 March are taking shape with the confirmation that Dr Charlotte Cowie, Head of Medicine at the Football Association has kindly agreed to be the keynote speaker for the 2021 event.

Comments Head of Careers, Jacqui Quinney, "We are delighted to have Dr Cowie on board to open the event and set the tone for the day. She has forged an amazing career in elite and professional sport medicine spanning almost 30 years and covering many sports. She has attended three Olympic Games with Team GB and was the first female doctor to work in the English Football Leagues, before taking on her strategic role at the FA, her presentation promises to be one not to miss."

The Careers Fair is open to Year 10 to Sixth Form students and their parents. It provides a ‘one stop careers shop’ with a wide range of speakers and organisations on hand to offer advice and guidance.

The Careers Fair will run from 9.30am to 12.30pm and, as well as the keynote speech, attendees will be able to attend up to three workshops depending on their personal interests.

Mrs Quinney continues, "Registrations will open in February and there will be plenty to interest and inform our pupils and their parents."

Click here for more information on Dr Cowie.

Princethorpe Celebrates LAMDA Examination Success

Pupils at Princethorpe College are celebrating after receiving outstanding results in their recent LAMDA (London Academy for Music and Dramatic Arts) examinations.

Back in November, pupils from Year 7 to Sixth Form took exams in a range of disciplines including Mime, Reading for Performance, Acting, Devising Drama, Speaking Verse and Prose, Public Speaking and for the first time LAMDA’s Shakespeare certificate. Candidates impressed the two visiting examiners with the overall confidence they demonstrated, from Grade 2 up to Grade 8 (the Gold Medal). Forty-two were awarded a Distinction, with a number of candidates achieving over 90%, including Mark Dunkley with an impressive 94 marks for Reading for Performance - Grade 6, and Grace Isaacs who received an outstanding 97 marks for Acting Solo - Grade 6. Charlotte Fitzpatrick also gained a Distinction for her Grade 8 Gold Medal Acting Solo examination, a result that earns her 30 UCAS points towards her university entry.

Many pupils at Princethorpe College take peripatetic LAMDA lessons devoting additional time to the study of the performing arts. The qualifications equip pupils with communication skills which will serve them throughout life. While most pupils take the qualifications solo, a number choose to work together in pairs and sit the examinations as a duologue. This time that included André Onyekwe and Agatha Pitchers from Year 8, who know each other from primary school, and worked together to both achieve Distinctions in their Acting Duo Grade 3 examination.

LAMDA Co-ordinator, Kathy Buckingham-Underhill, was thoroughly delighted, saying, “These results reflect the hard work that pupils put into learning and rehearsing their pieces. We had a tremendous 42 Distinctions (the highest mark awarded), and 10 Merits. The examiners were very impressed with the performances presented by the candidates commenting on their ability to swap character persona with such ease.”

Congratulations to all of the pupils involved and thank you to all of the peripatetic LAMDA team for all their hard work preparing pupils for the examinations, especially while working within the social distancing restrictions.

Restoration Work Begins On Old Woodland Walk

The Grounds team are in the process of restoring and revitalising an old woodland path known as the Nut Walk. Running along the back of the Orchard wall, the overgrown path originates from Princethorpe’s days as a Priory and connects the sports field entrance to the Mile Walk to the car park by the Grounds shed.

Such was the dilapidated state of the path, that very few of Princethorpe’s current pupils and staff would have ever thought that there was ever a path there but as our very own Mr Princethorpe, Assistant Head, Development, Alex Darkes, reveals, “When I was here as a pupil (1968-75) the Nut Walk was less overgrown and made a diversion from the Mile Walk as another place to explore! The Nut Walk hugged the back of the Orchard wall from the Games field side and was bordered by a ditch. I recall seeing hazelnuts, with their distinctive husks, no doubt the reason for its name. My strongest memory is of the carcass of an old black car which was close to the Orchard wall and well hidden by the undergrowth. It might have been a Standard or even a Hillman, I remember that it had a ‘wind out windscreen’ for ventilation. Even in 1968 the car was in a pretty forlorn state. It must have pre-dated Princethorpe College and it was always a bit of a mystery as to how it got there, as the nuns were incredibly orderly in terms of looking after the place.”

So far, the Grounds team have been hard at work clearing away the undergrowth, brambles and other invasive species with Grounds Assistant, Alan Husband, spending many long hours cutting the ivy ready for it all to be pulled off the orchard walls. The team have now begun the process of re-establishing the path. They have discovered old roses and even uncovered the remains of the old car! The team are aiming to have completed their work by the end of February, so hopefully once we all return to school the lost path will nearly be ready to explore. It will be wonderful to see its mysteries revealed once again.

 

 

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Year 7 Sophie Receives #ThanksKids Award From Local NHS

Just before Christmas, Year 7 pupil, Sophie Henry was awarded a Children’s Choice Award in recognition of her fundraising, by the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust Mental Health Service Rise.

The #ThanksKids Awards are all about recognising local acts of kindness by young people in Coventry and Warwickshire and are a way for the NHS to reciprocate the love and appreciation that they have felt during a very challenging year.  

Sophie and her friend Jess completed a 20-mile charity cycle ride as part of their Girl Guide Silver Award. The cycle ride was planned for November and the girls were hoping to cycle round Ryton Pools. Unfortunately, during the week before the challenge, Sophie’s friend had to self-isolate so they were unable to complete their cycle ride outside. Instead of postponing, the girls set up their bikes indoors and completed their cycle together ‘virtually’ from their living rooms on Zoom. It was a lot harder than they expected but they did it and raised £500. Their fundraising resilience was recognised with a nomination for an award.

Over 450 children and young people were nominated for their acts of kindness and resilience last year and received an NHS Stars certificate in recognition. From those just 25 were shortlisted for a #ThanksKids Award. Sophie and her friend were amazed to be short-listed and were delighted to be invited to attend a special virtual ceremony on Friday 18 December to celebrate their extra special kindness and contribution.

Jane Ralphs, Rise Nurse and Chair of #ThanksKids, said: "The #ThanksKids initiative is all about recognising acts of kindness by young people in Coventry and Warwickshire. We have been blown away by all the amazing things young people have been doing during lockdown…. small, big and everything in between. We are so proud of everything our young people have achieved during a particularly tough year."

Huge congratulations to Sophie and her friend Jess, who were one of a small number presented with the Children’s Choice Award. The College was impressed with your kindness and delighted to see it recognised with such a special award.

You can find out more about the #ThanksKids awards at www.cwrise.com/thankskids

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Events

Calendar Of Events

Our events programme carries on with many events going online for the first half of the Lent 2021 Term, for more details see the College website or My School Portal.

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

  • Entrance Examinations for September 2021 entry - Saturday 23 January 2021
  • Year 9 Online Parents' Evening - Tuesday 26 January 2021
  • PTA Quiz - Friday 29 January 2021
  • Year 11 Online Parents' Evening - Thursday 4 February 2021
  • GCSE Options Evening - Thursday 11 February 2021
  • Upper Sixth Online Parents' Evening - Thursday 4 March 2021
  • Year 10 Online Parents' Evening - Thursday 11 March 2021
  • Virtual Careers Fair - Saturday 20 March 2021

PTA Burns Night Quiz

Friday 29 January 2021 - 7.30pm to 9.30pm

The College PTA invites you to take part in their Virtual Burns Night Quiz on Friday 29 January.

The quiz will run from 7.30pm to 9.00pm and promises to be a Scottish themed extravaganza in aid of Mary’s Meals, the Scottish-based charity, which is so close to Princethorpe’s heart..

Featuring some of Rabbie Burns’ renowned poetry and including six rounds of 10 questions each, with topics such as Geography, Music, Sport, Celebrities, Landmarks and General Knowledge all with a Scottish slant, there are sure to be questions to suit all the family.

There is no charge to take part in the quiz, but we are asking families to kindly donate to the College’s ongoing project with Mary’s Meals supporting the feeding programme at Makalanga School in Malawi. The College is just under half way towards its £10,000 target for this year’s fundraising. All donations made before Sunday 31 January 2021 will also benefit from the Government’s pledge to match funding and thus double your donation to this deserving cause. When you use the link below to donate to our sponsored school in Malawi, you will also be helping Mary’s Meals support new school feeding programmes in Liberia.

You can make a donation here: princethorpe-4-makalanga-2

Family teams or individual entrants are welcome. There are no prizes for this quiz, but House points will be awarded to all who take part.

The evening is sure to be excellent entertainment so why not join in the fun. If you would like to take part, then please register here.

A link to the Zoom meeting will then be sent to you shortly before the Quiz takes place. 

With kind regards

The PTA Committee

 

Parents' Reading Group - Reminder

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

Academic

Home Learning – Parental Survey

As ever, we continue to monitor our home learning experience for our pupils. All pupils are currently completing their pupil survey so that we can further understand what learning online is like from an academic and pastoral point of view.

We would also like to gain knowledge from parents and therefore we have created a short questionnaire. Your viewpoints and ideas are a significant part of our constant review of home learning and we would appreciate your participation.

Please follow this link for the Parental Survey

Many thanks

Dr Liz Pyne
Assistant Head - Teaching and Learning

2021 Summer Examinations Update

You will no doubt be aware that Ofqual and the Department for Education have issued some outline proposals for the examinations this summer. We anticipate detailed instructions being issued in February following the results of the consultation, but we welcome the outline proposals in so far as they fall broadly in line with what we anticipated and planned for and are what we believe is the right approach for our pupils.

The proposals broadly state that teachers would be asked to provide Teacher Assessed Grades (TAG) and would be supported in that by being provided with externally set papers and mark schemes to be sat, probably, in mid-May to early June. These tests would form a very important part of the TAG but not determine it entirely. This is very much what we had in mind with our proposed Final Internal Assessments.

These new tests would come with the advantages of being centrally set, benefitting from exam board guidance and having the additional quality assurance of random sampling across all schools in the country. Given that we will all hopefully be back in school by that point, they should also be able to run in proper controlled conditions.

We will wait to find out the specific details of the tests and their content and then look to amend our current proposals. The Final Internal Assessments would most likely be removed though, if we do have more detail on the nature and content of the exam board tests, we would certainly look to give the pupils the opportunities to practise similar tests before the real ones. As soon as we have that detail and have worked through the amended plans we will of course update you as soon as possible.

Ofqual and DfE have invited feedback on their proposals. You can find details of the proposals here and enter your feedback here.

Whilst we do understand that this is an extremely unsettling time, we are confident that our pupils are very well placed when compared to the picture nationally. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that the pupils are fully supported and prepared in order to get the best possible grades they deserve.

Please also see the links below for the FAQs we have sent our to Year 11 and Upper Sixth parents and pupils this week for your reference.

Thank you as always for your support.

Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic

Ed Hester
Headmaster

Years 9 Progress Reports

Progress Reports for Year 9 will be published today, Friday 22 January 2021, and will be available to view on My School Portal.  

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic 

Year 8 Into Year 9 Options Choices

Year 8 parents will have received a communication from me setting out the options choices available to their child for Year 9.

Please make your choices by completing the survey by 9am on Monday 25 January 2021.  The survey can be accessed here.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic

Year 11 Mock Exam Reports

Year 11 Mock Exam Reports will be published to the parent portal on Wednesday 3 February 2021. Once published, you will receive an email notification advising that the reports are available to view on My School Portal.

There will be an opportunity for parents to discuss their child’s report at the forthcoming Year 11 Virtual Parents’ Evening on Thursday 4 February 2021 (please note date change from Tuesday 26 January 2021).

We look forward to seeing you then.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic

Year 11 Parents’ Evening - Change Of Date - Reminder

Thursday 4 February 2021 - 6.00pm to 8.30pm

Please note that the date of Year 11 mock exams Parents' Evening has changed from Tuesday 26 January and will now take place on Thursday 4 February from 6.00pm to 8.30pm. It will be hosted virtually through of a series of Microsoft Teams meetings with your child's teachers. Meetings will be booked online in five-minute slots. Further details will follow on how to book the appointments.

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

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

Dr Liz Pyne
Assistant Head - Teaching and Learning

 

Upper Sixth Mock Exam Reports

Upper Sixth Mock Exam Reports will be published to the parent portal on Friday 5 February 2021. Once published, you will receive an email notification advising that the reports are available to view on My School Portal.

There will be an opportunity for parents to discuss their child’s report at the forthcoming at the Upper Sixth Virtual Parents’ Evening on Thursday 4 March 2021 (please note date change from Thursday 18 March 2021).

We look forward to seeing you then.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic

Bookbuzz - Year 7 And 8

It has been wonderful to see pupils enjoying their Bookbuzz books and discussing them with each other.  Volunteers from Year 7 and 8 will shortly be creating quizzes and other activities based on the books in order to keep the conversations going and promote the active reading strategies that are so important across the curriculum.  If your child has not yet finished his or her Bookbuzz book, it would be great if you could encourage them to do so over the next couple of weeks, so that they can get the most out of the follow-up activities we will do.  

Learning In Action

Year 7 Bella Interviews England Netballer Serena Guthrie

Over the Christmas holidays, Year 7, Bella Ward, produced an outstanding example of a podcast for the KS3 English da Vinci Challenge. 

Pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 were asked to research and produce a three-to-five-minute podcast on a topic that interested them and that would educate or entertain their listeners. Focusing on developing speaking and listening skills, the task required pupils to not use visuals but rather to simply record themselves and finished results have been listened to and discussed in lessons this term.

As an aspiring netball player, Bella decided to contact and interview Commonwealth Gold Medallist and renowned England netballer Serena Guthrie MBE. Her initiative paid off and for her podcast she produced an excellent interview.

Bella demonstrated confident familiarity with the subject, empathy with the interviewee and asked some great questions that were really appropriate for her intended audience.

English teacher, Becky Forde, was impressed commenting, “This was a fantastic piece of work Bella, super commitment to the task, very informative and with a lovely friendly interview style as well.”

A huge well done to Bella.

You can listen to her podcast here.

Pastoral

Confirmation Programme 2021 Update

The date for Confirmation which was provisionally scheduled for Friday 12 March has been postponed until next term and the dates will be published as soon as they become available.  It is likely that the Sacrament will be celebrated on a number of occasions in small groups.

Confirmation sessions will continue as previously arranged and begin this term the week beginning Monday 25 January with Session 5.  All sessions will be online at 1.15pm on the Confirmation Team.

Mary Benham
Chaplaincy Co-ordinator

Universities and Careers

Work Experience - Reminder

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

Mike Taylor
Work Experience Co-ordinator

Charity

Mary's Meals Fundraising Update

Despite the lockdown the College has continued to fundraise to support the charity Mary's Meals and as we approach the end of January, and the Government’s matching donations deadline, we are asking our community to consider making a donation to our sponsor a school initiative.

princethorpe-4-makalanga

The UK Government has been matching donations through their UK Aid Match programme giving British people the chance to double the impact of their support to charities doing great work around the world but this initiative comes to an end on 31 January 2021.  More information on the UK Aid Match initiative can be found here.

So far this year pupils and staff have raised £4,052.71 towards our annual of target of £9,890 to help feed the 672 children at Makalanga Primary School. Activities and events such as World Porridge Day and the annual Welly Wanging Challenge have helped with this fundraising.

The next big event will be the Sixth Form 24-mile sponsored walk, which will take place this year on Monday 3 May 2021. The walkers will follow the Coventry Way and will loop round to finish back at Princethorpe aiming to walk 24 miles in just seven hours. Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Rod Isaacs, provides some background on Mary’s Meals and introduces this year's 24-7 challenge in a short video here. He is encouraging Sixth Formers to sign up and to commit to raising £70 each.

A number of staff have also been running half marathons during January to raise funds for Mary's Meals including Mr Isaacs, Mr Collie and Miss Law, so do consider sponsoring them and donating to the project before the UK Match Aid programme finishes.  

Co-Curricular

Virtual Cooking Club Made And Decorated Christmas Cakes

Apologies to Miss Scott and her pupils that we forgot to include this fantastic co-curricular report in the last edition of the Flagpole.

After the excitement of the festivities of the last day of term had subsided the Virtual Cookery Clubs’ attentions turned to another important Christmas activity. Members of the group had made fruity Christmas cakes on a rainy Tuesday evening back in November. The cakes had been fed regularly with a slosh of an alcohol of choice and were ready to be adorned. A Teams meeting had been arranged for 5.30pm on the first day of the school holidays. 

The session began with the cakes being prepared and covered with a coating of apricot glaze and a thin layer of golden marzipan. Then it was time for important design decisions to be made, should it be a soft fondant finish or a retro royal icing? The group then unleashed their creative Christmassy ideas onto their blank icing canvasses.

Miss Scott chose retro royal icing and, inspired by being locked down at home, replicated her front door in a snowy scene.

David Ikuomola in Year 9 made two cakes and was inspired to create a Merry Christmas message using lettering.

Year 7, Sophie Henry’s parents brought a celebratory feel to the session by enjoying festive beverages whilst watching Sophie’s colourful production come to fruition

James Reynolds in Year 9 achieved a very smooth finish and embellished his fruit cake with a snowy scene of Santas and snow balls.

Jacqui Scott, commented, "I am sure you will agree that the cakes looked fantastic and make beautiful centre pieces. I am also sure they tasted as wonderful as they looked and I find it hard to beat a slice of Christmas cake with a good cup of tea curled up with a good cookbook on a darkening Christmas afternoon."

To join the Virtual Cooking Club which is held afterschool on Wednesday from 5.30pm send an email to Miss Scott to join the Team.

Jacqui Scott
Food and Nutrition Teacher

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Duke Of Edinburgh's Award - New Starters 2020-21 - Reminder

Well done to those who met the first deadline and submitted their eDofE programme planners by Tuesday 15 December.  Please check to see if your selections have been approved and whether any further information is required.  You can now start logging your hours and collecting evidence. 

Remember DofE have provided lots of 'lockdown' options so that you can complete your award despite the pandemic. 

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

Due to lockdown, we will be forced to re-arrange the Gold and Silver expedition training at the end of January.  Please keep an eye on your emails for further information. 

For those still finalising their activities, please see below a summary of the necessary steps. 

Additional guidance has been emailed directly home, please could participants spend some time reading through this information with their parents. 

  1. Login to eDofE website and update personal details – DofE will then send your Participant Handbook directly to you.
  2. Set the timescales for your award (for example at Bronze - physical 6, volunteering 3 and skill 3 months).
  3. Complete the ‘programme planners’ for physical, volunteering and skill sections. This includes:    
  • selecting the activity
  • inputting start dates
  • setting a goal to achieve
  • recording your assessor details

Submit your ‘programme planners’ online to your DofE Leader for approval. Once approved you can start your award. 

In addition to the email sent to pupils and parents, resources can be found on MySchoolPortal

Will Bower
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager

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Lockdown Bookclubs' Return

We may not be able to hold our regular book group meetings in the library just now, but pupils and staff are still able to enjoy the usual sociable and stimulating discussions in the clubs' online counterparts.  The meeting for Book and Biscuit is held on Monday lunchtimes and is for Years 7 and 8.  Lockdown Book Chat is held during Wednesday tutor time and is for Years 9 and above. 

We were pleased to learn that the Carnegie Award Shadowing will be going ahead this year as normal, with the longlist announced in February and the shortlist in March; we are looking forward to this annual tradition of debating (and disagreeing about!) the merits of the various titles. All are welcome to join us - email celiascott@princethorpe.co.uk or nicolaborman@princethorpe.co.uk to be added to the Team.

Duke Of Edinburgh's Award - 2019-20 - Complete Your Award - Reminder

Bronze 

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

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

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

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

Silver and Gold

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

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

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

Will Bower
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager

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Housekeeping

Email Communications

Whilst we endeavour to limit the volume of communication and emails to parents as much as possible, as all lessons and co-curricular activity are happening virtually, we are aware that there may be more iSAMS emails than usual being sent at the current time. Please do check spam folders regularly to ensure you have all the up to date communication.

School Shop Closure - Reminder

Please note that the school shop is currently closed.

Remember you can email queries or orders for uniform to uniform@princethorpe.co.uk.

Barbara Bromwich
Shop Manager