The Flagpole

A reminder to parents that pupils in Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 have their final in school lateral flow tests tomorrow (Saturday 13 March).

Testing times are as follows:

Year 11
10.00am to 11.30am; arrive no later than 10.45am

Year 10
8.30am to 10.00am; arrive no later than 9.15am

Year 9
8.30am to 10.00am; arrive no later than 9.15am

Year 8
11.30am to 1.00pm; arrive no later than 12.15pm

Home testing for pupils

As per the government's guidance the College has now received self-testing kits for home use by pupils and will be organising the distribution of these to pupils early next week.

Further information about the twice weekly testing will be sent out to parents as soon as possible.

Our Virtual Careers Fair takes place next Saturday 20 March 2020 from 9.30am to 12.30pm. Open to all Princethorpe pupils from Year 10 to Sixth Form and their parents, this year's fair is set to provide a wealth of information so make sure you don’t miss out.

The fair will commence with a talk by our keynote speaker, Dr Charlotte Cowie, Head of Medicine at the Football Association.  Her session will be followed by a series of workshops from a wide range of speakers and organisations offering advice and guidance on different careers and universities. Pupils and their families can choose from 37 speakers covering a whole wealth of careers from accountancy to engineering, physiotherapy to chartered surveying, film design to cyber security, veterinary to entrepreneurship, social work to law and many, many more. There will also be universities from across the country, such as Reading, Warwick, Leeds and Nottingham Trent sharing insights into what they have on offer.

More information on the Careers Fair and an overview of the speakers is available on our website here.

Pupils and their families should register in advance, here, and links to the talks will be shared shortly before the day.

The registration deadline has been extended to Monday 15 March so be sure to register for this very useful and informative event.

Across the school Princethorpe College has been marking British Science Week, taking the opportunity to celebrate science and technology. This year’s theme has been Innovating For The Future and there has been plenty of exciting events, challenges and competitions going on. Activities have focused on enabling pupils to develop skills such as being observant and logical as well as creative and imaginative, which are all needed to be successful in scientific careers.

Our STEAM Prefects, Lauren Mason and Praj Prabakaran led an assembly on Smashing Stereotypes In Science to challenge preconceived ideas about what scientists look like and share the diversity and the variety of scientific paths that can be pursued. They highlighted that not all scientists wear white coats and work in a lab! Both Lauren and Praj aspire to follow careers in Science and they did a great job of showing the range of paths pupils could follow and hopefully they inspired some future budding young scientists too.

Lauren Mason organised the College STEAM essay competition, a challenge to write a 300-500 word essay about an inspirational STEAM innovator. The deadline to enter the competition has been extended to Friday 19 March and we are looking forward to featuring the essays in the Flagpole soon.

Older pupils have seen success in the Science Olympiads this year, national competitions to stretch and challenge pupils on their knowledge of the curriculum and beyond. After success in the Chemistry Olympiad, during British Science Week pupils and students in Year 11 and Year 12 have taken part in the Physics Olympiad competition while Year 13 students have faced the challenge of the Biology Senior Olympiad, with all enjoying the opportunity to show their wider knowledge and interest in the different scientific fields.

In the lower school pupils in Years 7 and 8 have been encouraged to create posters for a competition on the theme of Innovating For The Future featuring their own ideas or exploring innovations that have made a difference. Entries close next Friday and we can’t wait to see what they produce.

In school in Science lessons, pupils in Years 7 to 9 have been learning about the recent landing of the Perseverance Rover on Mars and how much our own oceans are still unexplored. Pupils investigated how submarines work by modelling them with carrots and created fish pictures using acids and alkalis, while also learning about the damaging impact of microplastics on the oceans of our world.

Then there were the 'Kitchen Science Experiments' shared in the last edition of the Flagpole, all explained by our enthusiastic Science Ambassadors. Pupils can still send in pictures of these or other ‘Kitchen Science Experiments’ to gain merits and the best entry will receive a prize too! You can find out more here.

British Science Week has been an inspirational opportunity to celebrate innovation and science and Princethorpe has really enjoyed getting involved.

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

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

Back in February pupils from Princethorpe College took part in the 2021 UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Intermediate Challenge, a prestigious national problem-solving competition that recognises the best young mathematicians in the country. The Challenge involves answering multiple choice questions and is sat under normal school exam conditions. This year the challenge was taken on-line. The papers were then marked by UKMT and the best pupils in the country awarded Bronze, Silver or Gold Certificates.

The competition is aimed at Years 9, 10 and 11 with 71 Princethorpe pupils being selected to take part. It is a demanding exercise designed to stretch and test pupils’ mathematical skills, so the College is delighted that this year, Princethorpe’s mathematicians achieved exceptional results.

Congratulations to William Hawkins in Year 11, who was awarded a Gold certificate, and took the award for best performing pupil in school. William Hawkins, Silvie Brocklebank-Crowder and Oliver Edgar all performed so well that they have qualified for the follow-on round, the Intermediate Kangaroo Challenge.

Silver certificates were awarded to: Ed Sharpe, Zak Abba, Harry Kelly, Rahul Samra, William Gibson-Sexton, Alexander Leret, Silvie Brocklebank-Crowder, Oliver Edgar, Harry Hewitt, Radley Evans, Joe Glover, Madoc Williams and Joseph Newborough.

Bronze certificates were awarded to: Ben Smith, Dominic Lee, Joel Simon, Adam Ledbrook, Ollie Hutton, Timothé Peyret, Alex Allison, Emma Sarkies, Priya Somel, Zak Johnson, Joseph Simon, Jamie Smith, Noella Mbanga, Lauren Bach, Jack Dando and Anjola Okusanya.

Well done all and many thanks to all the pupils who took part, we hope you enjoyed the challenge.

Theo Scoutas
Post 16 Mathematics Co-ordinator

Following the successful transition to a Bring Your Own Device model for Years 10 to Upper Sixth from September 2020, we are pleased to announce that we will shortly also be launching a similar model for the current Years 7-9. Enhancements to teaching and learning through access to a personal digital device in the classroom have been well-received by staff and students alike in Years 10 to Upper Sixth, and we aim to build on this success with a 1:1 scheme for the younger years, meaning all year groups in the college will be using a digital device in the classroom before the end of the 2020-21 academic year.

We have worked hard to put in place a scheme for parents to buy a device through the College, with the option to pay for the device over two years, and will be in a position to launch this over the next two weeks. This is hugely exciting as it provides a comprehensive package to meet the needs of the pupils and parents and will further enhance our ability to make use of our learning platforms both in and out of the classroom, opening up new ways of learning and collaborating to the whole school. The 1:1 Digital Device Scheme is primarily aimed at pupils in Years 7-9, but will be available to those in older year groups as well.

Please look out for further communication on the scheme over the next two weeks.

Andy Compton
Assistant Head - Director of Digital Strategy

Last week’s World Book Day prompted lots of lovely opportunities to engage with books across the school.

Mrs Newborough organised perhaps her best House Challenge ever in The Masked Reader. Based on the popular TV Show The Masked Singer, it had everybody in the Princethorpe community guessing. Just who are Viking, Queen Bee and Butterfly, who are the mystery teachers reading a passage from their favourite books?

The first instalment of readers was released on Tuesday 2 March with a second following this week, on Wednesday 10 March. It was such a challenge and within the House Teams there has been plenty of speculation. Mrs Newborough is keeping her mystery readers well and truly under wraps. Of course, the big question is just how well have pupils really been listening in lessons – do they recognise the voices - we will all just have to wait and see?

The College also marked World Book Day in English lessons with pupils in Key Stage 3. Activities included – a blast from the past with staff sharing books from when they were young; discussions about current reading; book quizzes; listening to podcasts by authors; details of an 'author recommended' reading list and a simply super 'shelfie' competition – where pupils were challenged to match the English teacher to their bookshelf. Mr Kerrigan, Mrs Challinor, Mrs Pascoe-Williams, Mrs Newborough, Miss Forde, Mrs Borman, Miss Mack and Mrs Moon all shared photos of their book-shelves for the competition. It was great fun finding out who had been keeping a beady eye on the background in their Teams English lesson and just what does an English teacher have on their bookshelf at home.

There is just so much fun to be had from books!

Lower Sixth Formers, Joe England, Ishbel Kempton, Jack Rochford, Ben Scares, Emily Scrivens and Ciaran Smith have been appointed as Duke of Edinburgh Young Ambassadors. All the students are actively working towards their Gold Award and were nominated by Head of Outdoor Education, Will Bower, to take on the ambassadorial role.

Will Bower explains, “We had our very first Duke of Edinburgh’s Young Ambassadors last year and Jack and Luke did a great job. I am really pleased that this year we have six students taking on this important role, working alongside Princethorpe’s Duke of Edinburgh’s team promoting, guiding and mentoring pupils participating in the Awards scheme. Joe, Ishbel, Jack, Ben, Emily and Ciaran are going to make great ambassadors, they are helpful and enthusiastic about outdoor education and with the Bronze and Silver DofE Awards already under their belts they are superb role models for our younger pupils.”

The students completed their Ambassador training last half term, but in recognition of their new role, on Monday 8 March, the first day back in school, Mr Bower, presented them with their Duke of Edinburgh’s Young Ambassador badges.

Commenting on their training and on their hopes for their new roles:

Ishbel Kempton said, “I’ve found my DofE ambassador training really helpful and I learned lots more about the DofE Awards. I am looking forward to working with pupils, encouraging and helping them to complete their awards.”

Ben Scares added, “The Ambassador training was really useful both in terms of resources we can use with pupils but also in teaching us all the new rules based around what can and can’t be done because of COVID.”

Emily Scrivens, commented, “I am looking forward to being a part of the ambassador team and am excited to get started.”

Ciaran Smith, “Our training introduced us to the Certificate of Achievement which is an award pupils can get for signing off the skills, volunteering, and physical sections. We also went over some problem scenarios and how to solve them and finally we went over a plan for what we can do to help with D of E in our school.”

The new Young Ambassadors can’t wait to get started and Mr Bower has plenty lined up for them to do. They will begin their new role by helping Year 9 pupils make progress as they take on the challenge of the Bronze award.

Lower Sixth Former, Archie Shields has just completed his Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Volunteering by taking part in the District of Warwick’s People’s Inquiry Into Climate Change. Taking advantage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award temporary programme changes, Archie has been part of a panel of 30 district residents meeting virtually to discuss and answer the question ‘What do we need to do in the Warwick District to help address climate change by 2030?’

Archie, explains, “The People’s Inquiry met over thirteen evenings online, beginning in November and culminating at the end of February with two launch events. Warwick Council declared a Climate Emergency in June 2019 and the People’s Inquiry was an important part in helping to shape the council’s current work and future plans. During the Inquiry we talked about issues, shared ideas and came up with a set of recommendations which we presented to the District Councillors and members of the Oversight Panel, and stakeholders and residents. During the first few sessions we considered what climate change meant to Warwick and what steps were being taken to address the problem. Throughout the process we were joined by a series of expert commentators such as councillors, professors, Extinction Rebellion, the Chamber of Trade, NFU and directors from construction and energy companies, who talked about the science of climate change and practical options for how we can make a difference locally and of the impact of industry, business and transport. Finally, we agreed a set of recommendations that we presented back to the council at the launch events.”

Head of Outdoor Education, Will Bower, commented, “This is just what the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award wish to encourage; leadership, initiative and engaging in an important issue for the good of the local community. It is an absolutely outstanding example of what the volunteering section is all about. His commitment and engagement to the project has been superb and it has delivered great value to his local community. A fantastic effort from Archie.”

Archie really enjoyed working on the Inquiry, adding, “The Inquiry has increased my knowledge on climate change, an issue that is important for us all and I really felt that I was helping the area where I live to solve a very difficult problem.”

The findings and recommendations of the People’s Inquiry will now be used by Warwick Council and other organisations, as part of an Action Plan helping to achieve the District’s target of becoming as close to zero emissions as possible by 2030.

You can read the Inquiry’s recommendations here.

On Saturday 27 February the Old Princethorpians and Development Office hosted their first ever OPs in the Americas Virtual Reunion bringing together former pupils now located in the United States and North America and it proved to be a very convivial affair. The Stateside OPs were joined by a contingent from the UK including Princethorpe College Headmaster Ed Hester, former Headmaster Father Alan Whelan MSC, former Director of Boarders Father Teddy O’Brien MSC, lifelong Princethorpian and teacher Alex Darkes and the Chair of the Old Princethorpian Committee Peter Rollason.

The virtual reunion included a Blessing, a virtual tour of the school and a fascinating chance to delve into the Princethorpe archives. It also included plenty of time for former pupils to swap stories, share photos, reminisce and to renew their connections with each other and their former school.

We were joined by OPs from across North America from as far afield as California, Minneapolis, Nevada, New York, Illinois, Washington, Ontario and Barbados as well as the school staff team. The Old Princethorpians excitedly shared their news and caught up – telling of their lasting friendships from their time at school.

The former pupils had mainly attended the College during the seventies and eighties and with many having boarded there were plenty of memories of lively escapades to recount including one particularly tricky Chemistry homework incident where the boys were hauled before Headmaster, Father Clarkson expecting to be punished severely only to receive a masterclass in Chemistry to help them finish their work.

Foundation Archivist, Jannette Ratcliffe was especially delighted to see so many new photographs and hear so many stories about life as a boarder, and our thanks go to all the attendees who so willingly filled in the gaps.

Melanie Butler, Old Princethorpians’ Secretary said, “The virtual reunion was a wonderful chance for us to reconnect with our many Stateside OPs and bring them up to date with events at the College. It was a very enjoyable evening, afternoon or morning depending on where you were! We are very much hoping to organise a proper reunion in the States post the pandemic and would encourage any America-based OPs from across the generations to get back in touch so that we can keep you informed of our plans.”

Recordings of the reunion including the virtual tour and archive presentation are available to view please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk and we will send you a link.

It was wonderful to reconnect with all our friends across the pond and if anyone is still in touch with former pupils Richard Burke, Mickey Hindley and Alistair Rumbold (at Princethorpe in the seventies) and Paul Brennan (who attended in the late eighties) then they have some old friends Stateside who would very much like to get back in touch.

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

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

• Virtual Careers Fair (Year 10 to Upper Sixth) - Saturday 20 March 2021 
• Jesus Christ Superstar streamed - Thursday 1 April to Thursday 8 April 2021

Saturday 13 March 2021 - 10.30am to 11.30am

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

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

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

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

Pre Lockdown #1, Director of Music Gil Cowlishaw decided that Jesus Christ Superstar was to be the next show for our talented group of performers, and they have not let Government guidance, social distancing or Lockdown #3 stand in their way.

Upon approaching the rights holders for the show, we were given extraordinary permission to record the show, and then stream a movie version for a week over Easter 2021. With no dialogue between songs, the cast have held dance rehearsals over Zoom and the actors have been busy videoing themselves performing in their bedrooms and now this ‘rock-opera’ is nearly ready to be released.

The ‘show week’ will be from 1–8 April 2021, with tickets being sold to stream the show as often as you like during that week.  Due to the strict copyright laws, it will then be taken down after a week, never to be seen again. Please look out for tickets that are due to go on sale the week beginning 15 March for this musical extravaganza. 

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

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

Chris Kerrigan
Head of English

Thursday 1 July and Monday 5 July 2021

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

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

After Easter there is an opportunity for Year 8 pupils to take part in a Discovery Crest Award. CREST is a National scheme designed to encourage pupils to explore their interest in Science beyond the curriculum and inspire them to consider careers in future innovation by helping them to think like scientists and engineers. The Award will be run over two after-school sessions on Tuesday 27 April 4pm-6.30pm and Tuesday 4 May 4pm-7pm.  Pupils will need to attend both sessions to complete the Award.  Places are limited so please email fayeroberts@princethorpe.co.uk to book a place by Wednesday 24 March and then further details will be sent. 

Only one in three people globally have access to clean water, so our project will be based around designing a water filter and exploring ways to provide clean water to the global community.   We are also really excited to be able to include a ‘meet the scientist’ element in the sessions, as Dr Laura Carter from the University of Leeds will be ‘zooming’ in to share an insight to her research on contaminants in the natural environment and answer questions on following a career in STEAM.  She currently holds a prestigious UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship and will also be listening to the pupil's final ideas and be virtually presenting their certificates in the last session. 

This competition is open to all years (7-13) and pupils are invited to produce a biological specimen drawing of anything they choose, in any medium.  The competition in school will be judged in two categories, Years 7-9 and Years 10 and above. Merits will be awarded to all entries and a prize of art supplies will be awarded to the winner and runner-up in each category.  The winners will also be put forward to the global Nancy Rothwell Award run by the Royal Society of Biology.

For inspiration, examples of previous winners of the Award can be found by clicking here.

Entries must be submitted by Monday, April 19 to either Mr Hubball or Miss Roberts and if you would like further details please email fayeroberts@princethorpe.co.uk

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

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

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

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

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic
 

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

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic 

Progress Reports for Lower Sixth will be published on Friday 25 March 2021, and will be available to view on My School Portal.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic 

Lisa Challinor, English Teacher and Head of Benet House was so impressed by Year 8, Chloe Potts’ entry into the Leycester House’s Poetry Competition that she just had to share her super work.

Miss Challinor, commented, “Chloe’s poem is so beautiful and I loved reading it, I found it so moving. Chloe is such a superstar, always getting involved in House activities. I really am very proud of her.”

Warwick based care home, Leycester House, joined forces with healthcare charity, Kissing it Better, in a mission to help residents who are currently missing their families. They invited schools across Warwickshire to take part in a poetry competition and entries closed on Monday. The theme for the poetry competition was ‘What happiness means to me.’

Caty Oates, Project Director at Kissing it Better was also amazed by Chloe’s poem saying, “Thank you so much for sending us your wonderful poem. I’ll share this with the residents of Leycester House Care Home, the competition is going to be judged by the members of their poetry society. I know they will really enjoy reading your poem – so well done!”

You can read Chloe’s lovely poem here.

Welcome back!

It has been such a joy to welcome back all the pupils this week after weeks of virtual school this term.

There was much excitement at everyone being back together and pupils have swiftly settled back in to the daily routines of school life. The lateral flow testing has gone extremely well and the pupils have been a credit to their families in their mature approach to this. One of the hardest parts of lockdown for us all has been missing the informal communication we have with members of our community as we pass each other around the school. It is a great relief to be back together face to face.

Whilst the vast majority of pupils have found the return to school exciting a few have needed some extra support to get back into the swing of things.  If your child is struggling in any way please let me know so that I can support them in school. We have our pastoral team that will wrap around them comprising tutors, Heads of House, Matron, the SEND department and the pastoral corridor and wellbeing spaces.

Having been away for so long pupils and their home situations may have changed. Please do not hesitate to inform us of any changes in circumstances be it living arrangements or updates on medical conditions. The more we know about your child the more easily we can help them.

I wish your family all the best for the coming weeks and I hope we can look forward to lots of fun in school as the national restrictions begin to lift.

The Witherslack Group provides free webinars and resources to offer advice on a variety of well-being and mental health topics for parents and families. 

These resources aim to provide parents and carers with a toolkit of advice and practical strategies to help them further support their child with special educational needs.  The webinars are pre-recorded so you can watch at your own pace.

Please click here to register for more information. 

For each step that we might take
Be our guide, O Lord of life

For each load that we might bear
Be our strength, O Lord of life

For each mountain we might face
Be our power, O Lord of life

For each river that might impede
Be our safety, O Lord of life

For each place where we might rest
Be our peace, O Lord of life

For each sunrise and sunset
Be our joy, O Lord of life

We make our prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen

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

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

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

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

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

Mrs Paula Greig
Senior Matron 

If you’re interested in a legal career, the virtual legal school work experience programme at Pinsent Masons offers the perfect way to find out if it’s the right career choice for you.

Join them on a four day virtual work placement and you’ll get a full overview of what it’s like to work in a leading commercial law firm. You’ll get valuable experience and discover for yourself what law in practice is really like. What’s more, the experience will give your CV a real boost.

If successful in securing a place, you will need access to a computer or laptop and an internet connection to take part.  A headset would be beneficial but not essential. You will not be required to come into an office.

Whatever your background, legal knowledge or experience it’s a great way to get an insight into the commercial world and develop your skill-set. So, what are you waiting for?

Find out more here. Closing date for applications is 31 March 2021.

CareerDays.co.uk was founded by former teachers who often came across students unsure of which career to go into.

They offer several careers and work experience days, all hosted online in different potential careers such as medicine, business, midwifery, law, veterinary science, and many more. This opportunity is open to all students aged 14-17.  It enables you to gain first hand knowledge of a profession before you apply, and as importantly gain some relevant and up to date work experience to use in your applications.

You simply choose the subject and the date you wish to attend, and then register. 

Find out more here.

As the Lent term draws to a close, we start moving our thoughts to the Trinity term and cricket season.  The cricket kit is not compulsory, however, for those who will be representing the College and those who would like to wear the kit we offer a cricket shirt, trousers and sleeveless slipover.  As a general guide we normally run an A and a B team for U12 through to U15’s who are required to wear the school kit.

All orders must be placed before the end of the school day on Tuesday 23 March 2021 using the order form here and they will be available to collect from the school shop from the start of the Trinity term on, Monday 19 April 2021 subject to availability.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide a set of kit to try on in advance this year due to Covid restrictions but the white PE Polo is a good size guide.

If you need any help with your order please contact Tamsin Frost on 01926 634272.

Tamsin Frost
Foundation Shop Assistant

Any items of sports kit that require initialling during the Easter break can be brought into the school shop prior to Friday 26 March 2021. Please note all articles of clothing must be new or freshly laundered and fully dry if they are to be sent to the embroiderers.  Items will be ready for collection from the school shop when school reopens on Monday 19 April 2021.

Please print off this form and enclose in the bag with the items of uniform. Additional forms are available in the school shop for pupils to collect if necessary.

Tamsin Frost
Foundation Shop Assistant

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

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

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

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

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

Year 9 Bronze 

A letter and email has been sent to Year 9 parents over the last couple of weeks; please take note of the relevant dates for your expedition group (A or B). The letter contained kit lists and the following forms: 

·         Peak Expeditions Medical Consent 

·         Princethorpe Code of Conduct  

·         Kit request form – for kit you wish to borrow for the Qualifier 

Please return these marked ‘Bronze DofE Forms’ in advance of our Practice Expedition assembly on Tuesday 23 March. There is a collection box for pupils outside Mr Robertson’s office on the pastoral corridor and also in the PE office. 

Year 10 Silver 

An email confirming the plan for the Practice Expedition was sent out earlier in the week. Please could participants complete the following tasks: 

1.       Submit the 10 online training booklet quizzes in advance of our seminar on Monday 29 March 

2.       Please print, fill out and return the forms attached to the email  

·         Peak Medical Consent 

·         Peak Kit Form  

·         Princethorpe Code of Conduct 

Please return these marked ‘Silver DofE Forms’ in advance of our Practice Expedition assembly on Wednesday 24 March. There is a collection box for pupils in the PE office. 

Lower Sixth Gold 

Please refer to the email regarding the amended expedition dates sent last week. I will arrange a meeting for pupils in due course to discuss the plan. 

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

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

www.dofe.org/dofewithadifference/activities

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

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

Will Bower
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager

Bronze  

Well done to all who have completed their award so far; a fantastic effort!  Certificates have been sent directly home.

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

Silver and Gold  

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

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

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

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

Will Bower
Head of Outdoor Education – DofE Manager

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

A term’s notice is required if a pupil will not be returning to the school. Notice 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

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

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

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

Eddie Tolcher 
Foundation Bursar

As we are welcoming all pupils back to school, we thought it would be helpful to communicate to both the pupils and parents, some of the areas Holroyd Howe, the caterers at Princethorpe, have been working on over the last few weeks.

To ensure that the food offer truly meets the needs and expectations of all age groups and their menu preferences, there are several points we would like to relay to you and hope you find these useful.  Please click here to view our March Catering Services Update.

Andrew Williams
General Catering Manager

Please see below our current vacancies:

• Teacher of Mathematics (Maternity cover, Princethorpe College)
• Teacher of English (Princethorpe College)
• Teacher of Design and Technology and Science - Crescent School

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

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

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

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

2021-22 (two page document) 

Lent Term 2021 Notice

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

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