Admissions Update

With just eight weeks to go the countdown to the College's Entrance Exams for admission in September 2018 has begun. This year the exams for Year 7 to 10 entry will take place on Saturday 11 November from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

Our friendly Admissions Team has been kept busy over the summer accepting registrations from prospective parents. The deadline for registrations is ideally Friday 6 October, to enable the seeking of references from junior schools.

There are plenty of opportunities for prospective pupils and their parents to visit the College before the Entrance Exams, including our Open Afternoon on Sunday 24 September from 2.00pm to 5.00pm and Open Morning on Thursday 2 November from 10.30am to 12.30pm, when pupil tour guides will be available to show visitors around the school.  All our Year 6 Taster Days are now fully booked, but places are still available for a Year 7 and 8 Taster Day on Monday 2 October.

Comments Melanie Butler, Assistant Head, Marketing, Admissions and Communications, "Parents and pupils will still have plenty of time to prepare and opportunities to visit the College in the run up to the exams. The results will be out at the end of November, making for an exam-free Christmas holiday, which has got to be good news."

If you have any queries relating to admissions please feel free to email the Registrars at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or call them on 01926 634201.

Princethorpe College is delighted and proud that its Head Girl and Upper Sixth Form student, Miriam Isaacs, has won the national finals of the Catenian Public Speaking Competition for Young People from Catholic schools.

The competition took place last weekend, Sunday 10 September, at the Manchester Conference Centre, and Miriam was one of 16 regional winners who travelled from all over the country to take part in this prestigious event.

Her win is an amazing achievement, standards were high and she was up against tough competition, but the judges stressed that it was a unanimous decision.  Miriam gave a four-minute presentation on the topic of ‘Should the law should always be obeyed?’ – or as per Miriam’s speech, perhaps not always obeyed!

Chris Kerrigan, Head of English, who has been working with Miriam developing her public speaking skills, said, “I knew Miriam had acquitted herself well, but when you've heard the speech so often, it is difficult to gauge the impact on fresh listeners so we were delighted when they announced the result.  It was well received by the audience too as so many people came up to congratulate her afterwards.  All the competitors gave incredible performances so Miriam’s victory is something that we are really proud of.”

17-year-old Miriam, who is studying A-levels in History, French and English Literature and Language commented, “I felt very privileged to be able to take part in this competition at a national level and talking about the law and justice reminded me how lucky we are to be able to speak our mind in public. And of course, winning was the icing on the cake!”

Competitors were marked by the judges, Wendy Sutcliffe, Lord Alton of Liverpool and the Bishop of Salford, Reverend John Arnold, on a variety of criteria from content, delivery, elocution and appearance. Points were deducted for excessive use of notes and over or under running.

Ed Hester, Headmaster, said, “This is absolutely super news, the College has won the regional rounds before, but this is the first time we have had a national winner.  It is fantastic that Princethorpe students have the opportunity and confidence to take part in such a prestigious competition as public speaking is such a useful skill for later life.”

The Catenian Association is an international body of Catholic laymen who meet monthly in local units called Circles.  Their Public Speaking Competition is run annually and is open to all catholic schools.

Princethorpe College is celebrating another year of excellent exam results.

This summer 25% of all A-level grades were A* or A and 80% of grades were C or better; at GCSE over 25% of pupils received at least seven A* or A grades and an impressive two thirds of all grades were the coveted A*, A or B.

Ed Hester, Headmaster, said, “Our students have worked so hard and we are incredibly proud of their achievements.”

A-level summary:

• 92 candidates
• 25% A* & A
• 80% grade C or better
• 100% pass rate

Amongst the high fliers were Head Girl Alana Eckland who achieved all A*s and As and will be studying medicine at university and Head Boy Lloyd Ellis who is going abroad to study History at Utrecht University. Charlotte Morton, Alistair Robinson, Nick Bonsall, Josh Horswill, Marcio Zheng, James Ireland and Jack Dennis also achieved all A* and A  A–level grades.

At GCSE there were many distinguished performances, the best individual results being from Mollie Dibb, Amy Field and Tom Warne who achieved 26 A*s and 8 A grades between them, a further 18 pupils achieved 9 or more A* or A grades.  

Princethorpe pupils performed well in all the core GCSE subjects but the College is particularly delighted with its best ever English results with 55% of pupils achieving A* or A grades.  Results were also strong in the creative subjects with 83% of Art entries graded A* or A.

GCSE summary:  

• 131 candidates
• two thirds of all grades A* to B
• over 25% achieved at least seven A* or A grades
• 55% of pupils achieved A* or A grades for English

Headmaster, Ed Hester, continued, “All credit goes to our pupils and staff for their commitment and hard work.  The College goes from strength to strength and our 2017 A-level and GCSE results are very strong indicators that the school’s academic achievements across the ability range continue to go from strength to strength.

Our Year 7 Princethorpe Pioneers returned happy, exhausted and just a little muddy from their residential trip to the Pioneer Centre at Cleobury Mortimer in Shropshire back in May. They had all grown in confidence having approached new challenges with determination and enthusiasm and enjoyed a memorable three days of organised activities.

We took 100 pupils for a three-day programme that included caving, climbing, abseil and zip wire, the big bounce, raft building and initiative games. The group also got to participate in a challenging tropical reptile experience and enjoy a fabulous Saturday night disco.

They tested their nerves as they climbed the big wall, swooped down the zip wire and explored the depths of the caving systems with only a little light on their helmets to see by.

They developed leadership and team building skills as they built a raft to sail on the pond, and despite the mud all jumped in for a splash around in the cold. And the very brave overcame their fears as they got ‘hands on’ with snakes and lizards in a tropical animal session.

Deputy Head – Pastoral, Beth Sharpe said, “This was a fantastic opportunity for our Year 7 pupils to bond together as a year group. They had an amazing time and were really supportive of one another as they worked together. They showed resilience and initiative and I know they have come back into school with new friends and better able to work together as a team.”

The Pioneer Centre is a superb purpose built activity holiday centre situated in stunning countryside on the edge of the Wyre Forest. Our pupils were a credit to themselves and to the school, the Pioneer staff commented on how well behaved they had been.

Ruby from ACW said, “I had a fabulous time, I loved the raft building and jumping backwards into the water.” Will, also from ACW, added, “It was a great trip, it developed your skills and experience.”

Robbie from FGC said, “Caving was really fun, I had never done it before.” And Neve, also from FGC, said, “I loved the disco, it was loud and great to spend time with everyone outside your dorm.”

Well done Year 7 Pioneers and a big thank you to all of the staff who supported the weekend it was a remarkable, although slightly muddy, residential!

Issue 22 of The Pinnacle, our school magazine that celebrates exceptional work from across the Foundation, has just been published. Full to bursting with fabulous examples of pupils who are determined to go that extra mile in their everyday school life.

Editor and da Vinci Programme Co-ordinator, Helen Pascoe-Williams says, “There are pages and pages of excellent work in this issue from across our expanding Foundation. It’s always a pleasure and a privilege to bring everything together in one place.”

Look out for Year 9 Geography Projects China in a Box, Year 8 History Spanish Armada Newspaper Reports and Slave Trade Presentations, details of Princethorpe’s production of Bugsy Malone, creative Old and New DT projects, the latest from our Elite Sports Programme, Seeing in Colour Science observations, a double page spread on Foundation pupils’ first Cross School Space Mission and much, much more.

The Pinnacle includes a double-sized Minnacle showcasing the impressive work produced by pupils at the Foundation Junior Schools’ Crackley Hall and Crescent.

You can view the latest edition here The Pinnacle and The Minnacle.

Over the summer of 2017 the College enjoyed a very successful 15 day sports tour to South Africa. Taking our largest squad ever, of some 88 pupils and 11 staff, and for the first time playing three sports, Rugby, Netball and Hockey, the tour travelled to Johannesburg and then on to Cape Town for a fortnight full of keenly contested matches and spectacular sight-seeing.

During the tour the rugby, netball and boys and girls’ hockey teams participated in six full days of good spirited and competitive training and matches against school and club teams.  Our South African hosts were so hospitable and the training and matches were great experiences for all, with valuable lessons learnt both on and off the field.

Away from the sports field, the tour offered participants the chance to broaden their horizons with sightseeing and educational experiences that included the history of South Africa with tours of Soweto and the Apartheid Museum and a visit to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. Pupils also had the opportunity to experience South Africa’s vibrant culture at Lesedi village and get up close and personal with the wildlife in game drives at Pilanesberg Game Reserve.  The tour party also enjoyed the spectacular scenery of Table Mountain in Cape Town and the most southern tip of Africa at Cape Point.

Peter Bucknall, Head of Rugby and leader of the tour, said, “South Africa is a truly stunning country, passionate and fiercely competitive in their sport. We have had an excellent trip and played some inspiring matches and I know that our Princethorpe pupils will have returned home with a truly wonderful set of memories.”

Our thanks go to all of the staff involved in putting together and running such an impressive trip.  We look forward to the experiences translating into positive results on the rugby, netball and hockey pitches over the coming season.

Princethorpe College pupils have excelled in this year’s United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Junior Challenge. This national competition recognises the best young mathematicians in the country. It is aimed at the top third of pupils in Year 8 or below and requires pupils to use all-round mathematical knowledge; pupils have to answer 25 multiple choice questions in one hour. The papers are marked by UKMT and the top scorers are awarded gold, silver or bronze certificates.

This is a difficult test designed to stretch and challenge pupils’ abilities so we are really delighted that 44 amazing Princethorpe mathematicians have been awarded 6 Gold, 14 Silver and 24 Bronze certificates.

Over 300,000 pupils from across the UK sit the Junior Maths Challenge and the College is incredibly proud that ‘Best in School’ Year 8 pupil Ben Shipton was placed in the top 1% in the country and qualified for the Junior Kangaroo, an invitation only event for the very best mathematicians.

Our successful gold certificate winners are:

In Year 8: Ben Shipton, Ciaran Smith, Mary Lomas and Jack Rochford.

In Year 7: Daniel Webb and Helaina Holt

Pictured here are Year 8 Ben Shipton, Best in School and Year, and Year 7 Daniel Webb, Best in Year.

Congratulations to all of our pupils who took part.

This year’s Art, Photography and Design Summer Exhibition opened on Thursday 22 June with a special evening reception for the artists and their families, friends and guests. The displays remained on show until Sunday 25 June allowing visitors to the College’s Summer Fête to also enjoy the superb standard of work this year’s GCSE and A-level pupils have produced.

Those who know the College will be familiar with its formidable reputation for quality art and design work. The walls of the College are adorned with exceptional examples and the work at this year’s show was always going to delight. It included a bonus, an added extra this Golden Jubilee year, a special display of work by Old Princethorpians, allowing visitors to enjoy the work of College artists both past and present.

The Sixth Form Centre and Lecture Theatre was transformed into an eclectic exhibition space, the light and airy atrium helping to showcase the work at its best. Visitors were audibly impressed with what they saw, stopping to stare in wonder, exclaiming over the ingenuity and talent and enjoying the fine collection of work.

In the main hall fascinating portraiture sat alongside superb studies, imaginative illustrations and phenomenal photography. In the Design and Technology studio, intricately stitched dresses and swooping skirts showcased this year’s Textiles pieces, whilst fine furniture fit to grace any home was on offer from our Resistant Materials pupils.

Our congratulations go to all our GCSE and A-level pupils for producing such a worthy display. Thanks go to the Art Department and the Design and Technology Department for all their support and inspiration to pupils this and every year and for putting together such an outstanding show. Finally thanks also go to all the Old Princethorpians who submitted work for the Golden Jubilee display, it was a real bonus to be able to see and share some of your recent work.

In the making for a little over two years, the final instalment of Princethorpe College’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, the much anticipated Golden Jubilee Ball, took place on Saturday 1 July.

Over 400 guests joined together to mark the College’s first 50 years at a black tie event which saw the whole of the Princethorpe community represented. The College’s trustees, current and former parents, staff and pupils from across the decades were all in attendance. Special mention was made of a VSOP (Very Special Old Princethorpian) Mary Wheildon, an old girl of St Mary’s Priory, the school on the site before Princethorpe was founded, and Andrew Chan who left the College in the 1980s, and had travelled all the way from Canada to join in the festivities. The College also welcomed back OPs Tom Pilling, who was videoing the night, and Nick Bond who entertained guests with his wonderful piano playing during the welcome drinks reception.

The school’s North Lawn was transformed for the occasion into a sumptuous marquee village by Pukkah Tents. Guests were treated to views of the rolling Warwickshire countryside and the College’s recently-restored lake and woodland, Switzerland. Three courses of fine-dining and drinks were provided by local caterers, the Chopping Block. The celebrations continued into the early hours with live music from local band Astella.

Headmaster Ed Hester commented, “The Jubilee Ball was a truly magical evening and epitomised Princethorpe’s ‘spirit of family’. It was fantastic to be joined by members of the Princethorpe community from across the generations who travelled from far and wide to celebrate the occasion together.”

He continued, “My thanks go to all who made the evening such a success and I’m delighted that we have marked this milestone in Princethorpe’s rich history in such a memorable way.”

The College’s annual Summer Fete and Motoring Festival is always a delightful afternoon with plenty for families to see and do. So much hard work goes into organising the event and the College is hugely grateful to our dedicated PTA who do such an excellent job every year.

Sunday 25 June was no exception. The Orchard was transformed thanks to plenty of enthusiasm, gazebos and bunting and the British weather blessed us with dry, cloudy but warm weather, allowing organisers and visitors to relax and enjoy themselves and their ice creams.

At the bottom of the Orchard there was line upon line of classic and unusual cars on show. Polished to perfection by loving owners, proud to show off their much loved vehicles, Hillman Imps sat alongside Morris Minors, Maseratis and TVRs and visitors wandered slowly in between, stopping to ask questions and admire their favourites.

An array of over 30 stalls offered all sorts of entertainment, goods and services, including homemade food, arts and crafts, gifts ideas including designer dog wear, fundraising activities, tombolas and much, much more.

Around the perimeter there was a whole lot of fun to be had in the shape of inflatables, bouncy castles, sumo wrestling and wipeout. And for those wanting to have a go at archery, Mr Dexter and his Year 7s were on hand to give advice and coaching.

A monumental number of burgers and sausages were barbequed and jugs full of Pimms poured. And the highlight of the event for many was the chance to taste the limited edition range of cheeses Old Princethorpian Melvin Glynn had brought along for the day, including Princethorpe Blue, and special cheddars for Crackley Hall and Crescent accompanied by Little Crackers cheese biscuits.

The Fete was a wonderful entertaining family event, a great British way to spend a Sunday afternoon and best of all, on the day, it also raised an outstanding £3,952, money that will be spent improving the learning of every pupil in the school. What can we say except thank you to all the organisers and visitors alike!

Congratulations to the 161 Princethorpe pupils who have completed their Duke of Edinburgh Qualifying Expeditions in the last two weeks. An outstanding effort and an amazing achievement!

Unaccompanied and self-sufficient they have trekked and camped their way across Snowdonia (14 pupils for Gold), the Dark Peak (38 pupils for Silver) and the Cotswolds (109 for Bronze), working together in teams to achieve their expedition objectives.

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards are recognised as the world’s leading youth achievement award. They provide young people with the opportunity to get involved, explore new interests, discover talents and make new friends.

Will Bower, Head of Outdoor Education, said, “This year record numbers of Princethorpe pupils have embraced the challenge of the Duke of Edinburgh Award. We are particularly pleased that pretty much equal numbers of girls and boys took part. They have all taken the opportunity to develop skills and try new experiences, pushing themselves both mentally and physically to be the best they can be. We are delighted with their commitment and enthusiasm, and very proud that so many have completed their expeditions. I was especially pleased that the assessors commented specifically on how well our pupils worked together and on how well they behaved.”

Mr Bower is planning a big celebration evening early next year when pupils who have completed all of the sections of their Award will be presented with their certificates (so make sure you get all of your paperwork submitted by October). The Gold Award winners (pictured above) will also receive an invitation to visit St James Palace, in London, for an official presentation.

It was so close there was a recount and every result, every event, every single participation point really mattered. Friday 16 June was the College’s annual Sports Day - a fantastic afternoon of friendly, but fiercely competitive sport. In the end it was Benet that just snatched victory, followed very closely by More, then Austin and Fisher.

This year the weather was kind and the sun shone brightly as tutor groups gathered on the main field, banners at the ready, war paint on, friendships put to one side. In the heat of the afternoon our Sixth Form Youth SVP Group and Charity Prefects helped to keep pupils cool selling close to 700 ice popsicles in aid of Mary’s Meals.

Foundation Director of Sport, Neil McCollin, said, “This was one of the best Sports Days ever, we had some excellent performances and there was an amazing atmosphere. Pupils were very supportive of each other, appreciating every individual effort and there was very little in it at the end.”

With just a point between first and second place every single performance truly did matter whether sprint, middle distance or field but some notable ones worthy of mention include:

Year 7

Toby Collett - 1500m, Millie Giffin - Shot, Jess Mackenzie - 200m, Evie Phillips - 800m, Ed Sharpe - Hurdles and Lara Tripp-Smith - Javelin and Hurdles.

Year 8

Charlotte Brotherton - High Jump, Charlie Bracken - Shot, Remo Volpe - High Jump, Molly Minshull - Hurdles and Ben Shipton - Javelin.

Year 9

Charlie Marshall - High Jump, Boldi Kordas - 200m, Ellis Chaplow - 800m and Emelia Tubb - Long Jump.

Year 10

Harry Smith - Shot and 100m, Juliette Carter - 200m, Callum Cooke - Discus, Tom Parker - Discus, Aaron Pressley - 100m and Sam Whittaker - 400m.