Old Princethorpians

Old Princethorpians who are considering Princethorpe as a senior school option for their child are informed of the following events aimed at prospective pupils for September 2014.

Taster Days

Taster Days are now available for current Year 6 students (children born between 1 September 2002 and 31 August 2003), who are interested in admission to Princethorpe in September 2014.

The dates are as follows:

- Thursday 10 October
- Tuesday 5 November and
- Monday 18 November

These days will involve a number of classroom sessions, a tour of the school, lunch and other activities. The days will run from 9.45am to 3.20pm.

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Book your place on Open Afternoon at Reception or telephone the Registrars on 01926 634201 or email elainewarwick@princethorpe.co.uk.

Entrance Examinations

Entrance Examinations for September 2014 entry for all age groups (except Sixth Form) will take place on Saturday 18 January 2014 from 9.00am to 3.00pm. All candidates must be registered at least a week before sitting the Entrance Examination.

To book your child's place on a Taster Day or for more information on the admissions process telephone the Admissions Registrar, Mrs Loretta Curtis on 01926 634201 or email lorettacurtis@princethorpe.co.uk.

Former England Rugby Captain Lewis Moody visited Princethorpe College to pass on tricks of the trade to fledging players in the top squads. Moody, whose illustrious career includes 71 England Caps, took thirty five players from Year 11-U6 onto the pitch to put them through their paces. Well known for his relentless capacity to push through pain and make his body do the unthinkable, Moody gave the boys a strenuous physical work out. Upper Sixth First Team player Paul Siddaway commented “It was a hard session but well worth it. He gave some great advice about defence and blocking techniques that we can put into our game plan straightaway.”

Moody described the attitude of the Princethorpe boys, “There was no shortage of enthusiasm and a willingness to listen and get stuck in. By demonstrating such a positive attitude I’m sure the squad will go far. They worked hard and responded well.”

Following on from the intensive 90 minute coaching opportunity, senior Princethorpe players accompanied the former Leicester and Bath flanker to lunch before engaging in an open Q and A session. The star quality of Lewis Moody ensured that the College lecture theatre was packed with rugby devotees keen to ask questions about life as a British Lion. There was no shortage of students and staff queuing for autographs and photographs with the former World Cup Winner.

Organiser of the event PE teacher Mr Jon Fitt was thrilled with the reaction of the players,

“For our squads to work with the best of the best is a once in a life time experience. They took on board the advice given and played hard throughout the session. Lewis was brilliant with the boys. Each of them will remember this and hopefully it will inspire their play this season.”

OPs who would like to get a flavour of what College life is like for our pupils today can download a copy of The Pinnacle as Issue 13 is out today Friday 4 October.

The Pinnacle showcases exceptional work by our pupils across the Foundation. This issue celebrates a wide range of academic and sporting achievements, plus a feature on the da Vinci Programme, Princethorpe's new gifted and talented initiative.

Click below if you would like to download a copy.

Web friendly Pinnacle Oct 2013 Issue 13.pdf

Princethorpe's new £4.5m classroom block sited on the side of the existing Sports Centre is now begining to take shape. Work began on the project back in June and the fair weather since then has made for good progress and the main building is on target for opening in September 2014.

Just this week the appearance of a large crane has signalled the ground floor beams and blocks going into place and it’s now easy to pick out the individual rooms and circulation areas of the ground floor. 

Comments, Alex Darkes, Assistant Head, Marketing and Operations, "All of the ground works are virtually complete: drains are in place and the ducts for water, electricity and data are ready. All of the block work on top of the foundations is complete and the ground floor should be in place within two weeks, which will mean that the masonry work up to the first floor will continue and then the floor slabs of the first floor will be craned into place."

If we get reasonable weather around Christmas and January, the roof should be in place and the building secure from the elements around February time."

He continues, "In the sports hall area the floor of the link corridor is almost finished and all of the steelwork is in for the mezzanine floor of the fitness centre and that supporting the new openings in front of the climbing wall and the fitness centre. These openings will carry large glazed panels and doors which will make both rooms much nicer. There are new roof windows in place to illuminate the new fitness centre and this will make it a light, attractive and airy space."

The project includes 15 extra classrooms for English and Modern Foreign Languages, tutorial rooms and two new ICT suites.

Click here to see a video showing progress between June and October 2013, based on photographs taken once or twice a day from the second floor of the back of the main school building overlooking the North Lawn. Thanks to Jon Sant in IT Support for his diligence in taking the photos!

The Old Princethorpians enjoyed their annual picnic on the North Lawn on Sunday 30 June following a lively brainstorm about the association's involvement with the College's plans for its Golden Jubilee in 2016-2017.

The focus will be on making the Jubilee Festival Day on Saturday 3 September 2016 a real family affair, other plans include a House of Commons Dinner and OPs Art Exhibition.

Comments, OPs Chairman, Peter Rollason, "The OPs are keen to play a central part in the Golden Jubilee festivities and excitement is building already."

After the picnic brothers Jeremy and Gary Peacock who boarded at the College in the 70s went on an impromptu, nostalgic tour round the school revisiting old haunts including the Drama Theatre, formerly their Basketball Court and their old dormitories on the now Sixth Form corridor.

The Old Princethorpians annual Summer Supper took place on Tuesday 11 June. The gathering of some 40 former pupils, staff and parents together with long-standing members of staff was a convivial affair.

A pre-supper tour of the school saw guests revisiting places which in some cases they had not seen for 20 to 30 years. Feedback on the changes to the school was very positive.

Former staff making appearances included firm favourites, Sean Philpott, Bernie Moroney, Lou Skiffingto and John Miller. Long-standing members of staff were awarded with OP ties and pin badges to recognise their honorary status within the association.

The OPs enjoyed a sociable meal together, catching up on old times before Fr Teddy O'Brien gave them an insight into his and former Headmaster, Dan O'Connor's trip to Hong Kong where they were hosted by a large group of Hong-Kong based OPs.

Old Princethorpian, Jacob Stone, who left the College in August 2012, recently gave an inspirational talk to Sixth Form students about his 10 weeks volunteering in Malawi which he set up through the International Citizen’s Service (ICS) in conjunction with the Catholic International Development Agency, Progressio.

During his time, he helped service boreholes, teach children basic hygiene, organise a football match with a half time talk to raise HIV/AIDS awareness and built a girl’s toilet block. He also got some hands-on experience of caring for people with various kinds of medical ailments – great preparation as he is off to Southampton University to study medicine this term.

It was very moving to hear Jacob talk about some of the people he met and was able to help - such as Sabiyana, an 82-year old women who had the responsibility of looking after her four grandchildren after their parents died of HIV/AIDS. With some money set aside by the organisation Jacob and his co-volunteers were able to give her clothes, a blanket and her first ever pair of shoes. She put them on and danced!  Jacob enjoyed his time so much, he raised money for a second trip to Uganda where he worked for six weeks in a shelter for street children.

Hannah Logue, another Old Princethorpian, also spoke to Sixth Formers about her spectacular gap year trip travelling all over South East Asia and her voluntary work in Burkino Faso – both of which she undertook with fellow past pupil Lizzie Hester. 

Thanks to both Jacob and Hannah for sharing their experiences with our current pupils and best of luck with all their future endeavours!

Old Princethorpian David Douglass came for a special tour round the College in September, accompanied by no other than former Miss England, Charlotte Holmes whose career he manages.

David was a boarder at the College from 1969 to 1976 and is still in touch with many old friends.  He is now director of a successful modelling, events and promotions company, based in London.

Commenting on his visit, David said, " I must say, as a former student, from the outset I was so impressed, as was Charlotte, with the standard of manners, behaviour and warm friendly spirit in the school. It's so good to see that in this modern time. The students were amazing to a fault and a delight to meet and we were made to feel most welcome by everyone."

The pair's visit, including lunch in the dining room, caused quite a stir amongst the pupils and some of the staff too!

Charlotte, who won Miss England in 2012, is a great ambassador for a number of charities including the Genesis Research Trust. She is currently on a charity bicycle ride around Sri Lanka with Professor Robert Winston, having been one of his very first success stories when pioneering IVF treatment.

David and Charlotte are hoping to get more involved with the College in the future.

Images show David and Charlotte finding David's name on the House Captains honours board in the dining room, Charlotte winning Miss England in 2012 and Charlotte with Alex Darkes who happily gave them a tour of the school.

Saturday 31 August brought many Old Princethorpians back to the College for a great day of sport and good humour to celebrate the life of Alex Wallis a beloved Old Princethorpian.

The College and OPs were vying for the honour of lifting the Alex Wallis Memorial Shield and the John Shinkwin Rugby Trophy.

The beautiful weather brought a great air of fun, laughter and enjoyment as pupils past and present played and performed over the four different sporting fields of boys' hockey, girls' hockey, girls' netball and boys' rugby. With the OPs fielding very strong teams and despite the College’s recent South Africa tour, Princethorpe were in for a long day against their elder counterparts.

The boys and girls hockey fixtures were very close games with the OPs clinching the wins to go 6 points to 2 in the lead (3 for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss.) The netball was finely balanced but the experience and speed of the Old Princethorpians was just too hot for the College players to handle and sadly the result didn’t go in Princethorpe’s favour. With the OPs retaining the Shield, the College were looking to regain a bit of pride in the final fixture of the afternoon. 

A substantial crowd were watching as the rugby kicked off and after some strong tackling from both teams the College broke the deadlock with a well worked and constructed try. As with the other matches the OPs showed incredible hunger and a desire to win and soon the scores stood at 7-5 as an error from the College gave the OPs an opening. With bodies tiring and breathing becoming faster it was in the hands of Princethorpe to make the final move and after sustained pressure a break was made and Josh O’Brien scored the winning try, 12-7. The John Shinkwin Trophy returned to the College with the 1st XV looking in great shape. 

The entire day was one of reminiscing with old friends, admiring the beauty of Princethorpe College whilst watching and playing some fantastic sport. Alex certainly shone down on us all as sport celebrated the College's much loved son.

It was lovely to see the Wallis family and former Headmaster, John Shinkwin back with us for the day to fittingly award the honours to the winning teams at the after match ceremony.

Many thanks to all those involved, special mentions go to all the Sports staff, Harry O’Brien and Megan McDonagh for the organisation of the sports teams, Matt Parsons and the very talented School of Rock for their live music, Lesley Topham and her team of fantastic catering staff for the delicious BBQ and after match buffet, Peter Rollason and the Old Princethorpians Committee for their support and finally to all the boys, girls, families and relations who supported the day.

Next year's event will be on Saturday 30 August 2014, we look forward to seeing you then.

Summer 2013 saw some very pleasing A-level and GCSE results for the College's pupils, these are very strong indicators that the school’s academic achievements across the ability range continue to go from strength to strength.

A-level summary results:

80 candidates

30% A* & A

65% A* to B

The top performer was Rhiannon Edwards with four A*s and an A grade plus an A* in her Extended Project.

In addition, over 80% of the Upper Sixth were awarded the new Princethorpe Diploma encompassing academic success, meaningful work experience, extra-curricular achievement and service to others in the community.

GCSE summary results:

130 candidates

almost 40% grades A* or A

over 65% at grade B or better

15% of candidates achieved at least nine A* or A grades.

Commenting on the A-level results Headmaster, Ed Hester, said, “These results just pip last year’s record with more students achieving the very highest grades. Whilst we are of course delighted with their academic achievements, these pupils have many other fine qualities: kindness, respect and a strong sense of right and wrong which will be as important for them - if not more - as they move on to the next phase of their education. This is a year group which has worked exceptionally hard and I am delighted they have been rewarded for their outstanding efforts and wish them well for the future".

Image shows from left to right, Bethany Smith, Rhiannon Edwards, Ed Hester (Headmaster) and Daisy Donaldson.

We hope you like the new look Old Princethorpian e-newsletter, the design ties in more with the College's new website and, importantly based on feedback from OPs, you can click on the images to get larger format photographs, all important when scrutinising whole school photos. You can use this function on past issues too if there are any photos you'd like to take a closer look at. We can also include galleries of photos from events, such as the OPs Sports Day, see article.

We are also now automatically sending the newsletter to the parents of U6 and Y11 leavers and to those leavers who have given us their own email addresses.

Dont forget you can also catch up with news by following the College on Twitter @PrincethorpeCol and on Facebook either Princethorpe College or Old Princethorpians.

If you have any feedback on the new look or comments on the newsletter generally please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk.