Old Princethorpians

Nearly fifty years on from when they boarded at the College, Professors Paul and Peter Cheung returned to Princethorpe to take 11 lucky GCSE Design Technology pupils on an amazing hands-on journey into the technological advanced world of 3D printing.

The twin brothers visited Princethorpe on Friday 9 to Saturday 10 November, to share their exceptional, engineering expertise.  Both are now professors at the University of Hong Kong and Imperial College London respectively and they generously donated their time, and the printer technology, as a thank you for the opportunities, inspiration and support the College had provided them.

On the Friday afternoon Professor Peter Cheung gave a compelling presentation to pupils interested in a career in engineering.  He explained how engineers solve problems, the innovative opportunities his university students get involved in and the facilities Imperial has to offer.  He described time at University as ‘enabling’ and gave examples of where engineering careers could take you before finishing with the challenges engineers will face in the future.

On the Saturday Professor Paul Cheung hosted a full day workshop for 11 invited GCSE Design Technology pupils.  Helped by his brother Peter, cousin Patrick, and Head of Design Technology, Paul Scopes, the 11 pupils spent the day building three 3D printers completely from scratch.  After an initial briefing the pupils quickly got to work and the big build began.  Over the course of the day the new printers took shape, progress was swift, the pupils focussed and engaged and by mid-afternoon, incredibly, and thanks to a determined and tenacious effort, the first machine was already printing.   Pupils, parents and staff watched in amazement as the machine printed a perfect pair of miniature owls.

What was only recently an out of reach, expensive, industrial technique has, over the past few years, developed into accessible, new technology. Today anyone can print musical instruments, household items and, with easily available open source programmes, pretty much anything you can think of.  The new 3D printers are an amazing technological addition to Princethorpe’s Design Technology workshops that will develop new design skills and inspire the next generation of engineers.

Professor Paul Cheung was delighted with Princethorpe’s pupils’ enthusiasm, commenting, “Princethorpe’s pupils have beaten the record for the build time for the printers, beating even my university students.”  He added, “It has been really great to be back at Princethorpe College, we have been warmly welcomed and I would like to thank everyone for making our visit so enjoyable and memorable.”

Whilst visiting the school the brothers were also able to meet the former Director of Boarding, Fr Teddy O'Brien MSC.

At the end of the workshop Headmaster, Ed Hester, thanked Paul and Peter Cheung for their hugely generous donation and presented them and their cousin Patrick, who now lives locally, with a token gift, a much sought after, Old Princethorpians scarf.

A time lapse of the amazing day can be found here.

2018 proved to be another exceptional year for the College – full of achievement, progress and success on so many levels. What better way to celebrate than at the annual Prize Giving Ceremony on Friday 16 November when Princethorpe was delighted to welcome pupils, parents, staff and Old Princethorpians to a wonderful new venue, the IXL Events Centre at Dallas Burston Polo Club.

Before the ceremony the Old Princethorpians Committee hosted a special drinks reception for the returning Upper Sixth, their parents and VIP guests, providing a welcome opportunity for the class of 2018 to get together and catch up on their news since the summer.

The evening began with a screening of the College’s new film Princethorpe College – What’s It All About, before Chair of Trustees, Mrs Liz Griffin, officially opened the proceedings, warmly welcoming parents, friends of the College and Princethorpians old and new to the special occasion.

In his formal address the Headmaster, Ed Hester, gave thanks to the Princethorpe family who make Princethorpe the special place it is - the staff, the pupils, the parents and the wider Old Princethorpian community.  He talked about the many special and amazing people who are a part of that community, reflecting especially on the support and guidance of the late Mrs Mary O’Farrell.  His warm words paid tribute to all that she had done in support of the College and he announced that a new prize would be awarded in her memory.

Mr Hester congratulated last year’s Year 11 and Upper Sixth on their exceptional examination results and reflected that the results were the best in the College’s history.

The atmosphere throughout the evening was joyful and celebratory and there were superb musical interludes from the Year 7 Chorus, College Orchestra and College Jazz Band.

At the ceremony Mr Hester presented GCSE and A-level Examination Certificates and then a myriad of well-deserved trophies, cups and shields. Watching the stream of young people coming across the stage and shaking Mr Hester’s hand was truly inspiring and humbling. The talent in evidence, the grit and determination, the passion, enthusiasm and commitment were all applauded and honoured.

Some of the young people took to the stage with confidence, others more self-consciously, some made us laugh, and some brought a tear to our eye as we listened to, Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie’s citations.

The College was especially honoured to welcome on stage John O’Farrell to poignantly present the Mary O’Farrell Prize to Upper Sixth leaver, Daniel Dziurzynski.

And then it was time for the recipient of the final award, the Princethorpe Shield, the College’s oldest and most prestigious award to be revealed. The Shield is presented annually to the student who is seen to embody the spirit and ethos of the College in many facets of their school life. It was a very popular decision, as to resounding applause former Head Girl, Miriam Isaacs, was welcomed back to the stage to receive the Shield.

To close the proceedings Head Girl, Elizabeth Carr, and Head Boy, Tom Warne, gave an eloquent vote of thanks, before the evening finally came to an inspiring end with fervent singing of the College Hymn, ‘Here I Am Lord’ by the assembled throng.

For some, A-level Results Day ‘98 would be the last time we would see one and other. Results Day being such a ‘happy’ occasion – it was agreed that we should mark the 20 years gone in ‘a blink of an eye’ with a reunion. A WhatsApp group was formed followed by a Facebook page to get the conversation started. We managed to ensure that over 80 students from the year group of ’91 – ’98 knew of the event. Naturally, many now live overseas or could not make it that night for one reason or another – but all very much wished they could have.

We met up at the White Horse in Leamington on the 24 November 2018. It took no time at all for us to pick up from where we had last left off 20 years prior and the Old Princethorpians' Association kindly put some money behind the bar for us all to have a drink. Instead of moving on to other bars, as intended, we were good where we were – until being moved on to Altoria for a few more into the early hours.

It really was a great night with old friends with so many shared memories. I’m sure the next one will be as good - if not better with even more old friends.

Ciaran Convey

Whilst it doesn’t feel anywhere near that long, according to the calendar this year it will be 25 years since the class of 1994 finished Sixth Form at Princethorpe College and went off into the big wide world.

This seems a good opportunity to arrange a reunion event for classmates to catch up and reminisce about how much has changed (fair to say that the College has changed a little since “our day”).

A Facebook group has been set up to provide an opportunity to re-connect and to share ideas and plans for the reunion event being planned for later in the year.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/princethorpe94class/

For any ’94 OP’s who don’t use Facebook, please contact oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk to be connected to the reunion organisers for further information about plans as they become available.

Anne and Phil

Following its successful launch last summer, we are looking to get more OP Friendly Faces on board to widen the support network of OPs in universities across the country for the leavers of 2019.

OP Friendly Faces aims to link past pupils established at university with first year OP students. Providing a friendly, familiar face to meet up with over a coffee (compliments of the OPs) or having someone to call in their new uni town or city, does, we know, make for a smoother experience in those first few weeks away from home. 

Many of our current Upper Sixth are receiving offers and will shortly be choosing their first and second choice destinations, so it would be good to know soon who is willing to give them on the ground advice and tips. We are hoping that many of those who were helped last year will be prepared to be a Friendly Face this year, and that many of those already signed up to help will also be prepared to continue.

Grace Blackhall, who is in her first year at UEA studying Physiotherapy and benefited from the initiative is keen to take up the challenge, she comments, "I look forward to hopefully becoming an OP friendly face to whomever choses my university and being there for them when they need it."

Comments OPs Secretary, Melanie Butler, " We have OP Friendly Faces in around 30 university towns and cities and would like to expand on that significantly this year and get more of our leavers matched up for the new academic year."

If you are interested in becoming an OP Friendly Faces for this year's Upper Sixth leavers please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk.
 

Cataloguing, cataloguing and then some more cataloguing has been a huge focus for the last term and I am really pleased to be able to share how the progress has gone. The Crescent School collection is now fully catalogued, including the 193 albums containing more that 19,000 photographs that had to be downloaded from Flickr, a photo sharing website, when they suddenly changed their terms and conditions at the end of Michaelmas Term! The St Mary’s and St Joseph’s collections have also been carefully checked and any recently donated items added to the catalogue. There is still some way to go before we have everything that is in the archives fully catalogued but we now have over 5,700 individual descriptions within our catalogue, an increase of 25% within the last 18 months.

All that talk of cataloguing leads nicely on to the exciting news that a new online archive catalogue is coming soon to archives.princethorpe.co.uk. Epexio, the company that created the catalogue, have done a superb job at creating a clear, easy to use site that works really well. As well as being able to search by individual school using the ‘Browse Collections’ section of the system, there is also an exciting ‘Digital Materials’ area where all the past newsletters and drama programmes that have been digitised are available to view. There is no need to register to use it, just make sure that you have a cup of tea and a few hours to spare before you start looking.

 Janette Ratcliffe - Foundation Archivist

Work is well underway on an exciting, new Foundation website which is due to launch this spring.

The new site has been carefully designed as five websites in one to perfectly showcase the Foundation and its four schools - Princethorpe College, Crescent School, Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery.

On the Princethorpe part of the site there will be a bespoke Old Princethorpians page. We are currently looking for OPs from across the generations to feature on the page, so if you are interested in supplying us with a photo and a short biography please get in touch with Old Princethorpians as soon as possible.

Melanie Butler, Assistant Head – Marketing and OPs Secretary, comments, “This has been a major project, which we hope will be well received by the Foundation community and Old Princethorpians. It will look better, work faster and be easier to use than our current sites. We can’t wait to share it with everybody!”

The project has been carried out in partnership with website company, e4education.

Keep an eye on the Foundation social media platforms for previews of the site and news of the launch date.

The Development Office and Old Princethorpians are delighted to announce that we shall be unveiling a new alumni and friends of Princethorpe community database with effect from May 2019.

Toucan Tech, used by an increasing number of independent schools in the UK, will offer a wealth of benefits for all former pupils, parents, staff and friends of the College.

OPs will be able to connect with other users, link their profiles directly from LinkedIn, find friends, express preferences for communication, and all with the added security offered by a GDPR compliant, secure cloud server.

Toucan Tech will be working with the College over the next few weeks, to design a bespoke and branded set of pages for our Princethorpe community, which will include tabs such as home page, news and events, all accessed via the new Foundation website.

Our community will see a much more modern, bright and colourful community webpage, with an immediately inviting “magazine-like” feel.

As the network grows, there will be custom groups that alumni can join themselves, allowing them to see other members with similar histories or interests e.g. London Alumni, 1st XV Rugby Players or Class of 2018 etc.

Members will be able to log in with Linked-In or Facebook details, allowing a smooth and modern approach to social media which users are used to working with on other platforms.

A Pupil Connect feature will allow OPs to reconnect together in a “Facebook” type community, but within the privacy of a “members only” area that requires their log in. Also, a Linked-In profile can be imported for up to date career information. Similarly, alumni can submit news stories for the web site via a portal.

A family line will allow individuals to associate themselves with other members, showing a family tree of alumni – parents, siblings, cousins etc, all within a totally secure framework.

In time, a careers platform, will enable OPs to use a networking facility to offer careers advice, mentoring, interview skills, work experience or internship in specific fields to younger alumni or current pupils.

Not least, the administrative side of Toucan Tech, will make life so much easier for our Development and OP Team. As Toucan Tech themselves might say, ‘beautiful design – software with a smile’!

Recent leavers are reminded that they still have the chance to complete their Duke of Edinburgh Awards.  Students will have invested significant time on the physical, skill and volunteering sections and shown strength and perseverance in completing their expeditions.  Often it is just a matter of completing the paperwork or for the Gold Award undertaking the extra element, the residential.

Head of Outdoor Education, Will Bower has prepared a handy guide for completing your edofe submission attached here.

For those who have yet to complete their Gold residential useful information and links are also attached below:

Choosing A Residential

Residential Checklist

Residential Participant Form

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

https://volunteer.yha.org.uk/vk/volunteers/my_opportunities_events.htm?eventname=DofEGoldResidentials

If you have questions or need any further help then please email willbower@princethorpe.co.uk.

We encourage you to take the time to finish your Award and finalise your submissions, the Duke of Edinburgh Awards are well recognised and will always be an achievement you can be proud of.

Thursday 14 March 2019 - 7.30pm

Past pupils, parents, staff and friends of the Foundation, along with current parents are all cordially invited to attend Princethorpe - A Vision For The Future, a presentation by Ed Hester, Head of the Foundation on Thursday 14 March at 7.30pm in the College's Clarkson Theatre.

The presentation will outline the Foundation's vision for the next five to ten years, and provide more detailed information on the College's new Science Building and campus improvements, including an interactive walk through of the Science facility.  Mr Hester will also feedback highlights from the College's parental questionnaire, unveil the Foundation's new website and outline plans for a new, improved Foundation parent portal. There will be the opportunity for Q&As afterwards.

Refreshments will be served after the presentation in the Sixth Form Centre.

The event is aimed at adults, although pupils are welcome to attend if accompanied by an adult.

Please click on this link to let us know if you would like to attend by Monday 4 March 2019.

Many of you will remember that The Tower used to be the College’s magazine which provided termly updates on life at school, before the advent of our fortnightly e-newsletter The Flagpole.  A mainstay of the archives, much enjoyed by pupils and parents, past and present, the College has decided to dust off its much loved magazine and give it a new lease of life, this time as an annual souvenir review.

Charting the College’s year in words and pictures this new publication will celebrate the pupils and ethos that together make Princethorpe such a very special place. 

2017-2018 had a lot to live up to following on from the glorious celebrations of the Golden Jubilee year.  It had its own challenges, with some of the heaviest snowfall in a long while but there were many wonderful and memorable moments and plenty of achievements and rewards to record.

The Tower Review will be published shortly.  Copies will be distributed to current pupils and sent to the class of 2018.  An electronic copy will be included in the next edition of the Old Princethorpian newsletter.  If you would like to receive a hard copy of the publication please email oldprincethorpian@princethorpe.co.uk with your name and address.

Following the great success of the Golden Jubilee Cycling Pilgrimage in May 2017, plans are now firmly afoot for a second French Cycling Pilgrimage during May Half Term, from Saturday 25 May to Wednesday 29 May.  Several Old Princethorpians have already signed up for the trip, alongside current parents and members of staff.

Led by the Headmaster, Ed Hester, the pilgrimage will return to the beautiful Loire Valley. The 100-mile route will wend its way from Saumur to Amboise via Azay le Rideau and Chinon, taking in some wonderful countryside, stunning chateaux and vineyards.

Once again the pilgrims will be raising money for Mary’s Meals, a charity close to the College’s heart.

Comments, Ed Hester, "We have planned the five day trip to allow plenty of time for chateaux and wine tasting, we estimate the cost including travel, food and accommodation will be around the £500 per person mark. Places will be limited to 30 cyclists, though we will be able to accommodate some non-cyclists in a support capacity too. Only a few spaces remain so if you are interested in joining us we would urge you to get in touch asap."

For more information download this booklet.

Those interested are invited to email Melanie Butler for more details at  melaniebutler@princethorpe.co.uk.

Chris McCullough, Head of Fisher House, will sadly be leaving Princethorpe this summer having been appointed to the role of Deputy Headteacher at The Kingsley School in Leamington from September 2019.

Headmaster Ed Hester comments, “Chris is a much loved member of our staff and has been part of the Princethorpe family for almost 21 years.  She has been a key member of both our pastoral team and the Games Department for many years.  We congratulate her and wish her all the very best with her new role.”

Chris will be one of the members of staff attending the OPs Summer Supper on Friday 28 June, if you would like to come along and wish her well please email Old Princethorpians.

Princethorpe Biology Teacher, Faye Roberts has been on a sabbatical year and shares with us here the amazing experiences she has been having.

After months of research and planning and more importantly the fantastic support of Princethorpe College to grant me a sabbatical year from work, I headed off to Heathrow as everyone else set about their September inset days. I started with four months in Nepal volunteering with the charity Street Child. They initially started their work there in response to the devastating 2015 earthquake, the aftermath of which is still very apparent in many regions of the country. The focus now is more on developing education programmes with marginalised communities including the Musahar in the south of the country and the families that come with all their children into the valleys, from the mountains to work in brick factories. I spent a lot of my time helping to develop the curriculums and plan lessons to be translated into local dialects and delivered by the social workers who were being trained in the local communities. 

Nepal is a fascinating country to visit full of culture, heritage and bustling chaotic streets and markets. I went to Lumbini the birth place of Buddha and of course the mighty Himalaya which are just breath-taking. A week-long trip across the Tibetan plateau ended with one of my highlights so far which was spending the night at base camp for Mt Chomolungma (Everest) at 5200m altitude. The skies were clear and perfect views of Everest for sunrise and sunset was really something quite special. A trip to Bhutan, where the focus is GNH (Gross National Happiness) not GDP was also a highlight and a hike up to the amazing Tiger’s Nest Monastery which is built into the mountainside on a sheer cliff.            

I am currently in rural Malawi living on the lakeside with no electricity like the majority of Malawians, but am lucky to have a little bit of solar power and a water pump on site, which is not a long walk away like most people in the village. I have no need for an alarm clock as a troop of monkeys like to come and chase each other over my roof in the morning. I am teaching Biology and Chemistry at a secondary school to classes of up to 88 pupils with just a blackboard and chalk and support the teachers at several other schools in the area, sharing ideas and planning, when I visit. I also help at a village library with adult literacy and additional Saturday classes for older students who want to get back into school, once they have saved up enough money to pay the fees. I am yet to try eating the lake flies, which you see in big swarms when they hatch over the lake, they’re quite delicious I’m told, but not sure I’m convinced, maybe I’ll go for the roasted termites first! 

My plans for the rest of the year include; travel to the Seychelles archipelago and the mountainous Kingdom of Lesotho; a month in Ethiopia, including visits to the 12th century rock churches of Lalibela and one of the lowest and hottest places on earth the Danakil Depression.  As well as two months in South Africa training to be a Safari Guide.

I truly believe that travel and opening your eyes to the rest of the world is such an important part of education and life-long learning and would encourage anyone to step out of their comfort zone and do something that challenges them whatever it may be. 

The War Memorial in Princethorpe Cemetery was re-dedicated and blessed by Father Teddy O’Brien MSC assisted by Sean and Luke O’Kelly on Sunday 11 November 2018.

Approximately 100 parishioners, members of the Princethorpe village community, friends and visitors processed down the Princethorpe College drive after the 10.00am Mass to begin the re-dedication and blessing at 10.45am in time for the two minute national silence at 11.00am.

Fr Teddy O'Brien and the parishioners of St Anne's, Wappenbury, who are responsible for the cemetery and the upkeep of the memorial and grounds, would like to thank the War Memorials Trust for their generous donation of £3750.00 towards the £6000.00 cost of restoring the memorial.

We must also thank the many parishioners and friends who have supported our target to ensure the funding for the memorial was raised. Special thanks to Mr Rory O’Connor of Historic Buildings Restoration for his diligence and professional expertise.

The First World War memorial was erected by the Benedictine nuns of St Mary’s Priory now Princethorpe College. A dedication service was held on 18 September 1922.

The memorial was in a poor state of repair. The restoration began with the removal of the Corpus (which was discovered to be cast iron coated with an ivory coloured enamel) and the original oak cross – rotten, warped and desperately in need of replacement.

The link here shows images of the memorial prior to its restoration - thank you to parishioner John O'Kelly who supplied the images. 

If you have a few minutes please take time to enter the cemetery and view the restoration. One of our past boarders, Edward Enwonwu, is in buried in the cemetery.

Edward joined Princethorpe on the 10th September 1979 alongside his older brother, Cyril. They had previously attended Cotton College, a Roman Catholic Boarding School near Stoke on Trent. He was awarded the 1981 Junior Sports Award for Basketball.

Edward died whilst he was studying at Princethorpe in 1983. Coming to the end of a cross country run Edward collapsed in the College grounds from an undiagnosed heart defect. A requiem Mass for Edward was attended by over 700 people. As testament to his popularity at the College Edward is mentioned warmly by a couple of OPs in their Old Princethorpian Interviews for the newsletter - Robert Pesch in Lent 2011 and Simon Loasby in Michaelmas 2011 editions.

Professor and Mrs Enwonwu, Edward's parents, decided that he should remain in sight of the College as he was so happy at Princethorpe.

If you would like to find out more about the parish of St Anne's parish please click here

Fr Teddy celebrates Mass every Sunday at St Anne's, Wappenbury CV33 9DW at 8.30am and at 10.15am in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels', Princethorpe College. All are welcome.

At the end of November Princethorpe College said farewell to much loved peripatetic teacher, Mrs Mary MacDonald.  Mary introduced tuition for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) examinations back in September 2012 and, over the intervening years, under her expert leadership, the numbers of pupils studying the communication and performance syllabuses gradually increased.  Princethorpe College now has four LAMDA teachers and 81 pupils taking lessons in the dramatic arts.

All Mary’s pupils have thrived and with her encouragement have successfully progressed through the syllabus, some right to the very top level, a number achieving Gold Medals at Grade 8.   Keen for all her pupils to achieve their full potential Mary has always structured her teaching to bring out the best in every piece of work under study.  She actively supported school performance events and has helped LAMDA become an integral part of the performing arts offering at Princethorpe College.

Diligent to the end, a delighted Mary was surprised with flowers, gifts and cards as she supervised the latest round of LAMDA examinations.   Peripatetic and Exam Co-ordinator for Music, Felicity Coulson said, “We would like to thank Mary for all her hard work and dedication to Princethorpe’s pupils.  She has been instrumental in the success of LAMDA at the College and we will miss her.  We wish her a happy, healthy and well-deserved rest as she enters the next phase of her life.”

Mary was thrilled responding, “I do feel thoroughly spoilt” continuing, “It has been wonderful to work with so many gifted and talented children, they have taught me so much.”

The College was delighted to welcome back, former Director of Ethos, David Hare, on the first day of the Lent Term.  David spoke to pupils from across the College about the important skill of listening in a series of Epiphany services in the Chapel.  David brought with him Minnie, his hearing dog, whose listening skills help him hear.

David retired from Princethorpe College in 2015 after 35 years of teaching in hearing schools, 14 spent happily at Princethorpe.  He describes himself as moderately-profoundly deaf.

In his five talks to pupils David spoke about the differences between hearing and listening and the active concentration required to understand what has been heard.  He explained how tiring listening can be especially for someone with little or no hearing and how important it is to use your eyes as well as your ears when you listen.

David demonstrated how Minnie helps him to hear.  How she alerts him to come if he is being called, if the doorbell goes, if a timer goes off, or an alarm clock and most importantly how she shows him there is danger if a fire alarm sounds.  He explained that Minnie doesn’t just hear, but listens in order to work out the correct alert to use.

The Epiphany services offered College pupils the opportunity to reflect on the coming term.  Whilst leading the services Father Alan Whelan MSC encouraged pupils as they settled back down to daily school life to reflect on the skill of listening and to “listen with their ears, but also to listen with their heads and their hearts”.

Our thanks go to David, his wife Anne and to Minnie for taking the time to come into school and for undertaking such a marathon morning of motivational mentoring and to Father Alan for leading the morning’s Epiphany services.

Recent Upper Sixth leaver, Adam Smith, has been recognised in the Independent Schools’ Association’s prestigious National Art Competition. His entry, Ella in Blue, was judged runner-up in the Key Stage 5 2D Art Individual class.

Adam’s striking piece will be instantly recognisable to anyone connected to the College as it has featured both on the cover of the school’s Pinnacle magazine and as a scene in the College’s new film Princethorpe – What’s It All About?  Studies for the work are now also gracing the walls outside the Art department inspiring all who walk by.

Adam was not the only College prize-winner in this year’s Art competitions as a number of pupils saw success in the ISA Regional Midlands Art competition including:

KS5 Painting: Winner - Adam Smith

KS5 Sketchbooks: Winner - Selin Hassan

KS5 Photography: Runner-up - Kate Mcintyre

KS4 Painting: Winner - Hannah Richards, Highly Commended - Sebastian Lloyd-Thomas

KS4 Sketchbooks: Runner-up - Leah Dunkley

KS4 Drawing: Winner - Issy Duncan, Runner-up - Letty Gladwin

Princethorpe College Head of Art, Paul Hubball, applauded the winners, “These prizes are a reflection of the talent we have within our school. Our winners were each worthy recipients. With years of hard work behind them, they have produced exceptional work, some of the finest art in the College’s history."

This year’s bumper crop of prizes reflects the depth and range of talent in Princethorpe's Art and Photography Department.

The Development Office was thrilled to receive another regular donation last week pushing the total amount raised to date to over £100,000.

This fabulous total, is made up of regular gifts, one-off donations, and of course, the all-important Gift Aid, which can add a sizeable 25% to any gift.

Our supporters have delighted the Development Office, particularly as many of those who have been helped by the school in the past, have chosen to ‘give back’ to the College in order to assist others. Princethorpe is not a wealthy school, and unlike many others, does not have an endowment fund to rely on. Instead, Princethorpe carefully manages fee income alongside charitable gifts, to facilitate our bursaries and building programmes. We are so grateful therefore, when our friends help us to widen access to the College, to include those who would not otherwise be able to afford full school fees. Additionally, such support helps us to plan for new facilities which take teaching and learning to new heights.

Very shortly, we shall be launching an exciting capital campaign for Science, and hope that through a ‘Menu of Giving’ we will be able to offer every single member of the Old Princethorpians a chance to join our fundraising plans. More news will follow shortly, and all members of the Princethorpe community are invited to attend an information evening entitled Princethorpe – A Vision for the Future on Thursday 14 March. Click here to RSVP for the evening.

A huge thank you to all our supporters who have helped us achieve this milestone. We welcome all donations, and if you would like to join the growing number of those who already help, please contact Rachel or Alex at: makingadifference@princethorpe.co.uk

Just before Christmas the Development Office was delighted to host a festive evening of cheese, wine and friendship for all those who had supported the College’s fundraising efforts throughout 2018. Trustees, former and current parents, staff and friends of the college, met in the Sixth Form dining room to share stories, exchange festive wishes, and enjoy the ‘Spirit of Family’ so prevalent in our community. We recognise the importance of thanking all our donors and supporters, in particular those who give their time so freely to the college. Our friends in Hong Kong were also thanked remotely, for all their friendship, support and warmth. It seems the Princethorpe community knows no geographical bounds!

Ed Hester thanked our guests for their donations and support, and explained how the funds raised had made such a difference to the lives of pupils at Princethorpe.  We were also able to give our guests a sneak preview of the exciting plans for Princethorpe’s future, including an inspirational new Science building, planned for 2022. The two-storey building will provide contemporary, spacious and well-quipped accommodation for the three Sciences, but will also benefit many other areas of the curriculum, including the redevelopment and clustering of other departments, providing permanent homes for Economics, Business Studies, Geography and Classics and dedicated laboratory areas for Academic PE.

It was lovely to see friendly and familiar faces from across the generations, coming together to support the College. We look forward to working with the wider Princethorpe community in the coming months and years, to enable us to offer more bursaries to deserving pupils and support our school development plans.

Old Princethorpians are most welcome to attend an information evening on Thursday 14 March, where the Headmaster will outline plans for Princethorpe’s future. Anyone wishing to attend, please see the article entitled Princethorpe - A Vision For The Future Evening and RSVP using the link here.