Old Princethorpians

Over the Easter holidays the Estates and Grounds teams were hard at work preparing for the Trinity Term. During the break, the teams also, excitingly, commenced work on wider developments to the campus buildings and infrastructure that are a beneficial part of the College’s new Science Centre project.

Pupils and staff returning to school for the Trinity Term discovered two new classrooms on the first floor where the staff room had been situated, but more was still to be revealed. Work is underway in the old Science laboratories G22 and G23 to reinstate a lost section of the cloister corridor. A new classroom has been created and a new door has been broken through into what is now the Clarkson Theatre.

The work has uncovered the final Station of the Cross which has been hidden from view behind a board for 40 years. It is another stunning treasure from Princethorpe’s past that we are delighted to unveil. 

It's fantastic to see these developments and improvements underway and only adds to our anticipation for the completion of the Science Centre.

Work on the College’s new Science Centre continues to progress well across the site. Next week Foundation Assistant Head, Alex Darkes, who is overseeing the project, will be taking more of the Science staff to visit the building to get a feel for the new facilities and to see for themselves how the construction work is progressing.

Inside, the internal partition walls are now in place and the flooring is down, both ceramic and vinyl. All the doors have also been fitted. The downstairs labs now have much of their furniture in place. The staff bases have been decorated and will soon have their furniture fitted. The mechanical and engineering work is well advanced. The lift is in, the boilers are in, and the plant rooms are nearing completion. The washroom fit out has started.

Outside, most of the cladding on the front of the building has been completed and some of the scaffolding will shortly be coming down. Landscaping has started, although it will pause for the examination season, and the construction team is back working on the new courts.

The Science Centre remains on schedule to open its doors for teaching in September 2023, it will have 1,800sqm of floor space and 10 laboratories spread over two floors. The building’s location at the top of The Lime Walk places it central to the College’s campus and the views from the laboratories are stunning, it is all very exciting for us here at Princethorpe!

Have a look at the latest photos of the progress of the project.

The thud of ball on bat, followed by shouts from excited fielders and screams of encouragement for the batters was once again heard up on Switzerland in early May for the first time in over 10 years when cricket returned to the very top field. The Year 8 boys U13C team faced Bablake and King Henry VIII School and much to the delight of us all, they won their match by 34 runs.

Thanks to the sterling work of the Grounds team, Princethorpe now has six cricket match pitches as our facilities team respond to the growing interest in the sport especially from our girls’ teams.

The College has a busy cricket fixture list for the Trinity Term, with matches planned across the year groups and even for our staff team. That day alone the school fielded 11 teams!

We are looking forward to a super summer season

Princethorpe College pupils and staff conquered the 30-metre-high Chapel tower in an epic fundraising abseil challenge on Wednesday 19 April. As part of a drive to raise funds to support their summer 2023 South Africa sporting tour, the pupils from Year 11 and the Sixth Form enthusiastically took on the once in a lifetime challenge.

In light wind and with the sunshine breaking through, there was nothing to hold back the 60 dare devil students and staff from tackling the descent. Under the supervision of outdoor education specialists, 10:10 Ventures, participants were kitted up in helmets and harnesses before being given their safety briefing. First over the top were Sixth Formers, Evie Phillips and Millie Giffin, who led the way effortlessly abseiling the 100-foot drop to cheers from waiting classmates on the ground below.

When he took his turn Mr Bower showed eveyone just how it should be done, dropping effortlessly down the Tower without a moment's hesitation. The last to descend were Headmaster, Grove du Toit, and Deputy Head Pastoral, Beth Sharpe, who ascended the tower at 5.30pm for their turn to climb over the parapets.

Head of Girls' Games, Jen Law, commented, “The South Africa tour is a major event in the Princethorpe Sporting calendar. We expect pupils to take responsibility for raising funds for the trip to support the community activities pupils participate in while on tour. The total raised will need to be tallied up but huge congratulations to all who braved the drop from Princethorpe's mighty tower.”

More House was celebrating after winning the most hotly contested competition in school, the House Cup. Their victory was announced by House Activities Leader, Jess Newborough, in the Prefect Inauguration ceremony at the end of the Lent Term. The House Cup was presented to the outgoing More House Captains, Evie Phillips and Lara Tripp-Smith, and More House Activities Co-ordinator, Megan O’Gorman, as jubilant More pupils cheered across the school.

Before announcing the result, Mrs Newborough shared some of her highlights of the year, speaking of her delight at how Princethorpe pupils respond and the camaraderie and sense of community that the House activities provides. She spoke of the importance of taking part, of standing up to be counted, reminding us all that whether it is the regular weekly fun of the Friday quizzes or the big events such as House Activities Day, every single point contributes.

Across the year it was a steady and consistent performance that helped More pupils amass their huge total of points and finish first across the line but well done to all pupils across the school who participated in the events so enthusiastically. The final results this year were: 1st More, 2nd Benet, 3rd Austin and 4th Fisher.

Huge thanks go to all the House team, including the House Activities Co-ordinators and House Captains for all they do to organise and run House events.

In the last week of the Lent Term. after school on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Upper Sixth Leavers took on staff teams in friendly hockey and netball matches. It was a great way to celebrate the students time at the College and to see just how good the coaching staff are.

The matches were much anticipated and as the teams limbered up, there was plenty of friendly banter but once they were out on the astro and courts everyone was after a win. Staff from across the school took part including Mr du Toit as well as Games legends Mr McCollin, Mr Cassell, Mr Jackson and Miss Law.

The matches were all great fun, played with fabulous competitive spirit and a great atmosphere amongst the supporters courtside. Well done to all the participants, the Upper Sixth leavers came away with a resounding 5-1 victory in the hockey, the staff A team just edged the netball 20-19 while the staff B team went down 15-10.

We look forward to welcoming our Leavers back for more friendly competitive sport at our OP vs College Sports Day which will take place this year on Saturday 2 September.

Princethorpe College welcomed a capacity crowd of nearly 1,000 pupils, parents, staff and contributors to the College's sixth biennial Careers Fair on Saturday 18 March.

Nearly fifty speakers, including current and former parents and Old Princethorpians, gave their time to present on a wide variety of careers and professions. From Accountancy, Finance and Banking to Medicine and Midwifery, Engineering, Computing, Law, Architecture, Product Design, Fashion, Sports Careers, Police and the Armed Forces and even Teaching, individual presentations gave pupil attendees the chance to consider careers, research jobs, listen to advice and ask questions.

The morning included a keynote speech from guest speaker, freelance journalist and personal finance reporter, Old Princethorpian, Felicity Hannah. Felicity’s speech was full of inspiration and sound advice as well as a few tales from her time here at the College. She urged pupils to remember ‘there are no closed doors’ and to be ‘open to change’ as the world of work is changing and career choices evolving. She shared her personal experiences from her very first job while a student as a ‘Ghost Tour Guide’ to how her career progressed from copywriter to freelance journalist and radio presenter. She gave pupils her top tips for success, to network, ask advice, never stand still, be persistent, say thank you and to be the person who is remembered for all the right reasons. She finished by encouraging all to be open and embrace change as there is a world of opportunity out there.

Thanking Felicity, Headmaster, Grove du Toit, summed up with the hope that the Careers Fair would succeed in ‘getting pupils on the right track’ encouraging the attendees to spend a fruitful morning exploring careers, universities and life after the classroom.

Throughout the morning, Princethorpe’s Sixth Form Atrium served as an exhibition hub for universities from across the country such as Cardiff, Sheffield, Aberystwyth, Falmouth and nearer to home Warwick.

For many of the pupils, this was their first step on the career ladder, and it was a great opportunity to have a taste of some of the different sorts of career choices available.

Feedback was certainly been very positive with parents and pupils commenting on how useful and informative the event was.

A huge thanks to Felicity and the many OPs involved hosting careers workshops or with stands in the Exhibition, including Evie Bonsall, Nigel Bromley, Bob Cheshire, James Davies, Sol Elliot, James Hewitt, Ed Hunter, Tori Jones, Alfie Kay, Jamie Kettlewell, Matt MacLellan, Bethany Rees, Oli Thomas, Anna Wells, Grace O’Gorman, Rory Draper and Hannah Brindley and to the Careers Team for their organisation of this important event.

The new Princethorpe College Prefect Body for 2023-2024 was formally inaugurated into office at an end of term ceremony on Friday 24 March. Parents of the new prefects were invited to College for a buffet lunch before the afternoon’s formal ceremony began.

Head of Sixth Form, Ben Collie, introduced the incoming prefects who were presented with their prefect badges by Grove du Toit, Headmaster. Outgoing Head of School, Pratheesh Prabakaran formally handed over the keys of office on his and Freya Mills' behalf, to the incoming Heads of School, Natalya Elden and Izzy Wright.

The College extended warm thanks to the outgoing prefect body and to the subject ambassadors, they had given unstinting service this last year.

The 2023-2024 prefects smartly attired in their new uniform for the first time, spoke to the gathered audience of pupils about their hopes for their new roles. We wish them all well as they take up their duties.

Thinking of becoming a teacher? Then why not consider training with the Princethorpe Foundation.

Whether you are a new graduate or contemplating a career change, we have a wide range of opportunities available across the subjects but particularly in English, History, Physics and RS.

Though our association with the Lion Alliance, we offer a year’s training as part of the School Direct scheme, leading to Qualified Teacher Status. Placements would be at Princethorpe and also at other schools within the Lion Alliance. Our training is supported by Warwick University, Birmingham City University, Coventry University and by our experienced mentors here at the Princethorpe Foundation.

You can preview the courses on offer here: www.gov.uk/find-postgraduate-teacher-training-courses by searching the database using the details: 1K1 – The Lion Alliance

Our Assistant Head for Teaching and Learning, Dr Liz Pyne is also happy to offer advice about the different routes into teaching and what Princethorpe can offer you. Please email Dr Pyne at lizpyne@princethorpe.co.uk.

Further information about the Lion Alliance can be found at www.thelionalliance.co.uk.