Old Princethorpians

One of my key aims over the past year since changing my role from Head of Princethorpe College to Foundation Principal, was to produce and publish a Strategic Plan for the Foundation. 

This has recently been shared with trustees, staff, current Foundation parents and the OPs Committee, but I would also like to share it with alumni and the wider Princethorpe community.

I have tried to make it succinct but with sufficient detail to give a real understanding of our aims and ambitions as we move forward over the years ahead.

Click here to view the Foundation Strategic Plan.

I have two requests: firstly, that you read it and secondly that if you have any feedback, questions or ideas you would like to share, please do so using this online form. I will personally read all the feedback and will reply directly if you leave your contact details.

With the OPs Committee we will be reviewing our alumni activities using the same approach and OPs are invited to help us identify the key 'pillars' at a workshop in April. See Alumni News for more on this and to get involved email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk or call 01926 634284. 

Very best wishes for the year ahead.

E D Hester

Gemma Cullinane has joined the Foundation as our new Commercial Enterprises Manager.

Following 16 years in the hospitality industry, Gemma has spent the past two years within education in commercial and business development roles. She brings to us vast experience in events management, revenue analysis and generation plus business development.

Her spare time is often spent with her two daughters and husband. They are an active family, and enjoy travelling, sport (in particular Rugby), music and food.

Gemma is keen to create a dynamic Commercial Department at Princethorpe. There are lots of ideas and plans for the future with fantastic opportunities and potential. Right now, she is busy doing analysis and research to get the building blocks right. Her plan is to develop a Commercial Department that strives for excellence, upholding quality and fostering sustainable growth, while embracing the core ethos of the Foundation.

Jo Wong has joined the Foundation as our new Archivist.

She gained a Masters in Archives and Records Management in 2005, and then worked as an archivist at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust from 2005 to 2010. Her prior archives experience also includes working at the BP Archive based at Warwick University and on a digitisation project focusing on the Industrial Revolution in Birmingham, as well as voluntary work at Warwickshire County Record Office, Cheshire Archives and Local Studies.

While bringing up her young family Jo retrained and set up her own business teaching parent and baby classes and combined this with working in schools over a number of years. Most recently she has been working in the higher education and charity sectors on projects including an online directory of UK biobanks and a mental health resource website.

Jo is passionate about increasing the awareness of and access to archives and is very much looking forward to helping the whole Princethorpe Foundation community engage with its wonderful heritage. She is always happy to be contacted with any queries about the archive collections and the history of the Foundation schools, and also looks forward to hearing from members of the community who have records or memories of their time at the schools that they may wish to share.

Jo can be contacted at joannawong@princethorpe.co.uk.

Crescent School’s young brass players performed alongside former Crescent pupils at the Bilton Silver Evolution Band’s Christmas Classics concert in December. The performance took place at St Peter’s and St John’s in Rugby and was a fabulously festive affair. Both Brass Group and Mini Brass performed, delighting all with their renditions.

Playing at the evening event were Year 5 pupils Alex B and Edward M who have just been selected for the National Children’s Brass Band of Great Britain. Alex and Edward are following in the footsteps of Old Crescentians, Alyssa Barnett, Charlotte Corbin and Henry Corbin who all successfully auditioned for the National Children’s Band when they were pupils at our school. Charlotte and Henry both now attend Princethorpe College.

We couldn’t resist taking a photo of the five talented brass players together with the amazing Di Fisher who will be familiar to many Old Crescentians. Over the years Di has inspired so many young pupils to pick up and play a brass instrument.

Looking for a new role? The Princethorpe Foundation often has vacancies which we advertise on our website and on social media.

Our latest job opportunities include:

➡️ Learning Support Assistant - Little Crackers
➡️ Digital Transformation Leader – Princethorpe Foundation
➡️ IT Engineer – Princethorpe Foundation
➡️ Payroll Officer – Princethorpe Foundation
➡️ Sixth Form Administrator – Princethorpe College

There are various closing dates please visit our Join Us pages to find out more and to apply.