Old Princethorpians

The new College golf umbrella is now in stock. Costing £22 all proceeds will go towards the next major sports tour in 2015.

If you would like to purchase an umbrella please contact Director of Sport, Neil McCollin via email at neilmccollin@princethorpe.co.uk. Please make cheques payable to Princethorpe College.

For information on OPs Merchandise please click on this link, we have recently had a new delivery of cufflinks and are looking to produce a Tower inspired charm.

Click on the attachment below to download the latest In the News posters featuring some of the Foundation's most recent media coverage.

A huge thank you to Ms Emma Litterick for all her hard work generating coverage for the Foundation.

In the News

If you'd like to see the sort of things our current pupils get up to then download the latest issue of the College magazine, The Pinnacle, which showcases examples of pupils' excellent work. 

This issue includes some amazing work in the fields of Art, English, Film and Sport and Extended Projects.

The Minnacle pages are equally impressive with tremendous work by Crackley Hall pupils from Reception to Junior 6.

Click below if you would like to download a copy of The Pinnacle and here if you would like to see The Minnacle.

Helen Pascoe-Williams
Co-ordinator of the da Vinci Programme

Pinnacle & Minnacle for web Nov 2014.pdf

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control we have to postpone the OPs vs Old Ratcliffians Rugby Match which was planned for Sunday 1 March.

We are hoping to have a new date confirmed soon and will post this on Facebook as soon as possible.

Jon Fitt
Master of Rugby

For those of us brave enough to watch Channel 4’s weekly fly on the wall documentary, ‘24 Hours in A&E’, we are well versed in the daily struggles and challenges facing one of the country’s busiest Accident and Emergency Departments. With its ninety odd cameras capturing the highs and lows of hospital life, its popularity bears testament to the professionalism of those who work there.

For twenty one year old Old Princethorpian, Ashley Dodds, this is her current place of work. A trainee paramedic with regular night shifts of twelve hours, she describes it as “the best job in the world.” Just six months shy of qualification, Ashley took time out to visit Princethorpe Sixth Formers to talk to them about her career choice. Accompanied by fellow trainee Lauren Nixon, Ashley looked every bit the part kitted out in her regulation paramedic green uniform. “There’s a lot of good feeling towards paramedics”, she explained, “even when we attend serious crime incidents (Ashley recounted a gang fight resulting in one young man being stabbed in the head three times) the public know that we’re on their side. The uniform says a lot about who we are and what we do.”

Her current trainee regime is as rigorous as it can get with shift work accompanying qualified paramedics on the road. Her daily work diet may consist of RTA’s, violent assaults and less serious incidents. Tough examinations also call the girls into line to check their knowledge is up to speed. “It’s a hard course, there’s no getting away from it. But everything we do is practically relevant so it all slots into place.”

With St George’s Hospital, Tooting, the star player in the weekly documentary, Ashley reflects on the way that her role is presented in the media. “It’s a great show and brings home to viewers the relationship that the paramedics have with hospital staff. We hand over patients to the nurses on Accident and Emergency who take up the care. They are amazing.”

Perhaps not the most usual of career choices, a car accident at the age of eighteen planted the seed in Ashley’s mind that this may be an option for her. “I remember the air ambulance being called out to the accident and I’d never forgotten the help I was given. When I got my A-level results it all clicked into place and within a fortnight I was in London starting the course.”

Spending a Friday afternoon with Lower Sixth First Aiders, Ashley and Lauren were able to provide valuable answers to the many questions asked; perhaps planting in someone’s else’s mind a seed to pursue a similar career.

Old Princethorpians are getting more and more requests from younger OPs, often whilst at university, looking for advice and careers guidance including work experience and internships.

We currently have OPs interested in a banking internship, music industry, journalism/researcher, media, marketing and advertising.

With competition jobs and graduate training schemes getting ever tougher, contacts such as the OPs can provide are really invaluable in giving these young people a head start in their chosen careers.

If you can offer assistance in any way, whether looking at CVs, or offering work experience, interview practice etc please do get in touch.

The College will also be firming up plans for the Careers Fair 2016 which will take place next Spring, as ever the OPs presence is an invaluable contribution to the day.

As a benefit of the Headmaster's membership of HMC, the East India Club in St James's Square and the University Women's Club in London's Mayfair offer full membership to Princethorpe gentlemen and lady school leavers at a special rate.

Recent leavers Ben Warman and Dan Lane applied for membership of the East India Club last year and we hope more OPs will follow suit.

The J7 Scheme, as the East India Club offer is known, can be taken up within 18 months of leaving school, and provides membership for gentleman leavers to 31 December following their 25th birthday for the one off sum of £370. If you would like more information please call Sandra Prendiville, Membership Secretary at the East India Club on 020 7930 1000.

For more information on the East India Club please go to their website www.eastindiaclub.co.uk.

The University Womens' Club scheme, The Young Members’ Scheme, follows a similar format for lady leavers.

A female pupil of a GSA/HMC school who has been nominated by her Headmaster or Headmistress is welcome to apply as a Young Member on leaving school or for 18 months thereafter. The subscription is a single payment of £249, which provides membership up to the January following the member’s 25th birthday.

For more information on the University Women's Club please go to their website http://www.universitywomensclub.com/.

The OPs London Meeting on Friday 15 May is an ideal opportunity to see the University Women's Club for yourself, let us know if you would like to join us by emailing oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk.  All OPs welcome!

Much-loved Princethorpe Senior Matron, Maria Lawless, retired this January after over 40 years of loyal service to the College, its staff and pupils.

Ed Hester, the Headmaster spoke of the hundreds of children who had benefited from Maria's care since she joined the College in 1974, including his own children. He also commented on what a good friend Maria had been to the many staff at the College over the years.

Maria, who typically did not want a fuss, spoke warmly of her time at the College and gave thanks to the staff, pupils and in particular the MSCs who she said were instrumental in making Princethorpe the special place it was.

She said she would miss Princethorpe, but was looking forward to 'having a ball' in her retirement.

Plans are afoot for a farewell celebration for Maria once the weather improves, in the meantime we wish her a well-deserved and fun time in her retirement.

The leavers of 1975, who are a year that regularly meet up informally, have decided to return to the College to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their leaving.

The twenty strong group, including some partners, plan to attend the OPs Summer Supper on Friday 12 June and would like to see any other leavers from 1975 there.  The Supper is preceded by a tour, coincidentally conducted by fellow 1975 leaver and College stalwart, Alex Darkes.

Comments Martin Holland, "It would be great to see some of the other leavers of 1975 that we have perhaps lost touch with. Confirmations from our group so far include myself, Chris Evans, Mark Neal, Dominic Flynn, Clem Clements and Kevin Marchant who is coming all the way from Toronto!"

The Summer Supper is now an established event in the OPs calendar, attracting a large number of OPs, former and current members of staff. This year the OPs will say farewell to long-standing members of staff, Peter Griffin, former Head of Economics and Business Studies and Examinations Manager and Loretta Curtis, Registrar.

Numbers are limited to around 100 guests, so if you would like to attend please email oldprincethorpians@princethorpe.co.uk asap to reserve your place.

A bumper number of candidates sat the College's entrance examinations over two sessions in January.  The candidates sat English, Mathematics and a new online test for Verbal, Non Verbal and Numerical Reasoning.

Comments, Alex Darkes, Assistant Head - Marketing and Operations, "We played host to some 290 prospective pupils across four year groups.  What's particularly lovely is the fact that we are seeing more and more OPs returning with their children to sit the exams. Feedback from parents and candidates alike has been very favourable indeed, which bodes very well for next September's intake."

"The marking machine swung into action, even before candidates had left the building and the Admissions Panel sat the following week to decide on the 130 or so boys and girls who will be joining us in September 2015."

Parents and children were notified of the results last Wednesday 4 February and have until Wednesday 4 March to accept their place.

Those interested in a place at the College in September 2016 can visit the Admissions part of the website by clicking here and would be welcome at the forthcoming Open Evening on Wednesday 3 June from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

Two Princethorpe College Sixth Form Students have been awarded conditional offers at Cambridge University. Harry Tallis, 17, will be reading Engineering at Christ’s College and Hamish Ungless, 18, will read Classics at King’s College. Both students were surprised yet thrilled with the news received last weekend.

Following a rigorous application process, Classics scholar Hamish explained, “The interview was deliberately challenging. Every statement I made was argued against inviting me to think on my feet. We had been well prepared by Dr Peaple for the demands of the experience so I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.”

Harry Tallis shared a similar story at Christ’s College, “I knew that I had no chance of getting the questions right that I was being asked! Practical problems were posed for example asking me to work out how high a hill would have to be to get a car to loop the loop at the bottom of it. They obviously wanted to see how my thinking would respond to complex problems.”

Both boys now have their finger firmly on the pulse of achieving their academic goals. Between them they are required to obtain the highest grades this summer in their chosen A-levels: Latin, German, History, Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

Hamish went on, “The offer of a place at Cambridge has given me even more of a focus. Nothing will stop me now that I’ve been given such a prestigious opportunity.” Each student has been requested to undertake additional studies to complement their chosen degree subjects; for Harry this entails regular Maths Step sessions at Warwick University and for Hamish a residential summer school brushing up his Classical Greek.

Princethorpe College Assistant Head of Sixth Form, Mr Rod Isaacs, commented, “Applying to Cambridge is, in itself, an extremely rigorous and character-testing experience and it seems to get tougher every year. Over their time at Princethorpe College, both Harry and Hamish have applied themselves both to academic studies and to developing themselves as confident and mature young people. They have earned this success and we are exceptionally proud of their achievement.”

Plans for Princethorpe's Golden Jubilee in the academic year 2016-2017 are taking shape.

The Golden Jubilee Comittee, comprising representatives from the OPs, current staff and pupils, is meeting on a monthly basis to progress plans for the celebratory year.

Plans for Princefest - a weekend of camping, music, fun and food over the August Bank Holiday weekend 2016  - are taking shape and we hope to reveal more details on the event including ticket prices soon.

A special limited edition 'golden' version of the OP tie is to be produced and will be available shortly for pre-order.

The distinctive jubilee logo  is already being used on College stationery and the Archive Team has begun work on a commemorative Jubilee book to celebrate the Princethorpe story and an exhibition to celebrate the year.

A new Golden Jubilee Celebrations section has been added to the website which will be the place to find out all the latest news and developments. http://www.princethorpe.co.uk/news/golden-jubilee-celebrations

If you are interested in contributing to the Jubilee year in any way or would like information on any of the planned events, please email Melanie Butler.

Princethorpe College’s Annual Prize Giving Ceremony once again welcomed hundreds of Princethorpians, old and new, to the delightful Butterworth Hall at Warwick University’s Arts Centre. This joyous occasion combines a reflective view of the previous academic year’s successes, along with an eager eye on events yet to come.

The Headmaster’s opening address was one that paid tribute to pivotal historical moments: the centenary of the Great War and the Fiftieth Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s Nobel Peace Award. Such apposite reminders of key past events supported an on-going theme of the evening; that of carpe diem. This year’s winner of the Princethorpe Shield, Tom Pilling, embodied this sentiment with Mr Hester describing him as a young man whose quest for knowledge and compassion for others would certainly see him make a difference to people’s lives.

Invited guest speaker, Mr Gwilym Price MBE and former Princethorpe Director of Sport for 31 years, iterated this plea especially to the Year 7’s in the audience.  He said, “You have forty one remaining half terms before you will be in the Sixth Form. Make use of every single one of them. Be proud of the privilege you have been given by coming to this tremendous school. I have no doubt that your character will develop as you take advantage of the many opportunities that Princethorpe offers.” Gwilym gave a brief and humorous account of his recent trip to Buckingham Palace where he was awarded his MBE by Prince William. “When the Prince asked me what I had done to deserve the award all I could think of to say was “I worked at Princethorpe College,” naturally he asked me for a prospectus and if I could have a quiet word with the headmaster about entry for young George!”

Quips aside, the underlying celebratory atmosphere of the evening was galvanised by recipients of public examination certificates joining prize winners up on the stage. With sparkling musical items punctuating the awards from the College orchestra, jazz band and Year 7 choir, it was left to a final, resounding chorus of the College hymn ‘I, The Lord of Sea and Sky’ to close proceedings for another year.