The Courier

Princethorpe has received its first ever review by the prestigious Good Schools Guide. The Guide, which selects schools to be included on merit alone, is famous for its unbiased and candid reviews of state and private schools, and is trusted by families worldwide. Princethorpe is now one of just 1,300 schools currently reviewed by the Guide, out of over 30,000+ schools in the UK.

An editor from the Guide visited the College in May, interviewed Ed Hester, the Headmaster, toured the campus, observed lessons and spoke with pupils and parents.

The 2,500-word review, which now appears on the Good Schools Guide’s website and will be included in the next hard copy edition, includes a pen portrait of the Headmaster, plus insights into exam results, teaching and learning, co-curricular life, discipline and the College’s ethos and heritage.

Commenting on the College's approach to pastoral care, the Guide says:

“There are two rules at the school: be kind and do your best. The whole school runs on this ethos and it appears to be all that is needed as pupils and staff adhere to it. The school is renowned for its pastoral care and kindness. Every parent we spoke to mentioned it and for virtually all of them it was the reason they chose the school. ‘It really is like a family and we are included too.’ These two old fashioned values shape the school. It’s open minded and all are very welcome but the Catholic teaching permeates throughout. Every child is treated as an individual ‘and they really are,’ said parents. The overall feeling that this is a kind school, we would concur.”

The very comprehensive and positive review concludes with a Last Word, which sums up the Guide’s findings:

We have the impression that Princethorpe College just gets on with things, modestly feeling no need to blow its own trumpet. But during the long-term tenure of this head it has gained in confidence, reputation and status and parents have sat up and taken notice. They know that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to educating their children and have found the school that agrees with them; a good outcome for all.

To read in full what the Good Schools Guide says click here.

Comments Ed Hester, Headmaster, “It was a pleasure to welcome the Good Schools Guide to Princethorpe. We are delighted that they have recognised our ‘spirit of family’ and found us to be a ‘kind school’ and that every parent they spoke to was ‘hugely impressed by the diligence and commitment of our staff’. They have successfully managed to get under our skin and paint what we feel is an accurate picture of life at the school.

He continued, "As lockdown restrictions ease, we are looking forward to welcoming more prospective families to the school, so they can find out for themselves what a Princethorpe education could do for their child.”

To find out more visit www.princethorpe.co.uk/visit or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

We are very pleased to announce our House Captains for the next academic year, these children will take up their positions in September.

Their role is to work with their House and House Teacher; to sort rotas for the responsibilities each House has each term and be ready to problem solve if someone is unable to do their duty. It's an exccellent opportunity for them to develop their leadership skills.

Congratulations to:

• St George: Kai and Charlotte 
• St David: Sachin and Grace 
• St Andrew: Rosina and James 

Work continues apace on the Horton Centre with the children keeping an eye on all the changes through the windows in the corridors!  This week we had the foundations being laid - it is so exciting to see it all start to take shape.

We wiil be keeping you abreast of progress by sharing photos in the Courier each week.

Crescent School

Sophie in Year 5 entertained us this morning in assembly with a lovely piece on the clarinet called Getting To The Front Of The Queue.

Beautifully played Sophie.

Class 4M have chosen to fix the rotten rooves of three classrooms of a junior school in Bwengu at a cost of £385. Any further money raised for this charity close to our hearts will go towards the orphan feeding programme which cost £100 per month.

If you would like to get involved, there are plenty of ways you can. Charlie, Poppy and Ava in 4M have created competition sheets to guess the answers on - return the sheet with £1 to enter. Esme has a bear that needs a name, again put your name and what you would call the bear on a slip of paper and return it to your form tutor with £1.

Finally, we will have two whole school events to play. On Thursday 1 July 'Search for Sunshine' will see clues being left around the playground for pupils to solve - £1 for a game card. On the very last day of term Tuesday 6 July, we will run virtual Bingo! £1 buys 3 game cards. 4M are also tackling a Sponsored Silence on Wednesday 30 June - wish them luck!  Of course, fabulous prizes are available for all competitions.

This is our 14th year supporting this charity. In Monday's assembly, I showed all the projects we have funded so far and how we really have made a difference to people's lives.

Thank you in anticipation

Crescent School pupils will have a great selection of co-curricular activities to choose from next term. These will be shared with you in August, so that you can sign up.

There will be options for before school, lunchtime and afterschool, a wide range of sports, martial arts, creative options and musical moments. There will be a limit to some clubs, some are chargeable, but all will be fun.

The final day for quizzing is Friday 2 July. This is so that I can gather the data required before the end of term and set up next year. Well done to you all for all the reading you have done. Next year we will return to quizzing only in school. 

Please use the summer to keep enjoying books, visit a library and reading as much as you can, I can't think of anything better than relaxing with my book.