Showcasing exceptional work by pupils from Princethorpe College, Crackley Hall School and Crescent School
ISSUE 36 – SPRING 2025
Change is an opportunity for growth and 2024 was a year of change and development for da Vinci at Princethorpe.
The merit system was adapted to increase the opportunity to reward creativity and mastery of subject areas in conjunction with exceptional effort and practice, and the full da Vinci merit rewards the synthesis of all three areas of Creativity, Mastery and Practice. The success of this is clear in the increasing number of da Vinci merits awarded last year as all teachers embraced the opportunity to reward pupils at all levels. This year’s da Vinci Shield winners both scored over 100 da Vinci points each. 3048 da Vinci merits were awarded in total, 546 were full awards but the majority were for Mastery, recognising our pupils’ academic excellence and sustained effort.
Cover art by Art Scholar Bea Taylor
The work in The Pinnacle showcases the work which has been rewarded with these merits and the achievements which go above and beyond. To showcase them all is not possible but huge congratulations to all pupils who were awarded da Vincis this term.
Since last March, my aim in developing the Challenge Curriculum, has been to provide more opportunities for the whole school to extend their learning through the Challenge Calendars, and also to promote all subject areas to consider wider reading and further interest areas. Each month is themed and there have been some fantastic responses to the activities, some of which are included in this issue.
It was also the launch of the first Princethorpe wholeschool summer holiday da Vinci Challenge, entitled ‘Bounce’ to reflect on last year’s theme of resilience, the best of the entries are also included in this issue. I was excited to launch the da Vinci Certificate in September to expand the da Vinci System into the co-curricular life of the school too.
The beautiful cover art of this edition was created by Art Scholar Bea Taylor as part of her GCSE work. It is fantastic to see her continue to develop as she has now entered the Sixth Form and is mentoring the younger Art Scholars in Art Club.
As ever it is my privilege to present to you a snapshot of some of the incredible work from the talented individuals here at Princethorpe College as we develop as a thriving community.
Julia Lindsay Challenge Curriculum Coordinator
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da Vinci Shield Winners
Each year the two pupils who achieve the highest number of da Vinci Points are awarded the da Vinci Shield.
The girls’ da Vinci shield is deservedly reawarded to Dami Ajagunna. She demonstrated academic excellence and independence across the full spectrum of both the academic curriculum and in a wide range of co-curricular achievements. In addition to winning over 130 da Vinci Points through her work for her subjects, she achieved an A* in her Foundation Project Qualification exploring a title of ‘Is Pain Necessary?’. A talented athlete, she represented the school and she also excels in her creative endeavours, acting on the stage in the school production and entering the national Science Poetry Competition. Dami truly embodies the da Vinci ideals and is a most worthy recipient of this award for the second time.
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This year’s recipient of the boys’ da Vinci shield is Jay Patil. Jay demonstrated his outstanding academic performance across the curriculum and was rewarded with over 100 da Vinci Points last year. Jay’s Higher Project Qualification, on whether social media should come with an 18+ age restriction, was outstanding and scored full marks attaining an A* grade worth half a GCSE. He also embraced challenges outside the classroom completing his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. He embodies the da Vinci spirit demonstrating excellence across all disciplines; Science, Languages, Humanities and Arts and is a worthy recipient of this award.
Congratulations to them both.
Dami Ajagunna, Y9
Jay Patil, Y10
Challenge Calendar
This year the Challenge Calendar has launched as a super-curriculum, designed to take pupils’ interests beyond the taught curriculum in school.
Each month is packed with different activities for pupils of all ages to engage with. Here is a selection of Year 7 responses to some of the tasks that were on the September Challenge Calendar.
Whole School Project Challenge Bounce
The first whole school da Vinci project was launched in the end of term assembly.
Our theme for the 2023-24 academic year at Princethorpe had been resilience, so I gave this project the title ‘Bounce’. This was the first whole school ‘Summer Project’ set as part of the Challenge Curriculum, open to all pupils of any year group. The winning project was by Luka Vrljicak (currently in Y8) who won the £10 voucher as well as earning a full da Vinci merit. Well done to everyone who entered. Here are a few of the best entries alongside Luka’s winning entry.
Luka Vrljicak, Y8
DamiAjagunna, Y9
Bounce:
Inner Trampoline by Dami
I, Resilience, have many names: Perseverance, trying again, never giving up: I’m a constant presence, in assemblies and lectures; And I may seem like an old thing, but I’ve never been more new.
My name, Resilience, is always ringing in earsLike the buzz of the air con, Or the tick of a clock; So prevalent that I’m almost ignoredBut there are times, When you stop, and if you listen hard, I’m still there, As relevant as ever.
I, Resilience, am willing you, To go and do what you do best, Because even if you miss, I’m there to encourage you, To bounce up, bounce back, And try again.
Project Qualification 2024
Academic scholars and high-performance learners are invited to participate in the Projects Qualification each year.
The Higher Project is worth half a GCSE grade at A*-C grades; the Foundation Level being equivalent to grades D-F. The pupils who undertook the Project Qualifications achieved fantastic results in their independent projects.
The pupils in Year 9 taking the Higher Project achieved 100% A*-B grades. Well done to all those pupils, you worked hard throughout the year to undertake your own research. The best of these are showcased here.
Now in Year 10, Jay Patil and William Smith both attained full marks for their dissertation projects considering if ‘social media should be restricted to over 18s’ and ‘is the death penalty still justifiable in the USA’. Elwin Williams’, brilliant artefact portfolio was a fantastic exposition on journalism and creating an article on the threat posed by nuclear weapons.
All pupils in Year 8 who undertook the Foundation Level Project achieved the top two grades. At the Foundation Level both Krishan Patel and Isaac Fowle achieved full marks for their dissertations: Krishan’s was on ‘whether AI is the future of healthcare’ and Isaac’s investigation into ‘why teenagers are reading less’, both combined their own primary research with scholarly arguments.
William Smith, Y10
How justifiable is the Death Penalty in the United States of America?
Introduction
This Project aims to explore the justification of capital punishment in the USA. I will look at the issues around capital punishment including considering any damaging psychological effects of keeping someone on death row for many years. Furthermore, I will explore the economics of capital punishment, the political issues, religious reasons that might be relevant.
The areas I intend to research are:
● which crimes are punishable by death in the US?
● is there a crime so heinous that the death penalty becomes ethical as a response?
● the process of conviction and detention in death row - what it’s like for inmates, the average stay until execution, those whom were wrongfully convicted and the views of the public, the victim’s family, the inmate’s family and the inmate.
I chose this Project topic because it encompasses many of the subjects that I love such as History, Religious Studies and Ethics and also allows me to explore subjects I may be interested in studying in the future such as Law, Politics and Psychology. Capital punishment is a huge issue in society and world politics. I thought death row would be a fascinating area to explore since there are some very controversial views for and against, and there are also ample different aspects of research. I am also really interested in the Christian attitude towards the death penalty and whether the convicted should be forgiven.
Elwin Williams, Y10
Jay Patil, Y10
Krishan Patel, Y9
Isaac Fowle, Y9
Romantic Nature
English Romanticism is studied by Year 8. Here is a selection of great responses, selected by Mrs Pascoe Williams on the works they have studied.
Rebekah Bibi, Y8
Austin Higham, Y8
Austin Newbold, Y8
English Enrichment
The English department holds a monthly enrichment session. For September’s English Enrichment, pupils were treated to a viewing of an interview with Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls, during which he spoke about the process of adapting a novel for film or stage. Pupils were then set a da Vinci challenge to adapt a book of their choice to film or stage.
Here is Miriam Lambe’s (Y7), wonderful stage adaptation of ‘Cogheart’ by Peter Bunzel. Also Dami Ajagunna (Y9), completed a project turning ‘Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun’ by Tola Okogwu into a TV series, which was rewarded with a Full da Vinci Merit.
It is fantastic to see our pupils taking their opportunities from the enrichment sessions even further.
Miriam Lambe,Y7
John
Cogheart by Peter Bunzel
Adapted for stage by Miriam Lambe
Malkin Fox costume
Middle-aged man wearing old fashioned flight suit (hat and goggles)
The word “prologue” appears on a black screen, then a robotic voice speaks.
Mechanical narrator: Famous mechanist John Hartman and his mech-animal Malkin are returning home on their airship, Dragonfly, but an unknow airship chases them.
Then, the whoosh and purr of the propellors can be heard loudly through the auditorium as all lights flick on revealing the left side of an airship with a silver airship with sharp metal spikes on the hull in pursuit. After a harpoon hits Dragonfly, the side rises into the ceiling as Malkin barks alarmed and John locks the wheel and engages autopilot then opens the cockpit door and dashes to the engine room. John stares at a massive metal egg-shaped pod in among the tangle of pipes
John: No room for both of us Malkin, you go
Malkin: [snort of disapproval] No John, you go, humans over mechanicals John shakes his head laughing half-heartedly
John: I can’t leave my ship, I can’t; I Have to try and guide her down safely – besides you’ve no opposable thumbs!
John gives another half-hearted laugh and withdraws a battered envelope from his pocket, crouching down he stuffs into a leather pouch around Malkin’s neck
Malkin: What’s in there?
John: That Malkin, is for my Lily, make sure she gets it.
Malkin:
John: Secrets. Tell her to keep them safe and she mustn’t tell anyone about them, not EVER. Can you remember that Malkin?
Um, I think so. Malkin prods the pouch sniffing it with his nose.
John: Good, Make for Brackenbridge, that’s where she’ll be. If I survive, I’ll come find her.
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Magnificent Mead Halls
Over the course of Key Stage 3 English, pupils study work from the ancient past to the present. Texts are deliberately and carefully chosen to ensure historical breadth and depth and to give pupils a clear understanding of the development of literature over time.
In Year 7, pupils begin with the study of Beowulf and here you can see some wonderful examples of the fun 7M had creating shoebox Mead Halls and writing creative descriptions. The following selection received Creative da Vincis for their work.
Elora Hughes,Y7
YEAR 7
Castle Constructions
A sample of a fantastic collection of Motte and Bailey and Stone Keep castles from Year 7.
Year 7 complete a castle project as part of their curriculum lessons but these were created as an optional holiday creative challenge and were all awarded Creative da Vincis.
GEOGRAPHY | YEAR 7
Passport
To The World
Head of Geography, Mrs Baker was impressed with Ted Higginbotham’s (Y7), fantastic response to a standard homework task ‘Geography Your Passport To The World’.
It included lots of photos and interesting information. Ted has travelled to places like Indonesia, Cambodia and Columbia and is clearly a geographer in the making.
Windsor Castle by Lucile Bell-Barth, Y7
Cake Stone Keep Castle by Jessica Blythe, Y7
Sand Motte and Bailey by Mila Foulerton, Y7
French Mastery
In his own time, Jonjo read a children’s book ‘La loup vert’ (The Green Wolf) aimed at native speakers of French.
He used the words he learnt from the book and his prior knowledge to write a summary of the story and give his opinion. Although he made mistakes with more difficult tenses, Jonjo’s writing was fluent and complex, beyond what is expected at GCSE, and deserving of a Mastery da Vinci.
Le Loup vert
L’histoire :
Le loup vert c’est l’histoire d’un loup vert qui habite dans un monde où tous les autres loups sont gris et il voulait changer sa couleur. Quand il voulait jouer au foot avec eux dans la forêt, ils se moquaient de lui parce qu’il était vert. Donc, il est allé en ville pour faire les magasins. Il a acheté des nouvelles vêtements grises, il les a portés mais il a oublié s’habiller sa queue, alors les autres loups ont vu sa queue verte et ils rient encore. Raoul a décidé d’allumer un feu, et d’utiliser les cendres du feu de se déguiser. Mais, il n’avait pas de la chance parce qu’il a plu. Ensuite il a acheté la peinture grise, et il s’est peint sans oublier sa queue, mais étant donné qu’il faisait du soleil, c’était trop chaud pour le loup vert. Le loup était très triste mais il s’est rencontré une fée avec un baguette magique, mais elle n’était pas une fée géniale, Raoul a dit ‘Gris ! je voudrais être gris !’ Donc, elle a lève sa baguette magique et elle a dit ‘hip ! hap ! Hop !’ et Raoul devient un poisson !
Encore, ‘hip ! hap ! hop !’ et Raoul devient… oiseau !
Finalement, ‘Hip ! Hap ! Hop !’ et Raoul devient un loup, un loup vert.
Ensuite il a décidé qu’il vaut mieux rester un loup vert. Il est retourné à la forêt et il était content.
En lisant ce livre, je peux apprendre le vocabulaire et la structure des phrases et aussi ça fait tester ma capacité de comprendre une histoire, bien que je ne sache pas tous les mots ni toutes les phrases.
Je dirais que l’histoire était intéressante mais je pense que je suis prêt à essayer quelques choses plus difficiles.
Cependant, je ne dirais pas que je sois prêt à lire Voltaire !
By Jonjo Boyle
LATIN | YEAR 7
Roman Banquet
Over the half term holiday pupils in Year 7 were given to opportunity to expand their experience of Roman Culture in an optional project where they could prepare a Roman Meal.
There were many fantastic responses to this task. May planned and cooked a delicious Roman meal – and even included reviews by Caecilius and Metella! Elora produced a poster. It is full of interesting detail and beautifully presented!
May Reynolds, Y7
Elora Hughes, Y7
Reportero Español
Darcey Wilcox-Smith (Y7), has done a great interview where she pretends to be a reporter (interviewing herself!). Her Spanish is excellent, and I love the creative response to the task.
SPANISH | YEAR 8
My Daily Routine
Mrs Gawthorpe submitted these pieces of work created by her Year 8 pupils on the topic of ‘My Daily Routine’ demonstrating some excellent language skills and creativity.
Sienna
Clay, Y8 Jo Kowal, Y8 Austin Newbold ,
Recycled Design Inspiration
Mrs Sharpe’s Year 7 Design and Technology pupils completed an exciting extended project, creating model bedrooms entirely from recycled materials.
Each pupil was tasked with designing a unique bedroom layout and bringing it to life through a 3D model built at home. The results were both inventive and inspiring, with each model showcasing a blend of creativity, sustainability, and design skills.
Using a variety of recycled materials such as wood, cardboard, plastic bottles, fabric scraps, and even repurposed packaging, pupils crafted miniature beds, desks, shelving units, and decorative touches. Each model reflects the pupil’s personal style, with thoughtful details like wall art, small plants, and colour-coordinated themes that mirror real-life bedrooms.
The finished models were met with admiration across the school, showing both the skill and environmental awareness of our budding designers. Their hard work is a proud reflection of the values we encourage at Princethorpe, and we look forward to seeing even more innovative projects in the future!
Erin Cowley, Y7
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
SIXTH FORM
A-level Product Design
These pieces were created by A-level DT students for their examinations in Summer 2024.
The practical element of the course allows for students to explore design and creative elements and produce their final piece alongside a portfolio of work.
DOG STORAGE CRATE
BY WILLIAM HARRISON
Arthur Cowell, Y7
Leela Blythe, Y7
Sofia Borg, Y7
TABLE FOOTBALL GAME BY BEN MOORE
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY YEAR 11
GCSE Product Design
These wonderful products were produced by Year 11 pupils as the practical part of their GCSE examination, Summer 2024.
RALLY CAR TOOL STORAGE BY DANIEL TAYLOR
LAPTOP STAND BY MAX PHILLIPS-GORE
CHESS SET FOR ARTHRITIC PLAYERS BY CARLA SHAYLER
PORTABLE SPEAKER BY HENRY JEFFRIES
TIMING DEVICE BY SOPHIE NICOLLE
SHEEP COUNTER BY WILF GRINDAL
EPOXY COFFEE TABLE WITH ENCAPSULATED WOOD BY XZAVIER HUTCHINSON-HAYES
MOTORCYCLE STARTER DEVICE BY ARCHY WALKER
MOTORISED GARDEN TRAILER BY LOUIS HARPER
The Sports Interview
William Shaw (Y8) is within the top 36 sailors in the country and the highest ranked sailor from the Midland’s region. He was selected to take part in the International Optimist Class Association (IOCA) Performance Training this winter.
This included a series of weekends training on the south coast for the top 36 optimist sailors in the UK based on national ranking. Will is the only midlands sailor to be invited to the performance training. Most recently, Will sailed at the IOCA National Winter Championships at Rutland Water in November. The fleet of 100 boats sailed eight races over the two-day event. Will achieved a 7th, 10th and 12th as his top finishes in the 100-boat fleet and finished 27th overall. An amazing achievement!
Name: William Shaw
Sport: Sailing
Representative Honours (achievements):
I came third at the Independent Schools Association (ISA) and I am the top sailor in the midlands and thirtieth sailor in the UK.
How did you get into sailing?
I started at my local club, Banbury Sailing Club, when I was 5 and did the youth training for three years to get to Level 3 RYA sailing.
Do you do any other sports?
Yes. I do Rugby, Hockey and Football at school and MTB in my spare time.
What does your training/week programme look like to compete at your sporting level:
I do strength and conditioning twice a week to keep fit for sailing and I do sport every other day except on Fridays. I usually do lots of sailing training over the winter while I am not competing at national and international events.
What has been the highlight of your season so far?
The highlight of my season so far is when I was sailing in Pwllheli in 35 knots winds with waves as big as my friend Charlie (who is very tall) and being selected for the International Optimist Class Association (IOCA) performance training.
What are your goals for the rest of the season?
My goal is to make it to the IOCA European Championships 2025 which is in Istanbul Yacht Club Türkiye.
Who are your sporting role models?
My sporting role models are Dylan Fletcher and Alison Young.
What advice would you give to young sailors like yourself?
Start early, don’t rush yourself and the sailors spelling of FUN is W I N.
Bebras Challenge Gold Awards
33 Computer Science pupils, from Year 8 through to the Sixth Form, demonstrated their exceptional computing skills in the UK Bebras Challenge, earning themselves a Bebras Gold Award and an invitation to compete in the follow-on Oxford University Computing Challenge (OUCC) in March.
The challenge is highly regarded for its emphasis on computational thinking and tasks participants with solving a variety of complex logic problems under timed conditions.
This year, an impressive 187 Princethorpe pupils from across the age groups earned recognition, with 46 achieving a ‘Merit’ and another 46 earning a ‘Distinction.’ Dillon Horan (Y9), Daniel Ovens Gibbs (Y11) and Emile Gibrat (L6) were each awarded ‘Best in School’ for their respective age groups.
Congratulations to all the participants and the best of luck to those competing in the OUCC.
PHYSICS | YEAR 10
Bright Spark
Alexa Thoday in Y10 created this amazing poster on electrical safety in Physics for a homework assignment, which was awarded a creativity da Vinci for presentation.
Mr Lee said at first glance he thought she had made it electronically, but it is entirely hand drawn.
Exploring Orbitals
Lower Sixth pupils have been building on their KS4 work about atomic structure and have been learning about orbitals and sub shells in class.
They were asked to summarise their learning and to include research on Hund’s and Aufbau’s work.
Some of the pupils were very creative and we had 3D models made from pasta, wire and playdoh, biscuits baked, as well as beautiful posters produced.
Ruby Mander, L6
Isabel Barnes, L6
Emmi Parmenter, L6
Cambridge University Challenge Success
In the summer our Lower Sixth Chemistry students took part in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, which takes students significantly beyond the syllabus and encourages them to think about science in the way they would at university.
The chemists prepared themselves for the competition by taking part in the weekly Cambridge Chemistry Challenge co-curricular club to develop their critical problem-solving skills, think creatively, and get a chance to test their knowledge in new, real-world situations.
All students who took part in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge achieved a certificate. Special mentions go to Louise Gambling who was awarded a silver certificate, and Charlotte Gledhill, Hamish O'Brien, Joe Jaimon Jacob, Sammie Borland, and Tom Windley who were all awarded Copper certificates. All the chemists faced tough national competition, and we congratulate them all on the great resilience they demonstrated.
The Physics Of Space
Mr Lee challenged his GCSE Students over the summer holidays between Y10 and Y11 to conduct an independent research project into the physics of space and to create a response.
These are outstanding examples of their work, demonstrating both Mastery of their subject knowledge and Creativity to be rewarded with full da
done
Marco Rodriguez-Hernandez, Y11
Josh Gorbutt, Y11
Lucas Summers, Y11
Vinci Merits – well
to Kathryn Flegg, Josh Gorbutt, Lucas Summers and Marco RodriguezHernandez.
