Sport
Sport features prominently at Princethorpe. Every pupil participates in Games and PE from Year 7 to Upper Sixth to keep them fit and give them a sense of well-being.
All the major sports are offered, but it’s also possible to experience sports such as archery, trampolining, dance, climbing, lacrosse, golf, badminton, clay pigeon shooting and table tennis and to get involved in equestrian competitions.
There is an extensive programme of inter-school fixtures and Princethorpe has a proud tradition of pupils gaining county, regional and international representative honours, including Old Princethorpian Ian Bell, of cricketing fame.
Our extensive facilities range from:
Indoors - a well-equipped four badminton court size Sports Hall with indoor cricket nets, a Fitness Suite with resistance, free weight and cardio areas and fully equipped climbing wall.
Outdoors - a floodlit all-weather pitch, floodlit netball and tennis courts, over sixty acres of games pitches and an internationally recognised cross-country course.
Physical Education
Pupils in most years have one 50-minute lesson a week of Physical Education. This is a core subject on the curriculum and a wide range of sports are covered in six week blocks throughout the year which include
Games, Dance, Outdoor Education, Athletics and Gymnastics. We cover as many as possible so that the pupils
get a wide variety of experiences and gain an appreciation of different types of activities.
Games
Each pupil has an afternoon games session of 100 minutes each week. Our Games sessions are organised to coincide with those of other schools so we have Year 10 on Monday, Year 9 on Tuesday, Year 11 and the Sixth Form on Wednesday, Year 8 Games on Thursday and Year 7 on Friday.
Each term the Games Department focuses on different activities:
The boys' focus is Rugby in the Michaelmas Term, Hockey, Football and Cross Country in the Lent Term and Cricket, Athletics and Tennis in the Trinity Term.
The girls' focus is Hockey in the Michaelmas Term, Netball and Cross Country in the Lent Term and Athletics, Tennis and Rounders in the Trinity Term.
Elite sports programme
Princethorpe College has some exceptional sporting talent throughout the school, in both school co-curricular clubs and clubs outside of school. As a Physical Education Department, we aim to identify this talent and provide an environment for these pupils to develop. We choose the top 60 pupils in the school from Year 8 to Year 13, from a variety of sports.
The scheme provides support and advice for pupils and creates an atmosphere where pupils of a similar situation can work together and achieve more. We have pupils who represent their county, region and their country and are constantly pushing them to become their very best.
Sixth form sport scholarships
Sixth Form Sport Scholarships are available for particularly able or talented internal and external candidates.
Sports leadership awards
From Key Stage 4 to Sixth Form pupils have the opportunity to take part in the nationally recognised Sports Leadership Awards.
These qualifications help pupils develop essential life skills such as organisation, motivation, communication and working with others. All of the awards are practical with minimal written work and there is no exam. Assessment is made based on the pupil's ability to lead and demonstrate their leadership skills.