Friday 14 March 2025
Head’s Weekly Update
I had a slightly surreal experience this week as I showed a visitor around the site accompanied by Year 10 and 11s in camouflage shooting each other with lasers! I explained it was just a typical day at Pangbourne. That experience perfectly summarises the week and the bustle of student activity.
This week I also took great pleasure in handing out awards to Year 11 and Year 13 students on the back of their latest trial exam results. Some students received the award for fantastic grades and others for making great progress.
On Monday, The Charlotte Drake Society welcomed the inspirational Dame Mary Berry. This event was a chance for female students and staff to come together to celebrate International Women’s Day. Dame Mary Berry shared her wisdom with the girls in an enlightening and intimate Q&A which will be remembered by all. The timing was fitting, ahead of next weeks’ Divisional Bake Off, I hope all the Divisions are feeling motivated.
As part of our charity partnership, we were delighted to welcome The Whitley Excellence Cluster (WEC) on Tuesday for an orienteering event. The WEC is made up of ten South Reading primary schools. Their mission (with the support of Aspire 2) is to empower children to access non-formal learning and enrichment activities. This annual event is a great example of how the College fosters leadership skills within pupils, as they help to lead groups through the Orienteering course.
On Wednesday, as part of our enduring commitment to enhanced teaching and learning we welcomed Josh Goodrich, co-founder and CEO of Steplab. Josh has worked as a senior leader in a number of London schools, as well as leading Teaching & Learning across a Multi-Academy trust. Josh is the author of the best selling coaching book ‘Responsive Coaching’ and our teaching staff truly benefited from this training session.
A huge congratulations to our U16 7s team who got to the quarter final of the All England 7s tournament last weekend. The dedication and hard work has really been paying off and with Rosslyn Park coming up in less than two weeks time, our students have set themselves up well for what hopes to be a successful day.
On a protocol note. In the interests of pupil safety, please could I remind parents that Sixth Form drivers, especially learner drivers, who are driving onto campus must turn left at the mini roundabout after coming through the barrier onto school grounds. The designated car parking area for Upper Sixth students who have been given permission to drive themselves to school is the area beyond DT. At no time should students be driving up to Parade Ground or to divisions.
To end on a ‘you said, we did’ update, we continue to listen to our community and reflective of our commitment to provide the strongest possible education, with pupils at its heart, I’m delighted to share with you the timetable changes for 2025-26.
In this newsletter you will find:
Dates for the Diary
College News This Week
Notices
Sport News
Best wishes
Oliver Knight
COLLEGE NEWS THIS WEEK
COLLEGE SUNDAY #5
On Sunday, we held our final College Sunday before Founders' Day.
We were incredibly fortunate to have glorious sunshine throughout the morning and it was a pleasure to welcome some of our current Year 8 families, giving them the opportunity to experience the Parade.
We were also delighted to host local Prep School Heads, each of whom was assigned a Division to inspect. Our guests included Heads from Brockhurst & Marlston House Schools, Cheam School, Harriet House School, St Andrew's, Berkshire and Sunningdale School.
Of course, we must also extend a huge thank you to everyone who came to support our pupils, including family, friends, and Old Pangbournians.
THE CHARLOTTE DRAKE SOCIETY WELCOMES DAME MARY BERRY FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
It was an absolute pleasure to welcome Dame Mary Berry to Pangbourne College on Monday evening to speak to our girls as part of the Charlotte Drake Society about her inspirational life and to take part in a Q&A.
Mary spoke to the girls about some of her top tips in both the real world and baking world, and how she managed to balance her thriving career alongside her adored family life.
We are so grateful to Dame Mary Berry for visiting the College for International Women's Day and for sharing her incredible wisdom. We would also like to thank Thomas Franks, our caterers, who provided the most delectable afternoon tea especially for the occasion.
This special day certainly won't be forgotten and will go down in Charlotte Drake Society history.
LOWER SIXTH MEDIA TRIP TO WARNER BROTHERS STUDIOS
On Friday, our Lower Sixth Media Studies students embarked on an exciting trip to London to visit Warner Bros. Studios. They stepped behind the scenes of the iconic Harry Potter films, exploring the studio lot and learning about the magic of filmmaking. Our students also got to take part in a hands-on workshop all about set design. A brilliant day was had by all.
Friday 14 March, 16:45 - Sunday 16 March, 19:00
Overnight Leave
Boarding
Friday 14 March, 16:45 - 20:00
Year 11 Parents’ and Guardians’ Meeting
Drake Hall
Tuesday 18 March, 10:00 - 16:00
Maths Inspiration
The Hexagon Theatre, Reading
Tuesday 18 March, 16:50 - 17:40
PSHCE: Year 10 ‘Healthy food, healthy self’ talk by Katy Gordon-Smith
Chapel
Wednesday 19 March, 16:45 - 17:45
Drama Trinity Digital Exam
DR1
Thursday 20 March, All Day
Pangbourne Tudor Symposium
Chapel/Outreach
Thursday 20 March, 19:30 - 21:30
Divisional Bake Off
Boarding
Friday 21 March, 14:00-17:45
Whole School and Divisional Photographs
Devitt House
Saturday 22 March, 08:30 - 10:30
PPA Committee Meeting
Community
Sunday 23 March, 09:00 - 18:00
Boarders Day out in Bristol
Boarding
Monday 24 March, 10:00 - 12:30
National Reading Champions Quiz regional heat
Academic
Tuesday 25 March, 15:50 - 16:40
PSHCE talk to the Upper Sixth on Loss and Change - ‘Death, society and what next?’
Chapel, PSHCE
Tuesday 25 March, 16:50 - 17:40
PSHCE talk to Year 10 on Loss and Change - ‘Making sense of death’
Chapel, PSHCE
Tuesday 25 March, 17:15 - 20:00
Upper Sixth Parents’ and Guardians’ Meeting
Drake Hall
Thursday 27 March, All Day
Pangbourne Wellbeing Day
PSHCE
Friday 28 March - Monday 31 March
DofE Silver and Gold Practice Expedition
Co-curricular
UPCOMING EVENTS
NOTICES
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19 Sixth Form students have signed up to do a skydive on Sunday 23 March to raise funds for ‘Bridge for Young People’, a charity that provides a home and support to young people (aged 16-25) who are leaving care or who are homeless. Our fundraising efforts will go towards furnishing one of the new flats at Wessex House in Newbury, which will be named 'Pangbourne'.
Please do support by donating via our JustGiving Page.
The deadline for students to qualify to jump is by the end of Sunday 16 March. All students must have raised the minimum fundraising target required to jump.
If you are supporting one of the students jumping, please do name them in the comments.
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Pangbourne College has been contacted by Ollie, an Assistant Producer at Love Productions; the production company behind The Great British Bake Off, The Great British Sewing Bee, and The Great Pottery Throw Down.
Love Productions is delighted to announce that they have recently opened applications for the 11th series of Junior Bake Off; a Channel 4 programme that celebrates the culinary talent and ambition of the younger generation in Britain.
With this in mind, they are contacting schools to spread the word regarding this exciting opportunity for students.
Love Productions are looking for young budding bakers between 9-15 years old.
Interested bakers can apply online at - www.applyforjuniorbakeoff.co.uk
Filming would take place from July 2025, but applications close on Sunday 23rd March 2025.
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As advertised before half term, we are repeating last June's successful rock-climbing trip to the Welsh borders with a one-day rock-climbing trip on Saturday 21 June (please note that this is overnight leave weekend and is after external exams finish).
It's being run in conjunction with Life-Changing Activities and is now open to pupils in all year groups. The cost for the day is expected to be £60 per pupil. Prior climbing experience is not essential.
Please contact Fergus Yuille for more details.
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On Friday 21 March, Gillman and Soame will be visiting the College and will take photographs of individual College Divisions as well as a whole school photograph. Pupils in senior years, 9 to Upper Sixth should be in their Number 1 Uniform including Lids. Dunbar should wear their full Number 2 Uniform.
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We are excited to share with you the 2025 Carnegie Medal shortlist, a collection of outstanding and thought-provoking books. The Carnegie Medal is one of the highest honours in children's literature, awarded to the very best books for children and young people.
There are eight shortlisted books which not only provide an exciting reading experience but also encourage empathy, critical thinking, and creativity—skills that are invaluable for your child’s development. All of the shortlisted titles are available in our school library.
We encourage you to support your child in reading one or more of these incredible books and to discuss the powerful and challenging themes they explore. Reading these stories will help students foster a deeper connection to literature and provide plenty of opportunities for meaningful conversations.
Click here for the full list.
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Please see here for a list of the visiting speakers that will be joining us for our Pangbourne College Wellbeing Day on 27 March 2025.
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The date for the Year 11 celebration has been set as the afternoon of the Friday 23 May. It will finish in time for students to board their buses home as usual and will take place at school.
Further details to follow nearer the time.
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Year 10 exams will take place in the week commencing the 28 April. There will be no Year 10 lessons during this week and if pupils are not taking an exam, they will be in a supervised revision room.
Sport and other activities will continue as normal during the week. The exam schedule can be found here.
Years 9 -11
SIXTH FORM
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Students will receive their latest BTEC results on Thursday 20 March which will then be shared and discussed with individual students.
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A date for your diary - the next parents’ meeting will be on Tuesday 25 March. Sign up details will be shared nearer the time.
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Please find a Q&A factsheet regarding the next steps for UCAS here.
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This event will be taking place on Thursday 24 April at 19:30 for Sixth Form students to attend. A form will be sent out today for Sixth Formers to register their interest.
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All Lower Sixth students will be offered the opportunity to attend the University and Apprenticeship Fair at Oxford Brookes University on 18 June.
Along with this it is also worthwhile to attend some open days at universities of interest. A list of universities and dates can be seen here.
DIVISIONAL UPDATES
Divisional updates will be fortnightly. Next update on Friday 21 March.
SPORT
RUGBY
Well done to our U16 7s team who got to the quarter final of the All England 7s tournament last weekend. They narrowly missed out on a semi final place, and they should be really proud that they were at a tournament with the best sides of the country. With just one week to go until Rosslyn Park 7s, this group is in a good position.
Congratulations to five boys across Year 9 and 10 who have been selected in the Ealing Player Pathway: Will (Year 8), Max, Charlie and Archie (Year 9) and Seb, Ed and Dylan (Year 10). Also a special mention to Rafe in Year 10 who has progressed to the next stage of the Bath Rugby DPP.
GIRLS’ FOOTBALL
Our brilliant Junior A Girls’ football team secured an impressive 3-0 victory at their fixture last weekend. Great teamwork and team spirit was shown throughout. A special mention to those who played their first ever fixture - what a great result!
Well done to our girls who played in our first ever girls 1st XI football fixture against Marlborough College. After being 2-2 at half-time they conceded a couple late goals and unfortunately lost out on the victory. We are super proud of them for being the pioneers of Girls football at Pangbourne College.
ROWING
Pangbourne entered five boats for the Junior Inter Regional Rowing trials for the Thames Upriver region last Friday. These included a MJ16 pair which finished 4th, a MJ16 coxed four which finished 5th, and a MJ15 coxed four which finished in an agonisingly close 2nd place. However, two of our girls' crews showed excellent speed to gain selection for the National finals at the end of April in Nottingham. Lucy will compete as one of the WJ16 single scullers, and we also have a WJ15 coxed four of Luise, Anna, Skyla, Flora and Maisie. Congratulations to all the girls on gaining selection.
