The Chronicle

Dear Parents

I hope that by the time you are reading this some of you will have witnessed the delight of our Choral Group singing in the High Street this evening.  This event marks the beginning of our festive celebrations and will quickly be followed by tomorrow’s Christmas Fayre.  The PTA have been working incredibly hard and are always grateful for your support and donations to these events.  I do hope that you will be able to join us tomorrow to enjoy some of the activities, sample the wonderful food and possibly tick off some items on your Christmas shopping list.  Historically it has always been a very good fund raiser and your support is gratefully appreciated.  Please try and park considerately if you are leaving your car in the residential area tomorrow but the hardstanding on the School field will also be available for parking.

Whilst on the subject of parking, I would like to advise you that lights in the lower car park will not be operational after 5.45pm in the evening unless there is an event taking place.  Therefore I would advise that if you are arriving at school later in the afternoon, please try and park in the main car park or residential area which is lit.

This week we welcomed Sister Philomena Bowers into school for our Monday assembly.  Sister Philomena may be a familiar name to some of you as she was Headmistress of Crackley Hall from 1991 to 2001 and visits school on occasion for events and celebrations.  I am very grateful to Mrs Simmonds for her assistance in arranging for Sister Philomena to visit us.  I truly believe that our links with the past will form and shape us as a school today.  Sister Philomena spoke to us about a Mercy Sisters’ school in Nigeria and the pupils were able to identify with some of the difficulties that the children over there will face on a daily basis and that we are all quite privileged in what we have and in the education that we are able to receive.

I know that many of you attended the Internet Safety Talk on Monday evening with Paul Hay and I hope you found the information useful and informative.  This followed a day of presentations and discussions with children to educate them in the potential risks using the internet.  My thanks to Mr Cottrill for hosting the parents’ evening and if you have any further questions you would like to put to Mr Hay, please let me know.  I would like to reiterate my message that children should not be bringing devices or phones into school but if there is an occasion where you believe it is necessary, please ensure the device is left with the Office where it will be locked in the safe until your child needs it at the end of the school day.

Next week will see the start of the Nativity Plays, beginning with Nursery and Reception on Tuesday.  This will be quickly followed by Key Stage 1 on Wednesday; parking will be available on the field.

Junior 5 and Junior 6 will be spending most of the day at Princethorpe on Thursday next week as they rehearse for our Advent Service which takes place in the Chapel on the evening of 12 December.  For those of you who have not yet attended an event in the Princethorpe chapel, I am sure that you will be impressed by the beautiful venue and exceptional performance from your children.  I do hope to be able to say hello to as many of you as possible at the end of the evening.

Congratulations to our Stars of the Week: Katherine, Mahnoor, Olivia, Rory, Olivia, Grace, Dexter, Dillon, Oliver, Jimmy, Lily, India, Thomas, Wilf and Emily.  All very well deserved, each and every one.  The two worthy recipients of RE book of the week were Adelaide and Amelia; well done to both of you.  Assembly was opened in dramatic fashion with superb signing by Lily, followed later by a fantastic choral performance by one of our excellent drama groups.  Thank you and well done to all our pupils who performed this morning.

I was delighted with our pupils’ many outstanding performances and achievements at Saturday’s Coventry Festival at Bablake School.  Crackley Hall pupils really excelled – well done to everyone who took part and to Mrs Wildey and Mrs Paphitis.

We enjoyed some fantastic sports results again this week – congratulations to all teams.

I was delighted to learn of the performances of Julia and Thomas in the Warwickshire chess championships last weekend.  Well done to them both and, in particular, to Thomas on finishing third in the county and on being selected to represent Warwickshire – quite an achievement!

I know that confirmation of Year 7 places are now being awarded by various schools, including Princethorpe, and if there are parents who have any questions regarding secondary school placements, please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss anything further.

Unfortunately the Springbok rugby team did not perform well against a very strong Wales team who, alongside Ireland, are playing outstanding rugby – they are real units at the moment.  Additionally, Liverpool were also beaten this week – not a good one for the teams I support.

I will now sign off so that I am able to meet the children outside Loch Fyne ready for their performance at 18:00 – I hope that many of you are able to join in the singing! 

Have a lovely weekend.

God bless,

Robert Duigan

Parents will shortly be receiving an Evolve Consent Form for the Foundation’s new Use of Images Policy. We would be most grateful if you would complete and submit your response to this form by the deadline date of Friday 14 December.  A consent form is required for each child attending the school.

You can find the new Use of Images Policy attached to this article here.

The Foundation makes various uses of images of pupils during their time with us. Where these are necessary for administration and the safety of pupils, such as CCTV and for security ID, the Foundation does not require your consent.

Images are also used for marketing and promotional purposes, to celebrate the achievements of pupils, promote the work of the Foundation and the education it provides. The Foundation does require your consent for these purposes and we hope that parents will feel able to support the Foundation in using pupil images in this way.

Images generally will not have pupil names against them. Names will be used with images when, for instance, celebrating a specific pupil’s, team’s or group’s achievement.

Additional specific consent will be sought for instances when a single pupil is the main focus of a press release or on billboard or bus adverts.

You may withdraw consent at any time in the future by writing to the School Secretary at Crackley Hall. Please be aware that it may not be possible to change printed publications, such as a Foundation magazine or prospectus, or third party publications (for example where we have placed an advert or provided an image to a newspaper).