The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

On Tuesday afternoon, the Reception children took to the stage to tell the story of Everyone Loves A Baby.

Except the only problem was, that the lovely children in the nativity would rather have anything but a baby maybe... a dog... a donkey... a camel, or even a sheep!

That was until a very special baby was born. The children couldn't believe why all the people would come from near and far to visit this baby. But the amazing thing about this baby, was that he came to bring God's love to everyone.

That called for a party! And everyone was invited. The children were allowed to stay up late to celebrate... and they realised that babies weren't so bad after all!

Great job Reception! You were all fabulous!

Crackley Hall School’s Key Stage 1 Nativity took place on Friday 6 December.  It was a modern take on the traditional nativity story.  Strictly Come Dancing inspired, it recalled the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem and the birth of the baby Jesus in a special, sequel edition of the much loved, well-known dance show.

The audience of delighted parents were welcomed by the enthusiastic hosts of the show and duly introduced to the judges, the very funky camel, Evie, the shyest and smallest sheep, Phoebe, and the superb Craig Revel Horwood-like Caesar, Blythe.

Hustling locals, charleston-ing camels, the shepherds’ conga, balletic stars and disco angels all took to the stage in turn to perform their routines and to share their part in the special story.

It was a fabulous performance by all the children who delivered their lines with panache, danced exuberantly and sang enthusiastically.

Headmaster, Rob Duigan, congratulated all the children commenting, “Children you were absolutely fantastic.”  He thanked the staff involved in putting together the show and thanked the parents for coming.  He even gave a special mention to Blythe whose performance as Caesar had been truly inspiring."

Well done everybody and what a wonderful week of nativities we have had!

A team of eight swimmers represented the Princethorpe Foundation at the National Independent Schools Association’s Swimming Championships at the London Aquatics Centre, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, last Saturday 30 November. The pupils had all qualified to swim for the Midlands team in the national competition in local regional heats and they faced tough competition, the best swimmers from independent schools across the country.

Foundation Director of Sport, Neil McCollin, commented, “Our swimmers have traditionally done well in the ISA Swimming Championships and they have had another very successful outing this year. Together they brought home a magnificent haul of 16 medals. It was great to see so many Foundation pupils competing and we are delighted with their performances.”

Both Foundation junior schools had swimmers competing at the national event. For Crackley Hall School Junior 4, Isabella Cleary took an individual gold medal after a super swim in the 50m Breaststroke in a time of 51.83 seconds. She then earned herself a second gold when she helped the Midlands team finish first in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay in a time of 2.49.98. Junior 6, Sam Grindal also took a gold medal after swimming freestyle in the Year 6 4x50m Medley Relay in a combined team time of 2.32.42.

For the Crescent School, Stephanie Bolton swam alongside Isabella in the Midlands Freestyle Relay team earning herself a gold medal and then claimed a bronze in the Year 4 individual 50m Freestyle when she finished in third place in a time of 41.42 seconds. Year 6 pupil, Sienna Moran placed second for a silver medal in the individual 50m Breaststroke in 45.17 seconds and just missed out a second medal after the Midlands team finished fourth in the 4x50m Medley Relay.

For the College, Year 7, André Onyekwe, swam superbly in the 50m Backstroke finishing in a time of 35.74 seconds and claiming a well-deserved gold medal. Year 7, Harrison Guest, did almost as well, finishing in second place in 42.44 in the 50m Breaststroke for a silver medal. Both boys swam for the Midlands team in the 4x50m Medley Relay finishing in second place in 2.34.66 taking a silver medal, and then swam in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay helping the team to finish in first place in a team time of 2.12.63 and earning themselves a gold medal.

Year 8, Ethan Capelett swan for the Midlands in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay helping the team to finish in second place in a time of 2.06.99 for a silver medal. He also swam backstroke in the 4x50m Medley Relay helping the team take third place in a time of 2.24.94 and earning himself a bronze medal.

Year 10, Jess Mackenzie was, as always, on fine form, she took a silver medal in the Years 9/10 100m Freestyle in a time of 1.03.93 and then swam for the Midlands team in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay helping the team to a second-place finish and a second silver medal in a time of 1.59.30 seconds. Jess just missed a third medal when she swam backstroke in the 4x50m Medley Relay when the team finished in fourth place in a time of 2.17.53.

It was a very busy day for all and an amazing haul of 16 medals across the Foundation. Overall the Midlands team finished in second place nationally. A super, huge well done to all of our swimmers.

At six o'clock last Friday evening an array of Santa hats and flashing antlers delivered a most marvellous medley of Christmas carols and seasonal favourites to help celebrate Kenilworth's Big Light Switch On. 

It was lovely to see so many of the Crackley family out to support our Choral Group. A big thank-you to Mrs Olden and of course Choral Group for creating such a heart-warming start to advent. 

Could you help our F1 team this year by sponsoring us in some way?

FrankenSTEM invite you to attend their team sponsorship presentation on Monday 9 December at 4.00pm.

The team will make a short presentation and then answer questions from potential sponsors.

Refreshments will be provided.

If you think you can help us in anyway please do come along.

RSVP to Mrs Spillane or Mrs Hardwick by next Friday 6 December.

margaretspillane@crackleyhall.co.uk

chardwick@crackleyhall.co.uk

Thank you in advance for your support. 

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Wildey's group is Mya 

Mathlete of the week for J1H is Jude

Mathlete of the week for J6V is Thomas

Mathletes of the Week for J3V is Mitchell and Georgie

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Roberts group is Millie

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Lammas group is Max

Well done to you all!

Can you Shake a Bucket at the Panto?

One of our parents is a volunteer for a local charity called Helping Hands who is this year’s nominated charity to collect donations after each performance of the pantomime at the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington Spa.  

They are struggling to get enough volunteers as they need 4-6 people at each performance.  If you are local and can spare half an hour to help at any of the matinee or evening performances, please contact Julie Hutton on 07958 282235 or juliemhutton@hotmail.co.uk and she can let you have more details.  Children are welcome to help but will need to be accompanied by an adult.  If the performance is not sold out, there is a chance that volunteers will be offered free tickets.

Last year’s nominated charity raised over £11k so it’s a great opportunity for Helping Hands.

Helping Hands is all about local people helping local people in need.  The charity gives people the support and opportunities to feel better about themselves, be more active in the community and get back into work.   They run a soup kitchen offering hot food and a listening ear.  They like to give a hand up not just a hand out through new skills, experience and qualifications. Their supported volunteers can get involved in the Lighthouse Charity Shop in Leamington, Gateway Cafe in Warwick and House2Home Project in Stoneleigh to help them to build a better future for themselves. The volunteers for the House 2 Home project support clients with goods from fridges to furniture to recently homed and low-income families.

On behalf of everyone at Helping Hands, we wish you all a very merry Christmas and thank you in advance for any support you may be able to give.

More information on Helping Hands is available here.