The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Huge thanks to Crackley's PTA for organising Crackley Hall’s annual Macmillan Coffee fundraiser this morning, Friday 24 September.

At morning drop off parents responded generously to the PTA’s drive by collectors, while in school pupils were able to purchase pre-packaged cakes. It was a great morning of fundraising for a very worthy cause.

Macmillan Cancer’s annual fundraiser raised over £10 million for the charity last year but that figure was substantially down on previous totals. So, every penny contributed today is vital.

Crackley Hall is very grateful to parents, pupils and staff for their support for this good cause. You can read the PTA's own report on this morning in the PTA section of this newsletter.

And a shout out for PTA Chair Lucy Lamb who went the extra mile for Macmillan recently when she completed the Macmillan Mighty Hike walking 26 miles in just one day, in the Lake District, raising nearly £600! Well done to Lucy! Her JustGiving page is still taking donations here.

Isabella (J5L) recently completed a reading challenge for Myton Hospice.

She raised £70.00 and had a lot of fun exploring a wide range of authors.

She read 14 books in total and her favourite was certainly the one at the top.

Well done Isabella!

Over the summer holidays we were delighted to welcome a lovely group of past pupils to Crackley Hall after 36 years. Sarah Vasey (nee Dewsberry) contacted us, hoping to visit the school and grounds as part of a reunion with her old school friends who attended St Joseph’s convent in the 1980s. We were more than happy to oblige, and Mr Duigan met with the group of seven on a sunny Saturday afternoon back in August.

Sarah commented on how they were ‘surprised’ by the changes to the grounds and gardens, however they could see how we had made some positive additions with the ‘multi-purpose hall, up-to-date music rooms, a lovely early year’s department and a Forest School in the woods.’ The friends reflected on how the original convent buildings give a ‘sense of history and tradition’ whilst the new, shows ‘the school is moving forward into an exciting future.’

School friends, Sarah, Karen, Sangeeta, Rachel, Christine, Rebecca and Julie, were so grateful to Mr Duigan for giving his time on a Saturday during the holidays. Their visit to the school was followed by a pub lunch and then a walk around Abbey Fields before heading back to the pub for an evening of cocktails and for some, a stay over in a hotel. Even after 36 years, time was of no consequence, and they very much enjoyed laughing and sharing memories of their sixteen-year-old-selves which were extremely positive. Sarah has a particularly fond memory of the orchard in the convent gardens and a specific year when she was chosen to help pick the crab apples. Delighted to miss lessons, Sarah spent the morning in the garden with the nuns who lived in the convent but didn't teach, then joined them in the kitchen to make crab apple jelly. A couple of days later she was given a mini glass jar with her name on that she proudly took home. That Sunday, she remembers eating it with roast lamb and all her family said how delicious it was and how impressed they were with her achievement!

We were thrilled to hear how enjoyable their reunion was. In Sarah’s words, ‘the current pupils are very fortunate to attend Crackley Hall and long may the school continue for future generations of children to benefit from a nurturing and rounded education.’

We look forward to welcoming them, and other past-pupils, back next year for the postponed 75th Anniversary Celebrations. Firstly, the 75th Anniversary Open House and St Joseph's Day Mass on Saturday 13 March and all-being well, the 75th Anniversary Ball on Saturday 14 May.

If you would like to register your interest for these events, or to add your details to the Alumni database, please go to https://www.crackleyhall.co.uk/past-pupils where you will find a wealth of information.

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Hardwick's class is Cameron 

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Burley's class is Francesca

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Glen-Root's class is Aaryan

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Holmes's class is Leo

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Van Zyl's class is Mahnoor

Mathlete of the week for Mr Stedeford's class is Elora

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Robert's class is Molly

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Widey's group is Grace 

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Lammas's group is Kate

Well done all!

The ISA Comic Strip Competition encourages pupils to create their own storyboard or cartoon as a means of exploring a topical subject.

This year, pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 are invited to create comic strips on the theme of Zero Waste.

So come on all you Crackley creatives, get your thinking caps on and your pencils ready and get sketching.

The deadline for entry to the competition is Thursday 16 December 2021.

Please click here for further details