The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Princethorpe College Headmaster, Ed Hester, is to take on a new dedicated role as Head of the Princethorpe Foundation. Mr Hester has been Headmaster at the College since 2009, with the dual role of Senior Foundation Head.

This forward-thinking decision by the governing body comes after a review of the overall management and leadership of the Foundation, which comprises senior school, Princethorpe College, prep schools, Crackley Hall and Crescent School and Little Crackers Nursery.

Separating the two roles will mean that Mr Hester will move away from the day-to-day running of the senior school and be able to dedicate more time to the strategic direction of the Foundation as a whole. He will work in partnership with the Board of Trustees, the Senior Management Teams and staff across all the Foundation schools to develop an ambitious vision and strategy for the next exciting stage in the Foundation’s evolution.

Comments, Liz Griffin, Chair of Trustees, “The Foundation has evolved significantly over the last ten years. As a result of mergers and the popularity of our schools we have grown from 800 pupils to over 1,400 today and we have over 250 members of staff, what’s more our schools are operating in a complex and ever-changing political, legal and economic climate. We are ambitious for the Foundation and the creation of this new dedicated role will ensure that we continue to develop and flourish.

She continues, “Ed, with his proven leadership and strategic skills, is uniquely placed to fulfil this role. He has done an outstanding job as Headmaster of Princethorpe College, and I am delighted he is taking on the new role. We understand how important it will be to find the right person to take over from him as Head of Princethorpe College and the recruitment process is already underway, with a view to having his successor in post within the next twelve months. Of course, Ed will continue to have a very keen interest in life at Princethorpe and be on hand to ensure a smooth transition and successful handover to the new Head, who will be supported by Princethorpe’s excellent Senior Leadership Team.”

Consultants, RSAcademics, are assisting the Foundation with the search for and appointment of the new Head of Princethorpe College.

On Wednesday 2 February we took a team of Crackley’s fleetest cross-country runners to the ISA Midlands Qualifier at Bedstone College. Eight pupils finished in the top 10 for their race and qualified for the Nationals.

The course at Bedstone is notoriously challenging, taking real grit and determination to complete. It involves mud and stream crossings, along with other varied terrain that challenges the balance and stamina of the competitors. For many of the children, it was their first real exposure to any type of cross-country running. There were areas of the course that had mole hills, potholes and tree debris, making significant trip hazards. Several of the children went down but got straight back up and completed the course in true gutsy Crackley style!

It is also worth noting that some of the U12 boys had competed for a full day at the National Hockey just the day before.

Commenting on the day, PE Teacher, Kat Vaughan, said, “As always, the children were exceptionally well behaved, a real credit to the school, and a pleasure to take to the competition. They were nervous but excited and ran courageously to achieve a superb set of results.”

In total, eight out of the 20 runners we took qualified for the Nationals a super result. We are still waiting for confirmation on the team placings, but the individual results are as follows:

U10 Girls:
Elora Hughes - 19th
Adreena Greevy - 21st
Alexa Bickerton - 39th
Elsie Ascroft - 40th
Darcey Wilcox-Smith - 41st

U10 Boys:
Patrick Fuchss - 7th (National Qualifier)
Isaac Fox - 9th (National Qualifier)
Tommy Marshall - 30th
Harry Bosworth - 47th
Arthur Cowell - 57th

U12 Girls:
Elle Weir - 3rd (National Qualifier)
Issey Cleary - 4th (National Qualifier)
Agnes Crinion - 33rd
Matilda Clarke - 45th
Elsie Glover - 60th

U12 Boys:
Sid Penn - 1st (National Qualifier)
George Moreton - 2nd (National Qualifier)
Leonardo Pavli - 3rd (National Qualifier)
Dexter Robinson - 7th (National Qualifier)
Olly Moore - 27th

The ISA U11 Boys Hockey Tournament took place at the Lee Valley National Hockey Stadium in the Olympic Park on Tuesday 1 February. Taking part were 18 teams from across the country all excited to be competing again. Crackley Hall’s team of nine boys had an early 6am start and arrived just in time for a brief warm-up before embarking on their first group game. These boys haven’t played a hockey match since Junior 3, so were a little nervous! Despite this, they played well, finding their feet quickly. In the first game, they had all the pressure, but the opposition scored a very good goal on the one break they had, resulting in a 0-1 loss.  

The boys kept their heads high and found the goal in the second game, playing well as a unit and winning 2-1. With an outstanding goal by George Moreton as he dived to the floor for a deflection and a second goal from a clinical finish by Olly Moore. In the third game, the boys faced Langley (a specialist hockey school). It is safe to say that Langley’s skills were more at the level of youth/senior hockey, with reverse stick shots to the top corners of the goal in each of their games. They were the dominant team of the tournament. Our boys were really gritty in defence and conceded only two deflected goals, not allowing any direct shots at goal in the D. They were unlucky to score themselves on a couple of occasions. Result 0-2 loss. The last game of the pool had to be won if the team wanted to finish second in the pool and make the Plate finals in the afternoon. The boys had what was probably their best game of the tournament, winning by a decisive 2-0.

So, the boys moved onto the Plate semi-final knock-out competition and faced Alleyn Court Prep. The Crackley boys were clearly the better team in this battle and were unlucky not to score a handful of goals. They won the semi-final 1-0. They then moved onto the final where they faced St Anselm’s School and were treated to the most fantastic opportunity. They were allowed to run out of the tunnel onto the pitch with music playing, just like at real Internationals! What a great experience for them.

The final was a really close fought game, with opportunities for each team. Neither could find the goal and the score was 0-0 after 12 well-fought minutes. They then went on to 5-minutes Golden Goal. Again, the boys fought hard, and the score remained 0-0. That left penalty shuffles (which is essentially where the attacker taking the penalty has 8 seconds to run from the halfway line to the D and take the keeper on 1-on-1 to score a goal). Three very brave and nervous boys stepped up (Sidney Penn, George Moreton and Olly Moore). Again the teams were so evenly matched. With the scores 1-1, then 2-2, then Crackley’s next effort was saved. Marley Hardwick then saved St Anselm’s first attempt but couldn’t get back to his feet quickly enough to stop the rebound. Some devastated boys stood there, supporting each other for a few minutes but they quickly regathered and stood proudly to collect their silver medals.

A really huge well done to them all, we are incredibly proud of this team.

Playing in the squad were: Olly Moore, George Moreton ©, Sid Penn, George Knott, Dillon Horan, Marley Hardwick, Harry Faulconbridge, George Wilcox, Jack Phillips-Gore.

Olly Moore was our player of the tournament and Sid Penn and George Knott were the most improved player. Most outstanding in goal was George Moreton and top goal scorer was Olly Moore.

Watch the boys running out on to the field here.

On Tuesday 1 February, Mrs Roberts and Mr Kefalas took the Under 11A Netball squad to the ISA Netball Tournament at St Edward’s Prep School, Cheltenham. It was a big event with 24 teams from across the Midlands region taking part.

This was the girls first competitive experience playing High 5 Netball, (10 minute matches with no Wing Attack or Wing Defence and the Goal Shooter and Goal Keeper allowed on two thirds of the court). The girls took all the new rules in their stride and their positivity and keenness to do their best was admirable.

Playing in Group B, the team were unbeaten in their first six matches, and only conceded one goal, winning 2-0, 4-0, 5-0, 4-0, 3-0 and 3-1 respectively. They finished top of their Group and qualified for the playoffs. They then played the winner of Group A, Mylnhurst Prep, in a tight game narrowly losing 5-3. Mylnhurst Prep went on to win the Tournament while Crackley Hall faced Malvern St James, and our resilient girls played brilliantly to win 3-1. This meant that Crackley Hall finished third overall out of 24 teams.

Playing for Crackley Hall were Lily, Olivia, Issey, Jasmine, Merryn, Elle and Isabella. All the girls represented their school well and played amazingly as a team. We are so proud of them all and wish them well when they compete in the Nationals in March.                                                                 

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

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Glen-Roots's class is Aaryan and Will

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Holmes class is Grace

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

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

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Lammas group is Amalia

Well done all!

Love Productions are looking for young budding bakers between 9-12 years old.

Filming will take place from July 2022, but applications close on Sunday 13 March 2022.

Interested bakers can apply online at - www.applyforjuniorbakeoff.co.uk

Please can parents check if they have any children's plastic bowls, plates, cups and cutlery that they no longer need as they would be gratefully received at Forest School for when the children cook outside.

Thank you 

Why not get involved with this competition to create a picture book for World Book Day!

The ReadingZone Picture Book Competition 2022, in partnership with World Book Day, is challenging those aged four to 18 years to make their own picture book. You can work on your own, or with partners or in a group to create a picture book.

Judging the entries will be acclaimed author and illustrator Sarah McIntyre (Grumpycorn, The New Neighbours and Pugs of the Frozen North).

The competition closes on Friday 22 April 2022, and the winners will be announced in June. Prizes include £100 of books for each winner's school or library, plus a free online author event for the overall winner.

Mini Grey provides tips and guidance in the resources, below, to help children to get started with their picture book projects.

External Link www.readingzone.com/creative-projects/how-to-make-a-picture-book/