The Chronicle

Junior 6 were treated to a visitor this week. We had a World War I soldier spend the morning with us on Thursday, explaining what life was like in the trenches and how the soldiers coped emotionally with the rigours of war. The children had the opportunity to try on uniforms, gas masks and try out some of the weapons. They studied photographs and created word walls conveying the range of emotions experienced by a soldier in the trenches. They learnt about rats, chats (the smoking out of lice) and trench foot. The children completed the morning by sending a video message home from the trenches… it was a fantastic interactive experience for all involved!

This week Junior 5L have been getting into the Christmas spirit. As Christmas is a time for helping each other, the children have been working together to decorate the Christmas tree in their classroom. The children in Junior 5 have all taken part in a Secret Santa in their classes. Each child picked a name out of a box and will buy a little something for that person. As Christmas is also about giving, Junior 5 are doing a reverse advent alongside the other classes of Crackley Hall. Each child has been given a day to bring something in to help those in need within the communities of Kenilworth, Leamington and Warwick.

This week in Junior 4, the children visited India in their Geography lesson! Well, kind of; they excitedly donned Virtual Reality headsets and went on an adventure to see some of the wonderful sites of this incredible country. One moment they were exploring the banks of the River Ganges and then, all of a sudden, they were wandering the marble paths of the Taj Mahal – all without needing their passport! To accompany their adventure, they then practised writing a diary, sharing everything that they had seen. As well as visiting India, the Junior 4 girls visited Warwick Prep School for an U9 hockey match where the A team drew 2-2.  The player of the match was Harriet and the B team's score was 2-1 to Warwick and player of the match was Hanna. All the children continue to work amazingly hard and they should all be very proud of their progress. They are all superstars!

Junior 3H are beginning to think about the next few weeks with increased excitement. Today, we chose our Secret Santa recipient and the children were never so quiet as each one carefully closed their eyes and dipped into the basket of names.

Advent is soon to be upon us, and we will be also thinking about the true meaning of Christmas and how 2022 years ago, Jesus was born in a lowly stable – Advent means preparation and we will be exploring about how we can help others prepare, by creating a wonderful ‘reverse’ advent gift hamper for someone in need. Thank you in advance for supporting us in this very worthwhile activity.

Science lessons have been fun this week as we began our investigation into…..nappies! How effective they are, how they are made and whether or not they are helpful when thinking about the environment. We shall be spending the next couple of weeks finding out what’s inside and completing some fair tests to prove our fact finding. Can’t wait to see the results!

This week in Junior 2 the children had lots of fun creating puppets in class. The children produced great pieces showcasing several skills, including sewing, cutting, and sticking. We had characters ranging from gingerbread to Hermione Granger. We were particularly impressed that one pupil turned his friend into a superhero!

The children in Junior 1 were delighted to receive three letters from Jack’s mother this week. His poor mother was so worried that he had disappeared, and she was confused about the beanstalk which had grown outside her window. The children all eagerly sat down to write their replies, reassuring her that Jack was indeed safe and well, and he would be returning with some golden coins. Imagine their delight when Jack’s mother then replied to say thank you, whilst leaving her own gift of chocolate coins for everyone! Our Maths lessons have been equally enjoyable with the children using 2D and 3D shapes to create their own repeating patterns. It really has been such a fun filled week; we have really loved every minute of our time in school!

This week in Reception we learnt all about Thanksgiving. We explored maps to find out about where it is celebrated and compared Thanksgiving to other celebrations here in the United Kingdom. We thought about what we were most thankful for. The children had wonderful heart-felt ideas. They were thankful for their families, friends and their bodies that help them to live a healthy life.

Please click on the link for this week's newsletter.