The Chronicle

Dear Parents

School has felt very quiet this week with Junior 6 in France, but we have had a busy week nonetheless. The J6 children have had an enjoyable time visiting the D-Day beach at Arromanches, the basilica at Lisieux, the Zoo de Cerza and Bayeux Cathedral amongst other things. They are all travelling home as I type and I'm sure that everyone will be pleased to return to their own beds at midnight tonight! Mr Duigan, Mrs Horan, Mrs Vaughan, Mrs Paphitis, Mrs Westerman and Mr Pike have very much enjoyed spending this time with the children as they approach their final term at Crackley Hall and I'm sure they will now be ready for their Easter break. I thank them in their absence for giving up their time to allow our J6 children time to make life-long memories.

We welcomed Father Kevin into school on Monday for the sacrament of reconciliation, and then for Mass on Tuesday when we celebrated the feast of St. Joseph, our patron saint. We were delighted that some former pupils of St Joseph's were able to come along to Mass and I do hope that they enjoyed their time with us reminiscing about their school days. I would like to thank Father Kevin for his ongoing support with the religious life of the school, and Mrs Forino for her hard work in leading RE. 

Mrs Roberts and Miss Eve were delighted with our U9 netball team who won the ISA Midlands Netball Tournament at Stafford Prep on Tuesday. It was rewarding to see their hard work pay off. Mrs Roberts mentioned that all the girls played superbly, winning the tournament without losing a match. Well done, girls! 

I had a fabulous, if tiring, day on Thursday with Junior 3 at Kingswood. The children had a wonderful time working collaboratively to make fires and a buggy out of barrels, planks and ropes. They then learnt archery and conquered their fears by making the 'leap of faith'. This was where the children had to climb to the top of a wooden pole and then leap off. I was very proud to see all the children demonstrate how brave they were ably supported by their classmates. Thank you to Mrs Van Zyl, Mrs Wheatley and Mrs Wildey for accompanying the children and Mr Hunt for driving one of the minibuses.

The children will enjoy their Easter eggs  kindly donated by the PTA - don't eat them all at once! 

We say goodbye to two staff members today. Emily Nicholls has now completed her time with us as part of her PGCE qualification. Emily has been a fantastic member of the staff team and we will miss her. We wish you all the very best in your teaching career, Emily - keep in touch! 

Ruth Townsend has been working in our office for eleven years and leaves us today to devote more time to travelling and spending time with her husband. Throughout all the changes over the years, Ruth has worked with dedication and commitment to the life of the school, always with the utmost care for the children, our colleagues and the good of the school. We will miss her sense of humour and her friendship, and we hope to be able to welcome Ruth back from time to time to support us in the office. 

I would like to thank all the staff for their hard work and dedication to school life this term. Crackley Hall is always busy, with the children benefitting from the huge range of opportunities available to them. Every single person who works in the building, as well as many who are based in Princethorpe, contribute to this and we are lucky to have so many people committed to creating a safe, thriving and stimulating environment for the children. I hope that you are able to  enjoy a really good, well earned break with your families over the Easter break. 

Finally, I would like to wish all our children and families a very Happy Easter, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 15 April for the Trinity Term. 

Duncan Cottrill 
Deputy Head

"Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love." - St Teresa of Lisieux.

Easter Holiday club will be running from 8.00am until 6.00pm on the following days during the Easter holidays:

Week 1: Monday 25 to Thursday 28 March

Week 2: Tuesday 2 to Friday 5 April

Week 3: Monday 8 to Friday 12 April 2023

Timings and prices are as follows:

Daily rate (9:00am - 5:00pm, inc. hot lunch): £30.00 per child

Breakfast club (8:00am - 9:00am, inc. breakfast): £5.00 per child

Teatime club (5:00pm - 6:00pm, inc. tea): £5.00 per child

Please click here for a jam-packed programme of activities, including some exciting trips out of school (additional charges will apply).

Due to adult/child ratios early booking is advised, as there will be a maximum number of children we are able to accommodate. Late booking can not always be guaranteed.

Ways to book:

1. Fill in this booking form (ticking all relevant boxes) and return to school.
2. Email holidayclub@crackleyhall.co.uk

Please note that bookings are not confirmed until you have received a booking confirmation email. All bookings will be added to your next termly bill. We are able to accept childcare vouchers to pay for any holiday club items added to your termly bill.

Trinity term begins on Monday 15 April, children should wear their Summer uniform from this date.

Please click here for for a full uniform list.

Uniform can be purchased from the School Uniform Shop which is located at Princethorpe College. Please contact the School Shop on 01926 634272 or email uniform@princethorpe.co.uk to place an order or make an appointment.

Shop opening hours during term time are as follows:

Mondays and Wednesdays 3.30pm – 4.30pm

During the school holidays the shop is open by appointment only. 

Alternatively, uniform can be ordered online - please click here.

Please note: Earrings are not to be worn in school at any time.

All clothing, including underwear, socks and footwear, must be marked with the child’s name.

Due to club and activity changes, permanent Aftercare bookings are only valid for the current term. 

If you require either permanent or occasional Aftercare for the Trinity Term, please make a new booking by emailing:

aftercare@crackleyhall.co.uk or receptionist@crackleyhall.co.uk

If you need to make a same-day Aftercare booking - please ensure you contact the school office no later than 1:00 pm that day. Any requests made after 1:00 pm will only be authorised at the Headmaster's discretion.

If you have booked an Aftercare session, letting your child know would also be helpful.

Any children not collected from the carline, for example, if parents are stuck in traffic, will be taken to Aftercare at 4:15 pm, when carline finishes and charged accordingly.

Aftercare runs from 3:15 pm until 6:00 pm, with charges being £5.00 per hour or part thereof.

Childcare vouchers can be used as payment or part payment for Aftercare.

The school office closes at 5:00 pm, please call Aftercare directly on 07543 164 779 for collection. 

Spring has sprung, and so has the new Trinity Term House 'Art' competition!

Don’t worry if you weren’t successful last time, you can try again……and again!

This term, our theme is ‘Spring has Sprung’ 

Ms Holmes would like you to think about all things 'spring-like'.  Get your creative flair going and look around you. The gardens are beginning to bloom again, lambs are leaping, insects stirring and, the days are getting longer.

Ms Holmes would like you to create a wonderful sprintime image. Work can be 2D or 3D and must be colourful and bright to reflect this wonderful time of year! Maybe try to stretch yourself by using a medium you haven't used before.

House points will be given for entering, for innovative ideas and for overall creativity.

• Entering -  5 house points
• 3rd prize - 10 house points
• 2nd prize - 20 house points
• 1st prize - 25 house points

Work should be your own and no larger than A3.

Work should be handed in to Ms Holmes in the art room by Thursday 16 May.

Professor Penguin is conscientious – a trait we should all be working towards. Creating sustainable artwork is a fabulous way to show how YOU can contribute to the planet’s future.

Please click here for further information.

Good luck everyone, can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Get CREATING!

All lost property is now on display in the main school entrance foyer until the start of next term. Any items unclaimed by the start of the new term will then be donated to the School PTA.

Please ensure that all items of school uniform, equiptment and sports kit are named.

Could you please regularly check all uniform and sports kits at home and if it does not belong to your child, please return the items to the School Office as soon as possible.

Lost Property

• Angelica L - Blazer
• Charlie R - Sports Fleece 
• Katie T - School Coat
• Williams O - Sports Fleece
• Wilson S - Sports Fleece
• Felix H - Sports Jacket
• Lexi-Jean E - School shoes - Clarks

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Today we bid farewell to Ruth Townsend who has been working in the School Office for 11 years. Ruth leaves us to devote more time to travelling and to her husband.

A popular member of the office team, throughout her time at Crackley Hall, Ruth has worked with dedication and commitment and always with the utmost care for the children, our colleagues and the good of the school. As a member of the support staff, her contributions to the success of our school will have often gone unnoticed and yet her work will have supported all of the pupils and parents in our school.

We will miss her sense of humour and her friendship, and we hope to be able to welcome Ruth back from time to time to support us in the office. We thank her for her hard work and dedication she will be much missed.

Goodbye and good luck to Ruth.

Crackley Hall celebrated the Feast of St Joseph on Tuesday 19 March. Alongside Father Kevin, pupils from Junior 5 led the readings and bidding prayers as we celebrated our school saint. We reflected on the history of the school and thought about the life of St Joseph, whose trade was to shape, build and create. During the Homily, Fr Kevin talked about the many people who look to St Joseph for inspiration and reflected that just as God makes a difference to our lives, St Joseph tried to do that too.

The Mass concluded with four of the seven pupils being congratulated on making their first Reconciliation in preparation for their First Holy Communion, and we were delighted to be able to welcome a small number of Old St Joseph Convent School pupils and staff to the mass.

Ms Holmes set a new 'House' challenge at the start of term for pupils to create 'Sustainability Portraits' in line with the new Foundation foucs. Pupils have been incredibly creative, scrabbling about in their recycling bins and boxes to find exciting ways of building a portrait.

Pictured are the final winners of the competition - all gaining points for their houses. Well done to them all. Amongst the winners you may spot, Frida Kahlo, Lewis Hamilton, Taylor Swift and George, the infamous dog!

Ms Holmes was so delighted with the entries this term that she has set a new competition which will feature in tonight's Chronicle.

Have a lovely Easter holiday everyone ........can't wait to see what you come up with next.

Please see detailed below events for week begininng Monday 15 April 2024. 

Please see our SPORT section for fixture information.

Thursday 18 April 2024 10.30am to 12.30pm

The College's Open Morning will give prospective families a chance to visit the school on a normal working day, with Year 8 and 9 pupils acting as tour guides. The Leadership and Admissions Teams will be available to answer any questions visitors might have. Light refreshments will be available.

All are welcome, please book your place by clicking here.

Entrance Examinations Day for September 2025 entry will take place on Saturday 9 November 2024 from 9.30am to 3.30pm. The deadline for registrations, scholarship and bursary applications is Friday 27 September 2024.

If you have any questions please contact the Admissions Team on 01926 643201/297 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Parents of neurodiverse children may be interested in this free event for parents and carers.

Please click here for more information.

We love to celebrate our pupils' talents, so every week in Celebration Assembly we hear of the childrens' successes and achievements and we watch performances by some of our pupils. Here are some photos from this morning.

A huge well done to all!

After arriving safely in France, Junior 6 pupils had an educational start to their first day, learning about the D-Day landings at the seaside resort of Arromanches. Pupils then enjoyed a picnic lunch before having some fun on the beach. Later in the week pupils practiced their French during a market visit to Thury-Harcourt. They then enjoyed a picnic lunch in the grounds of Lisieux Cathedral before heading off on a guided tour of the Basilic followed by a trip to Zoo de Cerza and a ride on the safari train!

One evening highlight was a culinary display of Mr Duigan's famous barbequing skills and everyone even got to try snails! Pupils were lucky enough to visit Bayeux and the children spent some time exploring the cemetery and touring the cathedral. They also viewed the Bayeux Tapestry before going on the hunt for a well deserved ice cream!

They finished their week off with a group talent show back at the gite yesterday. Then this monring, after saying a big thank you to their wonderful hosts, the children made their way to the ferry and are as we write this crossing the channel on their way back to England. 

Joyeuses Paques a Tous!

On Tuesday, Junior 5L led the St Joseph’s Mass beautifully. This Mass was a time to think about our wider school family, the time and meaning of Lent and to celebrate the Holy family. In Art, Junior 5L have been practising their sewing skills (backward stitch) through creating juggling chicks and sacks for Easter, using fabric and felt. In Drama, Junior 5 continued to learn about The Tempest, acting out a variety of scenes from the play. In Computing, the children have been using code to hide messages and then deciphering the meaning of each other’s messages.We are so proud of them. Well done, Junior 5! Enjoy your well-deserved break.

In Music, Junior 4 were learning about drones, which are long and sustained sounds, such as notes and chords. They carry on for long periods of time without variation and are most often used for an atmospheric effect. On a keyboard this usually involves two notes which are five notes apart. The pupils attempted this on a piano, and they also listened to other instruments which can be used to achieve the drone sound. These included the Didjerido from Australia, and practised how they would blow to get a continuous drone sound; the Tambura from India made out of a hollowed out large fruit; the bagpipes from Scotland where air is blown through the mouthpiece to keep the bag filled with air, and the hurdy-gurdy, where a tune is made on one of the strings when the keys are pressed. We also celebrated our end of term prizes. Great work, Junior 4 and we hope you enjoy your Easter break.

Junior 3 finished their Lent term with an exciting trip to Kingswood activity centre in Staffordshire. We completed an inspiring range of activities, including Leap of Faith, Buggy Building, Archery and Bushcraft. These activities provided different challenges, some to conquer our fear of heights and push ourselves physically, others to develop our team working skills and to collaborate to solve problems. We had such a lot of fun and our teachers were so proud of how well we encouraged and supported each other. It is safe to say, we were all quite tired after our adventure, with a few nodding heads on the return journey. Our thanks to Mr Cottrill and Mr Hunt for driving us there and back.

In our bustling Junior 2 classroom, we have eagerly immersed ourselves in creating Easter craft. Armed with colourful paper and heads full of creative ideas, the children have produced a beautiful wreath. It is lovely to watch the children use their fine motor skills when carefully cutting out the eggs and gluing them on the plates. The children were so proud of their work as they showcased their masterpiece to the class. In addition, we tried some buttered hot cross buns which were delicious, the buttery taste had us all, including the teachers, asking for more! We would like to wish everyone a wonderful Easter break.

Spring has certainly sprung in Junior 1 this week with the children busily preparing for Easter. We had Easter baskets, chocolate nests and Easter cards aplenty and the children were delighted to be taking them home to their families. Our cress seed experiment is complete, and we now know plants need light and water to grow. We hope the sunflower seeds which came home last week have both of those, so they can grow tall and strong! Everyone has become familiar with all of the events of Holy Week as we have been writing about it in our English lessons as well as learning the story in RE. Well done to Junior 1 for another excellent term, it has been wonderful to see you grow and develop, just like the plants we have been learning about! Happy Easter everyone, we hope you enjoy your break.

This week, Reception have been very busy in Maths! They found lots of different ways to make ten and then showed their pairs using numicon, tens frames and part-whole models - some children even started to put them into number sentences! They then chose activities throughout the week to help them to retain their number bond pairs and we played lots of Number Bond Tennis! The children are now brilliant at the quick recall of bonds to ten!

This week, the children immersed themselves in the icy land and sea of the Arctic Tuff tray, with its towering ice bergs, frozen ice flows and myriad of Arctic animals. They learned to name lots of the creatures that inhabit such a harsh Polar environment.

In the run up to Easter, the children were gently introduced to the Easter Story and as part of our seasonal festivities, we made chocolate nests filled with chocolate eggs; in the outside area, we held Easter Egg Hunts.

As a special treat to conclude our term focusing upon ‘All God’s Creatures Great and Small’, Nursery invited Zoo Lab to share a selection of exotic creatures, which the children may not previously have had chance to experience close up. Dormice children were particulary delighted to to see and touch a giant snail, a slithery snake and a magnificent millipede! We also all met a very beautiful leopard gecko!

Children were encouraged to either hold, stroke, or to say a simple “hello”, and we were delighted with how positively the children responded to this opportunity. Bravo!

On behalf of the whole Nursery Team, we would like to wish you all a joyous and peaceful Easter.

Mr Cottrill led this week's Mission Assembly. Pupils came into the hall to the tune of Stand by Me by Ben K King. In the lead-up to St Joseph's Day, the question was posed to the pupils of who St Joseph stood by throughout his life. Answers ranged from standing next to the shepherds, standing next to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and standing next to God the Father.  In essence, standing by someone means to look after them. Our school is heavily associated with St Joseph as Crackley Hall was formerly St Joseph's Convent School. We learnt about St Joseph in that he was a descendant of King David; he was betrothed to Mary, the mother of Jesus and he was a carpenter. God gave the role of the earthly father of Jesus to Joseph because he was a kind, caring and humble man, and the lillies which grew out of Joseph's staff bloomed as a sign that he had been chosen by God to wed Mary. We concluded the assembly with the St Joseph's prayer.

Please click on the link below for this week's Weekly Mission:

Weekly Mission

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

Palm Sunday (Year B)
We remember how Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem and hear the story of how He was arrested and crucified. We think about how we can help others as Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry his cross.

Activity Sheet 

Please remember to check team sheets and find further fixture information on www.crackleyhallsport.co.uk or on SOCS.

Please can we remind all parents that whilst sports fixture information, once published, usually remains the same, parents should check www.crackleyhallsport.co.uk or SOCS on the day of the fixture for the most up to date information.

Crackley Hall School took two teams to the ISA U11 Midlands Tag Rugby Sevens at Princethorpe College last Friday 15 March and had a very successful day. Crackley finished first and third overall, bringing home the Tournament trophy and earning themselves Gold and Bronze medals respectively.

The teams showed great effort, determination and teamwork in the group stages. Crackley A played in Pool B and won all five of their matches, against Arnold Lodge 35-15, Crescent B 30-20, Edenhurst Prep 35-15, Stafford Prep 25-20 and Mylnhurst 30-15. They came first in the group and sailed through to the semi-finals.

Crackley B played in Pool A and won three of their five matches, against Bowbrook 30-10, Dixie Grammar 25-20 and Highclare 30-25 but lost to Crescent A 20-25 and St Peter’s School 15-20. That just clinched the second spot in the group and a well-earned place in the semi-finals.

In an unfortunate quirk of fate, this meant the As and Bs were drawn against each other in an all-Crackley knock-out semi-final!  Despite a very end-to-end game and some excellent weaving runs from the Bs, the A side unsurprisingly emerged on top, their tight defence proving the difference between the teams.

This then led to the Bs playing Crescent B for 3rd place overall, and the As facing Crescent A, a seriously strong showing from the Foundation.

Both games went exactly the same way, with Crackley taking advantage of early errors to get ahead and despite strong comebacks holding out for wins. Congratulations to the entire squad, you should be proud of yourselves on an excellent day of rugby.

Congratulations to our U9 Netball Girls on a super win at the ISA Midlands Netball Tournament at Stafford Prep on Tuesday 19 March. The team impressively won all eight of their matches and conceded only three goals. They played with great skill and determination and demonstrated such amazing teamwork. A huge well done to them all!

Thanks to team coaches Mrs Roberts and Miss Eve and for all the wonderful parental support on the day.

Kenilworth Rugby Club are offering full day multisport camps this Easter. 

Please click here for more information.

Please click here for more information regarding the upcoming Easter Tennis Camp at Kenilworth Tennis Club.

Please look out for an email from Mrs Vaughan over the Easter Holidays for the timetable of co-curricular clubs for Trinty Term 2024 and the opening time/date of SOCS registration. 

You will be able to sign up for all of the internal school-based clubs on SOCS. Some clubs have limited numbers and these tend to book up very quickly.

Externally run clubs do not need to be registered for on SOCS instead you should contact these clubs directly.

We hopped into building fun in Lego Club this week as we made our very own mini-Easter gardens. We used our creative Lego minds in a meaningful way to symbolise the biblical events of Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday. We had palm leaves galore, the Last Supper table, Jesus’ cross on Mount Calvary, and an empty tomb with white tissue laid inside to represent the white linen which Jesus was wrapped in. And with the eggs-citing arrival of Easter Sunday fast approaching, it was just bursting with snack-loving, and some very giant, Easter bunnies busily munching away on chocolate Lego bricks! Have an eggs-cellent Easter everyone!

There is lots going on at Little Crackers Nursery over the Easter holidays. Our year-round children will enjoy three themed weeks of activities. Starting with the countdown to the egg-citment of Easter, with all the usual Easter Egg hunts, Easter crafts and Easter bakes to enjoy. Week two will have a food theme with plenty of baking and cookery. There will be a café role play, pizza making and then, linked to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, lots of fruit salad fun. Week three will focus on the joys of spring, with spring flower painting, garden centre role play and lots of sunflower seed planting. It's all going to be a lot of fun.

200 Club

Thank you to all who have supported us and signed up to the new format 200 Club. We have half-termly draws and the end of year £200 super draw so if you haven't already, please sign yourself up to raise funds directly for the playground climbing wall. Every little helps and we thank you for your support. Please click here to buy a ticket.

PTA Pre-loved Uniform

Many thanks for all the donations that have been sent in this year - without these we literally could not operate! Please continue to use the containers in the foyer to drop off any donations rather than dropping into the office staff. We are especially grateful to receive good quality sports items - particularly tracksuit bottoms!

Please email us at: uniform@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk stating your child’s name and class and we will get all orders sent home for you.

We are about to relaunch our Fees In Advance Scheme, which would be applicable for fees from September 2024 for Princethorpe College, Crescent School and Crackley Hall School.

More details will be available shortly, to register your interest or to request more information please complete the online form here.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

Please click here to view the term dates for 2023/24.

Crackley Hall School Office
01926 514 444
Email: post@crackleyhall.co.uk
Postal address: St Joseph's Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2FT
SATNAV: Use CV8 2FT

Interim Office Manager/Headmaster’s Personal Assistant – Anna Bond
01926 514 444
Email: receptionist@crackleyhall.co.uk

Little Crackers Nursery - Emma Birch - Nursery Manager
01926 514 456 - Email: post@littlecrackers.co.uk

After Care - David Johnson, Aftercare Manager
Collection contact no; 07732 036 625
Email: aftercare@crackleyhall.co.uk

Bills, Fees and Online Payment
01926 634 273
Email: georginamalin@princethorpe.co.uk

Registrar - Jenny Vaughan
01926 514 410
Email: admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk 
 
Princethorpe College General Office
01926 634 200
Email: post@princethorpe.co.uk
 
website: www.crackleyhall.co.uk
twitter: @CrackleyHallSch  
facebook: @crackleyhallandlittlecrackersofficial
instagram:@crackleyhall_littlecrackers

To order uniform please use the electronic form.

New Uniform Order 

Please also note the following items are stocked in the School Office and can be added to your account. Do pop in to collect any items.

Winter hats
Scarves
Gloves
Ties
Swimming hats
Hair bands
Hair scrunchies

School Uniform Shop 
Tel: 01926 634272
Email: uniform@princethorpe.co.uk

We regularly recruit for a variety of roles, please do share news of the vacancies with interested friends and family. Current vacancies include:

Princethorpe College

• Cleaner

Crackley Hall

• PA to the Head and Office Manager

Further information and application forms on all roles are available on the Foundation's website - www.princethorpe.co.uk/join-us

If your child is interested in taking music or singing lessons at school, please complete the below Expression of Interest Form and hand in to the school office

Expression of Interest Form