The Chronicle

Pupils from Crackley Hall School are celebrating after achieving excellent results at the 2024 Nuneaton Festival of Arts. 11 pupils travelled to the Abbey Theatre in Nuneaton on Wednesday 1 May to compete in the Speech and Drama classes of the festival. They faced tough competition from local drama schools and performing arts specialist, Pattison College.

Crackley Hall’s Choral Speaking Club competed in the Junior Schools' competition. They were awarded an 'Honours' for their exemplary work with The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf and The Day I Put My Finger Up my Nose. They did so well that they just missed out on top spot by one point.

Pupils’ individual performances were excellent too, with the children coming away with three trophies for first place, congratulations to, J3, Sloane, J6, Ted, and, J3, Darcey, three for second place, after a super effort from, J4, Edward, J5, Felix and, J6, Sukhmani, and two for third place, well done to, J6, Molly and, J6, Alexa.

Drama teacher, Nicki Wildey, was delighted, commenting, “We are so proud of the children’s commitment to Performance Poetry. They gained invaluable experience of speaking on stage in a competitive environment and came away with a great sense of achievement and pride. They have made us, their parents and the whole school very proud.”

Well done Crackley, you've smashed it yet again!

To mark International Dance Day on Monday 29 April, the wonderful Miss Jazz, who runs our Move It Shake It Co-curricular Club, delivered dance workshops for all the children in school. Pupils from Nursery all the way up to Junior 6 took part in a short lesson learning a series of moves that they then linked together into a routine. The sessions focused on the dance style Hip Hop, a form of Street Dance. Everyone picked up the routines quickly and Miss Jazz was impressed by them all. Huge thanks to Miss Jazz for helping us have a fabulous International Dance Day!

You can watch a short clip from the day on our school facebook page here.

Junior 5 pupils enjoyed a day at Princethorpe College on Tuesday, when they took part in a special Crackley Hall School only taster day. It was an early opportunity for them to experience life at the Foundation’s senior school and start to become familiar with the bigger school environment, helping to make the move to secondary school a less daunting experience

Pupils enjoyed lessons in Science, Spanish, Music, Drama, RE, English and Computer Science. They impressed their teachers too, RE teacher, Mrs Tallis commented on the children's amazing philosophical questions.

Junior also had a walk around the school buildings, enjoyed a legendary Princethorpe cookie, spotted old Crackley friends now at Princethorpe, took lunch in the Refectory and participated in other activities including a Q&A with the prefects. In the afternoon, they had the chance to familiarise themselves with the CEM tests used on entrance examinations day.

Parents are reminded that Crackley Hall School children are not automatically entered for Princethorpe’s Entrance Examinations. Those wishing to apply for September 2025 entry must complete a registration form by Friday 27 September at the latest, with the Entrance Examinations then taking place on Saturday 9 November.

More information is available from the Admissions Office at Princethorpe, they can be contacted on 01926 634201/297 or by email at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Junior 3 celebrated their current History topic by becoming gods, goddesses, slaves, soldiers and upstanding citizens of Ancient Greece on Friday 3 May, and what a noble bunch they looked in their wonderful costumes. The children then enjoyed a wide range of exciting practical hands-on activities, helping them to learn all about different aspects of Ancient Greece. Mrs Paphitis showed them how to make a delicious tzatziki, which then inspired them to make a pot for themselves to take home. The Greek dancing was particularly fun, involving lots of circles going in different directions! Acting out the ancient Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice was a firm favourite of the children, along with Greek pot designing and Olympic medal making. The activities culminated in the children taking part in a delicious feast emulating the foods that the people in Ancient Greece would have eaten. It proved to be a fantastic day of joyful learning for all the children, and the staff too!

Many congratulations to our fabulous Registrar, Mrs Jenny Vaughan, who completed the London Marathon in an incredible time of 3 hours and 51 minutes.

She told us, “It was an absolutely amazing experience with huge support from the crowds to help get me through the final miles. I would recommend anyone to try their luck in the general ballot, or apply for a charity place, even if you're not a runner. It truly is one for your bucket list! I am just about fully recovered now apart from a few sore and very black toes!”

You can still donate to Jenny's fundraising here. 

As part of our new Commercial Enterprises activity, we hope very soon to be able to let parents know full details about the Summer Holiday Camps we will be offering this summer at Princethorpe.

The camps will be run in partnership with an experienced Ofsted registered external provider, who will offer an exciting sports and multi-activity programme for children aged 5 to 16. The camps will be open to Foundation and non-Foundation children from Monday to Friday for the majority of the summer holidays.

The Crackley Hall holiday club will continue to run as normal.

We will communicate with families as soon as more information is available.