The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Pupils at Crackley Hall School were delighted to meet children's author Samuel Langley-Swain when he visited the school on Monday 27 November.

Samuel visited the school to talk about story writing and being an author, and to read them his new Christmas story Santa’s Wish.

Santa's Wish is a new children’s picture book, which puts a modern twist on the classic tale Twas the night before Christmas. It is an uplifting story with an inspiring message of kindness, where you discover for the first time, Santa’s own hopes and dreams at Christmas.

Samuel visited each class in turn from the Nursery up to Junior 4 to talk about his work and to read Santa’s Wish to the children. He also spoke to children in Junior 5 and Junior 6, explaining what it was like to be an author, the perseverance required and the work involved in putting together a book. The children had plenty of questions for Samuel too, they were interested in where he draws his inspiration from, the selling process and his plans for his next story.

Samuel is new to writing and this is his first book. He says, “I entered a competition to re-write the classic Twas the night before Christmas, I didn’t win but everyone who read my story told me I just had to publish it – so here I am a year later.  I have already started on my next book which is going to be called Elephants in Custard.”

It was fantastic to have Samuel visit the school to talk to the children. His new Christmas story was inspirational and captured the imagination of all the children.

Teaching Assistant, Sophie Blyth, who had organised for Samuel to visit, said, “The story was magical, you could see the children hanging on to every word; you could have heard a pin drop. It was just wonderful!”

More information on Samuel’s book can be found at https://www.santaswish.co.uk/about

Thanks go to the school PTA who kindly funded Samuel’s visit.

Junior 5 pupils Alistair Darnell and Andrew Gordon have clearly mastered the Mathletics Numeracy Challenge.  This month the boys both finished in the top twenty pupils after competing against over 400 schools from the UK and beyond.

Crackley Hall School was delighted to be placed 92nd overall but individually Alistair Darnell came in 11th, with Andrew Gordon not far behind in 18th place.  Both children have been presented with certificates to recognise their success. 

The Mathletics November Numeracy Challenge took place from Monday 20 to Sunday 26 November.  The online competition sees children competing in live, multi-player maths challenges and answering self-paced adaptive maths curriculum questions, all through the Mathletics portal. The competition is open to schools across Europe and the Middle East and this month 411 schools took part from as far afield as Helsinki, Dublin and Paris as well as from across the UK.

Alistair has some top tips for fellow pupils preparing for the Challenge, he says, “It is hard but it is important to think outside of the box because there are some questions that you just wouldn’t expect.”

James Ferris, Assistant Head and Maths Co-ordinator, said, “Mathletics is a structured online, maths portal that supports our classroom teaching.  The Challenges engage children encouraging them to practise key skills.  Alistair and Andrew’s results are impressive; I am very proud of them both.”

This week we say goodbye to Admissions Secretary, Mrs Angela Barnard. For nearly five years, she has been the first point of contact for parents interested in the school, her enthusiasm and boundless energy ensuring that new pupils have a seamless and smooth start at Crackly Hall.

What I will miss most are the people,” says Angela, “everyone has always been so friendly and supportive. Crackley truly is just one big family.”  She continues, “I have so many fond memories of my time here.  Like the 70th anniversary celebrations, they were such a lot of fun.  All of the classes dressed up as a different era and the office staff dressed up as nuns.  I will be sorry to leave but I really want to spend more time with my own children, I am going to work freelance and that will give me more flexibility.

We will miss Angela and thank her for all that she has done for the school.

She will be replaced by Mrs Jenny Vaughan, who is transferring from Princethorpe College to take on the role of Admissions and Marketing Secretary at Crackley Hall.  Jenny is an Old Princethorpian and brings with her a wealth of organisational experience and knowledge of the Foundation and its schools.  She starts at Crackley in early December and we wish her well in her new role.

Mrs Wildey took a group of 12 members of the Choral Speaking Club to Bablake School to compete in the Coventry Festival of Speech and Drama last Saturday. The children performed a poem called ‘Neighbours’ by Valerie Bloom and wowed the judges by scoring 90 marks. This put them in the ‘Outstanding Performance’ band which is even above a coveted ‘Distinction’.

While the children were disappointed they’d been pipped to the winning post by one mark, having seen Pattison’s Performing Arts School gain 91 marks and winning the section, Crackley came away proud with their close second place. The children should take pleasure and satisfaction from their confident performance, given their excellent group co-ordination and facial play was something that was commented upon by the judges and stewards alike. Attending parents, members of the public and Mrs Wildey were extremely impressed. Well done Crackley!

Fingers and toes were transformed into magical festive gifts at our Little Crackers Stay ‘n’ Play Paint and Glaze session this week.

Emma from Rugby-based Paint and Glaze takes handprints and footprints on ceramics which include tiles, plates and Christmas decorations as well as taking impressions to turn into beautiful silver jewellery and leather key fobs.

Christmas baubles with handprints artistically turned into reindeer proved very popular with Stay ‘n’ Players looking for personalised gifts (as did specially made plates for Father Christmas’s festive Christmas Eve feasts!). Over 20 families joined us for the session and children came out of Nursery and Year One to make a decoration with their siblings at Stay 'n' Play.

Stay ‘n’ Play leader Gail Buswell commented, “The children made some fantastic creations for their families and there will be wonderful surprises at Christmas for grandparents and the like!”

All ceramic items will be glazed and returned to Little Crackers in time for collection at next Wednesday’s group – our Christmas party date!

The visit from Paint and Glaze is part of a programme of visiting activities at the group for under-fours which runs every Wednesday in term time at Little Crackers Nursery from 10.00am to 11.30am. Don’t forget to join us next week for the Christmas Party – we’re very excited to reveal that Father Christmas has been able to take time out of his busy schedule for the morning so do pop along!

To find out about our upcoming Stay ‘n’ Play activities, please visit: www.littlecrackers.co.uk/stay-n-play

Mr. Cottrill was delighted to award certificates of achievement to Crackley Hall pupils today in assembly for their recent medal winning performance in the Mathematical Associations's Primary Maths Challenge Competition.

Annika Saravanan and Erin King (both of J6L) were awarded Gold, whilst Alistair Darnell (J5R), Dari Kotlarsky (J6H) and Chen Chen Pan (J6L) claimed Silver and Edward Hunter (J5R) and Dylan Williams (J5W) scooped Bronze.

It now remains to seen how our top performing pupils results compare to national scores and whether they have qualified for the Maths Challenge Bonus Round which will be held in February next year.

After their recent endeavours, tackling senior school entrance examination papers across the county and beyond, Junior 6 deserved some well earned rest and recuperation. Tradition maintains that all roads to 'tasty treats' should lead to Costa Coffee, Kenilworth. And so it was there that an eager group of students took their ease with hot drink and confection in hand. A great time was had by all. Well done Junior 6, you've earned it.

Such tasty treats no doubt provided a sugary based counterpoint to Junior 6's 'Bake Off' style cake decoration competition that took place earlier in the week. Desks were cleared of pencil pots, exercise books and revision notes and turned over to the task at hand - namely, decorating pre-baked scrummies with all manner of shapes, swirls, hundreds and thousands and silver balls.

In true 'Noel and Sally' fashion our hosts Mrs Horan and Mrs Lammas brought the creative cake decorating to a halt to welcome Mr. Duigan reprising the judging role of Paul Hollywood. A sugary vista was perused and evaluated against a secret scoring system. We can now reveal that the winners are as follows: Honor-Mae Minshull and Sofia Mehta for their South African inspired Christmas cake.

You might be excused for thinking there wasn't time for anything else, but we are reliably informed that Crackley's best enjoyed other activities including board games, Forest School, 'movies and munchies' and a 'bench ball' competition. Wow, with planning an excecution like this we don't doubt that Kensington Palace might call our Junior 6 teachers to arrange a certain Royal wedding next Spring.

This Tuesday Crackley's normal formal fayre of prestine uniform was swopped for a riot of colour and textures as students came in their own clothes to raise funds for our wonderful PTA.

We at the Chronicle are reliably informed that the school playground was turned into a parade ground, where comparisions were made, team shirts debated and accessories adjusted... and the result was a beautiful bounty of treats, chocolates and bottles to be won and purchased at this Saturday's PTA Christmas Fayre.

Do remember there's still time to bring the above and teddies into school for the PTA Christmas Fayre, so look out for the box in the Gable's entrance hall for donations.

This week we were fortunate enough to welcome Mr. McCullough (RE Teacher & Head of Ethos, Princethorpe College) to lead us all on an assembly regarding 'Ethos'. Little did we know that this topic, which might at first glance seem tricky to some, could be made so simple in the hands of this gifted RE teacher. Firstly, with power point remote in hand Mr. McCullough explained what Ethos meant, namely the values of a person and/or culture and how these values feature within the Foundation's Ethos statement as  to 'be kind' and to 'do your best'.

Still, a picture paints a thousand words, thereupon Mr. McCulluough swopped his remote for hurling stick and cricket bat. His subsequent knowledgeable instruction and teaching of the values of sport to Wahab Khan (J6L) perfectly illustrated how we all might impart ethos to each other through sharing what we know and practising it.

Thanks for calling by Mr. McCullough; your involvement of the children certainly ensured they learnt a very valuable message.

The Scholastic Book Fair has been in school all week. The books arrived in their special display cases on Monday afternoon causing much excitement just as the younger children were getting ready to go home. The brightly coloured jackets and bold titles catching the imagination of all who walked past.

Every form had the chance to visit the fair with their teacher during lesson time. They were able to look at the selection of books on offer and reserve the books they wanted to buy. On offer were books for girls and boys of all ages and reading levels. The fair was also open after school for parents to come along and purchase books. 

The book fair was very popular, there really is nothing like the sight, feel and smell of a new book! Thank you to everybody who supported the fair, all your sales have provided the school with the opportunity to purchase some lovely new books for our library.

It was smiles all round this week as every entrant for the Book Fair Character Competition proudly placed a house point in their pot. That said, four recpients of the overall year group prizes layed claim to smiles that really were from 'ear to ear'.

Pictured proudly holding their winners certificates and book vouchers, Bergamote Dufour (J6H), Hattie Das-Gupta (J5V), Thomas Martins (J4H), Rhoman Jaswal (J2H, unpictured) and Bode Owen (Nursery) had presented pieces that demonstrated creativity, mastery and execution that singled their work out from a very competitive body of work. Well done one and all, we do hope you enjoy the books you've picked out.

Required for September 2018 a dynamic, innovative and well-qualified graduate to lead Mathematics in this flourishing school.

Candidates should have strong leadership and management skills, be visionary in their approach, have a proven track record of success in the classroom and be effective team players. An enthusiasm to become involved with the co-curricular life of the school is essential.

Single accommodation may be available. Princethorpe has its own pay scale which is above national scales.

This is an excellent opportunity to join the fast growing Foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package including discounted places for staff, a pension scheme, child care vouchers and a cycle to work scheme.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Monday 11 December 2017, at 9.00am and interviews are likely to be held on Thursday 14 December at Princethorpe.

Further details and an application form are available from the Princethorpe College website: www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment-opportunities

Required to start as soon as possible, Princethorpe College is recruiting a full-time Administrator\Receptionist to work all year round, within its busy reception area, the successful candidate will have good organisational skills; will be articulate, friendly, professional and well presented.

The position involves a mixture of administrative support, reception duties, and liaising with pupils and parents; the post holder will need to balance general duties with providing comprehensive administrative support to members of senior management.

Interested candidates should ideally have experience in a similar position and will have excellent communication skills, good organisational skills, excellent customer service skills and the ability to work under pressure and to deadlines. Strong IT skills, particularly in Microsoft Office, are essential.

Interested candidates should ideally have experience in a similar position and will have excellent communication skills, good organisational skills, excellent customer service skills and the ability to work under pressure and to deadlines.  Strong IT skills, particularly in Microsoft Office, are essential.

The working hours are Monday to Friday 8.00am – 4.30pm, with an hour for lunch.

Early applications are highly recommended as candidates may be invited for interview prior to the closing date, which could be brought forward.

This is an excellent opportunity to join the fast growing Foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package including discounted places for staff, 25 holiday per annum plus bank holidays, to be taken during school holidays, a pension scheme, child care vouchers and a cycle to work scheme.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Tuesday 5 December 2017, at 9.00am. Candidates are advised to apply immediately as applications will be reviewed as they are received and the closing date may be brought forward.

Further details and an application form are available from the College website www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment-opportunities

Ideally starting in January 2018, we are recruiting Estates Assistants to work as part of the Estates team, providing support services to all of the Foundation schools - Princethorpe College, Crescent School in Rugby and Crackley Hall School in Kenilworth.

The duties will primarily involve maintenance work internally and externally, security, traffic management, porterage and some cleaning. Applicants with some carpentry, plumbing or decorating skills would be most welcome. This is a ‘hands-on’ role facilitating the proper functioning of the schools to ensure a safe and satisfactory working, learning and recreational environment.

The successful applicant will need to be able to provide a high quality service to staff, pupils and visitors and be enthusiastic as well as honest, trustworthy and reliable, able to lift and to work on his/her own as well as part of a team.

Working hours: We have a variety of part-time shifts available, from as little as two hours and up to eight hours, in the afternoons and evenings or on Saturday and Sundays.  We would be happy to consider applications for working evenings and weekends only or with other shifts on a rota basis.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a fast growing foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package including discounted places for staff, a pension scheme, child care vouchers and a cycle to work scheme.

To discuss the post in more detail please contact Michael Small, Foundation Estates Manager - 01926 634267 or Pete Wilkes, Estates Manager – 01926 634200.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Monday 4 December 2017 at 9.00am and interviews are likely to be held on Thursday 7 December 2017, at Princethorpe.

Further details and an application form are available from the School website.

www.crackleyhall.co.uk/employment-opportunities

Ideally starting in January 2018, we have an exciting role within the IT Infrastructure Team for an experienced IT professional as a Senior IT Infrastructure Engineer (Windows Server, Active Directory, SCCM, Hyper-V, AV & Backup Solutions, Cloud, Office 365 and Azure). Working as part of a team you will be responsible for the design, development, testing, implementation, documentation and high-level support of a variety of network and server infrastructure products and solutions internally.

The successful candidate will also be expected to help design tailored solutions to meet the needs of internal projects including sourcing and introducing new products and services where required.

This is a Foundation wide role, based at Princethorpe College with duties at The Crescent and Crackley Hall Schools.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a fast growing Foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package including discounted places for staff, a pension scheme, child care vouchers and a cycle to work scheme.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Monday 27 November 2017 at 9.00am, and interviews are likely to be held on Thursday 30 November at Princethorpe.

Further details and an application form are available from the School website or by using the following web address:

www.crackleyhall.co.uk/employment-opportunities