The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

This week our most excellent teachers Mrs Van-Zyl and Ms Holmes led their Junior 3 charges on a time travelling trip as part of their pupils' humanities studies.  

The nearby village of Stoneleigh provided the location for their investigative work as the children peeled back the fabric of what lay before them to reveal how the village developed from its original bronze age settlement. No stone was left untouched as our budding building detectives scoured the many different structures before them. They looked at lots of different buildings including the smithy, the church, the Tudor farm house and the workers’ cottages and explored their purpose and construction. They then went into the church, studied the displays and looked at the records and gravestones. 

There was so much to see and learn that it took a lot of studious searching to complete their quiz sheets; so it was no surprise that the children then settled down to enjoy a well earned rest and picnic, all within the lovely confines of Stoneleigh itself.  

We at the Chronicle think our Junior 3 architectural advocates will never, ever be tired or bored when surrounded by building clues to solve.

Just before half term Junior 6 enjoyed a spectacular six days away in Normandy.  Their packed itinerary included a range of cultural, historical and leisure sights and activities, as well as the opportunity to put into practice some of their French language skills.  

46 pupils and six staff travelled from Kenilworth to Normandy by coach and ferry and stayed in a picturesque gîte in Clinchamps-sur-Orne near Caen.

During their week away pupils had the chance to visit the Vieux-la-Romaine Roman museum and archaeological excavation site, they also explored the market in Deauville and toured the town’s beautiful Basilica where, in the Crypt, they were able to attend Mass.

D-Day has featured in their History studies so the visit to the bunkers near Arromanches, with its 360˚ cinema experience and a walk across the sand on the landing beaches was always going to be a poignant experience.

Alongside all the educational elements there was of course plenty of time to play and everyone had a fabulous day out at a local theme park, ‘Festy Land’, and enjoyed an evening BBQ.

The children also visited Bayeux to take in the famous Bayeux Tapestry and the town’s Cathedral, along with some essential last minute souvenir shopping.

On the same day the group also visited the nearby War Cemetery where the children were momentarily silenced by its sheer scale

Thankfully, the weather was kind throughout the stay and cricket matches and ice creams filled any spare time the group had.

All in all the trip was a resounding success and has provided many magical memories for our Junior 6 to take away with them as they come towards the end of their time at Crackley Hall.

Thanks go to all those involved in organising the trip and to the accompanying members of staff Mr Duigan, Mrs Horan, Ms Kefalas, Mrs Lammas, Mr Lamprecht and Mrs Williams.

On Tuesday 5 June Crackley Hall took a team from Junior 2 to the Crescent School where they joined children from Dunchurch Infant School, Leamington Hastings Infant School and Crescent’s own Class II for an afternoon of Infant Agility sporting fun.  Hosted by Crescent’s Class VI the children participated in a round robin of activities designed to develop their running, throwing, bouncing, pitching, stepping and jumping skills. 

For most of the 45 children involved this was their first experience of a school sports festival and of competing alongside children from other schools.  The children were mixed into six different groups and moved round the field together, spending 10 minutes at each activity.

The event was all about participation, fun and being the best you could be. Class VI demonstrated the activity and then encouraged the younger children to take part.  All the children were impressive, participating enthusiastically and with determination to do their best.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon and the accompanying parents clearly enjoyed watching their children taking part and the refreshments offered.

At the end of the afternoon the organiser of the event, Head of Pre-Prep, Mr Alan Webb thanked everyone for coming, commenting on how well everyone had done, their enthusiasm and especially their sporting behaviour.

The Crescent's Headmaster, Mr Joe Thackway, added his thanks, especially to Crescent’s Class VI for their help running the event.  Mr Thackway then presented all of the participants with a well-deserved certificate.

The Chronicle is delighted to announce that our students will be hosting a Children’s Fundraising Day on Friday 22 June, to raise money to support our chosen local charity. Repeating the successful formula from last year's event, children will have the opportunity to run their own fundraising stall. Children should register their interest in running a stall for our Fundraising Day using the attached letter. They would need to work with a partner or small group and be able to run the stall, which could be; a small table game, selling home baked goods or bric-a-brac, or running a craft activity.

As before the children will be responsible for running their own stalls during break time and lunchtime, but would need your parent/guardian support with organising and providing resources for their stall. This would obviously need to be at minimal cost to you. Don't worry if your child does not wish to run a stall, as there will be lots of opportunities to take part in the day and have fun.  Further details will follow.

1st: Mars (429 points)

2nd: Venus (385 points)

3rd: Jupiter (368 points)

4th: Saturn (354 points)