The Chronicle

Dear Parents

The weather this week has not been kind to us but the grounds surrounding Crackley Hall have definitely benefited for the rain.  Fortunately, Nursery, Reception, Junior 1 and Junior 6 have been able to dodge the rain showers and play outside this week whilst keeping within their bubbles.

As you will know, we are preparing to welcome back pupils in Junior 2 to Junior 5 during the next two weeks.  This has taken considerable detailed and careful planning to ensure that we can safely accommodate children and staff in school.  If your child is returning to school for the two days, I would ask that you explain and prepare them in the most suitable manner, so that they are aware of the changes and restrictions that they will experience in school.  It will be different to the last time they saw their class mates and teachers. 

Online learning continues to keep up good pace as you will see from the photographs later in this edition.  Whilst it is quite a different end of year experience for our Junior 6 children, we are trying to keep some of the important milestones in the calendar and during the next two weeks.  Mrs Horan and Mrs Vaughan have organised some wonderful activities to mark the end of this era.  I am sure there will be tears during the last week but I hope that there will be more smiles and wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.

I hope you were able to enjoy the assembly this morning.  I was delighted to be able to award Star of the Week to: Rory, Oscar, Nieve, Jacob, Mahnoor, Thomas, Sebastian, Seb, Charlie, Lily, Stephanie, Holly, Sebastian, Jasper, Niamh, Rosa, Aryan and Harry.  Well done everyone!

Silver merit awards will be sent home to Nieve, Fleur and Charlie in Reception; well done to them.  Lexi in Junior 3 received a Headmaster’s Award for her wonderful story writing skills. 

There were several birthdays to celebrate this week including: Sloane, Oscar, Zach,

Elsie, Ted, Sumhar, Elsie, Morton and Teddy.  I hope that you all have or had a lovely birthday.

In this week’s Chronicle you will also find links to the Minnacle, Princethorpe College's 2020 Summer Art, Photography and Design Show and details about our first virtual open evening.  Some of our Junior 6 children were able to participate in the arrangements for the filming and I think it was quite a novelty for them to be back in uniform for a short while.  I think even the children were surprised about how much they have grown since March!  Many thanks to those J6’s who helped out.

There has been a good response to the holiday club bookings for July, but if you would like to use this facility during August, I would urge you to book soon in the hope that we can confirm the dates available next week. 

I apologise to those of you who received an email which purported to be sent from me earlier this week.  Our IT Department have addressed this issue and I appreciate those of you who contacted school regarding your concern.

I do hope that the weekend is an enjoyable one for you and your family.

God bless,

Rob Duigan

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to you all.

The latest edition of The Minnacle and The Pinnacle have just been published, showcasing pupils' exceptional work. The special COVID-19 versions celebrate the wide variety of wonderful remote learning that, during the lockdown, pupils have participated in and produced.

The Minnacle focuses on the junior schools featuring both Crackley Hall School and the Crescent School. The Pinnacle celebrates the work of pupils at the Foundation's senior school Princethorpe College.

You can view an electronic version of The Pinnacle here and The Minnacle here.

Why not enjoy a few minutes browsing through the inspirational work our children do.

Tuesday 23 June 2020 – 6.00pm

Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery are holding a Virtual Open Evening for prospective parents on Tuesday 23 June from 6.00pm.

The evening will begin with an address by the Headmaster, Rob Duigan, and will include some short, pre-recorded videos including a tour of the school, interviews with our Year 6 pupils and an overview of the admissions process.

The pre-recorded content will be followed by a live event at 6.30pm hosted by Rob Duigan, Headmaster, and other senior members of staff. The live event will cover different aspects of the education we provide, how we support our pupils to achieve great things and the admissions process. There will be the opportunity for parents to ask questions during the live event.

For further information on availability in the different year groups please email admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk or call 01926 514410 and speak to our Admissions Secretary, Jenny Vaughan.

To register for the event please click here.

Many thanks to all that were able to attend Wednesday’s virtual PTA meeting, well wishes and thank yous were in abundance and especially to those who are moving onto pastures new. The next meeting will be the AGM on Wednesday 23 September, all welcome, many hands make light work.

Easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into free donations for Crackley Hall’s PTA. How? Just start your online shopping first at easyfundraising, then shop as normal. Our retailers will then make a small donation to say 'thank you'.

You can also help raise money for our PTA, with My Nametags.  My Nametags labels are an essential for school or nursery. Simply, use the following link to order and 24% automatically goes into a tally for our PTA.

My Name Tags Website

My Name Tags Flyer

Easy Fundraising Booklet

Please remember to use Easyfundraising every time you shop online! Over 4,000 shops and sites will donate, so you can raise FREE donations for the PTA no matter what you’re buying.

These donations really help us and your children, so please sign up if you haven’t yet. It’s easy and FREE! You can get started at Easy Fund Raising link

What a week! From bubbles to thunder and sunshine to rain… so many things to talk about and discuss.  These topics have all triggered the most wonderful conversations and we have had a wonderful time.  Mixed in with the chatter and laughter we have been making cards for Father’s Day… so as you enjoy the weekend, and spoil Daddy with a cup of coffee in bed, please don’t forget to find them!  Have a great weekend everyone, and don’t forget, if you’re still learning at home, come and say hello to everyone here at story-time; Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1pm!

 Nursery News

Pupils, parents, staff and friends of the Foundation are cordially invited to view Princethorpe College's 2020 Summer Art, Photography And Design Show which this year, for the first time, is taking place virtually.

Featuring work from A-level Fine Art, Photography, Product Design and Textiles students alongside GCSE Fine Art, Resistant Materials, Electronics and Textiles pupils, and work from the College's Art Club the show was a wonderful celebration of our pupils’ wide-ranging creative talents.

Those who know the College will be familiar with its formidable reputation for quality Art and Design. The walls of the College are adorned with exceptional examples and the work included in this year’s virtual show is no exception, with striking portraiture and photography sitting alongside talented and technically complex product design. The diverse range of mediums and themes are sure to impress.

The show has been put together as a short video which features images of all this year’s examination work and includes introductions from the creative teaching staff including Head of Art and Photography, Paul Hubball, Head of Design and Technology, Paul Scopes, Art Teacher, Sue Harris and Textiles Teacher, Miranda Porter.

Our congratulations go to all our pupils for producing such a display of creative talent. Thanks go to the Art Department and to the Design and Technology Department for all their support and inspiration to pupils this and every year and for their help in putting together such an outstanding show.

Click here to view the 2020 Summer Art, Photography And Design Show. We hope you enjoy it!

Birthdays were celebrated this week by: Sloane, Oscar, Zach, Elsie, Ted, Sumhar, Elsie, Morton and Teddy.  We hope you all had a lovely day and enjoy this video Happy birthday

This week Junior 6 have had another industrious week.  In PE we have seen a competitive side to our pupils. Mr Vaughan organised a PE session and everyone participated, including teachers!  A bleep test highlighted our fitness as well as our endurance and stamina - Mr Cottrill kept up very well but even he had to eventually stand down and make way for the children!

Music has seen us continue to practise for our collaboration with Princethorpe. We are so excited about this musical journey and look forward to sharing this with you all soon.

RE has been a thoughtful journey as we have explored the life of Pope Francis. The children were tasked creating a mini biography encompassing his journey through the ministry. The children have researched the facts superbly and presented their work in a very sincere way.

Geography has involved looking at the key features of a desert biome. It has been very interesting to watch how the children have improved their research skills.

In English, Junior 6 were asked to write about an object that's special to them using a given structure. They have looked at 'The History of the World in 100 objects' project done by the British Museum and Radio 4.  They then created 'The History of J6 in 48 objects'! The children did really well with sharing their special objects and writing their poems and then sharing their podcasts.  

Rosie has based her piece on the poem called 'The Russian Doll' by Rachel Rooney. The children had to use the given structure to write about their own different personality traits.

Another fabulous week of hard work!

Lots of children in Junior 5 have been creating videos for the various roles of responsibility that they have the opportunity of applying for.  Others have been writing speeches and thinking about the other important roles of Stewards and Prefects that they can also be awarded with when they are in Junior 6. Good luck to them all!

Everyone has written detailed and lively stories entitled 'The Box' and created some fabulous pieces - many including examples of figurative language, ambitious vocabulary and other stylistic devices. It has been fabulous to see pupils becoming more skilful and confident writers, even under timed, exam conditions, well done to Junior 5! 

Children have been learning about the gestation periods of mammals, in their science lessons with Mrs Roberts this week, and produced some excellent pieces of research.

Max had an exciting time with the arrival of two, long awaited, fluffy ferrets called Pica and Dire. To say Max is happy is an understatement! Before they arrived, Max explored Kenilworth Castle with his mum and dog, Beau.

Anabel has been awakening her creative side and has dusted off the family sewing machine. She has made herself a very useful desk tidy. I wonder what she’ll make next?

The bushes have been rustling just outside Henry’s window as a family of robins has taken up residence. (Watch the video here)

In maths, the children were learning about volume and capacity and had a practical lesson where they could make Lego cuboids, measure the dimensions and then calculate the volume. This was a huge hit for our J5 mathematicians, who just loved bringing this creativity into their maths lessons as you can see here

Mrs Hill had this to say about Helayna this week: ‘She is an absolute gem. The way she conducts herself in such a sensible way and how she helps the pupils with their laptops is exemplary.  She a sensitive word with another child today to remind him about the two-metre rule and about sanitising his hands. I am impressed!  She even found a fault with one of the computers to avoid a technician coming up!’ Thank you, Mrs Hill; fantastic feedback about a fantastic young lady!

Junior 4 pupils have been working hard on describing a scene setting this week. Rhomun, Marley, George and Dillon shared their work as good examples for others.

J4 have been learning about life as a young Norman knight in training and have been making their own shields in preparation! Despite the hardship of life for a knight in training, most of the children stated that they’d have loved to have had the opportunity to train as a knight!

Every Thursday or Friday Lily in J4M helps to deliver food parcels to an elderly couple in Brandon. She has nearly memorised their regular shopping items.  When the shopping has been completed, Lily delivers to their house and stays for a little chat.  Later in the evening Lily returns to deliver their fish and chips.  Well done Lily, this is a lovely act of kindness.

As we make our way through an extremely busy half term, Junior 3 have continued to really push themselves to learn as much as they can. We have become ever more creative in using our home environment as a powerful learning tool, exploring reflective surfaces, chasing rainbows, finding all sorts of mathematical shapes and lines and even repurposing brooms to become Spartan helmets! In PSHECE this week we have been finding out about ‘discrimination’ and people who have stood up against it. We designed our own symbols to celebrate diversity and stand against discrimination.

This week's highlights in J3V have been:

Sharing all our wonderful ideas for a fairer and more equal world in PSHECE. Charlie’s weekly weather forecasts and metrological updates and hearing of Jay’s plans for space travel. Seeing pictures of Ralph’s new horse. Olivia’s fabulous spartan helmet, which made her look truly fearsome. Lexi’s wonderful volcano story and Isabella’s sensational cornet playing here.

This week's highlights in J3S have been:

Thinking about equality and celebrating each other’s differences. Chloe shared her lovely trip to the Cotswolds, Amalia continued to make us jealous of the wonderful Isle of Wight and Jakob introduced us to his new budgie! J3S have worked hard to complete their mythical stories and had fun making Ancient Greek pasteli (honey cakes!) in history. 

Mathletes for J3 are: Elena and Amalia

Junior 2 have had another busy week thinking about 'temperature' in maths which has felt rather poignant with the changeable weather this week. Pupils have been learning about thermometers and how to read them accurately. 

In RE, we considered the Parable of the Talents and how we use our own God-given gifts and how not to waste them. 

In Art, the challenge was set to draw a portrait of the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo by Mrs Hardwick.

We continue our revisit to some of the Science topics - this week 'Habitats' and children enjoyed the online quizzes from the comfort of their own homes. Geography took us on a visit to Australasia/Oceania and a look at the countries on that continent. We look forward to seeing some of our friends next week and are excited about that. All in all, a busy and very productive week.

The Junior 2 Mathlete of the Week is Adreena

As you can see we have been busy this week learning about Jesus’ disciples and what their names are. After finding out about them we made a ‘Disciple Wheel’ to help us learn them all.

We have also been learning about birds and fish in science; what features they have and how they are different to other mammals and creatures. Dayia drew a lovely picture of her favourite bird, an owl.

This week we have been looking at superheroes in English and describing what they are like. We created our own superheroes and a villain to go with them for our work next week. Lexi-Jean even dressed up to show what her superhero and villain would be like!

Jude has recorded his own weather forecast which you can watch here.

Our Mathlete of the Week is Dayia - well done!

It has been another fun-filled and busy week in Reception for both the school and the home learners. With the arrival of more summery weather, we have enjoyed reading the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has proved to be a firm favourite with the children. Linking into the story, the children researched the lifecyle of a butterfly and produced some super caterpillar artwork.

When learning about measures in maths, the children realised the importance of standard measure and recorded measurements such as the height of family members (using measures such as books or a tape measure) and lengths of different pieces of string using a ruler. We remembered that when using a ruler, we need to record in centimeteres and start at the correct end!

More fun was had when discussing and identifying what syllables are and how many can be spotted in various words. Think about your name, how many syllables does it have?

After a final calculation of awards, Ted in J2, Lucas and David in J3 have all been awarded a full Da Vinci Certificate for their efforts in English.

Well done to everyone who received awards for their work this year.