The Chronicle

Dear parents

I hope this week’s edition of the Chronicle finds you well.  At the time of writing, our Junior 4, 5 and 6 year groups will be at Resorts World Birmingham, preparing and rehearsing for terrific concert later this evening at Young Voices.  I know many parents will be travelling to watch the performance later this evening and I'm sure you will have a truly memorable experience.  My thanks to all the staff that have made this visit possible particularly Mrs Olden, Mrs Paphitis and all the staff that are travelling with children today.  I would also like to say thank you to the office staff who helped coordinate the logistics and tickets for this event which is no mean feat when it involves 3 year groups.

At the start of this week, Junior 5 arrived at school in costume ready to experience life as a Tudor for a day. Off The Page History visited school and spent the day in the hall with the children and our parent helpers where they tried their hand at mini workshops making soap, candles and also enjoying the storytelling and entertainment learning about life in the Tudor period.   We always receive very positive feedback from everyone involved in these history workshops.

As you will see later in this edition, there have been lots of other examples hands on learning this week with practical sessions in Reception classes where they have been making papier mâché owls; Junior 3 have been looking at friction in their science lesson; Junior 1 have been experimenting with insulators and Junior 4 made 3D elephants and then described them in their English lesson.  Pupils attending the Steam Club, run by Mrs Hardwick and Mrs Cowlishaw, have been patiently making geodesic decagons from straws.  Well done to those students who persevered with this very tricky task.

On Wednesday, Mr and Mrs Vaughan accompanied children participating in the ISA cross country at Bedstone College.  Although it was a grey and damp day the children really gave it their all and six pupils qualified for the ISA national cross competition.  Congratulations to everybody who took part and well done on your superb efforts representing Crackley Hall School.

During celebration assembly this morning I presented Stars of the Week to: Valentine, Yuvraaj, Sebastian, Aarav, Arjun, Josh, Una, Patrick, Rory, Grace, Adreena, Evie, Lexi and Matilda.  There was another super collection of certificates for children that have earned their bronze Crackley Compass Award; congratulations to everyone who received an award today.   I think everyone who attended assembly this morning will agree that the performance by Arthur in Junior 5 and Kate in Junior 6 was simply outstanding.  It was clear that they have both dedicated so much time to mastering the violin and I hope they take as much pleasure from playing as we did from listening to them perform.  Mr Cottrill will host next week’s celebration assembly as I will be attending the Catholic Independent Schools Conference.

Following assembly this morning it was my pleasure to welcome 7 headteacher's from independent schools across the Midlands region when I hosted a meeting discussing future events and how to share good practice. It is always interesting to visit other schools but I'm very proud to welcome visitors to Crackley Hall and for them to meet the pupils that make it so very special.

As half term is not too far away, I confirm that Holiday Club will be open (8.00am until 6.00pm) the duration of the half term.  Please email HolidayClub@CrackleyHall.co.uk if you would like to make an early booking and look out for further details of the planned activities next week.

I will end this week’s message with some news of two new appointments that have been made to the Crackley Hall and Little Crackers staff teams.  Miss Emma Birch will be joining Little Crackers Nursery as Nursery Manager from next Thursday and Mrs Taylor will begin her handover to my new PA, Mrs Sharon Davis-Harris, from 13 February.  Many of you will meet our new members of staff in due course and I hope you'll join me in wishing them well and their new roles.

I would like to wish you all a very happy and restful weekend.

God Bless,

Rob Duigan 

We are celebrating Number Day on Friday 3 February!

All Crackley pupils will be taking part in a fun day of maths activities raising funds for the amazing work of the NSPCC. This year, our Number Day will have a ‘Fibonacci’ theme, as we find out all about this famous mathematician and explore the amazing patterns within nature’s numbers that he discovered. We will not be dressing up this year but instead we will be competing to build coin towers and completing our Fibonacci themed activities. Please can you bring a suggested £2 donation and any loose change in support of this event.  

A whole school ‘Fibonacci themed da Vinci Challenge’ will be set for the February half term, so keep your eyes peeled for more information.

Please find the menus for the remainder of the first half of Lent Term.

Week commencing 30/01/23

Week commencing 06/02/23

Week commencing 13/02/23

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Miss Emma Birch to the role of Nursery Manager at Little Crackers Nursery with effect from February 2023.

Miss Birch has extensive experience of the nursery sector, having previously been employed at The Rugby Montessori Nursery School for thirteen years. Starting as a student on placement, she worked her way up during her time there to Nursery Manager, a post she held for 4.5 years. She was responsible for the smooth running of the nursery for some 80 children from babies to pre-school and 30 members of staff.

Emma lives in Rugby and enjoys reading and walks with her dog in her spare time.

Comments, Rob Duigan, Headmaster, “Emma’s knowledge, skills and enthusiasm for the early years sector shone through at interview and in her interactions with staff and children. She has exciting plans for improving our already outstanding nursery provision and we look forward to working with her and welcoming her to the Crackley Hall and Little Crackers family.

Emma adds, “I am thrilled to be joining the Princethorpe Foundation to lead the excellent Little Crackers Nursery team. My heart has always been in Early Years education and building close partnerships with parents will be my top priority, alongside providing the highest quality educational provision and care for the children and of course having lots and lots of fun.”

As part of their history studies of Tudor times, Junior 5 left modern day Britain behind on Monday 23 January when they came to school dressed in costume to enjoy a memorable day exploring life in the 16th century.

They began in the court of King Henry VIII in the year of our Lord 1536. Despite rumours and intrigue surrounding his second wife, Anne Boleyn, the King’s household had plenty of tasks to attend to. Set out in Crackley’s Great Hall were typical Tudor professions and a range of crafts that included: Apothecaries, Barbers, Blackwork, Chandlers, Leatherworkers, Miniature Artists, Scholars (ink making and writing), Scent bag and Soap makers. The children all enjoyed taking part in the activities, it was fantastic engaging learning for them all.

As they worked, more rumours swirled around the ill-fated Anne Boleyn. The background narrative really helping to bring the Tudor era alive.

Junior 5 teacher Nicki Wildey, commented, “Our Tudor Day was led by History Off the Page who were both knowledgeable and enthusiastic. The children were immersed in the history of the time period and surrounded by authentic replica artefacts. It was a day full of practical learning, storytelling and drama that the children and adults all thoroughly enjoyed.”

As part of our commitment to helping people in Warwickshire this year, we are continuing to support the Foodbank. Each month, a different class are invited to bring in donations. 

During the week Monday 30 January to Friday 4 February, Junior 2 are invited to bring in items (these can include: tins, packets of food or hygiene products) so that these can be donated to people in need in our local community. Please give your donations to the class teacher who will put them in a box in the classroom. Donations will be collected on Friday 4 February and taken to the Kenilworth, Leamington and Warwick Food Banks to help communities in need. 

Donations particularly in need are:

Long Life UHT Milk
Washing up Liquid
Male & Female Deodorants
Shower Gel
Packets of Instant Mash
Tinned Vegetables
Jam
Toothpaste

Products to avoid: dried pasta, baked beans, soup and tea so, please try to avoid those items if at all possible.

If you have any questions or indeed any suggestions in ways we could help our local community, please contact Mrs Jackson-Mayne at sjacksonmayne@crackleyhall.co.uk.

Thank you for your support.

Scroll through the gallery to see photos from our Celebration Assembly this morning.

This week in Science, Junior 6 have been learning about the history of life on Planet Earth. We have been investigating when and where life first started, all the way up to the present day. We covered crucial landmarks, such as the first single celled organism, the Ice Age, the first fish, the first amphibian and the first ‘modern’ human. In groups, the children were tasked with labelling the key points of evolution of life on a 20-metre-long tape measure that represented 3,600 million years of life on earth. The children were amazed to find out how late in our history the first humans appeared. Well done for being such keen scientists Junior 6 – keep up that curiosity!

Junior 5 travelled back in time on Monday to the 1500s to take part in Tudor Day! Children, staff and parents wore their finest Tudor garb and transformed into princes, princesses, street urchins, maids, lords and ladies. The children enjoyed a wide variety of practical activities immersing them in the daily life of people from that time period; from leather stamping, soap making and embroidery to candle making. These mini-workshops were all set against a backdrop of snippets of news about the future of Queen Anne Boleyn, who had been tried and just been found guilty of treason! This exciting and stimulating day ended with a live Tudor banquet with food from the period and the children providing the entertainment in the form of dancing, storytelling, juggling, acrobatics and general joking and foolery. What a fantastic day of fun and learning we had.

Junior 4 have all made their very own 3D elephants in English this week, as this ties in with our amazing class novel, The Girl Who Stole An Elephant.  We used a range of ambitious vocabulary, alliteration and similes to describe their amazing elephants, which will become a descriptive, opening paragraph to a short adventure story. This  will be planned and created with themselves and their elephants as the main characters. We can’t wait to read them! Well done, super Junior 4 writers!

This week Junior 3 have been investigating the effects of friction, as part of our Science topic on Forces. We set up a fair test to see how far our little toy car would travel on a range of differently textured surfaces. There were lots of considerations before we began. What did we need to keep the same? What would we change each time? What would we be measuring and what factors might affect our results? We also had the opportunity to apply some of our mathematical skills and predict how far the car would travel over each surface before carefully testing, measuring, and recording. Our results were quite surprising and helped us to reach a variety of conclusions about how friction can affect movement. We now know that the floor in the assembly hall offers very little friction, and the car zoomed a whole 200 cms before stopping. Well done for being such super scientists, Junior 3.

Year 2 children continue to impress Mrs Burley, Mrs Thomas and Mrs Bhogal with how hard they are working and their consistent great attitude. This week we have been using arrays to help them make multiplication sentences. We have been retelling a familiar story in English, considering beginning, middle and end. The children were very excited to be moving onto our MasterChef topic in Science, especially looking forward to some food tasting we have in the next couple of weeks. In PE, children have been showcasing excellent netball skills and participating in small-sided games, encouraging the children to work together.

There has been one stand out highlight of this week and the Junior 1 children, along with their teachers, were thrilled with the excitement it invoked. Science was certainly the most popular lesson of the week! Everyone was incredibly excited to be doing a ‘real’ experiment and there was a buzz of enthusiastic children in both classrooms. The experiment allowed the children to think about how different materials keep us warm and which would make the best insulator. Everyone made their prediction whether tin foil, bubble wrap, felt, cotton or cotton wool would be the best before the experiment began. We had to ensure it was a fair test by pouring an equal amount of water, at the same temperature, into each test tube which was wrapped in the different materials. We then compared the temperature of each one at five-minute intervals. We were all astounded at the result! What super scientists you are, Junior 1.

This week Reception have been painting their paper-mâché owls in Art and DT. They just need to stick on the feathers and draw the face, then they will be ready to come home. They have been working on these over the last few weeks and are excited to see how a balloon can be transformed into an owl. This week they have also learnt about jungle animals, and have been researching and writing facts about their favourite animals.  In Maths they have been learning the number bonds to 5.

Please click on the link for this week's nursery newsletter.

Can you write your own verse?

Children and staff were set a challenge in hymn practice this week to write the next verse for a hymn. We like to make the hymns personal and we know how creative the children are. Everyone who takes part is awarded a Creative Da Vinci, the one we choose to sing will be awarded the Full Da Vinci so get writing.

Thank You For Every New Good Morning

Thank You for every new good morning,
Thank You for every fresh new day,
Thank You that I may cast my burden
Wholly unto You.

Thank You for every friend I have, Lord,
Thank You for everyone I know,
Thank You for I can feel forgiveness
To my greatest foe.

During Collective Worship on Thursday, pupils learned about the importance of the charity ‘Mary’s Meals’.

Pupils were shocked to find out that more than 64 million primary school-age children are out of school around the world because they have to work or beg for food for them and their family to survive.

After listening to Food Glorious Food pupils shouted out their favourite foods and thought about what it would be like to never have that food again or to always have the same food.

A few volunteers tried skipping to promote the ‘Skipathon’ taking place Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 February. Mrs Jackson-Mayne spoke about the value of a minute and the children talked about what they would buy if they had £20. Pupils were astonished find out that it only costs just £19.15 to feed a child with Mary’s Meals for an entire school year – yet still children are going hungry every day!

This week pupils will be bringing home sponsor forms to take part in our big charity event to raise money by children for children!

Last year we raised over £2000 for Mary’s Meals, let’s see what we can do this year.

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

Weekly Mission

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

Jesus went onto a mountain and taught His disciples about the types of people He specially blesses and who will be happy. Some of what He said might be surprising, so let’s reflect together.

Activity Sheet

Geodesic structures have been the challenge this week in STEAM club.

Using only paper straws and pipe cleaners the pupils have made cubes, mini-geodesic domes and Georgie managed to make a geodesic decagon, using patience as her main ingredient!

Lego Club ventured into the Resorts World Arena this week and we Didn’t Worry About a Thing as we prepared our dynamic minifigures for their iconic appearance in Young Voices. Alongside dance choreographer and creative director, Andy Instone, and with The Trolls’ Pop Medley melodies in full volume, our minifigures eagerly burst onto the stage, skidding past Andy in the process, with the capacity audience bursting into rapturous applause, as they roared triumphantly to Rockstar. Creating a sense of calm, we also made animals galore with dogs, rabbits and horses taking centre stage in our beloved Vet Clinic. To add to the excitement of the occasion, we created elephants, seals with hats on, speedy guinea pigs and a powerful hamster who couldn’t quite see where he was going! With this abundance of sleek minifigures making themselves very noticeable and heard in the spotlight, and appearing alongside Heather Small, we overheard Batman majestically asking Captain America, “What have you done today to make me feel Proud?” Delightful!

Sign up now for a chance to win up to £1,125 between now and July 2023 with the 200 club. 

You could be the next big winner of the 200 Club! February enrolment is now open for £30.

For £30 you will be entered into a monthly draw from February to July for a chance to win £100, £75 or £50 each month.

We absolutely love giving back to the families and can’t thank you enough for your support, enrolment via the link below;

200 Club Enrolment Form

Check out the flyers for details of upcoming PTA events.

• Save the Date for the Headmaster Quiz and Nibbles night on Friday 10 February at 7pm.  We ask you create a team of 8 and then email cardtara@gmail.com  If you do not have a team of 8, a table will be assigned to you on the night. Tickets are for sale at £5 each. Please bring your own nibbles and drinks for your team but there will be a bar available (cash only) to purchase drinks or bottles for your table. We look forward to testing your teams knowledge as Mr Duigan once again delivers his quiz questions. Spaces are limited and we hope you enjoy the event.  Please use this link to purchase tickets.

• Important - The PTA Pub night now has a new date and will not take place this Friday. It will take place at the Butchers Bistro at 7pm on the Friday 3 March. Thank you to Kate Greevy for her kindness in supporting this change.
  
  
• Our second Colour Run is due to take place on Friday 19 May 2023. This event will take place on the school field from 4.00pm to 7.00pm, it will be a fun obstacle colour run for all of the family. We will have a DJ, ice cream, face painting and more! Bring your Friday night picnic and drinks for an enjoyable night. We look forward to seeing you there.

Please follow us on social media to keep updated with our events!

The second hand uniform shop now offers boy black trousers, shorts and both female and male white school shirts (some brand new). As always if you may need anything please email uniform@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk.

Our next in person sale will take place on Friday 17 March before and after school. This will allow you to stock up on any summer kit your child may need prior to returning for the new summer term.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: We are no longer accepting period day costumes as we are unable to have further volunteers run this portion of the shop.

Thank you for your support. Please get in touch if you have any queries. 

Crackley Hall PTA - Kenilworth needs your help!

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Did you know you can find us on Facebook? Search Crackley Hall PTA to keep up with our events and what we are doing to help enhance your child's experience at Crackley Hall.

The engraved Crackley Hall reusable coffee mugs are back! These are perfect for bringing to assembly or when you are out and about and are £10 each. 

Please use this link:

https://www.pta-events.co.uk/crackleyhall/index.cfm

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

Princethorpe College

• Head of English
• Amissions and Marketing Administrator

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