The Chronicle

Dear Parents

It would seem that the weather has finally turned and autumn is upon us.  Thankfully our J4 classes enjoyed beautiful weather during the annual visit to Kingswood this week and I know that the outdoor activities resulted in some very tired children on Wednesday.  My thanks to Mrs Jackson-Mayne, Mrs Wildey, Mr Harris and Mrs Blythe for looking after all the children so well during this visit.  I am sure that parents of our J4 children have some wonderful stories to tell of their time at Kingswood; for some it would have been their first time away from home.

On Tuesday Mr and Mrs Vaughan and Matthew Duigan accompanied children to Walsall where the Midlands ISA swimming gala took place.  There were some spectacular results and everyone should be incredibly proud of their performance.  Tuesday also saw our J3 children lead the Harvest Mass and I was delighted to be able to welcome Father Kevin to school for this occasion.  The collection of food arriving into school has been most impressive and this will be sent on to its next destination very soon.

On Wednesday our youngest children in Little Crackers were visited by Twirling Toddlers.  The children in Nursery have been lucky enough to enjoy several visits from outside providers so far this year and I know that there are many other exciting opportunities lined up for the months ahead.

Yesterday, many of our staff, including myself, said our goodbyes to Mrs Head, a former teacher (of 30 plus years) and friend of Crackley Hall.  Her service was a peaceful and fitting tribute to a marvellous woman who touched the lives of many pupils and staff.  Although there were some ex-students and parents attending the funeral, we will be holding our own service at school during the course of this academic year.

Congratulations to all of our stars of the week and to our musical performers at this morning’s assembly – we were royally entertained by the recorder group, cello ensemble, chamber choir, Louisa Cooper and Amisha Modi.  They were all absolutely fantastic!  Our sports teams deserve special praise this week – well done to them and to their coaches.  Grace Aston was the deserved recipient of RE Book of the Week for her beautiful and creative model of God’s Garden.

As next week is the last week before half term it will no doubt pass very quickly so please take note of any notices in the Chronicle as there may be deadlines and responses needed before school closes for the half term.  However, as you probably know, holiday club will be operating throughout the two weeks of half term and I am told that there are still spaces should you need to book a place.  There will be building work taking place in the front office at school in the half term and this will result in the main entrance being out of use for the duration of the holiday.  If you do need to access school, please use the Gables entrance.

I hope to see many of you next week during the parent evenings on Tuesday and Thursday but, in the meantime, I hope you have a relaxing weekend with your family.

God bless,

Robert Duigan

School Shop

Please note that the School Shop based at Princethorpe College, will be closed during the half term break and will reopen on Monday 5 November.

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday (Term Time Only) 10.30am – 4.30pm

As the shop is based inside the school grounds it is open to parents between 3.30pm-4.30pm and by appointment only at all other times.

Please call direct on 01926 634272 or email uniform@princethorpe.co.uk to arrange an appointment.

Uniform Orders

Winter uniform should be worn after the half term break.

Orders for uniform received on Monday 15 October will be delivered to Crackley Hall School before the end of term on Friday.

School Jumpers are available in sizes 26"-42".

Pinafores are available in sizes 22"-34". (R-J4)

Skirts are available in sizes 22"-34". (J5-J6)

Winter Coats are available in sizes age 3-4 years to age 13-14 years.

Gloves, hats and scarves are also available.

Early Birds runs from 7.45am – 8.20am  - please use the Gables entrance (apart from Reception pupils who can be taken directly to their classroom via the main school entrance).

Nursery drop off - please use the main door.

Registration times are from 8.20am – 8.40am and pupils can go straight to their classroom using the main school entrance.

Late signing in is from 8.40am - please go to the school office. 

If pupils are coming in early for music lessons/choral group/choir they need to sign in at the school office.

We have a number of trips and events coming up over the next few weeks. Please see the relevant letters below.  

J2 MAD Museum - 18.10.18

J3/4  Nutcracker Ballet - 11.12.18

J6 Victorian History Day

Monday 22 October - Friday 2 November 2018

The Crackley Hall Holiday Club will this year take place during both weeks of the October half term holiday. It will commence on Monday 22 October and run until Friday 2 November. There will be exciting crafts, games and activities taking place on weekdays at school between the hours of 8.00am and 6.00pm.

Please be aware that places are limited and are filling up quickly. If you require a place please follow the link to book https://princethorpecollege.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Warm blue skies greeted the Junior 4 teachers and pupils as they embarked on three days of adventure based activities and fun. Our Junior 4 pupils took up the challenge of working together as a team to face an exciting range of activities, including zip-wiring, climbing, archery, fencing, abseiling and, perhaps the most challenging of all, bed making!

All pupils showed a wonderful willingness to try new experiences and to celebrate each others' successes. On returning home, we can guess that excited stories were exchanged as well as bags of dirty washing! Hopefully, a restful weekend will allow our number the opportunity to recharge their batteries. We at the Chronicle know the staff who accompanied you are hugely proud of you all - you are a credit to the school and your families.

We came, we saw, we had a most marvellous time. So was the cry from the 40 or so Crackley parents, carers and children that enjoyed the hospitality, but sadly not the scoreline, of the Wasps at their recent Premiership clash against Gloucester last Saturday. 

Our thanks are extended to Mr McCollin for organising such a special treat for our rugby mad school - it is much appreciated. Hopefully, next time we might have a closer match and a few more 'home' tries to celebrate.

Thursday 22 November 2018 - 7.00pm to 8.00pm 

Crackley Hall is holding a Nursery and Reception Open Evening on Thursday 22 November 2018 from 7.00pm to 8.00pm. This is an opportunity to gain an insight into the Early Years at Crackley Hall and Little Crackers.  Parents will be able to look around the school, see examples of children's work and activities and to talk to the Headmaster, Rob Duigan, and Assistant Head Early Years and Key Stage 1, Susan Glen-Roots and meet members of the Nursery and Reception Team. 

All are welcome, no need to book.

If you can't make the Open Evening but would like to look around the school, please call our Admissions Secretary, Mrs Jenny Vaughan on 01926 514410 or alternatively email admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk and come on a day to suit you, we welcome visitors on most days.

For more information visit www.crackleyhall.co.uk.

Please click on View Gallery to scroll through a few photos from this week's events. 

Junior 3 children celebrated and led Tuesday's Harvest Mass which was for the intention of the late and much loved teacher and colleague Marlene Head, who passed away recently.

Father Kevin celebrated Mass in the hall with Key Stage 1 and 2 and a splendid congregation of parents, grandparents and friends. The Choral group led by Mrs Olden sang beautifully and the children enjoyed singing harvest hymns which raised the rafters.

Junior 3 pupils read with clarity and Ms Holmes and Mrs van Zyl were delighted with their confidence and dignity.

Well done.

For the fourth year running pupils at Crackley Hall are donating food to the Kenilworth and Leamington Food Bank.

It is super that we can help to support the St Vincent de Paul Society, who make weekly collections from St Francis Church in Kenilworth. Please can children continue to bring in tins, packets and jars.

Thank you.

Mrs Jackson-Mayne

We are pleased to announce that Kiran Dhillon (J5JR) has been awarded Gymnast of the Week.

Thomas Whalley (J6V) who was awarded Gymnast of the week last week is pictured here.

Kenilworth Tennis, Squash & Croquet Club are offering a Half Term Tennis Camp.

Please follow the link below for details.

Half Term Tennis Camp

On Wednesday 10 October Little Crackers Stay ‘n’ Players enjoyed a visit from Twirling Toddlers.

Cheryl used a variety of familiar songs to introduce different concepts of rhythm and movement. Scarves twirled to Let it go, the popular Frozen track, bubbles were caught and popped to Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid and Sleeping Bunnies were woken up to hop around before dropping back to sleep again!

The session was just one from a regular programme of visiting activities at our Stay ‘n’ Play toddler group that runs every Wednesday morning from 10.00am to 11.30am at Little Crackers during term-time.

On Wednesday 21 November we will be welcoming back Paint and Glaze.  Don't miss the chance to create some beautiful gifts just in time for Christmas.

To find out more about what Twirling Toddlers offer, you can contact Cheryl via email on cheryl@twirlingtoddlers.co.uk.

This week we have been encouraging everyone to ‘be creative’ in all areas of the nursery.  We have been painting and printing with a range of autumn bits and pieces, finding ways to count, sort and compare numbers in our outside classroom, produced beautiful fleeting pieces of transitional art in sand boxes and had fun with exploratory autumn jelly! 

With slightly dusty knees, sticky fingers and a whole lot of giggling we are thoroughly enjoying autumn at Little Crackers!

Newsletter

Hopefully by now you will have all received the ‘Save the Date Flyers‘ for upcoming PTA events. We really do hope that you are all able to attend the events.  We promise to make them lots of fun for the whole family (with exception of the Winter Ball and the Headmaster’s Quiz, which are for grown ups only).

PTA Second Hand Uniform Sale 

Wednesday 17th October - 3.30pm - 5.30pm 

Thursday 18th October - 3.30pm - 5.30pm

Friday 19th October - 8.00am - 8.30am

Did you know .... that secondhand uniform raised over £1650 for the PTA last year!

The money has gone towards purchasing things like walkie talkies, hockey nets, playground equipment and a defibrillator.

We would like to take this opportunity to give a special mention to Nikki Lloyd-Evans, Rebecca Moreton and Linda Weir for their outstanding efforts and hard work with the second hand uniform shop. We really are blessed to have such a great parent community and you are all absolute stars in this regard.

Thank you for all your donations and purchases. Your money goes to good use .. if you have any suggestions please let the PTA know.

Saturday 1 December - 1.00pm - 4.00pm

Last, but in no way means least – Thank you to all that were able to attend the Christmas Fayre meeting today. This is always an event that takes a lot of planning and support from a lot of people so if you have any ideas or are keen to get involved then please let a PTA member know. We are always happy for as much help as we can get!!

If you have any children's DVDs that you no longer need then please do donate them to After Care.  We always like to have a good selection for the children to choose from.

Please leave them with the school office.

Many thanks. 

Lost

Seamus Meakins-Owens (J6CL) has lost his named double smiggle case – black with sports stuff on it.

Hugo Frazier (J5R) has lost his gum shield and khaki green pencil case.

Shuvan Banerjee (Reception) has lost his named school jumper.

Max Batchelor-Brown (J4M) has lost his school tie.

Hannah Nishyama (J2EM) has lost her named blazer.

Solon Nishyama (J4NW) has lost his named blazer. 

Max Kiely (J4NW) has lost his named school bag.