The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

A massive thank you to everyone who has visited Blythe’s fundraising page. 

He loved running in the rain and raising all the money for such a good cause. Once his pledges have come in he will have raised over £1800!

Well done Blythe!

A team of 20 swimmers from Crackley Hall School made the journey to Walsall Baths on Tuesday 9 October to compete in the Independent Schools’ Association’s Midlands Junior Swimming Gala. Success at the Regional event would qualify pupils for the ISA National Championships due to take place later this year in London at the Olympic Aquatics Centre.

Crackley took a depleted team to the competition, as unfortunately the Year 4 children were away on their Kingswood residential.  So the Year 5 and 6 children knew that right from the start they would all have to swim superbly if Crackley was to have any chance of being placed in the overall team competition.

The children swam 25m in the pool and the races included both individual events and exciting team relays. For some of the children, it was their very first experience of competitive galas, whilst for others, it was all about times and positions, but as always Crackley Hall’s pupils encouraged each other, from the start through to the finish of every single race.

In the end Crackley’s Boys team finished 6th overall whilst the Girls team were placed 11th out of some 25 schools competing but Junior 5’s Lily Carroll swam sensationally and has earned herself a place in the National Finals.  All in all it was a very creditable result for the school.

Crackley Hall Head of Sport, Mrs Kat Vaughan, was delighted and commented, “As always there was a fabulous atmosphere poolside, with the whole team willing each other on.  We had some excellent swims and tight finishes, Crackley has some very determined children.  Many congratulations to Lily for qualifying for the prestigious National competition in London.”

Well done to all of Crackley Hall’s swimmers for their excellent effort.

Mrs Jackson-Mayne and Mrs Malcolm ably assisted by our Junior 5 and 6 School Councillors squeezed burgeoning boxes of food stuffs collected in school into their cars for delivery to our local food bank based at the Community Centre in Kenilworth. 

Many thanks to everyone who provided donations for the Harevst Festival.  Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated.

This week Google teamed up with Crackley to instruct pupils on the merits of and necessity for online safety.  The 'Legends' team presented an interactive parallel world, where example situations and scenarios were played out by the Internoughts, cheeky online characters, and their nemeses the Internaughties. 

Their journey was informed by the 'Legends Five Choices', which were to be sharp, alert, secure, kind and brave, they showed the children how to make right choices when online and how to remain safe.

Our thanks are extended to the ever industrious Mrs Malcolm (J2 Class Teacher and Head of Computing) for organising this most informative and engaging seminar.

On Wednesday 17 October Junior 2 had a super interactive trip out to visit arguably the best museum in Warwickshire. All roads led to Stratford upon Avon that day, as our science 'mad' students visited the UK’s only permanent venue for mechanical art. This is a real Aladdin's cave of treasures which aim to surprise and delight. The cleverly made, complicated and fully interactive displays provided plenty of hands on experiences for the children. They eagerly operated sensors, buttons and handles aplenty to see what happened next.

The visit to the museum supported many of Junior 2’s curricular topics, but particularly informed their Design & Technology and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) studies. Junior 2 teacher, Mrs Hardwick, commented, “It was a unforgettable day, where the museum's interactive elements brought real life and meaning to this fascinating subject.”

After the museum the children took a short walk down to the canal where they took to the waters for a pleasant cruise down the river on a barge whilst they ate their lunch. This full day of 'infotainment' was rounded off rather nicely with a chance to let off some steam in the autumnal sunshine in the park.

Many thanks to Mrs Hardwick and Mrs Malcolm for organising such a fascinating and participative trip.