The Chronicle

Dear Parents

As I write this, I reflect on how quickly the week has flown by.  It has been incredibly busy and we now find ourselves preparing for the weekend ahead.  The unseasonably mild weather should allow for plenty of time to be spent outside before the forecast cold spell.

It is always lovely to welcome Father Kevin into school and I am grateful to him for celebrating Mass for the whole school on Tuesday morning.  I would also like to thank Mrs Jackson Mayne for her preparations for Mass, as well as Mrs Olden, Mrs Simmonds and all the pupils who helped in any way.

We have focused, over the past five days, on Anti-bullying Week, including a week of activities for the Junior 6 classes following completion of the entrance examinations.  Mr Cottrill arranged for class activities across the school and an assembly to address bullying and let children know the many different ways that they can access help.  Some of our older children have also been taught about the dangers of cyber-bullying via their electronic devices.   On this note, I would ask that children do not bring their mobile phones into school unless this has been agreed with their class teacher due to exceptional circumstances.  Any phone brought into school (under whatever circumstance) will be kept securely locked in the school safe until the end of the day.  Internet safety and cyber-bullying will be part of the topics addressed in more detail on 26 November with an e-safety talk to which you are all warmly invited.

Junior 6 have enjoyed a week of different activities which culminated in a Bake Off yesterday.   Although I was able to see the preparations, I understand that the judging was carried out by Mr Cottrill.  From the initial work I saw and the photographs I’ve seen since, there were some amazing creations again this year.  On Monday, Junior 6 will walk to the local Costa to enjoy a coffee morning; I do hope that the weather holds out for the group and would remind children to bring in their school coats just in case of inclement weather.

Several students travelled to the ISA Midlands U/11 and U/9 5-a-side Football Tournament on Wednesday with Mr Cottrill and Mr Stedeford.  Both teams played well, with the U/9’s winning the Plate Final and the U/11’s narrowly losing their semi-final match before losing on penalties in the 3rd/4th place play-off.  The U/11’s have qualified for the National Finals in May 2019.  Well done to players and coaches.

My thanks are extended to Mr Lamprecht who kindly led our assembly this morning and we congratulated Laurie, Theo, Phoebe, Blythe, Hannah, Mitchell, Joseph, Lily, Reeve, Noah, Jacob, Harry, Amy, James, Bobby, Amisha and Saiyan for being our Stars of the Week.  We were entertained by the Junior 3 recorder group, our flute ensemble and Leo on violin.  Well done to all three acts – we appreciated your talent and wonderful performances at assembly.

Next week I will look forward to welcoming Junior 6 parents to the meeting about our annual French visit which will take place in May next year.  I do hope as many children as possible are able to attend this special visit.  There will also be LAMDA examinations taking place during the school day and on Thursday, we will be opening the doors to Nursery and Reception for an Open Evening.

Please also try to make a very special effort to attend our talk for parents on e-safety and internet use.  This will be held on the evening of Monday 26 November.  This very important area of contemporary society is changing exponentially and can have a huge influence on your child’s life – I feel that it is vital that you make the effort (1.5 hours of your time) to help prepare you for some possible upcoming challenges.

It took me a while to get over the Springboks’ rugby defeat to England two weekends ago – we threw that game away but nothing should be taken away from England’s deserved win.  Unfortunately, the tables were turned on England last weekend when it was their turn to be on the rough side of a TMO decision.  Eddie Jones summed it up beautifully in his post-match interview, ‘Sometimes the TMO loves you and sometimes it doesn’t’.  The Irish, Welsh and Scots are all playing well and we look forward to another round of exciting matches.  The cricket test between Sri Lanka and England is looking interesting.

I am looking forward to attending the Princethorpe College Annual Prize Giving this evening.  It is always wonderful to see Crackley Hall’s past pupils walk onto stage to receive an award.  On a personal note, I look forward to seeing my son receive his A level certificates and my daughter her GCSE’s.  Another highlight will be hearing Princethorpe’s Head Boy, Tom Warne’s speech as he was a pupil at Crackley Hall in my first year at our school.  I wish him the very best.

God bless,

Robert Duigan

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

J3 Forest School Letter

J3/4 Nutcracker Ballet - 11.12.18

J6 Victorian History Day

Apologies but there will be no gym club next Wednesday 21 November as the hall is being used for the parents’ French trip meeting.

Jayne Ellis

There are spaces available for children to learn violin or viola in the Lent Term, lessons are held on Wednesday and Thursday with places available either day.

If you are interested, please send a lesson request through to Mrs Olden.

Friday 7 December 2018

Nursery's Thrilling Threes and Fabulous Fours, Reception and Junior 1 are going to watch a performance of Wilde Creatures at the Warwick Arts Centre on Friday 7 December 2018.

The children will be leaving by coach at 9.15am, returning by 12.30pm in time for lunch.

The cost of the trip will be £16.00 per child, which will be added to parents' Lent Term invoices.

Nursery would welcome parent volunteers to accompany them on the trip. If you feel you would be able to assist, please speak with Mrs Bird before purchasing your ticket, as parent helpers will need to purchase a ticket through the School Office at a cost of £16.00.

Mrs Patricia George and Mrs Clare Bird

This year’s theme is ‘Child of Our Planet’ – plenty of scope for young artists to think ecologically and astronomically as well as theologically in their creative interpretation of the theme!

Entries should be submitted to school by Monday 19 November. Any winning artists will be featured on this year’s CISC Christmas Card and on the CISC website.

Details

• Theme ‘Child of our time’
• Entries should be 2D art work in any media, or a photograph and can be portrait or landscape.
• Please make sure that your art work has your full name and age on the back.  
• Entries can be handed in to the school office.

The weather is on the turn and this quick reminder is to let you know that you can purchase your school winter wear essentials from either the Uniform Shop at Princethorpe College or from the Office at Crackley Hall. Items are priced as follows:

Fleece Gloves – Age 2-4, 5-7, 7-9, 9-12          £4.00

Fleece Hat – Small / Standard                        £5.00

Fleece Scarf – One Size                                 £7.00

Crackley Hall's Office Team can accept cash or cheque, whilst the Uniform Shop at Princethorpe can also accept card payments. Alternatively, you might choose to add your purchase to your bill and have the items delivered to Crackley Hall for you to collect.

We have been made aware that the planned closure of the Common Lane overbridges for emergency gas work has been postponed in response to feedback from local residents on the disruption it will cause.

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Crackley Hall’s U11 Football team have qualified for the ISA Football Nationals after a super performance at this week’s Regional Qualifying Tournament.  Their younger counterparts, the U9 team, came back from a slightly rocky start to finish by winning the Plate competition.

Both teams travelled to Kidderminster on Tuesday 13 November to the Wyre Forest Leisure Centre to play on their modern 4G artificial pitches on a dry and sunny day.

In the U11 competition 21 teams were split into groups for the initial stages.  Crackley’s team had an excellent start with superb wins across the group against St Dominic’s 1-0, Castle House 1-0, Chase Grammar 5-1 and Twycross House 3-0 and draws against Bowbrook House 0-0 and Highclare 1-1.  The team then went on to play Stafford Grammar in the quarter finals winning well 3-1.

In a more troublesome semi-final the team sadly went down 0-2 to St Winifred’s leaving them in the play-offs for 3rd and 4th place.  A close match ensued with the boys finally losing 3-4 on penalties to Old Vicarage to finish fourth overall out of 21 teams.  However, their fourth place automatically qualifies them for the ISA Football finals next May when they will have the chance to right their wrongs at St George’s Park, the national football centre where the England team train.

Teaching Assistant, Rich Stedeford, was delighted with the team’s performance commenting, “The boys played really well, they started the day playing as individuals, but by the end of the tournament they were definitely the best team.  They can hold their heads up high as they held the tournament winners to a draw in the early group stages.  I am sure they will have a good shot at the finals next year.”

Crackley Hall’s U9 team played against 20 teams.  They had a tricky start to the tournament, despite some very close games they lost their first four pool games and they then went into the plate competition.  The team then played another four games and finally started to play like a team, winning three, Arnold Lodge 6-0, Chase Grammar 3-1 and Dixie Grammar 4-1, and only losing in a tight game to Hydesville Tower 2-1.

This qualified the U9s for the semi-finals where they played Old Vicarage School winning 2-0 and then the final where in an excellent high scoring game they beat St. Joseph’s 4-0. 

Deputy Head, Duncan Cottrill, commented “The boys played very well on the day and didn’t look in any trouble once the plate competition started.  I was extremely proud of the way they bounced back from some opening defeats; they showed great character and thoroughly deserved the win in the final.”

Two events have recently been held by WMG to support our recently formed F1 team, 'Firecrackers'. The team of five young and enthusiastic engineers from J4 have to design and manufacture the fastest possible racing car out of cardboard. Their vehicle will be put to the test at the Jaguar Primary School Challenge Regional Finals next spring at Princethorpe College, and then if successful, at the National Finals a few months later.

On the initiative of Professor Chalmers, WMG is supporting the team within its Outreach Activities. The first event was an inspiring talk on aerodynamics in the design of cars by Maria Vasquez Caroprese, who is an MRes student in the Visualisation Group. It was very well received by the children, parents and teachers. Maria benefitted both from her previous experience working with JLR, and from having worked with children on new technology.    

The second event was a tour of the WMG workshop, hosted by David Cooper and his team. The tour was a great success and the children received an excellent overview of the variety of activities in the workshop, including equipment demonstrations. Dr Asadipour from IDH had previously provided an introduction to design software and how to design racing car wheels based on the children’s ideas. The workshop visit culminated in the children being able to watch their wheels being created by a laser cutter in transparent-red acrylic, to go with their “Firecracker” theme.

More events are planned to further support the children in designing their car, learning to appreciate the challenges of engineering, and, in this process, gaining insights into the valuable work of WMG.

Children from Crackley Hall School and Crescent School had a fantastic, full day of uplifting and inspiring singing when they took part in a joint Foundation Junior School choral workshop.  The pupils from both school choirs worked together under the guidance of Directors of Music, Susan Olden and Julie Barnes, to prepare and rehearse a mix of joint and individual choral and solo pieces ready for an afternoon concert for parents.

Mrs Olden and Mrs Barnes both agreed that the joint musical initiative had been another very successful day, remarking that, “Everyone has really enjoyed themselves and we have all learnt from each other.”

The concert opened with an uplifting performance of Why We Sing, the voices of the 60 plus children blending together beautifully, echoing touchingly around Crackley’s school hall.  Both schools individually showcased their choral skills, with Crescent School singing The Harvest of Love and Since You’ve Been Gone and Crackley Hall The Poppy Red and Hold Back The River.   The audience was also treated to incredible, individual solos from Mia Webb on flute, Lily Emery who sang The Dormouse’s Carol, Andrea Zanyi who performed Ring Of Keys and Isabella Osborne who belted out Why Am I Always The Bridesmaid.  During the concert the choirs performed a variety of pieces together; they included Sanctus, Touch The Sky, A Little Can Change Our World, We Are The World and the always popular Viva La Vida.

Julie Barnes, Director of Music at the Crescent School, continued, “The children have clearly enjoyed working together.  Last year’s workshop went well, but this one has been even better.”

Susan Olden, Director of Music at Crackley Hall, added, “We have some real talent in our schools and we very much want to inspire them with their singing.”

The choral workshop is to be followed by a return visit next term when Crackley Hall will travel to Bilton, Rugby for an orchestral workshop with the Crescent School.

The shared workshops are just one of the many performance opportunities that the children have.

Crackley Hall's pupils joined children across the UK when they deliberately came to school on Wednesday wearing odd socks.  Odd Socks Day encourages people to think before they speak and to consider how their words and actions can affect other people. Odd Socks Day is designed to be fun and allow children to express themselves and celebrate their individuality.

Odd Socks Day was just one part of 'Anti-Bullying Week' here at Crackley as the school joined in the national initiative that encourages children to embrace their differences and report bullying behaviour. 

Thursday 22 November 2018 - 7.00 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.

Monday 26 November - 7.00pm to 8.30pm

Mr Cottrill will be giving an Internet Safety talk to parents in the hall on Monday 26 November. 

This will follow on from a day of talks and workshops that the children will take part in at school.

More details to follow next week

Monday 26 November to Saturday 1 December

It is that time of year again when the Scholastic Book Fair comes to Crackley Hall.

The book fair will arrive in school on Monday 26 November and stay until the Christmas Fayre on Saturday 1 December. Although children may purchase books at certain times during the school day, you are invited to accompany your child any day that week after school between 3.30pm and 4.30pm where you will be able to purchase books and other stationery items.

Funds raised at this event enable school to order books that can be used from Nursery to J6 and it is hoped that this year will break all previous records. As an alternative to children bringing cash into school, parents are encouraged to purchase Scholastic Book Fair vouchers online using the following link:

https://shop.scholastic.co.uk

Any vouchers bought entitle the purchaser to 20% extra free.

Tuesday 4 December 2018 - 11:00 am to 12:00 pm

The Reception Nativity is fast approaching and the children have been busy rehearsing their lines and songs.

The main performance will take place in the school hall on Tuesday 4 December at 11:00 am, to which you are warmly invited and the performance will last approximately 30 minutes.

All children will be taken back to their classroom at the end of the performance and we would ask that you please remain seated while the children file out of the hall.

Refreshments will be served after the performance. It would be helpful if you would please indicate on the Parent Evening System how many guests will be in your party for catering purposes.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Wednesday 5 December 2018 - 2.00pm to 3.30pm

The children in Junior 1 and 2 will be presenting their Nativity in the school hall at 2:00 pm on Wednesday 5 December. The performance will last approximately 40 minutes, after which refreshments will be served.

Children will remain in school until the end of the school day and can be collected from car line at the usual time. In order to return the children to their classrooms promptly, please remain seated while the children file out of the hall.

Due to space restrictions, we are able to offer a total of four seats per family. If you would like more than 4 seats, please indicate the number of additional seats required on the Parent Event System booking notes. You will then be added to our waiting list and notified if additional spaces become available.

Can you also please indicate in the booking notes how many guests will require refreshments for catering purposes.

Due to space restrictions around the school, please be aware that parking will be available on the school field for the Nativity.

We look forward to seeing you there.

We are pleased to announce that Amy Farquharson and Ajunee Gill have been awarded Gymnasts of the Week.

With only a couple of weeks to go to our Nursery Nativity (Tuesday 4 December) we have been having lots of fun polishing our performances this week! Please could you send in the costumes as soon as you have them, and by next Friday at the latest. 

My apologies for the short notice about ‘odd sock Wednesday’ but we did have fun exploring how we could be kind to our friends – our way of joining in with the anti-bullying theme.  The children thought it was funny, but also not very kind when Miss Lisa pretended to be ‘a mean’ person: she pushed in front, snatched a book and wouldn’t be friends!  The children decided that it was a good job she was only pretending or else they would have ‘had a word’ with Miss Clare! 

We hope you all have a friendly and cheerful weekend!

Newsletter

Get Ready For Crackley Christmas Fayre - Saturday 1 December 1.00pm - 4.00pm

Non Uniform Day -  Friday 30 November

There will be a non uniform day on Friday 30 November for all the children. In return we are asking for specific donations for the Christmas Fayre:

Little Crackers, Reception & J1 children: we kindly request that each child donates a box of chocolates for the hugely popular chocolate tombola stall.

J2, J3 & J4 children:  we ask each child to donate a glass jar filled with Christmas-related treats for the ‘Goodies in a Jar’ tombola stall. Suggested fillings include:  Christmas chocolates, stationery items, small toys, craft items, etc.  (unisex where possible please)

J5 & J6 children:  we would love every child to donate a bottle for the bottle tombola stall, such as a bottle of wine or spirits.

Donations can be left at either the main school entrance or the Gables entrance.

In addition we are also holding a teddy tombola, which is always a favourite with the children, so have a look and see if you have any unwanted teddies at home in good condition that you can donate. There is a box out in the main entrance for donations in the run up to the Fayre.

We are still short of a few helpers on the day too, so if you can spare a couple of hours to help on the day then please let a member of the PTA know or email mfox1401@gmail.com

We really do appreciate all your help and all of the money raised goes straight back into the PTA fund.

Calling All Bakers ( Nut Free ) And Homecraft Donations

We lost quite a few of our regular bakers this year when their children moved on to secondary school.  So we have rather a depleted list!

So if any of you fantastic bakers can manage to rustle up a whole cake/minces pies/something to sell on our Home Crafts Stall at the Christmas Fayre (Saturday 1 December) - we would really appreciate it  - as always.

Also if anybody is feeling particularly crafty and would like to donate any unwanted gifts or handmade gifts such as candle holders, photo frames, decorative jars or homemade jams, marmalades or chutney’s this would also be very much appreciated and something you could maybe involve your children in creating!

Please let Laura know what and how many you can make lauraeascroft@hotmail.com; boxes will be provided for cakes.

There will be a box out in the main entrance for donations in the run up to the Fayre

Please bring your donations into school on Wednesday 28 November. 

Reporting to the Foundation Estates Manager, we are seeking to appoint an Electrician to maintain and service all electrical engineering plant and equipment on Princethorpe College, Crackley Hall and Crescent School sites. They will carry out technical duties in the college theatre and assist in the supervision of electrical contractors. A flexible and pro-active attitude to duties and additional working hours will be required.

The successful candidate should have an appreciation of the priorities of a school environment and have the ability to appropriately interact with pupils of all ages, especially when providing technical support in the Theatre.

This role is working 40 hours a week, on a 7 days’ contract. The working pattern will include evenings and occasional weekends on a flexible basis, according to the needs of the school, with core hours Monday to Friday.

The salary for this role is £25,000 to £32,000 (full-time equivalent) – depending on experience.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a fast growing foundation that values their staff and offers a rewarding benefits package including discounted places for staff, a pension scheme, child care vouchers and a cycle to work scheme.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing suitability for the role.  Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Monday 26 November 2018 at 9am, and interviews are likely to be held on Friday 30 November 2018.

Further details are available from the School website www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment opportunities

Ideally starting in late November 2018, we are recruiting Estates Assistants to work as part of the Estates team, providing support services to all of the Foundation schools - Princethorpe College, Crescent School in Rugby and Crackley Hall School in Kenilworth.

The duties will primarily involve maintenance work internally and externally, security, traffic management, porterage and some cleaning. Applicants with some carpentry, plumbing or decorating skills would be most welcome. This is a ‘hands-on’ role facilitating the proper functioning of the schools to ensure a safe and satisfactory working, learning and recreational environment.

The successful applicant will need to be able to provide a high quality service to staff, pupils and visitors and be enthusiastic as well as honest, trustworthy and reliable, able to lift and to work on his/her own as well as part of a team.

Working hours: We have a variety of shifts available, from as little as two hours and up to eight hours, in the afternoons and evenings or on Saturday and Sundays.  We would be happy to consider applications for working evenings and weekends only or with other shifts on a rota basis.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a fast growing foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package including discounted places for staff, a pension scheme, child care vouchers and a cycle to work scheme.

To discuss the post in more detail please contact Michael Small, Foundation Estates Manager - 01926 634267 or Pete Wilkes, Estates Manager – 01926 634200.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Monday 12 November 2018 at 9.00am and interviews are likely to be held on Thursday 15 November 2018, at Princethorpe.

Further details and an application form are available from the College website www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment-opportunities

Lost

India Ferguson (J6KV) has lost her school skirt. 

Lily Carroll (J5R) has lost her school blazer.

Lucas Summers (J5L) has lost his named black sports shorts

Max Batchelor-Brown (J4SJM) has lost his cap 

Harry Turvey (J4SJM) has lost his named coat

Harry Surtees (J6CL) has lost his named blazer