The Chronicle

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.