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