The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

It was a cold and early start for the girls off to the ISA National Hockey Tournament on Thursday 22 November.  After scraping the first ice of the year off cars, they arrived at school at 6am dressed warmly in onesies and ready for the long journey to the Olympic Park.  They enjoyed a brief stop off for a much needed breakfast, before finally arriving at the Lee Valley Stadium where they got changed and ready to face the famous blue ‘smurf turf’ that is national home ground for the English and British hockey squads.

16 schools from all around the country were competing, so the girls knew that they had a tough schedule ahead.  Split into four pools of four teams they played a round robin tournament within the pool. The top teams from each pool then moved through to the Cup play offs, while the bottom teams played for the Plate.

The squad of Hannah Wildey (Captain), Amisha Modi, Caitlin Horan, Annamaria Kordas, Carys Warrener-Gray, Francesca Kelly, Martha Summers and Annabel Leigh started strong and kept a clean sheet throughout the pool. With a win and two draws, they finished top of their group table and went through to take part in the Cup play offs.

In the Cup, they faced Lingfield College first. The girls played well and managed to maintain possession for most of the game but, unfortunately, the opposition had a lucky break and scored. Crackley’s girls held their heads up high and moved on to their next match.  Next, they played Littlegarth School, who outclassed every other team there. Their clinical finishing had ensured an average of 5 goals per game. Crackley’s girls were determined to keep a clean sheet and worked hard to close their opponents down.  In the end only 3 goals got past the post.  An unfortunate glitch in the organisation left the girls with a five match wait till their final game. With the temperatures dropping and tiredness setting in, it was a more subdued team that faced Malvern St James. The girls worked hard and a closely contested game ended in a 1-0 loss for Crackley.  So the team finished in overall 7th place.  In a national competition that is an awesome achievement!

The girls take away some fantastic memories after playing at such a prestigious venue. Personalised hoodies and a tea stop at MacDonalds on the way home were added extra highlights that completed a fantastic day!

Mrs Vaughan and Mrs Horan were both extremely proud of the girls.  Their behaviour, manners and conduct were second to none and they were a credit to both their school and their parents!

On Tuesday Alina Crisan came into school to visit Reception, Junior 1 and Junior 2. She brought with her an amazing book that she had written. It was all about Professor Broccoli and his journey through the alphabet. Each page had alliterative rhymes and funny sentences all to do with a particular letter of the alphabet. The children thoroughly enjoyed her reading the story to them and gave thoughtful answers to the questions she asked relating to the book.

At the end everyone was allowed a cuddle from Professor Broccoli and if they bought one of her books they also got a furry Professor Broccoli bookmark that was too tempting to resist!

After their recent endeavours tackling senior school entrance exams, Junior 6 deserved some well earned rest and recuperation. 

Desks were cleared of pencil pots, exercise books and revision notes, and normal lessons exchanged for board games, sports activites and forest school.

Last week there was a 'Bake  Off' style cake decorating competition - with all manner of shapes, swirls, hundreds and thousands and silver balls.

This week started with the eager group walking down to Costa Coffee in Kenilworth, where they enjoyed treats such as hot chocolate and brownies. And ended with a 'Movies and Munchies' day.

A great time was had by all. Well done Junior 6, you've earned it!

On Thursday 22 November Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery held a dedicated Nursery and Reception Open Evening. It was an opportunity for families to visit the school, listen to a presentation, view children’s work and talk to members of the Nursery, Reception and Early Years Team.

Crackley Hall and Little Crackers staff were delighted to welcome some 20 families and help them get a feel for what makes Crackley feel like 'the next best place to home'.

Parents are reminded that the deadline for Early Bird applications for places in the Reception class next year is Monday 26 November 2018. Offers to Early Bird applicants will be posted first class on Friday 14 December, with an acceptance deadline of Monday 7 January.

For those who missed this week’s Open Evening there is one further opportunity to visit the school, before the final deadline for Reception applications closes, as the school will be holding an Open Day on Thursday 24 January from 10.00am to 3.00pm.