The Chronicle

Dear Parents

As we draw to the end of this school week, I have had a brief opportunity to reflect on the events that have taken place over the last 5 days and this week has been an exceptionally busy one for all staff at Crackley Hall.

On Monday children helped load almost 100 shoe boxes that have been packed with useful items, gifts and love which will be distributed to those children who are less fortunate.    The Samaritan’s Purse Charity will be delivering the shoe boxes to the children over the next few weeks and are always very grateful for the donations received.  Thank you very much, everyone!

I was able to accompany our Junior 6 classes to Costa on Monday which was very enjoyable.  This week was the last week of J6’s activity fortnight where they have been able to relax a little after the entrance examinations and experience some fun time together as a class, in between some formal lessons.  I understand that the movie day was a big hit with all involved and although all the children have appreciated the time off timetable, usual lessons will resume, full-time, on Monday.

On Wednesday I welcomed Inspectors from the Archdiocese of Birmingham into school and they met with staff and children during the day.  The children’s behaviour and interaction with the inspectors was exemplary and I am incredibly proud of them all.  All staff at Crackley Hall were involved in preparing for the visit but I would like to thank Mrs Jackson-Mayne, as Head of Religious Education, in particular for her attention to detail and sharing her knowledge of the subject.  I will be able to provide more details of the outcome of the inspection in due course.   Initial feedback was very positive indeed and our pupils were a credit to the school and to their families.  As mentioned, thank you very much to Mrs Jackson-Mayne for all her tremendous work and to all the staff, especially Mrs Simmonds and the RE teachers, for their hard work and assistance over the past term.

Wednesday also saw our Nursery children getting creative with pottery and this was a very successful event which will, no doubt, be repeated again in the not too distant future.  I was pleased to be able to see some of our J6 parents on Wednesday afternoon at the French visit meeting and I hope that as many children as possible are able to attend this wonderful residential opportunity next Summer.  There will be a meeting for parents next Wednesday for our other residential visit to Alton Castle for J5 children which I hope parents will attend.

Although yesterday evening was a late finish for some of our staff it was an opportunity to showcaseour Nursery and Reception provision and this event was particularly well attended.  My thanks to Mrs Jenny Vaughan, Mrs Butler, Mrs Bird, Mrs O’Carroll-Bailey, Mrs Glen-Roots and Mrs Whitehurst for their efforts to make the event such a success.

Well done to all children who participated in the LAMDA examinations this week.  I know that some children were particularly nervous but I am sure that the experience will help them develop and gain confidence for future examinations.  Thank you to Mrs Wildey and Mrs Paphitis (Miss Rod) for the work they are doing with our drama pupils.

Our sports teams performed well this week, with excellent rugby results against Ratcliffe and the ISA Girls playing their best at the National Hockey Tournament in London on Thursday.  Congratulations to our coaches and the teams.

Congratulations to our stars of the week: Georgie, Amelia, Issy, Isla, Jia, Evie, Rhomun, Elle, Solon, Amelia, Fintan, Zach, Sam, Seamus and Olivia – you have all worked so hard and are setting a good example to all your friends – keep it up!

Thank you to Kiran, Evie, Isabella and the Junior 4 recorder group for your wonderful performances this morning.  It is always a delight hearing and seeing our pupils sing and play music – they are all certainly very talented.

Next week will see preparations increase in pace, ready for the Christmas Fayre and I know that the PTA will appreciate your help with donations to the various collections.  May I remind you that there is a non-uniform day on Friday 30 and, in return, children should bring in their donations to the fayre.  If your child is attending the Kenilworth Light Switch On during the evening of Friday 30, please ensure they arrive at Loch Fyne restaurant in full school uniform and I will look forward to watching them perform. 

Please do try your hardest to attend the online safety workshop for parents, being held at school at 19:00 on Monday evening.  Mr Cottrill will be hosting our presenter, Paul Hay, as I will be at trustees’ meeting at Princethorpe.  The pupils and staff will have taken part in the training and lessons through the day.

The England cricketers have got off to a good start in their third test against Sri Lanka – let’s hope that they can keep it up to win the test series 3-0.   After a great result against Croatia (notoriously difficult opponents) in the Nations League, the England football team can now look forward to a place in the finals in summer 2019.  A fantastic effort by Gareth Southgate and his young team – nothing like team spirit and togetherness to change a team’s fortunes!  This weekend sees the final round of the rugby autumn internationals with England up against Australia, Wales against South Africa, Ireland versus USA and Scotland playing Argentina (which should be a good game).  France will be hosting Fiji but Italy will have a tough afternoon against New Zealand.  I think that the England v Australia match will be good viewing but feel Wales will continue their dominance over the Springboks.

Finally, and appealing to you again, our annual Christmas Fayre is one of the highlights of the school year and I hope that as many pupils, family members and staff as possible will be out to support our hardworking (and largely new) PTA committee next Saturday afternoon.  It really is a great day for the children and they usually have a tremendous amount of fun whilst getting in the mood for Christmas.  The night prior to the Fayre, next Friday evening, sees our Choir singing at the switching on of the High Street lights – a great honour and a lot of fun.  Everyone is welcome to attend and support them.  The Kenilworth High Street is a spectacle of Christmas stalls, pork batch (and other food) stands and a festive family atmosphere for everyone.

I hope you enjoy reading the rest of this week’s Chronicle and I would like to draw your attention to forthcoming events so that you do not miss any notices that may affect your child.

I wish you all a restful and happy (and warmer) weekend with your families.

God bless,

Robert Duigan