The Chronicle

We thought you might be interested to hear of an upcoming event in Coventry that is intended for families or individuals with autism or might have some underlying traits of a high functioning autism spectrum condition.

The Curly hair Project was founded by autistic author and entrepreneur Alis Rowe. The event is really good value for parents and indeed there is a family ticket if you take along your young person. You might not be interested in all the sessions, so it’s possible to just attend those you are most interested in.

Further details are available through the following websiete address: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/autism-mental-health-day-coventry-tickets-49643247289

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

On Wednesday 13 February Crackley Hall’s pupils took it in turn to hop, skip or jump in a charity skipathon, an annual fund raising event organised by Crackley’s Mini Vinnies. 

Mini Vinnies’ Co-ordinator, Mrs Dolores Simmonds explains, “This year the children are skipping to support the Sister Mary Aloysius College of Mercy in Nigeria.  It is a school funded completely by donations named in thanks after one of the Sisters of Mercy.  Our school also has links with the Sisters of Mercy as Sister Philomena, who is now in charge of the Sisters of Mercy order, was once Headmistress here at Crackley Hall when the school was a convent.”

The children at Crackley Hall pledged to raise as much money as possible for the charity and have been collecting sponsors over the last two weeks.  In the skipathon the children took it in turns, one form at a time, to skip, hop or jump for one minute each.  Supervised by Mrs Simmonds and Mrs Hutton from the school’s PTA , wave after wave of eager skippers jumped across the hall.

The underlying purpose of the Mini Vinnies, the junior arm of the St Vincent de Paul organisation, is to make a difference to underprivileged people’s lives. Crackley Hall’s bouncing beans have done exactly that. The money raised will be donated to the College to help with an urgent repair to the roof, which will enable more children in Nigeria to benefit from an education.

Well done to all the skippers who took part and a big thank you to those who generously donated to the skipathon. We'll keep you updated as to the amount raised as it rolls in. 

Please can any outstanding money be brought into school by Tuesday 26 February.

15 lucky Crackley pupils, along with pupils from the Crescent School and Princethorpe College, swapped last Tuesday’s lessons for a memorable voyage into space, courtesy of the National Space Centre, Leicester.

The ‘space scientists’ were briefed by Commanders Rob and Matt about their scientifically important tasks on board the Space Station and at Mission Control. Then it was time to launch the Space Station crew into space and into their well-equipped laboratory whilst their partners manned Mission Control on the earth below.

Time critical tasks challenged our scientists to the full, working in roles including Navigation, Communication and Data and Life Support.  During their arduous mission, pupils from Year 6 and 7 had to work under pressure to complete a list of tasks as well as deal with emergency situations that challenged the life of the crew and the success of the whole mission.

We are happy to report that the whole team rallied to the cause and showed great team co-operation and communication. They completed their mission tasks with skill and great enthusiasm.

The culmination of the day was the discovery of a new comet, the successful launch of a probe to confirm that it was an as yet undiscovered comet and the opportunity to name it the ‘CCP Comet’ (Crackley, Crescent, Princethorpe).

After celebrating their achievement with a crew photo, the pupils enjoyed a hearty lunch, picked up a few souvenirs and headed for the centre's 3D planetarium where they viewed an amazing journey into life as an astronaut.

Mrs Spillane, commented, “It was an amazing mission – I was impressed with how well the pupils from our three schools worked together. The atmosphere was fantastic and the enthusiasm boundless, all in all it was a great opportunity for cross-curricular learning. We all agreed that it was an ‘out of this world’ experience!"  

Picture the scene... It is 1666 and London is a thriving capital city. Narrow streets of closely built timber frame buildings tower over you as you walk within the city's walls. Surely, life after a recent bubonic plague outbreak can only get better? Then, the faint whiff of burning that filled your nose quickly transforms into a raging fireball of thick acrid smoke and red hot sparks. For London is alight! A fire that respects no boundaries has left its darkened birth at a bakery on Pudding Lane and is on the march, consuming everything in its path.

Thanks to History Off the Page, this was the scene that the J2H and J2M apprentices discovered on Tuesday 12 February. Fresh from learning skills common for workers of the era, our keen firefighters had to try and stop the devastation. Pupils turned rat catchers, leather workers, chandlers, metal workers and seamstresses formed fire lines to move buckets of water to the raging inferno... and all before lunch!

In the afternoon, the children faced their next challenge and set about excavating what was left of the charred city. They became central to the process of rebuilding, piecing together singed legal documents and returning personal belongings.

Today a rainbow of colours made their way through the school gates as Crackley's uniform was swapped out for the latest fashions to celebrate the coming of half term and help to raise valuable funds for the school and good causes. 

As you no doubt already know, Crackley likes to work and play hard; so our ever resourceful and hard working PTA had organised a disco for each year group, thanks to Mr and Mrs Vaughan, to strut their funky stuff. Shapes were made and fun was definitely had by all.

One things for sure, with over £150 raised it definitely was big smiles all round. We'll let you know the actual figure just as soon as the last few pounds roll in. 

Foundation parents, staff, past pupils and friends are all cordially invited to attend Princethorpe - A Vision For The Future, a presentation by Ed Hester, Head of the Foundation on Thursday 14 March at 7.30pm in the College's Clarkson theatre.

The presentation will outline the Foundation's vision for the next five to ten years, and provide more detailed information on the College's new Science Building and campus improvements, including an interactive walk through of the Science facility.  Mr Hester will also feedback highlights from the College's parental questionnaire, unveil the Foundation's new website and outline plans for a new, improved Foundation parent portal.

Refreshments will be served after the presentation in the Sixth Form Centre.

The event is aimed at adults, although pupils are welcome to attend if accompanied by an adult.

Please click on this link to let us know if you would like to attend by Monday 4 March 2019.