The Chronicle

Dear Parents

It has been my great pleasure to welcome all our pupils and their families back to school at the start of a new academic year.  I hope that you and your family have settled back into the new routine and are looking forward to relaxing this weekend.  I am sure that the children have returned home each evening with stories of the new friendships made and details about the lessons they have experienced.  It has been wonderful to see the older children taking delight in helping the new, and younger, children around school.

It may take a while for the daily routines to become habit, especially for our new families but, if in doubt, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher or the school office.  I am delighted that I have managed to see many of you this week as you either bring your children to school or collect them at the end of the day.  Whilst I might not always be available, I will continue to arrange for members of staff to be present to meet you at both drop off and collection.  However, can I please remind all parents that as the school is in the centre of a residential area, we must be mindful of our neighbours.  When parking, can you please ensure that you do not block driveways, drop kerbs or park too near to a junction.  Carline operates well as long as staff have the pupils ready on time and also if parents arrive at the correct time as children are only released at specific times.  Any confusion at arrival times can cause significant problems on the approach roads and delay your departure from school.  Details of the timings can be found later in the Chronicle.

This week has seen the start of swimming lessons, school led clubs and parent information evenings.  I do hope that these information evenings have proved useful to you and have given you an insight into the year ahead.  This morning we welcomed Father Kevin to school for the first Mass of the year and I am very grateful to him for celebrating Mass with the whole school community.  We remember at this time Mrs Mary O’Farrell, our previous Chair of Governors and good friend of Crackley Hall, and Mrs Marlene Head, a former colleague, who sadly passed away just about a year ago. 

Due to Mass taking place, we did not celebrate Stars of the Week or any other awards but the usual Celebration Assembly will start again next Friday and you are most welcome to attend and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, served by willing and friendly members of our fabulous PTA.

External school clubs will start again next week and the parents’ information evenings will continue.  As the term progresses, the pace will increase and the school diary will become busier.  I therefore recommend that you keep a close eye on any updates in the Chronicle and website to ensure that you are kept fully informed of any changes.  The school office will, of course, contact you should there be any last-minute changes that you may not have had the opportunity to read.

Please be aware of the PTA dates, being the Networking Evening, the AGM and the Headmaster’s Quiz.  I would also like to highlight the New Parents’ Evening where you will have the opportunity to meet the various members of staff, gather further information on the school day and school life in general and meet fellow new parents and members of the PTA.

The cricket is not going to script if you’re an England supporter and Steve Smith is proving to be a real thorn in England’s side.  I am sure there will be some good sport over the weekend, amongst the good rest and family time that you have planned.

The last word is with our Junior 6’s in mind.  Our thoughts are with many of our Junior 6 pupils as they sit the grammar school entrance examinations.  May they all do their very best.

Have a restful and happy weekend.

God bless,

Robert Duigan