The Chronicle

Isabella (Bella), Crackley Hall's Head Girl, in Junior 6 was awarded second place in KS2 for her entry into the ISA Musical Theatre Competition organised by the Independent Schools Association.

Schools across the country entered this prestigious competition and Bella was up against very tough opposition with excellent entries from her friends at Crackley Hall as well as other independent schools.  We are delighted to be able to share her award winning performance here.

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to you all.

Princethorpe College Director of Music, Gil Cowlishaw, and musicians from across the Foundation, including Crackley Hall School, have risen to the occasion with a fantastic finale to the end of the school year. In a third virtual concert, the Summer Sing And Play, the schools’ vocalists and musicians deliver an awe-inspiring performance of Miley Cyrus’ magical and moving ballard The Climb.

Together nearly 90 pupils and staff perform this beautiful song, the lyrics of which describe a difficult but rewarding journey, the challenge to keep the faith so appropriate for the term we have all just experienced.

I may not know it, but these are the moments that I'm going to remember most, just got to keep going.
And I’ve got to be strong, just keep pushing on!

There's always going be another mountain I'm always going to want to make it move,
Always going to be an uphill battle, sometimes I'm going to have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb!

We hope you agree that it just says it all. The wonder of virtually sharing music together has been an experience we will remember for years and years to come.

Gil Cowlishaw, explains, “Arranging the piece for the whole Foundation was a huge challenge, as I had to ensure that there were accessible parts for all the musicians across all three schools. The main body of the song has taken a lot more cobbling together, but it has definitely been worth the effort though, as the end result is, frankly, wonderful! There are pupils, from Reception right up to Upper Sixth, and staff representing all three schools including the Head of the Foundation, Ed Hester. The Climb will serve as a heart-warming and inspirational reminder of this singularly unusual term in the Foundation’s history.”

A huge thanks to Gil and the wonderful Foundation vocalists and musicians. What a wonderfully entertaining and inspirational end to the 2019-20 academic year!

You can watch the performance here: https://vimeo.com/434676980

Junior 6 took part in a special Sports Day last Friday 26 June. The children spent the afternoon out on the sports field in glorious sunshine. Working in groups they threw themselves enthusiastically into the adapted races and had a whole lot of fun. They enjoyed a traditional sprint, long distance run and throw but also some different events such as the Quoit Race and Commando Crawl as well as individual challenges for Press Ups, Sit Ups and the Standing Long Jump.

All of the events were hotly contested and the final results are as follows:

House Results

Individual Results

At Crackley Hall sport is all about participation so everyone took, part in every event and everyone had fun.

A very special thanks to Mrs Vaughan and to all the staff and the grounds team, for organising and running the event.

It was a fabulous fun-filled sunny afternoon enjoyed by all! 

A link to an album of photos from the event will be shared with parents.

Junior 6 have been 'having the time of their lives' - this week on Thursday they enjoyed a Seventies Day where they performed their anniversary dance piece Dancing Queen.

A link to an album of photos will be shared with parents shortly but in the meantime, here is a selection for you all to enjoy. 

Well, for many of us this is the end of term, and time for a rest and hopefully a bit of sun!  For others, it is the start of the summer nursery fun, where we get to explore other rooms, enjoy a quiet school, spend even more time outside, and make even more noise!  If you are in over the summer, keep an eye out for the painter – nursery is getting a bit of a face lift over the holiday, so that it looks all fresh and new for September.

Sadly we will lose all our lovely Badgers over the next few weeks, they will all start their new Reception classes in September, but we wish them well and hope they pop back to say hello maybe, to show off their lovely uniforms!  Do keep in touch, we hope you all have a great time with your new teachers.

If you are having a holiday, please stay safe, enjoy yourselves and we will be here when you come back. 

Nursery News

Message from the Chair of the PTA

I would honestly like to say a huge thank you to each and everyone of you who has helped the PTA this last academic year, undeniably it has been one of the toughest years of our lives for many, however moving forward I sincerely hope that we can build on the strong foundation we already have and focus our mind sets onto a brighter, more positive future and bringing our wonderful school community back together in the Autumn.

Why not get involved, we have parents who work part-time or full-time. Any time you can give is welcome. Having a child at this school means you can join us. We can use any skills you have and you might learn new ones.

Hopefully, we will see many old and new faces at the AGM in September, so on behalf of the PTA I would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy summer.

Lucy x

And it’s goodbye from us……….

We are all very proud of our achievements within the Crackley Hall PTA over the past 14 years and can honestly say that it has been an honour to be part of such an amazing team effort. 

We have been on an incredible journey of fun, laughter, camaraderie and friendship, whilst raising funds for our school community.   We cannot say it hasn’t been hard work too – catering, organising, printing, lifting, setting up, clearing down and everything in-between.  But it has been such a worthwhile thing to do.

Please do support your PTA at Crackley Hall during what will be a rather difficult year ahead in terms of holding social events and fundraising. We hope you have as much fun as we all have over the years and make some lifelong friends along the way.

With all best wishes

Sally, Wendy, Kara, Gill, Julie and Melissa.

Year 6 Leavers

For obvious reasons this year’s leaving festivities have been rather different for J6 but everyone has done their best to give them a good send off and for them to leave with some positive and happy memories. With this in mind Crackley Hall PTA has kindly donated funding for a leavers’ gift for all of J6. We hope their Crackley Hall water bottles will be a nice memento of their time at Crackley. One thing is for sure, 2020 will be a year they will never forget! The PTA would like to wish all of J6 the very best for their future as they go off to new pastures.

Although the J6 leavers’ celebrations were somewhat limited this year compared to other years, we couldn’t let them leave without a good send off. A huge thanks to Hayley from Private Party by Lilian Jay lillianivy.com for very kindly loaning us a red carpet to allow our superstars to leave the premises in style!

Fund Raising

During the summer holidays, please don’t forget that the PTA is registered with easyfundraising. So, although we’re unable to get together and hold fundraising events in person, we can continue to raise free funds, at no extra cost to you. 

When you shop via the easyfundraising website or app, with over 4,100 of your favourite retailers, including John Lewis & Partners, eBay, Amazon and many more, you will raise FREE donations for the school.  

If you’re already thinking about uniform for next term Nike and M&S are currently both offering 2% donations to the school when you purchase online. If you go walking or running and like listening to music, why not try listening to books using the Audible App.  Audible are currently giving a donation of £2 per each new account registered.

If you’re not already registered, please visit our easyfundraising page here:

Easy Fundraising Link

This will really make a difference to our school! Thank you for your support.

We are not just celebrating birthdays that have taken place this week but also those who will also be having birthdays during the school holiday. 

These are:

Olly M, George, William, Evie, Sara, Thomas, Amy F, Amelia, Isabella , Lena, Joseph M, Jenson, Miley, Alex V, Daiya, Lawson, Maria, Isla, Evie, Grace W, Harry L, Hugo, Isabel, Lucas H, Woody, Elena, Aaryan L, Ella, Matilda, Joseph, Louis, Nancy, Diya, Charlie, Thomas, Jacob C, Alex H, Oliver, Eliana, William, Isabella O, Amy C.

We hope you enjoy this video

Princethorpe College are currently advertising for three posts.

Administrator/Receptionist - Maternity Cover

Princethorpe College require an Administrator and Receptionist as a maternity cover, ideally starting mid-August 2020, to assist with the administration and organisational requirements of the College. Alongside other Reception staff and the Office Manager, the post holder is responsible for the day to day running of the busy Reception office.

Learning Support Teacher - Part Time

Princethorpe College seek a specialist teacher of Learning Support for pupils aged from 11 to 19 years with Specific Learning Difficulties and other SEND. There is some flexibility and this could be a full-time position or significant part-time. This position could suit someone who is looking to gain more experience or return to the classroom, or for an applicant with more experience, there may be opportunities to take on extra responsibility within the department. The successful candidate will collaborate with all of the Learning Support team to help to ensure that all pupils with additional needs are enabled to achieve their full potential alongside their peers.

Uniform and School Shop Manager 

We seek to appoint a Shop Manager must be able to manage and run the shop providing a high level of service to potential parents, parents, pupils and staff of the Foundation. The Shop Manager will be in charge of the purchasing of uniform and exercise books along with the maintenance of required stock levels, ensuring stock valuations are accurate and that stock takes are carried out at the end of each term.

The Shop Manager will also manage the sale of merchandise, using PASS Shop Manager, to include the issuing of bus tickets and parking permits, keeping a log of parking permits, and the printing and issuing of bus passes, and provide support to the Bursary as necessary.

Hours of work: 25 hours a week for 37 weeks of the year, Monday to Friday 10.30am - 4.30pm with an hour for lunch to cover the school term time and some additional days at half-terms and during the Easter holiday as and when required. In the Summer holidays (for 7 weeks of the year) the successful candidate would be required to work 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm.

For further details, please see the Foundation's website here.