The Chronicle

Dear Parents

Reflecting back during this last full week of the school year, I have to think, ‘What a year it has been!’  I am thankful that, whilst we have had cases of Covid in school, we have been able to manage the situation and have not needed to resort to online learning for any year groups.  I sincerely hope that this trend continues and we have seen the last of remote learning.

I would like to briefly touch upon the whole school production which took place last Friday evening.  Whilst apologising sincerely for the timing problems, I felt that the Spa Centre provided a wonderful venue for the production and the standard of the performance was simply outstanding; this sentiment was echoed amongst so many families.  I am hugely proud of everyone who took part in the production and I hope you enjoyed the show too. Grateful thanks are extended again to Mrs Wildey, Mrs Olden, Mrs Paphitis and everyone else who helped in making the production the success that it was – so many people contributed their time and skills.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone the Key Stage 2 sports day on Monday due to the inclement weather and slippery, unsafe ground conditions.  We do hope that the forecast will be fine for Monday 4 July and invite parents to support this event.  Don’t forget, children should wear house colours and be in fine voice to support their house team mates.

On Tuesday, we invited local parishioners and grandparents into school to enjoy a strawberry cream tea and an afternoon of entertainment.  We haven’t been able to host this event for two years so it felt even more special this year and I have received many appreciative letters from those who attended.  Mrs Simmonds, Mrs Wright (and helpers) from the PTA, our performing arts staff members and our Minnie Vinnies hosted or entertained our guests during the afternoon whilst they sampled homemade scones, fresh strawberries and fresh cream.  I would like to thank Mrs Simmonds for organising this event, baking more scones than could be consumed, and rallying volunteers and donations to ensure that this event was enjoyed by all who attended. 

All children were able to spend time in their new classes on Wednesday during ‘move up morning’.  Our Junior 6 children visited Princethorpe College whilst the rest of Crackley Hall pupils moved to their next class and enjoyed activities with their new teacher and class mates.  Our youngest pupils, from Nursery, didn’t have to go too far from their familiar setting as they spent time in Reception classes.  Next year, children will have the opportunity to form new friendship groups and continue to grow and learn with their new teacher.  Communications will be sent towards the end of the summer from your child’s new teacher about the start of the Michaelmas term.

Yesterday was a day of celebration as we hosted our two Prize Givings for the school.  Reception to Junior 4 gathered in the Hall during the afternoon and Junior 5 and 6 took their seats at 6.00pm for the presentation of awards.  Our Prize Giving is an opportunity to recognise outstanding achievement in the classroom and contribution to school life.  All children are considered for awards and this is a much deliberated process with input from teachers and leadership members across the school.  I was delighted to welcome families into school to help celebrate the awards and Ms Arler and her catering team provide a wonderful spread for parents to sample.  My thanks also go to Mr Hester, for presenting the Junior 5 and 6 awards and Father Kevin for opening the evening celebration.  This event could not take place without the organisation behind the scenes and I would like to congratulate the office team, led by Mrs Taylor, Mrs Paphitis, Mr Luis and Mr Hunt on a job well done.  Photographs taken at both ceremonies will be shared shortly with families.

Holiday club will operate for the first two weeks of the school holiday but unfortunately, due to lack of children registered, it is unlikely to operate for most of the remainder of the summer.  If you do wish to book your children into holiday club, please email holidayclub@crackleyhall.co.uk by Monday 4 July urgently.  Once numbers have been confirmed by Tuesday 5 July, we will inform families as to whether booking from 25 July until 31 August can be honoured.

I will write to you all before the end of term and before the start of the next academic year, but in the meantime, I wish you all a lovely weekend.

God bless,

Mr Duigan

Please be advised that the children's school medication will be given to parents during carline on Wednesday (6 July).  If you would like to collect it earlier please come to the school office.

Thank you

If your child is absent from school during next week, please can you copy in the school office when you inform the class teacher.

receptionist@crackleyhall.co.uk

Thank You 

Parents and Guardians are reminded that their child should return their locker key to the school office by Wednesday of next week. Keys should be placed in a sealed envelope with the child's name, form and key number written on the front.

Please note that any keys that are not returned will need to be paid for in full. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Please click on the link for the 2023-2024 term dates.

The menus for September 2022 can be found by following these links

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Crackley Hall welcomed grandparents and parishioners to school yesterday for a special afternoon cream tea. Organised by Crackley Hall’s Mini Vinnies, the junior arm of the charity St Vincent de Paul Society, the community cream tea is a favourite on the school calendar and the children were delighted to be able to welcome their visitors to the school.

The guests gathered in the School Hall which reverberated with friendly chatter and the clink of china, as teapots and plates piled high with scones, strawberries, jam and cream were carefully served.

Alongside their tea, our guests enjoyed a programme of entertainment as pupils from across the school took turns to perform. From the School Orchestra to the Chamber Choir as well as a number of individual solo performances, all of the children performed with confidence and panache much to the delight of the audience.

There was also plenty of time to chat and the pupils from Junior 5 and Junior 6 enjoyed talking to the older generations as they enjoyed their tea.

Mr Duigan, Headmaster, popped in to welcome everyone to the school and to thank Mrs Simmonds for helping the Mini Vinnies organise the community event.

It was as always, a lovely afternoon and our Mini Vinnies’ Crackley Cream Tea for our local community was clearly thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Crackley Hall welcomed Louise from Warwickshire Safe and Active Schools on Tuesday 28 June. Louise delivered an informative and interactive assembly on road safety. Her session focused on keeping safe whether on the road, in a vehicle or out at play.

It is never too early to start learning the road safety code and developing awareness of the small steps we can all take to be road safe. Whether remembering to hold hands or just being dressed to be seen, wearing your seatbelt or choosing a safe place to play. Louise delivered her important messages in a fun and engaging way.

The assembly improved the children’s road awareness and provided a great base on which to build future skills. Louise will be returning to school next year to deliver more age specific training across the different year groups.

Tennis

Isaac recently represented Warwickshire in the LTA county cup qualifiers in Repton, playing against three other counties. He went on to win all of his matches, helping the Warwickshire U9 boys reach the finals.

The team then headed to the amazing Tennis Centre at Bath University where they played the other top counties in the country and they finished in 3rd place, taking home the bronze medal. This was an incredible achievement following a year of training and hard work to maintain his county place.

Movie

Isaac secured a small part in a new Christmas movie coming out on Netflix this December Christmas on Mistletoe Farm. He had a wonderful experience filming a Christmas movie during the heatwave over the Easter break!

RSC

Isaac (and his brother, ex-Crackley pupil Henry) joined the Royal Shakespeare this month. Following some pretty tough auditions, they wwere chosen to perform as Prince York and Prince Edward in Richard III this season at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-On-Avon. Isaac will be busy with the play until the beginning of October.

Well done!

Holiday club will run from Monday 11 July until Wednesday 31 August 2022 (excluding 29 August).

It will be open from 8.15am to 5.45pm each day, and will cost £35 per child. Hot lunch will be provided.

Holiday club will only operate on the days where there are sufficient numbers to open, therefore it is important for you to book early, as we may not be able to accommodate last minute bookings, due to staff ratios. If you have booked a day and the numbers attending are not high enough, you will be contacted to either cancel or rearrange the day booked.

Please book via the Holiday Club email address - holidayclub@crackleyhall.co.uk

Thank you.

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Hardwick's class is the whole class

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Glen-Root's class is Aaryan and Will

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Burley's class is Archie

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Van Zyl's class is all of Junior 3V

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Holmes' class is Leo

Mathlete of the week for Mr Stedeford's class is the whole of my maths class

Well done all!

Please click on 'View Gallery' to scroll through a few photos from the week.

Junior 6 this week have had a busy time preparing for Leavers’ Mass and Leavers’ Assembly. Some children have had their moving up day where they have gone to their new schools and met their new class and teachers for their coming year.

During our full final week at Crackley, the children have been reminiscing about their fondest memories over the last few years and enjoyed sharing fun stories with each other. It’s been lovely to see the children so happy and enjoying their final few days together. They are looking forward to next week where they will take part in their final Sports day, Mass and Assembly.

Despite not getting to show off their house colours during sports day this week, there was still an opportunity for the Junior 5s to show off their sporting ability in a House cricket tournament. All children showed great determination and teamwork, but it was Saturn who won overall with a score of over 200 runs. Well done to all children who took part and fingers crossed for clear skies next Monday! 

All the Junior 4s have loved our new Science topic, 'The Big Build'. They were all able to identify a variety of famous bridges from across the world, combining this knowledge with geography too. Junior 4 have enthusiastically researched about the differing bridge structures and then both designed and built their very own bridges – as strong as they could possibly be! Mrs Roberts, their Science teacher, said she was amazed by the diverse and skilful structures which were created by all. We then used weights to see how strong their bridges were and some of them were even strong enough to hold their creator. Well done to all!

There has been much to celebrate and enjoy this week - from Moving Up day on Wednesday, where we met our new teachers for Junior 4, to a delightful Prize Giving on Thursday, where we celebrated our friends and reflected on a wonderful year. We are ending the year on such a high note and feel ready and prepared for the challenge of Junior 4. We are making the most of our remaining days in Junior 3, busying ourselves with finishing our DT project and completing the final touches to our persuasive letters to the President of Columbia. We have also made kapok filled ladybird pencil cases this week to go with our Great Kapok Tree story. We created little ladybirds using a variety of stitches and then stuffed them with natural Kapok from a seed. The 1st of July saw us celebrating two additional events, the birthday of Mrs Wheatley and the completion of Miss Black’s placement with us. We wish Mrs Wheatley a very happy birthday and have decided she can have a few weeks off (after next week) as a present. We also wish Miss Black all the very best as she heads off to start her teaching career in Birmingham. We thank her for all she has done this term and hope she continues to love teaching and learning as much as we do. Well done everyone, you have been a sensational Junior 3 Year group; making us, your parents and each other proud.

What a busy week in Junior 2! A road safety workshop, move-up day, prize giving and to finish the week - STEM day! The children had a wonderful day learning how to take photos and videos of their friends and how to make these into movies. Their editing skills have progressed so much, and we have enjoyed seeing them make videos celebrating their time in Year 2. 

Junior 1H would like to say a huge THANK YOU to the PTA for the delicious ice creams and ice lollies that we had on Monday, what a wonderful way to start the week! Having a yummy treat did not stop us from working hard this week, particularly in English where we were writing poems about different colours and using our senses to help describe each colour in a unique way. As it was STEM week, we took the opportunity to challenge ourselves to make the longest paper chain using only one piece of paper – much trickier than you think! We then made a moving toy which moved using a CAM mechanism which was a brilliant link back to our trip to the MAD museum last week.

In Reception this week, the children have been reflecting on their time in Reception. Looking through their books and photos from the year, they discussed what they are proud of, and what they can do now that they couldn’t do before. We have also spent time this week thinking about moving to Junior 1, and what they are looking forward to learning next year and anything they may be worried about too. Their ‘Moving-Up’ day on Wednesday was successful and the children came back excited about their new class.

Mr Duigan led the Weekly Mission assembly on Monday and celebrated the Feast of Saint Peter and Paul, which was recognised on Wednesday 29 June. We learnt how St Peter was the 'rock' on which Jesus built His church and he was entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of heaven. In contrast, St Paul changed when God appeared to him as a brilliant light and asked him to stop hurting the followers of Jesus. Paul changed his ways and instead of being one of the greatest enemies of Jesus, he became one of His greatest friends. Both Peter and Paul were good friends and they travelled far and wide preaching the Good News and worked endlessly for Jesus. They are the greatest leaders of the early Church and having suffered for their faith in prison, they continued their work by writing many letters, which we can still read today.

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

Activity Sheet

Please click on the link below for this week's weekly mission:

Weekly Mission

Weekly Mission Summer

In Lego Club this week we reflected on all the models we had made this past year. From a summer Jubilee Garden drenched with palm trees, to wildlife explorers in the jungle and not forgetting the Platinum Jubilee celebrations with the Queen waving to crowds from the Buckingham Palace balcony with her corgis causing mischief and mayhem with Paddiington Bear's marmalade sandwiches! We had the super-cool strengths of the mighty Superheroes, to princesses with a difference and Ninjas making the odd appearance. We investigated the oceans with seals and turtles and played daring sea rescue adventures. We pretended we were astronauts and invented the most awesome space rockets. We went to the galaxy and beyond with Star Wars and the impressive Marvel heroes. We problem-solved, created and experimented together as a team; we persevered when we thought we couldn’t finish our model, managing our frustration in the process and celebrating in the happiness when we did. But most of all, we had fun firing our imaginations with new ways of learning. Enjoy the summer Lego builders. Lego Club will be back!

Please click on the link for this week's newsletter.

Please follow the link for more information. 

the PTA AGM will take place on Wednesday 28 September at 7.00pm in the Science Room.

Please see information attached from the PTA.

PTA Information

The Big PTA Summer Raffle 2022 is a great way to boost PTA funds and support the school.

To add to the feel good factor there is the chance for 12 lucky supporters to win up to £5,000 while supporting the Crackley Hall PTA with their amazing work along the way.

Parentkind have already helped PTAs raise over £300,000 and this summer the Big PTA Summer Raffle 2022 aims to increase that amount to over £400,000. Every ticket makes a difference and entering is easy. For just £3 (25p per draw) you will get a ticket in all 12 draws and the best news is your PTA will benefit from every ticket sold. Three draws will take place each day between 18 July and 21 July 2022 and the lucky winners will be announced daily.

Good Luck and we hope you enjoy taking part in the Big PTA Summer Raffle 2022!

Please click the link to enter. 

Thank you to all who donated or purchased second hand uniform this year. We appreciate your support.

The second hand uniform shop will shut next week and reopen in September. Please continue to use the uniform@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk email to submit your orders before Wednesday 5 July. The email is not monitored over the summer.

*Current Y6 children* - as always we are very grateful to accept any donations you may have before the end of the school year. Please pop these freshly washed items into the box labelled ‘Second Hand Uniform’ in the school porch before next Wednesday.

Please get in touch with any orders you may need for starting in September as we will have limited access to uniform shop until September 2022.

As always we thank you for your support and couldn’t run the second hand shop without your generous donations.

We would also like to say a huge THANK YOU to our PTA members in charge (Carly and Jo) of the second hand uniform shop who work so hard for us all!

The PTA are pleased to publish our final newsletter of the academic year. We want to thank you for your support and time this year toward the PTA events. We hope you and your family have enjoyed the events this year.

Please follow the link for the PTA Newsletter. 

With the success of the 200 club this year, we are pleased to announce that it will continue for the next academic year. In the last six months £1,350.00 has been won by the families of Crackley Hall! 

Early bird enrolment for the next academic year is open from 24 June to 6 July. As an early bird you will be entered into a monthly draw from September 2022 to July 2023, for the reduced price of £50 (normally £55 or £5 each month). Each month you will have the chance to win £50, £75 or £100 pounds. 

Please click the link to participate in the early bird offer. Once this date closes it will open for a short window in September 2022 where enrolment will be £55 for the academic year. 

https://www.pta-events.co.uk/crackleyhall/index.cfm?fbclid=IwAR0jmqOsWXsS5VvbRAitev8Qe98BfpNzuJfiY-L_-ZFMMuo3cdc-rc50NT4#.YrS6Oy8w1bX

You must be 18 to participate and there is no limit to the number of entries you can have. All family and extended family members of Crackley Hall are eligible to enrol. 

As always we thank you for your continued support to the PTA. We love handing over winning cheques each month and giving back to our generous families. 

Good luck!

Parents, please ensure that all items of school uniform and sports kits are named.

Could you please regularly check all uniform and sports kits at home – if it does not belong to your child, please return it to the School Office as soon as possible.

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Grace (J5W) has lost her named black sports fleece

Esme (J5W) has lost her black Nike shorts

Alex (J6V) has lost his School Council Badge (shiny blue)

Jacob (J3H) has lost his new tracksuit bottoms

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There will be unnamed lost property in the foyer from Monday 4 July.

Can Parents please remember to label everything ready for September.

Thank you

We regularly recruit for a variety of roles, please do share news of the vacancies with interested friends and family.

Further information and application forms on all roles are available on the Foundation's website - www.princethorpe.co.uk/join-us 

• Head of Nursery - Little Crackers
• Weekend Painter and Decorator - Princethorpe Foundation
• Eveneing Caretaker - Princethorpe Foundation 
• PA to Deputy Head Pastoral and Pastoral Office Manager