The Chronicle

Dear Parents

Welcome back to school at the start of the second half of Michaelmas Term.  I hope that everyone enjoyed the half term break with, hopefully, some time spent together as families.  School remained open during the break with holiday club taking part in many different activities and visits to some exciting local attractions. I was delighted with the improved offering and program. Well done to Ms Osborn and her team. Bookings will soon be open for the Christmas holiday club so please try to keep a look out for this as we were full to capacity on most days during half term.

We have welcomed two new members of staff to school this week; Ms Holt has joined the School Office and Mr Johnson is now a member of the After Care team.  Both Ms Holt and Mr Johnson are familiar with school and we welcome both of them to the Crackley Hall staff team; I am sure that you too will make them feel very welcome should you see them this term.  We are also currently advertising for a Nursery Practitioner and would be delighted to hear from individuals who may be interested in this role.  Further details can be found on the school website.

This week, the whole school has been involved in Vocations Week which has been organised by Mrs Jackson-Mayne.  There has been a busy timetable of visits by parents, guide dogs, the local police and fire fighting team and the children have been very excited to learn about the different vocations, skills and careers.  I am grateful to everyone who has given their time to share their knowledge with the children and especially to Mrs Jackson-Mayne for organising such an insightful week.  I have heard about the many highlights including hearing the sirens on the police car, people meeting Stanley the tortoise and the very calm guide dog that attracted the attention of so many this morning.

I welcomed Father Kevin into school on Tuesday when we celebrated All Saints Mass and it was super to gather all the children together once again.  Thank you to Father Kevin, Mrs Jackson-Mayne, Mrs Olden, Ms Holmes and Mrs Simmonds for their help assisting with the preparations for Mass. The Junior 3H pupils helped lead the Mass is such a worshipful and professional manner.

Yesterday, Mrs and Mr Vaughan and Miss Broadbent accompanied a group of Junior 4, Junior 5 and Junior 6 children to Walsall Gala Baths when they participated in the ISA Swimming Gala.  I am delighted to report that everyone performed to the best of their ability which resulted in lots of children being placed in the top 8 for their age and discipline. Congratulations to Theo for qualifying for the national finals.  You will be able to read more about the results later in this edition.  Congratulations to everyone who was involved and thank you to Mrs Vaughan for organising this event.

Many of our Junior 6 will be visiting Princethorpe College tomorrow morning when then sit the Entrance Examination.  Whilst I am sure that there could be nerves (from both parents and children), I know that the children have been well prepared and I have faith that you will all try the best that you can.  Trust in yourself because we all believe in you.  There have been, and will be a few more entrance examinations taking place, and for that reason the traditional activities week has been postponed until later this term.

During assembly this morning I presented certificates to our Stars of the Week: August, Anna, Teddy, Cole, George, Olivia, Teo, Hanna, Charlie, Jessie, Sienna F, Elora, Seb and Nell. It was lovely to award a number of Junior da Vinci too.  Congratulations to everyone on your efforts!  Leani in Junior 6 sang most beautifully at assembly this morning; it was a privilege listening to her.

Next Tuesday, we will be hosting a Choral Day when musicians from Junior 5 and 6 at Crescent School will join us for a day of music making.  This will culminate in a concert at the end of the afternoon which I am very much looking forward to hearing.

There will be some interesting rugby matches this weekend as we start the Autumn Internationals.  South Africa will find it very difficult against Ireland, who are rated as the best team in the world at the moment.  The T20 men’s cricket world cup is in full swing, with the semi-finalists to be decided this weekend.  South Africa and England are both in with a shout of making the semi-finals.  There are so many strong teams, with India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia all capable of beating any team on their day.

Throughout November, please do remember, in your prayers, all souls and those who lost their lives in wars over the ages. I hope everyone has a restful weekend and that there is some good weather to look forward to.

God bless,

Rob Duigan

The menus for the second half of the Michaelmas Term can be viewed here:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Our best wishes go out to all of the Junior 6 pupils who have taken or are about to take school entrance examinations.   The Princethorpe College Entrance Examination is this weekend and we know that your teachers have prepared you well and that each of you has also worked really hard in preparation. Remember to stay calm and focused and trust in what you have learnt. All of you are in our prayers; and although you might worry, remember to take strength from the Lord.

A team of 20 swimmers from Crackley Hall School made the journey to Walsall Baths yesterday, Thursday 3 November, to compete in the Independent Schools Association’s (ISA) Midlands Junior Swimming Gala.

With 27 schools competing, the pupils from Juniors 4, 5 and 6 knew right from the start they would all have to swim superbly if Crackley was to have any chance of being placed in the overall team competition. Success at the Regional event would qualify pupils for the ISA National Championships due to take place in early December in London at the Olympic Aquatics Centre.

The children swam 25m in the pool and the races included both individual events and exciting team relays. For some of the children it was their very first experience of competitive galas but as always Crackley Hall’s pupils encouraged each other, from the start through to the finish of every single race.

Junior 4’s Theo swam sensationally in the Year 4 Boys 25m Backstroke just snatching the victory in a super time of 24.25 seconds, earning himself a well-deserved place in the National Finals. While Junior 5’s Alexa stayed strong in the 25m Freestyle completing the course in 21.57 seconds to finish third and take the Bronze medal.

In the Relays, the Year 4 Boys claimed a Silver medal in the Freestyle Relay, while the Year 6 Boys and the Year 5 Girls earned themselves Bronze medals with third place finishes in the Freestyle Relay.

Across the team, Crackley’s swimmers put in strong performances with a number just missing out on medals when they finished in fourth place, but their performances all helped Crackley Hall to finish in 5th place overall at the end of the day. It was a very creditable result for the school.

Crackley Hall's Director of Sport, Mrs Kat Vaughan, was delighted and commented, “As always there was a fabulous atmosphere poolside, with the whole team willing each other on. We had some excellent swims and tight finishes, Crackley has some very determined children.  Many congratulations to Theo for qualifying for the prestigious National competition in London.”

Well done to all of Crackley Hall’s swimmers for their excellent effort and good luck to Theo in the National Finals!

In their classes the children have discussed together, and voted for, their new School Council representatives for this academic year. We are pleased to announce the following council members who will support the school community and work as the voice of our student body.

Reception - Ted and Imogen  
Year 1 - Ella, Matteo and Haris 
Year 2 - Josh and Ashleigh  
Year 3 - Elle, Leyton, Gabriella and Archie 
Year 4 - Josh, Lexi-Jean, Jude and Diya 
Year 5 - Alexa, Harry, Phoebe and Arthur 
Year 6 - Arisha, Mairen, Carter, Olivia and Evie 

Facilitatetd by Mrs Burley, our first School Council meeting was held on Monday 31 October where the children were set the task of talking to their peers and making a list of their ideas for the coming academic year. The School Council meets again on Monday 14 November. 

Thank you to these children for volunteering for this important role.

Here at Crackley Hall our Vocations Week is a celebration of the mission God has for us in our lives. We have all been given gifts and talents that enable us to serve others in our community.

The week began with ‘Saints Alive’, members of our school and parish community volunteered to bring alive the Saints who represent each House: St Joseph for Mars, St Francis for Saturn, St John Henry Newman for Venus and St Therese Liseux for Jupiter. Our 'Saints' were interviewed by their Houses, with the question and answer session helping the children learn about their lives and the work that they did.

During the rest of the week over 40 parents visited Crackley Hall to speak to the children about their career and the gifts they use to carry out their role. We also had representatives from the Police and Fire Service, alongside members of the parish and wider community. The Vocational Wheel was a lovely opportunity for pupils to learn more about the variety of roles that can be done and for them to be inspired by the gifts required for the varying roles.

Mrs Jackson-Mayne would like to say a huge thank you on behalf of all the staff, to the parents, friends, and relatives who volunteered to come in during Vocations Week to tell the children about their role. It has been an amazing experience for the whole school – pupils and staff - and we couldn’t have done it without our fantastic Crackley Spirit!

Saints Alive Quiz

Following on from the Saints Alive visit, pupils across the school took part in a Vocations Week House Quiz on Wednesday. Teams included children from Junior 1 to Junior 6 and the audience also scored bonus points for their answers.

The results for the House Quiz are as follows:

Last place on 15 points – Saturn on their saint St Francis

Third place with 21 points - Mars on their saint St Joseph

Joint first and second place Jupiter on their saint John Henry Newman and Venus on their saint St Therese Liseux, both received 23 points.

A special mention should go to Jude in Junior 4S and George in Junior 1 for their amazing answers which demonstrated their listening skills and understanding.

All Saints' Day Mass

All Saints' Mass, led by Junior 3H, was celebrated by Father Kevin on Tuesday for the whole school and he talked to us about his calling to become a priest during the homily. 

Last year’s Junior 1 and former Junior 6 pupil, Olivia Burley, were both recently recognised in the Independent Schools Association’s (ISA) Regional Art Competition.

Every year the ISA hold an Art competition and Crackley Hall always takes part. It is a great way to celebrate the outstanding artwork produced by pupils in the school.

This year, Junior 1’s A Fishy Tale took first place in the Key Stage 1 3D Group class while Olivia’s WW1 Gas Mask, which she produced last year when in Junior 6, took second place in the Key Stage 2 Drawing class.

We congratulate the young artists on their super success.

Junior 1’s work now goes forward to the ISA National Art Competition, that takes place later in November.

This half term, Holiday Club provided plenty of excitement and kept all the children thoroughly entertained. Running across the two-week break there was lots on offer and in the run up to Halloween the staff included plenty of spooky themed fun.

Week one saw trips out to Ryton Pools and Jump In, while back in school everyone got baking enjoying making pizzas and apple crumbles. Week two was just as busy, the children visited the cinema and a pumpkin farm. They also took part in sports and games and arts and crafts. Then on the last Friday of the break, everyone had plenty of pumpkin fun designing and carving their very own Jack-O-Lanterns. They all looked incredible.

It has been super to see so many children enjoying all the activities this half term.

Holiday club will be back at Christmas, watch out for more information and come and join in the fun.

As in previous years, we are supporting The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and have various poppy products in school for the children to purchase.

The Year 6 School Council members will be selling these items during break times next week. 

The products available:

• Poppy- suggested donation 50p
• Rulers - suggested donation 50p
• Poppy Reflector - suggested donation 50p
• Pencils - suggested donation 50p
• Rubbers - suggested donation 50p
• Sharpeners - suggested donation 50p

Please note that no change will be available so please discuss with your child beforehand and send in exact money for their chosen items.

Christmas Holiday Club will take place from Monday 19 December to Friday 23 December 2022, with a full and exicting schedule of jammed packed days to entertain the children.

Further details coming soon!

Crackley Hall will be marking the start of Anti-Bullying Week on Monday 14 November by celebrating Odd Socks Day. Pupils are invited to wear their odd socks with pride to help celebrate that we are all unique. 

Scroll through the gallery to see photos from our Celebration Assembly.

This week, Junior 6 have been investigating circulation and finding out how and why the blood is pumped around the body. The Junior 6 children became blood cells for a lesson, travelling in a figure of eight circulation between the heart, lungs and body, becoming oxygenated and deoxygenated as they travelled. Their heart then began to pump faster, emulating exercise, so the blood cells had to circulate more quickly in order to keep up with the body’s demands. We successfully kept the body alive!

We all had a lovely half-term break and bustled into school on Monday chattering non-stop about our adventures with family and friends during the holidays. The children were welcomed back with warmth and smiles from a refreshed staff who also shared some of their stories. It was fantastic to see that so many of the children in Junior 5W had gone the extra mile to complete the history Junior di Vinci project set by Mrs Allen. The range of work produced was exceptional and the children clearly used their brilliant creative talents. We can’t wait to hear what Mrs Allen thought of them!

Junior 4 have worked creatively on their tea boxes, having made their very own bespoke tea, which tied in with the theme of their class novel - Cloud Tea Monkeys. They used an array of ambitious vocabulary to advertise their tea, hooking their buyers in with a range of rhetorical questions and offers which they couldn’t possibly refuse! The tea boxes were adorned with vibrant and artistic labels. Instructions and ingredients were also added to further tempt potential buyers. All of Junior 4 worked thoroughly hard on this task - well done!

Junior 3H are back, fully refreshed from the half-term break and ready to show plenty of incredible focus and determination.

We are exploring different ways to subtract numbers using trusty Base Ten, part whole diagrams and Ms Holmes favourite..,.the bar model. We're picturing sweets being eaten, cakes being consumed and chocolates being devoured as we 'take away' with passion and resilience. Progress is the order of the day and we are loving the challenges set.

In Science, our exploration of skeletons and muscles draws to a close with a new-found interest in keeping fit and healthy. A 'humerus' end to the week. See what we did there.....?

This week the children have had great fun participating in activities for Vocations Week. We got to meet police officers and had a tour of a police car. Children took part in a Hot Seat exercise and gained great knowledge and facts. Professionals included a solicitor, barrister, pet sitter, doctor, early year practitioner, IT analyst and a pilot.

After a restful half-term, Junior 1 came back full of beans and raring to go. This week was Vocations week and Junior 1 were delighted to have the opportunity to meet with several different people who talked to them about their interesting jobs. They met with the Police, Firefighters, an Environmentalist, a Councillor and even a Pet Sitter who brought along her pet tortoise called Stanley! Father Kevin also spoke about his calling to become a priest from an early age when we celebrated Mass for All Saints' Day. This came just after everybody had the opportunity to meet with the saint for their Houses, during a question-and-answer session. Junior 1 were also asked to make donations to the local food bank this month, and we have been thrilled to see how generous our pupils and parents are.

This week, Reception have been learning about bonfire night. They have made their own edible sparklers and have enjoyed creating their own firework art work, squeezing and flicking paint and making rockets. They have also talked about how to stay safe on bonfire night in preparation for the weekend.

Collective Worship

Mrs McAloon led Thursday's Collective Worship and talked about how we can all appreciate one another. We heard the Story of the Rainbow and what happened when all the colours started to quarrel, each claiming that they were the best, the most important and the most useful, each colour boasting about how great they were. When the rain poured down and thunder boomed, this was a reminder that God made each of us for a special purpose and that all of us are unique and different and that we should appreciate each other's gifts, not boast about our own. If we join hands, our colours will stretch across the sky in an array of colour and we can live in peace and unity together.

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

Weekly Mission

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

A group of religious leaders try to catch Jesus out, but He shows them, and us, a different way of thinking.

Activity Sheet

On Wednesday 2 October, our U10 Boys, captained by Vaughan, played a contact rugby match against local rivals, Balsall Common. In only their third game playing together, the boys showed the potential they have, and started to execute their attack and defence strategies.   

After scoring first, the lead kept swapping between the two well-matched sides. After a very entertaining and hard-fought game, and with both teams showing true rugby etiquette, Balsall finally managed to break Crackley’s ever improving defence, to score the one try that finally separated them.

Balsall awarded Josh ‘Player-of-the-Match’, and Mr Vaughan expressed how pleased he was to see the team starting to come-together; particularly as several boys have not played rugby until this term and are showing real promise as the learn the game.

Mr Vaughan would like to thank the Crackley supporters for their side-line cheering and encouragement for the whole team, which added to the occasion.

The U10 A and B teams had a wonderful afternoon at The Croft on Wednesday 2 November. The A team won 1-0 with a goal by Elora and the B team won 5-0 with two goals from Evie and Isla and to make it 5, a goal by Elsie W-P. The girls worked impressively to ensure their attacking and defending skills kept any goals from Croft at bay. Every girl that played made a positive impact on their success. The girls listened to feedback at half time and made any necessary adjustments to their play. A fabulous afternoon of sport, well done girls.

We explored the universe with awe and wonder in Lego Club this week and the next generation of astronauts, space rockets and vehicles were definitely taking shape. Emerging onto the huge craters of the moon’s rugged landscape, we encountered a multi-stage rocket with a launch control room and rotating satellite dish. We had opening doors and raising platforms galore. From the ground crew technicians, to the intrepid scientist and lab mechanics, we were set for our space mission with Molly the Seal pup in charge! Even the iconic starship from Star Wars made an appearance and joined the team whilst battling with Darth Vader, who we decided should have a jetpack to rebuild itself into a…pet centre day care for turtles! One small step for man and one giant leap for making anything possible with Lego.

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

The Crackley Hall Children’s Cookbook has finally arrived! 

We can’t thank you enough for submitting your children’s recipes and making this cookbook such a success. 

Please click here to purchase your cookbook. They make excellent presents for Christmas.

All cookbooks will be delivered to the school and sent home with your child in late November/early December. The deadline to order is Sunday 13 November. 

Saturday 3 December 2022 - 1.00pm to 4.00pm

We look forward to seeing the whole family for the annual PTA spectacular Christmas Fair this December!

We are very excited to finally welcome back the entire family to the festive fun this year! Santa will also be on hand to make sure he is checking his naughty and nice list.

NOTE: NO hot food will be sold this year but there will be plenty of festive food and drinks. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Please find attached a leaflet from Stamptastic which gives details of how you can purchase labels to make naming your child's uniform really easy.

We know that school are struggling with the amount of unnamed lost property and this is a very easy way to help them to return your child's expensive uniform to you whilst also boosting PTA funds.

For every order, the PTA receive 20-30% cashback - please quote the code CRACKLEY1.

www.stamptastic.co.uk

Did you know you can find us on Facebook?  Search CRACKLEY HALL PTA to keep up with our events and what we are doing to help enhance your child's experience at Crackley Hall.

The PTA would like to offer period costumes and Christmas jumpers to families when needed throughout the year, aiming to offer a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to buying new!

As each year group will experience a period day at Crackley Hall, we are starting to build our collection of costumes/jumpers.

We are, therefore, looking for the following donations please:

• Christmas jumpers
• Nativity clothing
• Victorian Day clothing
• Tudor Day clothing
• Roman Day clothing
• Stone Age clothing

As always, we really appreciate your help to make this resale successful for the families at Crackley Hall. All clean clothing can be dropped off at the front porch where the Second Hand PTA uniform box is located.

The next Uniform Sale and Christmas Jumper Sale will be at the Christmas Fair on 3 December from 1-4pm.  We could really do with more Christmas jumpers donated before then if anyone has any please?

Please see the attached dates for your diary. We also have a Facebook page - Crackley Hall PTA, please join us to keep an eye upcoming events. 

Monday 7 November - 2.00pm

We look forward to seeing you this month, on Monday 7 November at 2pm. As always we look forward to meeting new faces, it's a great way to meet other new parents too.

Do please note the recent change of venue.

We now have many sports and uniform items back in stock. If you have any orders you would like to place, please email uniform@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk - we are volunteer run and aim to get back to you within seven days.

We are also always looking for donations of items your child has outgrown. Please drop these in the box labelled ‘PTA uniform’, located in the front porch of the school. 

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 of the second hand uniform shop who work so hard for us all!

The engraved Crackley Hall reusable coffee mugs are back! These are perfect for bringing to assembly or when you are out and about and are £10 each. 

Please use this link:

https://www.pta-events.co.uk/crackleyhall/index.cfm

Crackley Hall PTA - Kenilworth needs your help!

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

• Nursery Manager - Litte Crackers
• After Care Assistant - Crackley Hall
• Teacher of Mathematics (Maternity Cover) - Princethorpe College
• Exam Invigilators - Princethorpe College
• Head of Finance - The Princethorpe Foundation

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