The Chronicle

"The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn...and change".  Confucious

Dear Parents 

With only two full weeks of the school term left, we have been busy with so many activities, including preparing for Christmas through our Advent journey.  On Monday, I gave an assembly to all children about the first Sunday of Advent and Julia, our RE Captain lit the first candle, of Hope, on the Advent wreath.  It is important to explain to the pupils that Christmas isn't just about the giving and receiving of gifts; we will be reminding everyone of the true meaning of Christmas during the last few weeks of term as we celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas day.

The children have been busy practising their nativities and next week Junior 5 and 6 will be travelling to Princethorpe College to rehearse, and the following day, perform their Advent Service in the College Chapel.  I'm delighted that we're able to return to the Chapel as this provides a beautiful and historical surrounding for this special service   I look forward to seeing many of our Junior 5 and 6 families at this event.  Nativity celebrations will take place during the last week of term and we will be inviting parents to watch each performance.

This week Junior 6 have been able to enjoy some educational and fun activities off the usual timetable as a reward for their preparations for entrance examinations.  These have been organised by the Junior 6 team and have included a science lesson featuring dissections, bread making, a Costa treat while watching movies and today's finale was the ever-popular Bake Off.  As you will see from the photos later in this edition, the culinary masterpieces really are quite spectacular.  I do hope families enjoy eating these cakes later this weekend.

Junior 2 took part in a local visit this week when they researched and compared Kenilworth to a Cornish town.  Thank you to Mrs Burley for arranging this visit which really brought the geography lesson to life. 

On Tuesday this week the local nursing team visited school to give ‘flu vaccinations to many children.  My thanks to Mrs Edkins for helping coordinate this and ensuring that all children scheduled to receive the vaccination were in the right place, at the right time.  It would appear that there has been an increase in absences since the ‘flu vaccinations and we are continuing to monitor the rate and absence patterns in each year group as there has been two reported cases of Scarlett fever.  Whilst these do not appear to be connected at the moment, it is important to remain vigilant and be aware of the symptoms that Scarlett fever can present.  If your child appears unwell, particularly with a sore throat, headache or stomach pains; we would ask that they remain at home and you observe for at least the next 24 hours. The office team have been dispensing Calpol at an alarming rate.  If you wish your child to receive a regular dose of Calpol or other paracetamol, it would be appreciated if you could send your preferred medication, labelled with your child’s name, to the to the school office. This must be accompanied by completed medication authorisation form which can also be obtained from the school office. I sincerely hope that the level of absence and illness in school will start to decline very soon.

 Mr Cottrill hosted assembly today and presented some bronze awards to many of our younger pupils.  These are awarded to children have completed a full Crackley Compass star chart and will now go on to work towards their silver award.   Our Stars of the Week this week were Henry, Joshua, Ted, Haris, Jai, Bella, Elle, Evie, Josh, Isabelle, Holly, Alex and Charlie - well done to everyone.  I understand that Jessie in Junior 4 and Amy in Junior 5 performed beautifully this morning when they sang during assembly.

I was delighted to see so many parents attend last Friday's Christmas light switch on in Kenilworth old town.  I have received many complimentary comments about the performance both during the evening, from passers-by, and over the weekend. I'm especially proud when our pupils perform and when others, outside the school community, pass comment about how wonderful they are.  My thanks to Mrs Olden for preparing the children for the light switch on and for her work this week with the music exams. She is most certainly a most dedicated music teacher.

As I write this newsletter, the PTA and helpers are in school busy preparing the hall for tomorrow's Christmas Fair.   For each event such as this, there is much to do behind the scenes and I'm grateful to those who give up their time to make this happen.  I look forward to seeing children and their families on Saturday afternoon for a few hours of festive fun.

Next week all children will be able to enjoy a Christmas lunch on Wednesday. It will be the first time our new chef, Amanda Brew, has cooked a Christmas dinner for the school and I am sure it will be memorable.  Friday next week is Christmas jumper day where we will be asking all children to wear a Christmas jumper over their school uniform in return for a donation of £1 to £2 which will support Save the Children. I'm sure there will be many new designs this year and I know that Mr Cottrill has had his jumper planned for almost a year, so be sure to keep a look out for him.

There are still a few spaces left for holiday club if you would like your child to attend; please book very soon to guarantee a place.

I was able to enjoy a super weekend watching sport, particularly the rugby last Saturday. There is a packed sporting weekend again, between the World Cup and a few cricket matches. England got off to an exceptional start against Pakistan yesterday.

Please do come along to support the school and PTA at tomorrow’s Fair; it promises to be a lot of fun and is an opportunity to come together as a school community.

Have a restful weekend.

God bless,

God bless,

Rob Duigan