The Chronicle

‘Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.’    Albert Einstein

Dear Parents 

This the last Chronicle of this term and of 2022. The days and weeks seemed to pass quicker than ever at the moment, but we should all take time to recognise how fortunate we are particularly when there are others locally, and further afield, who might be struggling emotionally, mentally or financially.  I was delighted to see that our Minnie Vinnie’s have been thinking about the local retired and housebound parishioners when they made their own Christmas cards and brought gifts which have now been distributed.  Mrs Jackson-Mayne has co-ordinated a reverse advent calendar and the whole school has been able to contribute towards 11 wonderful hampers which will be presented to the Leamington and Warwick Food Bank Team.   I know that both of these kind gestures will be gratefully received and be remembered fondly.

The final week of school consisted of a trip Warwick Arts Centre, nativities, class award presentations, swimming certificate presentations, the pantomime, Mass and a farewell to a member staff.  On Monday, the Nursery, Reception and Junior 1 children visited the Warwick Arts Centre to watch The Stickman and I knew that they had a lovely time by the excited voices as they returned to school!   My thanks to Mrs Allen for organising this visit and to the other staff who accompanied the children.  Also on Monday, Mme Westerman organised a live Teams link for Junior 5 children so that they could ‘meet’ their French pen pals at Ecole Saint Pierre in Nantes.  Junior 5 enjoyed interacting with their pen pals and developing some of their language skills at the same time and I am sure that there will be future link ups next term and friendships strengthened.

On Tuesday morning we hosted the Nursery and Reception nativities.  These nativities are always a joy to attend bringing smiles to the faces of everyone and creating memories of important milestones.  The Junior 1 and 2 nativity was held on Wednesday afternoon and I was also fortunate to be able to watch the whole performance.  I'm pleased to say that Mrs Stephenson, from Princethorpe College, was able to capture some stunning photographs of the children during the performances and these have been sent to parents. May I remind families that if you have received a link to the Flickr account, these images must not be shared on social media.

On Thursday the whole school watched the Robin Hood pantomime organised as a Christmas treat by the PTA.  This has become an annual event and something that the pupils thoroughly enjoy.  By supporting the PTA at various fundraising events and initiatives, you are in turn helping provide extra treats and resources for the children.  They are always looking for new volunteers, so please do get in touch if you think you can offer some help.

Mr Vaughan presented our Junior 3 and 4 children with their swimming awards this week and I was very pleased to hear about the progress made in their lessons at the Excel Centre.  I would like to remind parents in Junior 3 and Junior 4 that swimming lessons will not take place in the Lent term, but this will resume in Trinity term. 

This morning I hosted a whole school assembly celebration assembly which has not happened for some time.   Reception to Junior 6 were present and there were many awards certificates and announcements to be made.  Our Stars of the Week were presented to all of Nursery, Tobias, Ola, Jessica, Katie, Lily-Rose, the whole of Junior 3H, George, Joseph, Antony, Joshua, Alexa, Jack, Emily.   There was an impressive selection of bronze awards for the children who have completed their first Crackley Compass and several da Vinci's awarded for exemplary work in various subjects. Congratulations to you all for your super hard work this year and I look forward to this continuing next term.   Music performed by the guitar ensemble and the orchestra was, indeed, fantastic. We really enjoyed their super performances.

After assembly, I welcomed Father Kevin into school to perform the end of term Mass.  My thanks to Father Kevin, Mrs Jackson-Mayne, Mrs Simmonds, Ms McAloon and Mrs Olden for helping to prepare Mass. Later during the morning children received their end of term class prizes.  For those parents new to Crackley Hall, a certificate and small prize is awarded to every student throughout the course of the school year which recognises, not just academic qualities, but personal attributes such as kindness, manners and loyalty to friends which could easily overlooked but are very important. 

As I wished a blessed and happy Christmas and said goodbye to children today, I also had to say farewell to Mr Kefalas who will be leaving Crackley Hall to start a new job in January.  He has been a terrific member of staff over the past six years and I am sure you will join me in wishing him well in his new career.

The school will be open from Monday to Thursday next week for holiday club and Nursery, between the hours of 9.00am and 4.00pm, should you need to make contact with the office staff.  The school will then be closed until Tuesday, 3 January, when we open for staff training and the school term starts on Wednesday 4 January.  Apart from the support staff in the office, kitchen and maintenance sections, and working in the Nursery and holiday club, all staff will be having a deserved two-week rest.

Thank you for your support, for your children and the school, over the past term. Thank you also for the many kind wishes, card and gifts given to various staff.  I do hope that you will all be able to enjoy a most restful and blessed Christmas and a happy New Year.

God bless,

Rob Duigan