The Chronicle

I hope you had a good Christmas break and were able to enjoy some quality family time; I have been in regular contact with Mr Duigan as he spends some important time with his family back in South Africa. 
 
It has been wonderful to welcome another South African, Grove du Toit, into the College as our new Head – in our Epiphany Service and assembly on the first day back he gave the pupils an insight into his own background and journey and said if he had to describe himself in three words they would be “passionate, energetic and caring” – all qualities we saw in him during the recruitment process.  He will be a great Head for Princethorpe and I am already enjoying working closely with him. 
 
As I start my new role as Foundation Principal, I reflect on the past few years – dominated by COVID of course, but the implications of Brexit, the War in Ukraine and political and economic matters are now firmly at the top of all our agendas. It has been a time of great uncertainty and collective anxiety across the world which has affected all of us and our communities.  
 
In a period of such considerable uncertainly and indeed turmoil, our Foundation remains very strong and despite the challenges ahead, I am very optimistic about the future of pupils in all our schools. The “spirit of family” and the willingness of all members of our community – pupils, parents and staff - to pull together and support each other continues to be a major strength and the foundation for future developments. Another is our desire to continue to improve all aspects of our schools to ensure we offer the very best education to all our pupils, and this will be my major focus over the months and years to come. As Mark Twain said, “the secret of getting ahead is getting started…” and I am delighted to have started my new role. 
 
As I start to develop a strategic vision and plan for our Foundation, one of my first tasks is to spend more time at Crackley Hall. Although I have worked closely with Mr Duigan for many years, I want to get much more first-hand knowledge of all aspects of the junior schools. I look forward, not only to seeing the children in action, but also meeting parents at a variety of events so please do come and say hello.  
 
I send my best wishes to you and your families and, on the Feast of the Epiphany and the day after Pope Benedict’s funeral, we keep religious leaders of all faiths and political leaders in our thoughts and pray that their guidance and example will help to bring justice and peace to all parts of the world. 
 
Yours sincerely, 

Ed Hester
Foundation Principal

Dear Parents

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and new year period and spent some quality time relaxing with their extended families and friends. Our first Chronicle of 2023 is a slightly abridged version due to the fact it being a shorter school week. It will also include a letter from our Foundation Head (now Foundation Principal), Ed Hester where he outlines part of his vision for the future of the Foundation, which will include his greater presence at both Crackley Hall and Crescent School.

As you will know from the letter I sent on Tuesday, I'm currently in South Africa attending to some family matters but will be working when time and technology permit. I am keeping in contact with school ensuring that I am up to date, or dealing when possible, with pertinent matters. I am grateful to Mr Hester, Mr Cottrill and the leadership team and to Mrs Taylor for their support at this time.

Prior to school closing for the Christmas break, holiday club was open to children from Reception to Junior 6 and this proved hugely popular. The option of having breakfast and a light tea has been well received and the children particularly enjoyed the trips to the cinema and trampoline parks. My thanks to Mrs Osborn for organising holiday club and I hope that parents continue to support this provision during the February half term, Easter break and summer holiday.  Please remember to book early if you want to guarantee your child a place.

While many of us were busy with our own family arrangements prior to Christmas, Mrs Brew, our school chef, was involved in cooking for the homeless, lonely and those needing a safe warm place for a hot meal in the Coventry area. Mrs Brew and her daughter joined The Grub and Gab Club (part of Coventry Open Christmas) on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day to help cook and serve meals to over 100 people each day. The Club, located at Queens Road Baptist Church, provided food and shelter from 24 to 29 December.  This act of kindness will have been hugely appreciated and remembered by those who attended the shelter. Mrs Brew and her daughter should be immensely proud of themselves for giving so selflessly of their time.

Thank you to Mrs Jackson Mayne for arranging our Epiphany Mass today and to Father Kevin for celebrating Mass. Unfortunately I could not attend this service online but I'm grateful to staff reading during the service.  We did not hold a Celebration Assembly this week but this will resume next Friday and I'm sure there will be plenty of achievements to celebrate.

There is an exciting term ahead with events planned throughout. We have two residential visits in March, One World Week in February, Tudor Day for Junior 5, Young Voices, Skip-a-thon, a debating competition to name but a few. We will also be hosting parents evening in school on 8 and 9 March.  This will be a face-to-face event which will provide parents with the opportunity to see their child’s school work.  The PTA will also be hosting fundraising activities and events so please do keep a look at for communications both in the Chronicle and directly from the school office which will give you more information.

Once again, thank you to Mr Cottrill, Ms McAloon, Mrs Glen-Roots, Mrs Taylor and the rest of the staff and team for keeping me updated with school matters during my physical absence from school.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

God bless,

Rob Duigan

Menus for the next two weeks are available to view on the links below.

Week 1

Week 2

With the new term afoot any previous Aftercare bookings would have dropped off, if you need Aftercare please ensure you re-book by calling the office on 01926 514444 or by emailing aftercare@crackleyhall.co.uk or receptionist@crackleyhall.co.uk.

If you have booked an Aftercare session, it would also be helpful to let your child know.

Please also note that permanent bookings are only valid for the term, due to club and activity changes.

Any children who are not collected from carline, for example if parents are stuck in traffic, will be taken to Aftercare at 4.15pm, when carline finishes and charged accordingly.

Aftercare runs from after school until 6:00pm, with charges being £4.75 per hour or part thereof.

Childcare vouchers can be used as payment or part payment for aftercare.

As the office now closes at 5.30pm, please call Aftercare directly on 07732 036625

We are having an increasing amount of lost property in school which is unnamed and, therefore, impossible to return to its rightful owner.

From next Friday, a table of lost property will be put in the Gables Foyer before Celebration Assembly. Lost property will be put out for two weeks, to cover KS1 and KS2 Assemblies, with any unclaimed uniform being then donated to the PTA for re-sale.

Unnamed, unclaimed water bottles, lunchboxes and snackboxes will be disposed of.

Please help us to return your child's property to them by labelling everything clearly.

We appreciate your help in locating:

Savannah (J3) has lost her tracksuit trousers

Archie (J3) has lost his sports jacket 

Today in school we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany - a special day when we thought about the visit of the three Wise Men to the Son of God. Mass was said for the whole school, for Mr Duigan's safe return from South Africa, and for the repose of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI.  We learnt that the word Epiphany comes from the Greek word meaning to reveal, or revelation, and this can give us a greater understanding of the life of Jesus. We were reminded that Christmas is not just one day - Christmas is a whole season in the life of the Church. If we looked closely at the manger scene, this would remind us of our lives and the importance of family. Father Kevin used an analogy of throwing a stone into a pond and how the vibrations, or the ripple effect, could emphasise Jesus' life. The first ripple revealed the love of a family. The next ripple took us to the surroundings of where we live, similar to the shepherds. The next ripple depicted the Epiphany, the revelation of knowing that we have a share in the Christmas story, like the Wise Men who came from different places and helped us to understand that people of every race can find lifelong fulfilment in Jesus. The mass ended with Mr Pike playing a very powerful and moving rendition of Czardas by Monti on the violin.

Josie-Jean in Junior 5 decided to send a letter of condolence to His Majesty King Charles III expressing how sorry she was to hear about the loss of his mum, Queen Elizabeth II. She took it upon herself to write and sent her letter off in the autumn; it was such a thoughtful and kind thing to do.  

Josie-Jean has been checking the post regularly hoping for a royal reply but what with the postal strike and the number of letters the King will have received she had just about given up hope. Then finally, last week, it dropped on the doormat and Josie-Jean was utterly thrilled.

Josie-Jean brought her letter into school to show all her friends and teachers. What a marvellous treasure for a girl who is clearly a right royal fan. Thank you for sharing it with us Josie-Jean!

Grove du Toit has taken on the Headship of Princethorpe College with effect from January 2023. He succeeds outgoing Headmaster, Ed Hester, who has held the post since 2009. Mr Hester now becomes Foundation Principal, a dedicated role with responsibility for the strategic vision and direction of the whole Princethorpe Foundation, its three schools and nursery.

Mr du Toit was appointed as Headmaster back in May 2022 after a rigorous selection process and until December was Deputy Warden (Senior Deputy Head) at Forest School, a co-educational independent day school for children aged 4 to 18, located on the edge of Epping Forest, a position he held for five years.

Married to Marike, with whom he shares two daughters, aged 14 and 11, Mr du Toit, 43, is a practising Christian. South African by birth, he moved to the UK in 2005 and after a brief period teaching in the maintained sector, he has held a variety of leadership roles in HMC independent schools in and around London. Following his under-graduate studies at the University of Pretoria, he completed a MA in Education Management at King’s College London, and has recently completed his MBA at Salford University through their Business School.

Comments, Liz Griffin, Chair of Trustees, “We are delighted to finally welcome Grove on board. The Foundation Trustees were unanimous in the decision to appoint him as the next Headmaster of Princethorpe College. His passion for education and young people shone through throughout the selection process and our many encounters with him since. He has immense vision and energy combined with a wealth of experience and leaderships skills, but most importantly his personal values marry perfectly with the ethos of the College.

She continues, “Our thanks go to Ed Hester, who has done an outstanding job as Headmaster of Princethorpe College over the last 13 years. Of course, Ed will continue to have a very keen interest in life at Princethorpe and will be on hand to ensure a smooth transition and successful handover to Grove, who will be supported by Princethorpe’s excellent Senior Leadership Team.”

Comments, Grove du Toit, “I am excited and honoured to take on the Headship of Princethorpe College and lead the school into the next stage of its development, building on the excellent work of Ed Hester. I recognise and fully appreciate what a special community Princethorpe is and upholding its ethos and spirit of family will be central to my role. I look forward to immersing myself in school life and building relationships with staff, parents and pupils alike.”

Outgoing Headmaster, Ed Hester, adds, “Grove is a great fit for Princethorpe and brings with him a vast amount of experience and skills. I am delighted to be able to hand over the reins of running the College to him and am really excited at the prospect of working with him over the years ahead.”

The Princethorpe Foundation educates some 1,400 pupils aged 2 to 18 years across its senior school, Princethorpe College, and prep schools, Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery in Kenilworth and Crescent School in Bilton, Rugby.

Stay ‘n’ Play returns to Crackley Hall School on Wednesday 11 January from 10.30am to 11.45am. Our friendly toddler group, aimed at families with children aged 0 to four-years-old, meets every Wednesday morning during term time and has lots of exciting activities and events lined up for the spring term.

Dates for the diary include:

Forest Fun – Wednesday 18 January
Move It Shake It Dance – Wednesday 15 February
Outdoor Play – Wednesday 8 March
Easter Crafts – Wednesday 15 March

Regular sessions also include, story time, craft table and the always popular sing-along so there is plenty on offer to keep the little ones entertained. Refreshments are also available. £2 a session.

For more information email staynplay@littlecrackers.co.uk

It’s great to have Stay ‘n’ Play back at school so why not come along and join in all the fun!

Junior 6 have had a taxing start to their New Year, with mid-year assessments for both Maths and English: what an introduction to 2023! We have been really impressed with the maturity and diligence of the Junior 6 children in tackling these assessments. Aside from this, Junior 6 have studied contrasting stories and traditions this week in both RE and English. We have compared the stories of the Birth of Christ in the gospels of St Luke and St Matthew, along with researching how Christmas traditions vary across the World. The children were amazed at some of the unusual traditions and routines followed in other cultures and countries. The children understood that some of our traditions are very similar, but that others must seem strange to other cultures, too!

Junior 5 have made a fantastic start to the new year. In Computing, the children have begun to practice their touch-typing skills. They have shown enthusiasm when racing each other in cross country. Junior 5L have been curious when learning about how the Spanish defeated the Aztec Empire. During English, the children have been revising grammatical rules, such as relative clauses; creating some interesting sentences using commas which includes a relative pronoun followed by the additional information. This week Junior 5 have also been supporting each other when answering multiplication calculations.

Junior 4 have come back with gusto, full of energy, so we thought what better time to do a bleep test! In preparation for the forthcoming weeks of PE, the children undertook a variety of physical literacy tests, such as hand-eye coordination, endurance, and agility. Their aim is to see how much they can improve their scores, when they are re-tested at the end of term. It has been lovely to see all of the children return with a smile and hear of their wonderfully festive stories from their Christmas break. We are all looking forward to the excitement of the Lent term!

Junior 3 have kicked off the New Year with a dip into the sights and sounds of Ancient Egypt following our themed focus in English, History, Art and DT. The pupils were excited to be back and very keen to find out more about this thrilling topic. Some of the pupils knew lots already and some were excited to find out more! You can fully expect the pupils to be chattering away at home and in the car as they discover all about The Egyptian Cinderella, Tutankhamun and the Valley of the Kings! Exciting stuff! Did you know that it is just 101 years since the tomb was discovered by Howard Carter?

Pupils have returned fresh and are ready to learn, so we are excited to introduce some further new topics and skills as they enter the second term of Junior 3. Already growing at quite a rate, the pupils will continue their sports on a Wednesday and Thursday – we fully expect everyone to get fit and healthy after possibly a rather ‘chocolatey’ Christmas!

We would also like to welcome our two new pupils Una and Niamh who have joined us and are settling quickly, which is lovely to see.

Happy New Year one and all from the Junior 3 Team.

We are very glad to have Junior 2 back in school and proud of how well they have all settled back into the routine. We have been busy in Maths and learning about money this week. In English, we read The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson and the children have shown great creativity in retelling the story on a storyboard. In PE, we started our Dance topic with pupils working in pairs to create and perform their dances, exploring mood and feeling.

Junior 1 were glad to be back at school, even if it was for only a short week! The busy little bees got straight back into working, developing their phonic knowledge of the spilt diagraph a-e. New topics have begun in History and Geography this term. In History we started to look at the different types of transport that has been around for over 5,500 years! After discovering that people in the past had very different, and sometimes very uncomfortable, ways to travel, everyone was able to recognise modes of transport from the past and present. Over in Geography we have moved on from 'Our Local Area' topic to looking at the UK. By using Google maps we were able to zoom in on the United Kingdom and see how tiny we are compared to the rest of the world – amazing!

It has been wonderful to welcome the children back into school this week. They have been so excited to tell us about their Christmas break and all of their super ideas for adventures in 2023! We have been working hard on our phonics and thinking about what happens in the daytime and nighttime. As always, we showed the whole school how brilliantly we listen and take part in our New Year's Mass. Well done, Reception! What an amazing start to the year!

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

Newsletter link

Please click on the links below for this week's Weekly Mission:

Weekly Mission

Weekly Mission Pope Benedict XVI.pdf

Reception dressed up to role-play the bible story of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple in RE this week. The Presentation was forty days after Jesus was born when Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus to the temple to present Him to God. In addition, we had Simeon who had waited a very long time for the arrival of the Son of God and Ana, who had worked in the temple day and night serving God. When she recognised baby Jesus, she immediately left the temple to tell everyone the good news of Jesus' birth. With a metre stick used as a crook for Simeon to protect him from age-old wobbles, a blue shawl for Mary and a cloak for Joseph, with Ana dressed in lace, the Reception children acted out their roles through the eyes of children with reflective understanding.

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

Jesus is baptised by John in the waters of the Jordan. Water is very important in baptism but also in everyday life. We think about all the ways we use water in our lives.

Activity Sheet

Lego Club will return next week, but in the meantime, we have another announcement - the Brickish Weekend!  From 11 to 12 March the National Space Centre in Leicester will be hosting a weekend dedicated to the little plastic brick that makes imagination reality. Explore the galleries, which will be packed with amazing creations. See spacecraft, iconic movie scenes, huge magical train lay outs, amazing mathematical machines, and Lego sets from past, present and future.  Tickets will be available soon through the National Space Centre.

Please make a note of our January events. 

• PTA Pre-loved Book Sale - Thursday 19 January during school hours
  
  

  PTA PRE-LOVED BOOK SALE 

  We are excited to announce the third annual book sale for the children will take place during school hours on the 19 January.

  The children really enjoy coming in to buy preloved books and do their own shopping. 

  As always we can not make this a success without your book donations. We offer this book sale to all children from Nursery to Year 6.

  If you have any books you may like to donate, please drop them at school in the box labelled ’books’, which is located in the front porch of the school.  

  Books for Junior 4-6 are always in demand, especially those that are advanced readers for Year 7 and beyond. 

   

• PTA Monthly Coffee Catch Up - Thursday 26 January 2.00pm at Farthing Gallery and Tea Room in Kenilworth

• PTA Meeting - will be held on Wednesday 25 January at 7.00pm.  Our new Chair of the PTA, Maria Gordon, will be taking over, along with our new Treasurer, Philip Johnson as Tara Card and Jo Wright step down to transition a new committee

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.

Calling all pre-loved Nativity Costumes!

The PTA would like to offer period costumes, nativity 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 experiences a period day at Crackley Hall, we are starting to build our collection of costumes and jumpers.

We are currently 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. Please email uniform@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk if you have any queries. Thank you.

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

Princethorpe College

• Head of English
• Head of History
• Teacher of Mathematics (Maternity Cover)
• Head Librarian

Crackley Hall

• PA to the Head and Office Manager
• Nursery Manager
• Teaching Assistant - KS1
• First Aid Administrator

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