The Chronicle

Dear parents

I feel that January passed in the blink of an eye, although I'm sure for some that it seemed a long and cold month.  Whilst it still very chilly outside, there are signs that spring is definitely on the way as the tips of bulbs and snowdrops have made an appearance; the early evening sky also seem a little lighter now.  I have attended the Catholic Independent Schools conference this week with Mr Hester and Mr Du Toit which has provided time to discuss school values and reaffirm our ethos as a Catholic Independent School whilst meeting head teachers from other schools.

The main event this week was the NSPCC number day which took place today.  Mrs van Zyl coordinated this event and provided class teachers with exciting maths challenges including building a coin tower with the donations from home.  As soon as the great ‘count up’ has taken place and the coin towers deconstructed, I will let you know the total amount raised and how much will be paid to the NSPCC to help them continue their wonderful work.

There has been an increasing number of children attending aftercare provision in recent weeks and many of these bookings are made shortly before the end of the school day.  All children needing aftercare will be accommodated but our catering team can only provide a hot snack for children who are either on a long term aftercare booking or booked before 12 noon on the day in question.  I appreciate that that is not always possible to book in advance due to circumstances beyond your control please understand that catering deadlines will need to be met.  Mrs Walter and her aftercare team work closely with parents and Holroyd Howe staff and have asked that there is always a selection of fruit available alongside the hot snack choices.  The children have also taken part in a brief survey to help the caterers understand what snacks they would like to have an offer at the end of the school day.  This has proved very helpful as we aim to strike a balance between healthy options, variety and minimise waste.   

Mr Cottrill kindly hosted celebration assembly this morning while I'll attended the conference and I was pleased to hear about all of our stars of the week: Parker, Teddy, Zach Alexander, Daya, Sloane, Harry, Niamh, Henry, Othniel, Finley, Olivia and Jia.  There was another bumper distribution of bronze awards this week and I'm sure it will not be too long before some Silver Crackley Compass awards are presented.  Congratulations to everybody who received a certificate this morning.  I was disappointed to miss the musical performances by two of our Junior 2 pupils.  I understand that Cleo played her violin and Ashleigh, her flute, beautifully; well done to both of you.

Moving to next week, we will be observing children's mental health week and class teachers, led by Mrs Burley, will be looking at new initiatives to help children help themselves with their mental health.  On Tuesday and Wednesday we will be celebrating performing arts with a show from Key Stage 2 on Tuesday evening and Key Stage 1 on Wednesday afternoon.  Rehearsals have been taking place during the last couple of weeks and I very much look forward to seeing the final performances and having our families join us in school for the shows.  Junior 4 will be fortunate to travel to Princethorpe College on Wednesday afternoon to see the senior school pupils in their stage production of The Addams Family.  Communications have been sent by the school office to all Junior 4 parents regarding these arrangements.  On Friday next week I will be hosting the annual Headmaster's Quiz and I would like to thank the PTA for organising this event and coordinating ticket sales; if you haven't yet purchased your ticket or want to be part of a team, please contact the PTA For more information.

I would like to wish you all a restful weekend.

God bless,

Rob Duigan 

"A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." Mark Twain

Holiday club will be available during February half term and Ms Osborn has planned a week of activities and visits which will appeal to all.

Places are limited and are being filled quickly.  If you would like to secure your booking, please email holidayclub@crackleyhall.co.uk.

Have a look at the planned programme here. 

On Monday and Tuesday 13 and 14 February Crackley Hall’s pupils will once again take part in a charity skipathon, an annual fund-raising event organised by Crackley’s Mini Vinnies.

Mini Vinnies’ Co-ordinator, Mrs Dolores Simmonds explains, “This year the children will be skipping to support Mary's Meals. The charity provides daily meals in a place of learning addressing both the immediate needs of hungry children whilst encouraging them to go to school where they can gain an education that can help them out of poverty. This is only possible due to the generosity of fundraisers, volunteers and supporters from all over the world.”

The children at Crackley Hall have pledged to raise as much money as possible for Mary's Meals and have been collecting sponsors over the last few weeks. In the skipathon the children will take it in turns, one House at a time, to skip, hop or jump for one minute each. 

Pupils are asked to bring their own skipping ropes, if possible.

Can we please remind parents that drop off in the mornings for Nursery is at the lower playground, and not through the main gates in order to reduce congestion in carline. If carline becomes static it has a knock on effect on the traffic flow on the Coventry Road. 

The area to the left of the main carline (around the flagpole) is for staff parking, as is the grass area on Fennyland Lane. Please try to park in alternative locations for drop off to maintain the smooth running of the carline system, giving consideration to our neighbouring residents too.

Thank you, your support and cooperation is very much appreciated. 

Users posting fraudulent links on social media sites, usually via bogus accounts, is a common way for cyber attackers to attempt to gain credentials. These links are often posted as comments under legitimate posts, often pretending to be relevant to the original post. Clicking on the link would then prompt the user to enter credentials which would be stolen, or would attempt to download malware onto the device.

It has come to our attention that some phishing links such as those described above have been posted as comments on Princethorpe College Facebook posts, by unknown accounts. Our marketing team have been quick to hide and remove the comments and links, but it is important to be aware of this practice and avoid any suspicious links. Public facing social media such as the school’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter profiles can be targeted in this way, as can the social media profiles of any organisation, and we will always do our best to remove suspicious posts quickly.

The links in question purported to link to live streams of school hockey matches. The school does not live stream any sports matches, and would certainly not publicly post any links in the event we were to stream these. This is one example but please do beware of this practice both on school social media posts and all other forms of social media, in order to protect your accounts and data.

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

We marked Number Day here at Crackley Hall celebrating all thing Fibonacci while raising money to support the amazing work of the NSPCC. This year, for Number Day, the children have found out all about this famous mathematician and explored the amazing patterns within nature that he discovered.

Pupils have learned about Fibonacci numbers and Maths in the world around us. They have completed Fibonacci challenges building Fibonacci sequences and used them to draw spirals, patterns and pictures. Everyone has enjoyed learning why they are nature’s favourite numbers.

The children have also had great fun creating, measuring and even timing how long it takes them to make towers of coins from the loose change bought in to support the fundraising.

Number Day has been a whole lot of Fibonacci fun and all for a good cause too!

Don’t forget a whole school ‘Fibonacci themed da Vinci Challenge’ will be set for the February half term, so keep your eyes peeled for more information.

Following on from last week's challenge to compose a verse or hymn for the next verse of Thank You for Every New Good Morning.  We have had a few entries already and Clement in Reception and Isabella O in Junior 6's entries are below.  Aren't they amazing?

Remember, everyone who takes part is awarded a Creative Da Vinci, and the one we choose to sing will be awarded the Full Da Vinci - so get writing.

Thank you everything that you make.

Thank you for giving us our world.

Thank you for making us so beautiful,

Every single one. - Clement, Reception

Thank you for all the children at Crackley,

Thank you for all the joy they bring.

Thank you for all the caring teachers.

Helping us to grow. - Isabella O, Junior 6

On Friday 27 January, pupils from Juniors 4, 5 and 6 joined thousands of other local school children to sing their hearts out at the annual Young Voices concert at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham.

Pupils had been practising plenty of songs in preparation for this annual event including Sing From Your Heart by Jon Allen and Nile Rodgers Disco Party and many more. On the night they enjoyed Heather Small performing Moving On Up with dance group Urban Strides and extraordinary violinist, composer and broadcaster Anna Phoebe.

We are so proud of all the children and of their parents for cheering them on! For everyone involved it was an unforgettable event, a fabulous spectacle, a celebration of all sorts of music, an experience that will stay with them for a lifetime.

Improvements are underway in Windmill Wood, to make some of the previously inaccessible areas, safe for staff and pupils. Contractors were on site on Tuesday, lopping branches and trimming trees to extend the current path along the bottom of the wood.

Windmill Wood sits just behind Crackley Hall and is where our Forest School sessions take place. They are much enjoyed by all the children who enjoy getting outside to learn skills in a setting where they are free to problem-solve and think of new ideas.

These development are all very exciting and as the work progresses we will keep you updated.

A huge well done to Rosie in Junior 6 who has won the Leamington Courier's Festive Art Competition. Her beautiful Christmas scene on canvas with acrylic paint also won our school's Christmas Card competition this year (pictured). We are all agreed, it was a really super design and we are delighted to hear of her success. You can read more about her competition win here. 

Saturday 4 March 2023 - 10.30am to 12.30pm

We are opening their doors for our Spring Open Morning on Saturday 4 March from 10.30am to 12.30pm. Please do share news of the Open Morning with family and friends.

Mr Duigan, the Headmaster, will deliver two short presentations at 10.45am and 11.45pm, staff will be available to talk to prospective parents, current pupils will be performing music and participating in sports activities. There will also be a fun activity trail through the school for visiting children.

It is a great opportunity for prospective families to look around Little Crackers Nursery and Crackley Hall School and meet key members of staff. The school will come alive with musical performances and sport in action as well as an activity trail around the school for visiting children. 

Come and find out more about what a Crackley education can do for your child book your place here.

If you would like more information or details on specific year group availability, please call Jenny Vaughan, our Admissions Secretary on 01926 514410 or email admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk.

For more information visit www.crackleyhall.co.uk.

Tuesday 14 March 2023 10.30am to 12.30pm

The College's Open Morning will give prospective families a chance to visit the school on a normal working day, with Year 8 and 9 pupils acting as tour guides. The Leadership and Admissions Teams will be available to answer any questions visitors might have. Light refreshments will be available.

All are welcome, please book your place by clicking here.

Entrance Examinations Day for September 2024 entry will take place on Saturday 11 November 2023 from 9.30am to 3.30pm. The deadline for registrations, scholarship and bursary applications is Friday 29 September 2023.

If you have any questions please contact the Admissions Team on 01926 643201/297 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

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

This week in Junior 6’s English lessons, we have been continuing our work on The Spiderwick Chronicles. We read Chapter 5 in detail focusing on the vocabulary used and thinking about Jared as he read the book he had just discovered. We have been thinking about the fantastical creatures that Arthur Spiderwick discovered and linked this to the discoveries made by Charles Darwin. We had great fun creating our own creatures and becoming experts in our field, writing encyclopaedia reports about them and are looking forward to producing our own compendiums in the form of class field guides next week.

During Well-being Wednesday, Junior 5 participated in a discussion about how they can remain safe in different scenarios, such as riding on a public bus, taking cakes out of the oven and crossing a road. On Thursday, Junior 5 had an interesting, interactive talk about road safety from a lovely Road Safety Officer from the Road Safety Education Team at Warwickshire Council. They learnt about distractions and the effect they can have when crossing the road. The children thought of their own distractions and ways that they could make them safe. One of the distractions could be food and drinks and one idea was to use a straw when having a drink so that your eyes would remain on the road.

This week Junior 4 have been learning about taking measurements using different units of measure. They have been investigating the most appropriate unit of measure and measuring device to use in different situations. The students ended the week putting their measuring skills to good use during an outdoor "Measuring Scavenger Hunt!"

Junior 3 have been loving their History lessons, where the Ancient Egyptians are in full flow. We have been looking at how the ordinary people would have lived on a day-to-day basis, along the twice yearly muddy banks of the River Nile. We have explored how farmers grew their crops and which farming tools they may have used, the plough, the sickle and the mattock were tools of choice. However, it was the great irrigation system, The Shaduf, which really sparked their attention. We made a mini one each, using a range of resources……the focus was upon balance and stability. Not as easy as this looks! The children were amazed to find out that this implement is still used today. We marvelled at the footage of one in action from 1940 where dozens of Shadufs in a long and rickety line, moved water up a hill to a field. In other areas we have begun our maths topic of ‘Measurement and Perimeter’, so fully expect your children to be prowling around the house with rulers and tape measures.

This week Year 2 have children wrote a letter to a school in Hong Kong, telling them all about Crackley Hall; Children are excited awaiting a reply. In Maths we continue to work on arrays, making multiplication sentences. Next week we move onto sharing and division. In PE, children showed great progression in netball, competing in mini games, and working on our teamwork. Children finished the week making fruit skewers in science; what a lovely Friday treat!

Design and Technology was a smash hit both last week and this week as the children were making vehicles, linking in with our history topic of ‘Transport’. They made a wind-powered vehicle, from car, straws, wheels and wooden doweling. It had a large sail that catches the wind and propels it along, like a land yacht. There was sheer delight on the children’s’ faces when we tested them with a hair dryer and they flew across the floor! In Science Junior 1 have been thinking carefully about the dangers of winter weather. As we know, the cold weather can bring us some wonderful snow to play and build in, but it also can leave us with frozen water and ice on the paths and roads, which can be very dangerous. To help warn people of the dangers, Junior 1 created some warning signs to help others know when it is not safe.

This week Reception have been finding out about animals that live in the Arctic. We found where the Arctic is in the world, and what it is like there, before finding out about the animals that survive in the cold. The children loved working together to explore the ice in our classrooms, breaking free the hidden arctic animals from inside! They also used their phonics knowledge to write a detailed and descriptive list of arctic animals and ‘wowed’ us all!

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

Mr Duigan led the school Assembly on Monday and talked about the Beatitudes. This was simplified by taking the Be away, which left Attitude and we were asked the question, What is our attitude to learning?  Answers from the pupils included the effort, care, love and the interest we put into learning.

The Beatitudes were explained as being how we can all be really good people and how we can have an eternal life in heaven. Mr Duigan talked about several of the Beatitudes, including:-

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit - if you recognise you need God to become a better person in your life, then you are poor in spirit. 

Blessed are those who Mourne, they shall be Comforted.  We all comfort each other, and we know how to be comforted. God sees our sorrow and comforts us with the knowledge that it will not always be this way. 

Blessed are the Meek. If you are gentle and meek, like a lamb, then the world is yours. 

Happy are those who Hunger and Thirst.  Share the resources we have in this world with others as we need to distribute what we have in order to live.

Blessed are the Merciful. Being caring and helpful to each other demonstrates forgiveness. If you have been forgiven in your life, then you have been shown mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in Heart. Seek to have a kind heart which loves and doesn't judge other people. 

Blessed are the Peacemakers. The world is a happier place if we don't fight.

Blessed are those who are Persecuted because of Righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. If we stand up for what is right and we believe it to be right, God will reward us in heaven.

Mr Duigan referred to Pope Francis' proposal of six new Beatitudes on All Saints Day in 2016 which would enable us to "recognise and respond to new situations with fresh spiritual energy."

The Assembly was completed with a prayer for all us all: "Dear God we ask you to always be with us, to always help us to be kind and loving people who forgive and share with others. Help us to stand up to others to be peacemakers. Help us to grow in our lives for you as children of God. Help us to look after the world and to be kind every single day. Amen."

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

Weekly Mission

Weekly Mission - Mental Health 

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

We reflect on how we can be an example for others, like a light shining to show the way.

Activity Sheet

Fun and adventure were on the horizon this week in Lego Club when we re-created the thrill of the ocean waves with speedboat racing, sailing and even a party boat to cater for those seeking seashore fun. We discussed how boats really work whilst mastering the tactics of world-class sailing. We talked about why we should angle the sails for the ultimate racing position and raising and lowering the dagger boards to maximise stability, whilst using the rudder to steer at the same time – all very complex, but what an engineering skill we were all learning in how boats work! It really was all hands-on deck to solve the mysteries of life on the waves!

Sign up now for a chance to win up to £1,125 between now and July 2023 with the 200 club. 

You could be the next big winner of the 200 Club! February enrolment is now open for £30.

For £30 you will be entered into a monthly draw from February to July for a chance to win £100, £75 or £50 each month.

We absolutely love giving back to the families and can’t thank you enough for your support, enrolment via the link below:

200 Club Enrolment Form

Check out the flyers for details of upcoming PTA events.

• Save the Date for the Headmaster Quiz and Nibbles night on Friday 10 February at 7pm.  We ask you create a team of 8 and then email cardtara@gmail.com. If you do not have a team of 8, a table will be assigned to you on the night. Tickets are for sale at £5 each. Please bring your own nibbles and drinks for your team but there will be a bar available (cash only) to purchase drinks or bottles for your table. We look forward to testing your teams knowledge as Mr Duigan once again delivers his quiz questions. Spaces are limited and we hope you enjoy the event. This is the last week to be able to buy your tickets! Please use this link to purchase tickets.

• Important - The PTA Pub night now has a new date. It will take place at the Butchers Bistro at 7pm on the Friday 3 March. Thank you to Kate Greevy for her kindness in supporting this change.
  
  
• Our second Colour Run is due to take place on Friday 19 May 2023. This event will take place on the school field from 4.00pm to 7.00pm, it will be a fun obstacle colour run for all of the family. We will have a DJ, ice cream, face painting and more! Bring your Friday night picnic and drinks for an enjoyable night. We look forward to seeing you there.

Please follow us on social media to keep updated with our events!

The second hand uniform shop now offers boy black trousers, shorts and both female and male white school shirts (some brand new). As always if you may need anything please email uniform@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk.

Our next in person sale will take place on Friday 17 March before and after school. This will allow you to stock up on any summer kit your child may need prior to returning for the new summer term.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: We are no longer accepting period day costumes as we are unable to have further volunteers run this portion of the shop.

Thank you for your support. Please get in touch if you have any queries. 

Crackley Hall PTA - Kenilworth needs your help!

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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 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

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

Princethorpe College

• Head of Academic PE
• AV and Theatre Technician
• Grounds Supervisor
• Admissions and Marketing Administrator

Crackley Hall

• Aftercare Leader

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