The Chronicle

“The whole purpose of education is to change mirrors into windows.”

Sydney J Harris

Dear parents

Welcome to the last Chronicle of this half term.  Unfortunately, I've not been able to be in school this week due to contracting COVID.  Although I have not been able to attend school physically, staff have kept me updated on school events.  Earlier this week you will have been sent a link to school questionnaire and I appreciate that this will take some of your valuable time to complete but your responses are valued and each comment will be read by myself and shared with Leadership Team at Crackley Hall as we look to continually enhance provision at the School. As mentioned, this will help us focus on areas which need improvement and consolidate those areas which are current strengths.   

LAMDA exams took place this week and I am very grateful to Mrs Paphitis who was able to step in and oversee these examinations in the absence of Mrs Wildey who has also been absent from school due to illness.  I am sure that all the children prepared hard at home as well as in school in order take their exam at peak performance and I look forward to seeing the results in due course. 

Mrs Simmonds has been very busy in school this week organising the Skipathon and collecting sponsorship from pupils.  Last year £5,000 was raised for Mary’s Meals and this year I have been told that so far over £4,000 has been collected.  We will be splitting the total amount raised between Mary’s Meals and the British Red Cross Disasters Emergency Committee.  There is still time to hand in your sponsorship as the donations will not be banked until the start of next half term. Many thanks to Mrs Simmonds and the staff. 

The Reception classes visited Attwell Farm Park on Wednesday and this is always a popular visit for staff and the children as they enjoy a hands-on experience with the animals on the farm.  Thank you to Mrs Allen and Mrs Malcolm for arranging this visit and to the Reception staff for assisting.  On Thursday Junior 1 travelled to the transport museum to explore the various modes of transport through the ages.  This is an annual trip for Junior 1 and I am grateful to Mrs Hardwick for organising the visit and the staff for accompanying the pupils. 

In celebration assembly today Mrs Glen-Roots awarded our Stars of the Week to:  Milo, Charlotte, Clement, Ella, Ciara, Harriet, William, Sophie, Daiya, Anthony, Elsie, Phoebe, Georgie and Isabella.  Music was performed by our Key Stage 2 violin ensemble – I believe that it was a super performance. Well done to all of them.  Mrs Glen-Roots also presented a goodbye gift to Mrs Taylor who will be leaving us soon after almost 7 years as my outstanding PA and Office Manager.  Mrs Taylor has been working with Mrs Davis-Harris providing a hand over and I am sure you will join me in wishing Mrs Taylor good luck for the future whilst warmly welcoming Mrs Davis-Harris to Crackley Hall. 

Holiday club will be taking place each day next week and will be open from 8.00am until 6.00pm.  If you need to check or re-arrange your booking, please contact Miss Osborn by e-mail holidayclub@crackleyhall.co.uk   

When we return after half term will be straight into to celebrating One World Week which has been organised by Mrs Jackson-Mayne.  There will be a week of outings and activities where children will learn about different faiths from across the world.  There will also be the annual World Book Day on Friday 3 March which is an opportunity for pupils (and staff) to dress up as their favourite book character.  This is always a great opportunity to use imagination and the range of costumes seem to improve year on year.   Parent consultation evenings will also take place after half term on 8 and 9 March and will provide an opportunity to discuss the mid term reports which will be issued to parents by 27 February.

I hope you have a relaxing half term and look forward to see you all again on 27 February. 

God bless,

Rob Duigan 

Please be aware, that with the evenings finally drawing out the sports department is going to take full advantage of this and is offering after school sports clubs to finish at 4.30 pm now. 

These timings will affect the following clubs;

On Wednesdays:

• Boys Junior 5 and 6 Rugby
• Junior 5 and 6 Netball 

On Thursdays:

• Junior 3 Rugby and Netball
• Junior 4 Rugby and Netball
• Junior 5 and 6 Girls Rugby 

Thank you

Please find the menus for the second half of the Lent Term.

Menu week 1 w/c 27/02

Menu week 2 w/c 06/03

Menu week 3 w/c 13/03

Menu week 3 w/c 20/03

A huge thank you to all who took part in the Skipathon! Mrs Simmonds is happy to wait to finalise monies until after half term, so there is still time to bring in your forms and money! 

Well done to all who skipped, jumped or hopped! We had a great time. 

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

On Monday and Tuesday this week, Crackley Hall’s pupils took it in turn to hop, skip or jump in a charity skipathon, an annual fund-raising event organised by Crackley’s Minnie Vinnies.

Mini Vinnies’ Co-ordinator, Mrs Dolores Simmonds explains, “This year the children have been skipping to support Mary’s Meals, a charity that 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.”

The children at Crackley Hall pledged to raise as much money as possible for the charity and have been collecting sponsors over the last few weeks. In the skipathon they took it in turns, to skip, hop or jump for one minute each. Supervised by Mrs Simmonds, wave after wave of eager skippers bounced and jumped across the hall or outside on the grass.

Well done to all the skippers who took part and a big thank you to those who have generously donated to the skipathon. Pledges are still coming in and we'll keep you updated as to the final amount raised. Please do send in any outstanding sponsorship money as soon as possible.

Following the recent earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria, the money raised from the Skipathon will be shared between Mary’s Meals projects and the earthquake disaster appeal.

For their latest inter House competition, on Tuesday monring in the school hall,  Mr Vaughan challenged the school houses to a sing-off. Recreating our very own mini Young Voices experience, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Mars took it in turn to perform Bob Marley’s popular classic, Three Little Birds. Led by the House Captains the children did not disappoint, with spirited renditions of this happy song.

We posted a clip on social media but if you missed it you can watch it here.  

A super huge well done to everyone involved and congratulations to all. The results were 1st Mars, 2nd Jupiter, 3rd Venus and 4th Saturn.

As the Princethorpe Admissions Cycle for 2024 entry begins, the whole of Junior 5 are warmly invited to a taste of senior school life at Princethorpe College on Thursday 27 April 2023. The dedicated taster day will begin at 9.30am with the children transported to the College by minibus from Crackley Hall. Pupils will experience a variety of classroom sessions, a tour of the school and a question and answers session with current pupils. Break and lunch will be provided and there is no charge for the day.

At the end of the afternoon, parents are invited to a Parents’ Information Session. The session will commence at 4.30pm, finish at approximately 5.15pm and light refreshments will be served. Grove du Toit, Princethorpe’s new Headmaster, along with other key members of staff, will be on hand to talk to you about the College, its ethos and vision and to outline the admissions process. Children will also have the opportunity to trial the online CEM test, one of the exams that prospective pupils complete during the Entrance Examinations Day, which will take place on Saturday 11 November 2023 from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

Please click here to access the online booking form for the Year 5 Taster Day. Please complete and submit the form by 5.00pm on Monday 6 March to secure a place for your child.

If you have any further queries please feel free to contact the College’s friendly Admissions Team on 01926 634201/297 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Budding author Daiya has impressed her teachers with her super story telling. For her first foray into creative writing Daiya penned an amazing adventure all about the escapades of Pirate Poe. Not only did Daiya write her own story, she also illustrated it beautifully too. She brought her book into school to show us all. Well done Daiya, we really are very proud of you.

We will be celebrating World Book Day on Friday 3 March.  Children and staff will be dressing up as their favourite character from a book.  We will be participating in lots of exciting activities on the day. All children will be coming home with a £1 book token, which can be exchanged for a book or used to buy a book for a £1 at various booksellers. 

Every year in school, we develop our understanding and knowledge about staying safe online. The challenge this half term is to create a piece that could explain to others about how to stay safe and behave appropriately on the internet.

What could I do? 

1.    Make a poster for a display in school.

2.    Write a story that teaches young children about the potential dangers of the Internet.

3.    Create a video news report about being safe online.

4.    Make up a song, rap or a poem based on our internet safety theme.

5.    Create a PowerPoint explaining your top tips.

6.    A creative idea of your own.

Remember to…

Think about the audience of your piece.

J3-J6: Include the SMART rules for being online (Safe, Meeting, Accepting, Reliable, Tell).

Name your work.

Be as creative as you can!

Please bring your work, or send a digital copy to your class teacher by Friday 3 March (at the latest).

Mrs Malcolm and Mrs Cowlishaw look forward to seeing your amazing ideas!

Following on from NSPCC Number Day, Mrs Van Zyl would love to see what you can find out about Fibonacci.

Use the task attached for ideas and bring in your discoveries by Friday 4 March, we cannot wait to see your fantastic efforts! 

Optional Maths JdV Challenge

Saturday 4 March 2023 - 10.30am to 12.30pm

We are opening our 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 and 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. 

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.

In Junior 6 this week, the children have been working on their debating skills as they prepare for an inter-school debating tournament. The children were grouped and given a statement that they had to prepare arguments for and against. In their groups they discussed various statements such as:-

Everyone should be vegan.

We shouldn’t have to wear school uniform. 

Homework should be abolished.

No prizes for guessing what they thought of the last one! They were then asked as a group to take part in a proper debate, remembering to always be confident and respectful. All the children took to the task brilliantly and we can’t wait to see how they fair in the upcoming tournament where they will be debating - All packaging should be banned. Keep up the hard work Junior 6!

Last week, in English, Junior 5 concluded the topic,‘Flanimals’, with a creative story. Moving swiftly on, the children have now begun to explore Kensuke’s Kingdom identifying the precise and ambitious vocabulary used by the author and considering how the book cover and blurb might provide an insight into the story. In Science, the children have made an interesting start to their new topic, ‘Circle Of Life’. They learnt about the inside of a flower and had a productive time dissecting one, to discover its different parts. During RE, Junior 5 have read and understood the key elements of five miracles performed by Jesus, the Son of God. Having completed this, the children were invited to write an account of Jesus Calms The Storm in the first person, whether that be from the perspective of Jesus, the disciples or even the boat. Junior 5 have continued to work incredibly hard and truly deserve their half-term break. Well done J5!

This week, the children enjoyed learning about the Fibonacci code and they were amazed to see how often it can be seen in nature. To celebrate Number Day, we all created Fibonacci spiral creatures, using the sequence to draw a spiral, which acted as the creature’s tail or trunk! We also drew and labelled the digestive system with a hands-on approach! In addition, both the boys and girls enjoyed playing in a sports fixture, representing the school with pride. We also had great fun in the Skipathon! In the lead up to half-term, all of the children continue to work their socks off and we are all very impressed with their progress. They all deserve a restful and adventurous half-term break.

Junior 3H have been having a wonderful time in their Art lessons as our Egyptian topic draws to a close. Mrs van Zyl has taken the pupils on a journey through the wonderful golden masks of the Pharaohs creating their own wonderful art pieces which the children have loved making. They have learnt how to lay out a face shape correctly using perspective and white crayon. We think they look amazing! One of our pupils decided to ‘mummify’ his little sister too – enjoy the image of her ‘lying in state’. Junior 3H’s turn this week to mummify tomatoes – so we will have at least one expert in the house!

In other areas of the curriculum, Cornwall is beginning to make it’s mark as we find out all about Mowzer, the Mousehole cat. The pupils have loved creating imagery through words with their descriptive writing using words such as tumultuous, swirling, mighty and persistent. We can’t wait to see their finished writing. Have a great half-term everyone, you deserve a break!

Mrs Burley, Mrs Thomas, and Mrs Bhogal would like to finish this half-term with a huge WELL DONE! The children should be proud of themselves for the hard work, dedication, and perseverance they have demonstrated throughout the year so far. Their efforts have paid off, and they have gained valuable knowledge and skills and the improvement is evident throughout all the subjects.

We wish you all a restful holiday and we hope children get time to reflect on the accomplishments and the challenges they overcame. Celebrate your successes and learn from your mistakes. Thank you to everyone for supporting along the way. Keep up the good work and continue to strive for excellence in all that you do.

Wow! What a way to finish the half-term.! A trip to the transport museum, getting a taste of all things English and raising money in the ‘Skip-a-thon’. History this week took the children out of the classroom and off to the amazing Transport Museum. Here they took part in a workshop on bicycles and learnt how they have evolved into the safe, sturdy bikes that we use nowadays. We also had a chance to look around the rest of the museum and it was great to see how big older vehicles were, including a Penny Farthing, which we could try out. In Geography we found out what things are typically English. Of course, we had to sample an English Afternoon Tea with tea and scones, which was a huge hit. Finally, everyone had the chance to participate in the ‘Skip-a-thon’ and raise money for Mary’s Meals, a most worthy cause.

This week Reception went off on our adventure to the farm! The children were so excited to find out about and meet lots of the animals that we have been learning about in school. They started with meeting a new born lamb, fed donkeys, goats and alpacas, and then took part in a mini-beast workshop. The children were brilliant at asking lots of questions and listening carefully to facts about all of the creatures. We finished off the day with a play on the soft-play area. Well done, Reception, you did us proud!

Please click here for this week's nursery newsletter.

Collective Worship this week was led by Mrs Jackson-Mayne who celebrated the season of Lent.

Pupils demonstrated their knowledge by completing the Millionaire Questions. It was great to see the children answering the multiple-choice questions using sign language.

Theo and Penny, from Junior 6, had a go at flipping pancakes, adorned with smiling emojis to remind us of the importance of resilience and looking on the bright side and showing kindness to others.

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

Weekly Mission

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

Jesus asks us to love all people, even those we don't like, and to share what we have with we another.

Activity Sheet

We’ve seen some pretty awesome Lego creations in Lego club this half-term and this week was no exception. With Lego inventions and master building as our theme, we not only made designs which looked amazing, but ones which actually worked! From an impressive Lego lemon and lime transporter with four-arms picking up and sorting blocks as they shuffle along conveyor belts, to an amazing, fully articulated vet robot which was capable of moving, gripping and twisting, just like your own hand! We shared our cool creations and showcased our ideas, even working together to solve any problems, like how to level a two-legged rabbit?  Answer – give it wings to fly!  We tinkered, engineered, built, experimented and problem-solved and loved every minute – especially when we had our weekly raffle! Happy Lego building during half-term everyone and remember – Keep Calm, build Lego and check the floor!

Check out the flyers for details of upcoming PTA events.

• The PTA Pub night has another new date! Due to unforeseen circumstances we've had to move it, just by a week. It's now Friday 10 March. 
  
  
• Our next Coffee Afternoon takes place on Tuesday 7 March from 2pm at the Farthing Gallery and Tea Room.
  
  
• 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! We look forward to seeing you there.

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

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

• Teacher of PE and Girls' Games (maternity cover)
• 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

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

A table of lost property is put in the Gables Foyer before Celebration Assembly. Lost property is 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.

Please check labels in your own child`s clothing to see if you are in possession of someone else's items. 

Lost uniform:

Hugo - Fleece hat, scarf and gloves (all named)

Angelica - Blazer, coat, fleece scarf and fleece hat (all named)

Jai’s fleecy hat

Sloane’s sport jumper

Felix - a football boot - named

Elora - school blazer - named