The Chronicle

  ‘The secret in education lies in respecting the student.’  – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dear Parents

It is wonderful to welcome you and the children back to Crackley Hall and the start of the Trinity term; it’s going to be a busy one and a rather special one!  I trust that you all had a relaxing Easter break with your families and have now settled back into the usual routine.  Listening to all the joyous stories shared by the children of their time spent with family and friends, making memories is one of the greatest gifts that God has ever given us.  They allow us to live one moment a thousand times over. 
 
Along with the sun shining we have had a few new faces in school this term and I am pleased to see that our new pupils have made a good start both within the classroom and within their friendship groups.  I would like to extend a warm Crackley welcome to Natalie Carroll who has taken over the roles of Aftercare Supervisor and temporary Teaching Assistant. 
 
On Wednesday afternoon, I hosted a meeting for Junior 5 parents, which highlighted the process for applying for a secondary school place. If anyone was unable to attend and would like further information, or you wish to meet with me, please contact Mrs Davis-Harris. 
 
In this morning’s assembly, I announced our Stars of the Week as: Sophie from Nursery, Otto RA, Isla RM, Grace J1H, George J1G, Lewis J2B, Francesca J3H, all Junior 3V, Alex J4R, Harriet J4S, Sebastian J5L, Jenson J5W, Rayane J6V, Julia J6H. Congratulations also to everyone who received their Bikeability, Crackley Compass, Da Vinci, music and LAMDA certificates. 
 
I am sure that everyone attending assembly would have thoroughly enjoyed the glorious performance of Wizard of Oz performed by our Musical Theatre group, along with a beautiful rendition from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Jenson.  It was also a real treat to listen to Ben, Adreena and Hollie play their piano pieces so beautifully.  Well done to all for your hard work and dedication. 
 
There were lots of children presented with awards and medals from outside of school. Congratulations to you all on your achievements and well-earned rewards. 
 
We are in the Easter season and this afternoon we celebrated Holy Mass with Father Kevin, it was wonderful to welcome him back after the Easter break and I would like to thank him, Mrs Jackson-Mayne, Mrs Olden, Mrs Simmonds and the children who took on lead roles in the Mass.  The preparation, reading, sense of reverence and the singing were all exceptional.  
 
The school will be marking King Charles III’s coronation on Friday 5 May, with a special picnic lunch, by dressing up in red, white and blue and by having a short concert on the school playing fields. Families are invited to bring a picnic lunch and join the pupils and staff from 12:30 and then to watch the concert from 13:30/14:00.  More details will follow soon. 
 
Sadly, Mrs Buswell who has been at the school for 27 years, will be leaving us at the end of the current school year. She has been an integral part of the Little Crackers team for so long and has played such an important role with Stay ‘n Play over the years. We will say a little more about Mrs Buswell as we formally thank her closer to the end of the year. 
 
Whilst writing my piece for The Chronicle, I had a request to see if I was able to speak to three of our former pupils. Going through to reception, I had the wonderful surprise of seeing Justine, Nicolas and Matthias Buhour, who left us about 7 years ago. They are back living in France and have been out visiting their old friends. It was wonderful to be able to talk to them, to catch up on what they are all doing and to show them around the school. 
 
I hope that you are able to enjoy a wonderful weekend with your families. 

God bless,

Rob Duigan 

Please find below the Trinity Term`s Curriculum Sheets, whcih details what subjects the children will be covering during the term. 

Reception

Junior 1 

Junior 2 

Junior 3

Junior 4

Junior 5

Junior 6

Please remember to inform us if any of your contact details have changed, so we can update our records here to ensure the correct information is held. 

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.

Can we request that drivers refrain from using the disabled parking space please as this is booked out for those who need it, despite it looking free and being available this may not always be the case.

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

Please see the attached menus for the first half of Trinity Term.

Week commencing 17/04

Week commencing 24/04

Week commencing 01/05

Week commencing 08/05

Week commencing 15/05

Week commencing 22/05

Parents who require either permanent or occassional Aftercare for the new Trinity Term are requested to do so by either emailing aftercare@crackleyhall.co.uk or receptionist@crackleyhall.co.uk with as much notice as possible to ensure children attending, receive a snack.

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 3.45 pm 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 if you need the staff after this time.

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

The children in Junior 5 and 6 received their long awaited LAMDA examination results this week and have been celebrating their success.

An excellent 100% pass rate was achieved with all the children being awarded the top grades of Merit or Distinction, the vast majority achieving the much coveted Distinction. The children have been preparing for their LAMDA examinations since October last year; Junior 5s working towards Grade 1 Speaking Verse and Prose and Junior 6s working towards Grade 2. This has been an outstanding set of results which has reflected the children’s overwhelming hard work and commitment. What a fantastic way for Junior 5 and 6 to start the new school term!

At the start of the Easter holidays the playground was a hive of activity with pupils from Junior 5 and Junior 6 taking part in Levels 1 and 2 Bikeability training, in conjunction with Warwickshire County Council and Outspoken Training. 

Pupils learnt how to complete bike checks, and cycling control and awareness, before venturing out onto the local roads to practise turning. From there, it was out onto the busier roads to practice turning in and out of junctions.

All pupils improved their confidence and awareness, and as the last group pedalled their way to those well-deserved certificates on the Thursday afternoon, it's safe to say the experience had been a huge success. 

Many thanks to Outspoken Training for running such enjoyable and engaging sessions.

The latest edition of Crackley Hall's Admissions Update e-newsletter has just been published and is available to read here. Please do share it with interested family and friends. 

Packed full of information and news it gives prospective parents a feel for school life, details of forthcoming events and helpful advice about the admissions process, particularly for those who are looking at entry in September 2024.

It reminds prospective parents that Crackley Hall and Little Cracker’s next Open Evening takes place on Tuesday 4 May 2023 from 5.00pm

Our Admissions Update Newsletters are published twice a year to coincide with key admissions periods, the next edition will be out in Autumn 2023.

To register for the Open Evening or for further information on admissions, please do contact the school's Registrar, Jenny Vaughan, on 01926 514410 or by email admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk. More information is also available on the school website www.crackleyhall.co.uk/admissions-crackley. 

On Sunday 26 March, Mrs Duigan, Mrs Thomas and Mr Stedeford took 18 very excitable Junior 5 girls to Worcester to watch Severn Stars vs Surrey Storm.

On arriving at 3pm at the University of Worcester Arena, the girls were all given mini flags from around the globe, representing the countries of the players. They also had the opportunity of taking part in a 'Name that Flag' competition.

The girls were fortunate to watch the players of both teams warm up, whilst enjoying a little snack and a drink. The game began at 4pm and right from the start the girls were very vocal in their support of Severn Stars. During half-time the girls had the opportunity to each have a go at shooting, with two girls scoring a goal. Well done!

Despite Surrey Storm dominating the game and the final score being 79 - 42 in their favour, the girls continued to wave their flags and shout words of encouragement throughout the game.

The highlight of the day was when the girls got to meet the players after the game, have their photos taken with them, as well as get the players' autographs. The girls were buzzing with excitement as we headed home at 6pm. What an amazing day of watching live sport!

Mrs Duigan would like to thank Mrs Thomas and Mr Stedeford for driving the mini buses and the two other adults who joined us on this outing. Special thanks must go to each and every girl who agreed to go on this trip; they were a real credit to their parents and the school.

Kenilworth Runners have asked us to share this event with you! They will be hosting the Mayday races in Abbey Fields on the Bank Holiday Monday 1 May. The 10km event cannot go ahead this year due to the building work in Abbey Fields but the fun run and Year 5 and 6 cross-country school challenge will be held.

We would particularly like to encourage participation in the school challenge and hope that Year 5 and 6 children will take the opportunity to represent the school and take part as a team, whether or not they have participated in primary school cross country this season.

Please see the attached poster for further details! 

Thursday 4 May 2023 - 5.00pm to 7.30pm

Please share news of our Open Evening for prospective pupils.

Prospective pupils and their parents are warmly invited to Crackley Hall and Little Cracker's Open Evening on Thursday 4 May from 5.00pm.

Come and find out more about what a Crackley education can do for your child. This is a great opportunity for prospective families to get a feel for the school and to meet Mr Duigan, Headmaster, and speak to key members of staff.

To book your place, please click here.

For more information on admission to Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery please email Jenny Vaughan at admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk or call 01926 514410.

Wednesday 7 June - 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Princethorpe College's annual Summer Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 7 June from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. This is a perfect opportunity for prospective families looking for a place in September 2024 and beyond to visit the school, for children to take part in departmental activities and for parents to meet and chat to members of staff and pupils.

The Headmaster will also address visitors during the evening. Light refreshments will be available.

Please click here to book your place. 

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

Rehearsals are well underway this week as Junior 6 prepare for their production of Peter Pan at end of the year. The children have worked so hard over the Easter break to learn their lines and watching their rehearsals has been a treat. It is so brilliant to see the children confidently expressing themselves and showing us all their skills and talents. We are so excited to watch you grow into your roles and transport us to Neverland. Keep it up J6!

What an exciting beginning J5W have had to this term! The class made a smashing start to their involvement in the Summer Production of Peter Pan in their first music lesson back. Teaming together with J3H, the children started to learn a song and their first dance moves as pirates of the sea. Although combining singing a new song with some deft choreography from Mrs Paphitis was certainly challenging, J5W were brilliant role models to the younger children, showing off their true pirate style.

Junior 4 have returned from their 3-week break with renewed enthusiasm, continuing their love for learning and motivated by some much needed sunshine! In History, the children used toilet roll to improve their understanding of chronology. Each small group used the perforations in the roll to demonstrate a change in century and then added significant historical events, to complete a ‘Viking Timeline’. It was lovely to see everyone return from their Easter break and we are all excited for the many adventures that the Summer term has in store for us!

J3H have arrived back after the brilliant Easter break raring to go. Times tables are back on the agenda plus ‘weight’ in Maths and Greek Myths and Legends in English, which is always a firm favourite with the pupils. From the Minotaur and Icarus to Jason and the gods, the pupils devour the stories hungrily. Currently, we are exploring the story of Daedalus and Icarus, that daring duo who created colourful wings from feathers to escape the wrath of King Minos of Crete. The children are finding our about different versions of the story and are relishing the artist’s interpretations of this famous myth. We will investigate cartoons as we build up a myth of our own. Happy days!

In French, the equally famous Madame Westerman has been exploring tricky vocabulary this week – Ms Holmes was delighted to hear one of our pupils speaking beautifully en Francais, as she entered the classroom! What a treat.

We shall continue our Science investigation into Rocks and then Fossils as the box of gemstones arrived this week – great excitement…..the display case always prompts gasps of ‘ooooh’ and ‘wow’ from everyone. Methinks we have some budding gemmologists in Junior 3H. Have a great weekend everyone!

Junior 2 have had a brilliant start to the Trinity Term. The children are very excited about our Rainforest topic, and we enjoyed sharing some projects completed over the Easter break. In English, we are using The Tin Forest book, and the children have found this book quite magical. The Tin Forest by Helen Ward is a beautiful and poetic fable written about an old man who lives in a Tin Forest, otherwise known as a rubbish dump of unloved things nobody wants anymore. The old man wishes for a better place to live. With his own initiative, will he make this junkyard into a wonderland?

The children have enjoyed participating in PE, practising our throwing and catching, ready for our summer sports, including rounders and cricket. We are very excited about all the learning we will be doing this term.

Junior 1 have settled into their last term of the school year with such maturity and a willingness to learn new things. Everyone has enjoyed reading our new focus book Handa’s Surprise and it has been interesting to see how such a simple storyline has captured the children’s imagination. Everyone completed a book review with both classes giving it a firm thumbs up! There was great excitement on Tuesday when Mr Vaughan organised the eagerly awaited interhouse football tournament with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus all competing to be the Junior 1 champions. We are so proud of how well the children took part with an equal amount of competitiveness and respect for one another’s team. Our Science lessons have also been a huge success with the children discovering some interesting facts about moths and butterflies. Did you know butterflies come from a chrysalis whereas moths have cocoons, or moths have short, hairy antennae as opposed to the long strait antennae of a butterfly? We can’t wait to find out more interesting facts next week!

This week the children have started their new topic on ‘Going on a Trip’. The children have enjoyed sharing photographs with each other of a trip they have been on and produced some fantastic writing about holidays they have been on in the past. The children started to compare types of holidays and looked for similarities and differences in their experiences.

Please click here for this week's newsletter 

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

Weekly Mission

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

Two of the disciples went on a journey to a village called Emmaus. Along the way they met someone really special, but they didn't recognise Him at first.

Activity Sheet

The SOCS system holds information regarding any sports fixtures or selections your child has been chosen to participate in and co-curricular clubs.

The system shows the time, location and holds details of the fixture. The sports staff will upload all the details you need, including correct uniform, kit requirements and collection times. 

SOCS 

Please join us for the second annual PTA obstacle colour run and family picnic on Friday 19 May from 4.00pm to 7.00pm.

We had an tremendous turn out last year and so much fun! We hope you can join us once again.

Bring your family picnic and drinks and enjoy a Friday evening with friends. Live music, snacks, face painting, fire trucks and more will keep you and your family entertained.

We encourage all pupils from Nursery to Junior 6, their siblings under the age of 16, teachers and parents to take part in this colourful run! 

Tickets are limited to 60 participants per time slot. For more details and to purchase tickets, please see the link below. As always we are grateful for your support to the PTA.

Tickets

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

Crackley Hall

• KS1 Teacher
• RE Co-ordinator 

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

We have a large 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, which may well end up in landfill, we want to reduce this as much as possible so please help us to do everything we can to prevent these ending up there.

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. Scan the photos to see if you identify anything and let the office know in order for it to be returned to you.  

George in J3 has lost his swimming kit.  

Olivia in J2 has lost her Sports Fleece and Harry Potter Lunchbox.