The Chronicle

Dear Parents 

As we enter the second week of the term, the children are becoming more accustomed to their new timetable and classes and are forming new friendships along the way. We hope that our new parents have also settled into the routine here at Crackley Hall and have been able to meet fellow parents.

Today, we held our opening school Mass of the year, and it was wonderful to welcome some parents to Mass. The children sung so well and there was a real sense of reverence. Thank you to Fr Kevin, Mrs Forino, Mrs Simmonds and Mrs Olden, as well as all the staff members who contributed to the Mass.

Our external extra-curricular activities have also made a successful return, thanks to the efforts of Mrs Vaughan who has organised a diverse range of activities for the pupils. I appreciate all her work in setting up the new clubs this term.

I hope you have found the parent information meetings informative as we hold the last one this evening. I would like to remind you of the upcoming New Parent Evening on Monday 18 September. Please join us for something to drink, along with a few light snacks. It is an opportunity to meet all the staff and some of the parents on our PTA. This evening is especially helpful for those who joined Crackley Hall either late last academic year or at the beginning of this term.

I sincerely hope you have had the opportunity to indulge in some much-needed sunshine this week. However, given the unpredictability of the weather, I would highly recommend that you ensure your child brings along a protective hat, some reliable sunscreen, and a water bottle with their name clearly labelled on it.

Our Stay 'n' Play sessions returned this week and proved as popular as ever. We will soon be transitioning to a cashless payment system, and we will provide more details soon. Please do join us if you have any pre-Nursey children.

Before Covid, we had an effective parent reader programme, and I am excited to share that we will be bringing it back this academic year. Keep an eye out for more details from the front office in the next week or two. We will be calling for volunteers.

Aftercare parents, we ask that when collecting children, you park on the lower playground. I would like to request that you avoid blocking any parked cars in the main staff car park. This will ensure that our teachers are able to leave promptly to pick up their own children. Thank you for your cooperation.

I recently attended my youngest child's graduation ceremony and found myself experiencing a wide range of emotions, just like I have seen on the faces of other parents. As a parent myself, I want to take a moment to acknowledge all the parents of Crackley and the incredible efforts you make for your children. As parents, we love our children unconditionally and often put aside our own desires and freedoms to provide for them. We may question our decisions, but I can assure you that your children will always remember the sacrifices you make for them. Seeing my daughter's proud smile made all the sacrifices worthwhile.

I would like to congratulate our Stars of the Week: Jeea (to be presented next week) and Annie in Nursery, August in Reception M, Joshua in Reception O, Zach in J1G, Otto in J1H, Ted in J2B, Bella-Rae in J2R, Laura in J3V, Kenji in J3W, Will in J4A, Gabriella in J4R, Ain in J5L, Scarlett in the J5S, Sophia in J6H and Ted in J6V.

I was very pleased to welcome you to our first Key Stage 1 Assembly of the school year and we enjoyed two lovely musical performances from Angelica L on her cello and Olivia E who sang a song from Peter Pan. They were both excellent.

We enjoyed some good matches against Crescent School this week, both in football and hockey. Thank you to the sports staff for their efforts.

I hope that you can enjoy the rugby this weekend. I was so upset to see that one of my favourite Springbok players, Malcolm Marx, will be missing the RWC due to a knee ligament injury – his absence will certainly affect the Boks.

I hope that you are all able to have a happy and relaxing weekend with your families.

God bless

Rob Duigan

"Teaching children to count is fine, but teaching children what counts is best." - Bob Talbert.

Please find attached the termly curriculum sheet for your child's year group:

Nursery

Reception

Junior 1

Junior 2

Junior 3

Junior 4

Junior 5

Junior 6

Taking Care 
 
At the start of every academic year, form teachers deliver a Protective Behaviours strategy called ‘Taking Care’ during PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) lessons. I thought it would be useful for you to know what these lessons cover as you may like to talk to your child about them.  
 
The strategy enables pupils and adults to recognise what feeling safe means to them and then to identify their own signs of feeling unsafe. It highlights the link between rights and responsibilities and the need to take responsibility for our own feelings and behaviour. The process encourages pupils to have fun and adventures (if desired), whilst observing the rights of others at the same time. Strategies for safe action and choices are explored along with identification of a network of adults who can help. Using the network and checking that it works are also covered, as is the importance of persistence. 
  
The scheme advocates that, in addition to improving personal safety from deliberate harm, wider benefits for children include valuable life skills around life choices in future; enhanced self-confidence and self-esteem; promotion of individual problem-solving/solution-finding; encouragement to take responsibility for own behaviour, and thoughts and feelings; encouragement to take risk in a safe and controlled way – thus supporting personal development.  
  
If you have any questions or queries, please speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance.  
 

  

Children in Juniors 4, 5 and 6 once again have the opportunity to attend Young Voices that takes place on Friday 12 January 2024.

An Evolve has been sent out for consent, and to purchase t-shirts and additional tickets - can you please ensure that this has been completed by the end of the weekend, as Mrs Olden will be ordering the tickets on Monday morning.

If your child is interested in taking music or singing lessons at school, please complete the below Expression of Interest Form and hand in to the school office

Expression of Interest Form

Changes to Extra Curricular Clubs

J5 and J6 Chamber Choir has moved to Thursday morning, from Wednesday.

J5 Art & DT Club has moved to Friday afternoon, from Thursday.

J1 Cartoon Drawing has moved to Friday lunchtime (12:30), from Monday

Cancellations to Extra Curricular Clubs

There are no club cancellations for this week.

Afterschool Clubs - pick up locations and times

Mondays

J1 Rugby Tots - 3.45pm - Lower Playground

J3 to J6 Move It Shake It - 4.45pm - Gables

J4 STEAM Club - 4.45pm - Front Steps

J5 and J6 Girls Hockey Club - 5.00pm at North Leam School or 5.20pm at Crackley Hall

Tuesdays

J1 and J2 Eco Club - 4.15pm - Front Steps

J3 and J4 Hockey Club - 4.30pm - Lower Playground

J4 to J6 Fencing Club - 4.45pm - Gables

Rec to J6 Bayleaf Cookery - 4.45pm - Front Steps

J3 to J6 STEM Young Engineers - 5.00pm - Science Room Door 

Wednesdays

Rec to J2 Move It Shake It - 4.15pm - Gables

J5 and J6 Girls Football Club - 4.30pm - Crackley Hall Playing Fields

J5 and J6 Boys Football Club - 4.30pm - Crackley Hall Playing Fields

Thursdays

J3 and J4 Girls Football Club - 4.30pm - Crackley Hall Playing Fields

J3 and J4 Boys Football Club - 4.30pm - Crackley Hall Playing Fields

Fridays

J1 and J2 ATMA Karate - 4.00pm - Gables

J1 to J6 Complete Cricket - 4.30pm - Lower Playground

J5 Art and DT Workshop - 4.45pm - Science Room Door

J3 to J6 ATMA Karate - 5.00pm - Gables

Please see the attached menus for the Michaelmas Term. These rotate on a five weekly basis.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

The deadline for completing the E-Consent for the flu vaccination is fast approaching, being Sunday 17 September, and this cannot be extended.

If you have not yet completed the E-Consent, please see the link below:

Unique Consent Link 

Once the form is completed, please ensure that you note the Unique Submission Number before closing the web page down, in case you have a query.

The E-Consent link will close on Sunday 17 September and will not be able to be extended.

Please note that the E-Consent link has been set up and is managed by the NHS Immunisation Team, and that the school does not have access to see who has or has not completed the form.

Therefore, it is imperative that you note your Unique Submission Number as stated above.

The School Immunisation Team will only be referring to the completed consent link, therefore if you do not complete this link, your child will not be able to have the flu vaccination. Consent in any other format will not be accepted by the Immunisation Team.

If you have any queries regarding the form, please contact either the school office or the School Immunisation Team, details are on the attached information letter.

Crackley Hall Flu Vaccination Information Letter

When dropping off in the morning, if you are using carline, please move round the roundabout before dropping off and do not leave your car unattended. Carline can cause traffic issues on the Kenilworth Road, so please be mindful.

If you are dropping off and wish to walk your child up to the school or are coming into school please use the Lower Playground or the Sports Field. Please remember to park considerately as parking is at a premium.

We would ask that if you use the lower playground at morning drop off, that you leave the school site promptly, as parking is at a premium, and it has been causing traffic congestion.

Please do not park on the Grasscrete Parking area or on the left hand side when you enter the school main carline, as these are both staff parking areas.

Where possible, please avoid parking on the local residential roads, and if you do, please park considerately and legally. 

When collecting in the evening, please adhere to the collection times, as if you arrive too early, this causes traffic congestion. If you are early, we would suggest parking on the Sports Field and walking up to school.

If you are unsure or wish to clarify any points, please call the School Office.

 Please see below the carline locations and collections for the Michaelmas Term:

Please see below collection locations for after games lessons (but not clubs):

For children who require any medication periodically or on a permanent basis, the Office will require a completed Administration of Medication Form a copy is attached for your convenience. 

Administration of Medication Form

Please ensure that any medication brought into school is in date and labelled with your child's name and form.

Please hand medication into the School Office, please do not give to your child to hand in. 

Earrings of any description are a health and safety issue and must not be worn.

We are aware that some children have had their ears pierced during the holidays and are therefore unable to remove their earrings for six weeks. During this time, earrings (plain studs only) can be worn to school but must be covered with tape or a plaster at all times.  After the six weeks has elapsed and the hole has formed, earrings should not be worn to school. 

If you require either permanent or occassional Aftercare for the new Term will need to book in their intentions by emailing aftercare@crackleyhall.co.uk or receptionist@crackleyhall.co.uk with as much notice as possible to ensure the children attending, receive tea.

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 £5.00 per hour or part thereof.

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

The office closes at 4.30pm, 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!

As we begin a new school year, Crackley Hall's first school mass focused on Firm Foundations and New Beginnings. Fr Kevin reminded us that the beginning of a new school year is an opportunity to start afresh by turning over a new leaf. We listened to the story about the wise and foolish builders. The foolish builder built their house on sand where it was crushed in a storm. The wise person who built their house on solid rock where it will stand up to any storm. We were encouraged to use Jesus' teachings as a foundation to help each of us have a successful school year.

Ms Holmes is excited to announce the theme for this half-term's inter-house Art competition is HARVEST. You can take the idea of Harvest Festival from any culture you like, remember it’s all about colour, shape and foods grown in the countryside

Work should be the child's own, completed and handed in with their name, year group and most importantly their House, before the closing date on Wednesday 18 October. Work should be no larger than A3 please. They can work in any medium you like; pencil, pen, paint, crayon, pastel, junk box, paper, charcoal – it’s up to them.

The information is also on SEESAW for your reference.

Beaky the Owl says get creating Crackley Hall!

With just eight weeks to go, the countdown to Princethorpe's Entrance Exams for admission in September 2024 is well underway. This year the exams for Year 7 to 10 entry will take place on Saturday 11 November from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

The deadline for registrations is Friday 29 September. Junior 6 parents wishing their children to sit the Princethorpe entrance exam must complete a registration form and submit it with the accompanying registration fee by this date.

More information on the admissions process can be found in Princethorpe's Admissions Update newsletter here or on the Foundation website here.

You can register for the Entrance Examination by filling out our online registration form here. Or download a copy of the registration form here.

If you have any queries relating to admissions please speak to the Registrars at Princethorpe College, either by email at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or by calling 01926 634201/297.

Ms Holmes is looking for your unwanted/unused costume jewellery please for an art project.

If you are happy to donate, please leave them in a named envelope with the school office, so she can thank you personally. Ms Holmes is particularly looking for faux pearls.

Please note, they would be used for the project and not returned.

Thank you in advance. 

Sunday 17 September 2023 - 2.00pm to 5.00pm

Princethorpe will be holding its annual Open Afternoon on Sunday 17 September from 2.00pm to 5.00pm. All are welcome to visit the College and for younger visitors, there will be many fun subject related activities organised by the departments.

The Headmaster will address visitors during the afternoon and refreshments will be available. 

Booking has now closed but please still come along and they will register you on arrival.

Princethorpe College's Admissions Update e-newsletter is now live!

The Princethorpe College's Admissions newsletter is designed to give prospective parents and pupils a feel for school life at Princethorpe and key information about the admissions process.

Click here to read.

Thursday 28 September 2023 - 6.30pm to 8.00pm

Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery in Kenilworth are hosting a dedicated Nursery and Reception Open Evening on Thursday 28 September from 6.30pm.

The Open Evening is for prospective families looking for places at Little Crackers Nursery or in Reception in September 2024 and beyond. 

This is a perfect opportunity to see the school and talk to key members of staff who will be teaching and supporting your child. 

To book your place please click here. 

If you can't make the Open Evening but would like to look around the school, you can book a personal tour by contacting our Registrar, Mrs Jenny Vaughan on 01926 514410 or email admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk and come on a day to suit you.

For more information visit www.crackleyhall.co.uk

Thursday 28 September 2023 – 11.00am to 1.00pm

With the opening of Princethorpe’s fantastic new Science Centre this term, the College is delighted to host the whole of Junior 6 to a special Science Themed Taster Morning on Thursday 28 September 2023.

The group will travel over to the College by coach and together with their teachers they will have a tour of the new state-of-the-art building and experience two hands-on Science lessons, along with their peers from fellow Foundation prep school, the Crescent.

They will return back to Crackley Hall in time for a slightly later lunch.

A reminder to Junior 6 parents that the deadline for registering for the Princethorpe Entrance Exams on Saturday 11 November is fast approaching on Friday 29 September. It is now possible to register online, click here for information.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact the College’s friendly Admissions Team, Catherine Rogers and Marie Holt on 01926 634201/297 respectively or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

We love to celebrate our pupils talents so every week the children take turns to perform in Celebration Assembly in front of the school. Here are photos from this morning's performances.

A huge well done to all.

In English this week, Junior 6 are reading Chapter 2 of The Spiderwick Chronicles focusing on the author’s use of language and creation of atmosphere. We were thinking about why an author chooses particular words or phrases and the impact that this has on the reader. We then looked at the different reading skills we need to be able to use, and thought about retrieving information from a text, inferring information, predicting what we think might happen next, explaining our ideas and opinions carefully and precisely and summarising what we have read. We have also read a section of The Hobbit to deepen our understanding of how to create atmosphere, which we will use to write our own description of a cave.

Junior 5 have continued to amaze us with their wonderful enthusiasm for learning. This week in Geography, they learnt about places around the world, using mini globes to locate continents, oceans, cities and many other places. It was lovely to see their curiosity, which they all demonstrated by asking many intelligent questions. We have all been very impressed with how all of the children have continued to settle into their new routines, and cannot wait to see what they can all achieve over the next few weeks.

This week in Science, Junior 4 have been conducting experiments about the journey of sound. This includes how sound is created, how it travels to our ears and how our ears receive and interpret it. We conducted a sound walk around school registering how noisy different areas of the school are and then discovered how various instruments create the sounds that we hear. We also investigated how we can change the volume and pitch of sound by changing our interactions with the instruments. Junior 4 also resumed their swimming lessons at the Xcel Leisure Centre which the children thoroughly enjoyed. 

This week, Junior 3 travelled far, far back in time to understand where the Stone Age sits in history. The children brainstormed all the historical periods they’d ever heard of and then got into groups to put pictures of them into chronological order. There was some very interesting ordering, triggering lively group discussions. It wasn’t long before the children reflected on each other’s timelines and went back to eagerly put their pictures into the correct order, realising just how long ago the Stone Age was placed, but noted that it wasn’t nearly so long ago as the Big Bang and the dinosaurs!

This week in Junior 2R we have participated in Forest School where the children have demonstrated an intellectual approach and deep appreciation of the natural world. What we witnessed during this lesson was how imaginative and creative the children all were. They all helped each other when faced with problems and showed great resilience as they worked together building positive relationships. Forest School is an excellent way to offer a holistic approach to learning and foster a deep appreciation of the natural world.  Junior 2B - it will be your turn next week!

This week Junior 1 have started to develop their gymnastic skills in PE. Mr Vaughan was very impressed with how well everyone joined in and how keen they were to show how flexible they are. Great interest was had in History while finding out about Celtic homes. We learnt how they were made and what materials they were made from. The children were surprised to find out that these early houses had no windows and that the people slept with the animals! Geography saw us zooming in to the local area using Google maps and seeing what our school looks like from above. This linked in with looking at a map of the school and its surrounding area and how things are represented on maps.

We have had a fantastic week getting busy outside in all weathers! We were able to practice putting our puddle suits on in the rain on Tuesday and spent our lunchtime jumping in puddles and generally proving the statement true; that 'there’s no such thing as bad weather, if you’re dressed right!' We then met Mrs. Clark for Forest School later in the week and the children all surprised everyone with how quick and efficient they were at getting ready before heading outside. Soon everyone was busy exploring: sliding, jumping, swinging and climbing amongst the trees in the wonderful Windmill Wood.

This week we have started our extra-curricular activities.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first Forest School session of the year. Lots of lovely turn-taking, collaborative teamwork and an opportunity to let our imagination run free in the woods.

We learnt some new rhymes in our French lesson with Mrs Westerman and how to say ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Au revoir’.

Some of the children took part in their first Rugby Tots session.

Mr Duigan led the school Mission Assembly and talked about the 175 years of prayer which was celebrated on Education Sunday. This was linked with our school Mission Statement where we 'follow the teaching and example of Jesus as we celebrate everybody, every day, creating a school family where we love, learn and grow.' Mr Duigan compared this to the growth of a tree. If you let the tree grow wild without pruning it from time to time, the branches are not going to grow properly and it could become tangled with weeds, which would destroy the tree or stop it from growing altogether. "God is our vine and we are the fruitful branches." John 15:5.

Jesus is the vine, the true source of life for us. We are branches connected to Him, drawing that life from Him as branches draw the necessary nutrients to survive and flourish. At first glance, we may assume that branches bear fruit, but in another sense, it's really the vine that makes it all happen. Only by staying connected, can we bear much fruit.

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

Weekly Mission

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

Sunday 17 September

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Today Jesus talks about forgiveness – about how God is always ready to forgive us if we say sorry.

Activity Sheet 

We had a dynamic return to Lego Club this week with lots of new Junior 4 recruits! With the hazy days of summer still fresh in our minds, we talked about our curiosity of life under the sea and we were practically jumping out of our Lego boxes with excitement at the thought of investigating the oceans. We played out our own daring sea rescue adventures and dived with submarines to explore the depths of the ocean floor. We saw a giant sea turtle gliding through the crystal-clear waters - and a sea poodle with a cloak! Our submarines were built with inspection arms and a pirate treasure chest with hidden gems. We saw sponges, an underwater drone who went in search of a stingray, whilst mini-intrepid explorers chilled out on the coral covered ocean floor teaming with amazing wildlife.  What a wonderful sea world we made!

We're very much looking forward to two events next week, the children's activity afternoon on Saturday 23 September and our Annual General Meeting next Thursday 21 September. 

We have lots of opportunities for roles both on and off the core committee, all of which play a part in shaping the extra experiences we can offer our children, often the fun ones!  In the last year it has been the PTA that has organised popular events such as the Colour Run, Christmas and Summer Fayres and the Christmas whole school pantomime.

We support a whole host of other activities too, such as Fairtrade Fortnight, One World Week, the Inter School Cross Country Championships and many other sporting and social activities.  

Joining meetings and participating is a great way to enhance the experience for your child and for you too! There are lots of ad-hoc ways to help without huge ongoing commitment.  Please do join the meeting and/or get in touch.

PTA Annual General Meeting

You are cordially invited to join our AGM held at the school in the Science Room as well as online on Thursday 21 September - 4.30pm to 6.00pm. We love to put on great events and provide services to the whole school community and would value your input, energy and ideas. We are actively recruiting for new members to share the fun so if you've been thinking about getting involved, please join us to find out more.  

Children's Activity Social

We're holding a relaxed social at the school on Saturday 23 September - 2.00pm to 4.00pm. Please save the date and join us for an easy afternoon of catching up and letting the children engage and play with new and old friends.  

We are delighted to welcome an African dance leader to our event who will run two, free of charge workshops, maximum 20 children per workshop. As there are limited numbers, the workshops are ticketed and are available first come first served on the PTA events platform with the following link: click here

We will have Art activities and ball games available for everyone. The bar will be open selling beer, wine, gin, soft drinks and snacks plus free tea, coffee and squash. 

Our hello@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk address is experiencing issues temporarily so any questions, thoughts or ideas do contact us via the office or mariagordonpta@gmail.com.

Pre-loved Uniform

Thank you to all who attended the PTA uniform sale last Friday. Despite the craziness of setting it up, we were glad to be able to provide pre-loved uniform to many parents, whilst making a good amount of money to put towards the PTA fund. Thank you for all of the donations received over the summer, we now have most uniform items back in stock. We will continue to sell jumpers, coats and winter pinafores for the next few weeks. If you have any orders you would like to place, please email uniform@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk. Please remember that we are volunteer run and aim to get back to you within seven days. We are continually grateful for donations, and these can be dropped into the box labelled ‘PTA uniform’, located in the front porch of the school. A huge thank you for your support; we couldn’t run the second hand shop without your generous donations.

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

• Alumni Relations and Development Manager
• Examinations Invigilator

Crescent School

• Supply Teacher

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

To order uniform please use the electronic form.

New Uniform Order