The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

The Primary Mathematics Challenge is a fun and exciting mathematical Challenge aimed at pupils in Years 5 and 6.

The PMC is not designed to be just another test in the school year instead it encourages enthusiasm, boosts confidence in mathematics and shows the different way questions can be asked. Problem Solving is hugely important as a means of helping pupils develop their reasoning skills.

The PMC is designed to make pupils think outside the box. The questions asked are not necessarily subjects that have been covered in the curriculum by this time, but the questions can create a great starting point and lead to discussions later in the year. The questions are not heavily reliant on formal mathematical knowledge but can be solved by logical reasoning.

At Crackley this year we had 20 Junior 6 pupils and 10 Junior 5 pupils take the Primary Maths Challenge and we are delighted with the results.

Gold – Ding, Arthur, Beatrice, Elizabeth,
Silver – Ben, Isaac, Sara, Darcey, Elora, Finley, Molly, Fergus
Bronze – Charlotte, Eleanor, Harrison, Harry, Jessie, Jenson, Ted, Felix, Sebastian, Sienna.

The Gold and Silver winners have had their scores submitted to go through to the next round, but this will depend on what the threshold score is this year. Hopefully we will have some pupils who qualify.

A huge well done to all pupils who took part!

Crackley Hall School marked Anti-Bullying Week with the children taking part in lots of different learning activities.

The week began with Deputy Head, Mr Cottrill delivering a special assembly to the whole school introducing this year’s theme of ‘Make A Noise’. On Monday, pupils and staff all wore odd socks to celebrate that we are all unique as the school participated in Odd Socks Day.

During the week, every class has created their own poem on the 2023 theme. Their poems encourage everyone to make a noise against bullying and the message that they won’t accept or tolerate bullying comes through loud and clear. You can hear Junior 5L performing their poem here and Junior 2B performing their poem here.

Junior 2 performed an assembly to their parents and the whole school, and wowed their audience with a fantastic delivery of a very special message about anti-bullying, ‘Make noise against Bullying, loud and clear. Let kindness and respect always be near.’

Well done to the whole school for embracing this important issue.

As parents we all want our children to be happy and safe, and it is natural to worry about bullying - particularly if we have experienced bullying ourselves or think our child may be more vulnerable to bullying. The good news is you are not alone! The Anti-Bullying Alliance and its members are here to work with children, families, and schools to help keep children safe. You can find more information here. 

Introducing Reception 2023!

Our two Reception classes have successfully completed their first half term at Crackley Hall School and we thought it was high time we introduced these amazing young pupils to you all.

Reception have settled into their new school routines superbly and are enjoying plenty of fabulous lessons, whether with their own form teachers or our specialist subject staff. They have also been making friends, playing outside, sitting down for lunch together and hanging up their blazers on the right pegs.

What an exciting adventure they have ahead of them as they grow and develop over the next seven years. They are a perfect addition to our wonderful school community.

Over the Michaelmas half term pupils were challenged to create their own project on the topic of Sustainability. Mrs Cowlishaw asked pupils to explore ‘How does the food we eat directly impact the world around us?’ With more than half of habitable space on Earth currently used for food production and the world’s population likely to grow by 25% by the year 2050, sustainable food production is a key issue for the world to address.

Pupils were asked to explore the issue by examining the theme through one of three tasks:
1. Where does our food come from?
2. Plan a mini farm
3. Find out about sustainable farming methods

There were lots of entries from pupils from Reception up to Junior 6 and they focused on many different aspects and ideas, from considering food waste, exploring where food comes from, looking at the impact of food miles to even one which turned the school grounds into a farm. Pupils’ projects are on display in The Gables – if you get the chance, please do take a look. You can see some of them in the gallery here.

A huge well done to all who took part in our latest Junior da Vinci challenge, every pupil who submitted a project has been awarded a creativity strand for a Geography Junior da Vinci and some of the most outstanding entries will receive a full Junior da Vinci award. These will be presented during upcoming assemblies.

It was fantastic to see so many pupils taking on the JdV challenge, developing and stretching their learning skills on this important issue.

Thank you for your generous contributions to the Shoebox appeal. It has been lovely to see pupils thinking about those less fortunate than they are and using these shoeboxes as a tangible way to express their faith and desire to help. We were delighted to receive a certificate of thanks from Operation Christmas Child and the boxes are on their way to making Christmas extra special for those in need around the world.