The Chronicle

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Crackley’s Junior 3 and Junior 4 pupils took to the stage yesterday evening to perform Easter Children, a simple but dramatic mini-musical, portraying the intrigue and mixed emotions of the Easter story.

It was lovely to see the children bringing the story to life, with Junior 4 performing on stage and Junior 3 the supporting chorus. From Palm Sunday, through the Last Supper and the betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, to the trial and crucifixion and finally the resurrection, pupils carried the narrative with emotion and passion.

Congratulations to all the pupils on their brilliant performances and thank you to the staff for all their hard work putting the show together.

Assembly went with a whoosh on Monday morning when we were joined by four Princethorpe Sixth Formers to kick start our learning for British Science Week. The College’s STEAM Ambassadors introduced this year’s theme of ‘Time’, conducting exciting live experiments that amazed and impressed all.

The Princethorpe Sixth Formers then ran practical Physics and Biology workshops for Junior 5 and Junior 4 who enjoyed making and timing pendulums and exploring the spread of infectious diseases.

It was wonderful to see everyone's enthusiasm for science and to see them all getting involved.

Huge thanks to the College's Head of Physics, Dan Lee, and to Megan, Giorgio, Tom and Jack for providing such a boost to our BSW learning – they really put on a thrilling show!

As Princethorpe looks forward to welcoming its new pupils to the College in September, the Admissions Team has now turned its attention to entry for 2025.

Entrance Examinations, for entry to the school in September 2024, will take place on Saturday 9 November 2024 and we are already busy accepting registrations.

For 2025 entry there are a range of scholarships available for particularly able or talented candidates, from Academic, Art and Performing Arts (Choral, Drama, Music, Musical Theatre including Dance) to Sport.

In addition, exceptional candidates who are both academically able and gifted and talented across a number of areas may be considered for an All-Rounder Scholarship, which would be awarded at the discretion of the Headmaster. Means-tested Bursaries are also available, along with The Thomas More Scholarship a means-tested scholarship for Catholic children, who attend a Catholic state primary school.

There are plenty of opportunities for prospective pupils and their parents to visit the College before the Entrance Exams take place; including the Year 5 Taster Day for Crackley pupils on Tuesday 30 April, our Open Morning in April, Summer Open Evening in June and Open Afternoon in September.

Comments Melanie Butler, Assistant Head, Marketing, Admissions and Communications, "Parents and pupils will have plenty of time to prepare and opportunities to visit the College in the run up to the registration deadline on Friday 27 September."

Following the Entrance Exams, offer letters will be sent out on Thursday 28 November 2024 and the acceptance deadlines will be Monday 9 December 2024 for Years 8, 9 and 10 and Tuesday 4 March 2025 for Year 7. The acceptance deadline for Year 7 places is, by a nationally agreed code of practice, the same for all independent schools, allowing parents and children time to review all their options, including those from the maintained sector, before making a final decision.

To download a copy of our new 2025 Admissions and Entrance Examinations Booklet click here.

If you have any questions about the admissions process please contact the Registrar, Catherine Rogers and Assistant Registrar, Marie Holt, on 01926 634201/297 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

To read the latest edition of the Princethorpe Admissions Update newsletter click here.

On Tuesday 12 March, Crackley Hall’s pupils took it in turn to hop, skip or jump in Crackley Hall's Mini Vinnies Grand Charity Skipathon, an annual fund-raising event organised by our school Minnie Vinnies club. 

Mini Vinnies' Co-ordinator, Mrs Dolores Simmonds explains, “This year the children are skipping to support the Air Ambulance, a national charity that supports the lifesaving work of the UK's air ambulance charities."

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 turns, to skip, hop or jump for one minute each. Supervised by Mrs Simmonds, wave after wave of eager skippers bounced and jumped their hearts out under the canopy in The Gables.

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.

Chaplaincy Assistant, Dolores Simmonds, had an important milestone last weekend when she celebrated her 80th birthday on Mothering Sunday with her family and friends.

On behalf of the staff here at Crackley Hall, Headmaster, Rob Duigan, presented Dolores with a stunning 'Fantastic at 80' special pink rose. Said a delighted Dolores, on her secret to an enjoyable life, "My philosophy is to be reasonable and to look for the good points in everyone rather than focusing on their bad points. The three things in life which are important to me are God, family and friends."

We wish Dolores, many happy returns! 

Photo shows Assistant Head, Duncan Cottrill, Dolores, and Head of RE, Esther Forino.

Six pupils went to St Austin's Church in Kenilworth on Tuesday for their Sacrament of First Reconciliation. Led by Father Kevin, it was important preparation for their First Holy Communion later this year.  The Sacrament offers forgiveness for the times we have sinned and turned away from God. Sloane, William, Lewis, Liana, Eduardo and Vaughan each read a reading and during the homily Fr Kevin talked about how important forgiveness is in our lives. After each pupil made their Reconciliation, they lit a candle and said their prayers.  Fr Kevin then gave each pupil a crucifix as a reminder of their special day.

Huge thanks go to the School Council and their parents for their involvement in the Save the Children Kenilworth Spring Fayre that took place on Saturday 9 March at St Francis of Assisi Parish Centre.

The pupils had pre-potted plants in school with a volunteer from Save the Children. They ran their own ‘Spring in a Mug’ stall at the fayre raising £108.65. Everyone said what a credit they were to Crackley Hall School. They contributed, in a large part, to the lovely atmosphere, receiving many compliments from the organisers and visitors.

Altogether the Spring Fayre raised £1317.76 for Save the Children.

Crackley Hall pupils visited fellow Foundation Prep school Crescent School on Tuesday 12 March, to take part in an orchestral workshop. Designed to develop and stretch music and performance skills, pupils worked under the guidance of Crescent’s Director of Music, Julie Barnes, to prepare and rehearse a mixture of pieces ready for an afternoon performance.

The children relished making music, especially in such a big group. They worked hard to prepare three challenging pieces, including Yesterday by The Beatles, Chariots Of Fire by Vangelis and In The Mood by Glenn Miller, all three pieces testing the players’ technical and music-reading ability.

The day finished with a short concert for parents where four soloists also showcased their musical skills. For Crackley Hall, Angelica, from Junior 4, played the theme from The Pink Panther on cello while Elsie, from Junior 6, played Knock On Wood on the drums.

The workshop was a great opportunity for them all to play together, thank you Crescent School for an excellent day.

You can watch a short clip of the orchestra performing here.

Crackley Hall School has thoroughly enjoyed celebrating British Science Week and exploring this year’s theme ‘Time’. In their Science lessons pupils have taken part in experiments and investigations designed to engage and inspire the next generation of young scientists. Even our very youngest have got involved.

The Hungry Caterpillar story gave Reception a lovely foundation to Science week as they discussed the change from caterpillar to butterfly. While Junior 1 decided to see how long it took for seeds to grow. They planted cress seeds and sunflower seeds. After just one week there were already signs of life and the children can’t wait to see who’s sunflower grows the tallest.

Junior 2 enjoyed exploring nature outside in Forest School, they made nests as part of their work for BSW. Junior 3 became geologists and palaeontologists as they discovered how amazing fossils of ancient creatures developed over millions of years. They even made their our own ‘foldable fossils’ to show the different stages in the process of fossilisation.

Junior 4 and Junior 5 took part in BSW workshops led by Princethorpe Sixth Formers. They investigated pendulums as they were introduced to the relationship between length and time. They built their own pendulums and tested them, and discovered that the pendulum length affects the time for one swing. They also studied infectious diseases and how disease can be transmitted between people and learned valuable lessons on the importance of washing your hands!

Science Lead, Julia Roberts, said, “British Science Week is always lots of fun here at Crackley Hall and this year’s topic of 'Time' has really inspired us all. Pupils have enjoyed a wide range of fascinating and fun experiments running alongside their normal day-to-day lessons.”

Junior 4 pupils Alfie and William were both at Twickenham Stadium last Saturday when England clinched victory with a last minute drop goal during a nailbiting Six Nations International Rugby Union match.  Alfie was lucky enough to meet Rory Best OBE, the Irish former rugby union player, who was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019.  He also met singer songwriter Rag 'n' Bone man, who performed at half-time and he managed to get a signed rugby top from Mike Catt, assistant coach for the Ireland national rugby team. Said an overjoyed Alfie, "We were sitting under the Royal Box and on top of the tunnel and at the beginning I went down to the barrier to get some signatures before the match started. It was awesome to see Rag 'n' Bone man!"

Alfie was so happy he couldn't wait to share photos with his class!