The Chronicle

Dear Parents 
 
It really does seem that we are hurtling along at breakneck speed towards the end of the academic year!  
 
The staff were enormously impressed with the speeches that some of our Junior 5 children made to the whole school on Monday morning as we began the process of appointing our Head Boy and Girl for next year. The speeches were well delivered and demonstrated what a fantastic group of bright, imaginative and confident children we have. The whole school community cast their votes and interviews were conducted with the Senior Leadership Team. I would like to sincerely congratulate all the children who volunteered and stood for a role - it's a brave thing to do! I look forward to announcing who has been appointed during the Annual J5 and J6 Prizegiving on Tuesday 2 July.  
 
Mrs O'Carroll-Bailey and Mrs Malcolm were proud of our Reception classes on their trip to the National Space Centre on Tuesday of this week: all pupils behaved beautifully and had a wonderful time. Thank you to them, Mrs Brannen, Mr M Duigan and Mrs Divers for accompanying the pupils. 
 
Key Stage 1's sports day on Wednesday was a wonderful occasion and as always, the Junior 6 pupils did an amazing job of coordinating events and assisting the younger pupils. This forms an important part of their leadership learning and I know that they enjoyed exercising this responsibility. Well done to Mars House (St John Henry Newman) for their win! Thank you very much to Mrs Vaughan for organising such a wonderful event, to all staff who helped and to all the parents and grandparents for their support on the day. 
 
The theme of athletics continued yesterday with our Nursery sports day and it is always enjoyable for parents, grandparents and staff to see our Little Crackers children engaging with the activities with such gusto! Thank you to all the Nursery and, especially Mr Vaughan, for their efforts and organisation. 
 
Isher, Lucas, Imogen and Marie all performed beautifully this morning on the piano, guitar and with their singing. Following this, Arthur danced, and it was fantastic to see him moving so gracefully. We are so lucky to have such a fantastic range of talent in the school and I am delighted that they were able to perform in front of their peers and the older pupils. They were all magnificent! Well done! 
 
Well done to all of our stars of the week: Nursery- Ned; Reception - Alexander, Eva and Seva; Junior 1: Autumn and Sanniv; Junior 2 - Alexander and Ciara; Junior 3 - Kenji and Laura; Junior 4 - Vincent and Alfie; Junior 5 - Isabella and Lexi-Jean; Junior 6 - Eloise and Josie-Jean. You are all fantastic and the awards are very well deserved. 
 
We will be saying farewell to a few wonderful and much-loved members of staff at the end of this academic year. News of the new appointments will follow later this term. I am delighted that some of our part-time teachers are willing to extend their hours so that they work a full week. They will be joined by a couple of new faces. 
 
Julia Roberts has taught at Crackley Hall for almost as long as I have been here and she can pride herself on how well she has forged such caring and strong relationships with her pupils and their families over these years. Her efforts in so many areas of the school life are much appreciated. She will be stepping down from teaching and, as she relocates, will be taking up a position as a teaching assistant in her new school. 
 
Faye Burley, who joined us during the pandemic, will be making a slight change in her career as she steps away from full-time teaching. I have always been impressed with her care for her pupils, her calm approach and on the wonderful way that she has helped to build up the ‘voice of the pupils’ at Crackley Hall. 
 
Susie Steeples will be leaving her role as a teaching assistant to take up the next challenge in her successful career as a teaching assistant. Her work with all our pupils, her calm demeanour and the excellent work as our librarian are all hugely appreciated. 
 
Tom Pike has grown so much as a budding educator, and I am delighted to announce that he has decided to return to his studies in order to become a qualified teacher. We really appreciate his involvement in many areas of school life, and I would be very interested to see how he uses his many talents as a teacher in the years to come. 
 
Sarah Francis has been such a wonderful staff member in Little Crackers over the past few years, most recently being our Room Leader in the Dormice class. Her knowledge, care and gentleness with our youngest pupils is also very much appreciated. She will be pursuing her career as a teacher, which is very exciting for her. 
 
Amanda Brew, our Head Chef, will be leaving her role at the end of this term. She has led a very happy and busy team of staff over the past few years and I am very grateful to her for her collaborative and willing approach to school life. 
 
If you wish to contribute to a leaving gift for any of the staff mentioned above, please call in at the office where we have a collection envelope or contact them to make suitable arrangements. Please note that we are only able to accept cash.  
 
There is a lot of fantastic sport happening at the moment, with the Euros starting tonight. My sweepstake team for the Euros will be one to watch, I feel! The T20 Cricket World Cup is in full swing – and it is interesting to see the difference in the established pitches in the West Indies against the newly-laid ones in the USA. I suppose it levels the playing field! 
 
I hope that everyone has a happy and restful weekend. 
 
God bless, 

Robert Duigan

"Good teachers are the ones who can challenge young minds without losing their own." - Unknown.

The following clubs will not be taking place next week:

Monday 17 June

• J5 and J6 Athletics Club

Wednesday 19 June

• J5 and J6 Athletics Club
• J3 and J4 Tennis

Thursday 20 June

• Chamber Choir 

Friday 21 June

• Complete Cricket
• Karate

The Summer Production is taking place on Friday 21 June, please see below for information regarding the final details, costumes and ticket link.

Final Details Letter

Costume Letter Reception to Junior 5

Costume Letter Junior 6

Tickets Link

To confirm the collection arrangements after the final show of the summer production are as per the final details letter sent out. 

For your reference this is as below:

• Junior 3 at 3:45pm from the cinema door
• Junior 4 at 3:45pm from the cinema door
• Junior 5 at 3:45pm from the main doors
• Junior 6 at 4:00pm from the side door

There will be no aftercare running at school, all children need to be collected as above.

In light our our sustainability focus, Ms Holmes will be collecting all kinds of bottle tops during the next few terms for a summer project in Trinity 2025.  Please could you collect all your bottle tops and bring them into school as and when you have a bag of them.

Please see detailed below events for week begininng Monday 17 May 2024. 

Please see our SPORT section for fixture information.

Our Little Crackers had a fabulous time on Thursday 13 June at their Nursery Sports Day. The crowds gathered early on, creating a buzz of excitement as our lovely Little Crackers nursery pupils headed out excitedly for one of their biggest events of the year.

Nursery Sports Day took place on the Astro, with the children competing in teams. Although our Nursery children don’t officially have houses this year, just like in the main school, the children had been grouped into blue, yellow, red and green teams.

Everyone lined up eagerly to take the turn on the course. The determination and concentration on their little faces was amazing to see as they took on the challenges of collecting the coloured balls or handing the baton on in the relay race.

Mr Vaughan had worked hard in the children’s PE sessions to get everyone ready to race and they all enjoyed taking turns to run up and down.

A great morning was had by all. A special thank you to our Nursery Team and Mr Vaughan for organising all the fun and to the weather for staying dry.

We held our much-anticipated Key Stage 1 Sports Day on Wednesday 12 June and the children all enjoyed a super morning out on the sports field.

Crackley’s sports stars of the future jumped, sprinted and threw their way through a jam-packed morning of sporting fun, enthusiastically taking on the carousel of different activities. Proudly wearing their House colours and with big, enormous smiles, the children clearly had a super time.

It was lovely to see so many parents cheering their youngsters on. Many thanks to Junior 6 for organising all the activities this year and a huge well done to everyone who took part.

The results were announced in the House meetings yesterday. 1st Mars with 214 points, 2nd Jupiter with 206 points, 3rd Venus with 200 points and 4th Saturn.

This weekend, Isaac will represent Warwickshire County in the U11 Boys Tennis County Cup Qualifiers. He and his team will spend two days playing against five other counties to try and secure a place in the National Finals next month. They have a particularly challenging draw, but have worked and trained very hard and will give it their best shot.

We wish you luck, Isaac!

Monday 15 July to Friday 23 August, 8.00am to 5.00pm

We are thrilled to team up with Team Super Sports to offer an action-packed summer experience for children aged 5 to 16 years. From Monday 15 July to Friday 23 August, our Holiday Camps will run from 8.00am to 5.00pm.

Children aged 7 to 16 can choose from a variety of sports, including rugby, cricket, football, gymnastics, netball, hockey, and tennis to create their own personalised sports camp! For our younger campers (ages 5 to 7), along with sport we’ve got arts, crafts, and dance activities to keep them engaged and having a blast!

Why Team Super Sports? They’re experts in sport and multi-activity holiday camps, providing top-level coaching for all abilities.

Click here to visit the Team Super Sports website to secure your child’s spot.

Camps are priced at £37 per day and £150 per week. Sibling discounts and flexible booking options available!

Crackley Hall’s Holiday Club will continue to run as normal, information will be shared soon!

Sunday 15 September 2024 - 2.00pm to 5.00pm

Princethorpe will be holding its annual Open Afternoon on Sunday 15 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. 

Click here to book your place.

Entrance Examinations registration deadline is Friday 27 September 2024. Click here to complete a registration form.

We love to celebrate our pupils' talents, so every week in Celebration Assembly, we hear of the children's successes and achievements and we watch performances by some of our pupils.  Here are some photos from this morning.

A huge well done to all!

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

This week, Junior 6 spent a fantastic day at the Spa Centre rehearsing for their summer production – A Hint of Snow White. The children took to the stage like true professionals and impressed us with their confidence as well as their ability to work collaboratively as a team. Well done Junior 6, all your hard work is evident and we can’t wait for next week!

This week, Junior 5 have written creative pieces of writing. The children had a choice of two tasks: to imagine themselves as an animal (that they admire) and create a piece of writing about what a day might look like from that animal’s perspective, or to continue a story called The Secret Heart, which we used for a comprehension last week.  There were so many different animals – we had birds, cats, dogs, horses, foxes, snakes, guinea pigs and even a monkey. The children were also tasked with using interesting details to show how their animal might look at life and to incorporate DADWAVERS!

Here are some examples of the children's writing:

Description: ‘bright orange fur shining in the iridescent moonlight’

Adverb Start: ‘Sleepily, I stretched out my furry arms.’ Fox

Estimation of time: ‘Later that day when I had just swallowed my water, I heard the hunter and my heart stopped. I was terrified.’

This week, Junior 4 embarked on an engineering adventure. Their task was to construct, design and build towers using simple materials such as paper, newspaper, and masking tape. The challenge was to see who could build the tallest tower that could stand independently and be structurally sound enough to stay standing during our earthquake test. This hands-on activity not only fostered creativity and problem-solving skills, but also instilled a deeper appreciation for the principles of structural engineering. Well done, Junior 4!

This week, Junior 3 have become masters at telling the time. We have had great fun learning to read the time to the minute on both analogue and digital clocks. Everyone loved reading the clocks in our digital journals and then recording ourselves saying the time accurately and clearly. We have also played lots of time games, including matching digital times to the corresponding clock faces, and even learning about Roman numerals. If you happen to pass us around school and need help with telling the time, please be sure to ask us; we’d be happy to help. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet found a way to add a few extra hours to each day, which would be very helpful to our teachers at this busy time of year. Maybe next week…!

Junior 2 buzzed with excitement on Wednesday as they gathered in the field ready for the KS1 Sports Day. Faces beamed with enthusiasm as they took part in a variety of events, whilst cheers and encouragement rang out from the pupils, staff and parents alike. Junior 2 embraced the friendly competition, celebrating each other’s achievements with high fives and fist bumps to make this day a memorable experienced for all. Well done, Junior 2 for being such good sports!

Junior 1 have been hard at work in class this week, especially during our English lessons. The emphasis has been on verbs where the children have been looking at the root word before adding 'ing' or 'ed' endings. Everyone was interested to see how some words may change before the endings are applied. Our Art lessons have been all about the daddy in our lives! We don't want to spoil the revelation, but rest assured you are in for a lovely surprise on Sunday. As well as our work in class, our rehearsals for the school production are well under way and we are lucky enough to hear the wonderful singing come into our classroom from the hall each day. We really can't wait for next week.

What a week Reception have had! On Tuesday they made the school proud as they went on their adventure to the National Space Centre in Leicester. The children looked into space using the giant telescope, drove the Mars explorer and went inside the real rocket! Then on Wednesday they took part in their first ever Sports Day. They tried their best with every activity whilst having a great time and earning house points for their houses! Well done, Reception.

On Monday, 17 Junior 5 pupils volunteered themselves as candidates for the roles of Head Boy and Head Girl for the next academic year. Mr Duigan outlined the qualities we should be looking for, including being sensible, kind, helpful, setting a good example, being smart, and having good manners. Mrs Horan noted that the pupils had been practicing their speeches and that the whole school will vote for who they feel is most suited for these roles. The pupils were commended for having the courage to put themselves forward for both positions.

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

Weekly Mission

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
A tiny little seed grows into a big bush, with branches big enough for birds to come and sit in. We think about how our small actions can make big changes.

Activity Sheet 

Please remember to check team sheets and find further fixture information on www.crackleyhallsport.co.uk or on SOCS.

Please can we remind all parents that whilst sports fixture information, once published, usually remains the same, parents should check www.crackleyhallsport.co.uk or SOCS on the day of the fixture for the most up to date information.

Tall, towering, gnarled, rooted, branching, deciduous, evergreen, leafy and, above all, beautiful. If you were in Lego Club this week you would know that all these adjectives belong to trees and lots of them! We created an eye-catching array of trees of all shapes and sizes, with the most popular being the wonderful and native sycamore tree. Enchanted treehouses were also crafted, brimming with spinning turbines, rotating railings and secret staircases. What a tree-mendous time we all had!

Dormice have been getting creative this week, using different materials to do some big and small mark making! They were amazing at using controllled skills to create their own patterns.

Badgers and Hedgehogs have been on a swashbuckling Pirate Adventure. The children made a pirate Captain’s hat; they sailed over the briny sea in a vast pirate ship made of blocks and crates; they kept a lookout for ships to plunder using their paper telescopes; and they went on a hunt for buried treasure.

They practised speaking like a pirate, using phrases such as ‘yo,ho,ho’ and ‘heave-ho me hearties’ and they filled their pirate lungs with salty air to blast out the topical sea shanties.

Everyone wanted Charlotte to tease their hair into pirate plaits to add that special finishing touch to the dressing-up outfits.

The children thoroughly enjoyed baking ships biscuits but have had to resist the temptation to munch the whole barrelful, since we have prepared some as a treat for daddies.

It was a pleasure to welcome mums and dads into Nursery for Sport’s Day on Thursday, which was the first of three seasonal celebrations this half term. I’m sure you’ll agree that the morning was tremendous fun!

During RE, we shared the story of Jesus’s first miracle at the Wedding of Cana, and during Music, there was lots of noisy drum practice.

Don't forget to forward a photo for our Father’s Day event on Thursday 20 June – well done to Alpha for being the first to remember to ask his Dad.

Graduation, for Preschoolers (Badgers) only, is scheduled for Wednesday 26 June, and wraps up our summer events.

200 Club - an easy way to support the PTA 

Looking for an easy way to support the PTA? Sign up to our 200 Club! Only £5 per half termly draw and each entry has a chance to win £200 at the end of the year as an added bonus. Every little helps and we thank you for your support. Please click on the link to buy a ticket.

Link: 200 Club

PTA Pre-loved Uniform

Many thanks for all the donations that have been sent in this year - without these we literally could not operate! Please continue to use the containers in the foyer to drop off any donations rather than dropping into the office staff. We are especially grateful to receive good quality sports items - particularly tracksuit bottoms!

Please email us at: uniform@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk stating your child’s name and class and we will get all orders sent home for you.

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

Due to club and activity changes, permanent Aftercare bookings are only valid for the current term. 

If you require either permanent or occasional Aftercare for the Trinity Term, please make a new booking by emailing:

aftercare@crackleyhall.co.uk or receptionist@crackleyhall.co.uk

If you need to make a same-day Aftercare booking - please ensure you contact the school office no later than 1:00 pm that day. Any requests made after 1:00 pm will only be authorised at the Headmaster's discretion.

If you have booked an Aftercare session, letting your child know would also be helpful.

Any children not collected from the carline, for example, if parents are stuck in traffic, will be taken to Aftercare at 4:15 pm, when carline finishes and charged accordingly.

Aftercare runs from 3:15 pm until 6:00 pm, with charges being £5.00 per hour or part thereof.

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

The school office closes at 5:00 pm, please call Aftercare directly on 07543 164 779 for collection. 

Please see the attached menus for the Trinity Term. These rotate on a four weekly basis.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Crackley Hall School Office
01926 514 444
Email: post@crackleyhall.co.uk
Postal address: St Joseph's Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, CV8 2FT
SATNAV: Use CV8 2FT

Office Manager/Headmaster’s Personal Assistant – Anna Bond
01926 514 444
Email: receptionist@crackleyhall.co.uk

Little Crackers Nursery; Nursery Manager - Emma Birch
01926 514 456 - Email: post@littlecrackers.co.uk

After Care - David Johnson, Aftercare Manager
Collection contact no; 07543 164 779
Email: aftercare@crackleyhall.co.uk

Bills, Fees and Online Payment
01926 634 273
Email: georginamalin@princethorpe.co.uk

Registrar - Jenny Vaughan
01926 514 410
Email: admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk 
 
Princethorpe College General Office
01926 634 200
Email: post@princethorpe.co.uk
 
website: www.crackleyhall.co.uk
X: @CrackleyHallSch  
facebook: @crackleyhallandlittlecrackersofficial
instagram:@crackleyhall_littlecrackers

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. 

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):

Please ensure that all items of school uniform, equipment and sports kit are named.

Could you please regularly check all uniform and sports kits at home and if it does not belong to your child, please return the items to the School Office as soon as possible.

There is a large amount of non uniform items in lost property, as well as the usual uniform items. 

All lost property will be put outside the Gables for the next two weeks, until Friday 28 June.

At the end of term, all unclaimed uniform items will be donated to the PTA or Charity.

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

• Sports Coach Hockey
• Sports Coach Rugby
• Minibus Driver

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