Headmaster's Welcome
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
