Headmaster's Welcome
Dear Parents
With this being the last full week of the Trinity Term, it has again been full of activities. The warm weather decided to surface as we kicked the week off nicely with our KS2 Sports day on Monday. It was wonderful to see the children put their efforts into practice on the field. Many thanks to our staff, especially Mrs Vaughan for organising the event and Mr Vaughan for ably assisting her, as well as all other staff who supported and helped the event run smoothly despite the heat. Thank you, also, to our PTA Chair Maria Gordon for assisting with logistics and refreshments. Well done to all who took part and a special congratulations to Saturn House for winning the event.
We have had numerous music exams taking place in school this week. Well done to the children who sang and played their instrument of choice - thanks to Mrs Olden for facilitating this for our musicians and performers. I am incredibly grateful to all our wonderful music teachers and wish to make special mention of two who are leaving at the end of the year. Mr Wagstaff has taught drums here for longer than I have been at Crackley Hall and Mrs Lomas has taught cello for several years at Crackley Hall. They are excellent musicians and have been an inspiration to so many Crackley Hall pupils over the years. Thank you, so much, Simon and Claire!
On Tuesday, Junior 4 played in the Under 9’s ISA Midlands Kwik Cricket tournament in Derbyshire. The boys had a fantastic day playing cricket in the sun, working their way through the tournament, and ended up bringing home a bronze medal. Thank you to the coaches, Mr Ashley, and Mr Cottrill. Well done to the team.
On Tuesday evening, we met our new Reception parents, whose children will be joining us in September. They were also able to see their child’s new learning environment and talk to the key staff who were on hand to answer any queries they had. It was a lovely evening, and I am looking forward to a wonderful cohort of pupils and some lovely families joining the school community in September. Thank you so much to staff, especially Mrs Glen-Roots and the Reception teachers for welcoming our new families. Thank you, also, to our current mums and dads, with children in Reception next year, who were so warm and welcoming to the new families.
We welcomed new pupils with their families to school on Wednesday at our annual Moving Up Morning. They were able to see what school life has to offer. Whether it be a new Reception pupil or an older pupil, we welcome you all to Crackley Hall. With that, some of our Junior 6 pupils also enjoyed an induction day at their Secondary School this week. We do hope you all were excited to see your new classrooms and meet new friends and teachers alike.
Wednesday also saw our Nursery Graduation Ceremony take place. It was a real delight watching the children prepare, to congratulate them, to welcome parents and family members and to capture an incredibly special moment in time when the children were presented with a graduation scroll. Parents were also spoiled with some songs, and everyone enjoyed a slice of cake to celebrate - what a wonderful afternoon! Thank you to Miss Emma Birch and her team for arranging a lovely celebration.
Crackley Hall Dads played against The Croft Dads - all in aid of raising awareness and funds for the remarkable charity called Oscar`s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity, which supports children and families who are suffering with these conditions, from very early diagnosis right through to treatment and care not just in the short term, but longer term too. Our special thanks go to Adam Ward and Ian Houghton who organised the two football matches, and everyone who participated! I am pleased to say our Crackley Dads won. We enjoy the balance of friendly, but a little competitive nature coming through. Thank you to all those who gave up their time for this extremely rewarding cause.
In our whole school celebration assembly this morning we congratulated our stars of the week who were from Nursery William and Stephanie; Reception M - the whole class; Reception O - Parker and Sophie; J1G – Edison; J1H - the whole class; J2B - the whole class; J2R - the whole class; J3V - the whole class; J3W - the whole class; J4A - Jessica and Nieve; J4R - the whole class; J5L - the whole class; J5S - the whole class; J6H - the whole class and J6V - the whole class. Laura performed her gold medal dance routine for the school and showed just why she won her recent dancing competition. She was simply outstanding and is a real talent indeed.
As you are aware, we are saying some goodbyes to staff who are for one reason, or another are moving on. Mrs Roberts, Mr Cottrill, Mrs Rogers (who is going on maternity leave), Mrs Brew (our chef), Mr Pike and Mrs Steeples. We thank you sincerely for everything you have done for us during your time at Crackley Hall. I know you will be missed by all of us; however, we wish you all the best for your future endeavours.
I was delighted to be able to welcome Mrs Marie Holt back to Crackley Hall as Headmaster’s PA and Office Manager. Mrs Holt previously worked as part of our front office team before a stint in the Admissions Office at Princethorpe College. Everyone at Crackley Hall was incredibly happy to have Mrs Holt back as part of the friendly and very busy office team. I would like to thank Mrs Anna Bond for returning to her previous role, albeit in an interim capacity, to keep us organised until Mrs Holt was able to start. Mrs Bond will be staying on for a little longer to help with office reorganisation and support for Mrs Holt and her team.
We have some exciting sport to look forward to this weekend, with England still in the Euros. South Africa and India are playing in the final of the T20 Cricket World Cup. Although South Africa have done well to get to the final, I do not feel that they can match India’s strength in depth and recent, relevant experience in these situations.
I hope that you are able to have a relaxing and happy weekend.
God bless,
Robert Duigan
