The Chronicle

Following up from my last letter on 30 August, I write to update you on the Government’s plans to add VAT to independent schools’ fees.

We have been continuing our communications with local MPs across the political spectrum to ensure that they are aware of the key issues and potential damage that this policy could have both locally and nationally.

In addition, we have made comprehensive submissions to HM Treasury’s public consultation over this issue. As such I thought it would be worth sharing some of the key points that we have raised.

The Government’s consultation on the policy posed three key questions:

1. Will the policy raise revenue to support the public finances and help deliver the Government’s commitments relating to education and young people?
2. Will the policy ensure high-quality education is available for every child?
3. Is the policy fair, with all users of private schools paying their fair share?

Our view is:

1. The policy is unlikely to raise any revenue that can go into the state education system, in fact there is a significant chance it will have a negative effect on the Government’s finances.

The £1.6 billion that the Government continues to claim that this policy will raise is based on a single report from the IFS. The Government’s extrapolation from this report is fundamentally flawed since they have ignored a number of key factors: they have absolutely no data on parents’ levels of affordability or independent schools’ ability to change their business model so that they can drop their fees and remain viable. As a consequence, it appears that the Government has no data with which to make a reasonable estimate of the numbers of pupils who will be forced out of independent schools due to affordability.

The latest figures from the Adam Smith Institute show how the migration from independent to state sector would affect the government’s finances:

Some schools will have parents of enormous wealth who will be able to afford the additional 20% on top of their fees. Such schools are outliers. At Princethorpe College the overwhelming majority of our parents are not the super-wealthy; they are aspirational, hard-working people who work exceptionally hard to send their children to the school they believe best meets their needs, aptitudes, and abilities.

At the Princethorpe Foundation we are fortunate to be in a strong financial position; in addition, we have been able to make cost savings through a range of measures and we would significantly reduce our fees to support our families – our strategy being to retain our pupils and ensure the high-quality education provision is maintained. Were this policy to go ahead in January, our parents would effectively have a 5% fee increase – whilst this is still a considerable extra burden for many of our parents, our pupil numbers have remained very strong. However, in many schools both locally and nationally, parents will face an increase of well over 10% and in many cases closer to 20%. This will be unaffordable to many families who will be forced out of their schools

2. The policy will not ensure high-quality education is available for every child, in fact it is likely to damage the education of a significant number of pupils currently in both the state and independent sectors.

Without doubt, this policy, on its own, could never ensure high quality education is available for every child. Education is highly complex, as are young people, and the world in which we now live. There are so many factors which go into high quality education, whilst proper financial investment is obviously a key factor, there are many others: genuine parental choice; a broad and rich curriculum; a meaningful and inclusive co-curricular programme; highly motivated, passionate and well-qualified teachers; the ability of the school to meet every child’s specific needs…

This policy, whether or not it raises any additional revenue, will reduce the choice of school for a significant number of parents. It will be hugely disruptive for any child who has to leave their current school where they are happy and flourishing. However, there will undoubtedly be a negative effect in the state sector too where school resources will be stretched more thinly with the additional influx of children who, were it not for VAT, would be educated independently. This will affect all pupils but perhaps none more so than those with additional needs or those with SEND.

This policy will therefore not help the government achieve its aim of ensuring high-quality education for every child; rather it will damage it significantly.

3. The policy and in particular the timescales of its introduction are not fair.

Fair is an interesting word as it will mean different things to different people.

Is it fair that our parents, who save the Treasury money by not taking up places for their children in the state sector, are the very people who are targeted to pay more for the state sector?

It is important to note that many of our families are not hugely affluent and are currently making enormous sacrifices to send their children to a Princethorpe Foundation school. My personal belief is that it is much fairer to use income tax to generate any additional money needed for the state education system. In this way, the burden falls on those with the broadest shoulders, not just those who make the greatest sacrifices for what they consider to be best for their children.

Whilst personal views on the fairness of the questions posed above will differ, it is universally accepted that for a decision to be fair and reasonable the decision-makers will have taken account of all relevant factors in their decision-making. The fact that timescales of the policy were announced before any consultation had even started is testament to the fact that the government has not applied this principle of fairness.

Before the election, the Labour Party made it absolutely clear they would be looking to implement this policy if elected, with a September 2025 implementation. The news on 29 July of a January 2025 implementation is perhaps the most unfair aspect of it. The rush to implement this policy without any attempt to examine all the relevant factors makes it unfair for schools and for parents who will be forced to make life-changing decisions in the middle of a school year. The timing of the announcement of the policy (in the middle of the summer holiday) and the proposed timescale (in the middle of the academic year) could not have been worse. It feels like a deliberate attempt to cause the greatest possible havoc to independent schools, their parents and most importantly the pupils.

The Bottom Line:

The stated aims of this policy for the Government are underpinned by the assumption that very few families will be forced out of the Independent Schools sector.

This aligns with the aims of the Princethorpe Foundation – we want to be able to be able to keep our pupils and support our families. It will be the same for all independent schools.

The short timescale does not provide reasonable time for schools to adjust their finances thus increasing the likelihood that more pupils will leave and move to the state sector. A move to September 2025 the start of a school year, would be more reasonable and would minimise the potential for disruption to pupils, families, independent and state sector schools. The decision to being the date forward smacks of a desire to deliberately undermine the sector.

The Government must look at the timing of execution of their policy. For it to have any chance of succeeding, schools across the country need time to adjust their business models and become leaner so they can continue functioning and generate the income which can provide the extra money the Treasury expects. Whilst we have been able to do this at Princethorpe, I know that many schools have not been able to throw the time and resources into this huge challenge at such short notice.

The Government decision to ban junk food adverts before 9.00pm has recently been announced with implementation from October 2025; the introduction of this VAT policy must not be overly rushed – a January 2025 implementation would have catastrophic consequences for many independent and state schools and most importantly their pupils.

Thank you as always for your support for our schools and to those parents who have contacted their MP or made a submission to the public consultation.

E D Hester

Dear Parents 

The weather is certainly changing, and we are seeing definite signs of the autumnal climate encroaching on us. I am not ungrateful for a plentiful supply of water but we have certainly had a lot of rain over the past week. 
 
Our inaugural House Swimming Gala took place on Wednesday, which was a huge success. The children displayed fierce competition, going up against rival Houses! Well done to all pupils in J4 to J6 for their participation and to Jupiter (St Terese), who won. Thanks to Steve Vaughan who was the instigator of this event taking place, for his organising of the event and to all staff who helped quietly behind the scenes. It is always special to have parents and family members supporting events and I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as the pupils did. Thank you for your support. 
 
We held our first PTA Meeting of the year on Wednesday night and there were discussions about what requests pupils, parents and staff have made to support, enhance and enrich the children’s experience while here. We are also seeking new role holders and volunteers, so please contact the office staff or me if you are interested in joining.  
 
Yesterday, we held our Open Evening for Nursery, Reception and Junior 3. It was lovely to welcome prospective parents and pupils into our school. A number of staff were on hand to talk to them, to answer questions and to show the visitors around. Thank you to everyone, especially Jenny Vaughan, Jo Flowers and all the office, catering, estates and classroom staff who were involved.  
 
This morning, no doubt, you will have seen the PTA during carline taking collections and offering coffee for the annual Coffee Morning in aid of a very worthwhile cause, the Macmillan Cancer Support Charity. Thank you for your generous support, as always, through supply cakes and purchasing them. Thank you very much to our PTA for their continued drive and motivation to maintain our charitable contributions and to support the life of the school.  In this case, special thanks to Mrs Leigh Dumighan and her helpers for all they did. Thank you to Mrs Maria Gordon for her leadership and to our other hardworking and willing parents who were here bright and early today (I am afraid to mention by name, in case I leave someone out) – it is much appreciated.  
 
I would like to congratulate Mrs Glen-Roots on her new appointment at Bede’s School in Eastbourne. She will be heading up their Pre-Prep, which is situated on a stand-alone site (overlooking the sea)! This is a wonderful opportunity for her to make an impact as leader of large department. I have no doubt that, with her skills and knowledge, especially in the Early Years and Pre-Prep, Mrs Glen-Roots will be an asset to Bede`s. This is a life-changing decision for her and her family, who are all very happy here but was an opportunity not to be missed. I am delighted that we could play some part in Sue’s development as a leader and wish her the very best in her new venture as she progresses her career.  I also thank her for her excellent contributions to Crackley Hall during her time here. It is expected that Sue will take up her post at Bede’s after the February half term and this will be confirmed after we have held interviews for her replacement which will take place later this half term. 
  
Carline works seamlessly when we adhere to the timings, regulations and are considerate to others. We all have the same aim - for the children to come into and leave school safely. Please can I ask this to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind when doing so. In terms of parking, we appreciate space is limited in and around school. We offer the school field to be accessible to help ease the congestion in and around the site. In recent weeks we have had visits from the local policing team, who are paying attention to the area, and we will continue to work collaboratively with them. In addition, this week we had a near miss happen in the car line around the flagpole. Fortunately, no-one was injured but it certainly shook a few people. It could have been much more serious. A few reminders are to adhere to speed limits, be especially careful when reversing and try to follow the direction of those on duty. Parents wishing to leave their cars are invited to please use the lower car park in the first instance. We also ask that parents or guardians accompany their children to the pedestrian gate (and from it) and that all pedestrians use the perimeter pathway wherever possible. 
 
We keep in mind and in our prayers, all Junior 6 pupils and their milestones as they consider secondary school. We wish them the best as some are taking entrance examinations that are coming up soon - good luck and do your best! Our Junior 6 staff are all well versed to help prepare the children and will support them through the process. 
 
I am looking forward to the PTA Headmaster’s Mayoral Quiz tonight. This is a great social event, an opportunity to make new friends and maybe even learning a thing or two. These events are a great opportunity to meet people you may not cross paths within day to day drop off and collections that take place. Thank you to everyone who is supporting this event and to those working hard behind the scenes, particularly Mrs Maria Gordon. 
 
What a lovely way to end the week with a fantastic singing performance by Jessie in this morning`s assembly. She is a real inspiration and was able to hold the assembly throughout her song.  Excellent, Jessie! Congratulations to our fantastic starts of the week: Nursery – Harris; Reception –Jeea and Eadie; J1 – Emma and Maria; J2 – Tobias and Isla; J3 – Royce and Lucas; J4 – Cameron and Lewis; J5 – Francesca and Will; and J6 – Leo and Charlie. Well done to you all! 
 
We have some dry weather to look forward to tomorrow, as well as some very exciting sports fixtures.  I hope that everyone is able to enjoy restful time with families this weekend. 

God bless, 
Rob Duigan 

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." - Ronald Reagan.

Wednesday 2 October - 5:00pm to 6:00pm

We are excited to invite you to an informative session, led by Mrs Van Zyl, the English Lead, about the Accelerated Reader program, which plays an important role in supporting your child's reading development in Key Stage 2.

Please click on the link below to join the session and learn more about how this program works and how it can benefit your child's literacy skills:

Click here to join the Accelerated Reader session

We look forward to your participation!

Monday 14 and Wednesday 16 October 2024

Online Parents' Evening Meetings will be taking place on Monday 14 and Wednesday 16 October 2024.

For children in Reception to Junior 5, this will be a 10 minute pastoral meeting with your child's forrm teacher.

For children in Junior 6, this will be a 5 minute academic progress meeting with both your child's English and Maths teachers.

Bookings can be made through My School Portal here: htttps/princethorpe.myschoolportal.co.uk

Bookings will open on Friday 27 September at 7:00pm and will close on Thursday 10 October at 10:00pm.

A parent guide to booking on My School Portal is available here

Ahead of the upcoming meetings, the new Reception to Junior 5 Pastoral Report will be issued on Friday 11 October 2024, providing insight into how your child has settled into their new year group.

We look forward to discussing your child's progress in greater detail during the meetings.

October Half Term Holiday club will be running from Monday 21 October to Friday 1 November 2024.

A programme of activities will be available as soon as it is finalised, but if you wish to book in advance of this, please email holidayclub@crackleyhall.co.uk to make your booking.

Please see detailed below events for the first half of the Michaelmas Term.

Huge thanks to Crackley Hall School’s PTA for organising this morning’s fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support. At morning drop off parents responded most generously to the donation buckets and then at break time the children were delighted to purchase individual cakes to enjoy, although choosing did prove quite challenging for some.

The PTA and Crackley Hall School are very grateful to parents, pupils and staff for their support for this good cause. Thank you to all you baked, bought and consumed. We will let you know how much was raised.

Monday 28 October to Friday 1 November, 8.00am to 5.00pm

We know many of our pupils enjoyed the Foundation's Sports Holiday Camps over the summer, and we are pleased to announce that we have teamed up with Team Super Sports again to offer an action-packed October half-term for children aged 5 to 16 years. From Monday 28 October to Friday 1 November, 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 or £150 per week. Book before Sunday 29 September to receive an extra 10% off for early booking!

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

Our Stars of the Week this week are: 

Congratulations to them all!

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!

The children have worked hard and enjoyed the excitement of the swimming gala this week. Art provided some calm, meditative moments during an otherwise busy time. Junior 6 are working on the Zen Theory of pattern through ‘Zentangles’. The idea of art for mindfulness is becoming very popular. In a link with their Geography topic of Mountains and Rivers, pupils practised different mini pattern repeats in their Art lessons so that they become confident in abstract design in monochrome colours of black, white and greys. Not as easy as it sounds as the designs need to be small and neat. Let’s see where this takes us!

Junior 5 have been busy discovering exciting facts about Space this term, exploring the solar system and enhancing their knowledge and understanding of planets. This week, they excitedly made a model of the solar system, which they created to scale. The children were all actively involved in the lesson, all asking interesting questions to help further their knowledge. We definitely have some buzzing astronauts in Junior 5! TO INFINITY……AND BEYOND!

What a busy week for Junior 4! They enjoyed the first House Swimming Gala at Newbold Comyn, Leamington, as well as some fabulous lessons. Pupils have been working hard on their LAMDA poems, concentrating on diction and pace and they have all been doing a great job of performing them to each other and to their drama teacher, Mrs Wildey. They have been working in pairs to critique each others' performance and then to make improvements in preparation for their exams in November. Well done, Junior 4!

This week in Junior 3W pupils imagined that they had been transported back into the Stone Age and that they needed to think like a hunter-gatherer in order to survive. Owing to the rainy weather conditions, they imagined looking around the playground and forest school for assets that might help them survive. The suggested trees to help make spears, for shelter and to make fire with, animal skins for clothes and blankets, and food and water from a river to help keep hydrated and for fishing, to name but a few of their suggestioons. The children then used sheets to record their findings. We hope to get outside next week to see how far we can survive in forest school! 

This week Junior 2 have been turning their artistic hand to some wax resist painting. After creating fabulous fairytale castles out of shapes, each shape was carefully decorated with patterns in wax crayon. They then learnt how to use watercolour washes in contrasting colours, and were amazed to see the wax resist the paint. It looked fantastic and possibly even slightly Quentin Blakesque!

In their History lessons, they learnt all the correct names for the different parts of a castle; from the moat to the barbican and the battlements. If you look closely at our pictures, you will see many of these different features represented in our art.

Junior 1 are learning about the importance of their senses. They have been on a listening walk; enjoyed activities where they isolated one of their senses to heighten the other, and they tantalised their tastebuds making so many discoveries about what they liked and how their tongue could identify different flavours.

Their focus this week has been on eyesight, a crucial sense, allowing pupils to learn, explore and interact with our surroundings which impacts on our cognitive social development. When exploring eyesight, the children learnt that people without eyesight can learn through a tactile system which was developed by Louis Braille back in 1824, when he was only 15 years old!

It has been yet another busy week in Reception. The children have been talking about their houses this week, and have enjoyed using the classroom resources to make their own representation of the home they live in. They soon recognised that even though our homes all look different, there are lots of features that all houses have, such as windows, doors, roofs, bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms.  The children had a go at applying their phonics skills to write labels for the house they had drawn. In Maths, the children practised their sorting skills and applying their own sorting criteria, and in Art this week, the children painted their beautiful self portraits they had drawn last week. 

Mr Duigan led the Monday's Mission assembly of Helping Others and emphasised how everyone in the world is equal and that no-one is better than anyone else. Pope Francis has written a letter to everyone asking us to reach out to our sisters and brothers in need, wherever they are and wherever they may come from. Mr Duigan said how we are all challenged to think of ourselves as a single global family living in a common home, and neighbours to all. This means moving towards a world where everyone can be the best person they can be. Each day on this earth we can try to help other people, and while we have the option to help or ignore, coming to school with the intention to be our best selves is a choice we can all make.  

The assembly concluded with Ronald Reagan's quote, 'We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone,' reminding us all that while we may not be able to solve all the world's problems, we can certainly make a difference in someone's life by being kind and helping that person in need.

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

Weekly Mission

Our U10 Football team played in the Midlands Region ISA 7-a-side Football Tournament at Dixie Grammar yesterday. The boys represented Crackley Hall with pride, showing an outstanding attitude throughout the event. They finished in 5th place overall, out of the 16 teams taking part, having won most of their games and scored many goals. Their teamwork on the day was excellent and everyone had a brilliant time. Well done to them all.

Playing for Crackley Hall were: Archie, Will M, Leyton, Casper, William C, Aaryan, Hugo, Harry, Will H, Ethan, Zach, Thomas K, Oscar, Alfie F-K, Teo

The U11 Rugby team enjoyed a super friendly game against, fellow Foundation Prep school, Crescent School on Wednesday 18 September. Playing in glorious sunshine (where did that go?) the team showed plenty of promise with their rucking skills being put to good use. The boys even managed to score a couple of tries. Lots of potential to work with here. Well played everyone.

Week Beginning Monday 30 September 2024

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.

Information on our Michaelmas Clubs, including pick up location and times, can be found below:

Michaelmas 2024 Clubs Timetable

We explored the universe with awe and wonder in Lego Club this week and the next generation of astronauts, space rockets and vehicles were definitely taking shape. Emerging onto the huge craters of the moon’s rugged landscape, we encountered a multi-stage rocket with a launch control room and rotating satellite dish. We had opening doors and raising platforms galore. From the ground crew technicians, to the intrepid scientists and lab mechanics, we were set for our very own Lego space mission. One small step for the world, and one giant leap for making anything possible with Lego!

We have scheduled two upcoming dates for informal parent meetings, for those children in Badgers and Hedgehogs (Dormice will be later in the term).

More information will follow, so please save the dates for now and if you have any questions, email emmabirch@brackleyhall.co.uk

• Monday 14 October - 4.00pm to 5:30pm
• Friday 18 October - 4.00pm to 5:30pm

The children have been exploring different sensory experiences this week in Dormice, using their hands to mix Lavendar and shaving foam, we talked about what we could see, smell and feel.

The children created artwork using pasta shapes and paint - these were proudly displayed ready for the Nursery Open Evening.

They have also enjoyed exploring in the role play kitchen, making 'juice' and 'snack' for their friends and dolls.

The autumn weather has begun to assail us, which helped to inspire Badgers art and craft activities during the fourth week of Michaelmas term. The children explored four different art applications as they recreated the changing colours of Autumn.

They dabbed shades of golden yellow, vibrant orange and warm red, onto green leaves and then used rollers to achieve a printed impress. They rolled conkers over leaf silhouettes, to create trails in hues of brown, bronze and copper. They created applied collage by gluing papers of different colour and texture onto leaves. The fourth EAD opportunity was to use a hole punch to make holes around the perimeter of a leaf and then to sew through the holes with golden embroidery thread.

The children were very proud to display all their amazing artwork on our Preschooler display outside Mr Duigan’s office. The display also features our topical wind poem, Who Has Seen The Wind by Christina Rossetti, as well as this week’s autumn leaf subtraction song. The children had painted a giant wind character by sticking their toes in paint and mark making footprints all over a huge length of paper.

In Forest School, this week’s tool challenge was a whole group activity so that the children could experience how working together, our small efforts can become something big and beautiful. Each child hollowed out the pith from a small section of Buddleia, to create a tiny telescope, which they then threaded onto a single line of twine to collectively create a rustic necklace. Everyone took turns to try it on. We all looked fabulous!

Christmas Cheer

We are planning lots of goodies for Christmas! The children have worked incredibly hard to bring to life their Father Christmas designs, which will look fabulous on cards, gift tags, baubles and mugs as very special and unique presents for friends and family.

Look out for the proof card of their design before half term.

Save the date!

The Christmas Fair is set to be another child centred and fun filled extravaganza for our Crackley community. Lots of the old favourite stalls such as the bottle and chocolate tombolas and a few new ones too. 

Join us for an enchanting afternoon on Saturday 30 November. Mark your calendars!

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

Menu Week 1

Menu Week 2

Menu Week 3

Menu Week 4

The Crackley Hall Junior Da Vinci programme encourages all pupils to be inspired to be the best that they can be. The Junior Da Vinci programme embraces three adapted principles - Creativity, Practice and Mastery - that the children demonstrate in their learning.

This year we are ensuring that all pupils in the school have opportunities to achieve Junior Da Vinci awards. The attached leaflet gives more information about this programme. 

Chronicle Da Vinci leaflet

Look out for news of the children achieving Junior Da Vinci's in the Chronicle over the year.

Please ensure that everything your child brings to school is clearly labelled.  This especially includes uniform and sports kit. Excellent personalised labels may be purchased from easy2name.com or ablelabels.co.uk. We ask for support from parents to ensure that their children take full responsibility for looking after their property carefully.

We discourage pupils from bringing valuable items into school.

Lost property will be displayed outside The Gables on a Friday for collecting.  At the end of each half term, any unclaimed items will be donated to charity or the PTA.

Individual Health and Medical Information

Further to the email that was sent out regarding your child's health notes on ISAMS, please do remember to check this for accuracy and update the School Office accordingly.

Diarrhoea and Vomiting 

Children must stay off school for 48 hours after the last instance of diarrhoea or vomiting.

Short-Term Medicines 

In general, most short-term medicines, e.g. antibiotics, cough medicine, seasonal hay fever medication etc should be managed so that it is not necessary for the medicines to come into school.

If this is not possible, the medication should be brought to the School Office by yourself, not your child, in it's original packaging, clearly named with your child’s name and class, and with a completed Administration of Medication Form. 

Long-Term Medicines

If your child suffers with a chronic medical condition and has been prescribed medication to take whilst at school, the medication should be brought to the School Office by yourself, not your child, in it’s original packaging, clearly named with your child’s name and class, and with a completed Administration of Medication Form. 

Further documentation may need to be completed, e.g. Inhaler Consent Form, Care Plan etc. Please discuss this with the School Office.

Administration of Medication Form

Individual Care Plan

Inhaler Consent Form

Asthma Individual HealthCare Plan

We regularly recruit for a variety of roles, please do share news of the vacancies with interested friends and family. Current vacancies include:

The Princethorpe Foundation

• IT Apprentice
   

Crackley Hall School 

• Assistant Head (Pastoral)
• Site Supervisor
• Nursery Practitioner
  
  

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