The Chronicle

Attending the various carols services and concerts at this time reminds me what a very special and caring community we are all part of. So, as we approach the end of another very busy and successful year, I am writing to say a huge “thank you” for all your support and help over the last twelve months, it is hugely appreciated. 
 
A Special Invitation - Save the Date - Tuesday 28 January 2025 - 6.30pm to 7.30pm 
 
Early next term on Tuesday 28 January 2025 I will be hosting a special Foundation Parents’ Online Forum at which I will be outlining a key new initiative we will be launching to help prepare for the future and explaining how you can play a key role in supporting our schools’ continued growth and success. 
 
I will reveal all the details of this project at the Online Forum and discuss how you can get involved.  Please make sure to mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information coming your way in the New Year. We look forward to sharing this exciting new chapter with you! 
 
And finally…we say goodbye to a very special person 
 
As you may be aware, the end of this term also sees the retirement of our Foundation Bursar, Eddie Tolcher. Eddie and I have worked closely together over the past 15 years: he has played a pivotal role in ensuring that the Foundation has gone from strength to strength. 
 
Many thanks Eddie for all your hard work and for being an exceptional colleague and friend. 
 
Thank you again to all parents for your continued support, and I wish you and your families a peaceful and happy Christmas. 

Ed Hester

Dear Parents

Thank you for your support and good humour over the course of the term. Your children have been a credit to you and I am very proud of their collective and individual achievements and their ability to confront and overcome challenges. This term has brought with it many highlights.

Our end of term whole school mass, wonderfully led by Junior 6V, was celebrated by Fr Kevin yesterday. Well done to all pupils, who read and sung beautifully. It was wonderful to all come together, as staff, pupils, parents and families, parishioners and trustees at this time and we thank Father Kevin for his support and guidance. Thank you to Mrs Paphitis, Mrs Vaughan, Mrs Forino and Mrs Olden for their support. I was delighted to welcome trustees, Mr Richard Harcourt and Mrs Liz Griffin, to mass. Mrs Griffin has just stood down as Chair of Trustees and I should like to extend my sincere thanks to her for her many years of care and service. Her support over the years has been invaluable and we wish her the very best for the future.

We also say goodbye to Mrs Wendy Glover who has been a stalwart in our kitchen and dining hall for the past 10 years and Mr Eddie Tolcher who has been an outstanding Bursar over the past 16 years. I am sure that you all join me in wishing them the very best for their well-earned retirements (semi-retirement in Mr Tolcher’s case).

Yesterday’s Christmas lunch was delicious, and we saw many happy faces and filled tummies. The turkey and trimmings, cooked and served by our hard-working catering team, led by Mrs Sam Swann, really ensured that everyone was well fed and happy. It was lovely to be able to invite Fr Kevin and Fr David to join me for lunch as well. Thank you very much to Mrs Swann and her wonderful team.

Please look out for the letter with the results and commentary on the recent parental survey on the school. This was circulated to families today and certainly goes a long way to helping us focus on continuous school improvement. It also highlights areas where we are succeeding, which is so affirming for the staff here – great motivation to continue doing an excellent job.

I also need to highlight the matter of school attendance as this is very much on the government’s, as well as the Department for Education’s, radar at the moment. If you receive a letter from school on this, please do accept it in the spirit in which it is meant. Not only do we have a statutory duty to uphold, we also want to ensure that every pupil has the best opportunity to succeed and be the best that they can be. Our aim is for every pupil to have managed an attendance record of 95% and above – well done to everyone who has achieved this. This would mean that you have not missed more than 4 days over the term. We understand that there are many reasons beyond your control, such as long-term illness, bereavement or other private matters, where someone is not able to attend school. These cases are noted by the school office as such so that we are able to report this to the authorities when questioned over attendance.

I should, once again, like to thank all the staff for their hard work and dedication over a busy term; to thank our parents and families for your support and assistance; the trustees for their oversight and, once again, the pupils for being such stars. They come into school with smiles on their faces and tackle everything with such positivity; they have achieved so much. Thank you to Mrs Gordon and Mr Johnson for their work as officers of the PTA – we are most grateful to both of them. I am delighted that Mrs Gordon will stay on to help the new PTA committee in the future; she has been a star!

I would like to wish you all a most blessed and peaceful Christmas and a happy and fruitful New Year. The Jubilee Year of 2025 has been proclaimed by Pope Francis as the Year of Hope.

I hope you get the chance to spend some quality time with your families and loved ones. That you manage some well-deserved rest. I want to thank you also, for the kindness shown to myself and all the staff in the giving of cards and gifts.

For those travelling anywhere, I wish you safe travels.

God bless, 
Rob Duigan 

"Don`t waste words on people who deserve your silence. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all." - Anon

Please find the Calendar Card for Lent 2025

Please click here for the timetable of co-curricular clubs for Lent Term 2025. 

SOCS will open for registration on Thursday 2 January at 6.30pm. All details of sign up are included in the information sheet here. 

Registration will remain open until the end of the first week back 10 Janurary 2024. 

You will be able to sign up for all of the internal school-based clubs on SOCS. Some clubs have limited numbers and these tend to book up very quickly.

Externally run clubs do not need to be registered for on SOCS instead you should contact these clubs directly. 

Crackley Hall Cricket - Spring 2025

Crackley After School Club Tennis

Crackley Hall Shakespeares Swords Lent 2025

Christmas Holiday club will be running on Thursday 19, Friday 20 and Monday 23 December 2024, and then on Thursday 2, Friday 3 and Monday 6 January 2025.

For a programme of events, please click here

Please email holidayclub@crackleyhall.co.uk to make your booking.

This year's winning Crackley Hall Christmas Card design was by Evie from J6. Her striking drawing capturing the spirit of the season with a candle of hope burning brightly in the window. The design has featured on the front of every ecard sent out by the Headmaster this advent.

Mr Duigan commented, "Evie’s design was a clear winner, with strength in its simplicity, but the standard overall was high. I was delighted to see so many entries, well done to everybody who took part."

This year Evie’s design was turned into a gif in support of the Foundation’s drive for sustainability.

There was an exceptionally strong field to choose from this year, so our congratulations also go to the children whose designs will feature as cameos on the reverse of the card. Well done to Charlotte (J6), Isher (J1), Josh (J6) and Liana (J4).

Crackley bid a heartfelt farewell to General Catering Assistant, Wendy Glover, after nearly 11 years of dedicated service. Ms Glover expressed her excitement about having more time for watercolour painting, reading and enjoying moments with her family and beloved dog, Louis. She shared, "I will miss everyone at Crackley, especially the children, but I will be thinking of them all when I am eating my lunches!"

Pupils from Junior 6V took the lead role in opening our special Advent Mass, which brought together the whole school community and, as Father Kevin warmly welcomed trustees, parishioners, parents, grandparents and former staff members, he reflected on this time of Advent as we prepare for Christmas through prayer and demonstrating love. Three candles on the Advent wreath were lit and during the Homily, Fr Kevin reminded us that Christmas Eve will see the start of the Jubilee Year ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ initiated by Pope Francis. Father Kevin drew a powerful connection between Mary and Joseph being ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ at the beginning of Jesus’ life and, as we encounter Jesus each day, we too can encourage everyone to be bearers of hope in difficult situations.

It was wonderful to see the children getting into the Christmas spirit in the disco today. Pupils from nursery, then in year groups all the way through to Junior 6 had the chance to let off a little steam and celebrate the end of the term. There were bubbles, sweet treats, drinks and even snow delivered with high energy entertainment for all. Lots of happy and excited faces showed us their special Christmas dance moves as they enjoyed themselves with their friends. Using feedback from their earlier survey, the PTA were delighted that so many families said how their children really enjoyed this activity.

Mr Duigan gave a very thoughtful assembly on the deeper spiritual meaning of Christmas. The pupils were reminded of the meaning of the Advent candles as the third candle of Joy (pink) was lit.  He spoke about how we can get ready for Christmas by being with family and friends; celebrating and being happy; self-reflection; helping others who are less fortunate; forgiving others, and saying sorry. Mr Duigan asked the pupils how they can prepare for Christmas?  Answers ranged from putting up decorations, giving joy to others, leaving food out for Santa, putting stockings on the fireplace, and giving to others.  Mr Duigan reminded everyone about the true meaning of Christmas being Love by reading the Gospel of John Chapter 3. He then reflected on a poem by Brian K Walters:-

In today’s day and time,
it’s easy to lose sight,
of the true meaning of Christmas
and one special night.

When we go shopping,
We say “How much will it cost?”
Then the true meaning of Christmas,
Somehow becomes lost.

Amidst the tinsel, glitter
And ribbons of gold,
We forget about the child,
born on a night so cold.

The children look for Santa
In his big, red sleigh
Never thinking of the baby
Whose bed was made of hay.

In reality when we look into the night sky,
We don’t see a sleigh
But a star, burning bright and high.

A faithful reminder,
Of that night so long ago,
And of the child we call Jesus,
Whose love, the world would know.

What can we do to prepare our hearts and minds for Christmas and how can we think of others? We can go to church to celebrate Jesus’ birthday; we can give to charity; forgive those who have wronged us; spread God’s love; listen to others and show compassion and kindness.

Weekly and daily Masses are held at St. Francis RC Church, Warwick Road, and St Augustine RC Church, Beehive Hill, Kenilworth. Mass in ordinary times are generally held at the following times. 

St Francis 
Sunday 10.30am 
Monday 9.30am
Tuesday 12 midday
Wednesday 
Thursday 7.30pm
Friday  7.30pm
Saturday 10.00am and 5.30pm

St Augustine
Sunday 8.30am
Wednesday 10.00am

Sacrament of Reconciliation
Saturday 10.30am to 11.00am and 4.45pm to 5.15pm.

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

Weekly Mission

During the final week of Michaelmas term, Hedgehogs and Badgers joined forces with Santa's elves in the workshop, wrapping presents and filling stockings.

We played a Nativity-themed 'pass the parcel,' unwrapping characters from the story of Jesus' birth to create a Holy Nativity scene.

We lit the third candle on our Advent wreath, the pink candle of 'Joy,' spreading joy and celebrating the festive season with a Christmas party, complete with delicious sparkly snacks and magical music.

Our Christmas bags, filled with carefully crafted seasonal goodies, are ready to take home and share with parents – we hope you enjoy them!

We also attended the PTA Christmas disco for a bubbly bop and a jingle bell jiggle, ending with a surprise snowfall.

We wanted to share this wonderful letter from the PTA, which lets you find out where the raised monies go to and the requests coming in from staff!

Thank you for supporting us throughout 2024.

As we approach the end of the year, I’d like to thank you for supporting us in whichever way you could

• Bringing your children to events such as the Summer and Christmas Fairs or the Colour Run
• Buying PTA produced goods such as the Christmas cards and gifts
• Sorting out and sending in donations for the fairs or the Macmillan coffee morning
• Volunteering your precious time to make the magic happen for the children

It’s always busy when you have children and we appreciate everything you do with and for us.

We have had a phenomenal 12 months I hope you would agree. We kicked off the year with a huge pre-loved book sale, followed up by the PTA sponsored God’s Planet Theatre Day. We introduced a first for Crackley with the whole school Quidditch Day in April, which the school enjoyed so much that we bought equipment and training to enable us to recreate the feelgood sports fun at will.

In between times we have supported ISA Football, Cross Country and Athletics Festivals, in addition to providing a welcome hot drink at every assembly and an ongoing service with pre-loved uniform ordering and in person sales. We provided Easter eggs for fun filled hunts. We match funded improvements to the Oratory and the Olympian visit as well as fully funding Rugby equipment, Nursery and Key Stage 1 play equipment, radio microphones and a portable PA system. We recently funded the Key Stage 2 Author Day with Jennifer Killick. Our biggest investment in the past 12 months was our £15k donation to the brand new adventure playground which was put in at Easter. 

We aim to provide both fun and funds and lots of happy faces are always surrounding us at the Summer and Christmas Fairs and the Colour Run, where we also achieved another first in a teacher gunging!  We thought we had achieved our best fund raising fair ever with the event in May raising over £4K but I’m absolutely delighted to announce that we have smashed this with a record breaking £5.2K raised at our Christmas Fair recently. Amazing!

Each time we put an event on it is really the culmination of weeks, if not months, of planning and organisation.  It truly takes a village and with more volunteers than ever for our Christmas Fair the results speak for themselves – more of everything for everyone. If you want to join in as much or as little as you want, reach out to any of the parents who post PTA messages or email hello@pta.crackleyhall.co.uk.  Our meetings are normally 1–2 hours in duration and held once every half term, normally the first Wednesday of the month in term time. We discuss ideas, ongoing effort and events and the funding requests raised by the school for our consideration.  We would welcome your input.  The next one is Wednesday 15 January 7:00 to 8:30 pm at school.

It strikes me at different times how much of what we teach the children is true in the values that we live too. Collaboration is key to unlocking real value and making every area of our PTA function well, as evidenced by the recent fair. We thank all members of staff, all school support staff and the generous parents and businesses who have gone above and beyond to collaborate with us throughout this year.

We are at a great point in time for our PTA. It can be daunting taking a leap of faith by contributing to your community outside of your comfort zone and I’m really glad I did this over the past two years. It has been enriching and rewarding. I offer my congratulations to our new officers elected, who are preparing to take the helm from January: Sara Higginbotham and Sandrine Farrow are Co-Chair, Leigh Dumighan and Jo Ward Co-Vice Chair, Anna Weekes as Treasurer and Sarah Brighton-Phillips Vice Treasurer, Jayne Lavelle continues as Secretary. The community will undoubtedly continue to grow with the benefit of fresh ideas, energy and impetus but governed by the same drive to make Crackley life serious fun.

We will have another book sale in January so please bear this in mind if you are having a post Christmas clear out. An author and illustrator visit for the whole school is scheduled to celebrate with World Book Day and we have Family Bingo on Saturday 1 March too.  

Requests are sent to the PTA, in conjunction with staff, led by Mr Duigan to decide and agree on these in a fair process and consideration given to benefit the whole school. 

Our focus is unwaveringly on the children and what we can do to enhance their experience.  We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you again and my warm wishes for a Happy Christmas and a fabulous 2025.

Maria Gordon
PTA Chair