The Chronicle

Dear Parents

As I write this week’s Chronicle the sun is shining on Crackley Hall and there are glimpses of spring.  Hopefully it will not be too long before the daffodil bulbs that all the children planted last autumn begin to appear.  It would be even better if the children were all in school to witness them sprouting; so, hopefully, they stay hidden until the second week of March.

It has been Children’s Mental Health Week and it is so vitally important, especially now, to look after our mental health.  There have been lots of activities happening in classes which have been thought provoking, calming, creative and also raised many smiles.  I recommend that you take a look through this week’s Chronicle, particularly the Dress to Express section which, I am sure you will agree, Mrs Burley and Mr Stedeford entered fully into the spirit of the day.

This evening our PTA will be hosting their first online school bingo evening.  I hope that you have bought your cards and I look forward to welcoming you all to the event later today.  Thank you to Mrs Jackson-Mayne for being our ‘caller’ and to our PTA for organising this event. 

I was delighted to see that Crackley Hall are currently in second place in the ISA Limitless Skills Series.  I even managed to see how many points each pupil has earned.  Well done to all those taking part.  It’s not too late to join in.

In this morning’s assembly I announced that Thomas and Patrick received a bronze award for their kindness to others and Josh, Olivia, Jia, Isabella, Georgie and Mairen were awarded a da Vinci for their outstanding work in English.

Stars of the week were awarded to: Daya, Cameron, Alexander, Nieve, Jessie, Lizzie, Thomas, Jay, Lucas, Lily, Merryn, Theo and Max.  Well done everyone, your certificates will be posted to you very soon.

Next week will be the last week of the first half term and I hope that you are all looking forward to a well-deserved rest.  Parents, children and teachers have all worked so incredibly hard since the start of January and we all really need to take a break from the home-schooling routine.

School will be closed during half term but Little Crackers will remain open.  During this time all areas used for Critical Worker Care will be thoroughly cleaned and ready to open again on Monday 22 February.  I sincerely hope that it will not be too much longer before we receive news on the plans for re-opening the school to everyone else and welcoming back all classes.

I believe that there may be some more snow this weekend (although the ‘reliable’ forecast proved me wrong last week).  If it arrives, I hope you can enjoy the snow but stay safe and warm.

Have a lovely weekend with your families.

God bless,

Mr Duigan

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Reception has been exploring the topic of birds, linking into the RSPB's 'Big Garden Birdwatch' which took place last weekend, Friday 29 to Sunday 31 January. The children had a wonderful week of bird-themed live lessons and enjoyed lots of exciting associated activities.

In their 'Understanding the World' lessons, the children investigated how important it is to feed garden birds in the winter, they went on to make a fantastic array of bird feeders for their gardens and then undertook their own 'Birdwatch', recording the results on a checklist. They were all super spotters with the children identifying Blue Tits, Finches, Robins, Sparrows and Blackbirds to name but a few.

In English the children carefully labelled Robins, enjoyed writing about their favourite birds and learned and performed a bird poem with actions en masse in a live lesson which was no mean feat! Having signed up to the RSPB's Birdwatch, the class also looked at a range of bird information cards together, expanding their knowledge further.

Their Art lessons saw some incredible creations with great artwork made from paper plates – including a particularly stunning Parakeet.

Mrs Convey was very impressed by her class and said, "The children embraced all the activities and challenges wholeheartedly. I was really thrilled with their enthusiasm for the wildlife on their doorsteps!"

It has been Children’s Mental Health Week and at Crackley Hall we have been exploring why looking after your mental health is just as important as looking after your physical health, especially in the current lockdown.

Organised by the charity Place2Be with the theme ‘Express Yourself’, this year’s event has focused on finding ways to share feelings, thoughts and ideas - that may be through art, music or writing or through taking part in drama, sport or dance or even just getting outside. What matters is taking positive action to manage the anxieties and stresses of life and recognising that effective support from an early stage not only helps children and young people cope with challenging circumstances, but can also prevent problems from escalating and becoming more serious in adolescence and adulthood.

There has been lots going on across the school, with activities in lessons, form time, dress to express yourself Friday and much more. The children have really embraced the theme, as have the teachers, and it has been wonderful to see them taking part.

At the beginning of the week Mrs Glen-Roots introduced the initiative in her Candlemas assembly, reminding us that we can bring light and hope to our family and friends. She explained what mental health means and gave a wonderful introduction to the week and challenged the children to take part in the Squiggle Game – a way to use your doodles to express yourself.

Lessons have given plenty of opportunity for children to express themselves with lots of amazing art, super stories and perfect poetry. In form time and PHSE there has been plenty of healthy debate about what makes us happy and how that can help improve your mood and nurture your well-being. With pupils encouraged to identify their passions and all the different things that make them smile and learning that it is not about being the best but rather about doing what you enjoy. They have even learned to encourage each other to find ways to get creative and express yourself.

Dress to Express Friday was a great way to finish Children’s Mental Health Week. It was a lot of fun for everyone, with Mrs Burley and Mr Stedeford going the extra mile!

With schools still in lockdown and the continuing uncertainty, children’s mental health has never been more important, and learning how to feel good about yourself has been an essential lesson for us all.

These books have been specially chosen to help children stay safe, calm, connected and hopeful. They can be downloaded for free or you can borrow them from your local library.

Suggested Books Information

Mathletes of the week for Mrs Hardwick's class are Aaryan and Will

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Glen-Roots's class is Francesca

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Holmes's class is Daiya

Mathlete of the week for Mr Stedeford's group is Ding

Mathletes of the week for Mrs VanZyl's group are Adreena and Darcey

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Wildey's class is Lexi

Mathletes of the week for Mrs Burley's group are Charlie and Evie 

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Roberts's group is Alfred

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Lammas's group is George

Well done all! 

Dear Parents

As we look ahead to the half-term holiday I am sure both you and your children will be looking forward to a break from online learning.  We are also conscious that whilst it is cold and dark keeping children purposefully occupied throughout the week can be difficult.

We know that our children thrive on being busy and occupied.  With this in mind we have arranged for all pupils to have complimentary access, should they wish, to an academic Half-term Camp that is being hosted online by RocketLearn.  

Put together by two former Independent Prep School Heads, the camp is free for pupils who sign up using our unique school code CRACKLEYHALFTERM. If you sign up your child will be able to access live lessons each day in Maths and English, together with an afternoon activity session. The English will focus on Mindfulness and diary writing, a topic we feel could be very useful in the current climate.  Each child will also have a workbook in which they can complete their Maths and English.

Prizes and certificates will be awarded.

If you would like to sign up or read more about it please click here.  There are three different Maths levels; Bronze (aimed at yrs 3-4) Silver (yrs 5-6)and Gold (yrs 7-8) children are welcome to try as many levels as they wish.

If you would like to reserve your FREE place please register here using code CRACKLEYHALFTERM when prompted. 

With all best wishes 

Alicia Coad (Rocket Learn)

From Monday 1 to Sunday 7 February 2021, was Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week. This year’s theme has been Express Yourself. Place2Be has created activities and resources to help children (and adults) explore the different ways that they can share their thoughts, feelings and ideas. 

There are lots of resources on the Children’s Mental Health Week website that you can use with your child at home; including activity ideas, tips for parents and carers, and an online assembly. 

Visit www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk to find out more.

This week Dan has been cooking lentil dhal with homemade flatbreads, as well as orange drizzle cake, both from the Home School Bistro with a helping hand from his daughters.

All put together on a step by step basis for pupils and parents to watch and cook along!

Youtube channel

Lentil Dhal

Orange Drizzle Cake

Equipment

Home School Bistro Pack

The Stratford Literary Festival have an annual Young Poets Competition for local children. Please click on the link below for more details:

Young Poets Competition 2021

Please follow the link below to the Raring2go! Winter Digital Edition:

Winter Edition

Please follow the link below for a digital copy of Families Warwickshire Magazine.

Magazine

Junior 6 have had a busy week tackling long division in Maths and studying The Highwayman in English, which has certainly stretched our vocabulary!

In addition, the study of Newton's properties of light have led to an understanding of how rainbows are formed and a demonstration of how light is split into colour through the practical application of Newton's colour wheel.

Our history topic of Titanic has continued to grasp our J6 imaginations, with the study of the transcripts from the fateful event. The children have formed their own opinions on who they thought was to blame for the disaster, with justification for their thoughts. They certainly have strong opinions on the matter!

Another super week, where we’ve read more of our wonderful class novel, Kensuke’s Kingdom. As the story is about being shipwrecked on a Island, all the J5’s have designed and written about their very own Islands. In their writing they impressively included a range of figurative language, including alliteration, personification and similes, and also included ambitious vocabulary. This novel has really grasped our interest and we can’t wait to read on!  

We have also been discussing how important it is to look after our mental health as well as our physical health, and we all came to registration dressed up and displaying/showing what makes us happy. By keeping happy, and doing things we love, we are nurturing our mental health, and in turn, keeping us positive!

Junior 4 have been expressing themselves to mark Children's Mental Health Week this week.

In each form time Mrs Wildey and Mrs Burley led an activity encouraging the children to express themselves.

On Monday each child was given a voice in remote 'circle-time'. J4W enjoyed telling something about themselves that no-one in the class yet knew! It encouraged the children to regard their form as a safe space where they can speak and express themselves without judgement from others. It was delightful to notice how positive the Junior 4 children were towards each other and how encouraging their comments were.

Tuesday saw the children learning to express their emotions through drawing, Wednesday created a feeling of wellbeing as they sang, danced and clapped along to music and Thursday form time saw a fun whole class games session.

On Friday we 'dressed to express', again, without judgement from our peers. A great week with a very important message for the children which is needed now, more than ever.

This week, Junior 3 have been celebrating Child Mental Health Week, raising awareness and learning about the importance of mental health.

Each day, we have thought about what makes us smile, the importance of spending time with our families, telling jokes and keeping in touch with friends. We have made physical activity a priority and thought about what makes us unique, writing similes about ourselves.

Austin

Ding

On Friday, we enjoyed ‘Dress to Express’, all dressing up in whatever we felt like that day. And, if we were ever in doubt, we watched videos of elephants doing cute things!

Junior 2H remained incredibly busy this week with a few new LIVE lessons added to the timetable to add variety and further learning for our keen and positive class.

Ms Holmes was delighted to see ‘multiplication arrays’ made from snowballs, which was a brilliant visual aid to learning all about numbers. Children are really enjoying finding new ways and resources to show their mathematical understanding.

Some of the children have been ‘reading for England’ in family groups cementing their love of the written word which has been a delight to see. Deforestation caused a big ripple this week as we lamented the tree-cutting situation around the world. This inspired one of our pupils and her little sister to create a wonderful presentation and posters.

Well done to you all.

We are extremely proud of the work which J1 have completed this week. They have certainly kept Mrs Glen-Roots and Mrs Hardwick busy, looking at all of their wonderful activities on Seesaw!

In Maths, we have been investigating the measurement of weight and mass. The children have been able to see how the balance scales look for lighter, heavier and equal. They also learnt the importance of precise measurements by baking their own cakes!

English this week has focussed on poetry, with the children learning and performing Nut Tree by Julia Donaldson, including actions. We then chose adjectives to describe aspects of nature before writing our own poems. In Science we have looked at parts of the body, learning new vocabulary along the way.

Geography has been all about the weather this week and finally our history topic has continued with the children comparing old and new teddy bears. Goodness me all of that in just one week!

Reception have been down on the farm this week – virtually, that is! There were plenty of ‘oinks’ ‘neighs’ and ‘baas’ as we explored different farm animals through poetry, speech bubbles, writing, radio podcasts and internet research. Leading on from this, we solved farm animal puzzles and even conducted ‘egg-speriments’ to make bouncy eggs in our Understanding the World lessons.

Maths has been no less busy as we set about deepening our comprehension of matching, pairing and combining numbers, wowing Mrs Convey in the process!

We also thoroughly enjoyed this week’s live Music lesson when we continued our Red Riding Hood topic by listening to Wolf’s Theme from Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev.

2021 is the year of St Joseph. As he is the Patron of our school, we are busy planning activities linked with finding out more about the history of our school and the life of St Joseph. Look out for the different activities linked to this special year.

This Sunday’s Gospel

Gospel

Prayers for the Week

Prayers

Please click on the link below for this week's weekly mission;

Weekly Mission

Please find information below:

Children's Liturgy

In RE lessons, Junior 3 and 4 have been thinking of the different ways that we can pray.  It is said that when you sing a hymn or prayer, it is like praying twice - well Junior 3 and 4 really did get into the spirit of praying this week!

Isaac and Ralph produced an Our Father rap.  Isabella, Patrick and Elena added a tune and sang it to music. Ding and Ria put actions to the words of the prayer and Isla demonstrated her rhythm with super dance moves to Every Step I Take.

My signing stars are Miley and Alexa, showing us the different ways that we can communicate with others and reminding us of the messages Jesus is giving to us.

Congratulations to Jessie in J2, who receives a Da Vinci Mastery for her thoughtful insights into the lesson on The Miracle of the Paralysed Man.  She was able to explain the idea of ‘faith’ and the importance of friendship to all the other children, through listening and discussion on this story from Mark Ch 12

Thank you to all the Junior 3 pupils who contributed to the discussion on, 'What makes a good friend.'  During this tricky time of Lockdown, I know we are all missing our friends very much and can't wait to see and play with them again soon.  In the words of Evie Kettle, we recognise how 'valuable friends' are and in the words of Jesus we are reminded that 'A friend loves at all times.' 

Your mission this week is to be a good friend!

Holy Communion Meeting Reminder

Meeting for the parents of the children making the First Holy Communion this year, in Junior 3 and 4, is at 4pm on Thursday 11 February. The meeting is online and has been sent out by email and on Seesaw.

This week we have been talking about all the people who help us in various ways – from the exciting firefighters and mountain rescue teams with helicopters, to the postmen, shopkeepers and refuse collectors who help us in our daily lives. 

We have also been thinking about how we can help others too – and I have spotted some really kind acts in Little Crackers this week, from cuddles when a child fell over, to sharing toys and asking for help on behalf of a shy friend. 

Our little ones are always trying to help each other in different ways, something that is just as important as appreciating those who help us.  

Have a good weekend, and maybe, if you’re out and about, you might be able to spot some early signs of Spring.  If you do, send me a picture to make us all smile!

Newsletter

It’s been yet more icy exploration for our Little Crackers this week!

The nursery children watched and played with melting ice – enjoying the opportunity to explore the changing shapes, the feel and texture of the melting blocks and the different ways we could speed up the melting process!

It was a fantastic stimulus for conversation allowing them to talk though their ideas about what was happening – our youngest were constantly excited by the changing tray, and our eldest children were challenged to consider how materials can change, and the importance of heat in the melting process.

Who knew ice could offer so many opportunities for learning!

Friday 5 February - 6.30pm

Join us tonight from 6.30pm from the comfort of your own home for Crackley Hall’s first family online Bingo.  

We encourage all Crackley Hall families and staff to come together for a fabulous night of entertainment! All ages are welcome to join in this evening, and we will also have some fun half-time entertainment.

Tickets are £5 per family to join (£1 of which will go towards a raffle at the end of the bingo). If that's not enough to tempt you, each family will be playing for your child’s house and a chance to increase their house points.

Please click here to sign up for tickets.

We hope this will be a night to remember and one your family will really enjoy!