The Chronicle

Dear Parents

Welcome back to the start of the Trinity Term and I hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter break.  Some of you may have noticed, when driving into school, that the part of the lower playground has had a facelift and exciting new additions which the children have been fascinated with this week.  Work on the playground was carried out during the Easter break and, with finances provided by the PTA, we have been able to add a gazebo, an Astroturf grass area and playground equipment for the children to enjoy.  Please read the feature later in this edition of The Chronicle to find out exactly what your contributions, via the PTA, have achieved.  Thank you to parents, pupils and staff, and especially our ever-hardworking and enthusiastic PTA team over the years for helping us achieve this project – the first phase of it! 

This week, in addition to the sun shining, we have been able to welcome several new children to school and I know that they have already made many new friends within their class.  You will be able to see full details of class activities that have taken place over the course of the week later in this edition.

As we continue to closely follow the Government’s road map to the easing of lock down measures, we will be exploring the possibilities of children attending certain sporting fixtures and I know that Mrs Vaughan has been contacting parents in this regard.  We will keep you informed regarding this and other activities as details become available.  The next milestone is 17 May and, until then at least, we still may not have spectators at school sports fixtures, unfortunately.  It is mainly about the children being able to play though, which is a huge joy again.  At the present time, we will continue to hold meetings, Mass and assemblies online until it is safe to do otherwise.  All ‘lockdown’ precautions are still in operation, for example, sanitising, space, masks, bubbles, restricted activities in confined spaces, etc.

Next week, Junior 2 will be participating in an online workshop exploring The Fire of Warwick.  It is also hoped that we will be playing cricket against Bilton Grange; a long-awaited for fixture.  As detailed in the school calendar, I will be hosting an online meeting for Junior 5 parents on Thursday afternoon to discuss secondary school choices.  This meeting is held each year to help parents understand the choices available for their children.  Please keep a lookout for an email early next week which will contain a link to the meeting.  If you are unable to attend, information can be sent to you following the meeting.

I hope you were able to watch this morning’s assembly where I announced our stars of the week: Elliot, Olivia, Patrick, Edward, Amelia, Grace, Sukhmani, Lawson, Kit, Penelope, Sebastian, Alfred, Thomas and Jasper.  Congratulations to you all.  Well done, also, to all pupils who received a bronze or silver merit award.  There were many Junior da Vinci awards to celebrate with Beatrice, Chloe, Lawson, Theo, Julia, Andrew all receiving awards for their work in French.  Leo, Helayna, Noah, Millie, Annalise, Jasper, Isabel and Thomas also received awards for their work in English.  Super efforts from everyone.  To end assembly today, I was delighted to see Stephanie play her violin so well and so confidently. 

I wish you a happy St George’s Day and lovely weekend ahead, hopefully with a little time in the sunshine with your family.  There are also some lovely sporting fixtures to keep us enthralled.  I am pleased that the European Super League ‘notion’ seems to have settled down.  I am enjoying watching one of my favourite cricketers, AB de Villiers, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL – I just wish he still played for South Africa!  It’s still a way off but I am not confident ahead of the Lions versus Springboks series.

God bless,

Mr Duigan

Please find attached the termly curriculum sheet for your child's year group:

Reception

Junior 1

Junior 2

Junior 3

Junior 4

Junior 5

Junior 6

Please find a copy of the Trinity Term lunch menus below:

Week 1

Week 2

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Thanks to the PTA and The Playground Company pupils at Crackley Hall have a super new all-weather play area. Staff and pupils are delighted as the multi-purpose facilities will support both free play and structured learning activities.

The area at the bottom of the main playground, behind the netball courts, was barren and uneven and it has now been transformed. Over the Easter holidays the area was prepared with a rubber mulch before being overlaid with astro-turf. Damaged fencing was replaced, creating two separate areas to allow for flexibility of use. A balance beam and stepping stones were installed as play equipment for the children to explore. The trees were protected to allow them to continue to grow and a wonderful wooden gazebo constructed, that can be used both as a quiet retreat for the children at break and lunchtimes but also as a further outdoor classroom and teaching space.

Rob Duigan, Headmaster, said, “The children are loving the new area and have really enjoyed playing on it since being back at school. It’s a marvellous makeover that has provided the children with more space to run around and another flexible learning space. Many thanks to our wonderful PTA for all they do for the children here at Crackley Hall.”

Lucy Lamb, Chair of the PTA, said "The PTA are delighted with the work so far, and look forward to further enhancements over the summer holidays in preparation for the return to school in September." Lucy went on to say, "We are very grateful to the whole school community for supporting the PTA's  events that have made the playground makeover possible." She also expressed her gratitude to past committee members and officers, as without all their hard work and commitment the PTA would not have been able to achieve as much as it has to date.

Tonight, Princethorpe College hosts its second virtual Spring Concert, once again thanks to the wonders of technology. Masterminded by their fantastic Director of Music, Gil Cowlishaw, it also marks the second Foundation-wide musical collaboration after last summer’s The Climb. In a rousing finale an amazing, 90-strong, Foundation Virtual Music Group performs You Will Be Found from the musical Dear Evan Hansen. This latest ‘Big Sing’ brings together the talents of our community playing and singing from the safety of their own homes. What better form of entertainment could there be on a Friday evening!!

The finale will be published on our Facebook page at 7pm this evening. We hope you enjoy it, as much as the children and staff all enjoyed making it!!

Junior 3 pupil, Elsie has been very busy over the Easter break raising money for Save the Children. With her Dad’s help she has grown some tomato and chilli plants from seeds and has sold them alongside selling some old books and games she no longer plays with.

So far Elsie has raised over £35. We are all very impressed with Elsie and her kind and thoughtful actions that will help those less fortunate than herself.

Back in November as part of Vocations week, all the children at Crackley Hall School, from Nursery up to Junior 6, went out into the school grounds to plant Daffodil bulbs.  Planted across the bank in front of the school, the daffodils have now bloomed beautifully brightening up the surroundings with their colourful heads dancing in the breeze. They looked so marvellous this week that we took some photos to share with you all. What a great display they make for all the children to enjoy.

The children were kept busy with a variety of activities at the Easter holiday club and had lots of fun.

More details about the May half term holday club will be sent out soon.

Please do not ask for your child to accompany another child home unless you have formed a childcare bubble with that family. Whilst we do not wish to seek information regarding individual family arrangements, if you are bringing or collecting another child to and from school, we will assume that you have formed your childcare bubble with that family.

Thank you

The Council have asked us to share the following information with you:

Kenilworth Town Council has opened a book of condolence following the sad death of HRH The Prince Philip, which in due course will be sent on behalf of local residents to Buckingham Palace. Given COVID restrictions, people are invited to send any contributions to this book by email to the Town Clerk (kentc@kenilworth.org) or written condolences to be included in the book can be posted to the Town Clerk at Jubilee House, Smalley Place, Kenilworth CV9 1QG. There is also a letter box outside Jubilee House in which statements of condolence can be hand delivered.

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Hardwick's class is Rory

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Glen-Root's class is Patrick

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

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Van Zyl's class is Arthur

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Burley's group is Amelia 

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Lammas's class is Alex

Well done all!

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

Magazine

Saturday 22 May - 1.30pm to 5.30pm

Princethorpe College warmly invites Junior 5 pupils and their families to a specifically tailored Foundation Prep Schools Year 5 Taster Experience and Open Afternoon. Children to arrive at 1.30pm Parents to return for 4.15pm.

This special event is aimed at giving prospective pupils a taste of senior school life through a variety of sample lessons and their parents the opportunity to hear Ed Hester, the Headmaster, speak about the College’s ethos, aims and vision. Towards the end of the afternoon there will be the option for families to have a guided tour around the school and grounds conducted by Sixth Formers. Members of the Senior Leadership and Admissions Team will also be on hand to answer any questions you may have at the end of the tour.

Light refreshments, including legendary Princethorpe cookies, will be available. The event will be very carefully managed within government guidelines. 

To sign up for this event please complete the online form here by 9.00am on Wednesday 5 May 2021.

Admissions and Entrance Examinations Booklet

It has been fantastic to welcome Junior 6 back to school this week and to see them playing in the sunshine and enjoying the new gazebo and artificial turf on their playground. 

In the classroom, we have begun some exciting topics on World War II and Biomes around the world and have started to read our core text, The Lion and the Unicorn which is set in England during World War II.  We have focused on the importance of using background knowledge about a subject to help us deepen our understanding of the text that we are reading. 

What a super start to the Trinity Term! 

Junior 5 are so excited to be back in school and returning to sports. This term girls will continue to play netball, as well as rounders and athletics. The boys will be fine-tuning skills in football and cricket ready for their fixtures. Athletics will also be part of the sports program, ready for Sports Day later in the term.

During this week, Junior 5 have been back training in the glorious sunshine acclimatising themselves to playing again. The girls worked on their netball and they clearly enjoyed playing matches and demonstrated exceptional passing and teamwork skills.

Junior 4 have settled back into school with enjoyment and purpose this week. The children started by polishing up on their presentational skills! Over the Easter break many of the children have been working hard researching topics and preparing a presentation to deliver to their peers. It has been wonderful to see such confidence, enthusiasm and talent!

The children in Junior 4W explored the stereotype of the ‘Vikings’ and played a trading game to find out why they invaded Britain and the impact they had. Drama activities focused on the Viking Gods and visualising their spiritual worlds.

Meanwhile, Junior 4B have started to explore the topic of India. This week we have focused on the six different climate regions. The children knew lots of information about India, but they also had many questions that they might like to explore in their own time. Mrs Clarke helped enthuse the children further by introducing the children to Mehndi Henna patterns in Art. This activity was thoroughly enjoyed and the children worked precisely and carefully with so much concentration and thought.

What a great start to the term, Junior 4!

This week, Junior 3 have travelled to Ancient Greece, learning the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. After reading through the story and learning how to punctuate speech, we rehearsed and performed enthusiastic class actions for each page.

In Maths, the children improved their understanding of fractions, represented as decimals; they all created some lovely ‘Book of Tenths’, demonstrating various ways to represent each fraction.

It has been wonderful to have everyone back in school, seeing the children engage with their learning and play together (on their fun new equipment!) in the spring sunshine.

We welcomed the children back to an exciting and eventful half-term in Junior 2 this week.   

On Wednesday, as part of Science, the children were introduced to ‘planting’ fruit and vegetables by Edd from the Grounds Team at Princethorpe. We were grateful for his input and knowledge and the children had a wonderful time.

The theme of ‘Fire’ is included in all our subjects this term, from ‘The Fire of Warwick,’ ‘The Great Fire of London,’ to Pentecost in RE. The children will be writing and creating fabulous work in Maths, English and DT, using ‘fire’ as their inspiration. Watch this space!

Our first week back after the Easter holiday has been busy and productive. We have begun to learn the story of Mrs Armitage On Wheels in English, which will be our focus this term. We came up with some creative actions to help perform the story, which helped us remember it in the right order.

In History we have started to look at our new topic of Transport and placed different types of vehicles onto a timeline. This linked beautifully with DT, where everyone had the chance to make a wind-powered vehicle. These were of course tested out to see whose travelled the best! We travelled to London in geography, finding out about its famous landmarks, which prompted lots of discussions of who had been where…and when we can visit again!

What a busy start to our new term Reception have had this week. In Maths we have started to explore numbers to 20 and beyond, using a variety of resources to help us understand these larger quantities. Great fun was had building towers with cubes, putting counters in 10 frames and we have even started trying to estimate amounts too!

Our topic of ‘Sowing and Growing’ has seen us investigate the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, thinking about the different food he ate and how he changed into a beautiful butterfly. We also sampled some of the fruits that the caterpillar ate and, just like him, agreed that they were quite delicious!    

During our RE lessons this week we discussed how the people turned against Jesus.

On Palm Sunday we witnessed people waving palms and desperate to see Jesus, but by Good Friday the people are shouting for Jesus to be crucified. Pupils used props to remind themselves of the different characters.

Can you spot any of the people Jesus met by looking at the prop?

Junior 3 are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a few weeks. This week we made up bubble prayers to think about the people we love and care for.

Junior 4 found out about the different implements used at Mass. They impressed Mrs Jackson-Mayne and Mrs Simmonds with their knowledge of the Consecration and the Eucharist.

A prayer for St.George's Day

Just a little reminder for the children to return their Good Shepherd Appeal boxes.

Please hand them into the school office.

The children in Junior 3 and Junior 4 enjoyed a special Easter Egg hunt on the last day of the Lent Term. They took turns outside in their class bubbles looking for eggs and solving questions to crack the code that unlocked a special Easter message. The sun shone gloriously and they all took part enthusiastically. It was a lovely end of term activity that the children really enjoyed. 

Before Easter Junior 3S made beautiful Easter cards to give to their family and friends over the Easter weekend.

They used a template of a cross on the front of the card to remember that Jesus died for us before deciding how to decorate it. They then very carefully sewed around the edge taking the time to outline the cross beautifully. The children then wrote ‘He Is Risen’ clearly across the top and included their messages inside for their families.

It was a wonderful creative activity that allowed them all to reflect on what Jesus did for us and why we celebrate Easter every year.

Please find information below:

Childrens Liturgy

Activity Sheet

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

Weekly Mission

This week in Lego Club we have been having great fun in creating a summer garden with palm trees and shimmering decorative flowers growing gracefully amongst a wildlife sanctuary for dinosaurs!

There's nothing quite like the excitement of staying in your very own magical treehouse with stylish bunkbeds accompanied by a giant robot in case of emergencies with any suspicious aliens lurking in the depths of the undergrowth.

A colourful cookie stand serving specialty croissants observed by a sharp-eyed owl waiting to swoop on a Harry Potter vehicle completed a perfect summer’s day in the garden!

What a wonderful way to fuel imagination.

We have really enjoyed welcoming everyone back to nursery this week, some new faces too!  It has been lovely to see everyone, and the weather has been kind – allowing us to spend plenty of time taking our learning outside. Our learning journey was triggered by the arrival of our tiny caterpillars.  They came in a pot, with their own food, and over the week we have watched them almost double in size!!  Once we had talked about the changes they would go through we thought it might be nice to create flowers for the butterflies when they emerge – and began digging and preparing the ground, before sowing seeds, watering the soil and impatiently waiting for the flowers to grow! 

We also thought about the other living things in our garden, as part of our Earth Day conversations, and have begun creating a Bug Bedroom – a beautifully arranged pile of sticks and straw in a quiet part of the area.  This is one of our favourite times of the year, and such an exciting one for our little ones as the world springs into action around them.  We have found strawberries, lavender, rosemary, thyme, bay and even daffodils in just one of our flower beds, and have spotted the blossom appearing on our apple trees – I wonder what you will spot if you’re out and about this weekend?

Please send me a picture if you see any signs of spring, we would love to share in your adventures at home.  Have a great weekend from everyone at Little Crackers.

Newsletter

Crackley Hall PTA are extremely proud and grateful and would like to say a huge ‘ Thank you’, to the whole school community for your contribution & commitment to fundrasing over the years.

Together, we have managed to raise a staggering amount to enable us to enhance the school playground and equipment.

Further enhancements will follow over the summer holidays. Watch this space

We are always looking to welcome new members, so if the PTA is something you would like to be involved with, we would be very pleased for you to join us. The committee get together once per half term and would really welcome some new faces, now more than ever. 

If you would like any further information or to be added to our email list, please contact Chanel Camilleri-Willis ccamilleriwillis@gmail.com

Dust off the dresses, shine those shoes and un-crease those coats.  As always, thank you, to our wonderful second hand uniform team, Nikki, Linda and Katie, for being ever patient and serving our wonderful school community with much needed preloved uniform.

Please feel to contact them on ptauniform@crackleyhall.co.uk to arrange an appointment, or to simply check stock availability.

To offer this service, we rely on wonderful donations from you. So if you have any good quality uniform your child has outgrown, please use the collection box in the school front entrance.  It will then be quarantined for 72 hours before offering for sale.

All money raised from the PTA Uniform shop is spent on extras for your children throughout the year at school and helps the children’s day become even more special!

We are recruiting for a variety of roles currently, as you will see below, so please do share with friends and family by word of mouth.

Further information and application forms on all roles are available on our website - Join Us

• Teacher of Politics and History (maternity leave) at Princethorpe College
• Events Assistants (casual) at Princethorpe College
• Exam Invigilators at Princethorpe College
• Carpenter at Princethorpe College
• Teacher of Art at Crescent School
• Key Stage 1 Teaching Assistant at Crescent School
• Key Stage 2 Teaching Assistant at Crescent School
• IT Infrastructure and Network Manager at the Princethorpe Foundation
• IT Engineer at the Princethorpe Foundation