The Chronicle

Dear Parents

Welcome to the final Chronicle of this half term.  There were some occasions this term where there have been concerning times regarding the spread of Covid but above all the children have been resilient and incredibly cheerful throughout.  I am hugely grateful to all our staff for their efforts this term and parents for their understanding, help and support, it really is much appreciated.

There is so much to report in this week’s newsletter and I encourage you to take a look through the features to fully appreciate what the whole school have achieved this week as it really is quite something.

School photographs took place on Tuesday and I would like to thank Mrs Edkins for co-ordinating the schedule.  Gilbert and Soames, our new photographers, have indicated that the photographs will be ready to view shortly after half term.

I do hope that all parents were able to book an online appointment with their child’s class teacher this week. If for any reason you were unable to attend or organise an appointment, I would ask that you please contact your child’s class teacher directly to arrange another mutually convenient time after half term. 

Our youngest pupils enjoyed a visit from RaptorXotics and their collection of beautiful owls yesterday.  While some external visits have been reduced, it is reassuring that children can still benefit from these experiences, which are safely managed, in school.  Thank you to Mrs Convey for organising this event and to Mrs Stephenson for capturing the occasion on camera.

I hope that our Crackley families were able to watch the assembly this morning when I congratulated our Stars of the Week: Jamie, George, Ella, Fiorella, Henry, Alexander, Gwen, Charlie, Elizabeth, Elora, Joseph, Esme, George and Dillon; super efforts from everyone.  We were also able to enjoy a match report from Matilda and a performance from Junior 4 Choral Group.  I was really proud of Patrick on his first place in the 800m run for boys and Elsie on her second place in the corresponding girls’ race.  Well done to both of them!

Online bookings for holiday club have now closed but if you do need to make a booking, please check availability and refer to the information later in this newsletter. 

When we return after half term, Junior 6 will be involved in the final preparations before the Princethorpe College entrance exams on 6 November.  Our Junior 6 Team have worked incredibly hard in helping to prepare the pupils, academically and mentally, for this occasion and I have confidence that all the children participating in the exam will try their very best.

My sincere appreciation is extended to all the staff for their huge efforts over the past half term.  Thank you, also, to our wonderful parents for their support and good humour.  A special ‘well done’ to all our pupils and I hope that everyone will continue to try their best next half term.

I hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing half term with your families.  Please travel safely if you are going away.

God bless,

Mr Duigan

We will not be hosting a Book Fair in school this term but look forward to hopefully welcoming parents back into school to support our fair in March next year. 

There is an opportunity to support our new Book Club by purchasing Scholastic Books online using this link https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/crackley-hall/digital-book-club which is an easy way of ordering and paying for books at home. 

Children have been given a Book Club catalogue which provides a sample of the books available to order.  The Book Club is open now and closes on 3 November to ensure delivery in time for Christmas.

Bookings for the October Holiday Club via My School Portal, have now closed. Should you wish to make a booking, you can still do so by emailing VictoriaOsborn@crackleyhall.co.uk

There is the possibility that it may be necessary to cancel Thursday 28 and Friday 29 October due to the low number of children booked. However we will keep you updated if you are booked on these days.

Holiday Club Crafts Information

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

The month of October is Black History Month in the UK, and the teachers at Crackley Hall School have delivered a series of lessons, activities and assemblies to recognise and value inspirational black individuals and events that have contributed to and shaped our world today.

The month began with a special assembly to explore this important area of the curriculum. While within their classes teachers have followed their own focus of interest while delivering age-appropriate lessons on Black history and culture.

Junior 6 combined their study of the Victorian era with the celebration of Black History Month. They learnt about two significant Victorians who, despite prejudice and many challenges, made positive and hugely successful contributions to the society of the time. Mary Seacole journeyed from Jamaica to England and then to the Crimea, in her quest to build her own hospital - 'The British Hotel'.  While Pablo Fanque was a British performer and circus proprietor, the first recorded non-white British circus owner in Britain. Pupils enjoyed exploring the Victorian entertainment industry and the success of Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royale. It was inspiring for the children to appreciate the importance of these influential individuals.

Junior 5 were fascinated by Martin Luther King who they explored in their history lessons. They listened to his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech which really struck a chord with them and many left the lesson repeating those all-important words, ‘They will not be judged by the colour of their skin but of the content of their character.’

During PSHECE the children investigated the story of SS Empire Windrush and listened to first-hand accounts of people from the Caribbean who took that journey in 1948 to Tilbury Docks in Essex, to then experience discrimination and be made to feel so unwelcome in Britain. Pupils were shocked to hear and see the living conditions and injustices of so many of the people who had embarked upon that trip.

The children also completed self-directed investigations exploring the lives of famous black people such as Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks and Lewis Hamilton and the contributions they have made to society.  

In their English lessons, pupils in Junior 4 also completed research on one of their chosen Black Heroes from history. They found out what they were famous for, how they inspired people and their impact on others. In the second week pupils looked at the life of the footballer, Marcus Rashford. After reading about his life growing up in Manchester, pupils understood his passion for wanting to ensure that all children had a hot and nutritious meal.

Junior 3 have researched two artists from Kenya for their look at Black History month, Sarah Shiundu and Elisha Ongere. Both artists use bold colour and African style in their work and the pupils have loved trying to mirror their style. They have done an amazing job!

They also researched Wangari Mathaai, a Kenyan woman who loved her country and who was saddened to see the deforestation there. Wangari Mathaai decided to plant seeds which have grown into trees and, by passing seeds to other women to plant in Kenya, Wangari created forest areas that number over 50 million trees. They were impressed to discover that she was a humanitarian and a great advocate of promoting decent wages for women and was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace prize and a Global Role of Honour before her death in 2011.

Junior 2 have investigated Esther Mahlangu (born 11 November 1935), a South African artist from the Ndebele nation. Known for her bold large-scale contemporary paintings that reference her Ndebele heritage, the patterns Esther uses are typically very colourful and geometric. The children were fascinated by her work and thoroughly enjoyed creating their own masterpieces. Lots would love to decorate their own houses in her style of artwork.

Junior 1 have been inspired by Alma Thomas to create their own versions of her piece of art – The Eclipse. They used paint and corks to create their piece of artwork they were very careful with their ‘dabbing’ technique.

Even Reception got involved; they investigated Usain Bolt! They watched him win his most famous races, including the Olympic Finals and thought he was amazing! He inspired them to run their own races and create their own victory poses, just like Usain Bolt. The children were 'wowed' by Usain as an inspirational person in recent Black history.

Black History Month has allowed Crackley to celebrate the achievements of Black people both in Great Britain and around the world and has also allowed the children gain an insight into their lives and experiences.  

Last week, the children wore their hats to school in support of the charity, Coventry and Warwickshire Mind. Across the school, children were involved in many discussions and activities.

To raise awareness of Mental Health in Junior 1 they talked about what mental health was and how we can’t always see if people are sad or unhappy. The children talked about how lucky we are in our school with our wonderful family and friends but how we know that not everyone is as lucky as us. They also decorated their own hats for different people and animals on a poster, before coming into school on Friday wearing their own clothes and a fancy hat to help raise money for the charity.

Junior 2 listened to the story My Positive Mind and a story about what to do when we worry. They practised using breathing techniques that can help us when we feel worried or anxious. The children were all so mature and perceptive in their comments.

Junior 5 used an assembly provided by the Mind charity and they worked their way through a booklet to focus their thoughts and discussions. They also shared stories about people they know who suffer or have suffered with their mental health.

We are very pleased to say that together we raised £117 to support the work that this local charity does. Thank you all so much for your generous support.

Crackley Hall enjoyed some extra special flying visitors yesterday when Dave Sharpe from RaptorXotics brought his Owls into school to visit the children in Reception.

Dave brought in three different species of owls including a white-faced owl, a spotted owl and a barn owl as well as a hawk to help the classes understand how the different birds of prey hunt.  He also brought in one of the owls' favourite foods – a rat called Neil who the children also got to meet.

The children learnt so much about owls, such as where they live, what they eat and how they hunt for their food at night-time.  Did you know that owls are nocturnal animals and hunt in silence using their hearing?  Dave even flew the owls across the hall over everyone’s heads. They flew so quietly it really was very hard to hear them.

The children were enthralled, it was such an amazing experience, a fantastic way to finish their first half term of learning.

Well done Reception, you behaved beautifully and now know so much about these amazing nocturnal hunters that we think you must be ‘Know-it-Owls’!

At Crackley Hall, we know that Forest School can increase a child's confidence and self-esteem through exploration, problem solving, and being encouraged to learn how to assess and take appropriate risks depending on their environment. This motivation can have a positive impact on attitudes to learning in school. To this end, Year 2 spent Friday afternoon in the forest. They were given the option to make an autumn loom, create a hedgehog home to help with hibernation, make an autumn crown or create some leaf art on the ground. We read two beautiful books, We're Going On A Leaf Hunt and The Very Helpful Hedgehog, to inspire the children in their independent activities. As ever, the muddy kitchen was very popular, and the children treated the teachers to some wonderful baked goods. They all enjoyed hot chocolate. It was a fabulous way to end the children's first half term in Year 2; they had a magical time together in the forest.

Crackley Hall School’s FrankenSTEM team won three awards at last year’s F1 In Schools Regional Finals and the school was delighted to recently receive trophies to recognise the children’s success.

The awards were for Team Identity, Verbal Presentation and Best Portfolio and the pupils, now in Junior 6, were very happy to pose for photos with their awards.

Team ‘FrankenSTEM’, comprising of Lily Bryson, Alfred Cowell, Marley Hardwick and Elsie Roots had toiled long and hard, to prepare for the competition.

The annual challenge requires the teams to research, design, manufacture, test, promote and race the fastest car possible using standard chassis and engine housing nets with a car body made only from card. It is a technical brief but one proven to really engage potential future engineers.

Mrs Hardwick, who helped guide the Crackley Hall team, was very proud, “Congratulations to Team FrankenSTEM, despite the challenge of COVID these children represented Crackley Hall brilliantly, we are so very proud of them.”

Introducing Crackley Hall Reception 2021!

It has been a fantastic half term for our new Reception classes and they have definitely earned themselves a well-deserved break. They have been making friends, playing outside, sitting down for lunch together, hanging up their blazers on the right peg and of course – enjoying plenty of fabulous new lessons.

What an exciting adventure they have ahead of them over the next few years. They are a perfect addition to our wonderful school community.

As part of Black History Month, Junior 6 have been looking at how African art is often determined by the wildlife. The lion has been celebrated as a symbol of strength since the dawn of time and is a popular subject for wildlife art today.

Just look at these stunning oil pastels that the children were inspired to produce. We were so impressed with their work that we have put it on display in the school's main entrance hall.

Well done Junior 6!

Last Monday 11 October Crackley Hall School took part in the Princethorpe College’s Year 5 Maths Challenge.  The event was run by Douglas Buchanan of DCBEAGLE Challenges, who specialises in organising exciting and innovative maths activities for primary school aged children.

Crackley took two teams of two to compete alongside 18 pairs of enthusiastic and very talented mathematicians from nine local schools, the pupils took part in a series of puzzles against the clock.  In five eight-minute rounds the children tackled Tangram Triangles, Broken Calculators, Domino Jigsaws, Card Order and Curly’s Cycling Circuits, before finishing with a bonus round of five final mathematics questions.

Ably supported and marked by a team of Princethorpe’s Year 10 pupils, the competition stretched and challenged the children with mathematical activities that required both reasoning skills and mathematical knowledge.

The event was huge fun for all who took part and everyone who participated received a certificate and a special Princethorpe cookie.

Mrs Cowlishaw, who accompanied the children, said, “The children had a great time and really enjoyed putting their maths skills to the test.  Well done to them all, they made Crackley Hall proud.”

Competing for Crackley Hall were Theo, Lucas, Andrew and Georgie.

Thank you for your kind donations for the Coventry and Leamington Food Bank.

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Burley's class is Francesca

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

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

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

Mathlete of the week for Mr Stedeford's class is Ivy

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Widey's group is Joseph

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

Well done all!

Please find further information about the CISC Christmas Card competition below. Entries are to be in school by Tuesday 2 November. 

Competition Details

The ISA Comic Strip Competition encourages pupils to create their own storyboard or cartoon as a means of exploring a topical subject.

This year, pupils in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 are invited to create comic strips on the theme of Zero Waste.

So come on all you Crackley creatives, get your thinking caps on and your pencils ready and get sketching.

The deadline for entry to the competition is Thursday 16 December 2021.

Please click here for further details. 

Over the last few weeks in Art we have been researching all about the artist Matisse.  We have learned about the way French ‘Fauvist’ Henri Matisse found that getting older and losing his ability to walk and see well, impacted on his painting and drawing.  So instead of painting, he began to cut paper from his wheelchair. We have been studying his later works to see how Matisse didn’t lose favour with the public, but became even more popular with bold colour and strong shapes. We have been trying to cut shapes without using pencil lines to follow and we have created some fabulous work.

This term, our J5 scientists have been immersing themselves in everything SPACE related!! They have ‘become’ miniature planets, whilst measuring out the distance of each planet from the sun on a scaled down version. They have ‘become’ the Earth and sun when demonstrating how the Earth spins on its own axis, while rotating around the sun. One of their highlights was when we joined the UK Space Academy for a live session about how we use satellites – they were amazed to learn how many uses we have for satellites and how much space junk there is floating around our planet!

As we approach October half-term, all of the children have continued to work incredibly hard. In Science, we could hear the twangs, thwacks and taps of their homemade instruments, as the children continued their love for learning about sound. ‘Disrespectful’, ‘Remorseless’, ‘Evil’, ‘Cruel’, ‘Domineering’ and ‘Villainous,’ were just some of the wonderfully ambitious words that the children thought of to describe (not their behaviour!) but the Overseer, in the book, Cloud Tea Monkeys. Each and every one of the children should be immensely proud of their start to Junior 4 and they thoroughly deserve a restful and adventurous half-term break. Well done, Junior 4! 

Junior 3 have had an incredibly busy week and everyone has risen to the challenge of writing their first full story about the Stone Age, using the work we have spent the past few weeks on, coming together in creative and exciting ways. Ms Holmes and Mrs van Zyl have been amazed at the standard and look forward to seeing the pupils progress even further next term. Some budding authors we think! Our second week of celebrating Black History Month, has seen the children looking at, and discussing, the colourful work of Sarah Shiundu, whose paintings of the Masaai women at everyday tasks has inspired them to try their hands at sponge painting landscapes and Brusho techniques, and creating the wonderful tall thin shapes of the Masaai women at work and play.

We were absolutely delighted to spend our last afternoon in Forest School before our half-term break; please look at the photos in the separate article in the Chronicle. In Maths we have been practising our number bonds to 100, as well as working out how to add two numbers together by adding to ten first. The classrooms have been alive with children experimenting in different ways, using the tens counters, Base Ten equipment and Numicon resources. It has been wonderful to see the pupils’ confidence grow as they try to work out different Maths problems, especially when working in pairs. Our materials topic for Science has culminated in the children designing and making their own materials monsters which we were pleased to see were all very unique. The children had to look very closely at the design they had made, to see if they could replicate it. Needless to say, we are sure the J2 monsters had a life of their own! This week in our English lessons, we have been planning our own fairy tales, with a particular focus on the beginning, middle and end of the story. The children have been working hard to remember their full stops, capital letters and sentence openers. What an amazing week and a fantastic half-term it has been in Junior 2! We hope you all have a wonderful half-term and we look forward to seeing you in November.

Junior 1 were out and about this week completing a traffic survey in their Geography lesson to see what type of vehicles travel along the Coventry Road while we are busy working in our classes. We had to be quick to record the number of each type of vehicle as they were very quick! In Science we made some listening ears to help us as we went on a listening walk around school. When we were quiet, we could hear lots of different noises from people typing on their computers, singing, footsteps and even a clock ticking. We also continued to look at Alma Thomas in Art and created another piece of artwork inspired by her, this time using colourful mosaic pieces of paper. It’s going up on display soon for everyone in school to see.

We’ve had a super final week of the half term in Reception! We have been busy writing and finding 1, 2 and 3 in Maths and we had lots of fun finding out about hedgehogs to continue with our ‘Wonderful Woodland’ topic. We also had a very special visitor who brought in some real-life owls for us to meet! For Black History Month we learnt about Usain Bolt and watched him win his races before we created our own victory poses. A fantastic first half-term for both classes. Well done, Reception!

Each week Mrs Jackson-Mayne leads a ‘Prayer and Meditation’ workshop with a class.

Year 5 Mass

Our Mass in school on Wednesday was led by Year 5 and the theme was to celebrate the harvesting of food around the world. We thought about the people who are involved in planting, harvesting and preparing the food that we eat.

We remembered the people in the world who struggle to have enough food to eat and who are in constant threat of famine caused by bad weather or war.  In a year that has seen many natural disasters around the world, we prayed for humility and understanding for people who have been affected, and sought God’s guidance so that we could find ways to help them more.  The Chamber Choir concluded the mass with a beautiful reflection and rendition of In His Time, with soloists Julia and Evie helping with a verse.

RE Inspiration

Charlie in Junior 3V this week earned himself a ‘Waggles’ dog sticker for the Crackley Compass for his inspiring and positive thinking. He was listing all the things that made him happy and said quite simply, “If I had to count my Blessings, it would take all day!”  Charlie’s inspiring words immediately changed our outlook and gave us a positive thought to start the day.

RE Stars

All the pupils have been working incredibly hard in their RE lessons this term. Their knowledge of current affairs and what is going on in the world is impressive.

The following pupils have been awarded a Busy Bee Active sticker for their Crackley Compass for their focus in lessons and their contributions to class discussions.

Harriet in J1 always thinks carefully about her RE work and has produced some beautiful clear pieces as we learn about Creation. She has loved thinking about the planet and the gifts that God has bestowed upon us.

Hector in J2B for his exemplary learning behaviours. His listening, noticing and thinking skills are transferred diligently into the work he produces.

Beatrice in J2G for learning our greeting prayer song so expressively using sign language and demonstrating bundles of energy, joy and understanding in her role play and for fantastic observations of Daniel in the Lion’s Den.

Harrison in J3V for his super work on the symbols of Baptism.

Jacob in J3H for his positivity in all lessons and efforts with presentation and detail.

Rory in J4S for his perceptive verbal contributions to class discussions. His natural curiosity allows Rory to ask questions which move the learning on for all.

Jack in J6V for outstanding extended writing on the Story of the Fall. Excellent descriptive language, use of writing features; engaging, interesting, informative

Harvest Donations

Thank you for all the Harvest Donations this week for the Leamington and Coventry Food Banks. Now, more than ever, we need to be aware and support people when we can.

Fit for Faith Club

After half-term the Fit for Faith club will be open to J5 and J6 pupils. If you fancy boogying on down and getting fit to the latest worship songs, come to the hall on Wednesdays at 12.30pm for half an hour of fitness, faith and fun!

In RE lessons this week, Junior 4 have continued the discussions on Creation and the quotes in the Old Testament book, Genesis. They had fun creating models out of clay to help them understand the meaning of the scripture.

Please find information below:

Childrens Liturgy - 17 October

Activity Sheet - 17 October

Children Liturgy - 24 October

Activity Sheet - 24 October

Childrens Liturgy - 31 October

Activity Sheet - 31 October

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

Weekly Mission

Pictures of the J5 girls from their sports fixures.

We’ve seen some pretty awesome Lego creations in Lego club this half-term and this week was no exception.  With Lego inventions and master building as our theme, we not only made designs which looked amazing, but ones which actually worked!  From an impressive Lego sorting machine with four-arms picking up and sorting blocks as they shuffle along conveyor belts, to an amazing, fully articulated robot which was capable of moving, gripping and twisting, just like your own hand! We shared our cool creations and showcased our ideas, even working together to solve any problems, like how to level a two-legged giraffe?  Answer – give it wings to fly!  We tinkered, engineered, built, experimented and problem-solved and loved every minute – especially when we had our weekly raffle with our Christmas Lego Advent calendar.  Happy Lego building during half-term everyone and remember – Keep Calm, build Lego and check the floor!

Can you believe it is half term already!  Our Badgers, Hedgehogs and Dormice have had such a fantastic start to the year, the weeks have been whizzing by and Autumn has really set in.  We have loved watching the leaves fall whilst playing outside, and spotting the various colours we can see. The conkers have been extremely useful inside – the children have been using them as pretend marshmallows in the garden room whilst sitting around the campfire, we have counted them, sorted them, and even carefully prised some from their shells – talking about the prickly outside and the soft white inside.  Miss Nicola had everyone cooking on Thursday, making Autumn apple cakes, and shhh… don’t tell anyone, but we’ve started looking at the Nativity! I hope you all have a lovely half term, and for those of you who stay with us all year round, we have all sorts of lovely autumn fun planned. Please look out for the nativity date in the Nursery Newsletter.  Stay safe, stay healthy and enjoy the autumn sunshine.

Newsletter

Part of last week's very generous donation of warm children's clothing went to Acorns Children's Hospice charity in Kenilworth. They were very touched and so grateful for this donation. They wrote these words to show their appreciation:

''On behalf of the children and young people who come to Acorns, I would like to thank all of the children at Crackley Hall School, Kenilworth, for their very generous gifts of children’s winter clothes. These will be sold at our Kenilworth shop to raise vital funds.

Your support allows Acorns to provide a lifeline to local children and families. Here at Acorns we help families live life to the full, helping to create special experiences children with complex needs may otherwise miss out on and bring back a sense of normality to family life.''

Friday 12 November - 7.00pm to 9.00pm

Join us on Friday 12 November from 7pm to 9pm in the comfort of your own home for Crackley Hall's BIG PTA Online Family Quiz!

Tickets will be on sale early November!

Your children will be bringing home their Christmas cards design sample early November, together with an order form for cards, gift tags, mugs, tea towels and bags.

This is a great opportunity to purchase reasonably priced cards and other items displaying individual artwork produced by your child, whilst also raising money for the PTA!

Following on from the success of last year's event, the PTA are excited to announce that this December will see the return of...Crackley's Christmas Light trail!

This will be a treasure trail of Christmas light displays provided by Crackley Hall’s parents and teachers. 

At each display there will be a letter which you will need to write down. Once you have completed the trail you will have all the letters for a Christmassy anagram which you will need to work out! 

Crackley families can drive around the magical trail, hunting for the letters, at their leisure over ten days starting on Friday December 3 2021. Trail maps will be sent home with every child in their backpack or book bag.

There will be a prize for the winner and also a prize for the most popular light display as voted by all the participants!

In order to make this possible, we need lots of volunteers to provide a Christmas light display to be included on the trail map. Your displays can be as simple or as flamboyant as you like. We would just like as many households as possible to be included so we can create a really fabulous trail! 

If you live in Kenilworth and you can volunteer your Christmas light display to be included please email: 

Jo Ward at jofoskett21@hotmail.com

The deadline to be included in the map is Sunday 31 October 31. 

Once again thank you in advance for supporting this event!

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Parents, please ensure that all items of school uniform and sports kits are named.

Could you please regularly check all uniform and sports kits at home – if it does not belong to your child, please return it to the School Office as soon as possible.

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Finley (J4R) has lost his named black fleece sports top

Ben (J4S) has lost his named cap

Lizzie (J4R) has lost her named sports fleece

Kian (J6V) has lost his named sports jacket

Ryan (Rec C) has lost his tracksuit jacket

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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

• Teaching Assistant (Fixed Term) - Crackley Hall School
• Estates Assistant (Casual) - Princethorpe College
• Caretaker - Crescent School