The Chronicle

Dear Parents

Welcome to the first Chronicle of the Lent Term.  I hope that you all enjoyed the holiday period and were able to spend some time with your loved ones.

Although the first week back to school has only been three days, we have been busy preparing for this term and children have slipped back into the usual routine, full of energy.  On Thursday, I was delighted to invite Father Kevin into school for our Epiphany Mass.  Junior 4 joined Father Kevin and Mrs Jackson-Mayne in the Hall for this celebration.  My thanks to Father Kevin, Mrs Jackson-Mayne and Mrs Simmonds for their efforts ensuring children could celebration this important event in the Christmas Season.

I hosted our first Celebration Assembly of this term, inviting Junior 6, our birthday pupils and staff and our Stars of the Week into the Hall.  It was super to be able to have our Junior 6 parents, and a few ‘stars of the week’ parents with us in person.  These assemblies will be streamed to other classes until we are able to safely invite larger groups into the hall; we will also send a recording of the assembly to parents later in the day.  This week I congratulated, Theodore, Tommy, Bevan, Lewis, Beatrice, Jessie, Rohan, Tommy, Ted, Chloe, Grace, Issey and William.  There was also an impressive collection of Da Vinci’s awarded in Junior 2, 3, 4 and 5.  Some of the Da Vinci awards have been held back in order to present them within the next couple of weeks when parents might be in attendance.  We tended to proceed with what the children preferred – some wanted their award today and others preferred to wait until their parents could be at assembly.  It was super work from everyone concerned and a wonderful start to this term.

Next week, Junior 5 and their families will be invited in to watch assembly. Please could I ask parents to remember to have returned a negative lateral flow test within the 12 hours prior to coming into school, to wear a mask when on the premises and to maintain an acceptable social distance from others outside your household.  I would also, respectfully, ask that you do not come into school if you are displaying any of the symptoms of Covid or are under any Covid instruction.  It is hoped that by maintaining these procedures we can continue to invite small groups of parents into school and gradually return to ‘normal’.

As I am sure you are aware, the Government have updated their advice regarding PCR testing from 11 January.  The current guidance, if a member of your household tests positive or has symptoms, can be found on this website  Stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)  We will continue to notify close contacts within classes so that the appropriate action can be taken.  We are preparing updated guidance for parents, which will be circulated early next week. To clarify a point from last week, it is required that a PCR test is taken if someone in your household contracts Covid.  Also, it is very important not to send your child into school if they display any one of the Covid symptoms.  We currently have five members of staff off with Covid and a number of pupils as well.  We are going to have to manage this pandemic through being vigilant, strict in following guidelines and requests and by working together through this.

I met (online) with our PTA Chair and Treasurer today to discuss future events and fundraising and was excited to hear about the plans they have for the remainder of this year.   Please keep a look out for updates from the PTA and later in this edition of the Chronicle to learn about Jubilee celebrations, book sale, summer fayre and non-uniform days.  I am grateful to the work that is carried out behind the scenes by the PTA; they work so hard providing surprises for the children, whole family events, selling second hand uniform whilst raising funds for school which are used to benefit all year groups.

We have 3 new families who have joined Crackley Hall this term, together with our two new teachers, Mrs Allen and Mrs Westerman.  I am delighted to welcome to our school and  I am sure they have been made to feel very welcome by everyone and will settle in the Crackley Hall family with ease.

I would like to also remind all parents about our arrangements for carline in the morning and evenings.  It is imperative that you follow the collection times and collection areas published to ensure that that traffic flows and children are collected safely from the correct areas.  I also remind staff about having pupils ready for collection at the correct times, but it creates difficulties in car line if we have parents arriving early for collection.  As a reminder, please see the collection times below:

Class Collection Time

Reception 3.15pm
Lower playground pedestrian gate

Junior 1 3.20pm
Main carline collection point (around flagpole)

Junior 2 3.30pm
Main carline collection point (around flagpole)

Junior 3 3.35pm
Lower playground pedestrian gate

Junior 4 3.40pm
Main carline collection point (around flagpole)

Junior 5 3.50pm
Lower playground pedestrian gate

Junior 6 4.00pm
Main carline collection point (around flagpole)

School led clubs will resume next week and I am pleased to see a full schedule of activities planned, involving all year groups.  My thanks to Mrs Vaughan for co-ordinating the timetable, I am sure that there is something to suit everyone.

I would like to wish everyone a happy and restful weekend.

God bless,

Mr Duigan

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Congratulations to them all!

Trustees of the Princethorpe Foundation have given the green light for work to commence on Princethorpe College’s new £8m Science Centre.

The Science Centre, which features 10 brand-new, state-of-the-art Science laboratories, will ultimately transform the College’s entire campus allowing other areas to be redeveloped and departments clustered within the main school building.

The project, the College’s largest and most ambitious to date, has undergone a comprehensive and lengthy design, planning, costing and tendering process over the last five years. The contract for the main build has been awarded to Trendgrey Construction Limited, based in nearby Stockton. Headed up by MD Nick Henderson, who has been with the company for twenty-two years, Trendgrey is well-known to The Princethorpe Foundation having completed the Sixth Form Resource Centre at Princethorpe in 2014, The Gables at Crackley Hall in 2016 and the Horton Centre at Crescent School in 2021.

Preparatory work will now begin, before the contractor moves onto site over February Half Term. The construction is estimated to take around 14 months with the building expected to open its doors for teaching in September 2023.

Comments Liz Griffin, Chair of Trustees, “The Trustees are delighted to give approval for work to commence on the Science Centre at Princethorpe. This really is a landmark decision in the strategic development of the College and is testament to the strong position the Foundation finds itself in today. Many congratulations to Trendgrey on being awarded the contract after a very competitive tendering process.”

She continues, “Our thanks go to all the donors who have contributed so generously to the fundraising for the project, our Science Campaign Board, the Science Working Group, our professional advisors, AT Architects, Ainsleys, Richard Strauss Associates and Couch, Perry and Wilkes, and of course the Senior Leadership Team for all their hard work.”

Headmaster, Ed Hester, adds, “It is fantastic that our vision for the future of Princethorpe will now become a reality. This announcement is great news for the Princethorpe community; the Science Centre project brings with it so many exciting campus-wide benefits and these cutting-edge teaching and learning facilities will inspire generations of Princethorpe pupils and staff for years to come.”

Comments, Trendgrey’s Managing Director, Nick Henderson, “It is a great privilege to have been awarded this prestigious contract by the Princethorpe Foundation. We are looking forward to working in partnership to deliver what promises to be an exceptional educational facility and state-of-the-art building.”

Members of the Princethorpe community interested in supporting the project through personal or corporate naming rights, sponsoring an engraved paver, wall brick or Periodic Table element in the new Centre should contact the Development Office for more information at  makingadifference@princethorpe.co.uk.

To view a fly through of the Science Centre please visit the school website here.

The very first edition of the Crackley Review has just been published and was sent out to families before Christmas.

The new yearbook records and reflects the last academic year. It gives a super insight into life in school and the wonderful learning that goes on day in day out here at Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery.

It makes a wonderful memento for children and parents, and we hope you have all enjoyed looking through the stories and photos.

Thank you to all who have contributed their time and talents to help us put together this Review and who do so much to make this school such a vibrant, supportive and engaging place of learning.

Attached here is an electronic copy of the Crackley Review that you are welcome to download and share with family and friends.

Before Christmas, Junior 5 and Junior 6 showed just how thoughtful and kind they were. The classes decided to be as giving as they could and share the joy of advent at Christmas time. They made their own reverse advent calendars hampers with each pupil bringing in an item a family in need at Christmas might wish to receive.

Reverse Advent Calendars are a great idea, an example of how communities can take action to stop their neighbours going hungry, they recognise that the spirit of Christmas is to give.

The hampers were donated to LWS Night Shelter in Leamington. We are all very proud of Junior 5 and Junior 6!

Many congratulations to Junior 6, Marley who was awarded Highly Commended in the 2021 Catholic Independent Schools Conference (CISC) Christmas card competition. Marley was presented with his certificate on the last day of term.

The theme for the competition this year was ‘O Holy Night’ and for his entry Marley produced a sensitive and stunning water colour of the Nativity scene. His painting was so charming that it was also selected as Highly Commended in the school’s Christmas card competition, and featured as a cameo on the reverse of the school’s card.

A huge well done to Junior 6, Jack, who won the Maths Week England Design A Money Box competition. Jack’s design was chosen as the winner in the 9-11 years category.

The charity LifeSavers ran the competition as part of its support for Maths Week England, challenging children to design a money box that included ideas on what they wanted to save for or what motivates them to save.

It was great to see our pupils taking part and even better to have a winner - many congratulations to Jack!

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

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

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Holmes class is Malachi

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Robert's class is Molly

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

Mathlete of the week for Mrs Wildey's group is Sebastian

Well done all!

Tuesday 18 January 2022 - 10.00am to 3.00pm

Please share news of our January Open Day. It is an opportunity to look around Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery and to meet staff and pupils on a normal working day.

This will give prospective families an insight into the many aspects of school life at Crackley Hall and Little Crackers and the firm foundation we give children for their future learning.

The day will be split into three sessions. The visit will start with a talk from Mr Duigan, followed by a tour of the school. To book your place please click here.

For more information please contact the Admissions Secretary, Mrs Jenny Vaughan on 01926 514410 or by email admissions@crackleyhall.co.uk.

Please click on 'View Gallery' to scroll through a few photos from this week.

It has been fantastic to welcome Junior 6 back into school this week after the Christmas break and we have very much enjoyed spending our time at school in our form groups.  We have got straight back to learning, thinking about decimals with three decimal places in maths, Christmas traditions around the world in RE and have begun to think about refugees and migration as we get ready to start our new core text Oranges in No Man’s Land by Elizabeth Laird.  We are looking forward to reading the first chapter next week!

Junior 5 have been thinking about their New Year’s resolutions this week. The children’s ideas were plentiful and included: 20 push-ups a day; caring for my younger sister more; helping my mum; emptying the dishwasher, and even eating more pistachios! We can’t wait to hear about their progress and will be asking for regular updates throughout the year. Go for it Junior 5, you can do it!

The Junior 4s have been looking at Newspapers this week in their English lessons and have been busy reading a variety of articles and identifying their key features. They will be planning and creating their very own interesting newspaper reports soon! The J4s also had an Epiphany themed Mass, led by Mrs Jackson-Mayne, and they all read and sang beautifully. 

Whilst this has been a shorter week, Junior 3 have begun their voyage into Ancient Egypt, which is a brilliant topic for keen and eager 7 and 8-year-olds. We started with the story Egyptian Cinderella in English, a fabulous tale of a slave girl who marries a Pharaoh and ended the week with an exploration of Egyptian hieroglyphics ready for our artwork on making a cartouche (a set of symbols for a King). The children were so excited to be back and have been a joy to teach this week, brimming with enthusiasm and new ideas. مشاهدة هذا الفضاء (watch this space!)

Junior 2 have returned to school and are already impressing us with how mature and responsible they are being. They came into school ready to learn and to have lots of fun this term. Our topic this half term is China and we have some beautiful books to use in English to support our studies. We have been delving into Julia Donaldson's book The Magic Paintbrush in English. The children created some brilliant story maps that demonstrated their understanding of the events in the book. In Maths, we are starting a four-week block on multiplication and division, and we have made a flying start. Junior 2, we are going to have an amazing Lent Term!

After spending some much-needed time at home with their families, Junior 1 have returned with renewed energy and enthusiasm. They were straight back to learning about 3D shapes in Maths, naming the shapes, recognising different examples of them and learning what faces, edges and vertices mean. They have begun to look at our new topic of the UK in Geography, recording some facts for our display in the classroom and looking on Google Earth to see where in the world our country is. By following some step-by-step instructions to draw a wintery scene, which coincided with it snowing outside, everyone learnt some new skills and became better at drawing in proportion. We are looking forward to continuing this skill, and adding in some colour-mixing with paint, next week.

Reception have come back to school this week with so much enthusisam and gusto! We have been talking about how we celebrate the New Year and the things we want to achieve or do better at in 2022. We can’t wait to see what the year holds for us! In Maths, we have been using five frames in pairs and we have been playing number snap with our friends!

Please find information below:

Childrens Liturgy

Activity Sheet

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

Weekly Mission

Capturing the boundless creativity of Lego during the Christmas break, we were waiting in anticipation to resume our Lego Club this week, but with the flurry of snow appearing we had to postpone our club due to the whole school coming inside. Instead, the pupils chatted endlessly about the amazing new Lego they were lucky enough to receive, with Lego City and Star Wars being top of the pile!  Roll on next week!

It has been lovely meeting up with you all again after Christmas and hearing all the stories of Santa and presents, family and friends – I am so glad that despite the obvious challenges, everyone enjoyed the time you got to spend together.  Since coming back we have continued to clean toys and furniture, as well as sharing snowballs of foamy sanitizer every morning!  The children have super hand washing skills and we look forward to a busy and creative term, with as few disruptions as possible.  I would like say a massive thank you on behalf of all the nursery staff for the many gifts and kind wishes you sent our way before Christmas, all were very much appreciated.  This term we will be exploring the overall theme of Winter as we explore the world around us, and this week we were lucky enough to be able to have fun with ice!  Look out for some photos of our ice pictures this week if you follow us on Facebook.  Have a warm, safe and happy weekend.

Newsletter

The PTA will be doing an in-person uniform sale outside the Gables starting on Friday 14 January. It will run every Friday morning during Celebration Assembly. 

The PTA will be offering a Jubilee Tree Planting event (12-17 January) in association with the Queen's Green Canopy Trust - more information to follow.

Wednesday 26 January 7.00pm – now online

The next Ordinary Meeting will be on Wednesday 26 January and the meeting will be online.

If you would like to join in please email ccamilleriwillis@gmail.com and the link will be shared with you on the day, we really look forward to catching up with both current, and, hopefully lots of new members at the meeting.

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.

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 the Foundation's website - www.princethorpe.co.uk/join-us

• Foundation Director of Estates - Princethorpe Foundation
• HR Administrator - Princethorpe College
• Bursary Assistant - Princethorpe College
• Estates Administrator - Princethorpe College
• Head of Boys’ Games – Princethorpe College
• Early Years Assistant - Crackley Hall School