The Chronicle

Dear Parents

It was wonderful to welcome everyone back to school on Monday and I was delighted to hear so many stories of a super summer spent with families and loved ones, either at home or abroad.  The staff were here a few days earlier, having enjoyed a happy and stimulating few days of in-service training.  Indeed, most members of staff spent a part of their holidays in school preparing for the new school year.  Thank you to all of them for their work at the start of a busy term.

I would especially like to welcome all our new children and their families to Crackley Hall.  I have been able to catch up with most parents and I am delighted to hear that, in the main, all new children have settled in very quickly and easily.  Thank you to everyone who has helped to make our new children feel so welcome.  We hope that our new families are able to spend many happy and productive years at Crackley Hall and as members of the Princethorpe Foundation.

We welcome Mrs Susan Glen-Roots to the school as Reception Teacher and Assistant Head for Early Years and Key Stage 1.  We will also be welcoming Miss Molly Pearce to Crackley Hall as Teaching Assistant – Molly joins us on Monday.  Mr Steve Vaughan is staying on at Crackley Hall as a Teaching Assistant and Trainee Teacher and I hope that he continues to enjoy his new profession.  As mentioned previously, we are very happy that Mr James Ferris remains with us for another term in order to help see our Junior 6 pupils though the various upcoming entrance exams.

We enjoyed a very happy start of year Celebration Assembly this morning and just about managed to make the finishing time of 09:30!  It is always such a pleasure to hand out awards to hard-working, polite and successful pupils.  Well done to all of our recipients this week, especially Aryan Mehta and Henry Fox on their outstanding achievement in the recent tennis competition(s).  I was also delighted with the pupils’ excellent results in their music and LAMDA examinations – well done to all of them.  It was a pleasure to welcome all our new parents and grandparents to their first celebration Assembly.  Thank you to our PTA members for providing the tea and coffee pre-assembly.

I would like to publicly congratulate Miss Anderton, now Mrs Malcolm, on her recent marriage to her husband, Karl.  I am sure that you will join me in wishing them many years of happiness together.  We also congratulate the Gordon family on the arrival of Clement, brother to Andrew, over the holidays; and the Cowlishaw family – Noah, Theo and Beatrice were delighted that mum and dad brought home a new baby sister, Ella Rose.

Please spare a thought for some of our Junior 6 pupils who are sitting their 11+ entrance examinations this weekend.  We wish them well and keep them in our prayers.

It was a great summer for English cricket!  They duly disposed of both South Africa and the West Indies.  Well done to them – not a good sporting summer from my perspective.

Thank you, once again, to everyone for the many cards and gifts that we, as a staff received at the end of last year – I do hope to get back to people individually very soon.  Your generosity and kind thoughts are very much appreciated.

I wish you all well for the upcoming academic year and will rely on your continued excellent support as we do our best to challenge your children to be the best that they can be.

Lastly, let us all keep in our prayers the people of the Caribbean area and those in the southern parts of the USA as they have to face the disaster that is Hurricane Irma.

I hope that you all manage to have a happy and restful weekend.

God bless,

Robert Duigan

We have a number of trips coming up over the next few weeks. Please see the relevant letters below. This information is also available in the Trips and Important Dates section. 

J4H Visit to Hatton Locks 26.9.17

J4J Visit to Hatton Locks 26.9.17

J1 Warwick Castle Trip 29.9.17

J4 Visit to Kingswood Activity Centre 9.10.17

J2 MAD Museum & River Cruise 12.10.17

J3 Ancient Egyptian History Day 12.10.17

J6 Victorian Day 23.11.17 

Please find detailed below information about this term's menu and club registration forms: 

Michaelmas Menu and Order Form

Michaelmas Menu Week 1

Michaelmas Menu Week 2

Michaelmas Menu Week 3

Ballet Club Registration Form

ATMA Karate Registration Form

Irish Dancing Registration Form 

Thursday 21 September

Parents should note that all children should be smart, dressed in full school uniform (no jumpers but blazers) for school photographs on Thursday 21 September. Class and individual photographs will be taken but there will also be the opportunity to have sibling photographs taken first.  Should you have pre-school children that you would like photographed with their siblings, please let the office know by Tuesday at the latest in order for us to arrange the timetable for the day. If you are bringing pre-school siblings for photographs, please use the main school entrance when you arrive at the start of school and sign in at the office. Tea and coffee will be available while you wait, please park in the lower car park. Please note if all of your children are in school there will be no need to notify us, they will automatically be gathered for a sibling group photograph.

Sunday 24 September - 2.00pm to 5.00pm 

Princethorpe College's annual Open Afternoon takes place on Sunday 24 September from 2.00pm - 5.00pm. All are welcome to visit the College and for younger visitors, there will be many fun subject related activities organised by the departments.

The Headmaster will address visitors during the afternoon and refreshments will be available. 

For more information, please visit: www.princethorpe.co.uk/admissions/visit-the-school

We look forward to seeing you there!

Thursday 5 October - 10.00am to 3.00pm

Crackley Hall and Little Crackers Nursery are opening their doors for an Open Day on Thursday 5 October from 10.00am to 3.00pm.

This is an opportunity to look around the school and to meet staff and pupils on a normal working day. All are welcome, no need to book.

If you can't make the Open Day but would like to look around the school, please call our Admissions Secretary, Mrs Angela Barnard on 01926 514444 and come on a day to suit you, we welcome visitors on most days.

For more information visit www.crackleyhall.co.uk

We have a number of trips coming up over the next few weeks. Please see the relevant letters below:

J4H Visit to Hatton Locks 26.9.17

J4J Visit to Hatton Locks 26.9.17

J1 Warwick Castle Trip 29.9.17

J4 Visit to Kingswood Activity Centre 9.10.17

J2 MAD Museum & River Cruise 12.10.17

J3 Ancient Egyptian History Day 12.10.17

J6 Victorian Day 23.11.17

The shop located at the Princethorpe College site is open for all your new uniform needs during term time between 3.30pm and 4:30pm and by appointment only during half term. Appointments can be requested by using the following email link , or by calling 01926 634272. Should you prefer a preloved item, of which there is a good selection, then please see our PTA 'pop up' shop within the dining hall prior to assembly on any Friday.

We are very appreciative of the efforts parents and staff have made with reference to driving and parking around school. We do however need to remain diligient and to continue to be good, caring neighbours. With this in mind, parents are respectfully asked to park on the right hand side (nearest the hedge) of the school car park or on the lower playground should they require a space when dropping off or collecting their children; and not to park on Fennyland Lane. As before, children are asked to open their car doors carefully and walk around the perimeter of the carpark (behind the chain link fence) when making their way to school.

The Crackley Holiday Club is primed to take place week commencing 16 until the 27 October and will be open for booking soon. There will be exciting craft, games and activities taking place on weekdays at school between the hours of 8.00am and 6.00pm. To avoid disappointment, please watch out for the order form and return it completed to the school office with your payment. Please remember places will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis as adult/child ratios cannot be exceeded.

To ease parking and traffic congestion around the school parents are respectfully asked to observe the following collection times. We thank you for your assistance in this matter. 

Car Line

Parents who require either permanent or occasional after care for the new Michaelmas term are requested to download and complete the attached booking form. This form should be handed into the front office on completion.

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Usually you'll find this information at the very top of our newsletter but as this is the first edition of our 'new look' Chronicle we've included it in our News section. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for next week's Stars of the Week! 

With a little over nine weeks to go, the countdown to the Princethorpe's Entrance Exams for admission in September 2018 has begun. This year the exams for Year 7 to 10 entry will take place on Saturday 11 November from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

The friendly Admissions Team has been kept busy over the summer accepting registrations from prospective parents.  The deadline for registrations is ideally Friday 6 October, to enable the seeking of references from junior schools. Junior 6 parents wishing their children to sit the exams do need to complete a registration form with the accompanying registration fee by this date.

There are plenty of opportunities for prospective pupils and their parents to visit the College before Entrance Exams, including the College's Open Afternoon on Sunday 24 September from 2.00pm to 5.00pm and Open Morning on Thursday 2 November from 10.30am to 12.30pm, when pupil tour guides will be available to show visitors around the school. 

Comments Melanie Butler, Assistant Head, Marketing, Admissions and Communications, "Parents and pupils will still have plenty of time to prepare and opportunities to visit the College in the run up to the exams.  The results will be out at the end of November, making for an exam-free Christmas holiday, which has got to be good news."

For more information on the admissions process click here to visit the Admissions Update newsletter.

If you have any queries relating to admissions please feel free to email the Registrars at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or call them on 01926 634201.

From September 2017 there have been changes afoot at Little Crackers Nursery. The changes are in terms of leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the amount of provision we offer which we hope will now better meet the needs of working parents.

Mrs Susan Glen-Roots (pictured) has joined us as Assistant Head of Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. In addition to teaching our Reception Class, she has overall responsibility for the direction of Little Crackers and will be working closely with Clare Bird and the nursery team. Susan has a wealth of experience in Early Years and is an outstanding and passionate teacher, who will bring lots of energy and commitment to the role.

The number of weeks a year that Little Crackers is open has increased to 51 weeks, up from 48 weeks currently, and the opening hours have increased slightly namely from 7.45am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday.

Comments Headmaster, Rob Duigan, “We hope these changes will be well received, as parents will now be assured of nursery care for their child effectively all year round. We know that families struggle to juggle childcare over the holidays and this will hopefully make spending family time together easier.”

From September the nursery will only be closed over Christmas and New Year (this year from Monday 25 December 2017 to Wednesday 3 January 2018 inclusive). In addition, the nursery will be closed on the remaining five Bank Holidays.

All new year round nursery parents from September 2017 will be moved onto the 51 week a year provision. Current all year round parents have been able to choose whether to continue on the 48 week basis for a year or move to 51 weeks. From September 2018 all year round users will be on the 51 week scheme.

Term time only nursery parents have 34 weeks of care, following the school’s term dates click here for the 2017-2018 Term Dates.

Continues, Rob Duigan, “We will continue to offer 15 hours of free entitlement sessions per week. However, we have decided not to offer the new increased 30 hours of free entitlement, because the financial impact of this would mean that we were unable to continue to offer the high quality experience our parents and we expect. This includes a higher than required adult to child ratio, a wide variety of learning experiences and activities, additional services including snacks and meals and most importantly having a qualified Early Years Teacher on the Nursery staff.”

As part of the changes, session times have also been simplified and amended for September as follows:

• Free entitlement sessions 8.15am to 11.15am or 12.30pm to 3.30pm (slight change)
• Morning sessions 7.45am to 12.45pm (slight change)
• Afternoon session 1.00pm to 6.00pm
• Short Day 7.45am to 4.00pm
• Long Day 7.45am to 6.00pm

Click here to see the latest fee information for 2017-2018. Childcare vouchers will continue to be accepted.

An unprecedented number of pupils stepped forward this morning and gleefully received their certificates from a delighted Mrs Olden and Mrs Wildey, Crackley's dynamic performance duo. Such honours, so early on in the school year demonstrate that the performing arts are well catered for within school and that this year's upcoming shows will be better than ever!

Please click on the gallery icon to see some of the activities the children have been up to this week.

On Wednesday morning we celebrated our first Mass of the new academic term. During the Mass, led by Father Kevin, we thanked God for the gift of life and the opportunities that we are given. We remembered the people throughout the life of the school who have helped to shape the school community, particularly Paul Ryan who was Head Teacher at Crackley Hall until 2011, and who helped to nurture and develop the Spiritual Life at Crackley Hall.

Vocations Week begins on Monday 30 October. Pupils will have the opportunity to listen to a range of guest speakers who will explain how they use their gifts and talent to help others. On Friday pupils throughout the school will be invited to dress up, the theme is ‘What would you like to do when you are older’.

We are reliably informed that Mrs Jackson-Mayne is already thinking of her outfit now.

Alistair Darnell has been awarded the very first RE Book of the Week of this term for his thoughtful examples of how he can use his talents to help others.  Well done to Alistair!

Junior 3 pupils will visit St Francis Church on the afternoon of Tuesday 19 September to participate in a role play of a Baptism to help them develop an understanding of this special Sacrament.

Please note the collection arrangements for evening clubs. Firstly, those children attending evening clubs which are held indoors (for example, Spanish, Cookery, etc.) will now await collection from outside the school office, as per usual.  All sports clubs (including those held indoors, for example, Karate, etc.) will await collection from the school back door as per the normal KS2 car line.

Details and registration forms for clubs hosted by external providers are available to download from here. Please click on the club name to download that form.

Ballet Registration Form

ATMA Karate Registration Form

Irish Dancing Registration Form

Children are advised that the above clubs will start at 8:00am in the school hall. Pupils are also reminded that they need to register with 'Early Bird' staff prior to entering school.  

Welcome back everyone. I hope you have all had a wonderful summer, some longer than others, but hopefully you have all had a rest, a drop of sunshine and plenty of fun!  We can tell that everyone is back and the routine is falling into place; Miss Katie and Miss Maxine already have the glitter out and the rooms are starting to fill with colour as the displays go up.  Some of you will notice that the Wow! Wall has moved this year, it is now above the trays in the big room, and is ready and waiting to display the fantastic things you get up to at home.  You can fill in a slip, send in a photo or drop us a note – it will all go on display and then will be added to your child’s learning journal. It is so important to include the learning that takes place at home. We have also spent the week taking photos for pegs, and for our new self-registration board. This year it is ‘out with the cup-cakes’ and ‘in with the bugs!’. Please help your child to find their named bug when they come in, and pop it on the beanstalk so we know who is playing each day. As we settle back into the routines, please check the newsletter for important information (such as the joke of the day!) but you will also find dates, guidelines regarding medication and time off and phone numbers to ring if you need to contact us.  Please remember to let us know if your child isn’t coming in, thank you. 

Next week, after some enthusiastic requests from the children, we will be having Pirate and Princess themed activities.  With this in mind we would like to invite the children to come in dressed up on Friday – I can’t wait!!

For more information on the fun and goings on within Nursery please click on this attached link.

We hope that everyone has had a lovely summer holiday and all the children have settled back into school life well. The PTA have hit the ground running again this year with lots going on, so please note all the upcoming dates for your diaries.

AGM - 13 September at 7.30pm and
Ordinary Meeting - 20 September at 7.30pm

We are always looking to welcome new members, so if the PTA is something that you fancy getting involved with we would be very pleased to have you join us, regardless of how time you may, or may not, be able to commit.

Our upcoming AGM is on Wednesday 13 September, 7.30pm at school. At this meeting we will review events, fundraising and spending for the past year and will vote in the officers for the coming year. Following that, we will have our first ordinary meeting on Wednesday 20 September, 7.30pm at school. The committee gets together once per half term and would really welcome some new faces.

If you would like any further information or to be added to our email list, please contact ptachair@crackleyhall.co.uk.

Friday 29 September from 8.00am

We will be taking part in the Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning this year again. For those of you that have to get to work we will be offering a drive through tea and coffee service at morning drop off, or if you have a bit more time there will be tea and pastries on the patio area outside the school hall. The children will also get an opportunity to buy cakes at break time. We will be asking for small cake/biscuit donations from certain classes nearer the time.

Friday 6 October - 7.30pm

This year we are breaking with tradition and holding our popular quiz night in October instead of later in the year. We will be selling tickets online this year and they will be available shortly - details to follow. You can enter as part of a team or as a couple or individual and we can assign you a team.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday 2 December - 1.00pm - 4.00pm

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas yet? Some might say yes but please save the date as we're sure it will come round quickly!

Also if anybody works for a company that offers matched funding we would love to hear from you. If you work for an organisation that has a match funding policy, any money you raise could be matched by your employer. Companies may match the fundraising total for an event, or for the stall that their employee is working on.

Usually, the employee will need to supply them with a letter from the PTA detailing the date and nature of the event, together with the total raised.

We would be grateful if you could see if your employer has a match funding scheme, or if they are willing to match fund any of our events or charity contributions. 

Please email ptachair@crackleyhall.co.uk if you might be able to help. Thank you for your support. 

Saturday 3 February

Tickets will be on sale nearer the time and further details will follow but please put the date in your diary. We will also be running our auction of promises later this year to tie in with the ball, so will be asking for donations nearer the time.

We are creating our very own school cookbook and to help us along with this exciting project we would love every pupil to contribute their favourite tasty, healthy recipe. It could be a starter, a quick bite, a main course or a dessert. Parents are also welcome to contribute too. 

You can log onto a specially designed site and send us your recipe online. Just follow the onscreen instructions – it’s really quick and simple to use. Please use this link to the website or type the following into your web browser www.thecookbookinitiative.com/log-in. Once in, please use the following access code: f26994ed17

The deadline for recipes is 1 November 2017, so if you haven’t submitted a recipe yet please do so. Once we have everyone’s recipe we will be sending them off to be printed. An example of the finished cookbook is shown above. Hopefully your child bought home a chef's hat with all the details on before summer. You can add a photo along with the recipe so it would be lovely to see your child posing with the hat on! If you are new to the school this term - the PTA have requested some extra hats and will send them out when they arrive, but you can submit photos without hats too. There will then be plenty of opportunities to purchase copies of the recipe book in time for Christmas!

We look forward to receiving your recipes and thanks again for your support.    

From the beginning of September the PTA will be expanding the the second hand uniform shop to include a sports shoe swap box. We will accept any type of sports shoes in good condition. If you would like to swap a pair of shoes then there will be a £2 admin charge but if you don't have a pair of shoes to swap you can still buy shoes for £5. If anyone has any shoes this term that they wish to donate then we can take them in. 

The second hand uniform shop will be open every Friday during term time from 8am until 8.40am, in the dining room at school.  If you have any items to donate, please bring them along. We have a wide range of good quality items in stock. We will also be opening our 'Swap Box' for good quality co-curricular club footwear (no school shoes please).

The PTA also offer tea/coffee from 8am in the dining room before assembly so do pop down and say hello.  It is a great way to connect with other parents at school.

The PTA now have a Twitter presence. It would be great if you would follow us @CrackleyHallPTA to keep up-to-date with all our latest news and any last minute help requests!

Parents and carers are advised that all items of your child's property should please be clearly labelled with their name. Should your child lose an item of propery then please mention it to the school office staff. Please note that the item will be listed within the 'Lost Property' section of the Chronicle if it remains lost.  

Oscar Glover (J5W) has lost his named school coat.

Emmerson Baldesseri (J5W) has lost his named school cap and blazer.

Isaac Leng (J6L) has lost his named school cap.