The Chronicle

Dear Parents

It was wonderful to be able to join together as a community at this morning’s Celebration Assembly.  Merryn and Chen Chen certainly got the ‘musical year’ off to a great start with their respective performances.  Merryn is just starting out on her musical journey whilst Chen Chen is in J6 and will be auditioning for a national orchestra in the very near future.  Congratulations to our Stars of the Week as well as all our other recipients of certificates and awards. 

Thank you to our teachers for arranging and our parents for attending the various Parent Information Evenings – I do hope that everyone feels clear on matters of class protocol and expectations.  I also hope that parents were able to have any queries answered.  Please know that the usual first point of contact with the school will be your child’s Form Teacher, either via email, letter, telephone or face to face.  Our staff are usually very prompt in replying to an email (obviously any emails sent out of usual school working hours will normally be dealt with the following school day – unless of a very urgent matter). 

I am pleased to see that the morning drop-off routine is starting to take shape and I thank parents for their patience during the first two weeks back – it always takes a while to get into routine as we have new staff members and many new families at school.  Please know that you can always talk to a member of staff if you are unsure of anything. 

Thank you to Kara Wasley and her fantastic PTA Committee for all they did for the school last year.  I extend my thanks to them for arranging the PTA AGM this past Wednesday evening.  We are always looking for new PTA members and promise not to make you work hard on every event or coerce you into coming to every meeting.  We like to have many people on board as it lightens the load and adds to the camaraderie. The PTA is certainly not a closed team and will openly and enthusiastically welcome new faces.  Please consider joining – speak to me if you are unsure or would like a little more information.  Congratulations, and thank you for standing, to all our newly-elected office holders for the upcoming school year. 

We welcomed two new members of staff to Crackley Hall this week.  Molly Pearce has joined us as a Teaching Assistant and will spend much of her time in Junior 2.  She will also help at Early Birds each morning.  Harriet Edkins is our newest member of the efficient office team.  She has been employed to help at the busy ‘start of day’ and work through to the end of break each day of the week.  Jo Rochford will be starting in the very near future as a replacement for Victoria Newman who left in the summer.  Jo will work through to 6:00pm each evening.  I am sure that you will join me in welcoming our new members of staff and I hope that they will all enjoy a happy and fruitful time at Crackley Hall.  Besides Mrs Newman, we were also sad to say farewell to Yvonne Proudfoot over the summer as well.  Many of you will know that Yvonne suffered a little with her health and she reluctantly took the decision to resign.  We wish both Victoria and Yvonne the very best and hope to see them both in the future. 

South Africa face the New Zealand rugby team tomorrow and Australia play Argentina.  Although hoping to watch, I fear for the Springboks!  The All Blacks, I think, are just far too strong. 

I hope that you have a restful and happy weekend – and are able to find a little sunshine at some stage. 

God bless,

Robert Duigan

The Chronicle is pleased to inform you that school have secured the services of Mr John Robertson, owner of The Gun Dog Company, who will visit Crackley Hall next week on Tuesday 19 September.

Mr Robertson will demonstrate, with his skilled working Cocker Spaniels, how the dogs are trained with hand or voice commands. The children will see the working partnership between the dogs and their handler.

It will be a wonderful opportunity for the children to enjoy a new experience and bring a little of the outdoors indoors.

At the end of the day, Mr Robertson will invite two to three of the children to The ISA Junior Gundog Challenge on 23 September which will be held in Oxfordshire this year.

If you do NOT wish your child to take part for any reason, including allergies or phobias, please contact the school office or class teacher as soon as possible. Please see the link to The Gun Dog Company for more information.   

There have been some enquiries regarding the morning arrangements for children. So to clarify the matter for all, the office staff thought it would be helpful to mention it again within the Chronicle.

Early Birds is a provision available for all children which operates from 7:45am – 8:20am. All children, apart from Reception pupils, are to be taken or make their own way to the playground where they will be registered by the staff on duty. Reception children can be taken directly to their classroom via the main school entrance. We are aware that some J1 pupils would benefit from being taken to their classroom door by their parents, particularly those children who are new to Crackley or those who are a little anxious at the start of the year. Teaching staff are happy to allow this at present and will review this on a weekly basis. Please note that classroom staff in Junior 1 are not expected to be in their classrooms at 7:45 am and may arrive later.

All arrivals after 8:20am must use the main front door entrance and children should make their way directly to their classroom. 

Registers will close at 8:40am and any children arriving from this time must sign in at the school office.

Class and individual photographs will take place in school next Thursday 21 September. If you would like your child to have a photograph with their non-school age siblings, please let the office know and ensure that you are able to arrive at school by 9:00am. Photographs will take place in the Hall.

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

Please do spread the word that 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.

Those that can't make the Open Day but would like to look around the school, should call our Admissions Secretary, Mrs Angela Barnard on 01926 514444, 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.

The Crackley Hall Holiday Club will this year take place during both weeks of the half term holiday. It will commence Monday 22 October until Friday 2 November. There will be exciting crafts, games and activities taking place on weekdays at school between the hours of 8.00am and 6.00pm. To avoid disappointment, please download the attached letter and 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:

We hope you are enjoying our new-look Chronicle! As an update for both our new and current parents, the Chronicle is now split into different categories where you will find your usual news and important information. When you receive the Chronicle email in your inbox, it will display a general overview message, welcome from Mr Duigan and an index list of the news and information in the relevant categories as clickable title links.

Here are some top tips for navigating the Chronicle on your phone:

• From your email inbox, click the title link of the article or event you are interested in (this will open the newsletter in your browser with the article you have selected)
• From here you can scroll through all the articles in this category
• To get back to the top of a category quickly, there is a red arrow in the bottom right of your browser. Click this and you will jump to the category index
• The category index will list all available articles and if you select ‘Newsletter Index’, this will return you to the main newsletter index with all categories and articles
• To move between different editions of the Chronicle there is a red button with three white lines at the top of the newsletter. Click this and you can choose which edition of the Chronicle you would like to browse.

Crackley is widely acknowledged to have some of the most accomplished readers within Warwickshire, so it is with no surprise that we can report the prowess of Millie Lammas (J3V) and Isabella Olden (J1G). Both girls can be seen pictured with certificates in hand and a winning smile.

Each girl was set a simple challenge by their local library, namely read a minimum of six books at home before the end of their holidays. Their mission didn't end their either, as each separate visit to their library required them to solve the crime of the Animal Agents.

The girls easily completed the challenge and should you want a clue as to what happened or what books to read then look up our eager readers, as they'll give you a great steer.

It is often said that 'a picture paints a thousand words'; well never has a proverb been more apt, as Junior 2 pupil Imogen Lakin-Hubball can be seen here peeking around her fabulous artwork, certificate and rosette.

Clearly, her family's artistic talent doesn't just reside with her Father, a certain Mr. Hubball, Princethorpe Head of Art. Imogen entered her floral piece into the 'Items from a Hedgerow' category of the Marton Village Show and in so doing secured the plaudits and first place. Great work Imogen, your work is vibrant proof of your ability and demonstration of your budding talent.

Taking a quick peak at Junior 4 pupils Henry Fox and Aryan Mehta's matching trophies might give one the false impression that these two conquered all in the county as dynamic doubles partners; not so, as they squared up to region's finest in the under 8 years and under 9 years singles championships respectively.

Henry can be seen proudly cradling his Warwickshire Division 1 trophy, the product of four hard fought matches in Leamington. Not be outdone Aryan, fellow Year 4 student and outstanding tennis talent, finished 3rd at the recent Warwickshire County Championships and remainded unbeaten in the Grade 5 Leamington Championships.

Well done boys, we trust this is just the beginning of your winning ways.    

Mrs. Malcolm is thrilled to be holding her first Crackley Hall Student Council meeting of the academic year with a fantastic group of children who are bursting with ideas.

Meeting every other Tuesday the 14 strong group will look at ways of channelling their energies into all sorts of projects throughout the year. With elected representatives from each class these girls and boys are on the Council because they feel it’s important to get involved, have their say and make a difference. Possible ideas for the first meeting include; objectives for the year, charity work and the environment. Mrs. Malcolm comments, “At this initial stage we are open to hearing everyone’s views about what they see as important issues to discuss.”

This year’s Student Council are:

J1: Penny Thomas, Molly Lucas, Leo Warne and Jia Mehta

J2: Marley Hardwick,Theodora Baldassari, Harry Gibson and Lily Bryson

J3: Oliver Ferguson and Adelaide Hunter

J4: Kiran Dhillon, Alfie Blenkinsop, Louisa Cooper and Zach Rose

J5: Isabella Osborne, Oscar Glover, Ryan Cheema, Cecilia Holdgate, Andrew Gordon and Olivia Swinson

J6:Giorgio Kleinmann, Jethro Wilkinson, Bergamote Dufour and Megan Shipton

The lastest edition of Princethorpe College's Admissions Update e-newsletter has been issued today, Friday 15 September. The issue is packed with news to give prospective parents and pupils a feel for College life, information on forthcoming events and helpful advice about the admissions process, particularly for those who are looking at entry in September 2018.

The newsletter reminds parents that this year our Entrance Exams for Years 7 to 10 admissions in September 2018 have moved to Saturday 11 November 2017 from 9.30am to 3.30pm. Early registration is advised.

This newsletter is issued twice a year to coincide with key admissions periods, the next edition will be published in spring 2018.

Click here to go to 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 01926 634201.

Mrs Jackson-Mayne has awarded this week's RE Book of the Week to Jasper Nicholls in recognition of his superb retelling of when Jesus chose his first disciples. In particular he used his literacy skills to demonstrate an excellent religious knowledge. Well done!

Last call for any volunteers who would like to come into school and talk to the children on how they use their gifts and talents from God to help others. Please contact Mrs Jackson-Mayne using this link.

On Tuesday 19 September the Junior 3 pupils will participate in a role play of a Baptism Ceremony at St Francis Church. Father Kevin will explain to them the significance of the different oils, signs and symbols.

We now have a new sporting web page that parents and pupils can use to examine sporting fixtures for the term ahead. On this page, you will be able to view team selection and key information about fixtures. Please find more information in this letter and save the website below to your favourites as well as adding it to your electronic devices home screen.

http://www.crackleyhallsport.co.uk/

Match Report by Kaena Wasley (Captain)

For many of our team this was their first Under 11 match and it was made more difficult because of some very tricky weather conditions. We fought hard, but ultimately our opponents greater match experience told in the end.

The Player of the Match was awarded to Amisha Modi for her great defensive play.

Match Report by Eva Plevin (Captain)

We boarded the school mini bus and made the long journey to The Croft School, located near Stratford. Our opposition, fresh from two competitive matches, used their extra 'game time' together to take an early lead and the victory.

Crackley held their heads high, we never stopped trying, even when the game was stopped because of a rain storm. Mrs Vaughan awarded the Player of the Match to me in recognition of my work in defence.  

Please sign up via SOCs for Reception and KS1 Multisport with Mr Vaughan. This will take place on Tuesday lunch times (13:00pm - 13:30pm).  It will run for the first half term for Reception and J1 and for the second half term for J2. See SOCs for specific dates. The children will need indoor trainers.

Clicke here to go to SOCs.

All clubs are due to run this week apart from the following:

• J5 & J6 Hockey Club is cancelled on Monday as staff will be attending fixtures.
• J5 & J6 Netball Club is cancelled on Wednesday as staff will be attending fixtures.

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

Chess Club Registration Form

Rock Band Club (Years 4, 5 & 6 only) limited places only

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.  

It is with great pleasure that the Chronicle team welcomes our Stay 'n' Play families and carers to the new look Chronicle. Each week this section will include (when appropriate) news, information and insight into all the 'goings-on' with Stay 'n' Play.

Stay 'n' Play is 10.00am - 11.30am on Wednesdays in term-time, mostly within the Nursery, although there is a fabulous programme of visiting activities when we make the most of the school hall.

Dates for your Diary: Wednesday Group

This term they have the following events planned for the Wednesday group:

Weds 20 September - Drama Tots in the hall, further details on the company are available by clicking on this link.

Weds 8 November - Autumn Crafts in the nursery

Weds 29 November - Christmas personalised ceramic gifts with 'Paint and Glaze' in our nursery

Weds 6 December - Christmas Party with special guest appearance from Father Christmas and a present for every child.

Monday Group: Further Details

The Monday group continues to meet in term-time from 10.00am - 11.15am at St Francis Church hall in Kenilworth.

We love to see familiar faces and new friends at both groups and hope that you can join us. Children are welcome from 0 to 4 years old.

What a lovely busy week we have had. The ‘Pirate and Princess’ theme proved very popular; although the poor princesses didn’t really get a look in with all the exciting pirate fun going on, so with this in mind we are getting more ‘princessy’ next week. Our story will be 'The Princess and the Pea' and Nursery staff are quite sure that they will be wriggling around all week!

Miss Gail and Miss Emma enjoyed playing pirates, as they helped the children to make ‘pirate punch’ on Wednesday. It tasted fabulous, and thankfully the rum was substituted with wiggly fizzy worms!

They also wrote messages to put in bottles, decorated treasure maps, made pirate hats and spent an awful lot of time shouting “oooArgghhhh!” in their best pirate voices. Some of the children in the big room have played games with the pirate pictures, listening to the sounds in the words and matching the sounds to the pictures, and everyone loved finding and counting their coins in the sand ‘treasure’ tray! 

We do hope you have a fabulous weekend, and if you are out and about please could you take a photo of your autumn fun as the weather starts to change. We will be starting an Autumn display soon and would love to include your adventures.  Likewise, if you do something amazing, send in a picture for our ‘Wow Wall’. Well done to Swaran who is the first on the board, sharing pictures of the fun he had making cakes at home with Mummy.

For further details of the what's planned for next week please click on this link.

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 Reception, J2, J4 and J6 children.

Friday 6 October at 7.30pm

Tickets are now available for sale online using this link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/406377

You can enter as part of a team or as a couple or individual and we can assign you a team - see the attached poster for further details. The sooner you buy your tickets, the easier it is for us to plan so we do hope you can join us - its always great fun and it would be really good if we could stop the teachers winning again this year!

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.

Your child should have 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.    

The PTA has expanding the second hand uniform shop to include a sports shoe swap box. They accept any type of sports shoes in good condition. If you would like to swap a pair of shoes there is 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 please do. 

The second hand uniform shop is open every Friday during term time from 8.00am - 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.

The PTA also offer tea/coffee from 8.00am 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.

Theodora Baldassari (J2M) has lost her PE polo shirt.

Reeve Baldassari (J3V) has lost his PE polo shirt, currently labelled as Jackson Greene.

Emmerson Baldassari (J5W) hs lost his black school trousers.