The Chronicle

Dear Parents

I am sure you are all aware of the visitors from the ISI that have been in school this week conducting their inspection and I was delighted, although not surprised, with the way in which our children have represented  the school.  The comments they have made and their conduct around school has been wonderful to witness.  Although I have already thanked the magnificent staff team that teach your children, keep the office running smoothly, ensure the school is maintained to a high standard and cater for all our culinary needs; I am sure you will also join me in congratulating everyone who belongs to the Crackley family.  We now wait six weeks to receive the findings of the inspection although I can say that there seemed to be a very positive feeling from the visitors.

It was my pleasure to welcome Mrs Liz Griffin, our Chair of Trustees, to assembly this morning to celebrate the achievements of so many of our children.  She was most complimentary of the pupils’ behaviour and of their performances at assembly.  I know that visitors to celebration assembly always leave school feeling uplifted by the positive spirit that is generated by the children and it is an occasion that I look forward to every week. 

In addition to the busy week, we also held an Open Day yesterday and it was my pleasure to welcome guests to the school.  I am sure that they all felt the kind warmth of the children and positive feeling that buzzes around Crackley Hall.

Well done to all our sports teams on their good performances over the past week.  Also, the pupils who played music or sang at assembly this morning were all simply outstanding.  Well done to everyone who was acknowledged in some way in this morning’s assembly.

Next week is the last week before we finish for half term and I know that it will be a busy week ahead with various visits both out of school and guests coming into school.  Junior 4 will be at Kingswood for their annual residential outing, Junior 2 will be visiting the Mad Museum, Harvest Mass will be held in school and we will also be hosting an Egyptian Day in School for Junior 3.

I look forward to seeing many parents and staff at this evening’s PTA Quiz – may the best team win!

I wish you all a very happy and relaxing weekend.

God bless,

Robert Duigan

The Crackley Holiday Club is primed to take place from week commencing 16 October until the 27 October and is now open for bookings. 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 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.

There is a half term camp at Kenilworth Tennis & Squash Club from 23 - 27 October. Please find the booking form here.

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. 

J6 Victorian Day 23.11.17 

J4 & J5 Young Voices in Concert Info Letter 26.01.18

J4 & J5 Young Voices T-Shirt Order Form 26.01.18

J4 & J5 Young Voices Ticket Order Form 26.01.18

J2 Great Fire of London Trip 30.01.18

Now that the old pound coins are no longer legal tender, can you please make sure that you send your child in with only the new one pound coin.  Sadly, the kitchen are no longer able to accept the old one pound coin.

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

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

J2 MAD Museum & River Cruise 12.10.17

J3 Ancient Egyptian History Day 12.10.17

J6 Victorian Day 14.12.17

Please note the change of date for this visit, happily it will now have a Christmas theme.

J2 Great Fire of London Trip 30.01.18

J5 Alton Castle trip 14.03.18 - 16.03.18 and Equipment List and Medical Form

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Picture the scene, Ms Holmes' J4 English group are busy beavering away on their 'descriptive explanations' task when a tired and somewhat bewildered Renaissance inventor and painter by the name of Leonardo da Vinci stumbles into their classroom. The shock to all was palpable, but thankfully Signor da Vinci quickly cleared things up by explaining he'd opened the door to his studio and ended up in 2017 - our door must have become a time portal!

Leonardo explained that he had to show the designs for his new 'roto-copter' to the Pope without delay, but he could not be there in person and that if only someone could write a 'how to guide' for him, he might be able to send that along with the design blueprints.

Demonstrating true Crackley spirit, J4 stepped up to the challenge and offered their descriptive talents.  So the room refocused on the task at hand, listening to and looking intently at how Leonardo made his roto-copter prior to setting about writing their own 'how to' guides.    

A delighted Leonardo thanked the children and Ms Holmes and then made his way back through the portal with the instructions in hand. When questioned by Mr. Harris (Chronicle's reporter and J4H Teaching Assistant) Ms Holmes said that Signor da Vinci was really pleased with the pupils help, as even without a time machine he could confidently now be in two places at one time. 

Crackley Hall has a long tradition of Irish Dancing excellence, so it's no surprise that rising dance star Oliver Moore (J2H) has put his best foot forward and bagged possibly the largest trophies available for his age category at the recent Turley Feis.

When asked where his dancing talents came from Oliver answered with certainty, "My Dad is the best dancer at home. Dancing makes me happy and really excited!" With only a little over nine weeks dance tuition to date Oliver's siver medal in the Point Hop Back and gold trophy in the Skip Two Three's are testament to this sure-footed boy's talents.

The Chronicle has heard that Oliver's next Feis will happen within the month - let's hope his continued dedication to his newly found talent can deliver 'Moore' medals.

The Chronicle is delighted to report the recent addition of two new heroes onto the prestigious Crackley 'Wonder-Wall'.

A hero is defined by the Oxford School English Dictionary as a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Such characteristics have clearly shone out from this latest brace of Crackley's finest, given the call for their inclusion came from Mr. Duigan himself.

If you haven't yet taken a stroll to take in this most marvellous sight, then we invite you to journey from the school hall to the Reception class, as the 'Wonder-Wall' can be found on the left. The images of Oliver Farquharson (J6H) and Wilf Gridall (J5V) are to be found with their hard won ISA National Athletics medals.

Well done boys, we venture that with talents like yours and your continued dedication to practice you'll have every chance to turn this year's silver in to next year's gold.

Nancy Volpe has been awarded RE Book of the Week by Mrs Jackson-Mayne (RE Coordinator) for a beautiful and reflective exploration of her own beliefs. Mrs Jackson-Mayne told the Chronicle that "It was super to see Nancy deep in thought whilst she reflected about her own faith." Her great work didn't end there either, as she then presented her work by reading it aloud to her class and then the whole school during Celebration Assembly.

We have a full timetable of visiting speakers coming into the school the first week back after half term.  They will tell us about the jobs they do and the gifts and talents they use to carry out their roles. To end the week, on Friday 3 November, pupils and staff are invited to dress up as ‘what they would like to be when they are older’.

In October we think about the life of Our Lady and use rosary beads to say special prayers for each other and people in the wider community.

With this in mind, Father Kevin led the school assembly on Tuesday to show and say the rosary. He also brought in his own wide selection of rosary beads made from many different materials, including glass, wood, metal and seeds to show the children.

Thank you Father Kevin for taking time out from your busy day to lead our pupils. 

U9 'A' Netball vs Croft 3 - 2 (win)

Player of the Match - Constanza Alvarez-Lujan

U9 'B' Netball vs Croft 2 - 1 (win)

Player of the Match - Ajunee Gill

U9 'A' Rugby vs Croft 11 - 10 (win)

Player of the Match - Harvey Hollier

U10 'A' Rugby vs Warwick 5 - 6 (loss)

Player of the Match - Alistair Darnell

U10 'B' Rugby vs Warwick 11 - 9 (loss)

Player of the Match - Andrew Gordon

U11 'A' Football vs Crescent 0 - 1 (loss)

Player of the Match - Megan Shipton

U11 'B' Football vs Crescent 3 - 0 (win)

Player of the Match - Caitlin Horan

J3 & J4 Netball Club on Thursday evening is cancelled as staff are attending fixtures.

Art Workshop on Wednesday afternoon is cancelled as staff are required at another function.

J4 Hockey club is cancelled on Tuesday as staff will be at Kingswood.

J5 & J6 Girls Football is cancelled on Thursday as staff are away at fixtures.

It has been a really busy week this week, with lots of lovely things going on outside. Miss Maxine has been printing and sticking with leaves, we’ve had the glitter out to decorate the leaves for our display and we took our story outside to help the bear ‘hibernate’ under the trees.

The weather has been kind to us and this afternoon we even sat on a picnic blanket under the tree and had our snack outside. In our singing lesson with Mrs Olden, we sang and learnt actions to a new song, ‘A Ram Sam Sam’ and we were really pleased with the way our older children worked in pairs with the little ones. Next week Miss Anupa will be talking to us all about Diwali - if you have any photos or memories about Diwali celebrations we would love to share them. 

Have a great weekend.

Further details of the fun planned for next week's Nursery can be found by clicking here.

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 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 by clicking here and send us your recipe online. Just follow the onscreen instructions – it’s really quick and simple to use. 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.

Hopefully your child bought home a chef's hat with all the details on before summer and all new pupils have now been given one too.

You can add a photo along with the recipe so it would be lovely to see your child posing with the hat on! 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.    

Headmaster’s Quiz - Friday 6 October at 7.30pm

The PTA are looking forward to the quiz tonight and look forward to seeing those of you who have booked tickets. We will be reporting on the winners next week, so watch this space...

Amelia Hunt (J3V) has lost one of her named burgundy PE socks. 

Ralph Richardson (J1G) has lost his named school coat.

Francesca Kelly (J5W) has lost her locker key with a pink star keyring. It was lost during PE, so we politely ask that parents and carers of J5 girls please check their child's PE bag.

Saffron Hall (J5V) has lost her named school blazer.

Harriet Sharpe (J6L) has lost her PE skort and school blazer.