The Chronicle

Dear Parents

We have come, rather suddenly, to the end of an incredibly busy and productive half term.  There were many ‘additional and exciting activities’ taking place this week, including J4 going to Kingswood for two nights, J3 having the Ancient Egyptians into school for a day, J2 enjoying a day at the Mad Museum and Reception spending this afternoon (staff included) in their pyjamas (well done to our mums and dads for keeping this a secret).  Thank you very much to all the staff and parent helpers for going the ‘extra mile’.  Our pupils are really enthused and buzzing at the moment.

We were treated to some wonderful music at this morning’s assembly – thank you and well done to our recorder group, Eden and Dari for their superb performances.  Music always adds to the enjoyment of our assemblies.  Congratulations to all the recipients of awards; I am delighted to see how involved our pupils are.  Equally, their achievements continue to be excellent.

After settling down into routine over the first half term, we will look to intensify the learning and academic focus as we return after the half term break.  Junior 6 in particular though have already been hard at work preparing for the next stage in their academic careers.  Our older pupils will be coming home with ‘a little holiday work’.

I would remind everyone that Mrs Jayne Geran joins us after the half term break as Assistant Head: Academic.  Jayne will also be a form tutor in Junior 5.  She joins us as a very highly regarded academic and teacher and, I know, will continue to drive up standards at all levels in the school.  I look forward to welcoming Jayne after the break.  Mrs Nicki Wildey will be working in Junior 3 as we are splitting the class for English and mathematics lessons when the children return to school.  We will announce the pupil groupings closer to the time (via electronic correspondence to J3 parents).  Nicki will continue in her role as Drama Teacher.  James Ferris remains with us for his final half term and will hand over his Assistant Head:Co-curricular duties to Charles Lamprecht in January 2018.

Thank you very much to Kara Wasley and her PTA committee for putting on a super Quiz last Friday evening.  The time and effort was greatly appreciated and I enjoyed being able to test the knowledge of parents and teachers. I am delighted to report that the staff team returned to defend their title and recorded a hat-trick of victories.  Well done to Carrie Holmes, Jayne Ellis, Ian Sansum, Kat Vaughan, Cat Hardwick, Duncan Cottrill, Steve Vaughan and Anne-Marie Convey!  A super selection, cross-phase, of our Crackley Hall staff.  As parents, it has to be reassuring that the staff have a very good general knowledge!

We enjoyed some wonderful sports results over the past week – well done in particular to the ISA U11 football team for getting through to the quarter finals in the Midland Competition.  It was also pleasing to see the U11A rugby team beating Eversfield and King Henry’s this week.

I was delighted that the Springboks put in a performance against the All Blacks that was probably more deserving than the one-point loss that they ended up with.  It was a great game of rugby and certainly went a little way to atoning for the thrashing that New Zealand meted out to them a couple of weeks earlier.

I would like to wish everyone a restful and enjoyable half term break.  Travel safely if you are going away.  Thank you, everyone, for your support over the past half term.  We will only continue to be a hugely successful school with the continued support of all parents and staff, working in unison, for the good of all our children.  Thank you to all our staff for their tremendous efforts over a busy half term, including the added pressure of an inspection.  We await a report in five weeks.

God bless,

Robert Duigan

Parents are advised that there will be limited parking available on the lower car park on Monday 30 October, as J5 and J6 are expecting the arrival of the 'Betty for Schools' bus.

Tuesday 31 October & Thursday 2 November between 4:00pm and 7:00pm

Please note that appointment slots to meet with your child's teacher are now available to book online. For further information on how and where a booking can be made, click here along with a link to the Parent Consultation Appointment system.

Parents are advised that a normal After Care service will be available from 3.30 pm until 6.00 pm and that this can be booked in the usual way by printed form via this link. Alternatively, please click here should you require child care for only the duration of your Parent/Teacher consultation.

The School Uniform shop, located at Princethorpe College, will be closed over half term

Admissions and Marketing Secretary

We seek to appoint an Admissions and Marketing Secretary, ideally starting by December 2017, to work as part of the team in our busy school office, providing the first and main point of contact for all prospective parents, working closely with the Headmaster in administering the admissions process of the Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery. The post holder will provide the Headmaster with regular and frequent reports for analysis purposes. In addition, the role will require some marketing and alumni relations activity working closely with the Foundation’s Marketing Team and a degree of general office support at busy times.

The successful candidate will have excellent inter-personal and communication skills, be capable of maintaining confidentiality and exercising tact; and have an understanding and sympathy with the ethos of the school. A high degree of fluency in both spoken and written English is essential.

Interested candidates must evidence a ‘can do’ attitude, good time management skills, and be able to work in an organised and methodical manner, to produce accurate and up-to-date records and reports as required. He or she needs to be self-motivated and able to identify work priorities and manage his or her own workload to meet deadlines.

This is a part time post, of 25 hours per week, Monday to Friday, typically 9.00am – 2.00pm, all year round and attracts 25 days’ holiday per annum plus bank holidays, to be mainly taken during school holidays, by agreement.

This is an excellent opportunity to join the fast growing Foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package including discounted places for staff, a pension scheme, child care vouchers and a cycle to work scheme.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Crackley Hall application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Tuesday 31 October, at 9.00am. Interviews are likely to be held shortly afterwards at Crackley Hall.

Further details and an application form are available from the College website www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment-opportunities.

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

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

Yr 5/6 Chamber Choir Choral Workshop 14.11.17

Please note the change of date, the workshop is to be held on 14.11.17

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:

Crackley Hall has a long tradition of excelling in the arts so it is no surprise that our fantastic teaching staff have schooled our latest cohort to success in the prestigious ISA Regional Art Competition continuing our school's winning streak.  

The competition is comprised of eight separate categories, from 2D to 3D, textiles and photography, for the individual and group, there is a category for one and all.

The roll call of honour will forever record the names of the following Crackley students, well done to you all!

1st Charlie Ferguson (J6) ‘Humming Birds’ : 2D Individual

Highly Recommended Rocco George (J5) ‘Tudor Royals’ : 2D Individual

2nd Megan Shipton ‘Paw Print’ : Art 3D Individual 

1st Junior 4 ‘Swimming Together’ : Art 3D Group  

On Thursday 12 October Junior 2 had a super interactive trip out to visit the best museum in Warwickshire. The MAD museum (Mechanical, Art and Design), in Stratford upon Avon, is the UK’s only permanent venue for mechanical art. It is a real Aladdin's cave of treasures which aim to surprise and amuse. The cleverly made, complicated and fully interactive displays provided plenty of hands on experiences for the children. They eagerly operated sensors, buttons and handles aplenty to see what happened next.

The visit to the museum supported many of Junior 2’s curricular topics, but particularly informed their Design & Technology and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) studies.

The children loved all of the displays but especially enjoyed the clapping machine, that when you clap at it, claps back to you and the motion sensor designs that came to life as you walked past. The huge magnetic marble wall where the children were able to design, build and modify marble runs was also great fun.

Junior 2 teacher, Mrs Hardwick, said, “It was a fabulous day, the children thoroughly enjoyed the interactive elements in the museum and were all able to get involved with a number of different activities and work together to solve problems.”

After the museum the children took a short walk down to the canal where they boarded a boat called the ‘Jennifer May’ for a pleasant cruise down the river while they ate lunch. Their visit to Stratford-upon-Avon finished with a chance to let off some steam in the autumnal sunshine in the park.

Many thanks to Mrs Hardwick, Mrs Malcolm, Mrs Convey and Miss Pearce for organising such a fascinating and participative trip.

The Ancient Egyptians believed that they had to take everything with them to the afterlife, so all the objects they needed were placed in their tombs or painted on the walls. It's thanks to this that we know so much about their lifestyle and are able to recreate it today.

Junior 3’s Egyptian Day took full advantage of this knowledge to transport the children back over two thousand years to the time of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Crackley’s school hall was transformed into an Egyptian tableau with a temple set up at the front and bustling Egyptian workshops all around. There the children made their own Egyptian artefacts and experienced many of the skills prevalent of the era, in the hope of impressing their wise leader and to offer some of their crafts at the temple to the Sun God – Aten.

The children learnt how to make perfume cones – using beeswax, tomb painting and hieroglyphic writing. They also made Canopic jars from clay and carved scarab beetles in soap. They even tried their hand at mummification, as they embalmed and mummified small peg dolls using spices, perfumes and animal fat.

In the afternoon the Royal Court was set up and food was prepared for a grand banquet. The children were given roles and tasks to complete which they executed with enthusiasm. Dances, music and plays were performed whilst the banquet of bread, ‘wine’ in goblets, cheese, figs, dates and fruits was served by the slaves.

Junior 3 teacher, Anna Van Zyl, said, “Junior 3 had gone all out with some simply super costumes which gave the day a fabulous authentic feel. We were even plagued by locusts and rats during the day – which was hilarious and a real highlight for the children, as the rats were hidden around the hall and they had to ‘flush’ them out with brooms.”

What another fun filled fabulous learning day at Crackley Hall, we can’t wait for the next one!

Not even the slate grey skies of Staffordshire could dampen the enthusiasm and exuberance of this year’s Junior 4 adventurers on their residential trip to Kingswood. For two days (Monday 9 - Wednesday 11 October), our Junior 4 pupils took up the challenge of working together as a team to face an exciting range of activities, including zipwiring, problem solving, archery, fencing, climbing and, perhaps the most challenging of all, bed making!

All pupils showed a wonderful willingness to try new experiences and to celebrate each others' successes. Way to go, Junior 4!

It is with great excitement that we can reveal two former Crackley pupils are to tread the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) boards this Christmas and beyond in their production of The Christmas Carol.

The Chronicle has been told that both Tom Lomas and Toby Convey will be appearing on stage for the Saturday 27 January evening performance and there are still a limited number of seats available for this performance!

Further information and tickets can be found from the Box Office at the RSC, on their website: https://www.rsc.org.uk/a-christmas-carol/ or if you prefer, we're sure a justifiably proud Mrs. Convey, Mum to Toby and TA to J3M, can give your further details on request.

Thank you to everyone who came to the quiz last Friday and helped in any way.

The Chronicle has heard from the PTA that the questions asked by Mr Duigan were both 'challenging and interesting'.  The winning team “Par Excellence”, made up of staff members, proved once again that they really know their stuff.  It's comforting to know that those charged with the teaching and learning of our children came out on top.

Lots of fun was had by all, alongside a very healthy £568 raised towards PTA funds. Remember, there's only 51 weeks to get some study in before the next Headmasters' Quiz.

Mr. Duigan was pleased to announce earlier the details of this year's combined Crackley Hall and national Catholic Independent Schools' Conference (CISC) Christmas Card Competition in our Whole School Assembly today. 

Every pupil is invited to take part by interpreting the theme of 'God is with us' in paint, pencil, photograph, mixed media and/or textiles. Please note that all entries should be on A4 paper/card and have the name and class of the pupil on the back.

Every entry will need to be in school by Friday 10 November for judging, as an esteemed panel led by Headmaster Mr. Duigan and Art Co-ordinator Mrs Van-Zyl will be perusing them prior to making their selection for the winning design for our own School Christmas card and entry into the CISC Christmas Card competition.    

Further details and winning entries from previous years are available to view on the CISC website by clicking on this link.

A letter from Mrs Van Zyl explaining how to enter is available here.

Best of luck, one and all. 

Mr. Duigan personally selected Sidney Weir (J6L) for the honour of RE Book of the Week. Sid, who is taught Religious Eduction by our Headmaster, has impressed with his diligence, understanding and application. 

Thank you to Junior 5V for leading a beautiful Mass on the Harvest. The rousing songs, complete with actions, could be heard around the school.

The children had an opportunity to think about people in other parts of the world who might be hungry because they do not have enough food. At the offertory pupils brought seeds forward to the altar to remind us that the seeds of friendship, faith and love need to start small and grow bigger, deeper and stronger.

During the first week back after half term, the pupils will be involved in Vocations Week. This is a week devoted to finding out about the demanding roles in our society and the gifts people use to help them carry them out. During assemblies and RE lessons, pupils will have an opportunity to hear a variety of speakers from the different Emergency Services, a number of representatives from charitable organisations and also members of the clergy.

On Friday 3 November, Mrs Jackson-Mayne would like the children to come dressed in the theme of what they would like to be when they are older. The aim of the week is inspire the children to use their talents and think about the different choices they have when they are older.

Thank you all for the donations of Food for the Warwickshire Food Bank. It is being collected during half term and we know the members of the St Vincent de Paul Society will be extremely grateful.

Please join us on  Wednesday 1 November for Mass to celebrate All Saints Day. We will continue with the theme of vocations as we think about the courage of the saints as they devoted their lives to God by helping and serving others.

Match Scores are as follows:

Crackley Hall 25 - 0 KHVIII (win)

Crackley Hall 15 - 20 Solihull School (loss)

Crackley Hall 30 - 0 Eversfield (win)

Crackley Hall 10 - 15 Fam (win)

Player of the Tournament - Oliver Farquharson

Match Report by Mr. Ferris, Team Coach: The U11 A made the long trip to Kidderminster on Tuesday to play in the ISA Midlands 5-a-side tournament with 20 other teams. Fixtures were played on the impressive 3G surface and playing in 'the cage' ensured a fast and aggressive brand of football. The boys played six group matches, winning four, drawing one and losing one. Captained superbly by Calan Byrne, the boys progressed through to the Quarters finals where they were up against Ruckley School. Disappointingly, the boys lost 2-1 in a very tight game that could have gone either way.

Man of the tournament as voted for by the players was Fynn Walker - he only let in three goals during the seven games.  

Tournament Game Results:

1-0 vs Priory (Won)

1-0 vs Lucton (Won)

0-1 vs Old Vicarage (Lost)

1-0 vs Burton Hatthow (Won)

1-0 vs Twycross House (Won)

0-0 vs Birchfield (Draw)

Quarter final

1-2 vs Ruckley (Loss)

All after school clubs are running as usual on Tuesday 31 October even though it is Parents Evevning. 

However all Thursday 2 November after school clubs will be cancelled due to Parents Evening.

Forest School is Cancelled on the first Monday of the new term as staff will be attending a course.

J5/6 Netball Club on Wednesday 1 November is cancelled as staff will be attending fixtures.

This week has been quite wonderful. Miss Anupa kindly talked to us all about Diwali and brought in lots of wonderful things for us to look at. We have had a week of dressing up in beautiful saris, tasting fabulous food, making beautiful ‘rangoli’ patterns outside and listening to the story of Rama and Sita. Thank you Miss Anupa. 

We must also send a thank you to Mr Steve who helped us organise our initial letter sounds… He put up 26 hooks to store the beautiful bags made by Mrs Haboui, and we are now collecting fabulous objects and pictures to fill them up to help us with our sound games. Some of us are looking forward to a half term holiday, while others will continue to play. We hope everyone has a fun filled couple of weeks and we will all get together again on the 30 October.

For further details of the 'fun and goings-on' with Nursery please click on the attached link.

The deadline for recipes, the 1 November 2017, is fast approaching, so if you haven’t submitted a recipe yet please do so over half term. Once we have everyone’s recipe we will be sending them off to be printed. It would be lovely if you could add a photo of your child along with the recipe too. There will then be plenty of opportunities to purchase copies of the recipe book in time for Christmas!

You can log onto a specially designed site and send us your recipe online by using this link. Just follow the onscreen instructions – it’s really quick and simple to use. Please use the following access code: f26994ed17

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

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!

The PTA has been 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.

The following items can be collected from the school office:

Adult sized navy blue cardigan.

M&S long sleeved white shirt in the office, aged 8-9.

Andrew Parizzi (Reception GR) has lost his named school cap

Leo Warne (J1G) has lost his named school trousers and named PE shorts.

Sam Beaman-Henderson (J3V) has lost all his violin books, including his yellow practise book.

Piet Hannig (J3V) has lost his named white trainers and named school cap.

Francesca Voisey (J3V) has lost an unnamed small square purple snack box.

Stuart Nedjati (J5W) has lost his school blazer.