The Chronicle

Dear Parents

I am sure that if you have been in school this week you will have noticed the smiling faces of J6 children now that they have completed their entrance examinations and are enjoying their curriculum activities week.  I had the tricky job of judging the bake off entries this afternoon so I had to do my best Paul Hollywood impersonation and choose a winner; a very difficult task amongst the splendid entries.  Huge congratulations to all the bakers, especially the winners Honor-Mae and Sofia, and runner-up, John.  Next week there will be more activities for J6 to enjoy before settling back to their normal timetable.

On Wednesday this week we all supported Anti-Bullying Week by wearing odd socks.  This highlighted the fact that everyone is different which is an important message that our school imparted to the children during the course of the week.  I know that our children will remember this important message when they meet someone who might be a little bit different to their friends or family and ensure that they treat them in a kind and caring way.

I am aware of the purchases facilitated and paid for by our wonderful PTA team.  These included walkie-talkies for school, a fabulous nativity back-drop, arranging for a local author to visit school during the Book Fair and the recent Mad Science Day.  All of this has been made possible by your support to our PTA and I thank each one of you for this.

Unfortunately I was not available to watch the musical event concert involving Crescent School this week but I have been lucky enough to watch a recording.  I never fail to be amazed by the musical talent of the children and I am grateful to Mrs Olden for organising this event.  I am also really disappointed to have missed the J3 Remembrance day assembly on Monday but have received such wonderful feedback from various people.

Well done to all our stars of the week and other award recipients at this morning’s assembly.  We were treated to some outstanding musical performances from Julia, Kiran, Fynn and Jorja – they were really all superb.  What a treat to start our Friday in this way.  Our RE Books of the week went to Francesca and Noah – well done to both of them.  I am delighted to see the care and thought that they have invested in their work.

Congratulations to our ISA hockey players on their performance at the Nationals this week and well done to all our fantastic Junior 3 pupils who excelled in their recent LAMDA examinations – we are very proud of you.

I am making an appeal on behalf of the Operation Christmas Child box campaign – please do fill a box this weekend and bring it into school on Monday.  Any shoebox will be fine – we will be able to apply labels on Monday, if necessary.  Thank you very much to everyone who has already donated a box.

I invite all parents and family members to the Key Stage 1 Mass on Tuesday morning – it would be lovely to see many of you join us.  Best wishes to all our swimmers when they take part in the ISA Midlands Gala next week.  We hope that some of them will make it through to the national finals in the Olympic Pool in London.

I am afraid that the South African rugby team is going from bad to worse.  So much so that hardly anyone gave me a hard time about the Ireland result.

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

God Bless

Robert Duigan

Wednesday 22 November - 7.00pm-8.00pm 

Our Nursery and Reception staff are holding an Open Evening. 

Visitors will receive a presentation from Rob Duigan (Headmaster) and Susan Glen-Roots (Assistant Head - Early Years/KS1) and have the opportunity to meet and greet staff and explore the classrooms and Nursery space.

Everyone is welcome - please do spread the word.

Anyone who can't attend the Open Evening but would like to look around the school, should call our Admissions Secretary, Mrs Angela Barnard on 01926 514444 and come on a day to suit, we welcome visitors on most days.

For more information visit www.crackleyhall.co.uk.

We have two members of staff leaving this term. Mrs Angela Barnard, our Admissions Secretary is leaving on 30 November and Mr James Ferris our Assistant Head is leaving at the end of the Michaelmas term.

Whilst we are sorry to see them go, we wish them all the very best in their new appointments. If parents would like to contribute to their collections, then they should call by the school office at any time of the day.  

Christmas Holiday Club will run from Wednesday 20 - Friday 22 December. 

Besides all our regular activities, we will be making Christmas crafts and having lots of Christmas themed fun. 

Places are limited however so please fill in the attached form and return by Friday 8 December 2017.

A meeting will be held in school on Thursday 30 November at 4.00pm.  This is an opportunity for parents to learn more about the trip and to ask questions. Further information including a reply slip can be found within this attached letter.

Parents of children in Reception, J1, J2, J3 & J4 should have received, via their child's bag, a letter, consent form and information from the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust regarding their flu vaccination programme. Please return the letter to the school office by 20 November indicating whether you wish to take advantage of this service.

All children have been sent home with the letters below to choose their meals for the Lent Term.  Please return these by Monday 27 November.

Lunch Menu Choices for Lent Term Letter

Week 1 Menu

Week 2 Menu

Week 3 Menu

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. 

One World Week: J3 trip to Singers Hill Synagogue 15.02.18

One World Week: J4 trip to Buddhist Peace Pagoda 13.02.18

One World Week: J5 trip to Birmingham Mosque 13.02.18

One World Week: J6 trip to Gurdwara Sahib 12.02.18

Nursery, Reception and Year 1 Trip to Warwick Arts Centre 01.12.17- Letter for Reception and Year 1

Nursery, Reception and Year 1 Trip to Warwick Arts Centre 01.12.17- Letter for Nursery

J4 Anglo Saxon History Day 08.03.18

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

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

J6 Activity Fortnight:

J6 Activity Fortnight 13 - 24.11.18 Letter

J6 Activity Fortnight Timetable

Year 6 French Trip 20-25.05.18

Scholastic Book Fair and author visit 27.11.17

J5 & 6 Trip to London for The Lion King 10.01.18

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

Children from Crackley Hall's Junior 5 and 6 had a fantastic day full of uplifting singing on Tuesday 14 November when they welcomed their fellow Foundation Junior School, Crescent School's, Classes V and VI pupils for a joint choral workshop. The pupils from both school choirs worked together under the guidance of Directors of Music, Susan Olden and Julie Barnes, to prepare and rehearse a mix of joint and individual choral and solo pieces ready for an afternoon concert to parents.

Mrs Olden and Mrs Barnes both agreed that the first joint musical initiative had been a very successful day, remarking that, “Everyone has enjoyed themselves and we have all learnt so much from each other.”

The concert started with super spine-tingling performances of I’m Still Singing, Agnus Dei and The Call, the voices of the 50 plus children blending harmoniously together to fill Crackley’s new school hall. This was followed by the two schools individually showcasing their choral skills, with Crescent School singing two pieces from their recent Harvest Festival, Thank You For Almost Everything and Everybody Praise Him, and Crackley Hall’s Chamber Choir performing For The Beauty Of The Earth and Hava Nashira. The audience were also treated to three incredible individual solos from Samuel Lau on violin, Emily Hennegan performing Naughty from Matilda and ChenChen Pan playing one of her Grade 7 pieces on piano. The finale was a catchy, feet stomping joint rendition of the popular classic Rhythm of Life.

Julie Barnes, Director of Music at the Crescent School, commented, “The children gelled straight away and clearly enjoyed working together. I was pleased with how their confidence grew throughout the day. We have some real talent in our schools and very much want to encourage them with their singing.”

Susan Olden, Director of Music at Crackley Hall, added “The children’s performance today was one any professional choir would be happy with.”

The choral workshop is to be followed by a return visit next term when Crackley Hall will travel to Bilton, Rugby for an orchestral workshop with the Crescent School.

Here’s to lots more working and learning together!

On Thursday 9 November Crackley Hall School travelled to Cannock Hockey Club to take part in the ISA U11 Mixed Hockey Tournament. One of 14 schools, Crackley Hall took a team that comprised Ollie Farquharson (Captain), Eva Plevin (Vice Captain), Dylan Williams, Joe McCullough, Seb Owen, Toby Lucas, Honor-Mae Minshull, Abi Gillard and Harriet Boyd.

The competition started with a first round of two groups of seven schools and teams playing six 15 minute matches of 7-a-side.

Crackley started steadily with a 1-1 draw against the eventual tournament winners Old Vicarage, their confidence grew and the goals came flowing in with a 3-0 win against Chase Grammar, followed by a 3-0 win against Arnold Lodge before being held to a 3-3 draw by Burton Hathow. The Crackley team’s only loss of the tournament came next against Lucton, with an unlucky 1-2 score line following a long break between games. Then it was back to the goal bonanza with the team winning their next two games 5-0 against St Winefrides and 4-0 against Highclare. Despite playing excellent hockey and numerous good goals Crackley finished an unlucky third overall in the pool so did not progress to the semi-finals."

PE Teacher, Kat Vaughan commented, “This was a great competition for the children, they played well, got into good attacking positions and scored plenty of goals. There was genuinely nothing in it and the team was terrifically unlucky not to progress to the semi-finals

A vote for players’ player and coach’s player were both held. Ollie Farquharson won both plaudits for his outstanding work-rate, commitment and leadership on the pitch.

A special mention to our goal scorers: Joe McCullough who scored an outstanding 14 goals, gaining top goal scorer of the tournament and Ollie Farquharson who found the goal in the last two games, stealing six goals to complete Crackley Hall’s impressive haul of 20 goals (the most scored by any team in the tournament).

Crackley Hall is delighted that all Junior 3 pupils achieved top marks for their LAMDA examinations. 

Mrs Wildey, Crackley's inspirational Drama Coordinator was pleased to report to the Chronicle that nearly 60% reached a distinction! This is no mean feat, given they had to perform a poem learnt from memory to the examiner and then be judged in their conversational skills about a familiar book.

Communication skills are the key to achieving excellent LAMDA results and the children clearly demonstrated exceptional vocal abilities; including excellent diction, clarity, vocal, facial and bodily expression.

Congratulations to them all.

As part of Anti-bullying Week Mr Cottrill led an engaging and informative assembly on recognising differences and the types and effects of bullying. The assembly supported the national theme for Anti-bullying Week which this year was 'All Different, All Equal'.

During the week, children have been having lessons exploring the theme of anti-bullying and have been learning strategies on how to deal with situations where they don’t feel safe. Indeed, Sarah-Louise Lithgow, PCSO, individually led our Junior 4 pupils through examples of difference and how our children might recognise and seek support when they might feel they need help.

Certainly, 'Odd Socks Day' was fun! It definitely was an opportunity for children to express themselves and appreciate individuality and uniqueness. Thanks Mr. Cottrill for putting your best sock forward and leading us all so well from the front.

After many weeks of preparation during their Tuesday lunchtimes, four Junior 6 and three Junior 5 pupils, all members of the Maths Club, finally faced the Mathematical Association's Primary Maths Challenge on Tuesday 14 November. Their goal, a coveted place in the Challenge's Bonus Round to be held in February 2018.

Last year 63,000 pupils from Primary schools across the country competed in the Challenge but less than 2000 of that number qualified for the next round. Our pupils all gave their best on the day and we will have to wait some weeks to find out if any of our pupils have achieved the target mark to progress in the competition. Mrs Spillane, who co-ordinates the Maths Club, was hopeful that Crackley Hall might be celebrating some success in the second year of the school's participation in this fantastic competition. 

Our Crackley team consisted of Dari Kotlarsky, Erin King, Yichen Pan, Annika Saravanan, Edward Hunter, Alistair Darnell and Dylan Williams. Whatever the outcome, we know that we have some very talented mathematicians at our school. The children will be presented with certificates in a forthcoming assembly and we will keep every finger crossed for news of any of them getting through to the next stage.

The Scholastic Book Fair comes to Crackley Hall once again this year and thanks to our wonderful PTA we are excited to announce that a local author will visit classes and perform live readings.

The book fair will be held on Monday 27 November and stay until the Christmas Fayre on Saturday 2 December. Although children may purchase books at certain times during the school day, parents are invited to accompany their child after school between 3.30pm and 4.30pm when you will be able to purchase books and other stationery items. There is also an opportunity for children to enter a competition in school where they can win a £5 voucher to spend at the fair.

Funds raised at this event enable the school to order books that can be used from Nursery through to J6 and it is hoped that this year we will break all previous records. As an alternative to children bringing cash into school, parents are able to purchase Scholastic Book Fair vouchers online using the following link or by typing the following into your web browser.

https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/search/search?log=t&search%5Bquery%5D=gift+voucher

The vouchers entitle the purchaser to 20% extra free.

In addition to the Book Fair, Samuel Langley-Swain will visit school on Monday 27 November to read his book, Santa’s Wish, to children in Nursery up to J4. Children in J5 and J6 will have the opportunity to spend time with Samuel and discuss being an author. Samuel will also be bringing copies of his lovely book to sell on Monday and should you wish to pre-order a signed copy, please return the attached reply slip together with £5.00 by Friday 24 November. This payment will be separate to the Scholastic Book Fair.

Mars - 330 House Points

Jupiter - 345 House Points

Venus - 297 House Points

Saturn - 355 House Points

Job Vacancy - Estates Assistants - Part-time, Various Shifts Available

Ideally starting in January 2018, we are recruiting Estates Assistants to work as part of the Estates team, providing support services to all of the Foundation schools - Princethorpe College, Crescent School in Rugby and Crackley Hall School in Kenilworth.

The duties will primarily involve maintenance work internally and externally, security, traffic management, porterage and some cleaning. Applicants with some carpentry, plumbing or decorating skills would be most welcome. This is a ‘hands-on’ role facilitating the proper functioning of the schools to ensure a safe and satisfactory working, learning and recreational environment.

The successful applicant will need to be able to provide a high quality service to staff, pupils and visitors and be enthusiastic as well as honest, trustworthy and reliable, able to lift and to work on his/her own as well as part of a team.

Working hours: We have a variety of part-time shifts available, from as little as two hours and up to eight hours, in the afternoons and evenings or on Saturday and Sundays.  We would be happy to consider applications for working evenings and weekends only or with other shifts on a rota basis.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a 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.

To discuss the post in more detail please contact Michael Small, Foundation Estates Manager - 01926 634267 or Pete Wilkes, Estates Manager – 01926 634200.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College 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: Monday 4 December 2017 at 9.00am and interviews are likely to be held on Thursday 7 December 2017, at Princethorpe.

Further details and an application form are available from the School website.

www.crackleyhall.co.uk/employment-opportunities

Job Vacancy – Senior IT Infrastructure Engineer

Ideally starting in January 2018, we have an exciting role within the IT Infrastructure Team for an experienced IT professional as a Senior IT Infrastructure Engineer (Windows Server, Active Directory, SCCM, Hyper-V, AV & Backup Solutions, Cloud, Office 365 and Azure). Working as part of a team you will be responsible for the design, development, testing, implementation, documentation and high-level support of a variety of network and server infrastructure products and solutions internally.

The successful candidate will also be expected to help design tailored solutions to meet the needs of internal projects including sourcing and introducing new products and services where required.

This is a Foundation wide role, based at Princethorpe College with duties at The Crescent and Crackley Hall Schools.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a 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 Princethorpe College 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: Monday 27 November 2017 at 9.00am, and interviews are likely to be held on Thursday 30 November at Princethorpe.

Further details and an application form are available from the School website.

www.crackleyhall.co.uk/employment-opportunities

Today two fantastic students were awarded the honour of being Crackley's RE Book of the Week recipient.

Firstly, Francesca Voisey (J5G) showed excellent listening skills and a high level of detail in her description of the structure of a mass.

Secondly, Noah Cowlishaw (J3V) has demonstrated a consistent high standard of work in RE, with his description of the different objects used during mass using sketches and labelling being a highlight.

The theme for this exciting Christmas decoration competition is 'One World'.

This morning each class has been allocated a country to use as their inspiration to design a Christmas decoration for that country. The decoration can be 2D or 3D, it could be a bought decoration decorated or completely hand made. The only requirements are that it needs to be easy to recognise which country it is representing. For example, a decoration that reprented France could show the Eiffel Tower, croissants, wine and cheese or the French flag etc.

There's plenty of time to get creative as Mrs. Jackson-Mayne will need your decorations by Monday 27 November. Knowing Crackley's crafty types will be raring to get going we've included details of the country your child's class has been given. Best of luck one and all!

France - Reception

USA - Junior 1N

Australia - Junior 1G

China - Junior 2H

India - Junior 2M

Poland - Junior 6H

South Africa - Junior 3

The World   Junior 4JM

Germany - Junior 4H

Italy - Junior 5W

Great Britain - Junior 5V

Mexico - Junior 5R

Spain - Junior 6L

Parents are advised that J5/6 Netball Club on Wednesday night will take place at Crackley Hall and not Moorefields due to staff being away at fixtures. Collections from Crackley at 5pm please.

U11 'A' Hockey vs Bablake 2 - 6 (loss)

Player of the Match - Eva Plevin

U11 'B' Hockey vs Bablake 0 - 5 (loss)

Player of the Match - Francesca Kelly

U9 Girls House Hockey Results

Jupiter 1st, Saturn 2nd, Mars 3rd, Venus 4th

U10 Girls House Hockey Results

Jupiter 1st, Mars 2nd, Saturn & Venus joint 3

U11 Girls House Hockey Results

Jupiter 1st, Venus 2nd, Saturn 3rd, Mars 4th

U8 'A' Football vs Warwick 1 - 2 (loss)

Player of the Match - Maxwell Kiely

U8 'A' Football vs Blue Coat School 1 - 3 (loss)

Player of the Match - Maxwell Kiely

U8 'B' Football vs Warwick

Match 1: 0 - 1 (loss)

Match 2: 1 - 0 (win)

Player of the Match - Piet Hannig

U8 'B' Football vs Blue Coat School

Match 1: 0 - 3 (loss)

Match 2: 0 - 0 (draw)

Player of the Match - Piet Hannig

U10 'A' Rugby vs Eversfield 1 - 16 (loss)

Player of the Match - The whole U10 'A' team

U10 'B' Rugby vs Eversfield 6 - 6 (loss)

Player of the Match - The whole U10 'B' team

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

J4 Hockey Club on Tuesday night is cancelled as staff will be attending the ISA Swimming Gala.

J5/6 Girls Football Club is cancelled as staff and players will be attending an ISA National Hockey Tournament'

J5/6 Netball Club on Wednesday after school is cancelled as staff will be at fixtures.

This week has been full of surprises! First we had a visitor all the way from Heathrow Airport! Nicky came to see us, in her lovely uniform, to tell us all about being an air hostess! We had a fun time trying on her uniform, asking questions about flying and the places she has been, and some of us got to pretend to be cabin crew, handing out orange juice to our friends! We had such a good time we turned our role play into an airport and plane, and then spent the afternoon stamping passports, handing out boarding passes and going on adventures! 

Then, on Wednesday Beatrice helped her mummy Eva talk to us all about baby Ella.  She showed us how to care for her and we all had a chance to talk about our own experiences with our own baby brother’s and sister’s at home.

We are continuing to enjoy our outdoor learning, and we are getting very good at putting on our splash suits and wellies by ourselves – it makes it more comfortable playing in the mud when we get covered up!

We have also added a stage area this week, and were treated to some fabulous nursery rhymes and songs from many of the children – singing into their paintbrushes until I put a microphone outside!

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

Please be advised that all the children have designed a Christmas card in school and you will soon be receiving a sample card with instructions on how to order packs of cards with your children's design on the front, so please don't buy any other cards until you have seen them!

There will be a non uniform day on Tuesday 28 November for all the children. In return we are asking for specific donations for the Christmas Fayre:

Little Crackers, Reception & J1 children: we kindly request that each child donates a box of chocolates for the hugely popular chocolate tombola stall.

J2, J3 & J4 children:  we ask each child to donate a glass jar filled with Christmas-related treats for the ‘Goodies in a Jar’ tombola stall.  Suggestions of fillings:  christmas chocolates, stationery items, small toys, craft items, etc  (unisex where possible please).

J5 & J6 children:  we would love every child to donate a bottle for the bottle tombola stall, such as a bottle of wine or spirits.

Please bring your donations into school on Wednesday 29 November.  Donations can be left at either the main school entrance or the Gables entrance.

More information about the fayre is available on the poster.

In addition we are also holding a teddy tombola (always a favourite with the children!) so have a look and see if you have any unwanted teddies at home in good condition that you can donate. There will be a box out in the Gable’s entrance hall for donations in the run up to the Fayre.

Winter Ball - Saturday 3 February 2018 7.30pm-1.00am

We are holding a Winter Ball at Woodside Hotel in Kenilworth and we really hope you can join us. We will be selling tickets at the Christmas Fayre. Please see the poster for further details. 

Tom Hannig (J4H) has lost two named long sleeve shirts.

Lucas Summers (J4J) has lost his named rugby shirt.

Nikhil Modhi (J2H) has lost his named cap.