The Chronicle

Dear Parents

As I write this edition of the newsletter, the last for this calendar year, I have had a quick opportunity to reflect upon the many joyous occasions and celebrations that Crackley Hall have enjoyed during the Michaelmas term.  There have been so many events that we have mentioned in the Chronicle, and some that haven’t made the news, and I would like to thank everyone who has had a part in making Crackley Hall the school of which I am incredibly proud.

Today started with the children being surprised by a pantomime which the PTA kindly organised.  I’m sure I saw Mr Ferris itching to get on stage during the production.  The whole school Mass was held this afternoon and we warmly welcomed Father David and Teresa McNamara to School for this end of term service.  Thank you to all of those involved in making this Mass a fitting end to the school term, particularly Mrs Jackson-Mayne, Mrs Simmonds and Mrs Olden.  The J3 pupils, chamber choir and altar servers were all magnificent today.

Although today is tinged with sadness as Mr Ferris leaves, we will keep in touch and I hope that you will all join me in welcoming Mr Lamprecht and his family to Crackley Hall in January.  James was a mainstay of our school and I, personally, appreciated all that he brought to Crackley Hall.  I wish him well in his future career and know that he will continue to be a marvellous teacher and colleague in every sense.  I am excited by Charles joining our team and it was lovely to welcome him on Monday, along with his wife, Magda and children David and Katherine.  Both children will be joining Crackley Hall in January.

I would like to thank our many families for the cards and gifts that we have all received in school; your generosity and good wishes are much appreciated by everyone.  I would also like to thank the staff, trustees and children for their contribution to a very successful term which I can confidently say was ‘excellent’ in all areas.

All that remains for me to do is to wish you and your families a very happy Christmas, a wonderful restful break and a peaceful New Year.

God Bless

Robert Duigan

We have the great pleasure to include the below for your attention. These sheets will detail what your children will be studying during the Lent Term. To find out more please click on your child's year group.

Junior 1 Lent Term 2018

Junior 2 Lent Term 2018

Junior 3 Lent Term 2018

Junior 4 Lent Term 2018

Junior 5 Lent Term 2018

Junior 6 Lent Term 2018

Princethorpe College are holding a Year 5 Choral Fun Day on Saurday 27 January 2018.

If your child would like to take part please email Helen Morgan on helenmorgan@princethorpe.co.uk

Please see the attached poster for more details

Tuesday 16 January - 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 Tuesday 16 January 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 and Marketing Secretary, Mrs Jenny Vaughan on 01926 514444, we welcome visitors on most days.

For more information visit www.crackleyhall.co.uk

Kenilworth Tennis and Squash Club have three fun filled days of activities planned in early January for keen tennis types and those wishing to just give it a try. For further details please click on this link.

Friday 16 February: Discos for the children at the end of the day.

Saturday 3 March pm: Family bingo

Details to follow nearer the time. 

At the end of the Michaelmas Term we are bidding farewell to a much loved member of the Crackley team. Assistant Head, James Ferris is leaving Crackley Hall for an exciting new role at The Croft Preparatory School, Stratford Upon Avon. James, an Old Princethorpian, joined Crackley from Balsall Common back in September 2013.

James has led and developed the core subject of Mathematics at Crackley Hall introducing and managing the ever popular 'Maths Passport' and 'Mathletics' programmes that have advanced 'mental' maths skills across all years in school.

James has been a popular teacher and has been passionate about all things co-curricular helping the children to enjoy a wide range of exciting opportunities and developing a co-curricular offering that was recognised in the recent ISI inspection as exceptional and outstanding. His enthusiasm for sport was infections, his teams fought hard with a smile on their face and were always worth more than the sum of their parts; many remaining unbeaten throughout the season and taking regional and national honours.

Despite working tirelessly during his time at Crackley he has also managed to 'tie the knot' with his lovely wife Simone and welcome baby Maisie into the world. James has positively enhanced the lives of us all, his calm, caring demeanour and wish that all might succeed will be much missed.

We wish him all the very best in his new role.  

Dear Parents and Pupils of Crackley Hall School,

The past four years at Crackley Hall have been a fantastic experience - full of challenge, enjoyment and achievement. As I explained in Friday’s assembly, the joy of coming to school to teach is that you never know what will happen each day. Importantly, being able to play a part in pupils’ progress and attainment is a very privileged position, one which I am very grateful and humbled to have had the opportunity to do.  

Having had time to reflect on what makes a successful student, it is clear that it is a very complicated recipe and one that is not straight forward…. However, having discussed this with one particular Junior 6 pupil, it is evident that you can’t just work hard for a week and rest on your laurels. You must work hard day after day, week after week and when your determination allows, month after month. Although there are ‘speed bumps’ on the way, this is the true mark of an excellent student – consistency and always striving for the very best. As a sportsman, although I also find it challenging, perfect practice in some way goes towards reaching supposed perfection.        

Whilst it is with sadness that I leave today, I feel proud to have played some part in creating a vibrant, caring and high achieving school. My ‘locker’ is most certainly full of some fantastic memories. I’d like to thank all of the Crackley Hall community for their support and kindness during my time here and I look forward to returning to visit in the future.

I am excited for the new challenges that lie ahead for my family and I wish all Crackley Hall families the very best for Christmas, the New Year and beyond!

Best wishes,

James Ferris 

Crackley Hall’s Key Stage 2 Christmas Advent Service was a celebration of the Spirit of Christmas.  It took place on the evening of Wednesday 13 December in the gloriously atmospheric setting of Princethorpe College’s Our Lady’s of the Angels Chapel.  Led by Junior 4 and 5 the service was filled with carols, readings and music, punctuated by the careful lighting of the candles on the advent wreath.

Parents, grandparents and friends were welcomed by Head Boy, Fynn Walker before the service opened with the traditional solo verse of Once in Royal David’s City, sang beautifully by Martha Harris.

Recorder and flute performances lifted the spirits, as did the music of the orchestra who played Away In A Manger and Merry Christmas Everyone. Annika and Yichen’s performance on clarinet and piano of Good King Wenceslas was utterly magical. 

Choral poetry from Junior 4 and 5 and the sublime sound of the Chamber Choir singing An Earthly Blessing and Winter Carol blended excellence with wonderful storytelling. The audience couldn’t help but clap their approval in between each programmed item.

There was a wealth of singing and solos showcasing superb voices and real talent, with Junior 4’s The Christmas Candle and What Christmas Means To Me, Junior 5’s Super Santa and the Choral Group’s Somewhere In My Memory.

So many musical moments glittered throughout the sixty minutes that it was no surprise that Headmaster, Rob Duigan, was almost lost for words as he thanked parents and friends for coming to watch the concert.

This festive cornerstone of Crackley Hall’s calendar did not disappoint. Much loved music and prayer brought families together to joyfully bow their heads for the final blessing as the Advent Service came to its end.

Friday’s Celebration Assembly concluded with the first public assembly of the newly formed Crackley Hall Steward body. The children voted for a specific aspect of school life in which to be a Steward and for the first time they offered areas of school life that they thought might benefit from their considered intervention. This may have been curricular, community or pastorally based. New fields of interest included; morning uniform check and social care. Indeed, Mr. Duigan commended their good thinking by adding, "The iniative shown by the children in this selection process has been nothing short of inspirational. We therefore expect each pupil to excel, as they have truly made each role their own."

The pupils beamed with pride as they wore their badges of office for the first time. Crackley Hall’s latest Junior 6 year group will, we are sure provide the younger children with excellent role models to follow. We wish you all every success in the fulfillment of your duties this year.

Congratulations to Dari Kotlarsky who is now a published author.  Dari was one of a small number of Junior 6 pupils who have been working with Mrs Spillane on extension activities in English.  The pupils studied different types of Christmas poems and were asked to identify what they liked and disliked about them before they all wrote their own poems.

Dari entered her poem into the Write Christmas 2017 competition and her work was chosen to be one of the top 50 poems compiled into a Christmas book.

Jenny Shrimpton from Democracy, the company organising the competition, said, “We received hundreds of entries and the standard of writing was exceptional. Please pass on our congratulations as this is a huge achievement! Our judges had some very tough decisions to make. They wanted to stress how impressed they have been with the creativity and standard of writing.”

Mrs Spillane commented, “The children wrote their poems in our very first extension session and I am delighted that Dari’s work has received such recognition.  Her poem will also feature in the next edition of The Minnacle, the Foundation’s magazine that showcases exceptional work, due to be published shortly.”

Dari will be presented with a copy of the book in Assembly next term.

The inspiration behind this wonderful idea can be traced to Ms Holmes, History Co-ordinator and J4H Class Teacher. Ever alert and compassionate, she happened upon a young homeless man who slept outside in the doorway of Argos in Leamington Spa. Rather than pass by, as most would do, a conversation was struck up and a rapport was formed. Her subsequent trips to the stores were now peppered with at first random acts of kindness and then the certainty to help a person in need.

With this in mind, a plan was hatched, where the J4H children and Ms Holmes promised to bring useful items in during advent and then collect them together as a gift for the young man in need and the St. Francis Giving Tree. Reverse advent, where people put in rather than took away, focused the mind of young and old alike. An understated and rightly proud Ms Holmes told the Chronicle, "Each child has really enjoyed thinking about someone in need this year. They've got really excited for their turn and now truly understand the real meaning of Christmas."

In a few short weeks our pupils and staff members at Crackley Hall have played and performed at four Christmas Nativities, three Christmas Concerts, Celebration Assemblies and even the Kenilworth Lights switch on. So it was with no surprise when Mrs Olden revealed what we already know - you children are amazing! The subsequent roll call of honour, read out by her, detailed the personal musical achievements of our Key Stage 2 pupils as judged by the University of West London. 

Presentations were made to over 30 children, with nothing less than a merit or distinction in every genre of instrument and musicality from Grade 1 to Grade 4. With such individual talent on show, we at the Chronicle venture that the annual Summer production will no doubt be packing them in.

This year, Pyramid Pantomimes brought their hilarious and tune-laden Aladdin panto to shine under the Gables' stage lights. The level of anticipation and excitement within the children and staff was palpable, as Aladdin stepped forward to take us all on a magical journey in search of a magic lamp, meeting an elephant and the Genie, who can make all his dreams come true. Oh how we gasped as Aladdin sought the lamp before his arch rival Abanazar. Happily, the world was saved and Jasmine became the true star she had always wanted to be; and all before morning break!

Our grateful thanks are extended to the PTA for providing such a delightful panto to entertain the children. We at the Chronicle certainly do wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Please click the image to scroll through a few of the images from this week's events. 

Look here for your Wasps matchday memories...

Junior 3 led the final Mass of the term beautifully, summing up the true meaning of Advent and preparing everyone for Christmas. The  Communion Reflection read by Harry, Amelia, Sam and Lydia helped to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.

This was reaffirmed with the words of prayer said by the new Mini Vinnies who were enrolled at the end of the Mass today. As they promised to put others first and try to help serve people in need we were all reminded of what should be at the centre of this Season.

The first Mass to celebrate the start of the new term in 2018 will be Friday 19 January. All are welcome.

There will be an opportunity for those who play guitar to join a new school guitar ensemble in January. This will take place on a Tuesday lunchtime for a half hour session. Playing in an ensemble gives your child the chance to take part in group performances both in school concerts and assembly performances. It greatly enhances their sight-reading and musicianship skills, as well as being a fun activity to meet new friends, and gain confidence in public performance.

The prerequisite for joining the group will be to have had at least one term's worth of guitar tuition and to be able to read music. The level of reading that is required is equivalent to initial grade/prep test/step 2 graded exam level or to be approaching the end of the Guitarist's Way 1.  If you are unsure as to how far your son or daughter has progressed, they are welcome to see Mrs Olden to decide.

Parents are advised that they should sign up using the SOCS system.

Please click for more information about Ballet and Karate clubs running in Lent Term

All clubs are set to run the first week back of term apart from the following:

Drama Festival Club is cancelled as staff will be attending the Lion King theatre trip.

Many of you will have noticed that we had a bit of a change round at the end of last week, all ready for a new start in the New Year! We ‘test drove’ the new set up today and it was a big thumbs up from everyone.  The most exciting corner seems to be the one we didn’t plan, (obviously!) as the children used the natural bits and bobs, from logs and shells, to conkers and plant pots to make their own environment to play in. This quiet corner changed over the day, from a ‘home made’ marble run, to a garden centre shop, to just a space to make patterns and play with ‘things’. What a lovely way to end the term, looking forward to the next one!

The Nursery staff would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the thoughtful cards and gifts that the team have received over the last few days, your kind wishes are much appreciated by us all. Wishing you all a Happy Christmas, we look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

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

The PTA would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and to thank everyone for all their support this year.

Saturday 3 February at the Woodside, Glasshouse Lane, Kenilworth

Tickets are now on sale for this event at £45 per person - see posters round the school and attached to The Chronicle for details. Thus far, over 50 tickets have been sold, so please do come and join us if you are able to. We will continue to sell tickets in the New Year.

Many congratulations to Mr and Mrs Volpe who won the free night’s accommodation at the Woodside on the night of the ball by booking their tickets and entering into the early bird draw. For those of you who weren’t so lucky but would like to stay over accommodation can be booked with the venue. If you would like to buy tickets please email ptachair@crackleyhall.co.uk

Please see the poster for further details. 

We still have a few copies of the Crackley Hall cookbook available for sale at £8.50. It looks lovely and we hope that the children enjoy trying out their friends' recipes.

The Cookbooks are available via the School Office for puchase.