The Chronicle

Dear Parents

I hope you are able to enjoy reading this week’s Chronicle relaxing in the sunshine which is set to continue during the weekend.  This week has been a whirlwind of activities in school in terms of preparation for our Junior 6 trip to France, Crackley Hall’s first-ever art exhibition and our chamber choir singing at the ISA Headteachers’ Conference (also a first). 

Firstly, may I thank our fabulous PTA and everyone who was involved or attended the Family Fun Day on Saturday 12 May.  I hope you will all agree it was a hugely enjoyable event, we raised over £4,200, a fantastic sum and  I can guarantee it will be put to good use.  The PTA have been able to purchase several items recently including, most recently, a defibrillator but I will hopefully be able to provide you with more information on that next week.

On Wednesday we held our art exhibition in the Hall.  This wonderful occasion was expertly co-ordinated by Mrs van Zyl who has been preparing for several months to ensure that all children from Nursery to Junior 6 were able to participate in an all-inclusive exhibition.  Children have worked very hard on their personal submission, encouraged by their class teachers and Mrs van Zyl, and the results were enjoyed by all pupils when they took time out of their lessons on Wednesday to visit the exhibition and view the art work which was professionally displayed by Images Art.  I heard many complimentary comments from parents and grandparents who were able to attend in the afternoon and I hope that all our artists are justifiably proud of their achievement.  I believe that art work can still be purchased if you return the order form to school by Monday morning.

I was contacted recently by a colleague at ISA Headquarters who invited our talented youngsters to perform at the ISA Headteachers’ Conference which is currently taking place at Chesford Grange Hotel.  I was delighted to be able to take children to the event where they performed and behaved impeccably.  They were rewarded by not only a round of applause and compliments, but also a delicious spread of treats.  Thank you to Mrs Olden, Miss Kefalas, parents and children for taking the time to attend this event.  We have every reason to feel very proud of our super chamber choir!

We welcomed Father Kevin to our assembly on Thursday morning when he spoke to the whole school about saying the Rosary during May. Fr Kevin also mentioned the particular focus for each month of the year.  It is always wonderful to have Fr Kevin join us in school as he brings with him a wealth of knowledge and invaluable spiritual guidance.

Well done to all of our award recipients at this morning’s assembly – you have all done so well.  It was wonderful to see how Noah (top 4), Eden, (top 6), Andrew, Julia (2nd) and Theo did in the recent Chess Mega-final.  Our best wishes accompany Julia, Noah and Eden in the upcoming Giga-final.  Our wonderful guitar and flute ensembles opened a happy assembly this morning – they were both excellent and were followed later by Bobbie’s fantastic playing and Pippa’s equally excellent singing.  Well done and thank you for sharing your super talents with us.

As I will be accompanying the Junior 6 trip to France (from 02:30 on Sunday morning), please feel that you can contact Mr Cottrill or Ms Dyer regarding any urgent requests in my absence.

I wish you all a relaxing weekend with your families.

God bless,

Robert Duigan

Children are invited to design a programme cover for the summer production to be held on 5 July at the Spa Centre in Leamington. 

The three shows this year are The Wizard of Oz, The Little Mermaid and My Fair Lady. The summer production will be titled 'A Musical Journey of Wonders'.

Let your artistic creativity start flowing - as all entries are to be named and handed into the office, by Wednesday 6th June.

Don't forget, the following information needs to be put on the cover: Crackley Hall School presents; A Musical Journey of Wonders. Thursday 5th July 2018 at Spa Centre, Leamington.

Please make sure your entry is 2D (nothing raised) and does not have any glitter on it, or unfortunately we won't be able to use it.

Good luck all!

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

J2 Trip to Kenilworth Castle 24.05.18 

Reception Trip to Twycross Zoo 11.06.18

J6 Costume letter for Production

R - J5 Costume letter for Production

J3 Kingswood Trip meeting letter 04.06.18

Our Stars of the Week this week are:

On Wednesday 16 May Crackley Hall opened its doors for its very first Art Exhibition.  Pupils from across the school, from Nursery up to Junior 6 revealed their amazing creative talents to stunned parents, friends and teachers.

Back in February pupils explored other faiths in the school’s fascinating ‘One World Week’.  The topic proved so inspirational that Crackley’s Art Co-ordinator, Mrs Van Zyl chose it as the central theme for the schools inaugural Art Exhibition.

The children’s work on display featured 268 different paintings inspired by art styles and techniques from around the world.  They included artwork inspired by the Maasai of Eastern Africa, designs based on the reverse-applique handwork of the Kuna of South America, paintings inspired by British botanical artists, experimental vibrant Amate bark paintings, stylised animal Tinga-Tinga pieces, paintings that reflected traditional Indian culture, designs inspired by Aboriginal art and art that explored the Far East.

Working on their pieces for the exhibition has given the children the opportunity to study different artists, to appreciate their work, inspirations and colour palettes.  It has linked into topics from across the curriculum including Science and Geography.

Many parents and children attended the exhibition to view the framed art work mounted on display boards in the school hall.  All were amazed at the talent on show with many remarking the pictures would grace any wall.

Head of Art, Paul Hubball, and Art Teacher, Susan Harris, from the Foundation’s senior school Princethorpe College were invited over to view the exhibition.  They will be awarding Certificates of Merit to the paintings that particularly impressed them.

Mrs Harris commented, “The standard of work on show is outstanding, a huge variety of approaches and styles that has given every child a chance to shine.  The use of colour is exceptional and effective it has been a real pleasure to view them.”

Our thanks to Mrs Van Zyl for organising the exhibition, the standard was incredible and it was a joy to view.  Well done to everyone!

If you missed the exhibition, a selection of photographs of the paintings will shortly be available on the school website.

If you would still like to buy the framed original and order prints of your child’s work then please see the letter of invitation for more details.

This year the PTA Family Fun Day took place on Saturday 12 May, the weather was perfect, glorious sunshine, and everyone enjoyed a fabulous, feel good, fun filled family event.

All the essential elements of a British summer fair were spread out across the school grounds.  Every class had responsibility for a stall and it was lovely to see the children helping out and to witness all their amazing ideas.   They included - nail and face painting, a popcorn stand, the human fruit machine, a coconut shy, chocolate and bottle tombolas, pull a string, slam dunk basketball, football shootout, a bouncy castle and some new stalls which proved to be just as popular as the old faithfuls - paper airplane toss, the ladder game, topple the teacher, marble mayhem, gladiator duels and even sumo wrestling.  There was also a ‘Young Drivers’ experience that gave children their first opportunity to have a go at driving, parking and manoeuvring around traffic cones.

For the fourth year running the Fun Day hosted ‘Crackley’s Got Talent’.  Record numbers of children had signed up this year and everyone was given their chance in the limelight.  Their acts included lots of singing, dancing, juggling, comedy and sport!  Of course there was also lots of audience participation and support.

For the first time this year visitors had the choice of a hog roast alongside the ever popular BBQ and amazing salads. It proved a huge hit and absolutely no one went home hungry.

Although the final figures are still to come in it looks like the PTA have raised £4,200, a really fantastic total.  The money will be put to good use buying equipment for the children at school and funding school events.

Crackley always puts on a good event but the Fun Day could not have happened without the great teamwork and efforts of all the people who worked behind the scenes in the build-up and on the day.  Our thanks go to all those members of the PTA and other volunteers who donate their time, help run a stall, provided food and supported in so many other ways.

It’s been very egg-citing for Junior 1. The egg incubator (kindly provided by Crackley’s PTA) has been in full warming mode, the eggs provided by, Caretaker, Mr Rawson have been tended carefully and twenty-one days after their arrival the chicks began to hatch. Great excitement rippled across the school and many children found a reason to visit the Junior 1 classroom to see the new arrivals.

This year amongst the 21 eggs there were a number of different rare breeds including a cuckoo hen.

Hatching chicks has become a regular part of Junior 1’s curriculum. It is a lovely cross curricular topic that can be linked into many different parts of the curriculum - Science, English and even Geography and RE!

The younger children always really enjoy the topic.  Junior 1 teacher, Mrs George, commented, “There’s always a great sense of anticipation and excitement attached to this learning project and the children produce fabulous work,” and added, “We are very grateful to Mr Steve for bringing us the eggs into school and the PTA who donated the incubator several years back.”

Once hatched the chicks are placed in a brooder and then after several further days in school they are returned to a carefree life on Farmer Steve’s property. Happily, any children that might have missed the egg-citement should now pop along during break times to J1G, as 12 duck eggs have been placed in the incubator and will be ready to hatch after 28 days. It goes without saying that our 'eagle eyed' students will no doubt notice any differences between the chicks and eggs, so watch this space! 

They came, they saw and...carried away the cup. Junior 4 pupils Sebastian Lloyd-Evans, Henry Fox and Alfie Blenkinsop were part of the victorious Old Leamingtonian 'Scorpion' and 'Wasps' sides that dominated play on both Saturday and Sunday by securing victory every time they took the field of play.

National Tournaments rarely get more prestigious than the Tigers Challenge, so the Crackley Games Department are keen to transfer the boys' club winning ways to ISA titles when the opportunity presents.  

For some, Bank Holidays are for relaxation, a good book and perhaps a sip of something cold on a warm day. Not so for Team Crackley, as our keen runners will always muster to represent the school when the region's honours are at stake.

So it is with some delight that we at the Chronicle can report an excellent showing from the massed Crackley ranks at the Abbey Fields event. Within the Family Fun race, Oliver Camargo-Jones (J4H) and Soren Wasley (J4J) placed 5th and 6th respectively. Whilst in the fiercely contested Schools Challenge Race Kaena Wasley (J6L) placed third in the girls' race and Oliver Farquharson (J6H) also placed third in the boys' race. Well done one and all, Crackley’s athletic prowess is safe in your hands.

Mr Duigan was delighted to report that Crackley's Chess prowess now transends the key stages and genders. No doubt his previous call to action for girls to take to the chequerd board definately stirred 'girl power' as Julia Kozan (J1W) swept the pieces and players to one side as she secured Silver overall in the Under 7 Category of the recent Mega Finals.

Julia is now preparing for the Giga final and we at the Chronicle have our fingers crossed that she might go one better. Huge congratulations also to Eden Oshri and Noah Cowlishaw who made it through to the Giga Final as well.

Pictured alongside Julia are two children who have come to denote Crackley's chess prowess. Both Theo Cowlishaw (J1W) and Andrew Gordon also qualified for the same Mega Final as Julia, only this time our chess duo were narrowly edged out of qualification to the upcoming Giga Final.

Aryan Mehta from J4J transferred his winning ways on his home court to victory on the road as he swept aside all-comers at the prestigious Buckinghamshire Summer Open.

After tasting victory in all his group matches he steadied his nerves and prepared for a tough tournament final - only to win in some style. Well done Aryan, we at the Chronicle are looking forward to news of your exploits from your upcoming Manchester Open. 

1st: Mars (254 points)

2nd: Venus (246 points)

3rd: Jupiter (228 points)

4th: Saturn (163 points)

Friday 8 and Saturday 9 June 2018

The Sudden Impulse Theatre Company is returning to Princethorpe College in June for two outdoor performances of William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors.

Believed to be one of Shakespeare's earlier written plays; The Comedy of Errors is a true farce ahead of its time. The story involves two sets of twins, separated at birth, being thrown together in a tale of mistaken identity.

The performances are open to the public and will take place on the Sixth Form Lawn as follows:

Friday 8 June - 6.30pm to 10.00pm

Saturday 9 June - 3.30pm to 7.00pm

A wonderful opportunity to bring a picnic, settle down in your camping chair and enjoy some perfect summer entertainment.

Tickets are available from www.suddenimpulse.co.uk priced at £12 adults or £10 for concessions. 

Please click on View Gallery to scroll through a few photos from this week's events. 

The RE Book of the Week is awarded to Beatrice Hieber in Junior 1 for her super recount and illustration of when the disciple Peter was put into jail for his beliefs.

Mrs Jackson-Mayne told the Chronicle that her work performed during her RE lessons with Mrs George was both informative and reflected excellent listening skills.

Father Kevin led assembly with the whole school on Thursday to explain to the children the significance of each month in the Liturgical Year. He explained that each month has a religious theme, where we can take time to reflect. With the sun streaming on to the lovely statue of Mary, in the hall, and flowers in bud, it seemed appropriate that we should be thinking of Mary in the month of May, given this new life reminds us of the beautiful things we can do by following Mary's example.

As part of their work on Pentecost in RE, Year 10 Princethorpe pupil and former RE captain at Crackley, Angela Hill came to talk to J2M about the Sacrament of Confirmation. She spoke about how the Holy Spirit has guided her through her life and the gifts which the Holy Spirit has given to her. She spoke about the name she chose and why this was important to her. As well as choosing her own Confirmation name, she also chose Richard, her brother, to be her sponsor.

U8 Rounders vs Kingsley 7 - 8 (loss)

Fielder of the Match: Matilda Hobson

U9 Girls Cricket vs Bilton Grange 176 - 190 (loss)

Player of the Match: Martha Summers

U10 ' A' Rounders vs Grace Dieu 12.5 - 12 (win)

Batter of the Match: Isla Berger

Fielder of the Match: Annamaria Kordas

U11 'A' Rounders vs Grace Dieu 9.5 - 10 (loss)

Batter of the Match: Emily Hennegan

Fielder of the Match: Evie Berger

U11 'A' Cricket vs Bablake loss by 79 runs

Crackley 37 for 8

Bablake 116 for 4

Player of the Match: Benedek Kordas for great bowling.

Match Report by Sidney Weir: It was a great match. Our fielding was very good, which meant we got a lot of wickets. We started very well. Unfortunately we lost, but the team were amazing. Well done.

U11 'B' Cricket vs Bablake loss by 1 run

Crackley 67 for 1

Bablake 68 for 3

Player of the Match:Sam James

The England Cricket Board have launched a new initiative to try and get more children into cricket at an early age called All Stars. 

Kenilworth's All Stars session is on a Sunday morning at the bright and early time of 9.30am-10.15am.  There is a free taster session at Kenilworth Cricket Club on Sunday 6 May 9.30am-10.15am and then the All Stars official 8 week cricket coaching course runs from Sunday 13 May. 

It is aimed at Reception to Year 3.  Sign up is online and the children receive a little kit pack once they are signed up.  Access to the All Stars website can be found by clicking here.

French Club is cancelled on Monday lunch time as staff will be attending the French trip.

J3 / J4 Athletics club next Tuesday after school is cancelled as staff are required to attend fixtures.

J5 / J6 Examination Prep Club is cancelled on Wednesday lunch time as staff will be attending the French trip.

J5 / J6 Cricket Club on Thursday afterschool is for J5 only as J6 will be in France.

Kenilworth Tennis Club are running Half Term and Summer Holiday Tennis Camps.  For more information please see the attached flyer.

Please find detailed below forms for externally provided clubs:

Karate Club

Irish Dancing

Chess Club

Guitar Ensemble

Ballet Dancing

Complete Cricket

Bayleaf Cookery Club

RugbyTots

Flute Ensemble

P Buzz

This week we got completely carried away with wedding fever! We have been finding out all about Prince Harry and Meghan, where they will be getting married and who might be a guest on the day. We had a go at writing lists; thinking of all the things that need to be remembered on the day, such as flowers, a dress, an old car, the bride and groom, the venue and the priest, or vicar or registrar. The children have all enjoyed taking part this week, and it is fair to say the staff have had lots of fun too; sharing our wedding dresses, photos and stories. 

We would like to wish Harry and Meghan great joy in the marriage, and I hope you all have fun watching the events over the weekend.  I would like to say thank you to the children for producing such fantastic art work for the school exhibition this week, and also for the positive and encouraging comments we have received. If you would still like to see your child’s painting, and wish to purchase their framed work, it will be on display outside Nursery until Tuesday next week. 

Have a great weekend. Please make sure you read this week's newsletter as it's packed with all the information you'll need.

Thank you to everyone who supported this event in anyway. It was a lovely day and we raised over £4,200 which is an amazing amount. Please click on to the News section of this edition of the Chronicle to find out more about this fantastic event.

We are recruiting two Administrator\Receptionists to work with the other School Office staff to provide the main contact point for all parents and visitors to Crackley Hall and to assist in the successful administration of the school.

The successful candidates will promote the smooth running and efficiency of the school, maintaining the ethos of a caring Christian school family with a Catholic base. They will be required to work closely with all other members of the office team to ensure continuity of service throughout the week.

Working hours:

Role 1: Part time, term time only plus INSET days, working between 9.00am and 5.30pm, Monday to Wednesday from September 2018, with some flexibility to work occasional school holiday dates.  Holiday is accrued on a full-time equivalent of 25 days and 8 days’ bank holiday, pro-rata for the role and is to be taken during school holidays.

Role 2: Part time, all year round, between 1.00pm and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday, ideally from June 2018.  Holiday is accrued on a full-time equivalent of 25 days and 8 days’ bank holiday, pro-rata for the role and is to be taken by agreement with the line manager.

Applications from candidates who wish to work term time only plus some school holiday cover will be considered

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: Friday 24 May 2018, at 3.00pm, although candidates are advised to apply immediately. Interviews are likely to be held week commencing 4 June at Crackley Hall School.

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

Lost

Harry Turvey in J3 has lost his named coat

Preetam Sidhu (J5R) has lost his named blazer, school shoes and PE Bag.