The Courier

The school took a team of 27 athletes from Years 4 to 6 to Saffron Lane Stadium in Leicester on Wednesday 10 May to compete against schools from across the Midlands in the Regional ISA Athletics.

Many of the children put in fantastic performances and were proud to achieve personal bests and four Crescent School pupils finished in first place and have qualified for the National Championships. (We are waiting to hear if we have any other qualifiers!)

Head of Games, Rachel McCollin praised the outstanding attitude adopted by the Crescent team who as always behaved impeccably despite the mixed weather conditions.

“We had an absolutely fabulous day,” commented Mrs McCollin, “I was very pleased with our results, there were many excellent individual performances that I am hoping will give us a fantastic finish overall. Out of our six teams, three reached the finals of the sprint relay. The children well and truly rose to the challenge of our ‘little school big ambitions’ motto!”

Winning their events and qualifying for the Nationals were:

Maxi E 1st Year 4 Long Jump

Year 4 Boys 1st Year 4 Boys Sprint Relay (Alex B, Maxi E, Zach J and Sam Y)

Other commendable results included:

Ava S 2nd Year 6 Rounders Ball Throw
Charlie M 3rd Year 6 High Jump
Ellie G 4th Year 6 600m
Sofie M 2nd Year 5 150m
Shiv P 4th Year 5 Cricket Ball Throw
Maisie T 6th Year 5 Rounders Ball Throw
Timi L 6th Year 5 60m Sprint
Alex T 8th Year 5 150m
Roisin C 3rd Year 4 60m Sprint
Alex B 5th Year 4 60m Sprint
Zach J (tbc top 8) Year 4 Cricket Ball Throw
Year 5 Girls 6th Sprint Relay
Year 4 Girls 5th Sprint Relay

The ISA National Track and Field Championships take place later this term on Monday 19 June, at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.

Fantastic new play panels have been installed in the Cosy Corner in the school playground thanks to sterling fundraising by Crescent’s amazing Friends of Crescent (FoC). The vibrant, interactive, educational panels provide pupils with even more fun, new equipment to play with at break and lunch times.

The panels have proved an instant hit with the children who have been queuing up to have a go at games such as 'pairs', 'rock, paper scissors', and a 'puzzle maze'. The new additions offering sensory development as well as social development opportunities with their hands on activities.

The new playground equipment was fully funded by the FoC through school discos, the parent quiz night and the Christmas bazaar.

FoC Chair, Inez de Koning, and FoC Secretary, Laura O’Connell, met with Headmaster, Joe Thackway, on Wednesday morning to see the new panels in place and just how successful the play panels are proving to be.

Inez de Koning said: “The FoC were delighted to fund the new playground panels and support the school in its project to develop the playground quiet area. It is lovely to see the children engaging with them so well.”

Joe Thackway, Headmaster, added: “Many thanks to the FoC for funding the new panels. They are a great addition to our Cosy Corner and proving popular with all ages.”

Crescent School’s Year 4 took part in a half-day music technology workshop at Princethorpe College on Thursday 11 May. Hosted by Director of Music, Gil Cowlishaw, the session took place in the College’s dedicated Music Technology suite.

The children were introduced to computer music production concepts such as sequencing and arrangement and then encouraged to experiment. Using the technology software Soundtrap, the children enjoyed creating music in a completely new way. Starting with drum machine patterns and loops and adding texture through the addition of bass, keyboard and even vocal lines the children each created their own unique piece.

After a short break and an obligatory Princethorpe cookie, the children moved on to explore the concept of harmony. This time using online song writing software Hookpad, the children built a pattern of major and minor chords and overlaid their own melodies. Finally, the children listened to their music in a variety of music styles including rock, pop, jazz and even reggae.

The Year 4s clearly enjoyed the workshop and exploring music in a new way. Mr Cowlishaw, commented, “We had lots of fun in our music technology taster, the children were all fantastic to work with and created some amazing pieces.”

Archivist, Catherine Lewis, visited Crescent School this week to explore the school’s long history. Crescent is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and will be commemorating its founding on Saturday 10 June with a 75th Anniversary Summer Fete.

Catherine is creating a series of special displays for the fete, that will be on show on the day. The archive room will have plenty of photos for old pupils to help identify, a special memory booth for Old Crescentians to share their own school memories and other fascinating memorabilia to explore. Old Crescentians can find out more about the 75th Anniversary Fete and register to attend here: https://connect.princethorpe.co.uk/event/75th-anniversary-fete

While at Crescent, Catherine spoke to Assistant Head Sarah Webb and took the opportunity to go down into the cellars to see what treasures she could uncover. She was particularly on the lookout for items of history to help her update A History Of Crescent. Produced for the 60th anniversary back in 2006, Catherine will be adding two new chapters to the booklet this year, focusing on 2007 to 2017 and then from 2017 to the present day. She is especially on the lookout for pre 2017 editions of the Circular but would love to hear from anyone who has anecdotes and memories they would be happy to share. Either come along to the fete to talk to her, or email her directly to at catherinelewis@princethorpe.co.uk

We have had some lovely entries for our Sun Safety Poster competition. Thank you.

Just a reminder that the closing date for this competition is 26 May 2023. Details are below: