The Courier

Congratulations to Fin who, after a lengthy and rigorous selection process, has been chosen to represent Warwickshire in U13 hockey.  This is a tremendous achievement for someone of Fin's age.

As part of the County selection process, pupils are introduced to England Hockey’s ‘Player Pathway’. The programme provides Development and Academy Centres at progressive staged steps to help all junior hockey players realise their potential.

Fin will now attend Warwickshire Academy training and will be representing Warwickshire in his first county match this weekend.  Fin was thrilled to be awarded his Warwickshire County tie in assembly today.

Well done Fin.  We are all very proud of you.

Tuesday 15 January was Internet Safety Day at the Crescent School.  Pupils, staff and parents participated in informative workshops that explored the important topic in age appropriate ways.  The day was facilitated by internet safety expert Paul Hay from PCLS Training, who has worked with all of the Foundation’s schools, and it reinforced the school’s regular classroom learning.

Years 1 to 4 started the day with a special assembly that was then followed up with individual class visits.  Paul spoke to them about the basic rules for internet safety, tailored to the software and devices they might regularly use.   Reception had their own special storybook session.

Years 5 and 6 took part in an internet safety lesson.  Their session began by exploring how the children used the internet, games and apps and particularly how they used social media.  They discussed how social media works and participated in a class role-play to reinforce key learning points.  Paul also shared his five top tips for internet safety: Know your friends, never arrange to meet somebody in real life without taking an adult with you, ensure your user settings are kept private, never post pictures you wouldn’t want everybody to see and if you are worried tell a grown up you trust.

In the evening the school hosted a dedicated parents internet safety session that over 70 parents attended.

All in all it was an informative and successful Internet Safety Day.

Further internet safety information and links can be found at www.pclstraining.com/links or parents with specific questions are welcome to contact Paul directly on paul.hay@pclstraining.com

On Monday 14 January Mrs McCollin ran Play Leader training for Red House Year 6 pupils who this term take responsibility for Pastoral duties. As Play Leaders they will organise and lead lunchtime play sessions for the children in Reception and Pre-Prep.

In their Play Leader training the Year 6s learnt about the qualities of a good leader, the importance of clear and concise communication and how to lead the younger children through activities and games.

Drawing upon knowledge from their own sporting heroes, such as Virat Kholi, the captain of the Indian cricket team, they identified the skills and attributes of good leaders and analysed their own leadership strengths and development areas. 

Then they looked at different methods of communication, and the need to be clear and concise with their instructions, before heading outside for the physical aspects of the course, playing and leading.

The pupils had the opportunity to lead their peers through a variety of warm up games before planning and adapting their own games and activities to run.

Lucy and Olivia were the first to put their new skills to the test on Tuesday lunchtime taking Reception students on a Jungle Trek.

Mrs McCollin commented, “Red House Year 6s took part in the training attentively.  They will be super Play Leaders and I am positive they are going to have a great term running exciting activities for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.” 

This week saw the first School Council meeting of 2019 and we were joined by Mrs Causer as a representative of the FoC.  Mrs Causer was interested in our discussion about fundraising ideas for the Trinity term and our decision on our chosen charity will be announced soon.  She also gathered thoughts on what the children would like in terms of equipment, play apparatus etc that could be funded or subsidised by the FoC. They were very enthusiastic about climbing, swings and toys but we think the swimming pool and ice-rink may have to wait!

This is the last meeting of the current School Council as we will change representatives at half term. We thank all the council members for their commitment and involvement over the last few months and hope they now have a good understanding of what it takes to be a school councillor. 

Mrs Stapleton and Mrs Monteith

A number of new children have visited FROG (Fully Rely On God) Club this term which has been great to see. Not all have active faiths or go to church but they have shown an interest in learning more about what the Bible teaches us about Christian values and how to 'Live life to the Max!' (John 10:10). 

We learn through discussions, games, challenges and this week, through drama. From finding stories about Jesus in the book of Luke, to presenting the story to the rest of the group and discussing how this could be applied today, it was a very fulfilling time together!

Junior da Vincis have been awarded to Joseph and Josh for their Creativity and understanding of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness - well done!

The following children received Certificates of Excellence from the Playground Supervisors in Assembly this morning:

• Fred for good listening and tidying skills this week
• Zebedee for always being willing to help others both in the lunch hall and in the playground

Well done to you.

Uniform order forms are available from the school office or contacting Mrs Browne (Foundation Shop Manager):