The Courier

Dear Parents

It has been a wonderfully sunny start to the new term and it has been great to see all of the children returning refreshed and ready to learn. I have managed to get into a number of lessons during the week and I have been enormously impressed with the calm, purposeful working atmosphere around the school.

I have been particularly impressed with two examples of the writing skills that the children have developed over the year. Firstly, in both Reception classes I had a chance to see some beautiful free written stories on the theme of well-known fairy tales. It never ceases to amaze me the progress that four and five-year-old children can make with their written English in the first two terms and, despite the significant period of learning from home, these children have an enormous amount to be proud of.  I was also invited down to the classes to see them perform their stories which was great fun.

The second class I looked at closely this week was Year 6. They were looking back at their English criterion writing, which is an opportunity for them to demonstrate the full range of their skills in a written assessment. With the guidance of their teacher and assistant, they worked carefully through everything they had written, checking for areas for improvement and putting into practice the mantra of self-regulation. Children can be hard on themselves at times, as can teachers in fact, but parachuting in from above it was clear to me that all the children, without exception, had achieved a level of independent writing that will absolutely prepare them for Key Stage 3 and beyond. Spellings, punctuation, handwriting, paragraphs, not to mention fronted adverbials, similes and metaphors, as well as writing for impact and addressing an audience. It was all in there. These two snapshots gave me a great insight into the journey of the children through the school and the many achievements that are so inspiring to see.

The central theme for all of us this term will be hard work and progress in the classroom. With sustained focus and concentration over the next 10 or so weeks in school, we can all earn the right to enjoy our summer holidays when they come around in July. Of course, as you can see in the calendar, we have other extracurricular events planned, including sporting fixtures and musical events, and all in all we have a great deal to look forward to over the coming months.

With best wishes for the term ahead.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

The weekly calendar can be viewed by clicking on the link below.  It details all the clubs, events, fixtures and additional information for the week. 

Weekly Calendar - 26 April 2021

You can log into SOCS here to view your child(ren)'s activities:

SOCS

After School provision can be booked through My School Portal.

MySchoolPortal 

Crescent School

Congratulations to the following Year 6 children who have been appointed as Sports Captains for the season.

This year the Sports Captains are:

• Athletics - Hattie and Joshua 

• Cricket - Isaac 

• Rounders - Amy 

• Netball - Sahana  

Well done to all the Captains. We look forward to hearing of your teams' successes.

When we read in the news or hear politicians talk of schools not providing a good enough education in lockdown and the huge numbers of children needing to 'catch up' to repair the damage, as a teacher or parent it does make your heart sink. 

Our Crescent pupils were engaged in their home learning tasks and live lessons exceptionally well right from the beginning. To demonstrate to the Crescent Community how efficiently we continued to provide a high standard of curriculum over the past 12 months, Class 6W completed their final GL Assessments just before the Easter Holidays. These assessments happen every year at this time, and we are happy to report that in all the core subjects of English, mathematics and science every single pupil scored at either the 'expected' standard for a Year 6 child or indeed 'exceeded' that expectation.

We are thrilled with their achievements as are they. These scores are shared with the children's secondary school destination as part of transition. They really do demonstrate how well the class has performed through the disruption of two lockdowns and the resilience they showed through all the changes to the 11+ and entrance exams. 

Class 6W parents will receive a record of their scores in their final reports this term.

Today we marked St George's Day with children in Red House wearing an item of red clothing or hair accessory with their uniform.  Red socks were a firm favourite with the children.

Crescent School

Our After School afternoon tea's have had a makeover and the children really love them. Mrs Green from the Kitchen is now in charge of making them and is offering the children a selection of nutritious, healthy food served on individual trays. This week's teas are pictured in the photo and we are sure you can see why the children have given them a big thumbs up!

It might even be worth booking in to After School just to give them a try!

Well done to the 26 pupils from Years 2-6 who submitted recordings for the Foundation-wide performance of You Will Be Found. In all there were 29 separate recordings:

• 4 from 6W
• 11 from 5F
• 6 from 4M
• 3 from 3Y
• 5 from 2W

Each recording earned 5 house points and the totals are as follows:

• Red House 60
• Blue House 55
• Yellow House 30

Congratulations to Red House!

We look forward to seeing and hearing the performance on social media this evening.

Friday 7 May

Year 6 Yellow House pupils will spend the day completing their Play Leader training.  Pupils should wear sports kit to school.

Saturday 22 May - 1.30pm to 5.30pm 

Princethorpe College warmly invites Year 5 pupils and their families to a specifically tailored Foundation Prep Schools Year 5 Taster Experience and Open Afternoon. Children to arrive at 1.30pm Parents to return for 4.15pm.

This special event is aimed at giving prospective pupils a taste of senior school life through a variety of sample lessons and their parents the opportunity to hear Ed Hester, the Headmaster, speak about the College’s ethos, aims and vision. Towards the end of the afternoon there will be the option for families to have a guided tour around the school and grounds conducted by Sixth Formers. Members of the Senior Leadership and Admissions Team will also be on hand to answer any questions you may have at the end of the tour.

Light refreshments, including the legendary Princethorpe cookies, will be available. The event will be very carefully managed within government guidelines. 

To sign up for this event please complete the online form here by 9.00am on Wednesday 5 May 2021.

We have had a wonderful start to term with many children being made JdV students:

• Abigail for Geography
• Isaac, Michael, Alyssa, Orla, Isla, Katie, Aryan S and Taran for Maths.
• Zac, Matthew and Herbie for Art
• Rohan for English
• Grace S for Science and DT
• Amy for PSHE

Congratulations to you all.

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

Weekly Class battle 25 March - 29 April 2021

The following children will receive a JdV for Maths practice:

• Lewis 2W - L100+

Well done Class 4M - and good to see 2W on the podium:

• 1st place - Class 4M with  23,287 points
• 2nd place - Class 3Y with  21,366 points
• 3rd place - Class 6W with   5,441 points

The players contributing the most points to their class were:

• 1st - Bryson (4M)
• 2nd - Shiv (3Y)
• 3rd - Matthew (2W)

Year 1 have been considering the issues our planet faces. Even at such a young age, the children felt a responsibility to do whatever they can to help. They have been creative in showing ways they can commit by doing simple things such as picking up rubbish, recycling more and choosing to walk to school. 

Today, Class 1S Outdoor Learning Club was blessed with glorious weather! We had fun in the sunshine. First, we played a game of Nature Bingo, looking for things such as leaves of different shapes, smooth and rough tree bark, catkins and bumble bees! To finish our session, we planted some sunflower seeds that the children are going to care for.

It is 'Aurevoir to French' and 'Hola to Spanish'. 2W have worked hard this week, learning their first few words of Spanish and making their own map of Spain

This week we began studying landscapes and cityscapes and where better to start than with the famous artist of Monet. We looked at his history and what influenced his style of impressionist painting before recreating his famous garden painting. As he loved painting outside, we too headed out with our palettes and brushes to become real life artists!

Edward in Year 3 got his photo in this month’s Horrible Histories for the Spartan costume he created during lockdown learning! He was so excited when the magazine arrived and he was in it! 

Well done Edward.

Crescent School

To finish off their Nonsense Poetry topic, 4M studied the famous poem, The Quangle Wangle's Hat by Edward Lear. Over the holiday, they drew the creatures from the poem and used their imaginations to think what they might look like. The results were fantastic, and they have made a beautiful display in our classroom. Some of them are here.

Well done, 4M!

Year 5 have been learning all about four figure grid references in their Geography lessons. They used their new skills to create fun board games to share with the other children. They came up with lots of brilliant ideas including treasure islands, lost birds and eco-disasters. The most fun of course, was in actually playing the games, which was enjoyed by everyone.

We had a fabulous start to our new history topic of the Monarchy this week. Heading outside into the gorgeous April sunshine, the children revelled in practising their collaborative skills to work as a group matching and ordering the British Monarchs from 1066 to the present day.

Plenty of maths thinking was involved in matching the clues with the pictures and of course placing the timeline in the correct chronological order. It really was one of the highlights of my week and shows all that's great about Primary education and life at Crescent.

For a two or three week period this year we will be focusing on one of the sayings in the School Promise. We will talk about this in assembly and in form period. It would be great if you could discuss this with your children at home and support the messages we are emphasising in school.

We continue with the category of Good Friends and focus on the theme of good manners. Simple acts of courtesy and kindness can make such a difference to our quality of life and it is something we value very highly at Crescent, as I know you do at home.

'We use our manners all the time'

Below are the details of the FoC Year Group Representatives. These reps will communicate with you on all our events via email, whatsapp or facebook. 

We will happily accept any of the following Crescent pre-loved uniform:

• School Blazers
• School Coats
• School Cardigans and Jumpers
• School Dresses (winter and summer) and Skirts
• School T-Shirts/Polo Shirts/PE Shorts/Skorts
• School Boaters
• School Bags
• School Tracksuits

Please do not include anything not on the list above e.g trousers, shirts etc. 

Uniform should be put into carrier bags and left by the box outside the main school entrance.  It will then be removed and kept in quarantine ready to be used when safe to do so.

Preloaded uniform enquiries can be made by emailing Vicky on the link below:

Preloved Uniform

Please click on the link below to view the lunch menu for next week: 

Lunch Menu - 26 April 2021 

Children are able to have either of the main options.

Olive Catering

Please find below term dates for 2020/21 and 2021/22:

The following items are stocked in the School Office and can be added to your account:

• Winter hats
• Scarves
• Gloves
• Ties
• Swimming hats
• Sports socks
• Hair bands
• Hair scrunchies
• Hair clips
• Sun hats
• Music group badges - Choir, Orchestra, String, Brass and Wind

Please do contact admin@crescentschool.co.uk in if you need any of the above items.

Crescent School Office

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

• Teacher of Art
• Key Stage 1 Teaching Assistant
• Key Stage 2 Teaching Assistant
• IT Infrastructure and Network Manager
• IT Engineer
• Teacher of Politics and History (Maternity Cover)
• Carpenter
• Events Assistant - Casual
• Exam Invigilators

Full details and information on how to apply are available on the Foundation website here:

www.princethorpe.co.uk/join-us

Should you know anyone who might be interested in these posts, please do share this information with them.

Cyber-crime – please be extra vigilant

Parents are asked to be vigilant when reading emails relating to the payment of school fees and any other items to the Foundation. You can protect yourselves by only making payments to us in line with our normal, published methods. Any email offering a large discount on fees for the coming academic year if paid immediately is fraudulent.

There has been no change to the bank details of Princethorpe College, Crackley Hall or Crescent and there is no intention to make any changes in the foreseeable future. Any electronic notification that appears to be from any of the Foundation schools changing these details may be fraudulent.  Our bank details are available on the Parent Bills, the Online Payment Portal and in the Information Booklet for each school, and only those details should be used.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or my colleagues in the Bursary if you are have any doubts about the correct details or indeed if anything appears suspicious.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class 1S How to Support Your Child - Trinity 2021

Mrs Stapleton
Class 1S Teacher

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class 2W - How to Support Your Child - Trinity 2021

Mr Webb
Class 2W Teacher

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class 3Y How to Support Your Child - Trinity 2021

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class 4M How to Support Your Child - Trinity 2021

Mrs Monteith 
Class 4M Teacher

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class 5F How to Support Your Child - Trinity 2021

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class 6W How to Support Your Child - Trinity 2021

Please note due to Covid restrictions, parents are unable to spectate at sports fixtures before 17 May 2021.  We will issue further information for any fixtures after this date.

In line with other local schools and Warwickshire County Council’s message below, please wear face coverings on school grounds (if you are able) when dropping off and collecting children. 

Please remember there is plenty of space around school to socially distance.

Many thanks for you for your co-operation.

Children or adults with symptoms must not enter school. Parents must check for symptoms each day before bringing their child into school.

The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:

• a high temperature – please, if you have not already done so, source a thermometer to check temperatures at home
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

Any children or adult who develops symptoms will need to leave the building as soon as possible and be tested for Covid-19.

Details on testing can be obtained at www gov uk/get-coronavirus-test or call the Test and Trace Helpdesk on 119.

Hand held thermometers will be used to check the temperature of any individual feeling unwell. Children who develop symptoms during the school day will be taken to the Meeting Room and their parents called to come and collect the child, as well as any siblings of the child.

Other members of the household should self-isolate for 10 days from when the symptomatic person first had symptoms, or until a negative test result is returned.

In the event of a positive test result the full protocols of test and trace will be followed www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works#

Children returning from restricted areas outside UK must self-isolate as advised by the government guidance before returning to school.