The Courier

As we move towards the end of Lent and towards the great feast of Easter, I come to the end of my first term as Foundation Principal. Having been able to take a step back and look at all our schools from a different perspective has been exciting, interesting and also very enjoyable.

As an Independent Schools’ Inspector (ISI) I visit many other schools and whilst all schools have pictures of happy children and shiny facilities on their websites, this is not always the reality. What is absolutely clear to me is that that our schools all have their own special character and shared identity, that “spirit of family” - based on shared values of kindness, courtesy, respect for others, valuing difference and diversity, compassion, forgiveness and friendship – is uniformly strong and is in the DNA of all our schools. Similarly, the sense of purpose, direction and amazing opportunities both inside and outside the classroom are genuine strengths of our schools. I have to say that I really enjoyed spending a few days at Crescent School – my highlight was teaching a Maths class to Year Six who were bright, enthusiastic and good fun to be with.

One of the reasons for the quality of our schools is the quality of our Heads. We are fortunate to have such strong leaders who are passionate, energetic and caring. Our Heads also listen; to their staff, their pupils and their parents and they continuously strive to keep looking at ways to improve. I want to thank them here for all their hard work and particularly say well done to Mr du Toit in his first term.

So, what are the challenges for the Foundation? There are many of course but one major focus for me has been (and will continue to be) to ensure that our schools continue to offer both great quality of education – academic, pastoral care, co-curricular opportunities – alongside great value-for-money.

Another key focus is how we take on the challenge of moving towards “net zero”. There is much we are doing but still much more needed to be done and we are currently looking at the following areas:

·         Carbon and Energy;  

·         Water;

·         Waste and Resource Use;  

·         Biodiversity;

·         Clean Air;

·         Construction and Refurbishment;  

·         Catering, Food Sourcing, Food Waste and Packaging;  

·         Daily Transport, Commuting, Educational Visits, Conferences and Meetings;  

·         Operations;

·         Strategic planning of campuses;

·         Training, Teaching, Learning and Awareness. 

We will publish a strategic vision for the Foundation in the new academic year; optimising our resources, sustainability planning and being as financially and operationally efficient as possible, will be key planks of our plans.

What about challenges for you as parents? Again, there will be many, I am sure. With my own children being 31, 29 and 25-years-old I am conscious of how challenging I found parenting and am very aware how much children’s experiences have changed in many ways over the past 30 years.  As such I would ask you to reflect on two questions, which relate to their health and wellbeing:

·         Am I happy with my child’s relationship with digital technology?

·         Does my child get enough sleep?

If your answer to either of these is no, then there are many articles on these subjects for parents available, here is just one.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your support and hope you all manage to enjoy some high-quality time with your families over the Easter break.

With best wishes

Ed Hester
Foundation Principal

Dear Parents

What an exciting week we have had here in school to end the term! It started with a wonderful spring concert performance from the upper school children on Monday. Mrs Barnes had prepared the choir, the orchestra and all the individual instrumentalists beautifully and they played with confidence in front of a large audience. Music continues to play an intrinsic part in our school life and is something we value very highly. Pound for pound, for sheer quality and breadth, there will be few schools who can match what we are able to put on musically. Very well done to all those who took part.

Wednesday was the opportunity for the Year 2 children to perform their annual school play, Animal Rumble Grumble. I commented at the end that it almost felt like we were somewhere in the West End of London, such was the quality of the singing and acting on view. Again, very well done to the team who put this together and a special mention for Mrs Bowdige and Miss Hansen for all the additional work that they did in bringing this together. It has taken me a day or two to stop humming some of the tunes I have to say, but in a good way, of course.

Thursday saw our annual Bwengu fundraising activities out on the school field. Fundraising is a key part of the good citizen element of our school promise and we take some pride in our long-term commitment to Bwengu village in Malawi. As usual, the children took part with great gusto, and we will await the final results of the fundraising in due course. I visited East Africa some years ago and found it such a beautiful and welcoming part of the world, with fascinating cultures and natural history to explore. As I say, something we are proud to be a part of in our own small way.

Finally, today was the day for our Easter service in the school hall. This was led by our Year 5 class who acted out the story of holy week with songs, thoughts and reflections along the way. For all of our families who are celebrating over the coming weeks, I wish you a peaceful and happy family Easter.

Despite it being a short half term, it has certainly been action-packed and many of you will have had the opportunity to come into the school on one or more occasion. In the meantime, we have been hard at work putting together next term’s calendar which will be with you very shortly, both electronically and in the usual hard copy format. With co-curricular clubs already set up, we are well set to go, and we look forward to another Crescent term of hard work, endeavour and hopefully a bit of fun thrown in as well.

Looking ahead to the Easter break, I don't have any great plans to get away, mostly due to the fact we are redecorating the outside of the house, the price of which is eye watering as you might imagine. We are hoping at some point that all of our children will be in the same place at the same time, with James coming back up from Dartmouth for a couple of weeks and my daughter Lorna returning from university in Sheffield. Whatever you have planned, I hope it goes smoothly and I look forward to seeing you and the children back safely at school on Monday 17 April.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

As part of Year 6 transition, we feel it may be beneficial that the children take greater responsibility for their belongings before entering the world of their senior school. In the past, if the children forget something we will usually phone for them but this will not be available at their next school, for this reason the children will not be able to call home from next term. 

I am sure the children will learn to have greater responsibility for their belongings and the benefits will be felt at their senior school.

Thank you for your support with this.

The Trinity term is when Year 3-6 go on their residentials. The children are so excited.

Each family will receive an information booklet by email and there will be important information to read and an electronic forms to complete to ensure that your children are safely cared for.

Each residential will be holding a drop-in session, it is good if you can go along to hear key messages and any questions can be answered.

Please keep an eye out for the dates of these in the Courier and the Calendar.

Year 5 have received a class reader to enjoy over the Easter holidays, Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo.  If they have already read this book then please encourage them to read another book by the same author.

I am happy for pupils to share the book with you, listen to it or read it themselves. They will all need to have completed reading their book by the start of the Trinity Term so that we can work from it together.

Rehearsals have already started for the Year 6 summer production. They are discovering that it is difficult to be a presence on stage and act with scripts in their hands. Their holiday work is for them to learn their lines and also their prompts. I am sure you will have great fun as a family practising and supporting this at home over the holidays.

It promises to be a great production.

Mrs Webb and Miss Bowdige

As part of our Coronation Celebrations our house competition for this term will be to make a crown (or head dress). There will be one winner in each House and children can proudly share their entries at a parade in school on Friday 5 May. All entries will be awarded housepoints and there will be prizes for the winning crowns. We look forward to marking this very special celebration so have fun creating your Crescent Crowns to mark the Coronation of King Charles!

Please click below to view the lunch menu for next school week, children are able to have either the Main or Vegetarian option. 

Lunch Menu 17 April 

Crescent School

Below is a link to view the Trinty Term Calendar.  

Click on the link below to view the Music Lesson timetable next week:

Music Lessons - 17 April 

Lessons may not be able to be rearranged if children do not have their instruments in school.

Crescent School’s swimmers put in an awesome performance at the Rugby And District Primary Swimming Gala last weekend coming away with a huge haul of medals and certificates.

The event took place at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Centre on Saturday 18 March. It was the first Primary School swimming gala since 2019 and what a fantastic afternoon and evening of thrilling races it was.

Crescent have historically done very well in this gala, with plenty of friendly rivalry with local school Bilton Juniors. When the final tally of points was added up this year, Crescent School was victorious, winning the gala overall with 126 points, just 8 points ahead of second place Bilton CofE Junior School, Paddox Primary School came in third place with 110 points. A truly fantastic achievement especially as both these schools are three form entry with over 100 students in each year compared to our 24 pupils to select from

Results:

Year 5 Girls Breaststroke 1st place – Sofie 
Year 5 Boys Backstroke 1st place – Alex G
Year 6 Boys Backstroke 1st place – Sam 
Year 6 Girls Freestyle 1st place – Ellie 
Year 5 Boys Freestyle Relay 1st place – Harry , Zac and Maxi 
Year 6 Girls Medley Relay 1st place – Ellie, Grace C and Ava 
Year 5 Boys Breaststroke 2nd place – Sam Bierton
Year 5 Girls Freestyle 2nd place – Maisie   
Year 5 Boys Freestyle 2nd place – Timi 
Year 6 Boys Freestyle 2nd place – Alex 
Year 5 Girls Freestyle Relay 2nd place – Alice, Hattie and Sophie   
Year 5 Girls Medley Relay 2nd place – Leela, Sofie and Maisie   
Year 5 Boys Medley Relay 2nd place – Alex G, Sam B, Timi 
Year 6 Boys Medley Relay 2nd place – Sam, Charlie, Alex 
Year 6 Girls Freestyle Relay 2nd place – Mya, Grace M and Chloe 
Year 6 Girls Breaststroke 3rd place – Mya 
Year 6 Boys Breaststroke 3rd place – Charlie 
Year 6 Girls Backstroke 3rd place – Ava 
Year 5 Girls Backstroke 4th place – Leela 
Year 6 Boys Freestyle Relay 4th place – Harry, Finlay and Yash  

It was an absolutely fantastic effort by all of the swimming team, who not only worked incredibly hard in the pool but also supported and encouraged each other wonderfully from the side, they were a credit to the school.

A special thank you to Mrs Tucker and Mrs Gane for helping with the organisation and supervision of the team on the day.

Last week, Crescent School took part in British Science Week, a national celebration of Science run by the British Science Association. Crescent School was delighted to welcome parents into school to share their experiences of working in ‘science’ careers. Pupils across the school from Year 1 up to Year 6 found out just how important science is to society today. Hearing directly from those working in medical fields, through research, engineering and on to design and production, inspired them all while developing their understanding of science connections to our world today.

We started the week with a special assembly and were delighted to welcome Mr Poulton and Dr Rossouw, who spoke to the children about their work. As a Mechanical Engineer, Mr Poulton spoke about how his love of taking things apart and putting them back together helps him to solve problems in his work while, Biochemist, Dr Rossouw explained how chemical elements are the building blocks of the world and how she uses chemistry to keep water clean.

We are immensely grateful to all the parents who volunteered to talk to the children over the week. It was incredible to see the children’s enthusiasm and engagement with their speakers and we hope you weren’t all too overwhelmed by all their fantastic questions.

Our speakers included:

Class 6W welcomed:
Mr Sheppard - Chemical Engineer
Mr Sheppard is responsible for designing processes which turn raw materials into useful products. Pupils avidly listened when he spoke about his job of working on dangerous oil refineries across the world and designing new ways to split water into green hydrogen using an electrolyser.
Mr Capper - Supply Chain, Demand and Supply Balancing Director
Pupils were intrigued by the design and engineering process at Jaguar Land Rover. They learnt about design, supply, engineering and production and some amazing facts - that every 45 seconds a car is manufactured!
Mrs Banks – Biomedical Scientist
The pupils learnt about haematology including all the different components of blood, how scabs are formed in the important process of coagulation and how magic blood is used in transfusions. It was a brilliant insight into blood and how it is our body’s life force! There was great excitement at lots of free gifts from Sysmex too!

Class 5F welcomed:
Mrs Remi-Omosowon - Architect and Mr Matthews - Architectural Technician
They provided an insight into which materials in construction are low, medium or high on the carbon indicator. The pupils learnt about both traditional and alternative materials.
They shared the software they have developed for schools to use.
Mr Elshazly BDS. MOSRCS.FDSRCS.MSc - Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon
Pupils first learnt about the history of surgery in barber shops and why the barber poles we see today are red and white! They found out that it can take 11 to 13 years after your medical degree to train to be a specialised surgeon like Mr Elshazly. They were full of amazement at the head and neck operations that were carried out and the different challenges that surgeons faced. It was fascinating for them to realise that our mouths are not unique and many variants are perfectly normal. They enjoyed handling prosthetics, models of teeth and eyes which have all been donated to Crescent School.
Dr Mercer – Design Researcher
Dr Mercer delivered the valuable message that products are made to be used by people and therefore the design has to be useful for people to be able to interact with them – the user centred design process. Dr Mercer has worked on all sorts of famous products including BBC iPlayer and radio. His talk related well to DT in school and how we need to think of the customer.

Class 4C welcomed:
Mrs Poulton – Specialist Paediatric Gastroenterology Dietician Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Pupils were taken on an amazing journey of the digestive system and how children with illness are assessed, diagnosed and treated for dietary and nutritional problems.
Dr Kazem – Avionic Systems Engineering
Dr Kazem demonstrated to pupils how you build systems for a space craft and the pupils were challenged to think of the pros and cons of automation and artificial intelligence. The children loved learning about heuristics, defining and reviewing rules in a game which involved everyone being able to access sweets!

Class 3S welcomed:
Mr Hosegood – Mechanical Engineer
The pupils learnt about the safety, structure and materials that are used to engineer car seats to match the needs of customers. Mrs Johnson and Mrs Calder were able to try out 16 point moveable car seats.
Mrs Khunti – Clinical Optometrist
The pupils learnt how the eye works and how we see, what happens when you have your eyes checked and different solutions to help sight problems. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed being able to do eye tests and handle some of the technical equipment. They learnt interesting facts:
- More than 80% of the information that we use to learn comes through our eyes.
- During the day your eyes use as much energy as your legs would need to walk 80 kilometres – about the same as walking for 16 hours without resting

Class 2W welcomed:
Dr Poskett – Obstretics and Gynaecology
A great insight into the different stages of development of a baby inside the mother’s tummy. Fascinating information and the pupils did not stop asking questions. Linked beautifully to their topic of human life cycles. 
Mr Burgstaller - Engineer Electric Cars
An insight into how an electric car works and the electronics involved. Simple explanation of electronics. Class 2W were so excited to have the opportunity to build electric circuits.

Class 2E welcomed:
Mrs Akinola-Amadi MBE – Chartered Engineer – Designer and Innovator
Pupils were amazed to discover just how important engineers are to construction when Mrs Akinola-Amadi spoke to them about her work innovating, designing and problem solving for buildings. They were impressed by the amazing hotel she talked about and loved the cartoon where Yewande was the super hero!

Class 1S welcomed:
Mr Thompson – General Manger UK Mane
The pupils enjoyed tasting different flavours and learnt that flavour perception comes from all our different senses and not just our taste buds.
Dr Idu – GP
Pupils were interested to find out all the different aspects to the role of a GP.
Mr Woolley - Landscape Architect
Shared with the pupils his role and how through the art and practice of designing outdoor environments, beautiful and useable gardens, parks, rooftop and private gardens are created.

Year 4 welcomed Eve Hamuza into school on Wednesday 22 March. Eve, who grew up in Malawi, visited the school to talk to the children about life in her country and in the village of Bwengu in particular. Her visit was organised by Ms Forth to support the class’s Geography topic this term.

Every year the Year 4s study Bwengu as a less economically developed area, comparing and contrasting it to their local town of Rugby. Eve’s visit helps bring the topic to life. She brought with her a large bag full of models and artefacts for the children to examine and was greeted with much enthusiasm and excitement. She talked animatedly about life in Malawi, explaining to the children about the houses rural people live in, the food they eat and the daily challenges they face. Eve had several different scale models of houses. Also in her bag were bowls, cups and scoops all ingeniously created from local fruits and trees. She had intricately carved mortars and pestles that are commonly used to make flour and her treasure trove included an example of a Malawian drum and a very popular local game played with a board and beans.

It was a very interesting session, the children were fascinated and couldn’t wait to examine Eve’s artefacts. They asked lots of intelligent questions and were interested to discover the similarities and differences between the two areas.

Thanks go to Eve for coming to talk to the children, it was an engrossing afternoon for all.

Crescent School has a Green Team who are championing sustainability, and specifically about how we can improve energy savings and our recycling efforts.

Working in our Green Team for the rest of this school year are:
Year 2 Eve and Elliott 
Year 3 Thomas and Ava 
Year 4 Patrick and Toni 
Year 5 Grace and Harry 
Year 6 Poppy and Saira 

After the Trinity Term the team will change, as so many pupils were interested in taking part.

So far, the Green team have had two meetings and they are now working on:

• A small polite sticker to highlight when computers/lights are left on.
• A new information poster for all the red recycling bins in school so that staff and pupils are educated about what can be recycled in school.
• A poster to advertise the new pen recycling that is being introduced in school.
• Planning an educational assembly on recycling for the Trinity Term.
• An evaluation of what we do already in school and what we still need to do.

They have already proposed some changes to Mr Thackway, including joining the Big Battery Hunt and creating three House gardens for bees.

The team have made a great start, their enthusiasm and motivation are inspiring to us all.

We mentioned in assembly on Friday that Ramadan has started this week for all Muslim people across the world. For those Crescent families who are observing Ramadan this year, we hope it goes well for you and we look forward to recognising Eid-al-Fitr when it comes around in April.  

Good luck to Year 6 Ellie competing for Warwickshire in the Primary School Cross Country National Championships at Prestwold Hall, Loughborough on Saturday 25 March.

Ellie qualified, along with Bella and Sam B to represent Rugby and District at the County Championships which was due to be held at The Croft School on Saturday 11 March. Unfortunately, due to the cold spell of weather the County Finals were cancelled, and a decision was made to take the top three runners from each age group and area of Warwickshire to the National Finals, of which Ellie was one. 

Good luck Ellie. 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to fundraising this year. 4C have done a sterling job creating games and competitions for you all. I will tally up what we have raised so far during the holidays, but we are well on our way to reaching our target. Any sponsor money from 4C please bring in next term.

We had some amazing entries for our Easter Garden competition.  The winners are:

• 1st Place - Maggie (5F)
• 2nd Place - Hannah (1Q)
• 3rd Place - Niamh (1Q)

They all received an Easter Egg as a prize - we don't think they will last long!

Friday 5 May 2023

On Friday 5 May, we are coming together as a school to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles. This will involve an afternoon off timetable, a picnic lunch, a range of games to play, races, singing the National Anthem and maybe even an ice-cream.  All we ask is that the children come to school dressed in red, white and blue. It will be a great memorable occasion.

Ms Forth and  Mrs Webb

In our Good News Assembly this morning we awarded School Promise certificates to recognise the children’s excellent behaviour as Good Friends, Good Learners or Good Citizens. 

Well done to:

• Emma  – Good Friend for always using beautiful manners and is gentle and caring in her play.
• Aydin  – Good Learner for a determined effort to do his best.

• Emily - Good Learner for always working hard, trying her best and seeking out opportunities to challenge herself across the curriculum.
• Reegan Pandhal - Good Citizen for being a good role model to the class, always keen and willing, and always demonstrating good manners around school.

1Q

• Hannah - Good Learner for always being focused and trying her best in every lesson.
• Oore- Good Citizen for always being eager to keep our school environment clean and tidy.

2E

• Gwen - Good Learner for always concentrating and engaging with learning, resulting in super progress.
• Hermione - Good Learner for building super resilience in her learning and being willing to have a go. Lovely progress as a result.

2W

• Jack - Good Learner for working hard with a positive attitude to achieving his best.
• Flora - Good Friend for being thoughtful and kind to all.

3S

• Nimeeta - Good Citizen for always showing her best in everything she does. She is the epitome of the School promise being a Good Friend, Learner and Citizen.
• Everly - Good Friend for always being aware when someone isn’t feeling their best and is quick to help and support them.

4C

• Zac - Good Learner for making good progress across the curriculum.
• MingYi - Good Friend for always making the right choices.

5F

• Maisie - Good Friend for always treating others with care and respect.
• Hattie - Good Learner for her much improved attitude and achievement in lessons.

6W

• Saira - Good Friend for being gentle and caring.
• Olivia - Good Learner for always being calm and sensible and never gives up.

In the Celebration Assembly on Friday 16 December, the House Point winners for each class were awarded with a book token.  

Congratulations to the following children:

It has been a bumper week for Junior da Vinci students this week.

• Maisie in 5F double da Vinci student in English.  
• Esme, Zara and Tegan in 6W achieve theirs in English as does Marcie in 1S and Thomas in 3S.
• Lara, Alex and Bella in 6W achieve theirs in Art, as does Zac in 4C.
• Ellie, Esme, Grace C, Grace M and Ava in 6W achieve theirs in PE & Games.
• Ava in 6W also achieves Junior da Vinci status in Science & DT, as does Zara, Annalise and Esme.

Congratulations to you all this week.

Mrs Symons
JdV Lead

Promise Badges are very special and are awarded at the end of each term to one child in Pre-Prep (PP) and one child in the Upper School (US) for each of the three promise strands: Good Friends, Good Learners, Good Citizens.

The children listed below have embodied the qualities of the school promise this term and can wear their new badges with pride.

Pre-prep

• Good Learner - Sahiba - For her resilience and always trying her best.

• Good Friend - Isla - For consistently being a good friend to everyone.

• Good Citizen - Felicity - For consistently upholding all aspects of the school promise.

Upper School

• Good Learner - Max T - For fantastic progress in core subjects.

• Good Friend - Chloe - For being a reliable friend and helping to sort out any issues.

• Good Citizen - Oliver W - For his impeccable manners and kind attitude to all.

This week's word superstars are:

• 500,000 words - Seren (3Y)
• 1 million words - Harry and Tegan (6W)

This week its our overall termly Word Wizards and Top Quizzers:

Top Quizzers are:

• 3S Isabella 26 books read
• 4C Toni 11 books read
• 5F Harry 9 books read
• 6W Zahra 16 books read

Word Wizards are:

• 3S Aria 712,000 words read
• 4C Nora 900,000 words read
• 5F Alex T 1.1million words read
• 6W Poppy 1.1million words read

Mrs Nelson
Teaching Assistant

Thank you to Class 4M for plenty of organisng and everyone who supported fundraising this year. The photo are the winners of the games.

I will let you know the total raised next term.

Pre-Prep reading certificates have this week been awarded to:

• Alice
• Emma
• Erica
• Freddie
• Hazel
• Isabel
• Jed
• Joshua
• Oliver
• Sophia

Well done to this week's Artists and Scientists of the Week:

Artists

• Sophia (4C)
• Sophie (4C)
• Zac (4C)
• Alex (6W
• Lara (6W)

• Annalise (6W)
• Ava (6W)
• Bella (6W)
• Esme (6W)
• Zara (6W)

Crescent School

Results for Battle 16 - 23 March 2023.  Classes 2E, 2W, 5F, 6W against each other - average score per class member.

• 1st 2W 43
• 2nd 5F 18
• 3rd 2E 16

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Eve 2W
• 2nd Katie 2W
• 3rd Emily 5F

Well done, 2W! 🏆

Last week most improved speedsters in the studio are:

No battle over the Easter Holidays - Get those JDVs in the Garage!

TT Rock stars will block 2x, 5x, 10x, 11x on jamming if you are efficient at them, so you cannot pick easy ones just to score more points in the completion! 

Please note only the children should play on their account or it influences the level appropriate to them.

Some of the things the children have been learning...

Our focus text A New Home for a Pirate inspired us to write a pirate’s packing list. We also created individual treasure maps and labelled key features. We have investigated objects that float and sink and made simple predictions.

In Maths, we have been investigating simple capacity. We have revisited ways to make 10 and practised recalling number bonds.

We have explored ways we can keep our bodies and minds healthy.

Arielle talked about Norooz (Persian New Year) and the children decorated eggs, symbolic of the festival. Thank you Arielle!

Some of the things the children will be learning in the weeks to come...

We will be starting a new topic, ‘Once Upon a Time’ when we will be using traditional tales. We will be looking at typical story language and exploring characters. We will be investigating materials and finding out which materials are best for building a house.

In phonics we have been introduced to blends...

str as in straw

thr as in three

shr as in shred

scr as in scratch

and started to revise phase 3 digraphs;

ch   sh   th   ng   ai

How to help your child at home...

• Practise recall of number bonds to 10
• Reinforce doubles to 20. Encourage the children to share small amounts and halve numbers
• Continue to practise cursive letters
• Share traditional stories such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, and Jack and the Beanstalk. Talk about the sort of language used. Look at different versions of the same story

What’s going on next half term/notices/information...

Thank you all for meeting with me recently at the parent’s consultation evenings. Next term there will be chance to come into class for a parent’s Show and Tell. This is an opportunity for the children share their Reception Learning Journey. More details will be sent nearer the time.

It was with great excitement that we started our Forest School programme this half term. Forest School provides an opportunity for a huge amount of learning to take place such as, children taking ownership of their learning, developing problem solving skills, taking and managing risks and caring for the environment. 

So far this term we have been engaging our senses every week, trying to notice the changes to our Jubilee Wood site. We’ve taken inspiration from nature using ‘deer ears’ to listen to the world around us and our ‘eagle eyes’ to search for insects and signs of Spring. We also walked with ‘fox feet’ to creep around without being heard.  

We’ve built homes for hedgehogs, thinking about appropriate habitats and what different animals might need to keep them safe, warm and dry. The children used a whole variety of materials and made some fabulous homes.  

This week we were fuelling our curiosity by exploring colours in nature. After searching the site for different coloured ‘wool worms’ and placing them in the order we found them we discussed why animals and plants may want to be camouflaged, but others want to stand out.  

I am very much looking forward to having time with all classes in the Trinity term as part of our Outdoor Learning curriculum. 

Year 1 were welcomed by St Mark's Church in Bilton,  to bring their RE lessons to life with a fascinating tour and treasure hunt. Mrs Bevan and Mrs Clarke gave up their afternoon to help the children identify internal and external features of an Anglican church, and talk about the rich history of the church as the heart of the community. The children asked many questions, sketched their observations and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the stories they were told. 

Last week we went on a very interesting trip to St. Marks's church in Bilton where we learned many facts about the history of the church and spotted lots of internal and external features which we had been studying in RE.

This week in Maths we have been learning how to tell the time and comparing and measuring lengths and heights using non-standard uniform units (cubes). Everyone had lots of fun predicting what different items in the classroom might measure in cubes and then we proceeded to carry out the investigation. 

Classes 2W and 2E have been exploring ways of changing the shape of coloured paper strips to create attractive sculptures.

Mr Perks from Focus TKD came into assembly on Tuesday. Some of his co-curricular club students shared their skills to the school. They were very impressive with their respect, control and high kicks.

Congratulations to those children in Year 6 who have qualified for this year’s Inter-House Geography final. This will take place during the second week of the summer term and the children will be quizzed on their knowledge of European and UK locations, including mountains, rivers, oceans, seas and islands as well as cities, capitals and countries.

Good luck to all those involved. 

Occurring through messaging apps, on social media and in online games, group chats are among the most popular ways that young people engage with their peers online. Involving, by definition, three or more individuals, these groups allow users to send messages, images and videos to everyone in one place. While they are fantastic for helping friends, people with shared interests or members of a club to communicate and coordinate activities, they can also leave young people feeling excluded and bullied – as well as providing opportunities for inappropriate content to be shared and viewed.

Like with all useful things in the online world, the last thing we want to do is ban them altogether, causing children to miss out and feel isolated from their friends. With a little bit of advice, particularly about elements such as considering others' feelings, and the occasional light monitoring, they can be the amazing social tool they were designed to be. Please have a look at the attached guide for lots of great tips, and if you have any further questions, please do get in touch!

Our championship winning U11s girls team travelled over to the beautifully picturesque Repton Prep on Saturday to take part in a super festival of football. The emphasis was very much on involvement and enjoyment over getting results, and the girls enjoyed some fantastically spirited and friendly encounters, coming away with 1 win, 3 very dominant draws and 1 loss. Player of the Tournament was captain Grace C for her pivotal midfield work and a very special mention for Maggie who played every game with real pace, tenacity and determination.

Mr Adkins and Mrs McCollin

U11s ISA Midlands Rugby 7s Tournament at Princethorpe College

Crescent 11s 'A'
The Crescent 'A' side arrived at the ISA Midlands Rugby 7s with real purpose and desire, immediately translating this on to the pitch with a great 45-20 bonus point victory over Dixie 'B'. Further bonus point victories followed against Stafford, Mylnhurst, Tettenhall and OVS, before a fantastic 20-20 draw with Twycross clinched the top spot in the group and a well-earned place in the gold medal match! Despite battling bravely and never losing hope, Crescent were narrowly beaten 25-15 by an excellent Dixie side in the final, but were incredibly proud to come away with a silver medal as runners-up, 2nd place against 14 teams. Special mentions must go to the entire squad, but particularly to our joint players of the tournament Charlie and Sam Mc, who were deadly in both attack and defence throughout. Well done Crescent! 

Crescent U11s 'B'
Although not able to match the A team in terms of results, the B team certainly matched them for effort, determination, teamwork, playing superbly in their group games. Crescent finished 6th in their group, setting up a three-way play-off for the 9th/10th/11th spot overall. A narrow loss and a very hard-fought draw eventually saw them finish in 10th spot for the day. While special mentions should go to the entire squad, all of whom scored at least one try each, a fantastic achievement in itself, Crescent's player of the tournament was Ollie for his fantastic defence and support working going forwards.

Mr Adkins & Mrs Dowling

Mr Adkins

• 2-1 win against BG U8A 
• 1-0 win against Crackley Hall U8 A 
• 4-0 win against BG U8 B 

Great play. 

Mrs McCollin

• BG U9 A - 4-4 Draw 
• BG U9 B - 2-0 Win 

Tickets Go Live Tonight at 8pm!

Please join us for a night of family bingo. Hosted by our celebrity caller, the fabulous Ms Forth, the event will commence at 6pm on Friday 28 April. Doors will open at 5.45pm. 

Entry is £2 pp (adult or child) and will secure you a book with four games. NB. To help us calculate exact numbers in the hall everyone must have a ticket. In each game you will have the option to play 1-6 squares. After the first two games there will be a break for pizzas which can be ordered at the time you order your tickets. Dabbers will be available to purchase at the event so please don't worry if you don't have your own. 

A bar and shop selling alcohol, soft drinks and a small range of snacks such as crisps and chocolate will be available on the night to fill any hungry tummies!

In addition to prizes for a full house we will also be offering spot prizes for a line and corners. 

Please note the hall capacity is 96. Although it is very much a family event we are limited on numbers so please don't bring your next door neighbour from five doors down who happens to love bingo. If there is a demand we will run another one in the new school year.

Please see below for useful school contact information:

• My School Portal: MSP Login
• SOCS: SOCS Login

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:

Princethorpe College

• Library Assistant

Crackley Hall

• KS1 Teacher
• RE Co-ordinator 

Crescent School

• Sports Coach

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.