The Courier

Dear Parents

It has been another quite chilly week in school but nevertheless a productive one and there are plenty of lovely stories for you to enjoy once again in this week’s edition of the Courier.

I enjoyed an hour or so over at Rugby School earlier in the week watching the U11 girls taking part in the national netball finals. I was so proud to see them there in amongst the very best in the country in the independent sector and holding their own in the matches that they played. They have been wearing their rather smart hoodies in school today and we all recognise the achievement of the team in getting so far in this prestigious tournament.

Earlier in the week the children enjoyed the inter-house geography final for the year, where the Year 6 children were able to demonstrate their knowledge and mental agility in answering questions on a wide range of geographical questions. Well done to the Blue House for their ultimate success but also to all the children for taking part, both in the preliminary rounds and the final itself.

We are about to embark on the season of residential visits for the upper school children and the first of these departs on Tuesday next week with the Year 3s making their way over to Whitemoor Lakes. I am looking forward to joining them for an evening around the campfire and I know that they will be excited over the long weekend ahead and getting ready for their first time away with a school trip. It is such a valuable learning experience for the children and hopefully will be the first of many in their school careers. Being outside for long periods in the day, being with your friends and generally just being that little bit outside your comfort zone for a period of time, are all great character builders that will stand them all in good stead.

With an extended weekend ahead of us, I hope you are able to get in some downtime with your families and, who knows, even enjoy some of the slightly warmer weather that is predicted for the weekend.

With all best wishes from me.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Parents are discouraged from taking pupils out of school during term-time because of the impact it has on their learning. Should this be unavoidable, permission should always be sought in advance from the headteacher. I am only able to pre-authorise absences on certain grounds such as religious observances and special family occasions.

Please ensure you submit any absence requests in good time, through either My School Portal or via the office email admin@crescentschool.co.uk.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Crescent School, along with the other schools of the Princethorpe Foundation, aims to be a nut-free zone. Whilst we cannot guarantee that children won’t come into contact with nuts or products with nut traces whilst at school we endeavour to reduce this risk as far as we can.

The aim of this strategy is to reduce the risk to those children and adults who may suffer an anaphylactic reaction if exposed to nuts to which they are sensitive. The school aims to protect children who have allergies to nuts yet also help them, as they grow up, to take responsibility as to what foods they can eat and to be aware of where they may be put at risk.

Our 'Nut-Free Zone' means that the following items should not be brought into school:

• Packs of nuts
• Peanut butter/Nutella sandwiches (we have had a small number of these brought in recently)
• Fruit and cereal bars that contain nuts
• Chocolate bars or sweets that contain nuts
• Sesame seed rolls (children allergic to nuts may also have a severe reaction to sesame)
• Cakes made with nuts and marzipan

No nuts are used in any of the food prepared on site at our school.  Our suppliers provide us with nut-free products. However, we cannot guarantee freedom from nut traces.

It is worth noting that there are currently children in school with a known nut allergy.  Exposure to nuts for these children could result in serious consequences. I know that you, like me, would do anything reasonably possible to prevent this from happening.

We ask all parents to support us in this policy by providing nut-free mid-morning snacks and not using nuts in cakes provided for bake sales or fund-raising events.

With the residentials approaching, photos will be shared on Seesaw by staff where possible.  For safeguarding reasons, please could I remind all families NOT to share any photographs from residentials on social media.

Many thanks for your support of this.

One of our opportunities at Friday's 'Coronation Celebration' is to have a Union Jack tattoo stuck on. They are of a good standard and I have tested one on myself (I am allergic to all sorts) and there was no reaction and it scrubbed off easily. We will limit the placing to limbs, but no faces or necks! 

If you do not wish your child to take part in this activity, make it known to a form tutor or straight to me on BryonyForth@crescentschool.co.uk, not Mrs Tucker in the office please.

Next week in DT lessons, pupils of Class 6W will be taking part in a Crescent Bake Off Challenge.  They will be working in teams of three, to design and create a Coronation themed Victoria sponge cake.

The raw materials to make the sponge and filling will be supplied by school however the pupils may want to bring in some materials/items to decorate their team's cake.  Pupils will be planning their design in their Wednesday lesson, baking the cake on Thursday and decorating their cake in Friday's lesson.

Many thanks

Crescent School is taking part in the Big Battery Hunt. A national competition for schools to collect and recycle batteries.  

Pupils will be given a small box (one per family) to place your old batteries in and bring them into school (some classes will receive the boxes this week and some next week). There are four types of batteries we can recycle - AAA / AA / C / D. Please follow the safety guidelines (in this document) when handling batteries. 

We will be keeping a count of all batteries collected and recycled and will submit our final number to the competition by Friday 16 June 2023. Crescent can win great prizes if we top the national leader board with the highest number of batteries recycled by one school. 

In addition, there will be an opportunity for a pupil to be entered into an additional competition - Battery Recycling Pioneer for the Month of May.

• Tuesday 2 May - Wacky Music
• Tuesday 2 May - Multisports
• Wednesday 3 May - Mini Brass
• Friday 4 May - Band Ensemble
• Friday 4 May - Forest School

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 - 1 May 2023

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 -1 May 2023 

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

The latest edition of Crescent School’s Admissions Update e-newsletter has just been published and is available to read here. Please do share it with interested family and friends.

Packed full of information and news it gives prospective parents a feel for school life, details of forthcoming events and helpful advice about the admissions process, particularly for those who are looking at entry in September 2024.

It reminds prospective parents that Crescent School’s next Open Evening takes place on Tuesday 9 May 2023 from 5.00pm.

Our Admissions Update Newsletters are published twice a year to coincide with key admissions periods, the next edition will be out in Autumn 2023.

To register for the Open Evening or for further information on admissions, please do contact the school's Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley on 01788 521595 or email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk.

More information is also available on the school website https://www.crescentschool.co.uk/home/crescent

Crescent School’s annual House Geography quiz took place on Monday and as always it was a hotly contested affair. Pupils in Year 6 have been working hard all year learning the mountains, seas, rivers, countries and capitals of the world. In their lessons they have participated in regular quizzes to test their knowledge, with the highest scorers earning themselves the right to represent their House in this year’s final.

The quiz took place in the school hall, and there was the added pressure of an audience of pupils from across the school. It was a closely fought competition with the three Houses neck and neck throughout and hardly a mark dropped between them. Their geography knowledge was as always just incredible.

In the end it was St Andrew’s House that just pipped St George’s in the final round. The blues were delighted to be crowned champions, a victory that was all the sweeter as it was the second time the blues have lifted the trophy in a row.

Many congratulations to all who took part; competitors, scorers, and adjudicators, it was a super event, and the best of luck to Year 5 when your turn comes around next year!

Year 5 pupils enjoyed a day at Princethorpe College on Tuesday 25 April. It was an early opportunity for them to experience life at the Foundation’s senior school and start to become familiar with the bigger school environment, helping to make the move to secondary school a less daunting experience.

Pupils took part in lessons in Science, Maths, English, Music and Computer Science. They also had a walk around the school buildings and grounds, enjoyed a legendary Princethorpe cookie, spotted old Crescent friends now at Princethorpe, took lunch in the Refectory and participated in other activities including a Q&A with the prefects. At the end of the day, they had the chance to familiarise themselves with the CEM tests used on entrance examinations day.

Their parents were invited to Princethorpe too, to meet members of the Senior Leadership Team at the end of the day.

Parents are reminded that Crescent School children are not automatically entered for Princethorpe’s Entrance Examinations. Those wishing to apply for September 2024 entry must complete a registration form by Friday 29 September at the latest, with the Entrance Examinations then taking place on Saturday 11 November.

More information is available from the Admissions Office at Princethorpe, they can be contacted on 01926 634201/297 or by email at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

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!

Following on from last years successful accreditation as a Sun Safe school, we will again be repeating the importance of care in the sun.

During the week beginning 2 May the messages regarding safety in the sun will be reiterated to all year groups with follow up activities as appropriate.

Prior to this, there will be a reminder in whole school assembly and a competition (with prizes) launched to design a sun safety poster. We will also be appointing our new UV Index Monitor from Year 6.

You children may talk about this at home and we hope that you will support them and us by answering any questions that they might have, or by making us aware if they feel the need for clarification.

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

Tuesday 9 May - 5.00pm to 7.00pm

Please share news of our Open Evening for prospective pupils.

Prospective pupils and their parents are warmly invited to Crescent School's Open Evening on Tuesday 9 May 2023 - 5.00pm to 7.00pm.

Come and find out why Crescent School has been judged Excellent in all areas by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. It's a great opportunity for prospective families to get a feel for the school and to meet, Mr Thackway, Headmaster.

We are already taking registrations for places in Reception and Year 3 starting in September 2024. 

To book your place please click here. 

For more information or to talk to our Admissions Team, please contact our Registrar Mrs Helen Morley on 01788 523851 or by email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk.

Availability for September 2023: 

We have had very high levels of interest in places for Reception and our Year 3 class for September 2023 entry. As a result, we have already allocated all of the available places in these year groups for September 2023. We are now operating waiting groups for families who are still interested in a place, should a suitable one become available.

We are currently operating waiting groups in most other years apart from our current Reception and Year 1 classes (Year 1 and 2 for September 2023 entry).

To find out more please click here.

Friday 12 May 2023 - 09.00am to 12.00pm

Class and group photos, including music groups, will be taken on Friday 12 May. Please ensure children are wearing their summer uniform, have sports kit in school and any musical instruments.

Crescent School

Wednesday 17 May 2023 - 9.00am to 10.00am

The celebration breakfast for 6W is on Wednesday 17 May. We will be eating around 9am, so the children in 6W will only require a light breakfast at home (and no snack required) so they can fully enjoy all the treats that Mrs Milioplulis will be laying out for us.

Wednesday 24 May 2023 - 9.00am to 10.00am or Thursday 25 May 2023 - 2.45pm to 3.15pm

This is an opportunity to share your child's learning journey through Reception. Further details will be shared in due course for booking.

We look forward to seeing you.

Friday 26 May 2023

We will be holding a non-uniform day on Friday 26 May with all proceeds going to this term's chosen charity, Pawprints Dog Rescue. 

Please send a £1 donation with your child to be given to their form teacher.

Thank you.

Wednesday 7 June - 6.30pm to 8.30pm

Princethorpe College's annual Summer Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 7 June from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. This is a perfect opportunity for prospective families looking for a place in September 2024 and beyond to visit the school, for children to take part in departmental activities and for parents to meet and chat to members of staff and pupils.

The Headmaster will also address visitors during the evening. Light refreshments will be available.

Please click here to book your place. 

This week has been a great week for children achieving full Junior da Vinci student status:

• Alexander W, Aryaan, Patrick in 4C, Charlotte in 1Q, Katie and Max in 2W all achieve theirs in English
• Mya in 6W achieves two in PE/Games and PSHE
• Ellie, Saira, Poppy and Olivia in 6W achieve theirs in PSHE and Bella 6W gains her in PE/Games.
• Shiv in 5F achieves his in Science/DT
• David in 2E gains his in Mathematics

Well done to you all!

Mrs Symons
JdV Lead

Accelerated Reading awards this week go to: 

• 500k words – Charlotte (3S) and Patrick (4C)

• Double Millionaire – Zahra (6W)

Top Word Wizards and Quizzers this week are:

Top Quizzers are:

• 3S Charlotte
• 4C Nora
• 5F Alex G
• 6W Bryson

Word Wizards are:

• 3S Aria 
• 4C Edward W
• 5F Hattie
• 6W Poppy 

Mrs Nelson
Teaching Assistant

It is always an exciting time for the children when they gain their pen licence, enabling them to make the move from writing in pencil to pen.

For this rite of passage, the children have to show that they can write neatly and consistently in cursive, joined handwriting in all of their work, not just handwriting tasks.

Gloria has shown pride in the presentation of all of her learning tasks and has been awarded a Pen Licence and her first handwriting pen.

Well done!

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

• Austin
• Dudley
• Henry
• Jonelle
• Jonny
• Keevie
• Locan
• Nellie
• Olivia-Rose
• Ruby

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Kian 3S
• 2nd Lilah 3S
• 3rd Sophie 4C

Most improved speedsters in the studio are:

Pre-Prep battle between 1Q, 1S, 2W, 2E - 27 April - 4 May 2023. 

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.

Stay Calm and Rock on!!

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

Artists

• Ellie (6W)
• Zara (6W)
• Alex T (5F)
• Edward F (5F)
• Shiv (5F)

• Feranmi (2E)
• Uma (2E)
• Alice (2W)
• Beau (2W)
• Eve (2W)
• Felicity (2W)
• Flora (2W)
• Henry (2W)
• Klara (2W)
• Penelope (2W)

Crescent School

igh   oa   oo   ar   or   ur   ow   oi

• Share different versions of traditional tales – talk about typical story language and settings
• Revise the value of teen numbers as a ten and some more
• Read two-digit numbers – talk about the value of the tens and ones
• Name materials used in the home and talk about their simple properties

Reception pupils have been learning about Spain and Spanish traditions such as flamenco dancing and the Tomatina festival. They have also been learning how to introduce themselves in Spanish.

This week's RE lesson was all about St George and how his faith in God and his prayers of protection, helped him defeat the dragon. We learned about how he was brave and put his trust in God during a challenging time for his country.

Over the last few weeks, the children have been learning how to position features on a face shape to create a self portrait, an abstract portrait in the style of Picasso and even creating faces using natural materials found in our Jubilee Woods. 

In 1Q this week, we have been using dienes blocks to investigate place value of 2 digit numbers, understanding how many 10s and 1s each number holds. In Art this week, we have been incorporating nature into our self-portrait theme using different natural materials including grass, stones, twigs etc. We had lots of fun completing these in our The Jubilee Wood.

Year 1 are busy learning songs for the PrePrep Summer Concert. This year’s theme is “All about me” and they are learning songs about their bodies, getting ready to go out, having a bath and tidying up.

Class 2E have enjoyed outdoor learning this week in place of swimming. Lots of fun, team work and adventures on a nature finding scavenger hunt. The children had to use all their senses and enjoyed sharing and discussing what they had found.

In History we are learning about explorers and our first explorer is Neil Armstrong and the moon landing. We are learning about what happened, who was involved, how flight developed and space craft advanced. We are also creating some moon based art work having learnt how to draw an astronaut and then make a textured moonscape for it to land on.

Year 2 have been checking in on how their potatoes are growing. There was great excitement when the children saw the tubers that had started to sprout. The children have planted Casablanca and Shannon potatoes as part of the Grow Your Own Potatoes Campaign 

https://www.growyourownpotatoes.org.uk/

Children in 2W have begun to learn about the Sikh religion. Here we are naming and learning about the function of various artefacts that can be found inside a Gurdwara alongside how to be respectful when entering.

As part of our Outdoor Learning programme children across the school will have the opportunity to experience Forest School in Jubilee Wood this term.

Over the last week pupils have been; building homes for woodland creatures, studying the site to find letters in nature, using different tools to identify flora, making a see-saw, using clay, preparing our sensory garden, weaving, climbing, building dens, digging, mini-beast hunting and problem solving. It has been a great week with lots of learning, working together, noise and smiles.

A huge part of our work on Digital Citizenship in school is looking at not only how to keep ourselves safe online, but also how to make the digital world a better place for everyone. Please take a look at this guide to the Top Ten Tips for children to teach ‘netiquette’, to be friendly, productive, safe and respectful users of the internet, and to help ensure that every person has the opportunity to experience this. If you are thinking of having a chat with your child about safer internet use, this could be a perfect tool to get the conversation started.

If you have any questions about this, or any other aspects of Digital Citizenship, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Check out the lastest edition of the Crescent School podcast, featuring an emoji quiz, a comedy sketch about forgetting your homework, some inspirational quotes and jokes, plus much more!

The Crescent School Podcast - Easter Episode

Many thanks

Mr Adkins & The Podcasting Team

Our U11 Netball team competed in the ISA Netball Nationals on Wednesday 26 April which was held locally at Rugby School. It was such a huge achievement for the girls to have even qualified for this hotly contested national event where they faced the very best teams in the country.

Crescent’s girls stepped up their game for this new level of competition, playing their best netball of the season, with a new strength, playing physically with lots of grit and determination. The teamwork they showed was fantastic, encouraging, motivating and having fun together, never once letting their heads go down and fighting in every game until the final whistle blew.

In the group stage, the girls faced teams from New Hall School, Avon House Prep School, Loreto Prep School, Sherborne House School and the Mead School. While the results went against them, they remained resilient, learning lessons from every match played. They qualified for the Bowl competition where in the quarter final they went down 1-4 to Broomfield House School.

The girls played their hearts out all day and we could ask nothing more of them, they were absolutely awesome, showing phenomenal play of an extremely high standard for all of them. This is the first time that Crescent have qualified for the National Netball Finals and the team should be extremely proud of their accomplishment and achievements.

Last Friday 21 April, Years 4, 5 and 6 travelled to Rugby School Sports Centre to compete in this year’s House Swimming Gala. All afternoon the atmosphere was electric, with pupils really supporting, encouraging and getting behind their teammates.

The event always appeals to all as it is a mixture of speed races and fun events, such as the noodle and raft relays, and all the children participated with great spirit cheering each other on from the side-lines. Our Crescent House Captains did a great job of organising swimmers and ensuring they were on time for the start of their race.

Huge congratulations to all who took part so enthusiastically, we had some fantastic close races with superb times and four new school records set. In the first race, Zac broke the Year 4 Backstroke, breaking the previous Year 4, 5 and 6 school records, although Sam M then set a new Year 6 Backstroke record. Roisin B set a new Year 5 school record in the Breaststroke and Ellie set a new school record in the Year 6 Freestyle. What a lot of records!

The final results were:

1st Place - St Andrew's
2nd Place - St George's
3rd Place - St David's

Thank you to all of the staff who helped to make the event such a great success.

Mrs McCollin
Head of PE and Games

Monday 15 May 2023 - 4.00pm to 5.00pm

Please come along and join us for this meeting where we will be discussing events for the term. This will take place in Room 1.

Children can be booked into After School, free of charge, if you attend this meeting.  Please advise Mrs Tucker via email.

Friday 5 May 2023 - 3.30pm to 5.00pm

Please come along and support the FoC by buying cakes and sweets, all priced at 50p each. All the money raised at these market day events goes towards privilege time for Class 1S.

Friday 26 May 2023 - 3.30pm to 5.00pm

Please come along and support the FoC by buying cakes and sweets, all priced at 50p each. All the money raised at these market day events goes towards privilege time for Class 1Q.

Parents are reminded that childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare can be used for costs for a child under their compulsory school age. Once a child reaches compulsory school age – on 31 December, 31 March or 31 August following their fifth birthday (whichever comes first) - these payments can only be used for before and after school care.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

Please see below for useful school contact information:

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

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

Princethorpe College

• Registrar
• Teacher of Spanish

Crackley Hall

• RE Co-ordinator 

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.