The Courier

Pupils and staff gathered together on the playground on Tuesday 8 December to celebrate Advent.

The season of Advent is traditionally a time for reflection and for renewal of hope, as we countdown towards Christmas Day. In this difficult year, Crescent School's Advent service provided a precious opportunity for the school to come together safely and to look forward to the upcoming celebrations.

During the short service the lights on the Christmas tree were turned on much to the delight of all of the children.

It was cold out on the playground so after the service finished the children all enjoyed a hot chocolate to warm up their fingers and toes.

You can listen to the children singing the carol, Star Child here.

What fun the children had on Monday 7 December filming the nativity plays and we can’t wait to share the finished films with parents.

This year Reception performed ‘A Bundle of Joy’, a story of about Grumble, a very grumpy donkey. The children really enjoyed learning all the songs and dances that help tell the story of the birth of Jesus and Grumble’s realisation that life isn’t so bad after all.

Pre-Prep’s nativity was ‘The Angel Who Nearly Missed It All’ and the children also put on an excellent show. The angel chorus really did rehearse for hours to be ready to spread the joyous news and we met a whole host of familiar characters as we followed Late Angel's dash to join in the fun. The children's singing was magnificent and they coped with a small technical hitch brilliantly - we bet you don’t spot it at all!

We couldn’t resist sharing a few photos to give you a sneak peek of their wonderful productions.

A huge well done to all!

On Thursday, a team of Year 6 elves helped pack 60 Christmas gift bags for all those supported by Hope4, it was a generous act of kindness from all of us here at Crescent School.

Every child in the school contributed in some way. The children from Pre-Prep designed and printed the giftbags, Year 3 wrote the labels with a Christmas message and the Upper School designed and made Christmas cards and then filled them with kind and thoughtful words.

Orchestrated by Mrs Stapleton, assisted by Miss V, the gift bags were packed with a chocolate selection pack, a funky pair of socks together with the Christmas cards the children had made. They will be now be stored until we can deliver them to Hope4 next week.

Look out for an update in the new year when we announce the final total raised for Hope4 and the Foodbank this term.

Many thanks to our community for your continued support, your generosity will make such a difference to those less fortunate than ourselves this Christmas time.

Huge thanks to outgoing Chair of the FoC Zara Corbin and to FoC Secretary Amy Sarkies for all the work they and their band of merry FoC helpers have done to support the school.

After five years, Zara is standing down from the helm of the Friends of Crescent.  Her service to the committee has been enthusiastic, committed and dedicated, and together with her fellow FoC members she has, over that time, helped to raise thousands of pounds, for both local charities but also for providing extras for the children in school.

Amy has also been in post for five years enthusiastically supporting the PTA, working tirelessly alongside Zara and the committee to support the school. Always smiling and effortlessly organised, and patiently calm and kind with the children.

Zara and Amy have provided many wonderful memories for the children over the years, from our very own Guide Dog puppy, Cressie, to the never to be forgotten Crescent’s Got Talent shows.

In school this week we were delighted to present Zara and Amy with flowers. Thank you, ladies, for all your hard work, we shall miss your friendship, support and resilient good humour.

Crescent School

Crescent School Fleeces have arrived and are now available to purchase.  These are replacing the school sports hoodie. 

The Fleeces will retail at £27 for sizes 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12 years old and £29 for Sizes XS, S and M.

Do contact the school unifrom shop if you wish to purchase.

Children often grow quickly so its good to regularly check and replace any damaged, missing or ill-fitting items.  A full list of uniform requirements can be found on page 19 of the parent information booklet, which can be found on the school website here.

We would ask you to check:

• Uniform is labelled with the child's name not initials. We have a lot of uniform in lost property which is not labelled so we are unable to return it. If it is not reunited with its owner it is put into the pre-loved unform stock
• Your child is wearing their own uniform as Coats/Jumpers/Cardigans/Blazers etc sometimes get mixed up
• Dress/Skirt length should be on or below the knee
• Children have the correct PE kit for their year 
• Please ensure your child has a school winter hat 
• Hair should be tied back.

We have had a successful programme of activities through our co-curricular programme this term. A big thank you to the staff who run these activities and a thank you to the children who show dedication and interest in things outside the classroom. It is great to see their enthusiasm and enjoyment.

Co-curricular will continue in the same format next term, we will keep reviewing it in line with government guidelines. Please sign up for the new options, it would be great to see every child involved in at least one activity.

An email will be sent on Tuesday to notify you when SOCS is live.

Quizzing will not be available during the school holidays. This will allow the children to read for pleasure, to explore books that are not quizzable and share different reading material with their family.

We want the children to develop a lifelong love of reading.  So we don't expect them to quiz on the books they may have read over the holidays, although they may wish to quiz on their final book they read.

Thank you for all your support with reading this term.