The Courier

Dear Parents

As we come to the end of the second week of the school term, it feels as if we are now fully back in the rhythm of school life. I have spent a good deal of time this fortnight out and about in the classrooms, observing the lessons and watching the children as they settle back into their learning environment.

It has been particularly pleasing to see the new Reception class settling in so well. Mrs Noyce has been a teaching assistant in that age group for a considerable time and she said to me this was the first time in her memory that there were no tears or refusals at all on the first morning. Since then, with the odd rare and entirely understandable exception, the children have come in happily and sensibly and I see them playing with each other, and with the older children, every morning on the playground.

Another highlight involved the oldest children in the school when I walked into a Year 6 Maths lesson with Ms Forth. The children were all so focused, working in groups with the two assistants who were in the room, with a range of related activities going on and the children entirely engrossed in their work. This was a great example of what learning looks like in the Upper School and it was particularly pleasing given we were only a couple of days into the term at the time. The ‘pre-season brain training’ that we offer to the Year 6 each year I hope played a part in this as well.

On that theme, everyone here sends our positive thoughts to those children taking the 11 plus exam tomorrow morning. You have prepared long and hard for this, children, over the last two years and you should go in with every confidence and all of our best wishes.

This weekend will be a very different one for us all, with an additional day out of school, on the occasion of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. We have reflected in school in various ways over the last week on the Queen’s enormous contribution to national life and there is a rather wonderful ‘memory wall’ coming together at the end of the corridor. There is more information about this elsewhere in the newsletter this week and you will also get a chance to see it at our upcoming open corridor event.

I will certainly be keeping a close eye on the televised ceremony on Monday along with many of you I am sure.

With my very best wishes to you all.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

As we approach Harvest Festival, we do so with a thankful heart for all that we have.

Once again, we shall be supporting the valuable work of the Rugby Foodbank by asking families to donate non-perishable items to help many who are struggling at this time. Rugby Foodbank has kindly sent us a 'wish list' of items they would welcome for the coming weeks and months ahead to boost their stocks over the winter - plese see attached photo.

We are asking that all donations be brought in from Wednesday 21 September to the pupil entrance, where representatives of the School Council will receive your donations and bring them into school ready for our Harvest Services next week. 

Many thanks in advance for your continued support of this local cause.

From next week there will be a Common Room open in Mrs Stapleton’s classroom throughout  the whole of lunchtime on Tuesdays.  It will be a drop-in session and a chance to pop in, chat, share news, speak about your worries, your weekend. 

The Wellbeing Team will be encouraged to also pop in and be another friend to chat to and share your news with. We shall also be providing mindfulness colouring and chill-out music to help us all find some quiet space to ‘be’. 

It is open to all children alongside their designated lunch sittings, and they must remember to attend the co-curricular clubs they have already committed to.

Children are encouraged to come on their own or with a friend or two - we hope to see you there!

Kindles or other e-readers are allowed in school from Year 3 for the children to read from. It is important that reading is as accessible as possible for children and often books are cheaper online. The children really only need to be reading one book rather than having a school book and a home book, one book can do both jobs and will save on confusion for the child.

If you decide that your child can bring their Kindle or other e-reader in, then it is to be used for reading ONLY. There will be no internet access. If a child is found using it inappropriately then parents will be informed. The Kindle will be the child's responsibility and any breakages are not our responsibility.

Please be reassured there are more than enough books in school for your child to enjoy and there is no necessity for your child to have a Kindle or e-reader, it is just a different way to access books if you wish to.

To help families new to the school, and as a reminder for all, here are some top tips for navigating the school's e-newsletter, The Courier, on your mobile phone.

Each edition of The Courier has a general overview message followed by an index list of the news, events and other information, split into categories, with clickable title links.

• Click the title link of the article or event you are interested in.
• From here you can scroll through all the articles in this category.
• To get back to the top of a category quickly, use the arrow in the bottom right corner of your screen. Click this and you will jump to the top of the page and see the category index.
• Select ‘NEWSLETTER INDEX’, to return you to the main newsletter index listing all the categories and articles.
• To move between different editions of The Courier use the dark green button with three white lines towards the top right of the newsletter. Click on the button and choose which edition of The Courier you would like to read.
• If you are looking for a particular article use the search function using key words to locate it quickly. 

The Courier is one of the school's main communication tools and is always a good first place to look for information and news.

Bookmarking https://courier.crescentschool.co.uk/ will allow you to get to the newsletter quickly.

Weekly Calendar

Please click on the link below for next week's calendar. 

Weekly Calendar - 19 September 22 

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

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

Lunch Menu - 19 September 2022

Crescent School

Please click on the link below to view the Music Lesson timetable for next week:

Music Lessons - 19 September 

The password has been emailed to parents. 

Keyboard lessons are also available with Mrs Fisher.  Click here for details.

Following the sad news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, it has been a week of mourning for us all. The news has affected both staff and pupils across the whole school community and we wanted to provide time and space for the children to reflect and respond to the events and to share their thoughts and feelings.

Across the school, children and staff have come together to complete activities to reflect on Her Majesty’s life and legacy and to give thanks for her devoted service to our nation. Children in the Upper School have explored the Queen’s life in their History lessons. Some created thank you cards while others completed response tasks, helping to give them an insight into her life of duty. The younger children coloured pictures of flowers and symbols and the royal family has featured in their phonics lessons.

In the corridor Mrs Symons and Mrs Stapleton have displayed the children’s work along a timeline of her life, creating a beautiful board of remembrance. Central to that board is a particularly poignant letter, that the school received just last week, from the Palace, on behalf of Her Majesty, thanking the children for their wonderful Platinum Jubilee messages.

We have all been impressed with how the children have responded this week as we have explored their place in history.

This weekend many of Class 6W are taking the 11+, we wish them all the very best for it.

They are fully prepared for the assessment and for the upcoming independent school examinations. During their time at Crescent they have taken part in mocks and focused lessons so children don't face the unknown on the day and instead feel fully prepared and supported.

We all wish them all good luck.

It’s great to have the children back in school and settling into their new routines. We always like to start the new year with a new class photo, so in between lessons last Tuesday we took the children outside and they tucked in their shirts, pulled up their socks and put on their beautiful big smiles. It’s been a fantastic first two weeks of fabulous new lessons, catching up with or making new friends, sitting down for lunch together, and just generally enjoying school life.

Welcome back everyone - we hope you enjoy our new class photos!

After all the hard work of our amazing Friends of Crescent it is really wonderful to see the children engaging with and using their wonderful new Crescent Adventure play equipment. A huge thank you to everyone involved in providing this new outdoor play area with its range of physical challenges. We can see the children’s confidence in movement being stretched and developed already.

Over the summer holidays we received news from Bwengu Projects Malawi on how the money raised by Year 4 was being spent.

Last school year, Bwengu Projects asked Crescent School to support a whole project, the completion of a Nursery and Orphan Feeding Centre in Mleghu in the most northern part of Malawi. The Year 4 children set themselves a target of £685 to fund the building work but managed to raise a whopping £1,110.

Bwengu Projects shared some photos of the building work taking place back in July which we shared on facebook. Last week we received a further update with the wonderful news that the work has now been completed. Bwengu Projects also told us that there are already 48 under 5s registered for feeding and daily lessons in numbers and letters.

As well as completing the building, the money raised has also provided for furniture and toys for the nursery and cooking pots, bowls and a supply of food.

A really big thank to everyone who supported our fundraising efforts last year.

A valued and important tradition here at Crescent is for the Year 6 children to buddy with a Reception child to support them through their first year at school.

The Year 6s help the Reception children settle into school, helping them with their lunch, showing good manners, encouraging them in their play (once they are trained as play leaders) and generally being friendly, helpful and welcoming.

Last week, the Reception and Year 6 children met their new buddies for the first time and enjoyed some bonding time.

It’s a rite of passage for the Year 6 children here at Crescent, an opportunity for them to give back to their school community and we know they will all enjoy playing their part in this precious tradition.

With just seven weeks to go, the countdown to Princethorpe's Entrance Exams for admission in September 2023 is well underway. This year the exams for Year 7 to 10 entry will take place on Saturday 5 November from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

The deadline for registrations for the Entrance Examination is Friday 30 September. Year 6 parents wishing their children to sit the Princethorpe entrance exam must complete a registration form and submit it with the accompanying registration fee by this date.

More information on the admissions process can be found in Princethorpe's Admissions Update newsletter here or on the Foundation website here.

A copy of the registration form can be found here.

If you have any queries relating to admissions please speak to the Registrars at Princethorpe College, either by email at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or by calling 01926 634201/262/291.

Tuesday 20 September 2022 - 7.00pm

We are very much looking forward to sharing with you the online learning resources that are accessible to you at home to work on, alongside your child, to support their learning further.

This will be run as a Teams meeting on Tuesday 20 September at 7.00pm. The link will be sent through to you prior to the event.

If you have any questions please submit them through the meeting chat and we will endeavour to deal with them then or they can be sent to your child's Form Tutor.

If you are unable to make the time of the meeting, we will be recording the session and we will send it along with any resources to all parents in Classes 3Y, 4M, 5F and 6W.

Within this meeting we will be looking at Spellzone, Abacus, Accelerated Reading and Timetable Rockstars

Princethorpe College Online Parents' Admissions Q&A
Tuesday 20 September - 6.30pm to 7.30pm

The College's Admissions Team will be holding a Virtual Parents' Q&A session on Tuesday 20 September from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

The event will be a live streamed Q&A session with Ed Hester (Headmaster), Mrs Vanessa Rooney (Registrar) and the senior team. This is a chance for parents’ to ask our Admissions Team questions relating to the admissions process and Entrance Examinations Day in an informal forum before the registration deadline of Friday 30 September.

If you would like to attend please click on this link, where you will also be able to submit any questions in advance.

Open Morning
Thursday 22 September 10.30am to 12.30pm

The College's Open Morning will give prospective families a chance to visit the school on a normal working day, with Year 8 and 9 pupils acting as tour guides. Light refreshments will be available.

All are welcome please book your place by clicking here.

A reminder that the College's Entrance Examinations Day for September 2023 entry will take place on Saturday 5 November 2022 from 9.30am to 3.30pm. The deadline for registrations, scholarship and bursary applications is Friday 30 September 2022.

If you have any questions please contact their Admissions Team on 01926 643201/262 or 297 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Wednesday 21 September 2022 - 7.00pm

We are very much looking forward to sharing with you our approach to the teaching of Phonics and Early Reading at Crescent School and offering some hints and tips on how you can support your child at home. 

This will be run as a Teams meeting on Wednesday 21 September at 7.00pm. The link will be sent through to you prior to the event. Any questions can be written through the session chat and we will endeavour to deal with them then or they can be sent to your child's Form Tutor.

If you are unable to make the time of the meeting, we will be recording it and will send it along with any resources to all parents in Reception.

Monday 26 September 2022 - 7.00pm

All Year 6 parents are invited to an information session about the residential trip to Slapton Ley Centre. This will be an opportunity for you to find out what happens there, note the key dates and ask any questions. 

This is a Teams meeting at 7.00pm. The Office will send you the link on the 26 September and for those unable to attend, a recording will be circulated afterwards to all Year 6 parents.

Monday 26 September 2022 - 09.00am to 12.00pm

Individual and siblings photographs will be taken in school on Monday 26 September.  Children may choose to wear either winter or summer uniform but with blazers please.

Tuesday 27 September 2022 - 7.00pm

Year 4 parents are invited to an information session about the residential trip to Rock UK. This will be an opportunity for you to find out what happens there, note the key dates and ask any questions. 

This is a Teams meeting at 7.00pm. The office will send you the link on the 27 September and for those unable to attend, a recording will be circulated afterwards to all Year 4 parents.

This year we will be holding two Harvest Festivals, one for the Upper School on Tuesday 27 September and the other one for Pre-Prep on Wednesday 28 September.

Both services will start at 9.15am and you are welcome, after drop off to come into the library, for light refreshments before the service which will be served in the library.

The service will be approximately 45 minutes and will be a mixture of songs, readings, music and prayers to celebrate the Harvest.

Please book via My School Portal using the links below, you must book in for this and there is a ticket allocation of two tickets per child:

Harvest Service - Upper School

Harvest Service - Pre-Prep

Wednesday 5 October 2022 - 4.30pm

We are extremely excited to be able to welcome back our past pupils for football/netball matches against the current Year 6 children.

Please complete the form below to indicate if your child is able to attend:

Past Pupils

Past Pupils: please arrive no earlier than 4.30pm. The entry point is through the side field gate where you will be welcomed for refreshments. We recommend arriving in PE kit.

Class 6W: For those who are staying in school you will be able to change into your games kit after last lesson. 

All parents and siblings of a senior school age:

Plan:

• 4.30pm - arrive for refreshments on the School Field
• 4.45pm - tour of the school for past pupils and parents, while 6W get ready for the matches
• 5.00pm - matches

Mrs McCollin and Mr Adkins are taking the lead, but I know many teachers will come and see everyone, past pupil matches are a great occasion. 

Tuesday 4 October 2022 - 7.00pm to 8.00pm

We are opening our doors for a dedicated Open Evening on Tuesday 4 October 2022 from 7.00pm.

This Open Evening is for prospective families wishing to join Reception or Year 3 in September 2023 and beyond.

The evening will have dedicated presentations depending on which year group you are interested in. There will also be opportunities to look around the school, visit dedicated classrooms, such as the Science Lab and IT Suite, as well as speak to key members of staff. Joe Thackway, Headmaster, will also be available to answer any of your questions you may have about the school.   

To book your place please click here.

If you can't make the Open Evening but would like to visit the school, you can now book a personal tour here, or please call our Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley on 01788 521595 or email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk and come on a day to suit you.

Our early bird deadline for registrations for September 2023 Reception and Year 3 entry is Friday 14 October. We have already had a high level of interest in our Reception class for 2023 and anticipate that we will be full for 2023 after this deadline. We would therefore strongly advise that if after our Open Evening you are considering registering for 2023 entry to please do so by this deadline.

For more information visit www.crescentschool.co.uk

Friday 7 October 2022 - 3.45pm to 4.15pm

We would very much like to welcome you to look around the school corridors on Friday 7 October.

The playground will be reserved for parking from 3.40pm. Year 5 and 6 will be dismissed through the pupil door, all other classes are to be dismissed through their usual door.

Please collect your child(ren) then come round to the front door where you will be welcomed in from 3.45pm to look at all the great work in school. Entry and exit is via the main school entrance only and last entry is at 3.55pm.

If your child is in a co-curricular club they will be expected to attend their club as normal unless you arrange otherwise.

If your child is in After School, please follow the usual routine for collection.

Please be aware that this is not a time to talk to the teachers concerning your child, please email them separately if you have concerns.

This week's Accelerated Reader Superstars are:

Top Quizzers are:

• 3S Isabella
• 4C MingYi
• 5F  Alex T
• 6W Chloe

Word Wizards are:

• 3S Evelyn
• 4C Matthew
• 5F  Maisie
• 6W Harry

Garage and Gigs are the most important games to show your progress.

Pupils who have reached landmark % on automatic training mode in the Garage and Gigs and therefore are awarded JDVs for Maths Practice:

• 1st 3S 470
• 2nd 5F 94
• 3rd 4C 74

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Theo Mc 3S
• 2nd Kian 3S
• 3rd Alfie 3S

Last week most improved speedsters in the studio are:

Class 6W

• Harry - Rock Legend!
• Ellie - Support Act!
• Zahra - Rock Legend!
• Mya - Rock Star!
• Erin - Breakthrough Artist! 

• Leela - Breakthrough Artist!

• Edward M - Support Act!
• Henry - Support Act!

• Alfie - Rock Hero! (highest status possible)
• Isabella - Breakthrough Act!
• Seren - Wannabe!
• Kian - Rock Legend!
• Charlotte - Breakthrough Act!
• Tomisin - Rock Star!
• Aria - Breakthrough Artist!

New 'Battle' 15-22 September 2022, All the classes against each other. 

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

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

• Beau
• Isabel
• Isabella
• Jonelle
• Oliver
• Rachael
• Sarima 
• Sophie

Well done to you all.

Over the summer holidays, Charlie M set himself a challenge to raise money by running the distance of a marathon - that's 26.2 miles! He asked friends and family to sponsor him so he could raise money towards the Wellbeing of our school. Charlie is a member of our Wellbeing Team and is keen to help buy resources that will help promote positive emotional wellbeing across the school. 

Charlie ran throughout the holidays - even when the family were in Greece, and he has raised an amazing £500! We shall be meeting as a team next week where we will discuss what we would like to purchase with this very generous donation, to enhance to the quiet space outside the Horton area. We acknowledged Charlie in Good News assembly this morning by thanking him for his time and perseverance in completing his challenge and raising money for such an important aspect of our school life. Charlie was also presented with his completion medal which he can wear with pride!

Over the summer holidays Esme decided she wanted to raise some money for Cancer Research UK; a charity which has supported several of her friends and family members. She decided to attempt a "1K per day challenge", where she completed 1 kilometre every day in July - 31 kilometres in total across the month.

Esme used a Strava app to track the distance and speed of each kilometre she completed, and the details were uploaded to her fundraising page so everyone could see how she was getting on. She was extremely grateful for all the support from her family and friends which kept her completing the challenge on the extremely hot days, in the rain and while we were away on holiday!

In total, Esme raised a fantastic £1,052.50 (£862 in sponsorship + £190.50 in Gift Aid).  You can see the donations, photos of Esme running and the details of each kilometre she completed on her fundraising page https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/esmes-1k-per-day-challenge

Well done Esme.

We have had a very busy couple of weeks getting to know lots of new friends and exploring our new classroom. We have been learning where things are and familiarising ourselves with daily school routines. We have met our Year 6 buddies who help us at lunchtime and enjoyed getting to know the grown-ups that work with us. Now we’re tired but excited to be coming back to school for more fun on Tuesday!!

2W have settled beautifully into their new expectations and have risen to written challenges showing mature effort and concentration.

We have started an activity called ‘start the year with a bang’. There are 15 balloons around the screen in the classroom all with a name inside. Each day we pop one balloon and the child whose name comes out is celebrated that day – they get to be at the front of the line and the children all tell their friend the things that they like about them and we write it on their celebration certificate. It’s a great way for the children to feel a special part of the class and to know how much they are valued and what they are valued for. 

Whilst in separate classes, 2E and 2W children love to see themselves as one larger group and take lots of friendly playground and co-curricular opportunities to mix themselves up into varied pairs or groups to have fun together.

It was so lovely to see the children in all the different activities that we have on offer in school this week.  

As we have some availability in Year 3 and 4 Yoga on a Wednesday after school, we thought we would share some of the benefits of yoga and mindfulness and you may wish to contact the school to join the group:

Children’s Yoga, Mindfulness and Relaxation benefits the body and mind in so many ways. Here are just a few of the benefits:

• Increases flexibility
• Improves muscle strength and tones
• Aids digestion
• Boosts the immune system
• Reduces stress and anxiety
• Improves balance and posture
• Boosts self-confidence and self-esteem
•  Improves focus and concentration
• Promotes healthy sleep patterns
• Yoga is non-competitive
• Encourages and teaches children how to relax
• & Yoga is fun!

Kdzloveyoga  Natalie McMahon

At the beginning of every new school year, e-safety (or digital citizenship as we like to call it) is always absolutely paramount. Although I will be covering a lot of e-safety in Computing lessons with all classes over the next few weeks, to make sure that all of our pupils know exactly how to keep themselves as safe as possible in the online world, it’s also a great message to repeat at home.

Friday 30 September 2022 - 8.15am to 9.30am

The FoC will be supporting this wonderful charity. We will be holding a coffee morning from 8.15am - 9.30am on the field (weather depending). Everyone is welcome to come, please feel free to bring younger siblings along and join us for coffee and cake.

We will also be selling cakes to all the children at break time for 50p so any donations will be gratefully appreciated. We require smaller individual cakes, gluten free options that the children can purchase as well as bigger Victoria sponges, chocolate cakes that the parents and teachers can enjoy. 

Please could all nut-free cakes be brought into school from Thursday 29 September 2022.

Friends of Crescent

1. FoC Comms

Keep up to date with FoC by following us on Facebook, WhatsApp and don't forget to join the Pre Loved uniform WhatsApp group to see what second hand uniform is available.  Links below: 

2. REPS Needed!

Friends of Crescent (FoC) is looking for 2 x Reception class reps and 1 x Year 4 rep to join the team. FoC is a great way to engage in events that benefit the children. It is great fun and doesn't require much commitment. Ideally reps will:

* Attend meetings (one per half term lasting approx 45 mins. Children receive free care in after-school)

* Help with events such as the Christmas Bazaar, Summer Fete, film evenings and discos

* Support class bake sales 

* NB some reps organise class teacher gifts but this varies depending on class

If you are interested please email inezdekoning@gmail.com or message 07940 526021

Please view the attached photo for FoC information this term.

Inez de Koning
Foc Chair

Please see below for useful school contact information:

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

Did you know that we are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? We use social media to share all that goes on, day in day out, in our super school. We post regularly to keep you up to date with school news and school life, and to share all the wonderful activities and amazing work our fantastic pupils do.

So, however you engage with social media, why not check out our pages and be sure to follow us so that you never miss a post.

https://www.instagram.com/crescentschoolrugby/

https://www.facebook.com/cres.school

https://twitter.com/CrescentSchRug

Click here to view the term dates for 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Crescent School

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