Attending the various carols services and concerts at this time reminds me what a very special and caring community we are all part of. So, as we approach the end of another very busy and successful year, I am writing to say a huge “thank you” for all your support and help over the last twelve months, it is hugely appreciated. 
 
A Special Invitation - Save the Date - Tuesday 28 January 2025 - 6.30pm to 7.30pm 
 
Early next term on Tuesday 28 January 2025 I will be hosting a special Foundation Parents’ Online Forum at which I will be outlining a key new initiative we will be launching to help prepare for the future and explaining how you can play a key role in supporting our schools’ continued growth and success. 
 
I will reveal all the details of this project at the Online Forum and discuss how you can get involved.  Please make sure to mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information coming your way in the New Year. We look forward to sharing this exciting new chapter with you! 
 
And finally…we say goodbye to a very special person 
 
As you may be aware, the end of this term also sees the retirement of our Foundation Bursar, Eddie Tolcher. Eddie and I have worked closely together over the past 15 years: he has played a pivotal role in ensuring that the Foundation has gone from strength to strength. 
 
Many thanks Eddie for all your hard work and for being an exceptional colleague and friend. 
 
Thank you again to all parents for your continued support, and I wish you and your families a peaceful and happy Christmas. 

Ed Hester

Dear Parents and Friends of the School,

Well, here we are at the end of an exciting and eventful autumn term. We have celebrated today with festive assemblies, visits from Santa and special Christmas dinners as well. The children have had a lovely time and are all set to get together with their families for the final countdown towards the big day next week. 

Many thanks to all of you parents and friends of the school for your help and support over the term gone by. The lovely feedback and responses that you gave to the inspection survey were particularly welcome, and I thank you for them. Everything that you have done and continue to do for your children and the school is very much appreciated. 

The Thackway family are fortunate this year in that all of our children have returned from their various postings and lodgements and we will be together as the ‘famous five’ this Christmas. Whatever you have planned, or wherever you may be heading, I hope it all goes smoothly for you and that you are able to create some wonderful memories with your children. They really do last a lifetime. 

With all best festive wishes, 

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Please read some high-level Parent Survey Feedback here from the parental survey that we put out to families at the beginning of this half term. Your contributions were very much valued, and I hope you find the feedback helpful. There will be more to come in the new year when I will look in more detail at some measures that we can put in place, so do watch out for that in due course.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Weekly Calendar 

Weekly Calendar - 7 January 2025

After School

Provision can be booked through My School Portal selecting the sessions you require. If you require your child to have tea, please ensure bookings are made by 10.00am each day.  

MySchoolPortal

Crescent 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 6 January 2025

Crescent School

Please see below to view the music lesson timetable:

Music lessons - 7 January 2025

The music lesson timetable will be published in the Courier every Friday. Please note the following:

• The timetable changes every week. Lessons are rotated as we try to avoid children missing the same lesson each week, though sometimes this is unavoidable if there are trips, matches and events to work around. If a teacher teaches on more than one day, your child's lesson could be on any of those days. Lessons in bold type are in fixed slots and therefore do not rotate, though, again, on occasions we may have to swap them around to avoid clashes with events.
• The music staff will always try to reschedule lessons missed because of a school event, however lessons missed because of illness or not having an instrument in school cannot be made up.
• If you know your child is not going to be in school for their lesson for any reason, please do let me know as early as possible and I will try to work around it, though this cannot be guaranteed.
• Lessons before school and during lunchtime are prioritised to Year 6 pupils in the Michaelmas term. After Christmas, Year 6 lessons will move to being during class time, and the out-of-class-time lessons will be allocated to Year 5 pupils.
• Half a term's (ie 5 lessons) notice is required to stop having lessons, or payment of half a term's fees in lieu of notice.

Please send all enquiries about music lessons to me juliebarnes@crescentschool.co.uk rather than the individual music teachers.

Mrs Barnes
Director of Music

Year 6 pupils at the Crescent School have enjoyed Mrs Johnson’s special DT Christmas Bake Off Challenge this December, to make and decorate a gingerbread house. Synonymous with Christmas and believed to originate from the well-known Grimm's fairy tale ‘Hansel and Gretel’, did you know that there is even a National Gingerbread House Day.

 Over the course of the last few weeks, pupils have worked in teams to design a prototype, mix, cut, decorate and join the various components of their houses. They were also tasked with writing a back story for their fabulous creations.

 Judging all the houses were Mrs Miliopoulos, Mr Adkins and Mrs Stephenson, who happily took on the hard work of viewing and tasting them all. In addition to the structure, texture and taste they considered, the creativity of the decoration, the skill shown decorating and how the teams had worked together.

After much deliberation the results were decided: in first place overall and earning themselves a full JdV were  Herbie, Edward and Roisin.

A really big well done to everyone though, as it was a very close decision.

Mrs Johnson, said, “The gingerbread houses were incredible, the effort and creativity put into making them has been amazing. Well done everyone.”

Friday 10 January 2024 - 2.00pm to 3.30pm

The House Swimming Gala will take place on Friday 10 January from 2.30pm to 3.30pm at Rugby School.  All children in Years 4-6 will be involved and will need their swimming bags with costume, hat, 2 x towels and school poloshirt for poolside. Unfortunately, we are not be able to accommodate spectators at this event. 

We will return back to school for 4.15pm where your child will be dismissed to you or if they are booked into After School they will be taken there.

Mrs McCollin
Head of PE and Games

Monday 13 January 2024 - 4.00pm to 5.00pm

I am delighted to invite you to the LAMDA showcase on Monday 13 January from 4.00pm to 5.00pm.  Children will be performing their pieces of prose and poetry they have been working on in lessons.

Tickets can be booked below, three per family. The link closes on Friday 10 January:

Year 4 - LAMDA Showcase to Parents in the School Hall

If your child is in this performance they will remain in school for the show. Parents are to enter via the front doors at 3.50pm for light refreshments before taking their seats. Please do not queue outside the front doors as children have to be dismissed.

Parents can take their children home after the show which should be finished by 5.00pm. If you wish your child to go into After School then please book them in through the normal channel.

Your child’s LAMDA exam is on the 16 or 17 January. As we enjoy the Christmas holidays please continue to rehearse your child’s poem with them - this is the perfect opportunity for a small family performance to help boost their confidence. During their exam, they will also be required to discuss their favourite book. Please make sure they have this with them when they come back after the holidays so we are prepared and ready for the exam.

Mrs Woolfenden
Drama Teacher

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

Well done to:

• RP -Leila and Kaira
• 1Q - Lottie and Clementine
• 2E - Florence and James
• 3LS - Emily and Isla
• 3SS - Jed and Jonelle
• 4C - Catherine and Felicity
• 4W - Elliott and Nellie
• 5F - Charlotte and Ella
• 6W - Alex and Aryaan

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

We were delighted, in our final celebration assembly of the term, to award our Promise Badges. They 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 promise this term and can wear their new badges with pride.

US

• Charlotte S (3SS)– Good Friend – always thoughtful, helpful and caring of others.
• Walter (4W) – Good Learner – dedicated to being the best he can be.
• Mingyi (6W)– Good Citizen – dedication towards keeping the school promise in all areas.

PP

• Sofia (2E) – Good Friend – always calm and thoughtful of others.
• Isabella (1Q) – Good Learner – excellent progress throughout this term.
• Isabella (RP) –Good Citizen – always helpful and organised

Mr Webb
Assistant Head

In our Celebration Assembly on Wednesday 18 December, the house point winners for each class were rewarded with a book token.  Congratulations to the following children:

House Point Cup Winners

Including work, behaviour, JDVs (5 points each), pompoms, maths comp, cookie comp and all interhouse sports this term, the Total House points are:

Congratulations to Blue House.

Ms Forth
Deputy Head

Uniform can be ordered here:

Uniform Order Form

Please note the following items are stocked in the School Office and can be added to your account. Do pop in to collect any items.

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

School Uniform Shop 
Tel: 01926 634272
Email: uniform@princethorpe.co.uk

Click here to view the term dates for 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Crescent School