The Courier

On Saturday 29 September 2018 Crescent School celebrated its 70th anniversary with a special community celebration.  Past and present pupils, parents, staff and governors came together to mark the important milestone at the school in Bilton, Rugby.

It was a very special occasion, enjoyed by everyone, that gave many the chance to reconnect and share fond memories.

The afternoon opened with a performance from the Bilton Silver Training Band, many of whom are Old Crescentians.  They played to an appreciative audience and provided a magnificent start to the sunny afternoon.  In the carnival atmosphere children played with the family games set out on the field, while their parents enjoyed catching up and reminiscing outside and over refreshments in the decorated school hall.

Throughout the school the classrooms and corridors were filled with displays and memorabilia and visitors were encouraged to explore.  Many were delighted to find old photos of themselves and examples of work that had been retrieved from the archives.   Foundation Archivist, Janette Ratcliffe, was kept busy as many provided new information and memories for her collection.  Some of their memories included anecdotal insights such as ‘watching the moon landing sitting in the hall’, ‘wearing my school beret para-trooper style and being much berated’, ‘being punished for scrumping apples’ and ‘the smell of polish whilst sitting cross legged in assembly’.

The school choir had been hard at work practising a series of specially prepared pieces and they also put on a wonderful outdoor performance.  Past pupils found the words to the school song spring to their lips and eagerly joined in.

The school was honoured to welcome back two former headteachers, Mrs Christine Barrett, who led the school from 1971 to 1992, and Mr Huw Marshall, who retired only last year.   Both enjoyed seeing the latest improvements to the school, catching up with old colleagues and sharing their own memories of their time at the Crescent.

In the evening the school hosted a Platinum Anniversary Dinner Dance at the Foundation’s senior school Princethorpe College.  It was a very convivial affair with some ninety guests associated with the Crescent treated to a delicious three-course meal, followed by speeches from past pupils from across the decades, live music and dancing till midnight.  The revellers wended their happy way home after a long but successful day.

There are further events planned for this anniversary year.  They include an inaugural pub meet at the Merchant’s Inn in Rugby on Friday 23 November and a Carol Service on Monday 17 December in the Temple Speech Rooms at Rugby School, close to the Crescent’s first home at Horton Crescent.

Anyone who has a connection to the school who would like to share their memories and be kept up to date with news from the school can complete and return the form here or contact oldcrescentians@crescentschool.co.uk.

Huge thanks go to the Anniversary Committee of staff and past pupils who worked so hard to organise the celebrations.

Dear Parents

We all enjoyed a wonderful day of celebrations last Saturday. The school was resplendent with displays marking the 70th anniversary of Crescent School and it was wonderful to see so many old boys and girls, as well as former members of staff, returning to the school to revive some very fond memories. The Bilton brass band and the school choir provided some delightful musical entertainment and there was a very friendly and convivial atmosphere around the place.

The evening events at Princethorpe College were equally well planned and enjoyed by all. The dinner dance was a great way to finish off the day and it was especially nice to see parents, staff and trustees mixing at a social event.

It is worth pausing for a moment to thank all of the members of the committee who worked so hard to bring everything together on the day.  Our special thanks go to:

• Victoria Akbik - who worked with all of the children on painting commemorative stones
• Zara Corbin - Chair of the FoC who organised the Silver Training Band and the afternoon events
• Debbie Olner - who helped organise the day event, found the band for the dinner and organised transport
• Sally Dowling – Mrs Dowling deserves a special mention for all her hard work with Old Crescentians, delving into the past and creating the decade displays around the school
• Sam Stapleton – who did a wonderful job creating all the decorations for, as well as organising the food for the evening
• Amanda Yates - who helped organise the catering for the evening event

We should also thank the other foundation teams who have worked so hard to bring it all together on the day; the marketing team, the estates and grounds, as well as the catering.

Lastly of course we thank Sarah Lowe who coordinated the committee, ran meetings, kept minutes, marketed and problem solved the whole thing.  Sarah is a highly respected member of staff here with a long association with the school. She was the perfect person for the job and we presented her with some well earnt flowers in a staff meeting earlier in the week.

Best wishes

We are delighted to have been able to further benefit Reception children’s learning experiences in school by combining with our onsite Nursery partner Pathfinders to offer all children a Forest School experience during this half of Michaelmas term. 

Groups will be equally balanced with Reception and pre-school children and will be led by experienced Nursery and school staff and will take place at the back of the school sport’s field for approximately 80 minutes per session. 

In order to facilitate this please ensure that your child has wellington boots and (preferably) an old waterproof jacket in school from Monday 8 October through to Thursday 18 October 2018.

Please contact Mrs Pullen or myself should you have any further questions.

Every half term Olive run a 'Themed Food Day' alongside their 'What's in Season' initiative. Crescent children get a taste of different foods from around the world, the counter is dressed up specially so that the children can enjoy a fully immersive experience!

This week, on Thursday 4 October, the children were treated to a Hawaiian Lunchtime.  They  sampled:

• Huli Huli chicken
• Hawaiian vegetable kebabs
• Fried rice
• Slaw
• Corn on the cob
• Pineapple Pie with coconut cream for pudding

A lovely lunchtime treat.

Crescent School 

We were pleased to welcome Corrine Mason from Rugby Foodbank to our assembly on Tuesday 17 September.  Corrine shared with us the important work the Foodbank do and the difference it can make to many families in our town.  She also shared the bible story of when Jesus fed 5000 people, where one small boy was willing to share what he had with those around him.

Our Harvest collection will be for Rugby Foodbank and over the next few weeks the children have been asked to bring in goods to donate. Please click here to see the list of suitable donations; they do not need to be put in decorated boxes, there will be crates to add supplies to under the FOC table at the student entrance.

Thank you in advance, for your continued support for such a worthy cause. We look forward to handing over our gifts at our Harvest Service on Friday 12 October at 9.15am where you are all welcome to join us.

I would like to remind parents that 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 sandwiches
• 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

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.

On Monday 8 October our regular photographer, Marcus Perkins, will be in school to take updated photographs that will be used in Marketing material.  He will be visiting different classes throughout the day and will no doubnt produce some wonderful images.

The attached photos is one of his photographs from last year.

Crescent School Office

The following items are stocked in the School Office and can be added to your account:

• Winter hats
• Scarfs
• Gloves
• Ties
• Swimming hats
• Sports socks
• Hair bands
• Hair scrunchies
• Hair clips
• Sun hats

Music group badges can also be purchased but not added to your account.

• Choir
• Orchestra
• Strings
• Brass

Please do pop in if you need any of the above items.

Crescent School Office