The Courier

Dear Parents

Welcome to this week’s newsletter. We have enjoyed the company of four out of the eight classes in the school during the week as well as those children attending the key worker provision. It has been great to see so many happy and hard-working children back in school, enjoying the company of their friends. Safety has been uppermost in our minds but we have also wanted to make this a positive experience for the children. I do believe we have succeeded in doing so. I walked out on the field earlier in the week and saw the Year 1 children practising individual ball skills at one end of the pitch and the Year 6 children taking part in shuttle races at the other. It looked something like summer term in a prep school! Of course, things are by no means back to normal, but it has been lovely to take a step in the right direction this week.

For those children who have yet to return, we have ensured that home learning continues unabated and that their learning will not be negatively affected. As I speak, teachers are hard at work writing reports for all of the children and many of them have been able to comment on the resilience and adaptability that the children learning from home have shown.

We have been thinking hard about how we can stage the various end of term events. In this week’s newsletter you will find updated information in the Events section on such things as the Welcome Evening and the Leavers’ Service. It seems to me that the best option at this stage is to carry on with these events and use the available technology to make them open to all. I feel that putting them off until the autumn term would probably not help very much and it is better to do them now, at the right time. Today's messages are really an outline of how we will run these events as well as confirming the dates for you. 

Have a great weekend everyone.

This week’s promise is in the category of Good Learners and focuses on the theme of listening.

This is such a key attribute for learning. A pupil who really listens actively, takes on advice and feedback and takes action on what they have heard, genuinely does demonstrate the learner profile that makes such a difference in the classroom.

‘We listen and don’t interrupt’

It would be great if you could discuss this with your children at home and support the messages from our School Promise.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Congratulations to Crescent pupils, George Crowfoot, Emme Edge and Izzy Slaytor, whose entries have been recognised in this year’s Rupert Brooke Literary competition.

Established in 1987 to commemorate the birth of poet Rupert Brooke, the award is an annual creative writing competition organised by Rugby School open to school pupils local to the Rugby area.

Sarah Webb, Assistant Head, commented, “Year 5 and Year 6 pupils enjoyed crafting creative stories on the subject of the Body for the Rupert Brooke Literary Award. They put a lot of time and effort in, to showcase their best English skills, and it is lovely to see that their hard work has been recognised.”

George Crowfoot has been awarded 3rd place.

Emme Edge and Izzy Slaytor have both had their entries awarded a Highly Commended.

Alix Scott-Martin from Rugby School said, “Thank you for submitting such strong entries for this year's Rupert Brooke Literary Prize. These students should feel particularly proud of themselves as we received over 200 entries.”

Crescent School congratulates them, well done, we are delighted with your literary success.

Parents of 5F should have received an invitation to choose an appointment time for a tranistion meeting. These are for parents with Ms Forth as Form Tutor and supported by Mrs Webb as Head of Y6 Transition.

This is a chance to review your son or daughter's attainment up to this point and have a realistic discussion regarding plans for secondary school destinations and the process you now need to enter.

The 15 minute meetings will be run on Teams this time and a link will be sent to you beforehand enabling parents to join from different places which could be more convenient.

The dates and times for these appointments are:

• Monday 15 June 14:30 -18:00 or
• Wednesday 17 June 14:00 - 17:30

Please sign up by Thursday 11 June and we look forward to seeing you.

Ms Forth
Deputy Head/5F Form Tutor

A reminder for Year 5 Parents.

You will need to register interest in your child taking the 11+ in September by 29 June 2020, please do not worry as this does not commit you in anyway:

https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/grammar-schools-11-test/register-11-test/1

Shortly after half term you will be invited for an extended consultation meeting with Ms Forth and Mrs Webb. This will focus on your child's attainment up to this point and a realistic discussion on entrance tests and secondary school destinations.

The dates for these meetings are the afternoons of Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 June. They follow the Year 5 report that will be published Friday 12 June 2020.

Certain year groups have returned to school this week, but we have been determined to continue to prioritise teaching and supporting for those children who haven't and continue with home learning. 

It has been a particular highlight of my week to see and hear at first hand the enthusiasm, communication and continued hard work of Year 2 children on our Teams meetings. 

Similarly I had a wonderful time on 'Wellbeing Wednesday' chattering away to children and parents of Reception children continuing to learn from home. 

You are all doing fabulously.

Year 6 were jumping for joy yesterday, not only were they back in school and able to be with their friends (socially distant of course) but they also received a very special present – their Leavers Hoodies. They enthusiastically tried them on in the sunshine and they all looked very smart.

Now a tradition for many schools, we know that the hoodies will always be a tangible memory of their time at Crescent School and their fellow pupils. They provide a sense of belonging and of community and in the long distant future we hope they will prompt wonderful memories of their school days.

Huge thanks to the Friends of Crescent for this wonderful and generous gift.

Next week Year 6 will be having a Shakespeare week, this will be an exciting week to explore the life, times and works of the Bard.

Each teacher who normally has a lesson with Year 6 will be setting a lesson or a series of lessons on Seesaw for all the children to access in school or at home.

Year 6 have studied Shakespeare as part of their English in Year 5 so this will be an opportunity to extend their learning further.

We look forward to sharing their work in the Courier and hopefully create a special page for the Circular.

It is usually this time of Year we are naming our Head Boy and Girl and all the roles and responsibility that Year 6 enjoy.

As you can imagine this is harder to coordinate with Year 5 being home-schooled, for this reason we are putting plans in place for the application process to be early next term, if we are back in school.

We value the work our Year 6 do within the school community and cannot wait to appoint as soon as possible.

Hello Crescent Families

I am writing on behalf of Bilton Coronavirus Support Group (BCSG). It is a support group, run by volunteers, which has been established locally. Volunteers have come together to help the Bilton community during the COVID-19 crisis by shopping for people and collecting prescriptions. 

A Facebook page was initially established just before lockdown and leaflets were put through resident’s doors, offering a point of contact for people who are shielding/isolating and may need help. I would like to let families know that our support group, run by volunteers, is on hand to help people locally.

So much has changed in the last two months. As well as the Facebook page we now have a website and also an answering telephone service where people can log requests. Things are beginning to ease but there is fear of a second wave.

A new leaflet has been produced and are starting to be distributed. We’d like to take this opportunity to let residents know that help is still available and how they can request support, if and when they may need it. You can view this leaflet below and information regarding how people can seek help:

COVID 19 A5 leaflet

Ask for assistance

We are also in the process of setting up a hardship fund, for those people/families in Bilton who may find themselves in financial difficulty due to the Covid situation. Small one-off discretionary grants will hopefully be available soon. If anyone would like further information regarding this, please let me know.

We have also been redistributing unwanted food parcels given by the council to people on the vulnerable/shielding list. We have been donating non-perishable food to the Foodbank but often we collect perishable items e.g. bread, fruit and veg. If you know of any families who would welcome a food donation, we can’t promise what it is, please get in touch.  

Finally, as a parent myself, I’d like to say a huge thank you for everything you and the rest of the staff are doing to keep our children going.

If there is any further information you require, please don’t hesitate contacting me.

Kindest regards 

This week I have attached some useful strategies for spellings.

Tips on Spelling

We receive First News in school every week for the children to peruse. As they are currently unable to deliver printed copies, they are sharing the newspaper as a PDF: 

29 May - 4 June 2020

I hope you are all enjoying this great newspaper, even as an adult, I enjoy reading it.

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

Attention 5F! If you still want to enter your piece into the competition, please send a clear image of it to me at bforth@crescentschool.co.uk by 12 June, so I can get them sent off for the extended 19 June deadline. You cannot send it in yourself, it has to come from school.

If you want to remind yourself of the competition, here is a clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQjqqQ-lGMY

If you want to remind yourself of the instructions, prizes and rules click on this link.

https://www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk/primary-schools/KS2-competition

Class 5F were working on this before lock down, but it is open to anyone of primary school age. If you children from other classes would like to enter then please do. No pressure, but we won the Midlands Region with Fifi and Daniel's wonderful entry last year!

Ms Forth
Deputy Head

Children can win a £10 National Book Token for themselves and each of their classmates – and surprise them all when schools reopen! 
 
While children are at home, encourage them to create a National Book Token design for our competition. Whether it's the school crest doodled in ink, a pencil drawing of the entire class, or something completely different, the competition organisers will choose one child's design to put on a National Book Tokens gift card every week for seven weeks. 
 
When schools open up again, the young designer and their classmates will each receive a £10 National Book Token – emblazoned with the winning artwork – to inspire them to choose their next favourite book from their local bookshop.

Please follow this link to enter:

Book Token Competition

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

We've been putting together another couple of videos in the last week or so and hopefully the results will be worth the delay (for which, apologies). This time we're making one of our all-time favourite recipes, Blackberry Bakewells.

We've separated the recipe into two videos (one making pastry from scratch, one rolling the pastry and making the Bakewells) because flour is still in short supply so ready-made pastry is probably the most accessible route to making the dish.

The link to the latest video is here:

Bayleaf Cookery Videos

We’re also doing short daily cookery themed challenges and other bits and pieces on our Facebook page:

Bayleaf Cookery School

Stay safe, have a lovely weekend and we will let you know when the next video is available.

Bayleaf Cookery School

Please find below the links to all the 'virtual' assemblies that have been sent to Pupils during Home Learning.

 Crescent School

In this events section, I have listed a brief outline of how we intend to run the end of term events. We will be providing full details in due course, but you might like to make a date in the diary in advance. Of course, everything is subject to government guidance relating to safe distancing and we will update you with any changes to our plans as required.

Friday 12 June 2020 - 4.00pm

The long-awaited Crescent promotional film, produced by award-winning Affixxius Films is due for release on Friday 12 June, watch the Courier and the Crescent Facebook page for more news on its premiere!!

Tuesday 16 June 2020 – from 6.00pm

The Crescent School will be holding its first ever Virtual Open Evening for prospective parents and children on Tuesday 16 June from 6.00pm.

The evening will comprise some short pre-recorded videos including a tour of the school, interviews with our Year 6 pupils and the chance to view our new Crescent promotional film, followed by a live event at 6.30pm hosted by Headmaster, Joe Thackway and other senior members of staff. The live event will cover different aspects of the education the school provides, how it supports its pupils to achieve great things and the admissions process. There will be the opportunity for parents to ask questions during the live event.

The school has announced that this year it will have two Reception classes for September 2020 entry and there is still time for parents to apply. There is limited availability in other years, for details please speak to our Registrar, Helen Morley.

To register for the Open Evening please click here.

For more information on admissions please email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk or call 01788 523851 and speak to our Registrar, Helen Morley.

#littleschoolbigambitions

Wednesday 24 June 2020 

This is an opportunity for the children to meet with their teacher for next year. We will run these sessions during the day on 24 June, using Teams meetings. Children will be invited to join their meeting with a link sent by Seesaw. They will have the usual opportunities to share their hopes and fears for the year ahead and do some bonding activities with their new form teacher.

This is also the day when our Year 6 children who are moving to Princethorpe College will have their move up session. I know that Princethorpe have a number of exciting opportunities planned, full details will be with you shortly. Other destination schools may also be planning similar sessions, we will let you know as soon as we have any more details.

Thursday 25 June 2020 - 7.00pm

This year’s Welcome Evening will take place in two consecutive Teams meetings.

The first will be a general meeting for all parents at 7.00pm. This is an opportunity to hear from Mr Thackway about the highlights of the year gone by and some plans for 2020-21.

This will be followed by a second meeting with your form teacher, who will run through with you a series of key points and information to prepare you for the start of the autumn term.

Friday 3 July 2020 - 2.30pm

We have some exciting news about this year’s Leavers’ Service!

We have agreed to team up with Chugg Productions to produce a special Leavers’ Souvenir Video that will be sent out free of charge to all Year 6 children and families. The video will include a ‘Crescent Memory’ from each of our leavers, a professionally recorded video of the Leavers’ Service, a picture slideshow of the children’s time in school and a musical performance as well. We are very grateful to the Friends of Crescent, who have agreed to fund the costs of this unique memento for the children at such an unusual time.

The Leavers’ Service itself will take place on the school playground, weather permitting. This location will allow for appropriate distancing and enable all the children who are able to attend to be present. All children will be invited to attend in person, although we will not be able to accommodate parents due to the current restrictions. Prizes will be awarded, speeches made and Leavers’ gifts presented. In the event of wet weather, the service will be filmed from the school library with prizes awarded in classrooms with filming in place.

We knew it would happen soon, Daniel has now read EIGHT million words!  Amazing Daniel! I wonder how many you will have read by the end of term?

Congratulations to these pupils for reaching one million words:

• Caspar

• Grace S

• Tegan 

• Charlie

• Chloe B

• Mya 

• Abigail

• Charlotte

• Harriet

• Stephanie

Keep reading and quizzing!

It great to see so many of you accessing reading from home.  We work out these totals over each week working from Monday to Monday, so there is still time for next week.

Word Wizards of the week:

• Alyssa
• Daniel
• Harry B
• Liana
• Tegan

Children who have read the most books this week:

• Annalise
• Grace
• Keshav
• Orla
• Tumi

Keep up the excellent reading work.

The following children have been awarded (virtually) certificates for Accelerated Reader this week:

Well done to you all.

Weekly battle 21 May - 4 June results:

Boys are the winners!

Special mention to Aryan in 4M and Alyssa in 5F for contributing the most points to their teams. 

In the Class 3S and 6Y battle:

Each class can have the speediest TT Rock Star and that gets you up the status board on the poster. To get on this board you have to tackle the single-player games - Garage, Studio & Soundcheck, multi-player games do not count for these. The single-player games also earn more coins than the multi-player games too.

In the last weeks, most improved speedsters in each class are:

• 1E - Matthew - Wannabe

• 2W - Harry - Garage Rocker

• 3S - Esme - Headliner

• 4M -Aryan - Rock Star!

• 5F - Isla - Rock Legend!

• 6Y - James - Rockstar!

I have also set up a 'Battle' for Thursday 4 June - 11 June 'Girls Vs Boys' for the whole school. 

There is also Class 2W V 4M battle too.

Battles add up any points at all as you play! I will let you know who wins next Courier.

Stay Calm and Keep Rocking!

Dear Parents

In The Courier before half term I talked about the prospect of us all taking the first small steps out of lockdown and the mix of joys and anxieties this would inevitably bring. Sure enough many of us will have now welcomed loved ones, safe distanced into our gardens or met outside of the home.

Lots of the children, this week, have told me how much they have enjoyed this and what it has meant to them. Of course some children have returned to school this week too. We've all seen lots on the news about how this will be here and how it has been in other countries.

Here at Crescent, staff and many parents have witnessed children who are at first cautious but who have then grown in confidence at seeing and interacting with their friends and school adults. I've often thought, throughout my career, that very often adults can learn as much from children as children can from adults.

Back at Crescent this week we have witnessed children who haven't been daunted by change, who've found new and safe ways to learn, to play, to socialise and to show that they care.

We talk lots about the school promise and how it can be applied to different situations in and out of school and, of course we will continue to guide and nurture children to continue to keep themselves and others safe but so far we have been proud of their thought for others and resilience in times that are new and challenging for us all.

The children who continue to home learn, not to be outdone, have also retained a remarkable work ethic, cheerfulness, eagerness to communicate and share with their teachers and continuation of kind thoughts and deeds towards others.

Good Citizen is of course a significant strand of the Crescent school promise so please keep sending to me, by email (awebb@crescentschool.co.uk), any examples of your children going above and beyond in this aspect during this lockdown period, so that we can include them in a section celebrating this in the Courier each Friday.

It was Herbie, Max and Nellie's Great Grandma’s 100’th birthday just before half term and she’s also just recovered from Covid19.

They all made her a banner to hold up from the car park at her residential home as they couldn’t see her because of social distancing.

What lovely pictures, we bet Great Grandma was thrilled.

Back before half term, Crescent School pupils took part in the second week of the CSW Virtual School Games.  This time the featured sport was cricket.

Pupils had to complete two skill challenges and submit their results. The Wall Catch tested their fielding skills whilst the Bat Blast was all about accurate batting.

Over half term we were thrilled to find out that Crescent School took the Primary School Participation Award again for the second week running.

What a fantastic effort from everyone - well done!

Fingers crossed for Tennis this week!

Below are the details of the FoC Year Group Representatives. These reps will communicate with you on all our events via email, WhatsApp or Facebook. 

Please find below the term dates for 2021-22:

Michaelmas Term
Term starts Wednesday 1 September 2021
Half Term Saturday 16 October to Sunday 31 October 2021
Term ends Tuesday 14 December 2021

Please see below for useful school contact information:

Please find below term dates for this academic year and next:

2019/20

Cyber-crime – please be extra vigilant

Parents are asked to be vigilant when reading emails relating to the payment of school fees and any other items to the Foundation.

We continue to receive reports regarding spam emails.  The latest scam offers a large discount on fees for the coming academic year if paid immediately.

This is probably trying to take advantage of the fact that some independent schools have offered discounts for this term and that parents may therefore be more open to such a suggestion. You can always protect yourselves by only making payments to us in line with our normal, published methods.

As advised, there has been no change to the bank details of either Princethorpe College, Crackley Hall or Crescent and there is no intention to make any changes in the foreseeable future. Any electronic notification that appears to be from any of the Foundation schools changing these details may be fraudulent.  Our bank details are available on the Parent Bills, the Online Payment Portal and for Princethorpe in the Information Booklet 2019 – 2020 for each school, and only those details should be used.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or my colleagues in the Bursary if you are have any doubts about the correct details or indeed if anything appears suspicious. 

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

On the last day before the May Half Term break pupils were challenged to be creative, constructive and imaginative by up-cycling something old and un-used from around their house or garden to make something new. 

In true Crescent fashion pupils stepped up to the challenge and created some wonderful and inspiring designs, including egg cartoon door wreaths, plastic bag doormats, hanging basket hedgehog hotels and a NASA inspired rocket

Winners of the house competitions were:

• Yellow House – Esme for her rainbow painted upcycled bread bin in to a bedroom cupboard

• Red House - Zac for his bird house

• Blue house – Max and Herbie for their welly plant pots and CD sun catchers

Upper School

• Yellow House - Drew and Daniel Oven Gibbs for their painted glass lavender candles and mug plant pot

• Red House - Tegan for her bird feeder

• Blue House – Eleanor for her jam jar vases and tealight holder

Well done all, you can view the winning designs by clicking through the photos attached. 

You can view all the entries submitted for Yellow House by clicking through the photos on this article.

Crescent School

You can view all the entries submitted for Red House by clicking through the photos on this article.

Crescent School

You can view all the entries submitted for Blue House by clicking through the photos on this article.

Crescent School

It’s been a week quite like no other – different but brilliant in so many ways. The children that have returned to school have adapted to new routines with great resilience and enthusiasm.

We’ve continued to have fun with our learning and have been taking every opportunity to add a little singing and dancing where possible. Geraldine Giraffe continues to add humour to our phonics sessions and keeps spirits high. We’ve been resourceful and inventive at playtimes with easy clean equipment and even managed to have a couple of picnic lunches in the sunshine.

The children working at home have been mirroring the work we are doing in class –I’m so impressed with how everyone has continued to embrace their learning and love the pictures, videos and verbal responses that have been sent in this week.

You may remember that Reception are reading 'La chasse a l’ours' (We’re Going on a Bear Hunt in French) and that we made lollipop stick puppets so that the children can name the characters.

We are now reading the story 'proper' and this week, we are learning to name the grass (la prairie, in French) and the sound it makes in French (flou, flou!). I asked the children to make 'la prairie' and to record themselves saying 'la prairie' and 'flou flou'.

Our topic this half term is ‘Growing and Changing'. We have used the story ‘Titch’ by Pat Hutchins to compare size.

We all made stick puppets of the characters and used them to retell the story.

Class 1E came back to school this week with smiles on their faces, settling straight back in as if they hadn’t been away. Their arrival on the first day was marked by every member of the class wearing the same amazing t-shirts – a fantastic sight to see and a sign of how well bonded they are as a class.

We quickly found ways to continue working hard and playing together but with distance. Paired reading has been done electronically through Bug Club, learning has been outdoors or split between two classrooms and there has been lots of fun and laughter. 

Mrs Olner and I are very proud of just how well they have adapted and how hard they have worked.

If handwashing was an Olympic sport, we would definitely have put in enough practise this week to compete for gold medal. Class 1 have been singing a song to help them remember how to wash all parts of their hands, ‘over, under, round and through’.

Class 2W prepared to Party in DT this week.  Pupils have been writing down recipes and creating step by step instructions on how to make their chosen recipe, I now have a new collection of very yummy recipes to make, thank you Class 2W. 

Some pupils even made their recipes. 

Class 3S have been looking closely at flowers and what the roles of the different parts in the pollination process are. They have also been investigating how the water moves up the stem of a flower by observing how white petals can be dyed when added to coloured water and looking closer at the tiny tubes inside plants called xylem.

A great job Class 3S!

Class 3S have been inspired by the House Eco Challenge and are broadening their knowledge in their DT lessons. We have started a Sustainability Project and here are some of their first tasks, chosen from a number of activities to design and inform others of the importance of recycling and reusing.

DT was a two-week project for all children in Class 4M.

Class 4M researched, designed and made their own cars out of cardboard. Some made wind-powered cars, using balloons or a sail while some made push along ones. They all had great fun and enjoyed testing them out and sending in video clips.

As part of our Nonsense Poetry topic, we have continued to look at the work of Edward Lear. As well as making limericks famous, he also penned 'The Pobble Who Has No Toes.'

Class 4M analysed the poem and then drew their impressions of what they think The Pobble looks like. Some of their sketches are here. The children are now looking forward to venturing into the world of Lewis Carroll with 'Jabberwocky.'

DT was a two-week project for all children in Class 5F.

Class 5F's project was all about houses. Having found out the different types of houses and different houses through the ages, they set about designing a house of their dreams. They drew out plans and set to work making them out of cardboard. Rooms were decorated with wallpaper, carpet and furniture and little toys were added to see if they fit! Some of them must have taken hours to make!

DT was a two-week project for all children in Year 6.

Class 6W and 6Y had the task of researching beam, arch, suspension and cantilever bridges before designing and making a bridge of their own. Lego, Jenga blocks, cardboard, wood and even 3D printer pens were used. Some were made inside and some outside and it was lovely to see some of the younger siblings and parents all getting involved when testing them.

Many of Year 6 are back in school and learning with their teachers.  This week we were tackling the Subjunctive form in English. We wrote sentences relating to our wishes when we are free again. 

We have taken one line from most of 6W to create a piece of work that we wish to share as a poem:

Year 6 are learning how to ask and give directions in town. We started last week with the basic right, left, forward, but when faced with the map of my imaginary city Tattonville they had to resort to more complex detailed instructions using ordinal numbers (first, second, third…) and the prepositions!

The result was some very neat and accurate work on complex directions in French.