The Courier

Dear Parents

I hope you have all enjoyed the amazing weather over the last few days. It has been good to see some families taking the opportunity to ride bikes and scooters to school. There is a bike shelter located by the field and this is available for all pupils to store bikes safely during the day.

Many thanks from me to the staff who put together the information sessions earlier in the week on our online learning platforms. I hope parents found these useful and they are still available to view via a link from this week’s newsletter. Online learning is only one aspect of our curriculum delivery, but these platforms can supplement the learning in class in a way that is fun and accessible. We have two further information sessions planned for later this month, on the da Vinci awards programme (23 Sept at 7.00pm) and the teaching of phonics in the early years (29 September, also at 7.00pm). I do hope you will be able to attend one or both of these meetings.

As I have mentioned in a previous newsletter, one of our main school targets this year is to embed self-regulation in children’s learning. We want them to take responsibility for their own work and set high standards for themselves. With this in mind, we have our first learning mentor meetings next Friday, where the children from Year 1 to Year 6 will meet with a member of staff to agree on a set of simple targets to aspire to as the year progresses. This will be followed up with meetings later in the year to monitor progress and re-think targets. We do hope your children will embrace this new initiative and that it will have a positive impact on their learning.

Many of our Year 6s are off to Princethorpe this weekend and their parents can watch a welcome from College Headmaster, Ed Hester, in the Events section.

The weekly calendar can be viewed by clicking on the link below.  It details all the clubs, events, fixtures and additional information for the week. 

Weekly Calendar 21 September 2020

All the co-curricular clubs can be viewed on SOCS, where you can find details of all the dates the clubs are running.  

SOCS Co-Curricular

Crescent School

It has been a fantastic first few weeks at Crescent School for our brand new Reception classes.

They have been making friends, playing outside, sitting down for lunch together, getting changed for PE, hanging up their blazers on the right peg and of course – enjoying plenty of fabulous new lessons. Already the boys and girls in the two classes of bubbly, bright youngsters are becoming familiar with their daily routine and whilst it might be tiring at first, it is clearly so much fun.

Under the ever-present care of Mrs Pullen and Mrs Noyce, and Mrs Emery and Mrs Olner, the girls and boys have settled in well and have happy smiles on their faces. What an exciting adventure they have ahead of them over the next few years.

This week they had yet one more momentous event – their first class photo – and don’t they all look adorable in their new uniform, and how well they all behaved as we mustered the class. They are a perfect addition to our wonderful school community.

And whilst our camera was out we thought why not take a photo of all of Crescent's classes, so here we all are at the start of the 2020-21 academic year.

You may have noticed in the school Calendar that 'Learning Mentoring Meetings' are scheduled for next Friday 25 September. This is a new idea that we are implementing as part of our whole school target:

'To embed self-regulation to achieve high performance'

Children will meet with a member of staff and choose academic targets they want to work on this year in school. They will keep a record of their targets on a postcard, which I am sure they will want to show you or tell you about afterwards.

This initiative is to give responsibility for their learning to our children from Year 1 to Year 6. Staff will not be telling them what targets to choose, but will only guide pupils through their books, feedback, comments, and last report targets that they have been issued to help make their choices and decisions. We are very excited to give the children this opportunity and hope it will have a powerful effect on them to strive to achieve their own set goals. 

There will be more details in next week's Courier.

Dear Parents

We have received several complaints and concerns regarding parking this week.  Please be considerate when parking around school. 

There has been a number of problems with parking opposite the school on Bawnmore Road and with cars parking on pavements and near the junction in Dalkeith Avenue/Magnet Lane. 

The safety of the children is of paramount concern and I would urge everyone to drive and park with this in mind on all occasions around the school site.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster 

St Mark's Church have confirmed that parents can use their car park for drop off and collection from school.  It is a large car park and there is a short cut from Church Walk which brings you out onto Bawnmore Court beside the school.

It's a lovely short walk to and from school to get some fresh air on these lovely late summer mornings.

Crescent School

Please could you all have a check at home for any school reading books which haven't been returned after lockdown.  This is leaving us short of books for the children in Pre-Prep.

With many thanks as always.

Our fundraising was cut short this Spring as we went into lockdown, but we managed to get part way to our target by raising £327.40. This will go to the charity to support the orphan feeding programme in Malawi.  Winners of Easter eggs for various competition have been awarded to:

• Name the Flags - Bryson 4M
• How many Dots? - Aryan 5F
• Guess the Pompoms - Lara 4M
• Alphabook - Annalise 4M
• Monkey's name was Kevin! - Charlotte 5F

Thank you all for your support for a charity close to Crescent's heart.

Warwickshire County Council have provided a further update regarding the Crossing Patrol:

We would like to update you regarding the results of the recent School Crossing Patrol pilot we completed with Public Health and Health and Safety contributing to assess how the SCP operate with the current Covid restriction and the impact of Covid with the Patrol themselves. 

We have now entered the next stage of the Reinstatement process and are waiting for the Risk Assessments to be reviewed and approved by the tactical team. We hope this process will be complete early October. The Supervisors are working with the patrols to complete individual risk assessments in preparation for returning. These assessments will look at the risk to the patrols, any underlying health conditions, and the wellbeing of the patrols.  

We understand your frustration and we are keen to complete the reinstatement process as soon as possible. If you foresee any issues with your site or patrol, please contact me to discuss. We appreciate your patience and your support during this time.

In the first half of the Autumn Term children should come to school in summer uniform together with their school blazers whilst the temperatures are still reasonably mild.  Parents can use their discretion to send children in winter uniform if the weather turns cooler or if it is raining.

After the half term break all children are expected to be in full winter uniform.  Parents can again then use their discretion as to whether blazers or the school coat are more appropriate for the weather at the time.

When it does get really cold we do need all the children to have their coats in school so we can make a decision on outdoor break times.

Please note hair should be tied back.

Thank you for your cooperation with these guidelines.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster  

Our new Scholastic Book Club is up and running! Go to http://schools.scholastic.co.uk/the-crescent to browse the latest books and order online. For every £1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20p in Scholastic Rewards.

Please place your order online by 2 October 2020.

Thank you for your support with this.

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

Please click here to watch a welcome message from Foundation Head, Ed Hester, to the Crescent School dedicated Princethorpe College Taster Experience.

The event takes place tomorrow, Saturday 19 September from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

The children will remain in their class bubbles over the course of the afternoon, receive a welcome from Ed Hester, the Headmaster and have the chance to experience two taster lessons.

Social distancing and government guidelines will be followed throughout the afternoon.

A Revised Admissions and Entrance Examinations Booklet which outlines the admissions process for September 2021 entry is available and can be found on the Admissions page of the College website here.

Please note that Entrance Exams have been moved to Saturday 23 January 2021. Candidates need to be registered for the exams by Friday 4 December at the latest. Parents of children with a SEND should register as soon as possible so that a meeting with the SEND Co-ordinator at Princethorpe can be arranged well before the exams take place.

In the meantime, if you have any questions relating to the admissions process please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Contact the Admissions Team on 01926 634201 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Wednesday 23 September - 7.00pm

On Wednesday 23 September at 7.00pm, all parents are invited to a Teams online event on our Junior da Vinci initative. The meeting will explain how Junior da Vinci works in school and the impact it has on the children.

A Teams link will be sent out on the day to all parents, but it will be recorded and sent out afterwards just in case you cannot make it.

There will be limited opportunity for questions on the evening but you can always contact me after the event, if I have not already covered your query.

Monday 28 September 2020

Individual and siblings photographs will be taken in school on Monday 28 September.  Children may choose to wear either winter or summer uniform but with blazers please.

Apologies, but we cannot offer photos with siblings from Pathfinders' Preschool this year due to distancing guidelines.

Crescent School

Tuesday 29 September 2020 - 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 Tuesday 29 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 5 October 6.30pm - 8.30pm and Tuesday 13 October 4.00pm - 6.00pm

We all value the importance of these meetings to share with you how your child has settled into the new school year.

In order to keep everyone safe we will be running these via Teams meetings. An ISAMS with details to book an appointment with Form Tutors has been sent today. This email will also explain how you can get feedback from specialist staff if required. 

Thank you for your support on this matter.

Thursday 8 October 4.00pm - 6.00pm and Monday 12 October 6.30pm - 8.30pm

We all value the importance of these meetings to share with you how your child has settled into the new school year.

In order to keep everyone safe we will be running these via Teams meetings. An ISAMS with details of how to book an appointment with Form Tutors has been sent today. This email will also explain how you can get feedback from specialist staff if required. 

Thank you for your support on this matter.

Thursday 10 December 2020 - 9.00am - 12.00pm

Flu vaccinations will take place in school, for all years, on Thursday 10 December 2020.  Further details will be released in due course.

Thank you.

Crescent School

Well done to Sofie who has already read 550,000 words this term, what a brilliant achievement.

Children in Years 3 and 4 are awarded badges for 500,000 and multiples of a million words. Years 5 and 6 will get badges for achieving multiples of a million words only.

I wonder how many words will be read this year?

Pre-Prep reading certificates have, this week, been presented to:

• Akaal
• Isabella
• Kiran
• Sophie

Well done to you all.

Weekly battle 11 - 17 September:

Girls are the winners! Aryan in 5F and Eva in 5F contributed the most points to their teams. 

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 and Soundcheck, multi-player do not count for these. These also earn more coins than the multiplayer games too. 

Improve your levels rehearsing in the Garage at least three times a week, before you play your next 'Gig'.

Plenty of action so last week's, most improved speedsters in each class are:

• 3Y: Remi - Rock Star!

• 5F: Chloe - Headliner; Liana - Gigger; Rory - Wannabe; Kai - Headliner; Ro - Breakthrough Artist; Drew - Gigger!

• 6W: Michael - Rock Star; Asha - Rock Star; Eve - Support Act; Jay - Rock Legend!

I have also set up a 'Battle' from Thursday 17 September - 24 September, 'Girls Vs Boys' for the whole school. 

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

Stay Calm and Keep Rocking!

Following online platform workshops this week, attached is a guide to Times Table Rock Stars usage at home.

Reception Class (RP) enjoyed their first lessons in French. I read them a story in French about a now familiar character, Emilie. We then watched and sang the traditional French song Frère Jacques!

Today we coloured some French flags in readiness for learning some colours in French. We also used Madame Tatton’s magic black boxes. If you speak in French into the small black boxes, they will play back what you said! Speak in English and the black box remains silent!

Class 1S heard a story about a boy called Andrew who decorated biscuits for a party. He decorated every second biscuit with icing, every third biscuit with a cherry and every fourth biscuit with a chocolate button. It was interesting to see how many had more than one decoration - and the 12th biscuit was the best biscuit as it had ALL the decorations!

We have been completing activities and tasks to embed the sound of 'ch' and then Charlotte proclaimed, 'we could make paper chains!' So.... that's what we did! 

Year 2 children have been considering their feelings.  They understand that there is no such thing as a 'bad' feeling.  It's about what you do with a feeling. 

Each child went on to think of a safe place - how does it make them feel, what can they see and what can they hear there.  Children identified the beach, the woods, a family walk, home, school, bedroom...

This week, Forest School Club enjoyed the glorious sunshine. We sat outside and painted some pictures. We did not use paints from the art room, nor paint brushes. Instead, in true Forest School style, we made our own natural paints by crushing berries (elderberries and blackberries) with sticks and stones and we used our hands and some feathers and sticks to paint.

The resulting master pieces are as unique as the children!

Mrs Gupta sent in a picture of Sachin with this Great Run Solo medal. He (and brother Keshav) had a place in the Junior Great North Run which would have taken place last Saturday, but of course it was cancelled due to Covid19.

Instead Sachin (and Keshav) signed up to do the Great Run Solo Challenge which was to run 1 kilometre every day for 7 days, which they managed to do at the end of the Summer holidays and raised some money for the charities that would have lost out.

Good work Sachin and Keshav, what a lovely thing to do.

Crescent School

For a two or three week period this year we will be focusing on one of the sayings in the School Promise. We will talk about this in assembly and in form period. It would be great if you could discuss this with your children at home and support the messages we are emphasising in school.

This week’s promise is an excellent one to start the year with and is in the category of Good Friends:

‘We are kind to each other’ 

Depending on the age of your child and their online habits, you may already be very familiar with the game ‘Roblox’. For those of you who aren’t, it is an online gaming platform that offers the user the chance to create and play a whole range of different games, many of which are designed by other such users. It can be an incredibly fun game, a super introduction to designing computer games and also a nice way for children to dip their toes into the world of online gaming… but it does need some careful setting up and monitoring to keep it safe and secure!

Roblox is a game with a bit of a bad reputation for various reasons, although the makers have done a lot recently to try to put this right. The main problem is that a lot of it can involve chatting online to other players, which obviously instantly starts alarm bells ringing. It does however have some pretty decent privacy and parental controls settings that help to alleviate this fear. Despite being completely free to play it can also be a little pushy with additional online purchases and without the correct filters does have some questionable content in some of the games.

I would recommend firstly making sure that the age restrictions are set to below 12 years of age, as this automatically filters a lot of the chat. At first I would also recommend enabling Account Restrictions, as this stops all chat functions (or limits to friends only if you choose that option) and limits the in-games they can play to ones that have been carefully approved by the creators. You can then use a Parent-PIN to lock the account so your child can’t make any changes without permission. There are then a number of ways of checking exactly what they have been on by essentially looking at their history, which cannot be deleted. Sorry if that all sounds a little complicated, it does take a little while to get the settings the way you want them, but it is all explained best on their website here:

Roblox Settings

There is also a very handy concise guide attached just here. If you have any questions about Roblox, or any other E-Safety concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Reception Class RE and Year 4 enjoyed their PE lessons out on the sports field on Monday afternoon. After warming up they practised key skills, for Reception this included balancing, throwing and catching whilst the older children worked on their different jumps, refining their techniques and exploring which worked best for the different challenges, Head of Games, Mrs McCollin had set. The sun shone brilliantly and they all enjoyed being out in the fresh air. We couldn’t think of a better way to spend a September afternoon.

Crescent School

Monday 21 September 2020 - 8.00pm

This will now take place on Monday 21 September at 8pm via Zoom. The School Office will send an ISAMS message with the login details on the morning of the meeting.

Anyone is welcome to join us at this meeting as we discuss the new events calendar for this academic year in light of the new Covid restrictions.

After this meeting I'll be able to update you all on the activities we have planned.

Thank you to everyone who has donated uniform to us. Over the last two weeks we have raised over £130 at the pre-loved uniform sales.

Thank you for all your support and to Anita Somerset and Victoria Akbik for all your help and hard work making this possible.

We hope to hold another one towards the end of September (weather permitting), however, we desperately need further donations of uniform especially pre-loved PE kits.

Please leave these items at the front door in the donation box. These items will then be quarantined for 72 hours. 

Hello to all existing parents and welcome to all the new parents,

Usually I would be talking to you all about all our plans for this academic year, however, you just need to bear with us whilst we scope out what we are able to do under this new world that we live in. I'm sure we will still be able to do some form of school fundraising albeit in a new format. 

In the meantime we are asking you to consider a one off donation, of typically £10/£20 to enable the committee to deliver to and for the children up to the end of 2020. Please use the usual Friends of Crescent Bank Account details (sort code 30-97-17 Account number 01174774).

This money will allow us to continue to fund activities for our children like last year where we purchased equipment for 'The Wren's Nest' wellbeing room, play equipment for the EYFS outdoor learning area, filmed both the Selfish Ladybird and the Year 6 Leavers' assembly, as parents were unable to attend these events, and provided cakes and ice creams for all the children who returned to school after lockdown. We also purchased the customary Leavers' hoodies for all of Year 6.

If you haven't joined our facebook page, please click on the link below: 

Friend of Crescent Facebook Page

Please click on the link below to view next week's lunch menu: 

New Lunch Menu - 21 September 2020 

Crescent School Office

Please find below term dates for 2020/21:

Please see below for useful school contact information:

Please find below the term dates for 2021-22:

Michaelmas Term
Term starts Monday 6 September 2021
Half Term Saturday 16 October to Sunday 31 October 2021
Term ends Tuesday 14 December 2021

The School Shop will not open to parents at the end of the school day for the time being. If you need to contact the School shop please email in the first instance to uniform@princethorpe.co.uk.

When ordered items are ready for collection, they will be sent to Crescent School.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

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 in the Information Booklet 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

Children or adults with symptoms must not enter school. Parents must check for symptoms each day before bringing their child into school.

The main symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are:

• a high temperature – please, if you have not already done so, source a thermometer to check temperatures at home
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

Any children or adult who develops symptoms will need to leave the building as soon as possible and be tested for Covid-19.

Details on testing can be obtained at www gov uk/get-coronavirus-test or call the Test and Trace Helpdesk on 119.

Hand held thermometers will be used to check the temperature of any individual feeling unwell. Children who develop symptoms during the school day will be taken to the Meeting Room and their parents called to come and collect the child, as well as any siblings of the child.

Other members of the household should self-isolate for 14 days from when the symptomatic person first had symptoms, or until a negative test result is returned.

In the event of a positive test result the full protocols of test and trace will be followed www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works#

Children returning from restricted areas outside UK must self-isolate as advised by the government guidance before returning to school.

Do not wait, if you have symptoms, get a test as soon as possible.  You need to get the test done in the first five days of having symptoms. Anyone with symptoms can be tested. 

For more information on testing please follow the link below, tests can also be booked by calling 119.  www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/get-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

If you or any member of your household is contacted by NHS Test and Trace and advised to self-isolate it is vital that you do so.  If any pupil has been advised to self-isolate or is off school due to illness, please inform the school via the attendance line in the usual way and arrangements can be made for work to be sent home.

If you have recently returned from another country please follow the rules for re-entering the UK and self-isolate if you have been advised to do so. For information see www.gov.uk/uk-border-control.