The Courier

Dear Parents

We started the week in school by focusing on our new school promise, which is to work hard and try our best. Allied with the message of kindness that we focused on in the first three weeks, this combination really encapsulates everything we ask of the children. As adults we are more aware than ever of the unusual circumstances we find ourselves in, but for now at least, the children are adapting to the new circumstances as if it had been ever thus.

Today in school the children had the chance to meet up with their new learning mentors. This is an initiative that we have brought in this year as part of our emphasis on building self-regulation for the children. They have all had a 10 minute meeting with their new mentors, agreeing targets for the year that they can take full personal responsibility for. As you would expect from the Crescent children, they have embraced this idea with great enthusiasm and in many ways that in itself is a success. The new mentors do not in any way take the place of the form or subject teacher, but are simply a focal point for the pupils and allow them to go through the process of identifying their own targets and taking personal responsibility for them. They will meet again in January to monitor progress and discuss changes that the children might like to make at that stage.

Last week we staged the Junior da Vinci information session for parents, talking about how this reward scheme works in the school. If you were unable to attend on the evening you will find a link elsewhere in today's Courier. Next week we look forward to the next in the series of September parental events with the phonics and early reading information meeting for Reception parents. I do hope parents in this year group find this session useful.

Last weekend I took my own daughter to her new university halls of residents in Sheffield. I must say, she has got quite lucky with the quality of her room. With all of the restrictions it will be a freshers’ week unlike any other and her lectures will be a mixture of online and small group sessions. We are all learning to adapt as best we can but at the same time keeping the wheels in motion. On that note, many thanks to everyone for their response to our request to wear face coverings at drop-off and pick-up times. Your support is much appreciated.

Enjoy your weekends everyone. 

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Mrs Louise Symons as our new part time Year 5 teaching assistant. Mrs Symons will cover for the excellent Mrs Collie, who has recently gone on maternity leave. In addition to her duties in Year 5, Mrs Symons will also be assisting with reading in Key Stage 1.

By way of background, Mrs Symons is a fully qualified teacher with 15 years experience in local schools, including a spell as head teacher at Northlands Primary School in Rugby. We are really pleased to have such a high calibre addition to our team and we wish Mrs Symons all the best in her new role.

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 28 September 2020

Don't forget its Indivuidual and Siblings photographs on Monday, summer or winter unform to be worn with blazers.

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

Today pupils had their first 'Learning Mentoring Meetings' and they were very successful. This year the Crescent School has a whole school target: 'To embed self-regulation to achieve high performance' and the Learning Mentoring Meetings were an important first step for the children towards this goal.

The pupils each met with a member of staff to discuss their work, they helped the children reflect on their books, feedback and comments and their last report targets and encouraged them to choose and agree the academic targets they want to work on this year in school. Together they then recorded the targets on a postcard, to help remind pupils and to allow them to share their targets with you.

This powerful initiative gives responsibility for learning to the children, and all pupils from Year 1 up to Year 6 took part. Staff did not tell pupils what targets to choose.

The children were all excited by the opportunity and we hope it will motivate their learning as they strive to achieve their own set goals. We look forward to reviewing the targets over the coming year.

Thank you to everyone for participating so enthusiastically and to our Year 6s for their sterling organisation of the day.

Please ensure that you wait with your child(ren) at drop off until the school's opening at 8.15am.  It is only at this time that school becomes responsible for all children's safe care. Before this time it is a parental duty.

Please note, however, that all children can be brought to the front door at any time from 7.45am - 8.15am where they will be welcomed and looked after by our Early Bird staff as appropriate for their age. This does not need to be booked in advance.

Also please let the school office and/or your child's form teacher know if someone else will be collecting your child at the end of the day. We cannot release pupils without this information.

Many thanks

As Mr Thackway advised this week with the Covid Isolation guidance emailed, pupils will all have access to any Home Learning that may be necessary in the future via Seesaw Class, as a website or APP on most devices including Kindle Fire. This means all members of the Crescent community are prepared should Home Learning be needed again. All children should have received a code by today from Reception all the way to 6W. If you're already familiar with Seesaw and pupils have a class account that they have used before, just enter the new code as the last one from spring will have expired. I believe that may include the Family APP too.

If you are new to Seesaw, instructions of how to set up on the two APPs are on the PDF code sheet coming home. For extra support, Seesaw has its own excellent YouTube channel. Here are two links to get you started: 

Many thanks for your support in Home Learning. 

Congratulations to our newly elected House Captains, who received their badges in assembly last Friday. They will have lots to do in their new role and their first job was to help co-ordinate today’s mentor meetings.

We wish them all the best in their new roles.

• St. George’s – Joshua and Asha
• St. David’s -  Amy and Emme
• St. Andrew’s – Hattie and Amelia

Well done to all.

Congratulations to the following children who have been appointed as team captains for the season.

This year the Sports Captains are:

• Boys’ Football - George C
• Girls’ Football - Emme
• Boys’ Hockey - Isaac
• Girls’ Hockey - Amy
• Girls’ Netball - Eve

Well done to all the Captains. We look forward to hearing of your team successes.

One of our measures for controlling the coronavirus spread is keeping classrooms and corridors well ventilated with windows open where possible.  As a result, the children might well find the school colder than they are used to, particularly as we head into autumn.  For that reason, we would encourage all children to have additional layers available in school. 

School hoodies and tracksuit tops are ideal for the job whilst also looking smart.  

Thank you to Grace's Mum in Year 3 for the photos of the Car Park at St Marks Church.  Grace has enjoyed her walks to school this week and enjoing seeing the signs of autumn appearing.  

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.

A short walk and a breath of fresh air is excellent at helping children get ready for their morning's learning. 

Crescent School

The latest edition of Crescent's Admissions Update e-newsletter has just been published and is available here: https://admissions.crescentschool.co.uk/

Packed full of information and news it gives prospective parents a feel for school life, details of forthcoming events and helpful advice about the admissions process, particularly for those who are looking at entry in September 2021.

Please do share it with friends.

If you have any questions on admissions, please do contact the Registrar, Helen Morley, call 01788 523851 or email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk.

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 Friday 2 October 2020.  Books will be sent to school shortly after this date.

Thank you for your support with this.

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

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.

In the school calendar we had scheduled to have Open Corridors on Friday 2 October 2020, due to current restrictions, this will not be possible. We know how important it is for parents to be involved in their child's learning and the children love to share their work and their school so we are creating a virtual open corridor to enjoy from the comfort of your own home.

This link will be shared on Friday 2 October.

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 was sent last week. 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 was sent last week. 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

Congratulations to our first Junior da Vinci student of the year - Amelia in English.

It is unusual to award one so early in the year but we have carried over the Junior da Vincis earned last year.

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

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

• Alfie
• Lilah
• Maya
• Samuel

Well done to you all.

Weekly battle 17 - 24 September:

• Boys scored 6,177 points
• Girls scored 3,374 points

Boys are the winners!

Amy in 6W and James in 3Y 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:

I have also set up a 'Battle' from Thursday 24 September - 1 October, '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.

Please click on the link below to read all about what the Reception Classes have been learning this week.  You can also scroll through the gallery of photos attached to this article.

Reception Round Up - 25 Sept

Class 1S switched from their feet to their hands this week in PE lessons learning the correct technique to bounce and catch a ball and working out which part of their hand to use to keep the ball under control when dribbling.   

Class 2W were looking at minibeasts in the school grounds. They filled out a tally chart to record how many they found and discussed with their friends who found what.

Over the last two weeks, Class 3Y have been looking around the school grounds to find and identify different trees, plants, flowers and insects.

They have been recording their work in a variety of ways.

Class 3Y have made a super start to their English lessons this year. We have completed a fiction unit and this week moved on to non-fiction.

We are exploring information texts and especially non-chronological reports in the form of sports reports. The children have enjoyed reading a range of sports books from the library, a great way to build their familiarity with this text type. 

While we are unable to take part in our usual swimming lessons pupils from Years 3 - 6 have been getting fit by partaking in a Personal Challenge Curriculum.  This involves pupils completing a number of different exercises for speed, agility and quickness (SAQ) and an endurance run. 

Pupils have then set their own targets on areas they would like to improve.  It has been fantastic to see all of the pupils really engaging with this and striving to be the best that they can be, learning not to compare their performance to others but to reflect on their own personal goals, values and self motivation.   

Year 6 Blue House pupils had a great day last Friday learning about the art of leadership. Students looked at a number of inspirational leaders, analysed the key attributes that strong leaders have and then thought deeply about the characteristics they possess and those they may need to develop further.

We worked on communication skills, both verbal and non verbal, to understand the importance of clear and concise instructions and learned how important it is to plan ahead and be prepared, and to have a Plan B.  Students then had a go at leading their peers through a variety of different warm-up activities and fun games before creating their own exercises to explain and lead.

I was extremely impressed with the wonderful ideas the pupils had on how to develop play time and lunchtimes to make them fun on the playground.  St Andrews, it was a pleasure to spend the day with you.

On Saturday 19 September, the Foundation's senior school, Princethorpe College, welcomed Crescent School's Year 6 children.

In a carefully planned afternoon session, following government COVID guidelines, the children had the chance to explore life at secondary school.

They began with a warm welcome from Headmaster, Ed Hester, before they were split into groups to take part in sample lessons in Maths and Art. In a break between lessons there was even the opportunity for a legendary Princethorpe cookie, along with a good run around in the warm September sunshine.

It was great to see so many of them all enjoying their taste of senior school life!

Many thanks to the staff who supported this event.

In Craft Club we have been exploring colour theory whilst making spinner toys.

To make the spinners the children coloured, cut, stuck and measured. Then we observed how the colours on our spinners changed as they whizzed around!

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 we feature Good Learners:

‘We work hard and try our best'

Coding is now a really important and weighty part of the Primary Computing Curriculum, and the main reason for this is that it promotes a wide range of vital and transferrable life skills, such as logic, problem solving and self-regulation. Luckily it is also really hands-on and fun! A great way to get to know a little more about this and exactly what your children are learning could be to create a Scratch project at home with them. If you haven’t heard of Scratch before, it is a free block-based programming website developed by the MIT and aimed specifically at children https://scratch.mit.edu/. It allows you to create a wide range of computer games, quizzes or animations, with the user writing all of the coding themselves!

The website is really straightforward to navigate, has a great parents information section and is 100% safe for children of any age to navigate on their own, although ability-wise it is more appropriate for Key Stage 2 if using independently. You can either explore the millions of games and quizzes that have been created by other users (all carefully vetted and checked) or create your own projects, which is the real fun bit! Now if your children have used it before, they may just be able to take the lead, but if not there are a lot of activity guides and simple tutorials that are easy to follow https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/editor/?tutorial=all.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start, why not have a go at making a Shark Attack game, following the attached guide here. Although it can look a little daunting at first, it’s easy to get the hang of the basic functions and commands. Also it is brilliant for promoting the idea of ‘debugging’; trying things out first, and if they don’t work trying to figure out why!

If you need any help at all or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Also if you have created some amazing Scratch projects with your children, I’d love it if you could share them with us!

Thursday 1 - Saturday 31 October 2020

We are going to challenge your children and indeed the whole family to get active in October. Each child will be able to set their own challenge according to their age, ability and time available e.g. I’m going to walk 5,000 steps everyday day in October, or I'm going to cycle/scoot/walk around Draycote, and gain sponsorship from friends and family for this.

The money raised will then go towards two things:

• The school charity for this term, which is the Hope 4 Project a homeless charity in Rugby. They are planning to use this money on a project in their building, likely to be updating the heating system.

• Equipment for the Crescent School classes e.g. games, stationery and items chosen by the children to be used in Privilege Time.

We would love to see pictures of the children working on and completing their challenges so please send in your pictures and we can put these into the Courier. 

YOu can download the sponsor form here.

Friday 9 October 2020 at 7.45pm

Our usual parents quiz will become virtual for this year. Ms Forth will be running a quiz on Kahoot (I'm sure many of you used this in lockdown) so you’ll need to download the app but it’s a faster finger type quiz.

We will be asking for the usual £5 donation per person which will get you the Quiz code and allow you to join. We will have prizes for the top winning teams.

If you would like to take part please liaise with your Year Group representative who will collate together your details. 

Friday 13 November 2020 at 6.00pm

We will be looking to hold virtual bingo for all pupils. Further details on this will be sent out in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you to everyone who logged onto our first virtual FoC meeting this week. It was a very productive meeting where we discussed all the new ideas/events for this academic year.

• Active October
• Virtual Parents Quiz Night
• Children's Virtual Bingo

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

Lunch Menu - 28 September 2020

Crescent School Office

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 

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

In line with other local schools and Warwickshire County Council’s message below, please wear face coverings on school grounds (if you are able) when dropping off and collecting children. 

Please remember there is plenty of space around school to socially distance.

Many thanks for you for your co-operation.

Public Health England have produced a letter for schools to distribute to parents which explains when a person requires a coronavirus test and what the symptoms of coronavirus are. They have asked us to share and circulate this letter amongst parents at the school.

The intention of the letter is to help prevent children being taken out of school unnecessarily and answer some of the questions parents may have around testing.

You can view the letter here.

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.