The Courier

Dear Parents

I hope you are all well and looking forward to the holidays that are now just around the corner. These last weeks in school are always some of the busiest of the year and the week gone by has been chock-a-block with special events for the children to enjoy.

The Year 6s have enjoyed the premiere screening of the self-made murder-mystery movie as well as taking part in their community week. This has included a range of activities from a walk around Draycote Water on Monday through to archery, fire building, to learning about the workings of parliament and the basics of first aid. We have had house sports matches going on throughout the games afternoons and these have been interspersed with picnics and water fun. Move-up day went really well on Wednesday and it was great to see the children spending time with their new teachers getting used to their new classes. I hope that following our Welcome Evening yesterday, both children and parents feel as well prepared as possible for the new school year that lies ahead.

Today will also see the last set of reports going out to the children from Reception through to Year 4. This concludes the reporting cycle for the year and I know the tremendous number of man hours that goes into the writing of the reports, and I do hope that parents find them informative and helpful. My advice is to share the content of the reports with your children and accentuate the positive feedback, of which there is lots. Of course, there are also plenty of targets in the reports and these are something that we need to bring into sharper focus at the beginning of next term when we start again for another year of learning.

On a more immediate note, we have all been watching the growing numbers of infections in the local area for coronavirus with a good deal of concern. As you may know, this has resulted in year group closures in a number of schools locally, including over at Princethorpe College. We intend to keep going for the remaining two days just as we have done throughout, and we will not be relaxing any of our bubbling restrictions during that time. I cannot thank you enough for all of the support that you have given to the school throughout the pandemic. It is this support that has given us and the children the very best chance of reducing infection and therefore reducing time missed in school.

Let us all hope that things will be better when we return in September, but we are fully prepared for more restrictions being in place if that is the case. We have learned that we can cope with any scenario that is thrown at us and we will continue to be creative in the way that we meet the safety needs of all and align these with the learning and social needs of the children.

I hope you enjoy the weekend. You may be watching the England game on Saturday evening, as I intend to. The fact that we are playing so called easier opposition means inevitably England will make a meal of it. I predict an England victory via an unwatchable penalty shootout.

Best wishes

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

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 - 5 July 2021 

All clubs have finished for the term.

After School provision can be booked through My School Portal and will be available on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 July 2021.

MySchoolPortal 

Crescent School

Recent independent assessments have confirmed that Crescent pupils are on track or exceeding expectations in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science. A result that has really pleased the school’s Head of Curriculum, Deputy Head, Bryony Forth.

Ms Forth, explains, “When you hear on the news of children needing to 'catch up' after the disruption of the lockdowns, as a teacher it makes your heart sink. Right from the very start of the pandemic, the Crescent was determined to continue providing a high standard of teaching and learning and the pupils were able to access their lessons through the learning platform, Seesaw. Over the past year our teachers have worked really hard to engage our pupils through stimulating home learning tasks and live lessons. Throughout this challenging period teachers and pupils have been hugely supported by our fantastic parents.”

Since being back in school pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 have taken GL Assessments and achieved great results. These independent formative assessments happen every year for the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science (for Year 3 to Year 6) and this year the overwhelming majority of pupils have scored at either the 'expected' standard for their year group, or 'exceeded' expectations.

• In Maths 100% of Year 1 to Year 6 pupils are meeting or exceeding expectations.
• In English 99.3% of Year 1 to Year 6 pupils are meeting or exceeding expectations.
• In Science 100% of Year 3 to Year 6 pupils are meeting or exceeding expectations.

Ms Forth, continued, “We are thrilled with the pupils’ achievements as they are. It’s a resounding endorsement of the school’s approach. The scores demonstrate just how well the classes have performed through the disruption of two lockdowns and the resilience the children have shown towards learning despite all the changes they have experienced.”

As part of their Community Week, Crescent School’s Year 6 took part in a UK Parliament webinar.

The outreach session, facilitated by Rachel and Mirriam, who work in the Houses of Parliament’s education department, took the children on a tour of the two houses before explaining how ‘Bills’ are introduced and debated in the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Rachel and Mirriam also explained how MPs are elected to the House of Commons and Life Peers chosen for the House of Lords. They taught the children the difference between the Government and Parliament and all about the expert scrutineering undertaken by the Lords.

The children then had the opportunity to suggest what they would like to be considered for new laws. Our young people took the request very seriously and had plenty of ideas, from fossil fuels to smoking, the homeless and animal abuse they had many constructive suggestions that impressed the Parliament Education team.

It was a very informative and interesting session, that the children all agreed they had really enjoyed.

We said goodbye today to our wonderful art teacher Miss Plenderleith. All of the children have very much enjoyed her lessons over the last year and we wish her all the very best as she goes over to Princethorpe College due to the extra demands on her time there. 

Many thanks for everything you have done here at Crescent, Helen. 

Talk About A Murder debuted on Tuesday evening to great acclaim. Written, directed and filmed by Drama Teacher, Miss Thompson and featuring our very own 6W, the marvellous murder mystery was just superb.

The stars of the show turned up in dazzling dresses and suits for an evening in the limelight. Together with their parents they enjoyed a reception on the school field before the children watched the premiere of their fantastic film in the school hall.

A huge well done to everyone involved!

Last Friday saw the pupils' final meeting with their learning mentor for the academic year. Children proved that they had been working to achieve their targets through showing work in their books, sharing how their learning had been this year and how they have been working on their personal targets that they chose back in September. Please ask them how their review went as they will be rewarded with new stickers to show the targets they have achieved. 

We have been delighted with how this initiative has gone this year despite the lockdowns delaying meetings; it has given responsibility for their learning to our children from Year 1 to Year 6. Pupils were curious to know if staff would still be mentors next year. We will definitely be setting new targets come the Michaelmas Term and consolidate the system throughout the year. This really is a powerful way for children to realise where they are at in their attainment and how they can improve by taking personal 'next steps'.

If you would like uniform before the end of term please place orders by Sunday 4 July 2021. If labels are kept on the uniform they can be exchanged for a different size.  After this date they will be delivered to school for collection, on Friday 1 September. 

Year 3 - 6 - there is a new Games top which is to be worn for Games afternoons and fixtures (see picture). 

Please note trainers are to be worn by all years now, no plimsols for Pre-Prep.  Mrs McCollin requests that the trainer is a sports trainer not a fashion trainer, it can be any colour but minimal logos. 

An email was sent this mornig with the link to the order form and supporting documents.

Crescent School

After trialling firstly at Warwickshire Hockey Development Centre, followed by Warwickshire Academy Centre training during May and June, Amy, who is only 11-years-old, was thrilled to be selected for the Warwickshire U13 hockey squad.

She has already played matches against Staffordshire, and played Derbyshire on the weekend, scoring her first goal for the county!

Amy, who was also selected for the Warwickshire U11 cricket squad and has played several county cricket fixtures so far, will have a very busy Summer!!

Well done Amy.

Crescent School

For the last few months, Alyssa has been taking part in the National Children’s Orchestra online music workshops. Alyssa joined up with the orchestra receiving trumpet tuition and coaching.

All the children have been working on a new music piece called ‘On the Move’. The video has been released today and Alyssa is on there playing the trumpet.

Here is the link to the video here:

National Children's Orchestra

Crescent Year 5 pupil, Drew Ovens Gibbs, has read over six million words this academic year. He tops the leader board in the school’s annual reading challenge having devoured an incredible 193 books.

Ten-year-old Drew is modest about his amazing achievement saying, “I just enjoy reading and I read lots of different books.”

Assistant Head, Sarah Webb, who leads on literacy at the Crescent School, explains, “There are so many good books out there for children to read and we have a very positive reading culture in school.”

The Crescent’s approach to literacy is supported by Renaissance’s Accelerated Reader system. Children take a quiz after reading each book that tests their understanding. Its approach promotes reading for pleasure whilst ensuring the children read appropriately challenging books.

Sarah, continues, “Pupils from Year 3 onwards take part in the reading challenge and can quiz daily on the computers before school. We find our pupils respond really well to the competitive nature of the challenge. This academic year we have had 31 pupils read more than a million words but Drew is our top reader this year at six million words.”

It’s an inspiring achievement – congratulations to Drew!

Parents of Reception to Year 4 Pupils will be receiving their end of year reports today. They will be available on My School Portal from approximately 4pm. Enjoy reading about the achievements of your children, staff have ensured that these reports are a thorough and an accurate reflection of the second part of the year, including some of the lockdown and home learning period.

Ms Forth
Deputy Head

An excited Year 6 marked the end of their time at Crescent School with the traditonal signing of each other's school shirts. Well organsied by Mrs Webb, they had clean shirts and coloured Sharpies to hand and they very much enjoyed writing good luck messages to each other.

We know that the shirts will always be a tangible memory of their time at Crescent School and of their fellow pupils. It was a lovely activity that they all really enjoyed, a huge well done to them all!

Well done to Zahra Nadeem who played beautifully in assembly this morning on her violin. Zahra was playing a piece that she had practised for her ABRSM Grade 3 exam, for which she received a distinction.

Listening to her this morning, I am quite sure it was fully deserved. 

Work continues apace on the Horton Centre with the children keeping an eye on all the changes through the windows in the corridors!  This week the brickwork has progressed rapidly.

We wiil be keeping you abreast of progress by sharing photos in the Courier each week.

Crescent School

Class 4M have chosen to fix the rotten rooves of three classrooms of a junior school in Bwengu at a cost of £385. Any further money raised for this charity close to our hearts will go towards the orphan feeding programme which cost £100 per month.

If you would like to get involved, there are plenty of ways you can. Charlie, Poppy and Ava in 4M have created competition sheets to guess the answers on - return the sheet with £1 to enter.

Esme has a bear that needs a name, again put your name and what you would call the bear on a slip of paper and return it to your form tutor with £1.  Class 4M have completed a Sponsored Silence and of course, fabulous prizes are available for all competitions.

Any game cards for 'Search for Sunshine' that need paying for, should be brought in by the end of term please.

On the very last day of term Tuesday 6 July, we will run virtual Bwengu Bingo! £1 buys 3 game cards. 

This is our 14th year supporting the charity, we really have made a difference to people's lives.

Thanks for all your support.

If you like a challenge and are interested in Bees, then this may be a great competition for you. Please follow the link for further details and let me know how you do.

Big Bee Challenge

Summer concerts are a lovely time for the children to share the work they are doing in their lessons. We are aware of Covid restrictions so once again performances will be recorded and shared with the Crescent School Community. That way everyone feels part of what we do and can see the great work the children have been doing. These will be shared with you during the week of Monday 5 July 2021. 

Thank you for your support and understanding.

Tuesday 6 July 2021 - 2.45pm

The Leavers’ Service will take place on the school field, weather permitting with parents present.  This location will allow for appropriate social distancing.

In the event of wet weather, the service will move indoors and filmed as parents will not be able to attend inside.

Crescent School

There will be final round up of JdV students next week but well done to these children this week:

• Joshua O and Harry S for Maths
• Bella, Harry S, Eva and Harriet M for Science and DT

Congratulations to you all.

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

I am so thrilled with the way so many of the children are engaging with their reading, how fabulous to be able to celebrate them week after week. This week we have the following awards:

6,000,000 words;

• Drew

3,000,000 words:

• Poppy

2,000,000 words:

• Mya

500,000 words:

• Grace O'C

Amazing achievements all round.

Below are the top quizzers and readers for the last two weeks.

Top Quizzers are:

• 3Y   Oliver and Sam O
• 4M  Zahra and Harry
• 5F   Katherine and Faris
• 6W  Ayla and Jay

Word Wizards are:

• 3Y  Alex G and Alex T
• 4M Charlie and Bryson
• 5F  Rohan and Grace
• 6W Isla and Alyssa

Congratulations to the following pupils for passing their music exams:

Pre-Prep reader certificates have this week been awarded to:

• Beau
• Edward
• Kiran
• Nimeeta
• Matthew
• Penelope
• Shaylan
• Sophia
• Thomas
• Tomisin
• Uma
• Zac

Well done to you all.

Winners of the class battle:

Well done Class 4M!

• 1st place - Class 4M with 2,647 points
• 2nd place - Class 2W with  881 points
• 3rd place - Class 6W with  365 points

The players contributing the most points to their class were:

• 1st - Bryson (4M)
• 2nd - Shiv (3Y)
• 3rd - Hany (6W)

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

Reception Round Up -2 July 2021

This week we have been writing instructions and simple recipes so to have our picnic this week was a perfect opportunity to plan and prepare our feast!  Each table group was given an item to plan, write out the instructions and then to make on Thursday.

They all made enough for everyone in the class, and it was a very enjoyable afternoon sharing and having fun together!

Year 2 children were detailed and careful in their practical measuring maths lesson this week.  As they measured classroom items, they looked closely with a ruler to record their answers in cm and mm.

This term Year 3 have been investigating the wonderful world of computer-based animation! After experimenting with flipbook animations and the fantastic Pivot Stickfigure Animator, this week they have been creating and filming their very own Stop-Motion Animation videos, as used in films like Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit!

The final animations will be available to view via Seesaw.

A huge thank you goes out to our kind benefactor, who donated a significant amount of money so our Year 6 could enjoy an activity away from the classroom.

Class 6W (and the teachers I must admit!) had an amazing time at LaserQuest in Coventry. We had two great sessions, where all the children were involved, we all laughed a lot and this has definitely helped to make some more memories for them.

What a week, 6W have made so many memories. We walked around Draycote Water and took great pleasure in the nature around us taking photos for Mr Thackway's competition, some children litter picked, helping our environment.

On the Tuesday 10:10 Ventures led us in bushcraft, archery, and team challenges. We learnt a lot about Parliament from a Parliament Door Keeper and in a webinar on Thursday. The week was completed with Laser Quest and a water fight.

We have laughed a lot but also learnt a lot.

Thank you 6W, it has been great.

The children in Year 6 were set a wildlife photograph challenge on their recent walk around Draycote Water. They came up with some superb entries and the task really focused their concentration on what they could see around them. Some children looked in detail at small scale studies of leaves and flowers whilst others chose the difficult task of photographing landscapes.

You can see the two winning entries below from George R and Ayla who both received inspiring books on how to become expert photographers as prizes. 

The children in Outdoor Learning Club made their own pictures of fairies. We used only natural materials to make different colours and add various textures.

Amazing results!

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.

From now until the end of term we will be looking at a very important idea from the Good Citizens section of the Promise:

"We keep our school tidy and take pride in our clothes and our uniform."

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Unfortunately due to Covid we have not been able to swim this academic year but rather than being upset by this pupils have used this time to improve their fitness and try new sports. 

We competed in orienteering and fitness challenges in the Lent term and more recently in the Trinity term we have introduced Ultimate Frizbee, Frizbee Golf and Tri Golf.

Year 5 and 6 have enjoyed playing disc games, looking at Ultimate Frisbee, learning the rules and skills of this fast and fun non-contact invasion game, recognising similarities with netball, rugby and American football. Players need to be fast, agile and with good levels of endurance with the main objective being to catch the disc in the end-zone by passing the disc to progress up the pitch to score. 

We also had an afternoon of Frisbee Golf, where students created their own golf course around the field with the aim to send the frisbee from the tee into the hoop in the fewest throws.  Some of our younger pupils have had a go at Tri Golf, where they have learnt about the skills of putting, chipping and driving the ball, as well as looking at life skills of honesty, respect, co-operation, perseverance, concentration and self-motivation whilst playing in fun and colourful challenges in active games.  

Last Friday 25 June we hosted our Pre-Prep Sports Day. The children enjoyed a super sporty session out on the school field sprinting, jumping and throwing their way through all the fun.

Their challenges included running races, egg and spoon, jumping and throwing and of course the relay race. Each event enabled them to compete to earn points for their house and everyone tried their hardest to do their very best.

Head of Sport, Mrs McCollin, said, “We had a great morning with plenty of competitive fun, our races and challenges allowed everyone to enjoy having a go in a supportive and encouraging environment. It was wonderful to see the winners being congratulated by all the children.”

The children were all awarded participation for their enthusiastic effort in assembly today. A huge well done to all who took part and thank you to all the Reception, KS1 and Sports staff, who organised the event for everyone.

More photos are included in the gallery.

The FoC are excited to be able to share with you that we have arranged a little last day surprise for the children. On Tuesday 6 July we have an ice cream van attending school. All children will given an ice cream or an ice lolly for children who cannot have ice cream.

The FoC would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support across this challenging academic year and wish you a super summer. 

Friends of Crescent is hugely excited to announce the launch of Crescent Adventure - a new activity trail that will create an exploratory, fun and engaging physical play area within the school grounds.

Crescent Adventure will provide a safe outdoor play area with a wide range of outdoor equipment designed to engage and challenge children physically. It will help to develop children’s confidence in movement and support better peer relationships while developing a lifelong passion for physical activity.

Within school the project is being led by Ms Forth (who outlines the plans in the attached video). Our aim is to install Crescent Adventure in 2022. To make this happen we are looking to raise £17,000 through a range of special fundraising activities. These will run alongside our usual events such as bake sales, movie nights, second-hand uniform and the Christmas Bazaar.

In the meantime if you would like to donate there are two great ways to do so:

1. Making donations through the usual FoC Bank account with the reference CresAdv (Account Name: Friends of Crescent - Sort Code: 30-97-17 - Account Number: 01174774)

2. Doing your online shopping through the Easyfundraising App! The App is a great and easy way to raise money for the school with minimum effort. It includes a huge range of well-known brands including Amazon, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis – all of which are handy for uniform shopping! Find out more at: https://bit.ly/3wgMk7E

3. By donating pre-loved school uniform

We look forward to sharing more about our plans for Crescent Adventure in the coming months and thank you for your support!

Crescent Adventure 

Friends of Crescent 

www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofcrescent
www.instragram.com/friendsofcrescent
e: chair@friendsofcrescent.co.uk

We'd love to introduce you to the new Friends of Crescent team. Supporting the Committee members we have:

We’d love you to follow the FoC Facebook page where we publish all news and information about our events.

Friends of Crescent Facebook Group

Nick Brosnan
Friends Of Crescent - Chair  

www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofcrescent
www.instragram.com/friendsofcrescent
e: chair@friendsofcrescent.co.uk

In the forthcoming academic year, we are aiming to deliver some of the following events:

• Charity clothes collection
• Macmillan coffee morning
• Joules sale
• Market days
• Active October
• Christmas Fair
• Book fair
• Disco
• Film night
• Mother’s day event
• Wrong uniform day
• Father’s day
• Summer fete

We will happily accept any of the following Crescent pre-loved uniform:

• School Blazers
• School Coats
• School Cardigans and Jumpers
• School Dresses (winter and summer) and Skirts
• School T-Shirts/Polo Shirts/PE Shorts/Skorts
• School Boaters
• School Bags
• School Tracksuits

Please do not include anything not on the list above e.g trousers, shirts etc. 

Uniform should be put into carrier bags and left by the box outside the main school entrance.  It will then be removed and kept in quarantine ready to be used when safe to do so.

Preloved uniform enquiries can be made by emailing Vicky on the link below:

Preloved Uniform

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 below to view the lunch menu: 

Crescent Menu - 5 July 2021 

Please note children are able to choose either of the two main lunch options.  

Olive Catering

Please find below term dates for 2020/21 and 2021/22:

The Term Dates for 2022/23 have just been published:

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

• IT Apprentice - Princethorpe College
• IT Engineer - Princethorpe College
• Summer Estates Assistant - Princethorpe College
• Estates Assistant - Lates - Princethorpe College

Full details and information on how to apply are available on the Foundation website here:

www.princethorpe.co.uk/join-us

Should you know anyone who might be interested in these posts, please do share this information with them.

Warwickshire County Council is continuting to ask parents and carers to continue to play their part and do the right thing for Warwickshire by wearing face-coverings at the school gates and when entering education settings and by social distancing, wherever it is possible to do so.

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

Many thanks for you for your co-operation.

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 10 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.