The Courier

Dear Parents

After our second week in school this year, I am pleased to report that the children have settled in nicely to work and lessons and we have enjoyed a week of near-normal school life. Whilst we continue to be ever vigilant regarding coronavirus transmission, one thing we have all learned is that there is nothing quite like a settled school life to provide children with the sense of security and well-being that they need.

One thing we are doing differently at the moment is assemblies, which are taking place on Teams, rather than live in person. This format actually works well in some regards and, with some minor tweaks, it is possible to involve children interactively as well.

This week we learnt about the story of Orion and Artemis, which taught the children about the dangers of jealousy. It also fitted in nicely with the theme of the night sky which we have talked about in all of our assemblies so far this term. With a number of crystal-clear skies and very dark nights, there have been some spectacular displays over the last couple of weeks. We have been tracing the phases of the moon, which has caught the interest of a number of children. My assembly focused on the constellation of Orion, as a part of this is currently in the night sky from the early evening. If you get a chance, and a clear night this weekend, it might be something you want to share with your children. I personally use a really smart little app on my phone that identifies the stars and planets and helps bring everything to life.

Best wishes

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Below is the link for next week's school calendar:  

Weekly Calendar - 17 January 2022 

After School provision can be booked through My School Portal selecting the sessions you require.  Please ensure bookings that include tea are made by 9.30am each day.  

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

Huge thanks to former Foundation Trustee and Crescent School Governor, Pat Lines, who has kindly donated the funds to purchase new benches and tables for the quiet area at the front of the school’s Horton Centre. The brightly coloured new furniture is a wonderful addition to the school playground that the children have been quick to put to good use.

Many of the older children and staff will remember Pat well, as a retired teacher with years of experience she supported the children with their reading here for a number of years. She was also a much respected and invaluable member of the governing body, both here at Crescent School and for the Princethorpe Foundation.

Throughout her 15-year association with our community, Pat was a volunteer, sharing her skills and expertise freely, and we are incredibly grateful that even now she has moved away, she continues to support the school. Many thanks to Pat from everybody here, the playground furniture is the perfect addition to the quiet area.

Year 6 pupil, Charlotte, who has attended Crescent School since she started in Reception, has just been awarded a Merit in her ABRSM Grade 7 trombone exam. 

Charlotte first started learning trombone in Year 2, when she joined the school’s Mini Brass club, an initiative that encourages 6 and 7-year-olds to play a brass instrument. She picked up a tiny trombone and has never looked back.

Charlotte takes lessons at school and regularly performs with the school’s music groups in Spring and Summer Concerts each year. She also plays for the local Bilton Silver Training Band, the Bilton Silver Evolution Band and her prodigious talent has been recognised by the National Children’s Brass Band of Great Britain which she successfully auditioned for last school year. 

Charlotte said, "I was so happy to hear that I had merited my Grade 7. My ambition was to hopefully achieve my Grade 6 by the end of Year 6 so I’m thrilled that I’ve managed to get my Grade 7 in this time. Thank you to Mrs Fisher and Mrs Barnes for all your help and support in helping me to achieve this."

Director of Music, Julie Barnes, explains, "Charlotte is a superb example of the musical talent at Crescent School. Her musical abilities were fostered at an early age by Di Fisher's Mini Brass group and nurtured over the following years in Brass Group and Orchestra. She has worked incredibly hard to reach such an amazingly high standard, the highest grade ever reached by a pupil at Crescent School, and we are so proud of everything she has achieved at such a young age." 

Charlotte is a promising young musician, only just taller than her instrument, and we are all blown away by her latest examination success.

Congratulations to the following Year 6 children who have been appointed as Sports Captains for the season.

This year the Sports Captains are:

• Athletics and Cross Country - Evie and Rohan 
• Hockey - Katherine and Aryan 
• Football - Charlotte and Sachin 
• Swimming - Stephanie and Caspar  

Well done to all the Captains.  Fingers crossed you get lots of opportunities to lead your teams, we look forward to hearing of your teams' successes.

You may recall that in September we replaced our previous system of losing privilege minutes with 'Low Level Concerns' (LLC).  These were designed to encourage children into making better choices for very low level classroom or playground misdemeanours.  

At the end of last term Form Tutors reviewed how children are feeling about this new system with their class and, as Pastoral Head, I have collated all of this and, on Monday, took the findings to our first School Council Meeting of the term.

Children throughout school feel that low level concerns are good at encouraging children to make better choices.  They like how fair it is that everyone gets a look warning, then a verbal warning before a LLC.  They understand the information is private and only goes to their Form Tutor. 

However, many children have shared that they are not keen on the words 'Low Level Concern' (LLC).  Many suggested their choice of alternative.

As such School Council have now voted and unanimously selected 'Chance to Change' as the new wording.  From now on we will all be using this terminology as we encourage children to make choices that reflect them as good friends, learners and citizens.

I'd like to thank School Council for their support and advice and see this as an excellent example of the voice of the children impacting positive change in school.

The children from Years 1 to 6 will be participating, in their normal lessons, in the Big Garden Bird Watch towards the end of January. The RSPB organises this annual event, and over one million people took part in 2021. The new Ornithology club members are getting prepared, by making bird feeders and bird spotter sheets. 

Why not put the date in your diary as an event to do as a family as well? Shockingly, 38 million birds have been lost from the UK skies over the past 50 years.

The RSPB needs lots of help to record the different species and numbers of common UK birds spotted over the weekend - 28 to 30 January 2022. They simply ask you to spend one hour in your garden, on your balcony or in the park to observe and record the birds that land during that time. You register and then enter your results online (see link below). Why not be one in a million for 2022!

Big Garden Bird Watch

If you have any links with a regional or local ornithology club please do get in contact as we would be delighted to access different resources.  

Library Club is open to Years 3-6 for the first half of Lent Term on a Tuesday lunchtime, over both lunchtimes, so the children can come in and read quietly by themselves.  After half term it will be open to children from Years 1 and 2.

Year 6 children will carry out the role of Library monitors  and will sort the books and also read to the Reception children.

Edward in Year 3 entertained us this morning in assembly with his brilliant piece on the trumpet.

Parents are discouraged from taking pupils out of school during term-time because of the impact it has on their learning. Should this be unavoidable, permission should always be sought in advance from myself. I am able to pre-authorise absences on certain grounds such as religious observances and special family occasions.

Please ensure you submit any absence requests in good time, through either My School Portal or via the office email admin@crescentschool.co.uk.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

From Thursday 20 January, we will have the privilege of welcoming and working with a Warwick University PGCE Trainee Teacher, Niamh Quirke. Niamh will be working with Year 6.

It is so important to support the future of teaching and it is a great opportunity for us to learn from them while they learn from us. 

We have been kindly informed that St Marie's church is starting its next First Holy Communion course on Monday 17 January 2022 between 5.00pm and 6.00pm.

If there are any Catholic families interested, please contact the church and Fr. Shinto Francis via their website www.stmaries.co.uk or phone 01788 542703.

Alternatively, email: stmaries.rugby@rcaob.org.uk. 

Thursday 20 January 2022 - 10.00am to 3.00pm

Please share news of our next Open Day in January. It is a great opportunity to hear from the Headmaster, Joe Thackway, look around the school and to meet staff and pupils on a normal working day. 

The day will give prospective families an insight into life at Crescent and the firm foundation we give children for their future learning.

The day will be by appointment only and will be split into three sessions. To book your place please click here.

For more information please contact the Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley on 01788 523851 or by email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk.

Please note: 

We have had very high levels of interest in places for Reception and our Year 3 class for September 2022 entry at the Early Bird Application deadline stage. As a result, we have already allocated all of the available places in these year groups for September 2022. We are now operating waiting groups in these year groups for families who are still interested in a place, should a suitable one become available.

We are currently operating waiting groups in most other years apart from our current Reception and Year 1 classes (Year 1 and 2 for September 2022 entry) where we do have some places available as these year groups each have two classes.

We are already taking registrations for places in Reception and Year 3 starting in September 2023. It would be helpful for us to know as soon as possible if current Crescent families have a child who will be of Reception age in September 2023 and if you are likely to be interested in a place for them.

To find out more please click here.

Friday 28 January 2021 - 3.45pm to 4.15pm

Please watch this space for further information about this event as we risk assess the situation.

I am delighted to have taken over the reins of running our JdV programme from the beginning of this term.  I am really looking forward to developing this excellent reward system and seeing the wonderful work the children produce.

Congratulations to the following pupils who have become JdV students in English and were were presented with their badge in assembly this morning.

• Alex T
• Shayla
• Joshua
• Uma

Well done!

Mrs Symons
Class 1LS Teacher

This week's Accelerated Reader Superstars are:

Top Quizzers are:

• 3Y   Alex B
• 4M  Emily
• 5F   Bella
• 6W  Charlotte

Word Wizards are:

• 3Y  Matthew
• 4M Alex G
• 5F  Yash
• 6W Dorrit

Congratulations to the following Accelerated Reader achievements this week:

Double Millionaire: 

• Alex T

Word Millionaires:

• Chloe
• Dorrit 
• Tegan

Well done.

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

• Alex
• Everly
• Isabel
• Isabella
• Ire
• Oore
• Jack
• Theo

Well done to you all.

Children received their Music Exam certificates in Assembly this morning, for the exams they took in December.

Well done to them all.

Results for last week's class battle - well done 3Y:

• 1st place - Class 3Y with 4,652 points
• 2nd place - Class 5F with 3,998 points
• 3rd place - Class 4M with 3,834 points

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Bryson 5F
• 2nd Eva 6W
• 3rd Lewis 3Y

Last week most improved speedsters are:

• 3Y Edward W - Wannabe!
• 3Y Akaal - Wannabe
• 4M James - Rock Legend

Please note only the children should play on their account or it influences the level appropriate to them.

Stay Calm and Rock On!!

This week's Good Citizens Playground Conduct certificates have been awarded to Samuel, Nora and Edward.

Thank you all.

Lunchtime Supervisors

Please click on the link below to read all about what the Reception classes have been learning this week.  Photos are attached to this article to scroll through.

Reception Round Up - 14 January 2022 

Class 1LS have been observing and exploring signs of Winter. The children collected evidence from a Winter scavenger hunt and then made them into icy decorations, which they have hung outside to observe what happens.

Class 1LS have been learning all about nocturnal animals in English this week. In Art, the children have made their own paper collage hedgehogs. They particularly enjoyed making the prickles!

Class 1SS had their first forest school session on Thursday morning and they all had a great time exploring in the sunshine.

We used ID guides to work out what types of trees and flowers were growing in the area, some made bug hotels, and a few children decided to make a den using sticks and tarpaulin. They worked together to find big sticks and made a ‘mallet’ to knock them into the ground.

Some of the children then went on to make a campfire and spend a good amount of time rubbing sticks together and trying to channel sunlight to start it. They didn’t have much success at lighting it this time but I am sure they will try again next week.

We finished the session sitting around the campfire that they made and we all shared what our feet had been up to in that session. We are all very excited to get back out again next Thursday.

Class 2W children used counting back techniques to further embed their understanding of subtraction.

In Design & Technology 3Y have been making marble runs. The children drew their own designs and then followed these to create the runs. It was a very exciting short project but a great introduction to their new topic of forces including gravity!

Class 4M have dived enthusiastically into their new English topic of Fairy Tales. They have been analysing three different versions of The Princess and the Pea and have begun to think about putting a 'twist' on the narrative by telling the story from different points of view.

This week, they chose their own favourite tale, and created a map of the plot - they had to break the story down into its parts, and illustrate it using pictures, banners, arrows, signs, speech bubbles and other imaginative techniques to tell the story.

They did a fantastic job, and some Junior da Vincis were awarded. Here is a selection of their story maps.

Well done 4M!

If any of you are Harry Potter fans you will know what a Howler is. They are letters that actually shout at the recipient in the wizarding world. As part of Year 6's study of Harry Potter we created our own Howlers. They had to use wow words, short sentences and the imperative verb.

At the end of last term Class 6 played a game they had made in their Latin class. This consisted of nouns and adjectives with masculine and feminine endings which had to be matched to score points. As well as reinforcing the grammar, this proved to be great fun and fiercely competitive!

For a two or three week period this year we will be focusing on one of the sayings in the new 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 consider the category of Good Citizens. 

'We respect everyone and we are tolerant'

As you are no doubt aware Netflix is the most popular subscription-based streaming service in the UK, that allows users to watch TV shows and movies on any internet-enabled device, such as smart TVs, phones and tablets. The pandemic saw a huge surge in children consuming on-demand content as many families relaxed their screen-time rules for obvious reasons, including a great many children streaming on their own in bedrooms. Netflix’s diverse range of programming caters for all age groups – so it’s important for parents to recognise the potential risks of children using the service and the measures available to help your child enjoy a safe streaming experience. One simple way of doing this to set up individual profiles for each family member, enabling you to have complete control over which age-related content is accessible.

Please have a read of the attached guide, which contains valuable tips on a number of potential risks such as screen addiction, inappropriate content and hacking attempts.

If would like any further advice, or have any question, please do get in touch.

We took some photos of the Year 5 and 6 girls out on the fields on Wednesday afternoon playing football.

They began their Games lesson with skills training and finished with a quick game. It was so cold and muddy but that didn’t stop everyone enjoying themselves.

What a great way to spend a January afternoon! 

Year 6 Red House pupils are up and running with Play Leader activities at lunch time following their training with myself on Friday 7 January. 

Leaders had to learn about the skills and attributes of good leaders, drawing upon knowledge from their own sporting heroes, before analysing their own areas of strength and development as a leader.  We then played a number of different games to develop communication skills and make them aware of how important it is to be clear and concise with their instructions. 

The physical aspect of the course was next learning to carry out a risk assessment of the playing area and how to warm up in a safe and fun way. Pupils had the opportunity to lead their peers through a variety of warm up games before planning and adapting their own games and activities to run. All leaders were very focused throughout their training and we are positive they are going to have a great term running their activities with the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. The first sessions this week were a great success.

Great work Red House.

Wow, what a cracker of a fixture to start the term, the U8 boys travelled to Bilton Grange with confidence and determination,  putting in to practice their shooting skills from last week's lesson. All the boys played fantastically getting fully involved and staying calm under pressure.

In the first match Aryaan, Max T and Herbie worked hard to push the ball forward with some great attacking play. Edward W passed the ball with strength and accuracy to get the ball up in the Crescent attacking D with Barnaby moving well down the wing. Shaylan and Edward M were solid in defence pressing the ball and putting solid tackles in to stop any Bilton Grange attack. Great feedback and advice from Fred saw Crescent hold the majority of the possession in the second half but despite a great effort couldn't quite capitalise on their chances. Final score 0-0. 

In the second match Crescent won the first push back and made a strong start keeping good possession of the ball and pushing up in to our attacking D. A quick counterattack by Bilton Grange saw them score the first goal but Crescent stepped it up another notch and were quick to come back with a great goal from Akaal from a fabulous cross from Lewis. This was quickly followed with a 2nd goal from Akaal before half time. Crescent went out strongly in the second half quickly turning over the ball to gain possession, moving it well to open up the space to drive the ball forward. A cracking free hit from Alex on the edge of the D saw an awesome goal from Lewis right in to the far corner. This led the team from strength and strength and they were quick to close down Bilton Grange players blocking any attack with great timed tackles from Zac, Henry and Sam and pushing the ball back through to Matthew and Maxi who were both able to find the back of the goal with great connections.  Final score 5-1 win.  

Below are the details of the FoC Year Group Representatives and group links. 

Please click below to view the lunch menu: 

Lunch Menu - 17 January 2022

Olive Catering Services Limited

Please see below for useful school contact information:

Please find below term dates for 2021/22 and 2022/23:

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

• Winter hats
• Scarves
• Gloves
• Ties
• Swimming hats
• Sports socks
• Hair bands
• Hair scrunchies
• Hair clips
• Sun hats
• Music group badges - Choir, Orchestra, String, Brass and Wind

Please do contact admin@crescentschool.co.uk in if you need any of the above items.

Crescent School Office

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

• Gardener/Groundsman - Princethorpe College
• Caretaker - Crackley Hall School
• Caretaker - Afternoons/Evenings - 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.

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. You can protect yourselves by only making payments to us in line with our normal, published methods. Any email offering a large discount on fees for the coming academic year if paid immediately is fraudulent.

There has been no change to the bank details of 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

I hope the table below will help to clarify for parents expectations for children’s work if they need to self-isolate due to a positive COVID test or due to having COVID symptoms.

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 winter. For that reason, we would encourage all children to have additional layers available in school. 

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