The Courier

Please click on the link below to view the weekly calendar.  This will detail all the co-curricular clubs running and any changes.  It also contains fixtures and additional information.

Weekly Calendar - w/b Monday 22 January

Crescent School

We were delighted to hear the recent success of some of Crescent's artistic pupils during assembly this morning. 

Our congratulations go to the following pupils who received 'Distinctions' in their recent ABRSM exams:

• Christopher Gibson - Treble Recorder Grade 6
• Samuel Lau - Piano Grade 5

We also celebrated the following wonderful ballet dancers who received their Royal Acadamey of Dance Certificates:

• Alyssa Barnett
• Amy Robinson
• Asha Mistry
• Chloe Sarkies
• Ella Brown
• Evie Bierton
• Freya Smith
• Freya Somerset
• Isla Barrack
• Lucy Hardy
• Olivia Monk

Well done to all on on your hard work and practice! 

Our assembly was full of celebration today as not only did we hear of our music and ballet pupils' success, we also discovered we had a Blue Peter Badge winner in our midst!

Our congratulations go to Amber Betts (Class 3) who wrote a review of the Blue Peter programme and was awarded a purple badge for her efforts.

Well done Amber! 

Five times a year Crescent School throws its doors wide open to welcome prospective pupils and parents into school.  It is their chance to see what is so very special about Crescent School - what makes it a little school with big ambitions.

The latest Open Day took place this week on Wednesday 17 January 2018 and the school was pleased to welcome interested parents and would be pupils.

Joe Thackway, Headmaster commented, “We were delighted with the level of interest in admission to the school.  Coming to an Open Day is the best way to discover what Crescent School has to offer and to see how our dedicated staff bring out the best in our pupils."  

Pupils from Classes VI took visitors on a tour of the school, confidently answering questions whilst they showcased the school’s fantastic facilities.  Staff and pupils continued with their normal lessons but welcomed visitors to their classroom warmly.  Parents were able to talk with staff and children and afterwards meet Mr Thackway.

Parents are reminded that the deadline for applications for admission to Reception in September 2018 is early next month, Monday 5 February.   Parents interested in applying for places in other years, current Reception to Class V, should contact  Helen Morley, Registrar, on admissions@crescentschool.co.uk or 01788 523851 to enquire about availability.

Crescent School’s next Open Morning takes place on Saturday 24 March from 9.30am to 12.00pm and will include tours, performances and activities showcasing the school.  

Tuesday 20 March 2018, 10.30am to 12.30pm 

Princethorpe College is pleased to announce a new Open Event date for your diaries. On Tuesday 20 March, the College will be open to visitors from 10.30am to 12.30pm. A perfect opportunity to view the school on a normal working day, with pupils from Years 7 and 8 acting as tour guides (so you may see a familiar face or two!).

All are welcome and there is no need to book. For further information, please contact the Registrar, Mrs Vanessa Rooney on 01926 634201 or at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.  

The College’s next Open Event after the March Open Morning will be the Open Evening on Wednesday 6 June 2018 from 6.00pm to 8.30pm.

I am pleased to announce some new Junior da Vinci students.  These children have received a mastery, practice and creativity sticker in one subject over the year so far.

Well done to:

• Alyssa Barnet in English
• Daniel Pinks in Maths 
• Isla Barrack in Maths

The following children have received Junior da Vinci Awards this week:

The following children have been awarded Accelerated Reader Awards this week:

The U9 'A' and 'B' netball teams welcomed Solihull Junior School to Crescent on Tuesday 16 January. It was a cold crisp afternoon and so both teams settled quickly to ensure a fair game was played before light faded and fingers were almost lost to frostbite!

Both games were evenly matched and saw all players working hard to put in to practice skills learnt in training sessions. This included new movement from the centre pass and set plays from backline passes where we have been looking to develop use of space to be able to hold and drive forward running onto the ball.

The U9 'A' team took an early lead in the first half.  With some lovely passing sequencing from all players, the team were communicating well and moving the ball quickly in to our attacking third with some fantastic cross passes in to the circle giving Crescent a 2-1 lead.  Some changes made by Solihull at half time saw their team come out with new strategies and a strong determination to change the standings of the game, however Crescent held strong to ensure that the visitor’s did not go away victorious with a final score of 4-4.

The U9 'B' team also took an early lead and with fantastic defence from all players Solihull found it difficult to get the ball into their circle. Crescent watched the ball well and read the game making fast sharp interceptions to maintain the majority of the possession.  Final score was a 1-0 win to Crescent.

Players of the Game were Sienna Moran and Eve Ferguson however huge congratulations to all players, fantastic effort and achievement by all, well done.

Our Year 5 and 6 girls travelled away to The Croft on Wednesday 10 January to take on their undefeated U11 netball teams. The Croft retained their title, however, it was not without a fight from our girls who never once allowed their spirits to drop.  They showed tremendous strength of character, grit and determination in every quarter.

Our U11 'A' team grew in skill and knowledge as their game progressed working hard to defend and intercept passes and beginning to try and block The Croft's attacking players out of the circle.  Our own movement developed, putting in practice fantastic dodges and drives towards the ball to allow us to move the ball in to our own attacking circle.  Unfortunately the height of their defence made it extremely difficult for our girls to convert any chances they had.  After a heavy first half defeat of x we kept them to 9 goals in the second half, showing just how much we improved within the game by listening to and following advice given.

Our U11 'B' team worked well together as a team, co-operating and communicating well, developing new tactics from centre passes and backline plays in order to move the ball quickly into our attacking third. The score line did not reflect the end-to-end game that was played, congratulations to The Croft.

The game has given us lots of positives and lots of areas for development as we begin our netball season in Games lessons.  As coach and teacher to the girls I could not be more proud of the way that they conducted themselves showing a strength of character beyond their years.

We hope everyone who purchased a DVD of the Nativity performances enjoyed them.

If you still owe money for these please could you return it as soon as possible either via the FOC post box or the School Office.

16 February 2018 - 3.45pm - 4.15pm

Come along and purchase cakes and sweets all in aid of Year 3.

Friday 9 February 2018 - 5.00pm to 6.30pm

We will be holding our first Movie Night of 2018 in aid of our "Name a Puppy" charity.  All the proceeds from this evening will go towards this and hopefully we will reach and exceed our total of £1500 required. 

We have opted for a doggy-themed movie and have chosen to show Beethoven.  This will be on Friday 9 February in the school hall from 5.00pm and should finish at 6.30pm. Please drop children off via the front entrance and pick them up via the usual side entrance.

It's only £5 per child and £3 for Reception children as they need to be accompanied by an adult and this includes the movie plus snacks and a drink. 

Please put your child(s) name down on the list on the FoC noticeboard and you can either pay on the night or put £5 in an envelope marked "Movie Night" with your child's name on it into the green FoC box. 

If you would like your child to go into after-school until the movie night starts please put their name down on the after-school sheet and tick for your child to receive tea and we'll make sure that all children receive their tea before the movie starts.

We will update on the details of the craft activity in next week's courier.

Please remember to return the completed Emergency Contact and Medical Forms for your child(ren) by Friday 26 January 2018.  These were sent home with children last Friday.

If you require additional forms, please contact the School Office on 01788 521595 or email admin@crescentschool.co.uk. 

Thank you.

Crescent School Office

Please click below to view the lunch menu w/c 22 January.

Lunch Menu - 22 January 2018.pdf

Crescent School Office

Please click on the link below to read all about what the Reception Class have been learning.

 Reception Roundup - Friday 19 January

A little reading goes a long way!

• Remember: a good 10 minutes is much better than a difficult half hour!
• Plan a quality, quiet time to read together
• Please always write in the reading log even if you just write the page number you have read to so we know to change the book in the morning

Strategies and Reading Behaviours

In school children are taught a range of strategies they can use to help them work out unknown words.

For example:

• Phonics! If they can sound the word out using the phonics they know then encourage this as the first strategy
• Use the picture as a clue (this is not cheating!)
• Use picture clues along with the initial letter in the word
• Predict what the word could be from the context it is in

As children’s reading skills develop they adopt a range of good reading behaviours.

These include:

• Reading from left to right and matching each spoken word to a written one
• Recognising errors
• Re-reading to correct and re-reading to check
• Making meaningful but not always accurate guesses
• Reading with expression

As children progress further they:

• Use punctuation
• Follow print with their eyes
• Search for information in the print
• Read more fluently
• Use letter clusters to attempt new words

Reading with your child

Book Introduction: Spend time introducing the book 

Strategy Check: Ask your child “What can we do if we get stuck on a word?” Listing the strategies refreshes your child’s memory and gives them the confidence to tackle a new word.

Independent reading: During this time try to remind your child of strategies rather than giving unknown words.

Returning to text for questioning:  This is an important part of the reading session as it enables you to see if they have understood what they have read. This should be a light-hearted chat about the book – it’s not a test! More confident readers will also be able to return to the text to find out answers to questions.

To support with this, we have compiled a series of questions to help you get more from your child's reading, please click the link below to view this information: 

Questions to help with your child's reading - Class I

Important point to remember

• Allow your child to read to the end of a sentence without interrupting.
• Share the title rather than asking them to read it if the words are unfamiliar.
• Remind your child to point to each word individually rather than continuously run their finger underneath if they are still learning to match one to one.
• Alternate saying well done or that was good by telling your child what was good.
• Remember not to expect your child to work out a word that is not in their vocabulary.
• Alternate the strategies you suggest rather than giving the same strategy prompt e.g. sound it out.
• Once isn’t necessarily enough - Encourage your child to re-read favourite books and poems as well as their school reading scheme book. Re-reading helps children read more quickly and accurately and builds comprehension.
• One more time - When your child has sounded out an unfamiliar word, have him or her re-read that sentence. Often children are so busy figuring out a word they lose the meaning of what they've just read.
• I read to you, you read to me - Take turns reading aloud at bedtime. Children enjoy this special time with their parents.
• If your child is now reading longer books, please do not feel you need to get through a book a night. Just read for the same amount of time and note the page number you have read up to in their reading log.

Remember: a good 10 minutes is much better than a difficult half hour!

We all learn more when we enjoy what we are learning!  Have fun in the process of building a life long love of books with your child.

As highlighted in the 'Tips To Support Reading At Home' article, please use the document below to help with your child's reading:  

Questions to help with your child's reading - Class I