The Courier

Dear Parents

It has been a busy week in school with sports events, parents’ consultation evenings, a drama showcase and Pre-Prep movie night all going on after normal school hours. All of these important events form an important part of the rich tapestry of school life and I am pleased to say they have all gone smoothly this week. It was lovely to meet up with many parents face to face having had such limited contact over the last two years.

Today of course was our non-uniform day raising money for the Disaster Emergency Committee for the Ukraine and it was great to see all the children taking part, with so many very generous donations made. Next Wednesday we are asking for donations of non-perishable goods that will be taken to the Ukrainian border with Hungary. Ms Forth has written an important article in this week’s Courier giving you further details on drop off arrangements for this, both in terms  of what to bring and where to bring it. Please do read this carefully if you intend to bring along a donation on the day.

In our messages to the children, we have focused on the humanitarian aid that is being given and the generosity and kindness shown by the local people. It is hard to tally acts of war with the messages we normally give the children around being good friends, good learners and good citizens but at least in the kindness of strangers we can see a ray of hope.

One highlight for me this week was planting trees in the new and expanded Forest School with the Year 6 children. They divided into groups of four and we managed to plant 30 new saplings, with a combination of beech, willow, crab apple, field maple and rowan. It will take time for these new trees to develop and take over but already the space is coming together nicely. In our outdoor learning activities next term all the children should have a good chance to access the space and this is something we are all looking forward to.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

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

 Week Commencing 14 March 2022.pdf

• Monday - please note Choir will run at 8am not after school
• Tuesday - children involved in the Orchestral Day will need their instruments in school

Do check the calendar and SOCS for any updates.

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

On Monday 7, 14 and 21 March the Co-Curricular Choir will take place at 8.00am instead of after school. This is due to the two parents' meetings and the swimming gala.

Please bring your child to the front door for 8.00am and they will go straight to the Hall. Any late arrivals after 8.15am should use the Pupil Entrance door. 

SOCS has been updated to reflect these changes.

Year 6 pupils at Crescent School in Bilton, Rugby were excited to play their part in marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee by planting 30 trees in the school grounds on Wednesday 9 March. The planting was part of the Queen’s Green Canopy project that is both celebrating her jubilee and helping to build a greener future.

The trees, that included crab apples, willow, beech, rowan and field maples, were planted in the school’s forest school area as part of the area’s expansion project that will enable more children to benefit from forest school activities. The children have named the new area ‘Jubilee Woods’ in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.

Beckee Humphreys, Forest School Leader at Crescent School said, “We invited the Year 6 children to plant the trees as a way to leave their legacy for the children who will come after them. The trees will provide shade and nature to explore in the years to come. The children really enjoyed planting the trees, commenting on the impact it will have on future generations and on the wildlife in the area.”

Beckee joined the school this year and is excited to be expanding the forest school programme at Crescent School and helping the children explore and connect with nature. Research has found that engaging in regular forest school sessions develops children’s resilience, wellbeing, confidence and physical development.

Headmaster, Joe Thackway, added, “The children were thrilled to be part of this national celebration. Planting trees for the Platinum Jubilee has been a great way for them to engage with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II’s celebrations, while also learning about the importance of trees to the environment. We shall all enjoy watching the trees grow over the years to come.”

The latest editions of the Minnacle and Pinnacle magazines have just been published and will be distributed to parents next week. They showcase exceptional work by pupils from across the Foundation and are an inspiring read.

The Minnacle focuses on work from pupils at the Crescent School while the Pinnacle focuses on the work of pupils at Princethorpe College.

Why not sit down and have a read of our latest celebration of their superb work. Click here to read online editions of the magazine: The Minnacle and The Pinnacle.

We have an amazing total of £738.40 raised for the Ukraine Appeal this morning. 

Thank you so much for your generous contributions.

Crescent School

Upsetting scenes continue to be in the media from Ukraine and in particular the many tens of thousands of people who are now made refugees and have moved to neighbouring countries.  

On Wednesday, 16 March we are asking families to provide non-perishable items that will be taken directly by lorry to Hungary to support the incoming refugees.

The list of required non-perishable items is below:

• Blankets/duvets
• Wet wipes/toilet rolls
• Backpacks/rucksacks
• Nappies/ baby bottles
• Flashlight/Torches
• Batteries in packets – keep separate
• Toiletries (toothpaste, soap etc) Hand sanitiser must be kept separate.
• Feminine sanitaryware
• Tents/Camping Equipment
• Disposable tableware

There must not be any of the following in this collection:

• Money, Clothes, Toys, Medicines, Aerosols or Food

Please bring your items directly to the playground on Wednesday through the car park, where they will be loaded into boxes and onto our minibuses.  Each box on the minibus will be labelled into categories so you can add individual items straight onto the bus.

If you are able to please bring your own box of donations, rather than bags, taped up and labelled please.  If your box has several items in please label as miscellaniois. 

We will gratefully receive any spare boxes and parcel tape you may have at home from Monday, please leave outside/with the front office.

We will arrange for all items collected to be taken from here to the storage facility in Rugby before the drive across the continent to Hungary.

You can of course donate money to:

Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Please do contribute what you can.

I would like to remind parents that Crescent School, along with the other schools of the Princethorpe Foundation, aims to be a nut-free zone. Whilst we cannot guarantee that children won’t come into contact with nuts or products with nut traces whilst at school we endeavour to reduce this risk as far as we can.

The aim of this strategy is to reduce the risk to those children and adults who may suffer an anaphylactic reaction if exposed to nuts to which they are sensitive. The school aims to protect children who have allergies to nuts yet also help them, as they grow up, to take responsibility as to what foods they can eat and to be aware of where they may be put at risk.

Our 'Nut-Free Zone' means that the following items should not be brought into school:

• Packs of nuts
• Peanut butter/Nutella sandwiches(we have had a small number of these brought in recently)
• Fruit and cereal bars that contain nuts
• Chocolate bars or sweets that contain nuts
• Sesame seed rolls (children allergic to nuts may also have a severe reaction to sesame)
• Cakes made with nuts and marzipan

No nuts are used in any of the food prepared on site at our school.  Our suppliers provide us with nut-free products. However, we cannot guarantee freedom from nut traces.

It is worth noting that there are currently children in school with a known nut allergy.  Exposure to nuts for these children could result in serious consequences. I know that you, like me, would do anything reasonably possible to prevent this from happening.

We ask all parents to support us in this policy by providing nut-free mid-morning snacks and not using nuts in cakes provided for bake sales or fund-raising events.

As part of British Science Week, pupils (Years 1 to 6) will have the opportunity to design and create a poster around the theme of 'Growth'. It will be linked to their current science topic and posters that show creativity, informative content and clear communication will be selected and entered into the British Science Association Poster Competition 2022. 

British Science Week

Matthew in Year 3 entertained us this morning in assembly playing a marching piece on his recorder. It was a calm and well-paced performance that was enjoyed by all.

Summer uniform is to be worn after the Easter break.  Below you can find the requirements:

Girls 

• Grey blazer 
• Green and white striped dress
• Green school cardigan
• White knee-high socks
• Green school sun hat/cap

Boys 

• Grey blazer 
• White short-sleeved shirt with collar and tie
• Green school pullover
• Grey short trousers or long grey trousers
• Grey knee length socks
• Green school sun hat/cap

Please order Summer Dresses and sun hats via the uniform form below by Friday 18 March 2022:

Order Form

Crescent School

Our new Scholastic Book Club is up and running! 

Go to https://schools.scholastic.co.uk/the-crescent/digital-book-club 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 25 March 2022.

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

Monday 14 March 4.00pm to 6.30pm

We are looking forward to meeting with parents over the next couple of weeks. You are welcome to park in the playground for your meeting, then please come to the door at the front of the school, where you will be welcomed with refreshments.

Your child's books will be available for you to see; you have a 5 minute booking for specialist teachers and 10 minute booking for the form tutor. You may find it easier to discuss progress without your child being present.

If your child is in After School, please collect in the normal manner. 

We look forward to meeting with you.

Wednesday 16 March 6.00pm to 8.30pm

We are looking forward to meeting with parents over the next couple of weeks. You are welcome to park in the playground for your meeting, then please come to the door at the front of the school, where you will be welcomed with refreshments.

Your child's books will be available for you to see; you have a 5 minute booking for specialist teachers and 10 minute booking for the form tutor. You may find it easier to discuss progress without your child being present.

If your child is in after-school, please collect in the normal manner. 

We look forward to meeting with you.

Thursday 17 March 2022 - 7.00pm TEAMS

The focus of the evening is to go through with parents the potentially daunting process of finding the right school for your son or daughter when they leave us at the end of Year 6. 

You will be told about how and when to apply for maintained and independent secondary schools, the type of standardised scoring that the maintained schools use and there will be advice from members of staff on preparing your child for the exams they will be sitting. The evening will clarify the timeline involved and explain a bit more about how we can help you navigate the process without too much anxiety. 

This meeting will be held via TEAMS and a link will be sent out to parents of children in Years 4 and 5.

Tuesday 22 March 2022 - 3.45pm to 4.15pm

We would very much like to welcome you to look around the corridors on Tuesday 22 March.

Half of the playground will be reserved for parking. Year 5 and 6 are going to be dismissed through the pupil door, all other classes are to be dismissed through their usual door.

Please collect your child(ren) then come round to the front door where you will be welcomed in from 3.45pm to look at all the great work in school. Entry and exit is via the main school entrance only and last entry is at 3.55pm.

If your child is in a co-curricular club they will be expected to attend unless you arrange otherwise.

If your child is in Afterschool, please follow the usual routine of phoning through and your child being brought to you.

Please be aware that this is not a time to talk to the teachers concerning your child, please email them separately if you have concerns.

Performance 1 - Thursday 24 March - 09.20am to 09.55am

Thursday 31 March 2022 - 4.30pm

We are extremely excited to be able to welcome back our past pupils for football/netball matches against the current Year 6 children.

We will have drinks and cakes/biscuits in the marquee on the field from 4.30pm for children and parents (please come on to site via the side entrance). 

Following this, we will show the former pupils the new areas of the school with the football/netball matches then starting around 5.00pm. After the matches, everyone usually congregates on the sports field and we will say our goodbyes.

Monday 4 April 2022 - 2.30pm to 3.30pm

We will be presenting our annual Spring Concert on Monday 4 April. It will feature Upper School children only, including the extra-curricular music groups and some soloists, and will start at 2.30pm.

Parents of Upper School children performing in this concert are able to book two tickets per child as per the booking Instructions sent out. The concert will be filmed for those who are unable to attend.

We look forward to you hearing the results of this term’s music hard work and effort!

Tuesday 5 April 2022

Our Easter Service will be held in the School Hall on Tuesday 5 April, including a telling of the Easter story by the Choir and Class 5F.  Prayers will be led by members of F.R.O.G.

Parents of children involved in the service are able to book two tickets to attend as per the instructions sent today. We do hope you will join us for the most important festival in the Christian year.

Please enter via the front entrance from 2.15pm where refreshments will be served prior to the service. We will start promptly at 2.30pm and finish by 3.30pm so children can be collected at normal dismissal time.

There will be a retiring collection in aid of Bwengu Projects Malawi.

This week has been a fantastic week, with so many children achieving their full Junior da Vinci student status:

• Feranmi in 1SS; Taran and Kiran in 2W for Mathematics
• Tegan, Bella and Charlie in 5F for English
• Evie in 6W; Sam B and Roisin in 4M for PE
• Annalise in 5F for Geography
• Dudley in 1SS becomes our first ever JdV student in Forest School

Congratulations to you all.

Mrs Symons
Junior da Vinci Lead

This week's Accelerated Reader Superstars are:

Top Quizzers are:

• 3Y   Alex
• 4M  Alex T
• 5F   Chloe
• 6W  Sachin

Word Wizards are:

• 3Y  Patrick
• 4M Shayla
• 5F  Zahra
• 6W Ro

Garage and Gigs are the most important games to show your progress.

Pupils who have reached landmark % on automatic training mode in the Garage and Gigs are therefore awarded JDVs for Maths Practice:

• Bella 5F over 24%
• Alex 3Y over 24%

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

• 1st place - Class 3Y with  8,060 points
• 2nd place - Class 5F with 4,778 points
• 3rd place - Class 4M with 2,365 points

 Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Aryaan 3Y
• 2nd Matthew 3Y
• 3rd Lewis 3Y

Last week's most improved speedsters in Studio are:

• 3Y - Sophia - Rockstar!
• 3Y - Edward W- Garage Rocker!
• 3Y - Sophie - Breakthrough Artist!
• 3Y - Matthew- Rock Legend!
• 4M - James- Rock Legend!
• 5F - Mya - Headliner!
• 5F - Harry- Rockstar!

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

Stay Calm and Rock On!!

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

• Charlotte S
• Charlotte W
• Evie
• Freddie
• Hannah
• Niamh
• Seren
• Sophia

Well done to you all.

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

Reception Round Up - 11 Mar 2022 

1SS and 1LS walked from school to St Mark's Church in Bilton on Monday afternoon carefully carrying their clipboards. They were on a mission to explore the church and to identify its internal and external features, that they have been learning about in their RE lessons.

Mrs Bevan volunteered her time to show the children around and to tell the children about the history of the church, she also explained how the church is part of the local community.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon, and the two classes enjoyed sketching the features, asking questions and finding out about this historic building that sits so close to their school.

1LS enjoyed their first Forest School session this morning and we were very fortunate to have the sun shining on us.

The children enjoyed looking for the signs of spring in the site and used the flower ID books to work out what flowers had bloomed. They enjoyed exploring the site and thinking of their own activities to do. There were several small groups building campfires. They tried really hard to light them but we were unsuccessful this week.

Some of the children created a bug hotel, complete with a swimming pool, for all of the local insects to enjoy. There was also a lot of teamwork going on to move a very large log up the grassy hill to a campfire.

It was lovely to see all of the children engrossed in different activities and we are all looking forward to our next session.

Children in Year 2 applied their growing, aiming and controlling skills to create a new game in which they could score points. They then taught their game to a different pair of children and practised together. Not only was this lots of fun but also evidenced of creativity, practice and mastery.

Class 3Y are keeping tree diaries. They have 'adopted' a deciduous tree, in the school grounds, and will be observing and recording the changes they observe over the next few months. They identified the bark, shape and bud type of their tree. Here are a few photos of Class 3 botanists.

There was much excitement in the air as 3Y experimented with fractions using a range of edible treats. They were able to separate the food into different groups and write the corresponding fractions as well as comparing and ordering them, they also found fractions of amounts. The best bit of course was eating them at the end!

Class 3Y has been studying the Ancient Egyptians in Music lessons. This week they used percussion instruments to depict various gods and goddesses. They thought about the characteristics of each god or goddess and chose their instrument and how to play it accordingly. Some very dramatic sounds were created, particularly for Anubis, the Death God!

Year 4 have really engaged with our topic on World War 2. Many have family stories to share and they have been able to bring in precious artefacts.

Maisie created a family tree to show her family during the war period. Edward researched his Great, Great Uncle who was a signal man involved in the battle at Dunkirk.

Alice's Great Nan has written her own autobiography and we enjoyed hearing about her life during wartime.  Sam O brought in his Great-Uncle's Helmet which he modelled and said it was really heavy! Sofie brought in very precious medals and letters from WW2 which belonged to a family friend, it was incredible to see these up close. 

Class 6W have been consolidating their grammar knowledge with Miss Quirke this term. Our challenge this week was to fulfil the title 'Magical Grammar' by using different presentation styles to show creativity and mastery of their grammar knowledge.

It made me smile that the children thought this was a fun activity but didn't actually realise how many higher order thinking skills they were using.  Our next step is to peer assess them and present them to the class.

Class 6W were visited this week by Mrs Austen from Rugby Free School who came to talk to them about moving schools. Whatever school the children are going to, they do have similar worries.

Mrs Austen talked a lot about resilience and turning their worries into positive experiences instead with a growth mindset (which is very much in line with our whole school target). The children found it very helpful.

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 are honest and tell the truth’

Mr Webb
Assistant Head

A massive congratulations to Evie, Katherine and Grace C who have been selected to represent Rugby and Eastern Warwickshire in this weekend's County Cross-Country Championships at Hart Field on Saturday. We wish the girl's the best of luck.   

U10 Girls travelled to Stafford Grammar school on Monday 7 March for the ISA Midland Netball Tournament involving 12 schools from across the region.   

A fantastic effort from all the girls using the new Stinger Netball Rules, with a rotation system allowing all students to play in every position, resulting in students finding new favourite positions. It was a fabulous day for all with a great result with the team finishing in 5th place overall.  Really proud of you all. 

• Edenhurst - 0-6 Loss 
• Dixie Grammar - 2-0 Win with goals from Ava and Mya 
• Newbridge - 2-0 Win Goals from Ellie and Grace M 
• Kingsley - 2-1 Loss Goal from Ava  
• Bedstone College - 3-2 Win 

 Mrs McCollin and Mrs Calder

Year 5 and Year 6 girls went to Crackley Hall on Wednesday 9 March to play in a triangular football tournament against Crackley Hall School and Repton Prep. The event coincided with England Football's #LetGirlsPlay biggest ever football session and involved over 120 girls all delighted to put on their boots and head out to the fields to show off their footballing prowess, an initiative Crescent were delighted to support and help champion equal access for girls in football. #GirlsFootballinSchools

We had a fantastic afternoon – a huge well done to all the girls who took part, it was super to see everyone getting fully involved and giving it their all. The results were: 

Crescent U10’s vs Twycross House U10’s

Crescent began their first ever contact rugby match in triumphant fashion, beating a well drilled Twycross side 45-35. Tries from captain Charlie, Sam and Finlay saw the visitors cruise to a strong lead by half-time. Twycross were not going down without a fight however and came back superbly in the second half, with only Crescent’s excellent tackling enabling them to hold out for a well-deserved win.

Player of the match went to Sam for fast attacking play and in the words of their coach “tackling like a machine!”

Player of the match went to Eva for her excellent ball carrying and impact running, but special mentions for the entire squad for their bravery and determination.

Mr Adkins and Mrs Dowling

Wednesday 6 April 2022

Another Joules Sale is being held at Crescent School. Tickets are now on sale to the general public. Please use the link below to book your 1 hour shopping session on Wednesday 6 April 2022.

TicketSource (or scan the QR code in the poster).

Please be aware that all attending will need their own ticket, including children.

Men's, women's, children's and home merchandise are available at rock bottom prices. Racks are constantly replenished throughout the day. Ticket sales all go to Crescent Adventure. 

Plenty of parking will be available on the playground plus refreshments.

Masks wearing preferred.

Friends of Crescent

Friends of Crescent are offering the opportunity for mums to have a delicious continental breakfast bought to them in bed!

We will providing a selection of items for the children to serve on Mothers Day morning. The price for 1 box is £5 and you can order more than one for other important members of the family. 

Please complete the below form, deadline for completion is today, Friday 11 March, so that we have enough time to prepare your special treat. 

Mothers Day

Payment preference is by transfer to the FoC bank below:

We no longer accept cheques, if payment is made by cash please place in a sealed envelope CLEARLY marked with child's full name and class. 

Please note by completing the form you are sharing your data with the FoC, Crescent School does not have access to this form/data.

Happy Mothers Day from all at the FoC! 

FoC 

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

Please click below to view the lunch menu: 

Lunch Menu 14 March 22 

Children are able to have either the Main or Vegetarian option.

Olive Catering Services Limited

Please see below for useful school contact information:

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

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

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

• Archivist - Princethorpe Foundation
• Library Assistant - Princethorpe College
• Nursery manager - Little Crackers

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.

Dear Parents

We are very happy to see the increased interest in After School Club. We love to see your children, play with them, help them out with their homework and let them build valuable relationships with other children from different year groups.

Recently the interest in After School has been so high that we have had to recruit more people to our team – we have now an amazing team of lovely staff!

To ensure we take the best possible care of our children, we ask you to make sure you book your After School club slot in advance – 10.00am on the day is the deadline for bookings. This is to ensure we have the right level of supervision. It also allows us to let our lovely kitchen staff know how many children we expect to stay for tea so they can make enough food for all of the children.

Recently we have noticed many children have been booked in after that deadline or not booked in at all. This creates a real challenge for us as we have to either tell children they cannot eat tea with everybody else, or we have to split the food between all of the children, which means the portions are significantly smaller. I think you will agree with us that this is not a good solution at all.  As a result of this, starting this half term, if your child is booked ​into After School later than 10.00am we cannot provide food for them.

Additionally, please make sure your bookings are correct, ensuring the date and type of booking. After School club runs between 3.45pm and 5.45pm, with three options to book:

• 1st session (with drink and biscuit) 3.45pm to 4.45pm 
• 2nd session (with tea) 4.45pm and 5.45pm
• Both sessions 3.45pm to 5.45pm

We serve tea around 5pm.  If you need to make changes to your booking on the day please contact the School Office.

We would also like to remind parents that the After School mobile number is for After School pick up use only. Any other queries should be directed to the office in the office working hours (8.15am to 4.15pm).

Thank you.

Parents are reminded that childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare can be used for costs for a child under their compulsory school age. Once a child reaches compulsory school age – on 31 December, 31 March or 31 August following their fifth birthday (whichever comes first) - these payments can only be used for before and after school care.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

Parents wishing to access their on-line billing account should visit: https://parent.princethorpe.co.uk/api/homepage/.

At the top of your screen you will see a menu that allows you to see your invoices and your statement.

To view your invoices please click 'School Fee Invoices'. This will provide you with a list of all invoices raised for all your children within the Foundation. 

To open an individual invoice, select the pdf icon from the download column and click to open. A box will appear on your screen, please click the box to view your invoice.

To view your statement please hover your curser over 'School Fee Invoices'.  A drop-down box will appear 'Statement of Account'. Please click on this. 

This screen will enable you to see the date, account code and current balance. A list of the transactions made during any given month will appear (any brought forward balance from previous terms will appear under this section).  To change the month you wish to view please click on the 'v' to the right hand side of the box containing month and year.

Eddie Tolcher
Foundation Bursar

Saira has recently been in the GoHenry Campaign and has popped up on apps, smart watches and even social media adverts. She has also been featured in their Youth Economy Report for a small project she started during lockdown. She has lots of great ideas and plans to expand this small hobby… so watch this space and look out for Saira on your GoHenry Apps

If you would like to read the report, please click on the link below;

https://www.gohenry.com/uk/youth-economy-report/

Thanks to Saira's Mum for sharing Saira's success.

Crescent School