The Courier

Dear Parents

It was genuinely heart-warming on Wednesday to see the wonderful response of our parents to the Ukrainian appeal. I can only hope that all of those kind gifts make their way to the people who need it most, in their hour of need. The gentleman who is running the supply chain informed us he will now be delivering to Moldova where the need is currently much higher than in Hungary, as was his original plan. Moldova directly aligns with those southern port cities on the Black Sea that have suffered so badly from sustained recent attacks. It is the country closest to much of western Ukraine where internal refugees have been gathering, so this is another reason to be thankful that all the donations are going to the place where they are most needed.

There have been lots of other highlights this week, with the orchestral day on Tuesday, various sports fixtures and today's trip to the theatre for the Year 3 and 4 children. Tomorrow, of course, is our Open Day for prospective parents. Many thanks to those children who are coming in to help us and to the parents who have released their children for what is always an important day for the school.

Recruitment for next year is looking really good and we have already had offers accepted for all twenty places for next year’s Reception class as well as additional places to those children joining us in Year 3. Demand for the school is as high as it has ever been, despite the challenging times in which we live. However, this is no cause for complacency whatsoever on our part and we continue to look for ways to improve and develop as a school that is sensitive to the needs of the children and to you as current families.

I hope you all enjoy a restful weekend.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

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

 Week Commencing 21 March 2022

• Monday - Due to the Y4 - 6 Swimming Gala, Choir will run at 8am and Dodgeball has been moved to Monday 28 March
• Tuesday - Tiny Tigers will take place on Tuesday morning this week not Thursday
• Tuesday - Rugby Club after school has been cancelled due to Mr Adkins being away at an ISA tournament
• Friday - Orchestra has been cancelled due to the Rugby fixture and pupils having performed at Open Morning

Do check the calendar and SOCS for any updates and read the additional information under fixtures, it gives details of what children need to bring with them.

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

Thank you so much to all those who donated a multitude of items on Wednesday for the Ukrainian people displaced by the war.

One of our minibuses was packed to the rafters when Mr Knowles drove it to the collection point in Rugby in the pouring rain. Attila who is coordinating the collection and delivery was overwhelmed by our donation both in volume and organisation - everything clearly labelled and separated as asked. He will be on Capital Radio at some point soon and will give us all a 'shout out'.

Hopefully we will get an update in the next few weeks when the trucks drive across Europe to the updated destination of Moldova where they are most needed.

Well done to everyone for doing their bit.

Pupils from Classes 3-6 took part in the LAMDA exams in February. We had a record number taking the exams which resulted in two completely full days of examining! The examiners loved their days here and commented on how well the pupils were at the conversation part of the exam.

The results came in late last week and I was blown away once again with the amazing results received. All received either a merit or distinction!

79 exams were taken, 69 distinctions and 10 merits.

I am so proud of all pupils for working so hard towards these exams - and these results are just a true testament to how hard they worked both in and outside of their drama lessons.

It is great to see all the children involved in so much co-curricular.

Next week is the final week for Lent Term co-curricular activities unless there are catch up sessions which you will have been informed about.

Trinity Term sign up options will be sent to parents later today with many new choices and the hope of some sunshine to enjoy time outside.

In our staff INSET at the end of term I am looking at creating a long-term plan for co-curricular, so I can plan a range of activities for all year groups. 

Eva delighted us all this morning in assembly with her piano piece, played with great skill and dexterity. The younger children were all in awe of her quick fingered display.

On Tuesday 15 March, Crescent School welcomed musicians from fellow Foundation junior school, Crackley Hall, for an orchestral workshop. It was a great opportunity for the young virtuosos to work together, with 12 members of Crackley Hall’s Orchestra joining 18 Crescent instrumentalists for a day designed to develop and stretch their music and performance skills.

Pupils from both schools worked under the guidance of Crescent School’s Director of Music, Julie Barnes, to prepare and rehearse a mixture of pieces ready for an impromptu afternoon performance.

The children relished making music, especially in such a big group. They worked hard to prepare two challenging pieces, including the stirring Can You Feel The Love Tonight from the hit film The Lion King and the complex jazz piece Fidgety Feet by Larocca and Shields, both pieces testing the players’ technical and music-reading ability.

The young musicians performed so well in the morning rehearsals, that Mrs Barnes organised an audience of Year 5 and Year 6 pupils to watch a short impromptu performance in the afternoon. The concert was superb, a symphony of sound, and as well as featuring the full 30-piece orchestra playing their now near perfect pieces, it also included four solo performances, from Kate Knudsen and Elsie Roots from Crackley Hall and Evie Bierton and Katherine Lee from Crescent School.

Mrs Barnes, commented, “We had a very successful day and the pupils enjoyed working and collaborating together. They achieved a very high standard of performance, learning challenging music in a short space of time, it was a great opportunity for them all to play with so many other talented musicians. Thank you Crackley Hall for joining us today."

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.

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

Please arrive just five minutes before your workshop at the front door and you will be collected by a member of staff and escorted to the School Hall. Pupils will come and join the adults for the start of the session.

Cold refreshments will be available during the workshops and all materials will be provided. Adults just need to bring their thinking caps!

You will be free to leave when the session is complete. If your session is at the end of the day, you can take your child with you at that time.

We look forward to welcoming you and sharing our work on growth mindset.

Tuesday 22 March 2022 - 3.45pm to 4.15pm

We would very much like to welcome you to look around the school 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 their club  as normal unless you arrange otherwise.

If your child is in After School, 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.

A great week again for awarding full Junior da Vinci status, particularly in RE.

• Alex, Bella, Charlie, Esme and Saira receive theirs for RE
• Freya in 6W for Science
• Eva in 6W receives hers in Mathematics 
• Edward G-H in 4M receives his in Geography
• Aryan in 6W is now a triple JdV student in Mathematics

Congratulations to you all.

Mrs Symons
Junior da Vinci Lead

This week's Accelerated Reader awards go to: 

• Triple Millionaire – Alex G

• Quadruple Millionaire – Alex T

Congratulations to both of you.

This week's Accelerated Reader Superstars are:

Top Quizzers are:

• 3Y   Edward M
• 4M  Edward G-H
• 5F   Harry
• 6W  Grace

Word Wizards are:

• 3Y  Henry and Mingyi
• 4M Oliver
• 5F  Yash
• 6W Freya

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:

• Evie 6W over 24%

Results for last week's class battle - well done 6W:

• 1st place - Class 6W with 9,686 points
• 2nd place - Class 3Y with 7,009 points
• 3rd place - Class 4M with 2,250 points

 Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Aryan 6W
• 2nd Aryaan 3Y
• 3rd Liana 6W

Last week's most improved speedsters in Studio are:

• 3Y - Sophie - Headliner!
• 3Y - Shaylan - Wannabe!
• 4M - Leela - Breakthrough Artist!
• 6W - Charlotte - Headliner!
• 6W - Eva - 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!!

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

• Albert
• Alexandria
• Aria
• Elliott
• Henry
• Nishaan
• Oscar
• Sophie

Well done to you all.

This week, we have been considering the different seasons in our weekly maths objective about time. To reinforce our learning the children chose different ways to remember the four seasons through their artwork. A very striking display it makes too!

In their RE lesson yesterday Class 1SS were learning about St Patrick!  

The children had a great time in Forest School today. We were very lucky to be blessed with the warm sunshine after the rain on Wednesday.

Despite all of the rain, the Forest School area was fairly dry so the children took it on themselves to create their own muddy puddles to jump and roll around in. Some of the children continued to try and light fires and despite trying with all their might, they haven’t been able to light one.

We used some jeweller's magnifying glasses to look at the flowers and tree trunks on the site and some children tried to use them to light a fire.

Lots of holes were dug, logs were painted with mud, and obstacle courses were created during today's session. It was lots of fun and we look forward to next Thursday.

We are currently reading Billionaire Boy by David Walliams and the children this week created a timetable for a fun school of their own, just like our main character, Joe, at St. Cuthbert's. There were some brilliant ideas and some of them are here. 

We are also very much looking forward to going on our trip to see the book being brought to life on stage at The Curve, Leicester on Friday.

All the children have really embraced the reading and the activities. Keep it up, 4M!

Last week, the boys were away at a fixture, so the girls found out about the key messages behind #BreakTheBias and International Women's Day. They responded by creating posters, educational videos and even a song to show their understanding.

On Thursday 10 March pupils from Years 3 to 6 had the opportunity to showcase their poems they had practiced for their LAMDA exams.  Over 50 pupils opted to perform on stage and show their parents what they had been working towards.

Year 5 and Year 6 also showcased some of the activities we do in Drama Club and Theatre Club - some quite hilarious spontaneous improvisations were shown and pupils created on the spot performances.

It was a wonderful evening and we were SO excited to be performing on the stage again - hopefully lots more to come next year.

This half term's focus for our PSHE lessons has been 'Healthy Me', following the mindful approach of the Jigsaw PSHE curriculum.

Children from Reception to Year 6 have reflected and shared ways in which they keep healthy minds and bodies. Our whole school displays are a great way for the children to voice their own ideas to each other.

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

Well done to our U9 Netball Team who travelled to Stafford on Thursday for the ISA tournament. The team played fantastically and showed great team spirit, finishing 6th in their pool with two wins, one draw and three losses.

The Year 3 to Year 6 Movie Night is next Friday 25 March. The link has been sent out via the official WhatsApp FoC communications feed (to join message Nick 07843561878) and via the Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/groups/friendsofcrescent.

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

The FoC welcomed Reception to Year 2 children to a showing of Paw Patrol on Friday 11 March. The evening was a great success raising over £139. The children were superbly behaved and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Thanks to the parents who volunteered their time. 

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

Please click below to view the lunch menu: 

 Lunch 21 March 2022

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

Olive Catering Services Limited

Please see below for useful school contact information:

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.

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

Alex in Class 5F and his Dad spent last weekend planting tomato plants in the greenhouse at home.  They planted three different varieties, and a yellow pepper plant. Hopefully they will get a good crop.

We look forward to seeing the fruits of their hard work!  Thanks to Dad for sending in this picture of Alex. 

We love seeing what children do outside of school. Please send articles to the Courier Team.

Crescent School

On Sunday, Flora took part in her first gymnastics show. Flora joined the junior squad before Christmas and has worked hard on learning her routine. She loved performing on the stage at the Benn Hall, with the rest of her team, and can't wait to do another show! 

Thanks to Mum for sending in this picture.  Well done Flora.

Crescent School