The Courier

Dear Parents

I hope you have all enjoyed a productive week at work and home. It has felt like a good, hard-working autumn term week here in school, with lots of lovely work appearing in the corridors and on the display boards now that we are well into the term.

It was wonderful to see so many of you here for the harvest services earlier in the week. We had over 200 people attending the two services in total, and you will have enjoyed seeing the children taking part in their first performance to parents of the year. The days have had an autumnal feel to them this week and this, combined with the singing and music, will, I hope, have left those who were able to attend with a cosy warm feeling to see you through the day and the rest of the week.

We look forward to seeing many of you back in school next week for the first of our parent consultation evenings of the year.

Another first this week were the learning mentor meetings that took place this morning. Year 1 have been involved for the first time and got to know their new mentors. Hopefully they should be able to discuss the targets they agreed with you when they come home this evening. These meetings have a number of really positive effects, not only focusing the children on their next steps for learning, but also helping to build relationships across the school between staff members and children of all ages.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to our Rugby Food Bank collection this term, your gifts are much appreciated. On the charity front, this combines with our clothes collection for Bags 2 School and also the Macmillan coffee morning on the field today. In amongst your busy days and all the demands that are made on you, we do appreciate your continued generosity and support.

Have a great weekend

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Please save the date for Monday 12 December at 0915 to attend our Christmas Cracker - a time for you to share in the children performing poetry, music and reading to celebrate the festive time of year.

Mrs Webb - Assistant Head
Alan Webb - Assistant Head

Timestable Rockstars have advised the following:

Some pupils have played on a very out-of-date version of Times Tables Rock Stars in the last seven days.

It's important that they use the latest versions of the app and and website to ensure they receive the most secure, feature-rich and enjoyable experience of Times Tables Rock Stars. Some of the versions are so far behind that they're missing out on key updates. 

If using the website at home, please ask parents to visit: play.ttrockstars.com/reset to load the latest version in their device's browser. Otherwise we ask parents to update the Times Tables Rock Stars app from the app store.

Crescent School

Weekly Calendar

Please click on the link below for next week's calendar. 

Weekly Calendar - 3 October 22 

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

Please click below to view the lunch menu for next week, children are able to have either the Main or Vegetarian option. 

On Friday we have a Street Food lunch (see photo for details) and parents will be able to sample this food during Open Corridors after school.

 Lunch Menu - 3 October 2022

Crescent School

Please click on the link below to view the Music Lesson timetable for next week:

Music Lessons - 3 October 2022 

The password has been emailed to parents. 

Keyboard lessons are also available with Mrs Fisher.  Click here for details.

Please click here to view the Michaelmas Term Calendar.

Crescent School Calendar - Michaelmas Term 2022

Crescent School

Once again, this year Crescent School is running its Learning Mentors initiative that supports the school’s emphasis on building self-regulation for the children.

Today the children had their first meeting with their mentors to agree their targets for the year. Staff discussed the children’s work with them, helped the children reflect on their books, feedback and comments and encouraged them to choose and agree the academic targets they want to work on this year. Together they then recorded the targets on a postcard, to help remind pupils and to allow them to share their targets with parents.

This powerful initiative gives responsibility for learning to the children, and all pupils from Year 1 up to Year 6 took part. Staff did not tell pupils what targets to choose, they chose themselves. The children were all excited by the opportunity and we know it will motivate their learning as they strive to achieve their own set goals. We look forward to reviewing the targets over the coming year.

Thank you to everyone for participating so enthusiastically and to our Year 6s for their sterling organisation of the day.

We said goodbye to a much-loved member of staff today, Mrs Everitt, who leaves us to take up an exciting new role as Nursery Manager at Wellingtons Day Nursery. Mrs Everitt is known to all the children, having led our Forest School provision with energy and enthusiasm over the last year, and also to many of our community who came to us from Pathfinders Nursery, where she worked before, which was located on the school site for a number of years.

Her new role takes her back to working with the very youngest children and we wish her every success. We know she will be an inspiring leader and we have no doubt whatsoever she will be a tremendous success.

Many thanks Mrs Everitt, you leave with the very best wishes of the whole Crescent community and heartfelt thanks for everything you have done during your time here.

Harvest Festival at Crescent School is always a special event as the children and staff gather together with the wider school family to celebrate and give thanks. Every year the school hall resonates with music, songs, prayers and readings to reflect on the bounty of the harvest, the traditions of Harvest Festival, along with the importance of community and of helping one another. This year, the school hosted two services, one for the Upper School and one for Pre-Prep, to allow parents to join in the celebration.

The school relies on the generosity of parents and family members to make this traditional British event one to remember and together, thanks to a wealth of donations, a wonderful display of tinned and packaged foods was created. These will be taken to Rugby Foodbank and are sure to be gratefully received.

In the Upper School service, the Crescent orchestra played stirringly leading the gathering in the hymn Come Ye Thankful People Come. The children delivered their readings beautifully and sang traditional and modern Harvest songs. Headmaster, Joe Thackway reflected on the Parable Of The Sower and challenged the children to identify fruits and vegetables grown from seeds. They got them all correct – well done Tegan and Harry!

Thank you to all of the children, to the staff who helped put the service together and to the parents for their donations of goods for this worthy cause. Pre-Prep had their Harvest Festival on Wednesday. We hope you enjoy this first shared service of the school year.

Huge thanks to Crescent School’s FoC for organising this morning’s fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support. At morning drop off parents responded generously to the FoC enthusiastic cake sales team, who were pleased to welcome everyone for coffee and cake. Then at break time the children were delighted to purchase individual cakes to enjoy, although choosing was quite challenging for some. It proved a great morning of fundraising for a very worthy cause.

Macmillan Cancer’s annual fundraiser raised over £11 million for the charity last year but that figure was substantially down on previous totals. So, every penny contributed today will be most welcome.

The FoC and Crescent School are very grateful to parents, pupils and staff for their support for this good cause. Thank you to all you baked, bought and consumed. We will let you know how much was raised.

We are purchasing our fundraising Christmas cards from Xmas4schools. Please look out for your child bringing home an order card that has the ordering details on one side and the actual space where the design must be on the other.

Please fill in details and keep to the class name as RP, 1Q, 1S, 2E, 2W, 3S, 4C, 5F or 6W. Also, there is a price guide as to what products you will be able to buy when the design is complete. 

The design guidelines are: 

• Do not go too near the edge as the printer will cut it off- you must be 1cm away all around.
• Do use felt tip, ink, pencil crayons, gel pens - brighter the better- pale does not show up.
• Do use collage if you want - but well stuck down.
• Do use glitter glue if you want.
• Do not use sprinkle glitter- it falls off!
• Do not use large areas of metallic finishes - it will not look shiny.
• Do cover up as much of the white space as you can.
• Do make any text big as the process will reduce the size of the design.

The design card with details, must be returned as soon as possible. The deadline is Thursday 13 October 2022. We cannot accept or send any late orders.

FoC will receive a donation for every product ordered, so do get designing! Please note that this is not the Crescent School Christmas card competition, but items just for yourselves.

Please click on the photos in the gallery which provide information.

Season's Greetings!

Monday 3 October 2022 6.30pm - 8.30pm

Thursday 13 October 2022 4.00pm - 6.00pm

We are looking forward to meeting with parents from Reception, Year 1 and 2 over the next couple of weeks. You are welcome to park in the playground for your meeting, then please come to the Mortimer Foyer doors at the bottom of the playground if your child is in Year 1 or 2; Reception parents please come to the Horton Centre doors from the playground. All the consultations are held in your child's form room and refreshments will be available. 

The meetings are with the form tutor only, if you wish to talk to a specialist teacher then please email admin@crescentschool.co.uk and we will forward to the approproate teacher. 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. 

If you haven't already booked your appointment, please do so following the link sent out last week.

Tuesday 4 October 2022 - 7.00pm to 8.00pm

Wednesday 5 October 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.

Please complete the form below to indicate if your child is able to attend:

Past Pupils

Past Pupils: please arrive no earlier than 4.30pm. The entry point is through the side field gate where you will be welcomed for refreshments. We recommend arriving in PE kit.

Class 6W: For those who are staying in school you will be able to change into your games kit after last lesson. 

Plan:

• 4.30pm - arrive for refreshments on the School Field
• 4.45pm - tour of the school for past pupils and parents, while 6W get ready for the matches
• 5.00pm - matches

Mrs McCollin and Mr Adkins are taking the lead, but I know many teachers will come and see everyone, past pupil matches are a great occasion. 

Thursday 6 October 2022 4pm - 6pm

Monday 10 October 2022 6.30pm - 8.30pm

We are looking forward to meeting with parents from Year 3, 4 and 5 over the next couple of weeks. This is your opportunity to meet with the form tutor about how your child is settling in. No specialist teachers will be available apart from Mrs Webb in Year 5 (for English). If you wish to talk to a specialist teacher, then please email admin@crescentschool.co.uk and we will forward to the approproate teacher.

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.

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. 

If you haven't already booked your appointment, please do so following the link sent out last week.

We look forward to meeting with you.

Friday 7 October 2022 - 3.45pm to 4.15pm

We would very much like to welcome you to look around the school corridors on Friday 7 October.

The playground will be reserved for parking from 3.40pm. Year 5 and 6 will 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 for collection.

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.

This week's Accelerated Reader Superstars are:

Top Quizzers are:

• 3S Isabella
• 4C Sophie
• 5F  Edward G-H
• 6W Poppy

Word Wizards are:

• 3S Evelyn
• 4C Edward M
• 5F Alex T
• 6W Harry

And as it is the end of September we will award this months trophies:

• Top Quizzing Class of September having read a whopping 144 books is ..... Class 3S
• Class Word Wizards having amassed an impressive 2.3 million words read are ...... Class 6W

Well done to all our avid readers here at Crescent School.

Mrs Nelson
Teaching Assistant

Mrs Johnson and Mrs Thackway have introduced a new scheme this year to recognise the outstanding scientists and artists that we have in the school. Each week there will be a Scientist and Artist of the Week who will be mentioned in assembly and their work displayed in the corridor.

Well done to this week's winners

Scientists

• Isabella (3S)
• Lily (2W)
• Penelope (2W)
• Shayla (5F)

Artists

• Dare (2W)
• David (2E)
• Dudley (2E)
• Eve (2W)
• Feranmi (2E)
• Henry (2W)

Well done all.

Crescent School

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 and therefore are awarded JDVs for Maths Practice:

• Aria 3S completed 48% of the course

• Sam O 5F completed 48% of the course

• 1st 3S average score 663
• 2nd 5F average score 331
• 3rd 2E average score 79

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Kian 3S
• 2nd Shiv 5F
• 3rd Alfie 3S

Last week most improved speedsters in the studio are:

Class 6W

• Bella - Busker!
  

• Henry - Headliner!
• Matthew - Rock Legend!

• Taran - Wannabe!

Next week's battle all classes against each other.

Stay Calm and Rock On!

Apologies Tilly was missed off last week's list and this has now been updated.

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

• Evie M
• Emily W
• Ire
• Joshua
• Juliette
• Max
• Oore
• Sophia

Well done to you all.

In Maths we will be looking for patterns in our environment as we venture on an Autumn walk. We will be creating our own patterns as we make fruit kebabs.

In phonics we have been practising single sounds…

s  a  t  p  i  n  m  d  g  o

and introduced tricky words…

I    no   to   go   the   into

How to help your child at home…

• Continue to practise doing up zips/buttons and encourage the children to dress independently
• Encourage the children to write to help secure pencil grips. Name practice is an ideal starting point
• Ask the children to retell the stories we’ve been sharing in class
• Talk about patterns and shapes you can find around the house
• Talk about daily routines and link to times of the day

Please remember to write a brief comment in your child’s reading record book each evening.

Handwriting notebooks are sent home each Thursday when a new letter has been introduced in class. Please support your child with some practice. (A page is plenty) Don’t forget children should use pencil to complete the task. Please return the notebooks to school every Monday.

I look forward to seeing you at one of the parent’s meetings over the next couple of weeks when we can talk about how your child has settled into Reception.

Year 2 have been working hard on deepening their maths skills through lots of practical, hands-on experiences. In order for maths to be relevant and understood, it has to be real so the children have been on a right-angle hunt, created a class size carroll and venn diagram in learning about representing data, used a range of manipulatives to calculate doubles and halves as well as sensory experiences to secure number direction and formation.  

In RE, class 2E have been introduced to some of the key symbols of the Jewish faith over the last few weeks. We have used origami techniques to make and decorate a Star of David and written prayers and positive affirmations before inserting them into our own mezzuzah. This week we looked at Shabbat, the day of rest, and discussed some of the key aspects of a Shabbat meal. We learned about challah bread and then had a go at making our own bread. Lots of fun was had mixing and kneading the dough to create our own little rolls.  

This week Class 3S experienced an online history session from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Ruth took the children through the Egyptian gallery, teaching them all about Egyptian life and the afterlife, through looking at artefacts and completing history detective activities. The children found the mummies particularly interesting, especially when Ruth showed them the x-rays and scans which showed how the person might have died. It was a really amazing session and really enriched their history study of the Ancient Egyptians. The children have lots of knowledge to use in the classwork now and even learned how to write their own names in hieroglyphics.

Class 4C have been learning about melting and freezing points. They thoroughly enjoyed observing and measuring the melting points of ice, butter, chocolate and wax.

Class 5F have been working together to create an effective still life composition. The children carefully observed and sketched the composition, adding tone to give depth and contrast.

Year 5 have been very busy scientists putting into practice their fair and comparative testing skills; they have tested the viscosity of different liquids and the absorbency of different brands of nappies. 

St Andrews House had their play leader training with Mrs McCollin on Friday 16 September, they worked fantastically and had some great ideas for activities and games to play at lunchtimes. It has been fantastic to see the play leaders putting these new skills into practice this week with the Pre-Prep-Pupils and having fun in the sun. 

We have had a great start to our co-curricular activities this year. New experiences through First Aid, Musical Theatre and Mini-Rugby as well as the old favourites of Choir, Tae Kwon Do and Yoga to name just a few of the over 40 clubs we are offering this term. I thought it would be nice to share some pictures to show the great experiences your children are having.

The mobile gaming market has been dominated for some time now by so called ‘free-to-play’ games, ones that have no initial cost to download, but often come with a lot of additional ‘optional’ purchases. These can often be incredibly frustrating for children (and grown-ups!), getting to love a game, only to come up against a seemingly impossible barrier that can only be overcome with spending real money on power-ups etc. Although they do still offer a lot of entertainment value, some do require close monitoring.

For a while now the most popular has been the phenomenon that is Fortnite, with Chapter 3 of the game dropping last year. The game itself does come with an advisory 12+ age limit primarily due to the violent, albeit very cartoony, nature of it, but remains extremely popular amongst primary age children. If you do choose to allow your child to play Fortnite, there are a few important things to consider, primarily the in-app purchases, violent nature and ability to chat with other users. The most important step is to set up the correct Parental Controls (see picture attached). Turning off the ‘mature language’, ‘friend requests’, ‘voice chat’ and ‘text chat’ immediately makes the game infinitely safer from any stranger danger or inappropriate content concerns.

Please also take a look at the attached guide, with lots of useful advice to make it as safe and fun an experience as possible and if you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!

Crescent U10s travelled over to Dixie Grammar full of confidence for the ISA Midlands Boys 6-a-side tournament, but after struggling to adapt to a few late rule changes were very slow out the blocks, losing their first game 3-0 to eventual finalists Old Vic.

The team responded well and rallied for their second game, unluckily again suffering a 1-0 defeat against Ruckleigh down to a very controversial goal. Crescent then finally started playing the fantastic fast-paced football they are capable of, beating Crackley 1-0 in the third game, then Arnold Lodge 2-0 in the final group game. This meant a third place finish in the group, leading to a very dominant display against Highclare in the play-off round, comfortably winning 2-0 and securing a 5th place finish overall.

Special mentions to the whole squad for adapting well to new rules, not letting early disappointments get to them, and getting better and better as the tournament progressed. 

Our player of the tournament was Alex T, who was very cool, collected and composed in defence throughout.

Mr Adkins & Mrs Dowling

U8 and U9 girls travelled to Bilton Grange for a hockey festival against Bilton Grange and Stoneygate School. 

U8 Girls were divided into 2 teams, green and yellow. 

• Green team v BG loss 4-1 
• Green team v Stoneygate win 2-0 
• Green v Yellow win 1-0 

• Yellow  v Stoneygate win 4-0
• Yellow v BG loss 4-0
• Yellow v Green loss 1-0 

Fantastic play from all girls, great development in use of space and driving forward. Outstanding determination in all games, never giving up on the ball and working hard at all times. 

Most improved player goes to to Isabella in the Green team and Lilah in the Yellow team. 

Friday 7 October 2022 - 7.30pm

The Crescent Quiz is back! Hosted by Ms Forth it takes place on 7 October from 7.30pm to 10pm.

Maximum of six in a team which can either be class / year groups or mixed.  

BYO snacks, drinks and condiments. We will also be doing a hot food collection from Fish Plus in Bilton which will arrive at half time.  

Order your tickets and food at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/Foc/t-lnnqazl

Please see below for useful school contact information:

• My School Portal: MSP Login
• SOCS: SOCS Login

Click here to view the term dates for 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Crescent School

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

• Director of Finance - The Princethorpe Foundation
• Head of Learning Support and SENCO - Princethorpe College
• Nursery Practitioner - Litte 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.