The Courier

I hope you had a good Christmas break and were able to enjoy some quality family time. 
 
It has been wonderful to welcome Grove du Toit into the College as our new Head – in our Epiphany Service and assembly on the first day back he gave the pupils an insight into his own background and journey and said if he had to describe himself in three words they would be “passionate, energetic and caring” – all qualities we saw in him during the recruitment process.  He will be a great Head for Princethorpe and I am already enjoying working closely with him. 
 
As I start my new role as Foundation Principal, I reflect on the past few years – dominated by COVID of course, but the implications of Brexit, the War in Ukraine and political and economic matters are now firmly at the top of all our agendas. It has been a time of great uncertainty and collective anxiety across the world which has affected all of us and our communities.  
 
In a period of such considerable uncertainly and indeed turmoil, our Foundation remains very strong and despite the challenges ahead, I am very optimistic about the future of pupils in all our schools. The “spirit of family” and the willingness of all members of our community – pupils, parents and staff - to pull together and support each other continues to be a major strength and the foundation for future developments. Another is our desire to continue to improve all aspects of our schools to ensure we offer the very best education to all our pupils, and this will be my major focus over the months and years to come. As Mark Twain said, “the secret of getting ahead is getting started…” and I am delighted to have started my new role. 
 
As I start to develop a strategic vision and plan for our Foundation, one of my first tasks is to spend more time at the Crescent. Although I have worked closely with Mr Thackway for several years, I want to get much more first-hand knowledge of all aspects of the junior schools. I look forward, not only to seeing the children in action, but also meeting parents at a variety of events so please do come and say hello.  
 
I send my best wishes to you and your families and, on the Feast of the Epiphany and the day after Pope Benedict’s funeral, we keep religious leaders of all faiths and political leaders in our thoughts and pray that their guidance and example will help to bring justice and peace to all parts of the world. 
 
Yours sincerely, 

Ed Hester
Foundation Principal

Dear Parents

I hope you have all enjoyed restful break over the festive period. It can be a busy time of year for families, with lots of comings and goings in the house and things to organise. In amongst all of that I do hope you were able to find a little bit of time for yourselves and spend it with your children. We had all five of us in the house for the whole of the holiday, my wife and our three children, and with all of their plans for the future it might be some time before this happens again. We did manage to couple this with a broken telly on Christmas Day and a broken-down car the day before, but at least we were together, and much fun was had.

I must say the Crescent children came back to school on Wednesday in great form and it was lovely to see them all so happy and excited and ready for their new term. As I came down the steps to open the gate at 8.15 on Wednesday I am pretty sure I heard a small cheer go up. Now I know some might say it was from the parents, but I am confident it came from the children who were clearly looking forward to their first day back. I don't know about you, but I don't remember feeling quite the same about my returns to school when I was that age.

We started our assemblies for the term with a message about aiming for the best that we can be in the year ahead. We particularly talked about the importance of kindness and thought for others, as well as wearing our uniform smartly and staying safe in school. We also highlighted our new and slightly tweaked version of the School Promise for the first two weeks of spring term which is ‘we respect each other and celebrate our differences’. There are some themes here that we will return to later in the year and you'll learn more about in the Courier and from your children.

In the meantime, I look forward to a happy and successful term here at school and look forward to meeting up with you in the weeks ahead

Best wishes

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Please see message below from Warwickshire Police:

Good Afternoon

Just a friendly reminder, now that schools are back can all parents/guardians dropping off or collecting their children please adhere to all parking regulations. If you do not do so and park where you should not, you can end up with a parking ticket. 

If you have an issue with parking then please contact Rugby Borough Council. 

Warwickshire County Council have also authorised a vehicle to drive around and observe school parking, ticketing anyone who causes any traffic offenses. 

Here is a flyer with some parking information. 

Warwickshire Police

Please see the NHS link below for some useful information re: deciding whether or not to keep your child off school when they're unwell.

NHS Live Well - Is my child too ill for school

Crescent School

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

• Class 1Q Lent 2023

• Class 1S Lent 2023

• Class 2E Lent 2023

• Class 2W Lent 2023

• Class 3S Lent 2023

• Class 4C Lent 2023

• Class 5F Lent 2023

• Class 6W Lent 2023

Weekly Calendar

Please click on the link below to view next week's calendar:

Weekly Calendar - 9 Jan 2023 

All Co-curricular clubs start on Monday.

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

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

Lunch Menu 6 Jan 2023

Crescent School

Please click on the link below to view the Music Lesson timetable for week commencing 9 January 2023.

Lessons may not be able to be rearranged if children do not bring their instruments to school.

Music Lessons - 9 January 2023 

The password has been emailed to parents. 

Crescent School is celebrating its 75th anniversary during 2023 and the school has exciting plans to celebrate this wonderful milestone, with opportunities to get together, renew and strengthen relationships and revive old memories.

The year will begin with the school marking Founder's Day on Monday 16 January. Founder's Day is a new celebration in the Crescent calendar and will provide an opportunity for the Crescent community to reflect back to its founding in January 1948 and to commemorate and thank all who have contributed to the school’s history. To mark the start of the anniversary year pupils will also be spending Friday 20 January looking back to 1948, with teachers leading themed lessons exploring life in the 1940s.

During the year the school is planning to update A History Of Crescent School last published on its 60th anniversary.

At Easter, the school would like to welcome a panel of old pupils back in to school to talk to the children and we are looking for volunteers and for any memorabilia from past pupils' time at Crescent School. Photos, school reports, examples of schoolwork, programmes from plays and concerts and even old school uniform would all be welcomed. Please contact the school office admin@crescentschool.co.uk if you would like to get involved or the Foundation’s archivist catherinelewis@princethorpe.co.uk if you have anything to donate.

Then in the summer, the school will be inviting past pupils to visit the school when we hold our 75th anniversary celebrations on Saturday 10 June as part of the school’s annual Summer Fête.

More details of the events will be shared once plans are finalised. We look forward to sharing this important milestone with you all.

Do you think you have super keyboard skills? Do you think you can type quickly and accurately? If you answered yes then you will be incredibly excited to hear that on Monday 30 January, Mr Adkins will be launching the inaugural Princethorpe Foundation Typing Competition, a chance to test your typing speed and skills against not just your class mates, but against all the children at Crackley Hall too!

During your computing lesson that week you will be carrying out a series of typing challenges, designed to see just how awesome a typist you are. There will be prizes for the fastest typist in each class, in each Year (including Crackley), in each school and of course the big one… the fastest typist in the whole Foundation! As well as this it will also be an Inter House competition, with big points on offer in the House Cup.

If you want to get yourselves ready and fighting fit for the competition, just head over to typing.com and have a practice on the lessons or the fun games. Remember your username is fullnamecrescent (eg. benstokescrescent) and the password is crescent1

If you have any more questions, please just ask Mr Adkins!

Grove du Toit has taken on the Headship of Princethorpe College with effect from January 2023. He succeeds outgoing Headmaster, Ed Hester, who has held the post since 2009. Mr Hester now becomes Foundation Principal, a dedicated role with responsibility for the strategic vision and direction of the whole Princethorpe Foundation, its three schools and nursery.

Mr du Toit was appointed as Headmaster back in May 2022 after a rigorous selection process and until December was Deputy Warden (Senior Deputy Head) at Forest School, a co-educational independent day school for children aged 4 to 18, located on the edge of Epping Forest, a position he held for five years.

Married to Marike, with whom he shares two daughters, aged 14 and 11, Mr du Toit, 43, is a practising Christian. South African by birth, he moved to the UK in 2005 and after a brief period teaching in the maintained sector, he has held a variety of leadership roles in HMC independent schools in and around London. Following his under-graduate studies at the University of Pretoria, he completed a MA in Education Management at King’s College London, and has recently completed his MBA at Salford University through their Business School.

Comments, Liz Griffin, Chair of Trustees, “We are delighted to finally welcome Grove on board. The Foundation Trustees were unanimous in the decision to appoint him as the next Headmaster of Princethorpe College. His passion for education and young people shone through throughout the selection process and our many encounters with him since. He has immense vision and energy combined with a wealth of experience and leaderships skills, but most importantly his personal values marry perfectly with the ethos of the College.

She continues, “Our thanks go to Ed Hester, who has done an outstanding job as Headmaster of Princethorpe College over the last 13 years. Of course, Ed will continue to have a very keen interest in life at Princethorpe and will be on hand to ensure a smooth transition and successful handover to Grove, who will be supported by Princethorpe’s excellent Senior Leadership Team.”

Comments, Grove du Toit, “I am excited and honoured to take on the Headship of Princethorpe College and lead the school into the next stage of its development, building on the excellent work of Ed Hester. I recognise and fully appreciate what a special community Princethorpe is and upholding its ethos and spirit of family will be central to my role. I look forward to immersing myself in school life and building relationships with staff, parents and pupils alike.”

Outgoing Headmaster, Ed Hester, adds, “Grove is a great fit for Princethorpe and brings with him a vast amount of experience and skills. I am delighted to be able to hand over the reins of running the College to him and am really excited at the prospect of working with him over the years ahead.”

The Princethorpe Foundation educates some 1,400 pupils aged 2 to 18 years across its senior school, Princethorpe College, and prep schools, Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery in Kenilworth and Crescent School in Bilton, Rugby.

Year 6 Playleader Training for pupils in St George's House will take place on Friday 13 January 2023.  PE Kit to be worn for the children in Red House in Year 6.

2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the opening of Crescent School which the school will be celebrating in a number of ways.

To begin our celebrations on Monday 16 January, Mr Thackway will be leading a special assembly and on Friday 20 January the children will take part in a theme day, planned around the year that Crescent School opened – 1948.

The staff are working hard to plan a range of learning activities to celebrate.  We look forward to sharing this with you in the Courier on 27 January.

Tuesday 24 January 2023 - 6.00pm to 7.30pm

We look forward to welcoming parents to the LAMDA Showcase in the Hall on Tuesday 24 January for Years 3 to 6, to watch the children perform their LAMDA poems in preparation for their exams.

A link to book tickets will be sent out in due course.

Mrs Webb and Miss Bowdige
Assistant Head and Drama Teacher

Friday 3 February 2023 - 3.45pm to 4.15pm

On Friday 3 February, after school, we will have our Open Corridors event where we will share with you all the great work that we have been doing in school.

Please collect your child before entering through the front door where you will be welcomed in to look at all the great work in school from 3.45pm. Entry and exit will only be through the front doors. Last entry is at 3.55pm.  On this day Years 5 and 6 will be dismissed through the pupil door, 

If your child is in a Co-curricular club then they will be expected to attend unless you arrange otherwise. Parking will be available on the playground.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Friday 17 February 2023

We will be holding a non-uniform day on Friday 17 February with all proceeds going to this term's chosen charity, Bwengu Projects. 

Please send a £1 donation with your child to be given to their form teacher.

Thank you.

Only three days into our new school term, and there are already children achieving full Junior da Vinci status. These are Zara, Chloe and Annalise in 6W in Science and Design Technology and Maisie in 5F, also in Science and Technology. 

Congratulations to you all.

Mrs Symons
Junior da Vinci Lead

Congratulations to the following pupils for passing their music exams:

• Alex B
• Alex G
• Alice
• Maisie
• Patrick
• Timi

Mrs Barnes
Director of Music

As part of the PE programme this term we will be starting with Cross Country running before moving on to gymnastics. This is in preparation for upcoming ISA and Rugby and District events. 

The fun will commence with a Inter-house Cross Country event. Years 3 and 4 will run on site at the Crescent School site on Monday 9 January for Year 4 and Tuesday 10 January for Year 3. Years 5 and 6 will compete at Princethorpe College on Tuesday 10 January. 

Pupils will come to school in their uniform but will need to bring appropriate clothing for being outside with their PE kit, full tracksuit, skins and pair of shoes to run in (football boots or old trainers) and a pair of trainers for on the bus or inside the school hall after the run, as well as a plastic bag or boot bag for the spare shoes to go into.  

If you have any questions about this please do not hesitate to contact myself. 

Good luck everyone!

This term the focus during our swimming lessons will be on water safety. We will be following the Swim England Water Safety and Water Skills awards. Water safety skills are vital life and survival skills, especially if you live near or holiday by water such as canals, ponds, rivers, quarries, lakes and harbours. All Swim England water safety badges can only be awarded to swimmers when performed without nose clips and goggles.

There are three Water Safety Awards teaching water danger awareness, self-rescue techniques and vital survival skills in clothes, without swimming goggles or nose clips.

The Water Safety Awards have been developed in partnership with Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and Royal Lifesaving Society UK (RLSS UK).

The Water Safety Awards are:

Water Safety 1 Award
During this Award your child will learn basic water safety awareness and survival techniques such as floating, treading water and submerging and resurfacing, without goggles.

Water Safety 2 Award
This Award introduces swimming in clothes, the key water safety messages from RNLI and RLSS, and essential personal survival techniques such as the Heat Escape Lessening Position (HELP).

Water Safety 3 Award
On completing this third and final Water Safety Award your child will fully understand how to perform safe self-rescue in different open and pool-based water situations, and what to do if they fall into water unexpectedly.

Mrs McCollin
Head of PE and Games

Monday 9 January 2023 - 4.00pm to 5.00pm

Please come along and join us for this meeting where we will be discussing events for the term. This will take place in Room 1.

Children can be booked into After School, free of charge, if you attend this meeting.  Please advise Mrs Tucker via email.

Friday 13 January 2023 - 3.30pm to 4.45pm

Please come along and support the FoC by buying cakes and sweets, all priced at 50p each. All the money raised at these market day events goes towards privilege time for Year 4.

Friends of Crescent

Friday 10 February 2023

We are looking forward to welcoming children to our school disco on Friday 10 February 2023.

• The Pre-Prep disco (Reception to Y2) will be 3.45pm to 4.45pm
• The Upper School disco (Y3 to Y6) will be 4.45pm to 5.30pm

Friday 17 February 2023 - 3.30pm to 4.45pm

Please come along and support the FoC by buying cakes and sweets, all priced at 50p each. All the money raised at these market day events goes towards privilege time for Year 3.

Friends of Crescent

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:

Princethorpe College

• Head of English
• Head of History
• Teacher of Mathematics (Maternity Cover)
• Head Librarian

Crackley Hall

• PA to the Head and Office Manager
• Nursery Manager
• Teaching Assistant - KS1
• First Aid Administrator

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.