The Courier

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

Well, it’s certainly been a scorcher this week. Super-hot weather like this brings challenges in a school, particularly when it is the first week back and we are all trying to settle into our new routines. I think the children deserve great credit for handling this so well and making it through their first week. It is not easy to ask young children to run around less in the playground when they’re excited to see each other, or to remind them of the need for extra water and suncream. They’ve taken this on really well however and it’s great to see the pure energy and pleasure the children have brought to their return to school life. 

I must make a particular mention of the children in Reception who have started so calmly and sensibly this week. Mrs Pullen and Mrs Noyce have been delighted with them, and a full five days in the classroom with the temperatures to deal with has been a big ask for them. I suspect many will be happy but exhausted going into their first weekend.

We kicked off our assemblies for the year on Monday thinking about what makes a good learner. During the summer I had spent some time observing a family of woodpeckers in my garden working on the problem of how to get at the nut inside a hazelnut shell. Not only could the parent birds do this by hammering out a notch in the bark to position the nut in ready for a strike with the beak, they also passed the technique on to their young offspring who gained a lifelong skill in the process. This seemed a great allegory for the life of a school and encapsulated the values of determination and curiosity that we espouse.

We have drawn up a learner profile that we will be rolling out through the year ahead with the children that will highlight these and other key qualities which the children can build and develop as they progress through their learning journey. Please watch out in the Courier for news of this as the year progresses. 

With more of the hot stuff to come this weekend, I hope you are able to find some cool and calm respite and enjoy this Indian summer whilst it lasts.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Please would parents ensure that children do not come into school wearing jewellery.

Necklaces and bracelets can easily be broken or lost and are potentially hazardous for children taking part in physical activities or experiments. 

Earrings are not to be worn in school at anytime.

We discourage watches being worn in Pre-Prep but they can be worn in the Upper School to aid learning. Watches should have no capacity to communicate, play games or take pictures. 

Thank you for you cooperation with this health and safety matter.

Co-Curricular Clubs start on Monday 11 September. SOCS has been updated and it is important you check which clubs your child is booked in for. Please note the following:

If you wish to remove a child from a club due to this protocol then please let Mrs Tucker know and she will update our records.

Thank you for understanding.

Dear Parents

Just a little reminder about the pens we expect the children in Upper School to have from this September. Each child will have different preferences, so we are recommending a range of pens for the children to have in school from Year 4. In Year 3 they are awarded a pen licence which comes with its own pen (Berol handwriting pen).

The options we expect to see in school are:

• Parker or Lamy Fountain pen

• Berol Handwriting pen

• Staedtler Handwriting pen

• Uniball Micro Air Rollerball pen

• Uniball Eye Rollerball pen

These are all to be used with blue ink only. Please do not buy pens that have an erasable rubber- making mistakes is very much part of their learning.

Each child is an individual and certain pens will suit your child more than others. We have been specific as we feel this will be of help to you and beneficial to the children and their work. They should not be using biros at all in any of their schoolwork and fine liners are only allowed for additional presentation of work.

Thank you for your support with this. We look forward to seeing all the new pens (named of course) this term.

Best wishes

A new year starts with a tournament between all the classes. Children are set at table levels appropriate to them so the older children can compete fairly against younger children from 1Q up to 6W. All data is also carried over from last year with nothing lost. Pupils should have been issued with their TT Rockstar usernames and passwords - they have not changed from last year. Please ask your child - it maybe in their homework diary.

Here are two clips if you need a refresher on the system. You can also attend the platform meetings in a couple of weeks time for more details. 

What is Times Tables Rock Stars? A Children's Guide - YouTube

What is Times Tables Rock Stars? Parents and Carers Guide - YouTube

During key weeks where there is exam pressure, we like to remove homework from the children's workload. Next weekend it is the 11+ so no homework will be set this week. For children not taking the 11+, these children still have plenty to focus their homework time on: reading, Abacus and Times Table rock stars to name a few. 

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

It’s been lovely to welcome the children back to school this week but after a very hot first few days, Mr Thackway delighted the children and staff this morning with a super cool surprise - an ice lolly treat. As you can imagine it was smiles all round!

Crescent School

It’s great to have the children back in school and settling into their new routines. We always like to start the new year with a new class photo, so in between lessons on Wednesday we took the children outside and asked them to show us their beautiful big smiles.

It’s been a fantastic first few days of fabulous new lessons, catching up with or making new friends, sitting down for lunch together, and just generally enjoying school life.

Welcome back everyone!

A valued and important tradition here at Crescent School is for the Year 6 children to buddy with a Reception child to support them through their first year at school. The Year 6s help Reception settle into school, assisting them at lunchtime, modelling good manners, encouraging them in their play and generally being friendly, helpful and welcoming.

On Monday, our new Reception and Year 6 children met their buddies for the first time, and everyone enjoyed some bonding time.

It’s a rite of passage for our Year 6 pupils, an opportunity for them to give back to their school community and we know they will all enjoy playing their part.

Poppy from last year's Year 6 (now in Year 7 at Princethorpe College) has been chosen for the part of 'Mix', which is a main character in a brand new show Rubble & Crew (a Paw Patrol spin off).

She has been recording the episodes throughout the summer holidays and the series actually premiered this week on all the Nickelodeon channels.

Good luck Poppy.

St Mark's Church have confirmed that parents can use their car park for drop off and collection from school.  It is a large car park and there is a short cut from Church Walk which brings you out onto Bawnmore Court beside the school.

A short walk and a breath of fresh air is excellent at helping children get ready for their morning's learning. 

Crescent School

Did you know that we are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? We use social media to share all that goes on, day in day out, in our super school. We post regularly to keep you up to date with school news and school life, and to share all the wonderful activities and amazing work our fantastic pupils do.

If you engage with social media, why not check out our pages and be sure to follow us so that you never miss a post.

https://www.instagram.com/crescentschoolrugby/

https://www.facebook.com/cres.school

https://twitter.com/CrescentSchRug

To help families new to the school, and as a reminder for all, here are some top tips for navigating the school's e-newsletter, The Courier, on your mobile phone.

Each edition of The Courier has a general overview message followed by an index list of the news, events and other information, split into categories, with clickable title links.

• Click the title link of the article or event you are interested in.
• From here you can scroll through all the articles in this category.
• To get back to the top of a category quickly, use the arrow in the bottom right corner of your screen. Click this and you will jump to the top of the page and see the category index.
• Select ‘NEWSLETTER INDEX’, to return you to the main newsletter index listing all the categories and articles.
• To move between different editions of The Courier use the dark green button with three white lines towards the top right of the newsletter. Click on the button and choose which edition of The Courier you would like to read.
• If you are looking for a particular article use the search function using key words to locate it quickly. 

The Courier is one of the school's main communication tools and is always a good first place to look for information and news.

Bookmarking https://courier.crescentschool.co.uk/ will allow you to get to the newsletter quickly.

Princethorpe has a new Admissions Team gearing up to help families who are interested in entry to the College for September 2024 and beyond.

Catherine Rogers is our new Registrar, having been promoted to the role in July. Catherine will be a familiar face to many families, she has been a longstanding member of the Admissions Team and has a wealth of knowledge and experience of the Princethorpe admissions cycle. Joining her is new Assistant Registrar, Marie Holt, who is no stranger to the Foundation either, having previously worked as a receptionist at Crackley Hall School.

The friendly pair have plenty in common, not least their shared public service backgrounds; Catherine was a midwife in the NHS for 18 years and Marie a Warwickshire police officer for 25 years, with their calm, unflappable natures they are both well equipped to cope with the busy period ahead.

The last few weeks have seen the duo dealing with new Lower Sixth joiners post GCSE Results Day, and the Year 7 Activity Day along with arrangements to ensure a smooth start to term for the next generation of Princethorpians.

Comments Catherine, “We are really looking forward to our first Open Event together, which promises to be an exciting one as we will be welcoming visitors into the brand, new state-of-the-art Science Centre at our Open Afternoon on Sunday 17 September.”

To get in touch with Catherine and Marie, email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or call 01926 634201/297, they will be happy to help.

Monday 11 September - 6.30pm to 7.30pm

The College's Admissions Team will be holding a Virtual Parents' Q & A session on Monday 11 September from 6.30pm to 7.30pm.

The event will be a live streamed Q & A session with Grove du Toit (Headmaster), Michael Spencer (Deputy Head - Academic) and Catherine Rogers (Registrar).

This is a chance for parents interested in Year 7 entry to the College in September 2024 to ask our Admissions Team questions relating to the admissions process and Entrance Examinations Day in an informal forum before the registration deadline of Friday 29 September.

If you would like to attend please click on this link where you will also be able to submit any questions in advance.

Sunday 17 September 2023 - 2.00pm to 5.00pm

Princethorpe will be holding its annual Open Afternoon on Sunday 17 September from 2.00pm to 5.00pm. All are welcome to visit the College and for younger visitors, there will be many fun subject related activities organised by the departments.

The Headmaster will address visitors during the afternoon and refreshments will be available. 

To book your place please click here.

Princethorpe College's Admissions Update e-newsletter is now live!

The Princethorpe College's Admissions newsletter is designed to give prospective parents and pupils a feel for school life at Princethorpe and key information about the admissions process.

Click here to read.

Monday 18 September 2023 - 7.00pm

We are very much looking forward to sharing with you the online learning resources that are accessible to you at home to work on, alongside your child, to support their learning further.

This will be run as a Teams meeting on Monday 18 September at 7.00pm. The link will be sent through to you prior to the event.

If you have questions please submit them through the meeting chat function and we will endeavour to deal with them then or they can be sent to your child's Form Tutor. If you are unable to make the time of the meeting, we will be recording it and will send it along with any resources to all parents in Pre-Prep.

Tuesday 19 September 2023 - 7.00pm

We are very much looking forward to sharing with you the online learning resources that are accessible to you at home to work on, alongside your child, to support their learning further.

This will be run as a Teams meeting on Tuesday 19 September at 7.00pm. The link will be sent through to you prior to the event.

If you have any questions please submit them through the meeting chat and we will endeavour to deal with them then or they can be sent to your child's Form Tutor.

If you are unable to make the time of the meeting, we will be recording the session and we will send it along with any resources to all parents in Years 3 - 6.

Within this meeting we will be looking at Spellzone, Abacus, Accelerated Reading and Timetable Rockstars.

Monday 25 September 2023 - 7.00pm

We are very much looking forward to sharing with you our approach to the teaching of Phonics and Early Reading at Crescent School and offering some hints and tips on how you can support your child at home. This is super useful for Reception and new parents but also for any existing parent in Pre-Prep who hasn't attended this previously.

This will be run as a Teams meeting on Monday 25 September at 7.00pm. The link will be sent through to you prior to the event. Any questions can be written through the session chat and we will endeavour to deal with them then or they can be sent to your child's Form Tutor.

If you are unable to make the time of the meeting, we will be recording it and will send it along with any resources to all parents in Reception.

Monday 25 September 2023 - 4.00pm

All Year 6 parents are invited to an information session about the residential trip to Slapton Ley Centre. This will be an opportunity for you to find out what happens there, note the key dates and ask any questions. 

This will be held in 6W form room. Please come to the front of school where you can enter after dismissal of children. Children are welcome (but it may be a squeeze).

Friday 22 September 2023 - 09.00am to 12.00pm

Individual and School siblings photographs will be taken in school on Friday 22 September.  Children may choose to wear either winter or summer uniform but with blazers please.

Thursday 28 September 2023 – 11.00am to 1.00pm

With the opening of Princethorpe’s fantastic new Science Centre this term, the College is delighted to host the whole of Year 6 to a special Science Themed Taster Morning on Thursday 28 September 2023.

The group will travel over to the College by bus and together with their teachers they will have a tour of the new state-of-the-art building and experience two hands-on Science lessons, along with their peers from fellow Foundation prep school, Crackley Hall.

They will return back to Crescent School in time for a slightly later lunch.

A reminder to Year 6 parents that the deadline for registering for the Princethorpe Entrance Exams on Saturday 11 November is fast approaching on Friday 29 September. It is now possible to register online, click here for information.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact the College’s friendly Admissions Team, Catherine Rogers and Marie Holt on 01926 634201/297 respectively or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

We will once again be running our successful Learning Mentors initiative that supports our emphasis on building self-regulation for the children.

On Friday 29 September, or thereafter, children will have a 10 minute meeting with their mentors where they will agree targets for the year that they are fullly responsibile for.

Tuesday 3 October 2023 - 7.00pm to 8.00pm

Some of the things the children have been learning...

It’s hard to believe we’ve already completed a whole week in school and the class are now familiar with structured play routines in Reception.  We have all been making new friends and enjoying lunchtimes with our year 6 buddies. We have started our specialist lessons with Mrs Barnes for Music, Mr Adkins for IT, Mrs McCollin for PE and Mrs Day for French.

In class we have been trying hard to establish comfortable pencil grips and practised reading and writing our names.

We have been singing number rhymes and practised counting to 10.

Some of the things the children will be learning in the weeks to come...

Next week we will start to look at books with repetitive chants. We will use the texts ‘We’re Going On a Bear Hunt’ and ‘Little Rabbit Foo Foo’ in our learning.

In maths we will be looking for, and creating our own repeating patterns. We will practise number formation focussing on numerals 1-5.

We will be starting our first topic, ‘Me and Family’ and talking about our favourite things.

In phonics we will be introducing single sounds initially focussing on;

s     a     t     p     i     n

c      k      e      h      r     m     d

How to help your child at home...

• Practise single letters and their sounds. Play games that encourage the children to identify the initial sounds of objects e.g. eye-spy
• Share stories, encourage the children to identify sounds in print
• Encourage mark making/ writing and practise holding a pencil correctly and comfortably
• Practise counting to 20
• Match numerals (1-5) to amounts
• Encourage the children to dress independently
• Practise packing school bags with daily equipment – reading folders, snack bags

What’s coming up/ notices/ information...

• Please remember to send in a puddle suit and wellies for forest school.  Also please send spare underwear in their bags so we are prepared for any accidents
• Timetables have been sent home – please ask if you have any queries
• Remember to sign the Reading Record books each evening
• On Fridays we have ‘Show and Tell.’ The children are invited to bring in something from home that they are willing to share and talk about
• Please send in a few family photographs as we will be making individual booklets to display for our topic work

We have started an activity called ‘Start The Year With A Bang’. There are 20 balloons around the screen in the classroom all with a name inside. Each day we pop one balloon and the child whose name comes out is celebrated that day – they get to be at the front of the line and the children all tell their friend the things that they like about them and we write it on their certificate. It’s a great way for the children to feel a special part of the class and to know how much they are valued and what they are valued for. 

We welcomed the children into 1Q this week with great excitement. All the children have settled in really well and are eager to learn. In English this week, we have been reading the story Five Minutes' Peace by Jill Murphy. We drew our family members and labelled them using capital letters. We have also been busy creating colourful names to personalise our classroom and really enjoyed exploring all the new toys in Year 1. A great first week back!

Children in 2W have been comparing 2 and 3 digit numbers: using mathematical strategies to say which was larger or smaller. Some extended themselves to challenge Mr Webb with some devious examples to test his knowledge!

Children in 2W have got straight back into the swing of extending their thinking and writing.  Here some of them are creating potential settings for stories and adding adjectives to make them more interesting.

Year 2 had fun choosing and arranging different objects in an interesting way. They then carefully observed their arrangement and tried to sketch it carefully.

The pupils in Year 2 to 6 have been practising their key scientific skills this week in Science lessons. Year 2 have been practising their prediction and observation skills whilst potion making!   

According to Ofcom’s most recent research, a significant proportion of children are already online by the time they start school, with 17% of 5-year-olds owning their own mobile phone and 50% using messaging platforms. As such a major part of day-to-day, becoming familiar with technology is generally encouraged in younger children – up to a point course! It is absolutely essential that we recognise both the benefits and the risks of younger children accessing devices and going online.

At Crescent, Digital Citizenship lessons start immediately from Reception, as it is vital to instil the basics of these skills in pupils straight away, giving us a strong platform to build on as they move through the school. Please take a look at the attached guide full of helpful tips for how to allow your child to safely engage with online technology…if you choose to of course!

Swimming commences next week, please see information below.  

Pre-Prep:

• Classes 1Q and 2E swim on a Monday
• Class 2W swim on a Tuesday

• Classes 3LS and 4C have PE and kit should be brought into school 

Tuesday

• Classes 3SS, 5F and 6W have PE and kit should be brought into school 

• Class 3LS will swin on a Tuesday

Wednesday

• Classes 3SS and 4C swim on a Wednesday

• Years 5 and 6 have their games afternoon and games kit should be worn to school

Thursday

• Years 5 and 6 have swimming.  

• Years 3 and 4 have their games afternoon and games kit should be worn to school

Please click here to view the PE/Games schedule for Years 3 to 6, previously circulated to parents.  Dates are subject to change.

Do contact me if you have any queries.

Monday 11 September 2023 - 3.50pm - 4.45pm

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 22 September 2023 - 3.30pm to 4.45pm

Please come along and support the FoC by buying cakes and sweets, all priced at £1 each. All the money raised at these market day events goes towards privilege time for Class 6W.

Our next Bag2school (www.bag2school.com) collection is Thursday 28 September 2023. 

Bag2school is a fundraising scheme which collects unwanted textiles and sells them to importers and textile manufacturers in many countries of Eastern and Western Europe, Africa and Asia - all of benefit to the circular economy. 

This is an excellent way to get rid of unwanted clothing etc! After collecting the items they weigh them and present FoC with a cheque.

A list of the items they will collect can be found here.

The playground will be open to drive your vehicle in to unload clothing bags from 4pm to 5pm (3pm - 4pm on the front lawn) on Wednesday 27 September, the day before the collection.  Bags can be dropped off on the morning from 7.30am on the morning of the collection.

Friends of Crescent

Friday 29 September 2023 - 8.15am to 9.30am

The FoC will be supporting this wonderful charity. We will be holding a coffee morning from 8.15am - 9.30am on the field (weather depending). Everyone is welcome to come, please feel free to bring younger siblings along and join us for coffee and cake.

We will also be selling cakes to all the children at break time for £1 so any donations will be gratefully appreciated. We require smaller individual cakes, gluten free options that the children can purchase as well as bigger Victoria sponges, chocolate cakes that the parents and teachers can enjoy. 

Please could all nut-free cakes be brought into school from Thursday 28 September 2023.

Friends of Crescent

Welcome to the new school year! We hope everyone had a lovely summer and is looking forward to getting cracking with this year's events. 

For those new to the school, Friends of Crescent (FOC) is Crescent School's parent association. We meet each half term to discuss any forthcoming events and all are welcome to attend. The Committee is formed of reps from each year group (ideally two and we are looking for new recruits!).

Our first meeting is Monday 11 September at 3.50pm so please feel free to join us!

Information on our events is generally communicated via Classlist, Facebook and The Courier so please keep an eye out. 

Michaelmas term events:

September
- 22nd: Year 6 Bake Sale
- 27th & 28th: Bag2School Collection
- 28th: MacMillan coffee Morning

November
- 10th: Year 5 Bake Sale
- 17th: Parents Quiz (inc bar!)
- 29th: Christmas Craft evening for parents

December
- 8th: Christmas Bazaar 

As you will be aware FoC is entirely dependent on parent volunteers to help run the events we organise. They also pay a crucial role in ensuring that classes are aware of relevant communications regarding events and collections. While it doesn't require a large scale time commitment, we do need parents who volunteer to be a Class Representative to be present when we need them! We aim for two representatives per class and currently need one Rep for our new Reception class and one for our Year 1 class. 

Meetings are held once per half term with occasional online meetings in between. While we appreciate it is hard for some people to attend the meetings we aim for at least one representative per class. The main events we hold are the Christmas Bazaar and Summer Fete when it is literally all hands to the pump and sees parent volunteers working alongside the teachers. For other events we require fewer volunteers, but help is still appreciated! 

Role expectations: 

• Co-ordinate class bake sales (one per school year)
• Attend half termly meetings (if possible)
• Support the main FoC events by helping set-up and run a stall
• Ensure classes are aware of relevant communications about events and collections

Please contact me if you are interested.

Please see below for useful school contact information:

Uniform can be ordered here:

Uniform Order Form

Please note the following items are stocked in the School Office and can be added to your account.  Do pop in to collect any items.

• Winter hats
• Scarves
• Gloves
• Ties
• Swimming hats
• Sports socks
• Hair bands
• Hair scrunchies
• Hair clips
• Sun hats
• Music group badges - Choir, Orchestra, String and Brass 

Crescent School Office

Click here to view the term dates for 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Crescent School

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

Princethorpe College

• Commercial Enterprises Manager
• Alumni Relations and Developmenmt Manager
• Estates Weekend Supervisor

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.

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 Michaelmas 2023
  
  
• Class 2E Michaelmas 2023

• Class 2W Michaelmas 2023

• Class 3LS Michaelmas 2023

• Class 3SS Michaelmas 2023

• Class 4C Michaelmas 2023

• Class 5F Michaelmas 2023

• Class 6W Michaelmas 2023