The Courier

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

After the second week of term, it feels like the school has returned to its pattern of hard work inside the classroom and endeavour outside. Children and staff are now fully back in the routines of school life, and this gives a reassuring and familiar feel to our days. It is always satisfying at this time of the year to see the new children bedding in so smoothly and finding their feet in their new environment. Hopefully it doesn’t seem as scary as it did two weeks ago, and they have all experienced the warmth and kindness of our community. Very well done to all of them.

Sport was back on the schedule for the week as well and there are lots of fixtures to read about later on in this newsletter. I am pleased to report that every single child in Year 3 to 6 has represented the school in the week gone by. Win, lose or draw, the children get great pleasure and pride from wearing their school badge and working alongside their teammates toward a common goal. If we want the children to be happy and productive in the classroom, they need to be healthy and rounded away from it.

I mentioned in the welcome evening at the end of last term the new learner profile that we are rolling out over the course of this academic year. The first steps were taken along this route in today’s assembly when I announced the first word we will be looking at, which is ‘engaged’. I will spend some time with the Year 6 class later next week to look at this word in a bit more depth and explore what it means for them. You can expect further feedback on this new initiative as we move through the year. This is the first of 10 words that we hope will give the children an understanding of what it takes to be a fulfilled and active learner.

Finally, I’d like to give my very best wishes to those children in Year 6 who are taking the 11+ grammar school exam this weekend. You have done lots of preparation children, remember this is a marathon not a sprint, and you have prepared as well as anybody who will be taking the paper with you this weekend (better in most cases). Everyone here at school will be thinking of you; go in with confidence and do the best you can.

I hope everyone enjoys at least some time away from school and work at the weekend and I look forward to seeing you all next week.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

In our prayers this morning, the whole school thought about the recent disasters in Libya and Morocco. We shared our prayers and best wishes to all of those affected in these areas and we hope that somehow those who are suffering can find the strength and resolve to rebuild their lives in the months ahead. 

This weekend many of Class 6W are taking the 11+, we wish them all the very best for it.

They are fully prepared for the assessment and for the upcoming independent school examinations. During their time at Crescent they have taken part in mocks and focused lessons so children don't face the unknown on the day and instead feel fully prepared and supported.

Kindles or other e-readers are allowed in school from Year 3 for the children to read from. It is important that reading is as accessible as possible for children and often books are cheaper online. The children really only need to be reading one book rather than having a school book and a home book, one book can do both jobs and will save on confusion for the child.

If you decide that your child can bring their Kindle or other e-reader in, then it is to be used for reading ONLY. There will be no internet access. If a child is found using it inappropriately then parents will be informed. The Kindle will be the child's responsibility and any breakages are not our responsibility.

Please be reassured there are more than enough books in school for your child to enjoy and there is no necessity for your child to have a Kindle or e-reader, it is just a different way to access books if you wish to.

All children attending sporting/active co-curricular clubs should wear their School PE kit only.  Leotards may be worn for Yoga, Gymnastics and Street Dance. Taekwondo uniform can be worn for Mr Perk's clubs.

For those in clubs before school, we recommend school uniform to save time changing.

Thank you for you support with this.

It is that time of year again when we are thankful for all that we have and reflect on those who don't have enough. We have been supporting the important work of the Rugby Food Bank for a number of years and we continue to do so this year.

In Assembly on Tuesday the children will watch a video to understand the importance of their giving and what happens to their donations across our town.

From Monday 18 September, we are asking for our families to bring any donations into school, via the normal student entrance where they will be met by our Year 6 helpers. We will collect and store our donations until Friday 29 September when we will be arranging them to be collected by Rugby Food Bank. 

The photo details the list of donations asked for specifically by the Food Bank - please note they do not require any pasta, baked beans, or cereals at this time.

Many thanks in advance for your continued support and generosity for this cause.

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

Below is a link to view the Michaelmas Term Calendar.  You should have received a hard copy of this through the post in the summer holidays.

Children in Years 4, 5 and 6 were asked to create Safety Posters to be displayed in the Science room. There were lots of fabulous entries and our congratulations go to the children listed below below whose posters will be going on display:

• Albert 
• Grace 
• Leela 
• Maggie 
• Maisie
• Sam O
• Shayla 
• Herbie
• Henry M
• Shaylan
• Zac 
• Aria 
• Everly 

With just eight weeks to go, the countdown to Princethorpe's Entrance Exams for admission in September 2024 is well underway. This year the exams for Year 7 to 10 entry will take place on Saturday 11 November from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

The deadline for registrations for the Entrance Examination is Friday 29 September. Year 6 parents wishing their children to sit the Princethorpe entrance exam must complete a registration form and submit it with the accompanying registration fee by this date.

More information on the admissions process can be found in Princethorpe's Admissions Update newsletter here or on the Foundation website here.

You can register for the Entrance Examination by filling out our online registration form here. Or download a copy of the registration form here.

If you have any queries relating to admissions please speak to the Registrars at Princethorpe College, either by email at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or by calling 01926 634201/297.

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. 

Booking has now closed but please still come along and they will register you on arrival. 

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 - 4.00pm to 4.45pm

Princethorpe Headmaster, Grove du Toit and Catherine Rogers, the Registrar, will be offering an informal Admissions Drop-In Session for Crescent Year 6 parents on Tuesday 19 September from 4.00pm to 4.45pm, in advance of the deadline for registering for the Princethorpe Entrance Exams on Friday 29 September.

If you have any questions you would like to ask them, please do pop into the Year 6 classroom for an informal chat.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

Friday 6 October 2023 - 3.45pm to 4.15pm

We would very much like to welcome you to look around the school corridors on Friday 6 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(s).

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.

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.

During the first two weeks of term, in their classes the children have discussed together, and voted for, their new School Council representatives for this academic year. We are pleased to announce the following council members who will support the Year 6 House Captains and the Head Pupils as the voice of our student body. 

• 1Q - Aydin and Erica
• 2E - Tilly and Hannah
• 2W - Emily and Reegan
• 3LS - Gwen and Jahnavi
• 3SS - Alice and Henry
• 4C - Ava and Alfie 
• 5F - Edward M and Sophie

in Assembly this morning I announced our Hockey, Football and Swimming Captains for this year. Congratulations to:

• Girls Hockey - Sofie
• Boys Football - Alex T 
• Swimming - Alex G and Roisin  

Congratulations to all our fabulous readers, a super start to our new school year!

Top Quizzers are:

• 3LS Nellie
• 3SS Evie
• 4C Esme
• 5F Edward M
• 6W Alex G

Word Wizards are:

• 3LS Hermione
• 3SS Alice 
• 4C Aria
• 5F Matthew
• 6W Alex T

Mrs Nelson
Teaching Assistant

Reading certificates have, this week, been awarded to:

• Alex S
• Anika
• Carwyn
• Harriet
• Zachary

Well done to you all.

Well done to this week's Artists and Scientists of the Week:

Artists

• Lota (2E)
• Jahnavi (3LS)
• Lucas (3LS)
• Evelyn (4C)
• Kiran (4C)
• Aryaan (5F)
• Maya (5F)
• MingYi (5F)

• Catherine (3SS)
• Flora (3SS)
• Feranmi (3LS)
• Uma (3LS)
• Ella (4C)
• Kiran (4C)
• Mithun (4C)

Crescent School

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

No pupils who have reached landmark % on automatic training mode in the Garage and Gigs and therefore are awarded JDVs for Maths Practice this week.

Results for Battle 7-14 September- all classes against each other - average score per class member.

• 1st 5F 108
• 2nd 6W 43
• 3rd 4C 35

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st MingYi 5F
• 2nd Matthew 5F
• 3rd Shiv 6W

Well done, 5F! 🏆

Most improved speedsters in the studio are:

TT Rock stars will block 2x, 5x, 10x, 11x on jamming if you are efficient at them, so you cannot pick easy ones just to score more points in the competition! 

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

Stay Calm and Rock on!!

This week, we welcomed children back into Chit-Chat Tuesday and continued the theme of 'Kindness' following Mr Thackway's assembly that morning. It was great to welcome new faces as well as our regulars who came and shared how their first week had been, what holiday memories they hold or came to do some kindness colouring.

For those new to our school, Chit-Chat Tuesday is a wellbeing session for those who may want a quiet space from the busyness of the school day or the playground. We hold three sessions, on a rota basis to enable all children to have a chance to come along, chat to staff or their friends, complete some colouring or puzzles, read a book in the reading corner or to be creative with Lego or tessellation shapes.

Year 3 have been studying introductions and greetings in French. Here they are practising their speaking skills by asking each other how they are feeling.

We have settled into new routines, made new friends, and stepped up well to the pace of Year 3 and all the new opportunities starting, around sport and music especially. 

In class, 3SS have started with a fantastic attitude towards their learning. In Maths we have been consolidating and challenging ourselves with place value knowledge with numbers up to 1000; in English we have started a new story by Michael Foreman and have been developing our speech dialogue skills and in RE we have reviewed what we know already about the six main religions in our curriculum in preparation for our new key questions.

A busy but very positive start to the year!

In Year 4 English, we have been describing Horrid Henry characters in preparation for creating and describing our own characters, inspired by the book series. 

Class 4C have been mind mapping to record what they already know about their new topic - States of Matter. They will revisit their mind map at the end of topic and add their new learning.  

They have explored the properties of solids, liquids and gases and there was great excitement as they released air, water and ice from balloons. 

A new year always starts with place value, number system and calculation. 5F and 6W are now into millions, billions and beyond as well as decimals. All comparison and ordering of numbers involves the legend that is Mr Snap Snap! demonstrating his greed for larger numbers as would a <> sign.

I asked Year 6 what the best things were about being in Year 6, all their hands went up and they were keen to share their enthusiasm for their final year:

• Being able to sit on chairs in hymn practice
• Being in charge of the computer in assembly
• Door duty
• Being a buddy
• Playing with Reception
• Recycling duty

You can see it is varied life alongside all the learning they are doing. They love the responsibility.

Pupils in Class 6W have started to learn how living things are classified based on their characteristics. As a starter, the children created their own classification systems for sweets. 

Ollie, Darius and Albert helped Mrs Dowling in the first week of term to empty and refill the sandpits for Forest School.  It was super to see them embodying the School Promise - you did an excellent job thank you, to them all especilly in the heatwave!

Years 3-6 had an introduction to Cheerleading this week, they realised it suits both girls and boys through the range of skills they will learn and use.

If anyone would like to join this club there are a few spaces available on a Wednesday morning at 8.15am and is available for Year 2 too. 

Please click on the link below to register:

Cheerleading

It was the U9 and U8 teams turn yesterday to enjoy their first fixtures, with Crescent’s Girls Hockey teams hosting Crackley Hall at Warwickshire College’s Astroturf on Technology Drive in Rugby.

Everyone enjoyed their games against their fellow Foundation Prep School, the first this year for the U9 teams, and the first ever for the U8s.

Out on the Astroturf there was a bit of drizzle in the air but that didn’t stop the girls’ fun and there was plenty of super stick work, great passing and lots of running as the teams enjoyed playing on a much larger pitch. There were even some great shots on goal. A super effort by all, well done everyone.

Enjoy these great action shots from some of the hockey games.

Swimming commenced this week, please see the timetable 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.

Friday 22 September 2023 - 3.30pm to 4.45pm

Next Friday sees our first Bake Sale of the year. Please come and support Year 6 who will be selling a range of sweet and savoury food costing from £1.

All the money raised at these market day events goes towards class entertainment during privilege time. 

Bag2School is back on 27 and 28 September. It's a great opportunity to get rid of all of those outgrown clothes!

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. They have been collecting items for over 15 years and have so far paid out over £42 million to PTA groups while in turn supporting the circular economy. Find out how it works by visiting:

Bags2School

Please bring in your donated items on the afternoon of the 27 September (parking on the playground is available from 3.30pm for drop off) or before school on 28 September. Items can also be dropped off during the Harvest Festival Services: 

Bag2school accepts the following ‘good quality’ items for re-use:

• Men’s, Ladies’ and Children’s clothing 
• Paired shoes (tied together or elastic band) 
• Handbags/Hats/Bags/Scarves and ties/Jewellery 
• Lingerie 
• Socks 
• Belts 
• Soft toys 
• Household linen 
• Household curtains 
• Household towels 
• Household bedding (bed sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers) 

They DO NOT accept: 

• Duvets and blankets 
• Pillows and cushions 
• Carpets, rugs and mats (including bath, shower and toilet mats) 
• Soiled, painted, ripped or wet clothing 
• School uniforms with and without logo 
• Corporate clothing and workwear 
• Textile off cuts, yarns or threaded material

Friends of Crescent

Friday 29 September 2023 - 8.15am to 9.30am

FoC is delighted to 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

Don't forget we are also on Facebook so please follow us for regular updates and photos of our events. Find us by clicking on the following link:

FoC Facebook

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 

School Uniform Shop 
Tel: 01926 634272
Email: uniform@princethorpe.co.uk

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

Crescent School

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

Princethorpe College

• Alumni Relations and Development Manager
• Examinations Invigilator

Crescent School

• Supply Teacher

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.