The Courier

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

Coming back to work on Thursday, following my three-day conference over in Liverpool, it really dawned on me just how much goes on in our busy little school. In a relatively short absence, I had managed to miss the Upper School Harvest Service on Tuesday, not to mention rehearsals earlier in the week and the first House meetings of the year. On top of this were residential information and phonics information sessions for parents, the Year 5 trip to the Space Centre and the start of our ‘Bags2school’ fundraising. All of those were just in the first three days of the week. We are a busy school but also a happy one, and this was well reflected in the enthusiasm of the children in the Pre-Prep’s performance to parents on Thursday. It was lovely to see the young folk taking part so heartily and I know the parents attending will have got a warm glow from seeing their children embracing being in the fray.

As soon as this concluded, our Year 6 children made their way over to Princethorpe College to experience the shiny new Science Centre there. They came back full of stories of building bridges with straws and junk and exploding chemistry experiments, which sounded most exciting.

Today of course has seen the Macmillan Coffee Morning and this concluded a week of fundraising in the school including the harvest service collection as well as the bags to school drop-off organised by the parents’ association. Many thanks to you for all of your generous donations and for giving up time to help out as well.

I will say just a few words about my conference as there were lots of fascinating workshops and presentations. Many heads talk about the camaraderie of meeting colleagues in similar roles at these events, which I get of course, but for me the main benefit is in gaining the knowledge and understanding of new directions that education is travelling in, so that I can then bring these ideas back to improve our school here. One thing that was talked about quite a lot was the rise in AI and how this would affect education, and much of this was presented in a very positive light. One presenter started his talk by asking the heads in the audience how many of them actually had downloaded ChatGPT onto their phones or devices. Quite a number sheepishly admitted they hadn’t (me included, sorry) and we were told to download it there and then. ‘Just experiment with it and try out to see what it can and can’t do’, we were told. If you haven’t done this yourself then I advise you to have a go.

I know for many of you, AI will already be part of your working lives and it is something that we need to embrace and encompass here in school. Key people in this for us are Mark Adkins, our Cresent Head of Digital Learning and also Andy Compton, who leads digital strategy across the Princethorpe Foundation, they are already involved in staff training in this area. It is an area that we need to be at the forefront of to ensure that children receive the grounding in this critical new technology that they will need and deserve.

This weekend, I have a long journey ahead of me as I drive up to Newcastle to attend a university open day for my youngest son Hugh. Let’s hope the M1 is kind to us. As we speak, my eldest son, James is currently overseas in Florida on his first live mission with the Royal Navy as an officer, whilst my daughter is back with us at home after her graduation, saving hard for a planned gap-year-style trip to Australia.

Whatever you have planned for the weekend, I hope it is an enjoyable one.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

We love to take opportunities to celebrate the diversity of cultural backgrounds of the children in the school.

This Sunday 1 October marks Nigeria Day and we will be learning about this in a special assembly planned for Tuesday 3 October, and further workshops on October 17 and 18. I’m delighted to say that the assembly and workshops will be provided by parents of children in the school of Nigerian heritage. They will cover a range of fascinating areas, such as dress, language, food and dance.

On a similar theme, we are looking towards putting together a ‘cultural heritage day’ in the Lent Term, and it would be lovely to have parents from a whole variety of cultural backgrounds sharing their experiences and knowledge with the children. We will be putting out a quick form to ascertain interest in this nearer the time, so please look out for this when it comes.

Accelerated Reading have redesigned their system over the summer as most of you will have noticed. Part of this system update is the inability now to create certificates as we have in the past; in addition to this they now do not start the children from where they finished last term. All certifications are on their Home Connect which you have hopefully signed up to. 

We all regularly monitor if the children have quizzed, this is celebrated and stars are added to the board on a nearly daily basis.

Thank you for your continued support with reading.

Thank you to the parents who joined us on Monday to find more out about the Year 6 residential to Devon in May. If you could not make it, please take the time to read through the PowerPoint and also look at the FAQS. If you have any further questions then please be in touch.

In line with many, if not all, primary aged schools, dogs are not allowed on the main school site. If you come to school with a dog please keep it on a lead and avoid coming onto the main site beyond the drop off gate (the one next to the parents’ noticeboard) and the Afterschool gate.

With thanks for your understanding and support on this important health and safety matter.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

When parking around the school site to drop off and collect your children please be mindful of the needs of other road users and in particular the safety of pedestrians.

In particular, please avoid parking at or near to road junctions or over entrances to driveways. 

I have also included below the article from Warwickshire Police which they asked schools to circulate earlier this year:

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 offences. 

Here is a flyer with some parking information. 

Warwickshire Police

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.

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 £12 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.

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 collection of tinned and packaged foods was on display. 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 traditional hymn We Plough The Fields And Scatter. The children delivered their readings beautifully, sang traditional and modern Harvest songs, performed the story of Ruth and Naomi and confidently led the prayers. The school was especially pleased to welcome Rev Margaret Simmons from St Oswald’s Church who spoke to the gathering about what it means to celebrate the Harvest.

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 Thursday. We hope you all enjoyed this first shared service of the school year.

You can find more photos and clips from the Upper School service on our social media here.

Crescent School commenced this year's Learning Mentors initiative today. The scheme underpins the school’s emphasis on building self-regulation, supporting and empowering pupils in their learning.

During the day, pupils had their first meeting with their mentors. Staff discussed the children’s work with them, helped them 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 take part. Staff do not tell pupils what targets to choose, they choose themselves.

The children were all excited by the opportunity and we know it motivates their learning as they strive to achieve their own set goals. We look forward to reviewing the targets with them over the coming year.

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

Many children love to write but need an excuse to write. The BBC 500 word writing competition has just opened, this can be a great excuse for your child to be creative. Please let me know if any of you enter it.

500 Words - BBC Teach

Year 6 enjoyed a warm welcome when they visited Princethorpe on Thursday 28 September to take part in a special Science Investigators’ Workshops in the College’s brand new Science Centre.

Ably assisted by Head of Science, Miss Cooper, and her team of specialist science teachers, the children were put through their paces with some fun hands-on Chemistry and Physics activities. They found out how long it takes for an alka seltzer rocket to explode and designed and constructed paper bridges that withstood some amazing masses.

It was great to see them all participating so enthusiastically in the experiments. Many thanks to Princethorpe’s staff for running this special science event.

If your child is in one of the following groups and you would like to purchase a Music Badge for them to wear on their uniform please complete the form below.

Music Badges Order Form

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.

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.

Tuesday 17 October 2023 3.00pm to 5.00pm

My understanding is that the scores from the 11+ should be arriving on or about this day. Any Year 6 parents who wish to discuss their child's 11+ results and implications are welcome to see Mr Thackway and me between 3.00pm and 5.00pm on Tuesday 17 October - please just drop in via the main school entrance. 

Even if you do not feel that you wish to have a discussion, please inform us of the position and scores of your child. The local authority does not inform us and we need the results for our records.

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

Top Quizzers are:

• 3LS Jahnavi
• 3SS Charlie
• 4C Ava
• 5F Nora
• 6W Hattie

Word Wizards are:

• 3LS Zoe
• 3SS Felicity 
• 4C Kian
• 5F Alex W
• 6W Alice

Mrs Nelson
Teaching Assistant

Reading certificates have, this week, been awarded to:

• Alex S
• Erica
• Locan
• Sarima
• Tilly
• Vihaan

Well done to you all.

Results for Battle 21-28 September 2023: 4C, 5F and 6W against each other - average score per class member.

• 1st 5F 115
• 2nd 4C 16
• 3rd 6W 8

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st MingYi 5F
• 2nd Mithun 4C
• 3rd Edward M 5F

• Walter - Garage Rocker!
• David - Gigger!
• Kiki - Wannabe!
• Zoe - Busker!

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

Stay Calm and Rock on!!

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

Artists

• 6W - Emily
• 6W - Harry
• 6W - Maggie
• 6W - Sam O
• 5F - Matthew
• 5F - Nora
• 5F - Edward W
• 4C - Lilah
• 4C - Mithun
• 2W - Hazel

Crescent School

To mark the beginning of the new school year, Head of Wellbeing, Sam Stapleton, challenged the children to think of something that they were looking forward to in their new class. Every child came up with their own ideas and they included everything from learning to write their own names, making new friends and exploring Forest School to learning a new musical instrument and representing the school in sports fixtures.

Their thoughts were written on to petals and have been put together in this amazing sunflower display. It is lovely to see the contrast in hopes and ambitions between the youngest and oldest of our children and we wish them all a successful year.

Following our successful and interesting visit to Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, 3SS took the opportunity to write recounts of their Egyptian workshop. It was amazing to see which information they had remembered!

Class 3 have been learning songs about Ancient Egypt and adding their own accompaniments on percussion instruments.

Classes 3LS & 3SS visited Leicester Art Gallery & Museum last week for a great visit introducing their Egyptian focus in History for this term. The children took part in a workshop led by Pam from the museum, who taught them about everyday life in Egypt, as well as mummification of important citizens. The children took part in a range of activities and also handled real ancient Egyptian artefacts. It was an exciting and informative day for everyone.

Year 4 have been studying school equipment in French. They have been practising their speaking skills by asking each other which pencil case items they have. They have also learnt about adjectival agreement when using colours.

Class 5F have been arranging different objects to create an interesting still life composition. They have been observing carefully and sketching the line, shape, and tone of the objects.

UFOs have been a focus of our writing, through fictional recounts and non-fiction recounts and reports. Part of this journey is looking at the layout of a non-fiction report so it can teach us how to set out our own reports.

Class 5F enjoyed a fantastic trip to the Space Centre as part of their topic - Earth and Space. The pupils enjoyed a planetarium experience, a workshop where they built and tested payload fairings for a rocket and explored the centre's many interactive experiences.

Read pupil reviews of their trip to the National Space Centre here.

Class 6W are studying art and architecture in their RE lessons. They researched the designs of mosques and the visual impact they have. They considered what words describe them such as:

• mesmerising
• vibrant
• fascinating
• symmetrical

Already this term we have done a variety of different writing styles, such as changing points of view, detailed character descriptions and historical fiction. Pupils chose their favourite piece for a final edit to write up to go on display.

Class 6W pupils had a great day on Wednesday learning about the art of leadership. Pupils were asked to think about inspirational leaders and the qualities and key attributes these strong leaders hold. They then thought deeply about the characteristics they possess and those they may need to develop further.

We worked on communication skills, both verbal and non verbal, to understand the importance of clear and concise instructions and learned how important it is to plan ahead and be prepared, and to have a Plan B. The physical aspect of the course was next ,learning to carry out a risk assessment of the playing area and how to warm up in a safe and fun way. Pupils had the opportunity to lead their peers through a variety of warm up games before planning and adapting their own games and activities to run. All leaders were very focused throughout their training and we are positive they are going to have a great term running their activities with Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. The first sessions will start next week with St Andrew's House.

I was extremely impressed with the wonderful ideas the pupils had on how to develop play time and lunchtimes to make them fun on the playground. It was a wonderful to spend the afternoon with you all.

During Friday Art Club, Year 3 had fun creating their own polar bear pictures using chalk pastels.

In Art Club on Monday, 6W created these amazing cityscape pictures with bright coloured inks.

There is no escaping the importance of mobile ‘smart’ phones in today’s society… whether it be for messaging, video and regular calling, taking photos and videos, banking, gaming, or ordering yourself a pizza! It would probably also not surprise you to know that most children in the UK regularly have access to a smartphone, either a parents’ or siblings' device, or more commonly their own. A survey last year even found that a massive 53% of children aged 7 have their own mobile, jumping sharply to 90% by the age of 11.

Now as with most technology, these devices are not only a lot of fun, they can be extremely helpful, particularly in terms of maintaining near constant contact with your loved ones and being able to track their location at the touch of a button. They do however need to be carefully set up to ensure maximum protection for the younger user. This includes setting up content restrictions, web and search filters and carefully monitoring and limiting what apps can be downloaded

The website Internet Matters really is the most amazing and useful place on the internet to find advice about setting parental controls. Just click on the link then scroll down to select from a range of devices, broadband providers, search engines and apps, all of which guide you to set up your online world to be the safest place possible.

I also have attached two very handy guides, one for iPhones and the other for Android devices which are a great place to start, but if you have any further questions on how to make phones as safe they can possibly be, including using tracking apps like Life360, please do not hesitate to get in touch. 

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

• Archivist
• Examinations Invigilator
• Casual Estates Assistant

Crescent School

• Learning Support Assistant

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.