The Courier

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

After a wet and windy half term break, we welcomed the children back to a bright and sunny Monday morning earlier this week. They returned with a spring in their heels and have enjoyed their first week back at school.

There is always much look forward to in the second half of the autumn term, but we are avoiding too much mention of Christmas activities just yet. So much of the key work for the academic year is done during this longer term, and we are very much focusing on the teaching and learning in the classrooms.

Many of our Year 6 children will be taking part in the Princethorpe College exam this weekend. They have practised thoroughly here and are well prepared. We wish them all every success and look forward to hearing about their offers and hopefully some scholarships as well in due course. The Year 6 journey is an exciting one for the children as they look forward to their next steps, but it can also bring with it some challenges. We endeavour to support the children in their mental preparations, as well as academically, and hope that School remains a haven of calm and happiness for them throughout the year.

On a personal note, we managed a couple of days in the Yorkshire Dales during the break, which was invigorating to say the least. I wouldn’t however recommend the journey on the M6 in the pitch dark and pouring rain that we enjoyed on the way back. If you did have a chance to get away, I hope it went smoothly and you all feel well set for the next half term.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

This weekend many of our Year 6 children are taking the Princethorpe College Entrance Exam. We know they will show their best and are more than ready for the challenge. We have been working hard to build their confidence and self-belief that they all can do it, whilst consolidating all that they have learnt through their time at Crescent. 

We all wish them all good luck.

Ania Wrzesniacka, often known to the children as Miss V, has recently announced some lovely personal news and her intention to move to the Netherlands with her new partner in the New Year.

As a result, Ania will be leaving us at the end of this term. She has worked at the school for the last seven years and during this time she has built so many strong relationships with the children and the staff here. She will be very much missed.

Whilst we are all delighted for Ania, of course this means we are now on the lookout for a new Year 6 teaching assistant as well as manager of After School. This process is already well underway and I will continue to keep you all informed of our progress with this in due course.

Please ensure that you wait with your child(ren) at drop off until the school's opening at 8.15am. It is only at this time that school becomes responsible for all children's safe care. Before this time it is a parental duty.

Please note, however, that all children can be brought by their parents, to the front door, at any time from 7.45am to 8.15am where they will be welcomed and looked after by our Early Bird staff as appropriate for their age. This does not need to be booked in advance but a charge will apply.

All children should be in school by 8.40am which is when the bell rings for the start of the school day.

Also, please let the school office and/or your child's form teacher know if someone else will be collecting your child at the end of the day. We cannot release pupils without this information.

As part of Maths week, next week, we will be running a few extra exciting Maths events as well as a full Maths Timetable throughout the school. 

• Times Table Rockstars are running England Rocks! A competition that all Year 1 to Year 6 can contribute to - details in this Courier
• Interhouse Maths Trail for the trophy and to contribute a house point for every correct answer
• Daily puzzles and conundrums set from the Maths Week England Team
• Challenge posters set up in cosy corner at lunchtimes
• There is also a national competition on the year's theme '3 is the Magic Number'

We look forward to the fun week ahead.

The Green Team have set a challenge for pupils and teachers to 'Cut Your Carbon' during the month of November. 

This is a National Eco-Schools challenge to educate and ask pupils and their families to take 9 simple actions at home to cut their carbon footprint. All pupils will receive an A4 sheet (during their science lesson) with the actions they can take and guidance on the back. The children should return their sheet by the end of November and the Green Team will work out which class has cut their carbon the most. 

It would be great if you could send in any photos of your child completing one of the 9 actions. Please send to Mrs Johnson  jacquijohnson@crescentschool.co.uk

Maths England are keen to help students realise that there is far more to mathematics than just calculations and tests. To this end they are introducing a new competition this year to fit with our theme - we’re calling it the A3 challenge! There is one for Primary and one for Secondary schools.

Pupil's need to produce a piece of artwork which celebrates the number 3 in some way – but on a piece of A3 paper! To make it fair to all, designs are to be hand-drawn rather than computer-generated. 

All entries to be handed into Ms Forth by 4pm on Wednesday 15 November.  You could win a copy of Alex Bellos' book Snowflake, Seashell star.  Maths England may use any entries on their website.

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.

This morning, the school gathered in the playground for our Remembrance Service.

Headmaster, Joe Thackway, began the service with a prayer. Then, Year 2 pupils, Sophie and Jed, and Year 6 pupils, Shayla and Timi, gave readings explaining the origin of the poppy. On display was beautiful Poppy Art produced by Year 6 Art Club.

Alex B played the Last Post and Reveille skilfully and the school observed a one-minute silence. Deputy Head, Bryony Forth led the closing prayers.

We were very proud of the children who all observed the silence impeccably.

A short video from the service will be circulated to parents.

At the Eleventh Hour on the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month – We Will Remember Them.

Huge congratulations to Alice, who is now in Year 3, who has been recognised in the Independent Schools Association’s (ISA) National Art Competition.

Alice has been awarded 2nd place in the KS1 Art 2D Individual Class for her striking wax resist Fun In The Sea.

Every year pupils across the school produce incredible artwork, and to celebrate their talent, this year, Mrs Thackway submitted some of the children’s artwork into the ISA Art Competition. Before half term we reported that Alice and Leela, now in Year 6, had received first prize and highly commended respectively for their entries in the Midlands competition. As the winner of her class, Alice’s art went forward to the National competition and went on show at the National Art Final Exhibition.

The judging took place at the start of the week and the school was delighted to hear that Alice had been awarded 2nd place in her age group in the national competition. It’s fantastic recognition for such a talented young artist, a very well done to Alice!

In our assembly on Tuesday morning, the children heard about the story of Rama and Sita in preparation for Diwali celebrations this weekend.

I showed the children a lovely new book that I had purchased for the School which is now on display in the breakout space for the children to look at. The Year 6 children helped out with the readings and delivered their pieces beautifully.

Jahnavi, in Year 3, talked about Diwali in our good news assembly today and showed items brought in from home.

If you are celebrating this weekend, everyone here at School wishes you and your family a very happy Diwali.

• Uma 3LS
• Eve 3SS
• Aria 4C
• Alex T 6W
• Emily 6W
• Shiv 6W 

It’s been ‘Quiz With Your Child Week’ here at Crescent and pupils have enjoyed welcoming their parents into school to join them in quizzing on their reading books.

Crescent’s approach to reading and literacy is supported by Renaissance’s Accelerated Reader system. Children in Years 3 to 6 take a quiz after reading each book that tests their understanding. The approach promotes reading for pleasure whilst ensuring the children read appropriately challenging books. It totals up the books and words read, and we find the competitive element has a positive impact on children’s motivation to read.

Pupils can quiz daily on the computers before school, and we hope parents have enjoyed this week’s opportunity to share in your children’s learning experience.

Studies show that reading for pleasure makes a big difference to children’s educational performance. Crescent’s structured approach to reading facilitates children’s progress and as they move through the school, reading abilities develop well beyond national age expectations.

Last half term the Top Quizzers in school, having successfully quizzed on a whopping 206 books were 3LS, while our Word Wizards, impressively reading just shy of 4.3 million words, were class 4C. Now that is what we call reading for pleasure!

The latest edition of The Circular, Crescent School’s annual review of the year for pupils, parents and staff, has just been published.

The magazine includes stories and photos from across the 2022-2023 school year, giving a wonderful insight into the life of the school and the learning that takes place, day in day out, here at the Crescent. It is a fabulous memento, and we hope you all enjoy reading this latest edition.

Printed copies are being distributed to families currently while an electronic copy of the magazine is also available on the school website if you would like to share it with family and friends.

https://www.theprincethorpefoundation.co.uk/publications-crescent

Tuesday 14 November 2023 - 4.00pm

All Year 5 parents are invited to an information session about the residential trip to the Frank Chapman Centre. This will be an opportunity for you to find out what happens there, note the key dates and ask any initial questions. 

This will be held in the Class 5F form room at 4.00pm on Tuesday 14 November 2023. Your child is also welcome to attend, and it should last no more than 30 minutes. 

Friday 17 November

At Crescent School and across the entire Princethorpe Foundation one of our key aims is help our pupils develop into Digital Citizens; young adults who can use a wide range of online digital tools creatively, constructively, safely and of course, happily. As part of this, Friday 17 November will see our very first foundation-wide 'Digital Wellbeing Day' celebrated across all three schools.

Over the day pupils will be focusing on how we can really take care of ourselves in the online world, examining and discussing key issues such as screen time, online addiction, social media peer-pressure and many more. We will also be sending home some helpful guides to digital wellbeing, along with some great tips and talking points to keep the discussions going at home!

If you would like any further information on any of this, or would like to get involved yourself as a parent expert, please do get in touch.

Monday 20 November 2023

On Monday 20 November, we are encouraging all staff and pupils to wear, colourful odd socks to recognise the importance of Anti-Bullying Week 2023. The premise of 'Odd Socks Day' is to celebrate the fact that we are all different and it reinforces our School Promise focus of, 'We respect everyone, and we are tolerant'.

Our form teachers will commit time during their PSHE lesson to discuss what this means for our children, and there will be opportunities in Chit-Chit Tuesday to complete some activities and have a chance to discuss this further.

Odd Socks Day will not be a fundraising day within school but an opportunity for staff and pupils to stand together in solidarity in supporting the importance of Anti-Bullying Week.

For further information, please check out the website: What is Odd Socks Day? (anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk) We look forward to welcoming your colourful, odd socks!

Monday 20 to Wednesday 22 November 2023

Please take the time to come to our Scholastic Bookfair on Monday 20 to Wednesday 22 November in the Library from 8.15am to 8.40am and 3.30pm to 5.00pm. Please enter through the Main School Entrance.

Take a look at the document below which gives you some ideas of which books will be available:

Bookfair leaflet

If there are any books you would like to buy but you cannot make it in to school, then please complete this form and return it to your child's form teacher or Mrs Webb:

Order form

Most of the classes will have time to look at the books. They can then tell you which ones they like and you can pay for them in school or online.  You will receive the books when you have let us know which books you want and payment has been made.

Payments can be made without even coming into school but please make sure you return the wish list to us so we can get the books from the bookcases. 

Thank you 

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

Friday 1 December 2023

The children will be decorating the school for Christmas on Friday 1 December.  They are able to wear a festive accessory with their school uniform such as a Christmas hat, hair accessory or tinsel that day.

Children must have their art aprons in school.

It is a day the children look forward to every year and you will be able to see see their work at our Christmas Open Corridors.

Crescent School

Wednesday 6 December 2023 - 3.45pm to 4.15pm

Following Christmas Art Day, 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, Years 5 and 6 will be dismissed through the pupil door, 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.  

If your child is in a Co-curricular club then they will be expected to attend unless you arrange otherwise. Parking will not be available on the playground due to lessons.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Congratulations to all our fabulous readers:

Top Quizzers are:

• 3LS Sophia 
• 3SS Max
• 4C Aria
• 5F Sophie
• 6W Sam B

Word Wizards are:

• 3LS Uma
• 3SS Alice
• 4C Esme
• 5F Edward M
• 6W Timi

Mrs Nelson
Teaching Assistant

It is always an exciting time for the children when they gain their pen licence, enabling them to make the move from writing in pencil to pen.

For this rite of passage, the children have to show that they can write neatly and consistently in cursive, joined handwriting in all of their work, not just handwriting tasks.

The following children have shown pride in their presentation of all of their learning tasks and have been awarded a Pen Licence and their first handwriting pen.

• Felicity
• Penelope
• Uma
• Sophia
• Zoe

Well done!

Improved speedsters in the studio are:

As part of Maths Week, next week, Crescent will be entering the England Rocks! competition - details are in this Courier.

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!!

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

Artists

• Evie 3SS
• Penelope 3SS
• Ella 4C
• Everly 4C
• Herbie 5F
• Shaylan 5F

Scientists

• MingYi - 5F
• Sophia - 5F

Classes 3SS and 3LS have all been experiencing what it might be like to become an archaeologist in history this week. We used cookies to carefully dig out artefacts (chocolate chips!) and remove them from their surroundings, using toothpicks. This had to be done very carefully, without causing any damage to them. It was tricky as they were easy to break  - just like real artefacts – and sometimes with too much handling, they even melted. The children used ‘excited,’ ‘frustrating,’ and ‘exhausting,’ to describe their experience.

Year 3 have been learning the weather in French. Here are 3SS practising their speaking skills with flashcards in a memory game. They also sang along to the karaoke video from Language Angels. In the subsequent listening test many pupils scored full marks.

Well done!

Class 3SS had a spooctacular time in Craft Club before half term. They let their creative juices flow and decorated trick or treat bags ready to fill.

Year 4 were excited to start their dance module in PE where they learnt about the origins of Capoeira and started to master some of the basic moves. 

Class 4C are writing brilliant biographies in English. Before half term, we published biographies about Stephen Hawking and this week, the children are researching and writing biographies about a person of their own choosing, from Leonardo da Vinci to Beyonce! 

Nature Craft Club have been weaving their own takes on God's Eyes. These are spiritual objects made by weaving yarn around sticks. Around the world some communities use them for protection from the uncertainties of the future. They were called God's Eyes because through them a god might keep a watchful eye over the people who made them. Our nature craft clubbers love creating different designs, some made butterflies, others went along a halloween theme and others stuck to more classic designs. I think they all look brilliant. Well done.

In Thinking Skills, Year 5 were challenged to make matching shapes using verbal instructions only. They quickly learnt that their instructions had to be very clear to succeed! Once their brains were warmed up, we worked on some non-verbal reasoning problems together. 

Straight back into mental division after half term, children have been mastering divisibility tests. This means you can tell if you can share a number exactly without any remainders. Very useful for working out tables at a wedding as one of the questions asked! 5F can identify a number that can be divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 25, 50 and100 - without working it out first!

Class 6W have been exploring phenomena about light. The pupils have found out that when light hits different mediums it causes the light to change direction and creates amazing effects!

Year 6’s oversized animal collages are complete and they are very pleased with them.

Class 6W worked hard to develop their observational drawing skills by sketching each other. They had to look carefully at the proportions of the human figure and how the proportions change depending on the position the person is in.

This week children from Years 1-6 have been learning about winter water safety during their swimming lessons.

They have learnt how to keep themselves safe around water, what to do if they fall into water unexpectedly and how to help others who may have fallen in to water. They practise  falling in, keeping themselves above the water and how to attract attention for help (they were excellent at this noisy part). We discussed various items that may be available to help with a water rescue and practised using them safely so that we didn't have more people to rescue!

These are all vital life skills and we are very proud of how the Crescent children took them on board.

The website below provides further information from the Royal Life Saving Society:

RLSS Winter Water Safety

The standard at this year's U11s 5-a-side Midlands ISA football was incredibly high, a standard our team quickly rose to, giving a fantastic account of themselves. Despite an early 2-1 loss while still finding their feet, Crescent bounced back superbly playing skilful, fast and clinical football to win their next seven games in a row. A draw in their final league game saw them finish top of their league of 10, earning them a place in the semi-finals and also qualification for the ISA Nationals in March, a truly incredible achievement for a school of our size! Although narrowly losing a tight semi 3-1 against Stafford, Crescent once again bounced back with a 4-0 victory against Foundation rivals Crackley, securing a bronze medal and 3rd place out of 19 teams.

Player of the tournament went to Timi for his remarkable goal-scoring and pin-point finishing, although the entire squad deserve huge congratulations!

Mr Adkins and Mrs Calder

Friday 17 November 2023 - 7.30pm

Quiz tickets are now on sale. This is a fun, relaxed event, brilliantly hosted by Ms Forth. It is six to a team (max!) and tickets cost £5.50 per person.

This year we have the exciting addition of a licensed bar (kindly hosted by Mr and Mrs Webb). We will also be selling hot and cold snacks.

Tickets are available from Classlist: https://app.classlist.com/events/#/events/view/1047330747

Wednesday 29 November 2023 - 7.00pm

Following our parent survey last year there was a real appetite for a Christmas Craft Evening, so this year we are delighted to invite parents, grandparents (and their friends!) to start the festive season by making a willow wreath. 

The event takes place on Wednesday 29 November at 7.00pm. Tickets cost £35 per person and include the making of the wreath, a glass of mulled wine and a festive snack. We are limited to 50 tickets so snap them up soon 

https://app.classlist.com/events/#/events/view/1040101010

The Salvation Army are looking for donations of new toys and gifts to provide to families who are struggling to afford basics let alone luxuries this Christmas and once again we are proud to support them. 

If you are able, please drop off any donation gifts at school from Monday 27 November to Thursday 7 December.

Please send all items unwrapped. This helps the SA choose the right items for each family and children. The gifts are then wrapped by the SA volunteers. Or often they provide wrapping paper to parents to do it themselves, so they can be part of the Christmas experience they’re struggling to provide for their family.

Gifts can be for any age range 0-16 years, see below for details and ideas.

Suggested Gift List for Children and Young People

We believe every child deserves a new gift at Christmas so we are unable to take used or second hand items for the Christmas Present Appeal.

0-3 years: dolls, teddy bears, cot mobiles, baby clothes, bath toys, CDs of suitable music and nursery rhymes, puzzles

3-5: dolls and action figures, cars, lorries, DVDs and CDs (music and nursery rhymes), colouring sets, pencils, crayons, books, puzzles

5-9: educational games & toys, stationery (colouring sets, pencils, crayons, school sets), CDs & family friendly DVDs, books, puzzles, wordsearch, crosswords

9-12: games and toys, stationery, DVDs, books, t-shirts, hair accessories, gloves, scarves, hats

13-16: books, make-up and toiletries (please try to ensure non-allergic ingredients if possible), gloves, scarves, hats, t-shirts, hair accessories and gift vouchers

Friday 8 December 2023

Tickets available from next week.

As usual we will be grateful for any tombola and raffle donations. This year we are delighted to announce that the raffle proceeds will go to the Children's Air Ambulance which is the school charity for this term. 

Friends of Crescent 

We hope you had a lovely half term. We are now gearing up for our busiest time of the year and we can't wait!

Here's a quick reminder of what is coming up. We will give full details on the donations we are looking for in next week's Courier. 

Links to purchase tickets can be found under FoC Events.

Christmas Bazaar - Friday 8 December 

Tickets available from next week

As usual we will be grateful for any tombola and raffle donations. This year we are delighted to announce that the raffle proceeds will go to the Children's Air Ambulance which is the school charity for this term. 

Please let me know if any of these items belong to your child.

Thank you.

Claire Tucker

Mrs Dowling would like any empty egg boxes, preferably those that hold 6 eggs, for Craft Club.  Please send in with your child or drop into the uniform box outsode the front of school.

Thank you.

Crescent School

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

• Casual Estates Assistant

Crescent School

• Teaching Assistant Key Stage 2
• Lunchtime 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.