The Courier

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

Autumn has turned to winter this week, and we have celebrated in style today with our traditional Christmas Art Day. With all of the stray cuttings and excess glitter (biodegradable, of course) this creates, it is a day I feel a little sorry for our cleaners, but we have given them a little extra treat this year to say thank you. The children have had a great time, of course, and if you are able to come to our open corridors event next Wednesday, I am sure you will enjoy seeing the fruits of their labour.

Despite the change in the temperatures, our music and sports events of the week have gone ahead successfully. Another 15 children took their ABRSM exams on Monday, and we look forward to announcing their results in our Good News assembly in due course. Also on the music front, we had the amazing news this week that two of our Year 5 pupils Alex B and Edward M have been selected for the National Brass Band of Great Britain, no less, where they will join three other old Crescentians who are already there. The children deserve all the plaudits, but we must give a special mention to Di Fisher who runs our brass teaching programme here for her skill and dedication to this over so many years. I am looking forward to watching our children play in the Silver Band Concert in Hillmorton next week as well. It should be a great treat.

Games afternoons and the rugby fixture on Wednesday went ahead despite some chilly conditions, well done to all who took part and kept going.

On a House note, it was lovely to see many of the St Andrew’s children wearing a flash of blue on 30 November to celebrate their saint’s day. St David’s, you are next, but you will have to wait until 1 March.

Many thanks to all of you who have already generously donated towards our Salvation Army appeal, in the form of new toys for local children, and to the Christmas Bazaar raffle as well. It is this combination of celebration and thinking of others that is a Christmas message we can all share and sets a great example to our children, whatever their own beliefs and cultures.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

It is the school’s policy to remain open during periods of bad weather where reasonably possible. However, there may be occasions where opening the school may not be possible for health and safety reasons, or indeed when travel to school for pupils and staff may be especially dangerous.

If we do decide to close the school due to bad weather overnight, we would inform parents in the following ways:

• The school website will be updated with details of the closure. This is likely to be the first thing we are able to do as it does not require a member of staff to be in school
• All parents will be informed by text message and email
• Home Learning will be put in place for the children as soon as practically possible (this may not be on the first day of closure)

If we need to close the school during the normal day we will follow the same procedure as outlined above. Members of staff will of course stay with any uncollected children in this event until their parents or guardians are able to come and collect. If this does occur, parents should please come to the front of the school and report to reception.

As the temperature is dropping over the winter can you please ensure that your child has mittens/gloves and their black school coat in school on a Monday ready for their Forest School session. If you have waterproof gloves/mittens please send those in. This will ensure that they can get the most out of our outdoor sessions.

Thank you.

Friday 8 December 2023

We are looking forward to the Christmas Bazaar on Friday 8 December 2022. The playground will be open for car parking from 3.20pm. 

All children are to be collected at their usual times and normal collection points, except Years 5 and 6 who will be dismissed from the pupil door. Please enter via the Main School Entrance where you will be welcomed in to enjoy all of the fun from 3.30pm for Reception and 3.45pm for the rest of the school.

Entry and exit will only be through the Main School Entrance. Please be aware that once your child is handed over to you at dismissal, they are your responsibility.

Unfortunately, children in After School will not be able to attend as they will need a parent or guardian to be with them.  

Please also note the impact on Co-Curricular activities that day.

• Choir has been cancelled
• Art Club for Year 3 is running
• Dodgeball for Years 3–6 is still running
• Didi Rugby will still be running 
• Funstar Musical Theatre will still be running

Please do let Mrs Tucker and their Form Tutor know if your child(ren) is/are not going to attend a club, so that on the day we know where they need to go. Please also make your child aware as it can lead to upset for the children.

I am sure it will be a great event and we look forward to seeing you.

Please encourage children to return their completed 'Cut your Carbon sheet' by Wednesday 6 December, as per below: 

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 asks pupils and their families to take nine 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 nine actions. Please send to Mrs Johnson jacquijohnson@crescentschool.co.uk

Christmas Jumper day will be upon us very soon! We are offering the opportunity for children to swap their Christmas Jumper!  

If your child would like to bring in a jumper that is too small for them or they just fancy a change, they can bring one to the Science room and swap it with one off the rack. Please remember children can only take a jumper if leaving one behind.   

Remember to make sure the jumpers are clean and not damaged so others can take it home and love it again! 

Thank you

From the Green Team 

It has been an exciting term for co-curricular, with so many choices on offer for your children. 

Co-curricular clubs end on Friday 15 December.

After this date, if you require afterschool care please make sure you book this in advance through MSP so we can ensure correct staff ratios.

The new co-curricular timetable is being created presently and will be shared with you to sign up for imminently.

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

Below is a link to view the Michaelmas Term Calendar.  

Christmas Art Day is a very special day at Crescent School; full of anticipation, paint, tissue paper, stickers, googly eyes and, dare we say it, even a little eco-friendly glitter. The children have really enjoyed themselves today producing lots of super, creative artwork ready to go on display. It was all an awful lot of fun.

Christmas Art Day is a Crescent tradition and one we all enjoy very much! Here are just a few photos from some of the classrooms. Please click View Gallery to scroll through.

Thank you so much for the effort and creativity which went into this year’s Maya projects for History. It is great to see the amazing range of work that the children have brought into school and thank you for supporting them with their choices. They are all on display in the corridor for all to see during Open Corridors next week.

Great work 5F.

We love sharing Christmas cards here at Crescent School but we ask that all cards are put in our special Christmas postbox which we will situate near the pupil entrance from Monday 4 December.

All cards must be in before Friday 15 December so they can be sorted by the Year 6 elves and handed out to pupils before the end of term.

Please remember to include the full name of the child and form on the envelope.

Thank you

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

Monday 4 December 2023 - 4.00pm to 5.00pm

I am delighted to invite you to the LAMDA showcase on Monday 4 December from 4.00pm to 5.00pm.  Children will be performing their pieces of prose and poetry they have been working on in lessons.

Tickets can be booked below, two per family. The link closes on Sunday 3 December:

LAMDA Showcase Years 3 and 4 Tickets

If your child is in this performance they will remain in school for the show. Parents are to enter via the front doors at 3.50pm for light refreshments before taking their seats. Please do not queue outside the front doors as children have to be dismissed.

Parents can take their children home after the show which should be finished by 5.00pm. If you wish your child to go into afterschool then please book them in through the normal channel.

Wednesday 6 December 2023 - 9.20am to 10.05am

Parents and Grandparents are invited to our Reception and Year 1 Classes' Nativity performance of Twinkly Nativity.

A lot of hard work goes into the rehearsals, learning the songs, memorising lines, sorting out costumes and scenery and what a spectacle it is all going to be.

Refreshments will be available from 8.45am in the Library, staff will be busy setting up the hall, therefore please do not arrive before this time. 

We are able to offer each family three tickets for the performance. Booking closes Sunday 3 December 2023.

Please book here:

Twinkly Nativity 

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 before entering through the front door where you will be welcomed in to look at all the great work in school from 3.45pm. Years 5 and 6 will be dismissed through the pupil door.  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.

Tuesday 12 December - 9.10am

Parents of the children in Year 2 are invited to share in a performance of poetry, music and readings to celebrate the Christmas festivities.

You are welcome to come into school for light refreshments from 8.45am and the performance will start at 9.10am. 

Tickets can be booked below - two per family.  Booking closes Sunday 3 December 2023:

Christmas Cracker Tickets 

Mr Webb, Mrs Emery, Mrs Barnes and Miss Bowdige

Thursday 14 December 2023 - 6.15pm to 7.45pm

This year we will again hold our Christmas Carol Service at Princethorpe College in Our Lady of the Angels Chapel. Please join us for a wonderful evening of carols, readings and re-telling of the Christmas story.

All children in Years 3-6 are required to attend. Please request permission from Mr Thackway (by emailing admin@crescentschool.co.uk) if your child is unable to attend for any reason. 

Please book tickets via the link below, we are limited to one ticket per family due to fire regulation safety. If you do requre an extra ticket, please email admin@crescentschool.co.uk and we will hold a reserve list. Priority will be given to Year 6 as it is their last year.  Booking closes Sunday 3 December 2023:

Carol Service Tickets

Wednesday 20 December 2023

Our Christmas Jumper Day this year will be on Wednesday 20 December 2023. On that day, children should wear normal school uniform, but instead of their green pullover/cardigan, they can wear a Christmas jumper, if they wish.

We invite you to make a voluntary contribution of £1 to wear a festive jumper, which is in aid of Children's Air Ambulance.

Ms Clark

All are welcome to the Princethorpe College PTA Christmas Fair which takes place on Sunday 10 December 2023 - a fun, festive event for all ages including:

• Christmas shopping market – choose from a range of artisan crafts, jewellery and gift
• Christmas craft room – make a Christmas table decoration
• Refreshments – mince pies and mulled wine, hot drinks and cake
• Bottle and chocolate tombolas
• Princethorpe student stalls
• Pre-loved school uniform stall
• Many other fun stalls 

Please note the Princethorpe PTA can now take card payments on their refreshments and pre-loved uniform stalls.

You can also participate in the Christmas Raffle and tickets have now been sent out.  We have some fantastic prizes: £250 cash, £150 cash, Fortnum and Mason Hamper - plus many more...

We look forward to seeing you there!

This week Zoe in 3LS and Esme, Aria and Isabella in 4C have all earned their full JdV status in English.

Walter in 3LS has his in Mathematics.

Samuel and Aryaan in 5F have earned theirs in Art.

Congratulations to you all.

Mrs Symons
JdV Lead

Congratulations to:

• Alex G in 6W who has read over 1 million words

Word Wizards, achieving the highest word count from successfully quizzing this week are:

• 3LS  Zoe 
• 3SS  Elin 
• 4C    Aria 
• 5F    Matthew 
• 6W   Alex G

Top Quizzers who have quizzed on the most books successfully or made a noticeable improvement in quizzing scores this week are:

• 3LS  Nellie 
• 3SS Catherine 
• 4C  Lilah 
• 5F   Edward M
• 6W  Grace

Keep up the excellent reading!

Mrs Nelson
Teaching Assistant

Year 3,100k Word Superstars are:

• Elliott in 3LS
• Elin and Catherine in 3SS

Well done to you all.

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.

• Alice
• Catherine
• Ria

Well done!

Results for Battle 23-30 November 2023 - all classes against each other - average score per class member.

• 1st 3SS 74
• 2nd 3LS 70
• 3rd 4C 68

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Felicity 3SS
• 2nd Florence 3LS
• 3rd Daniel 2E

Well done, 3SS! 🏆

Most improved speedsters in the studio are:

3SS

• Felicity - RockStar!
• Oliver - Breakthrough Artist!

Battle between 2E, 2W, 3LS, 3SS and 4C from 1-7 December 2023. 

TT Rock stars will block 2x, 5x, 10x and 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!!

Year 2 have started painting their character pictures from The Three Little Pigs. They have carefully drawn and have then used watercolours to create fun and exciting paintings.

• Sophie L 2W

• Charlotte 2W 

• Oore 2E

• Juliette 2E 

• Emily 2W 

• Iris 2W

Mrs Thackway
Head of Art 

In Literacy, Stickman has been our focus text. We have created story maps of his adventures and identified rhyming words. We’ve talked about where we would like to go on an imaginary adventure.

We have been exploring time in Maths. We’ve been linking regular routines to times of the day, played with clock faces and used them to read and show o’clock times.

Our work in Literacy will continue around the Christmas theme. We will be exploring rhyme further in The Reindeer Hokey Cokey, and listening to a variety of Christmas stories. We will be writing letters to Santa and using adjectives to describe decorations.

In phonics we have...

Introduced digraphs;

oa     oo     ar     or     ur     ow     oi

• Reinforce digraphs/trigraphs introduced at school. Identify them in words in stories you share
• Practise simple addition in real life contexts e.g. how many red and blue baubles on the tree?
• Talk about the numbers on advent calendars – explore the value of tens and ones in two-digit numbers
• Encourage children to write Christmas cards and gift tags using the cursive letters they know

The children are very excited about our performance of The Twinkly Nativity on Wednesday morning. Please remember the children need to wear a vest under their costumes. The rest of the school are watching the dress rehearsal on Monday.

We will be having a class Christmas party on the final day of term, also Christmas jumper day. Further details about this will be sent home next week.

In 1Q this week, we have been engaging in fun, collaborative work focusing on our long vowel sounds and short vowel sounds in phonics. 

We also had lots of fun this week in Maths as we focused on establishing position and direction, then compared and measured lengths using uniform units in geometry. 

As well as being busy in the classroom, we have been perfecting our nativity show in preparation for our performance next week which we are all looking forward to. 

Year 1 have been learning the topic of weather in their French lessons. Here they are completing a writing activity where they had to look at each weather picture and fill in the missing letters in the written text. They have also listened to a weather song and used their drama skills to act out different types of weather.

In anti-bullying week, otherwise known as kindness week, we talked about and celebrated the differences between us and engaged with the theme that it is cool to be kind. Lots of stories were enjoyed and the children had fun designing their odd socks to highlight the importance of inclusion for all. 

We have been learning about the difference between fiction and non-fiction in English this week. After writing some silly sentences that were definitely fiction, we moved on to understand the factual nature, the layout and features of non-fiction reports. We have been using the iPads to research an unusual pet - finding out about diet, housing, different breeds and special care they may need in preparation for writing our own non-fiction reports. 

Children in 2W have been reading and discussing family poems this week.  Based on Dear Mum by Brian Patten, they loved writing their own version blaming everyone but themselves for disasters and accidents that had happened at home!

Class 2W have been busy learning about colour mixing and then painting their character from The Three Little Pigs.

The pupils in Year 2 have been learning about human life cycles. They have been finding out about babies and their needs. They had a very special visit from Baby Scarlett who is Mr and Mrs Webb's granddaughter! They had lots of questions for Mummy Evie who did a sterling job of answering them all. The pupils learnt so much and have been writing about Scarlett in Science this week. 

YouTube is by far the most famous video-sharing social media platform, and one of the most popular websites/apps in the world. It has a vast range of content, from music, to sports, to gaming, to news, to pointless celebrities… and is a great space for creating content as well as just watching it.

It is also a one stop shop for learning how to do pretty much anything, from wiring a plug to making cake pops and is hugely entertaining for literally all interests and all age-ranges.

While it is not quite as dangerous as the much maligned TikTok, it does come with a large number of potentially very serious pitfalls for young viewers, including inappropriate content, interacting with strangers and possible scams.

Please take a look at this guide for the best way to allow your child to use YouTube as safely as possible.

If you have any further questions, about this or anything else computing related, please do get in touch!

We enjoyed two successful U9 fixtures against KHVIII on Tuesday afternoon, with 16 children from Year 3 and 4 representing the school. The teams were evenly matched and play was end to end (which helped keep us all warm in the cold).

In the Year 4 team there was great drive from our midfielders Isabella, Amber and Evelyn, excellent tackling and clearing from the defenders Seren, Esme and Lilah and dynamic attacks from forwards Aria and Ava. It was lovely to see the progression the children made throughout the match as they tried to pass the ball wide and managed to link more passes together. Their determination in the circle was rewarded by 5 goals, with 1 goal conceded.

Player of the Match was awarded to Amber. 

In the mixed Year 3 and 4 Team Crescent dominated the attack with some wonderful strong passing from Gloria, Ella and Charlotte to distribute the ball up front to Kiki, Penelope and Kiran. Nimeeta and Everly pushed up when defending to give lots of options and movement. Resulting in a 1-0 with 2 other goals disallowed as the ball was not touched in the D. 

Player of the Match was awarded to Gloria.

Friday 8 December 2023

We look forward to welcoming parents and children to the Christmas Bazaar on Friday 8 December 2023.

Tickets are available until 6pm on Wednesday 6 December and cost £5 per child which will include a game card and entry into the Bazaar. We will have the usual selection of games for the children to play. Once they have secured at least six stamps on their game card there will be a prize to collect. There will also be a selection of hot and cold snacks and drinks to purchase. 

Tickets can be purchased using the following link:

Christmas Bazaar Tickets

As stated in last week's Courier all raffle proceeds will support the school fundraising for the Children's Air Ambulance which leads me on to my usual plea for donations for the raffle and tombola! As always we appreciate that it is a busy time of year so we are hugely grateful for anything that people can give. 

For the raffle we'd appreciate the usual donations of wine, chocolates, biscuits and toys etc, but we'd also love some higher value items such as vouchers for local cafes or shops.

For the tombola we need small items such as pens, games, Lego sets, toys, craft items, sweets, chocolate bars, cuddly toys etc.

We are accepting donations from 27 November and the cut-off is 7 December.

Friends of Crescent 

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, and nursery rhymes, puzzles
• 3-5 years: dolls and action figures, cars, lorries, colouring sets, pencils, crayons, books, puzzles
• 5-9 years: educational games & toys, stationery (colouring sets, pencils, crayons, school sets), books, puzzles, wordsearch, crosswords
• 9-12 years: games and toys, stationery, books, t-shirts, hair accessories, gloves, scarves, hats
• 13-16 years: books, make-up and toiletries (please try to ensure non-allergic ingredients if possible), gloves, scarves, hats, t-shirts, hair accessories and gift vouchers

Another busy week for FOC!

Thanks to all who attended the Christmas Craft evening. We had a great time making willow wreaths, stars and hearts under the careful eye of willow-expert Debs. There were some lovely items made - although sadly not by me who clearly does not have a talent for craft! Thanks also to Mrs Olner for being our enthusiastic Staff support. 

It's now only a week to go until the Salvation Army collection comes to a close and the Christmas Bazaar takes place. Thanks to those who have donated already - we really appreciate your generosity. If anyone else is yet to donate and wants to, don't panic just leave them at drop-off or Reception. 

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

Please see below for useful school contact information:

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

Crescent School

The Foundation has the following vacancies:

Princethorpe College

• Art Technician
• Learning Support Assistant
• Graduate Teaching Assistant
• Estates Assistant
• Weekend Caretaker
• Casual Estates 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.