The Courier

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

I hope you have all enjoyed a fruitful week at work and at home. We have finally broken into February, and snowdrops are appearing in the countryside and even one or two cheeky daffodils have emerged.  
 
On a wildlife theme, thanks to all those contributed to our Big Garden Birdwatch. Mrs Johnson will be collecting all of the results and sending them off to the RSPB in due course. It is a very nice way to introduce and encourage children to appreciate and learn about the wildlife around them. I'm not a full-on twitcher by any means, but I got into spotting and learning about birds at quite a young age and it's something that I have always got a lot of pleasure from. 
 
I mentioned in last week’s newsletter the good work of the Crescent Green Team and the sustainable theme has been taken up again today with our paper-free day of learning in school. This sounds like a nice and simple idea at first glance, but actually takes quite a bit of thought when it comes down to the detail. The rules have been quite strict, and children weren’t allowed to use existing exercise books. Collaboration, drama, IT, debating, singing, sharing have been some of the creative solutions. It is intended to make us all think about how reliant we are on an environmentally impactful resource like paper, and this was a strong message that hopefully the children will take from the day. 
 
There are two important events happening next week I would like to flag up. Firstly, it is Children’s World Mental Health Week, and our own children’s Wellbeing Team are providing opportunities on the playground at breaktime for us all to ‘express ourselves’ in different ways, ranging from chalking to talking to dancing or making a speech. This is the theme of this year’s event and is a message we are pleased to support. 
 
Then, on Friday, we have our World Cultures Day, with parent run sessions on the heritage and culture of India and Persia, as well as a visitor from the Bwengu Project in Malawi. We have also bought in series of workshops on Chinese New Year, and the chance to learn some Chinese Ribbon Dancing from the experts. Thanks to those parents who are getting involved, and if sharing your own cultural heritage or interest is something you might like to do in the future, panic not, as this is an event we intend to make a regular part of our school calendar.  
 
With my best wishes to you all and I hope you all enjoy a restful weekend. 

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

It is always good to see that Year 6 are becoming more independent in readiness for their senior schools. Please can you let Mrs Tucker and me know what days your child is getting to or from school independently and if they will have a phone with them. The mobile phone will need to be handed into Mrs Tucker which we be looked after until the end of the day.  

In addition to this, after half term, we will not be allowing Year 6 to call home for things they have forgotten, we found this helps them gain greater responsibility for the senior schools.

Thank you for your support with this.

Dear Year 1 Parents 

In Drama we have been using The Gruffalo as a stimulus. We have looked at how the animals move and communicate and we have looked at the emotions of happy, sad, frightened and confident. In our last lesson we created our own monster and brought him/her to life using our own bodies and facial expressions. The children have been fabulous and very dramatic.

This coming week we will be making a puppet monster. Please can you send your child on Monday with an odd (CLEAN) sock that can be turned into a sock puppet. They will be using these puppets for imaginative play, creating voices, having conversations and telling stories. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

Tom Jackson from Olive has shared some pictures from the Van Street Food event we hosted last Friday at Crescent. It was a wonderful lunch and the children embraced the concept and offer.

Olive Catering

Crescent School

Friday 9 February 2024

We will be holding a non-uniform day on Friday 9 February with all proceeds going to this term's chosen charity, Bwengu Projects. 

Please send a £1 donation with your child to be given to their form teacher.

Thank you.

Thursday 22 February 2024

Join fellow Girl Guides, Brownies, Rainbows and Girl Scouts from over 150 countries in celebrating World Thinking Day 2024 on Thursday 22 February 2024!

This year's theme is "Our World, Our Thriving Future: The Environment and Global Poverty.

To celebrate this day, any children who attend Girl Guides, Brownies, Rainbows and Girl Scouts to wear their uniform to school on this day.

We look forward to seeing children in their uniforms.

Friday 23 February 2024 - 6:45pm to 10:00pm

Join us for a night of good food, great company, and valuable insights into the future of farming.

Hear from two speakers:

• Jennie Wheildon: Unlock New Funding Opportunities and Plan for the Next Generation in Farming.
• John Price (OP 2014): My Journey into Farming and prospects for the future of farming.

Don't miss this opportunity to connect with fellow farmers, enjoy delicious food and drinks, and gain valuable knowledge for the future of your farm.

Secure your spot here by Friday 16 February 2024.

English and Maths dominate the JDV awards this week.

• Max, Catherine, and Eve in 3SS and Oore and Jed in 2E gain theirs in English
• Finn in 3SS gain theirs in Maths
• Alice in 3SS has done amazing things in MFL to earn hers
• Leela gains hers in Art
• Maisie gains hers in Geography

Congratulations to you all on your hard work!

Mrs Symons
JdV Lead

Evelyn in 4C has read 500,000 words.

Well done.

This week's Word Wizards and Top Quizzers are:

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

• 3LS  Walter
• 3SS  Felicity
• 4C    Lilah
• 5F    Edward M
• 6W   Alex T

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

• 3LS  Florence
• 3SS  Jonny
• 4C   Thomas
• 5F    Sophia
• 6W   Hattie

Thank you and well done to Jahnavi in 3LS for a super book review on 'SpaceBoy' by David Walliams - if you want to read it, check out the AR board.

Mrs Nelson
Teaching Assistant

Walter, Joshua, Florence and Feranmi, all in 3LS, have read an amazing 100,000 words.

Well done.

• Kiki 3LS Completed 72% of the training course
• Aria 4C Completed 72% of the training course

Results for Battle 25 Jan-1 Feb 6W, 5F, 2W, 2E against each other - average score per class member.

• 1st 6W - 21
• 1st 2E - 21
• 1st 2W - 21

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st James 6W
• 2nd Niamh 2E
• 3rd Sophie 2W

Well done, 2E, 2W, 6W!🏆

Battle between 2E, 2W, 3LS, 3SS  1 - 8 February. 

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.

• David 3LS - An excellent observed self-portrait sketch

• Beau 3SS - A fantastic expressive tonal portrait

• Zoe 3LS - A dramatic tonal self-portrait

• Patrick 5F - Excellent sequencing of a narrative picture

• Nimeeta 4C - Excellent choice of colour to emphasise emotion

• Kiran 4C - Dramatic use of colour to emphasise sadness

• Aria 4C - A bright colourful expressive portrait

• Gloria 4C - A fun and expressive portrait 

• Leela 6W - Excellent understanding of one-point perspective and lovely use of tone

• Elliott 3LS - A strong tonal self-portrait

• Joshua 3LS - Excellent tonal contrast in his self-portrait

Mrs Thackway
Head of Art 

In phonics we have been introduced to blends;

lf as in self

lk as in milk

pt as in swept

xt as in next

tr as in tree

dr as in drip

gr as in grab

• Please clarify sounds that are mis pronounced such as th (often said as f)
• Encourage the children to blend words when reading together
• Explore rhyming words
• Look closely at letter size and position when practising cursive writing
• Practice writing numbers 0-10, correcting any reversals
• Compare sizes of familiar objects using simple mathematical language

Reception have started learning the vocabulary for means of transport in French. They have been practising the relevant language with a song which has actions. Here they are playing a game with flashcards.

Year 1 have been learning the vocabulary for breakfast foods in French. They have also been learning about the differences between breakfast in France and in England. Here they are practising their speaking and writing skills.

Pupils in Class 1Q have been learning how to keep to a beat and then how to create their own rhythm patterns. Using percussion instruments they played along with the song “I am a robot” and made up an accompaniment to go with the music.

Maths resources are always independently accessible for the children to support their learning so why not have a whole lesson focused just on them?

At the moment we are learning about data representation using Venn diagrams and Carroll diagrams, alongside properties of 3D shapes. This week the children really enjoyed creating their own ways to represent and sort data. Carroll diagrams were built using cubes, dienes, shells, links, Octo links, pegs and magnets. Shapes were sorted based on faces and vertices before moving on to sort all kinds of things around the classroom. So much fun learning.

In Geography, children have been learning about the Amazon Rainforest – the location, structure, climate, rivers and landscapes. They have explored what trees, plants and animals live in each layer. Our budding weather reporters have written and recorded their own fabulous weather reports, creating QR codes to watch them in action.

Class 2W had fun with coins in a maths lesson this week. They went shopping around the classroom for items which they could spend their 10p and 20p pieces on. They then had to work out the change they needed. 

They were very keen to tell me what they enjoyed spending their own money on!

Class 2E and 2W had fun exploring the nature of clay and learnt how a wide range of shapes and textures can be made using their fingers or simple tools.

Today was the first paperless day in school, where staff and pupils used alternatives to paper and books in lessons. Pupils already use whiteboards, PCs, Ipads, online platforms on a daily basis in their lessons but today they had fun using unusual alternatives. It is a small step to make us stop and think about our usage of paper and the impact on the environment. 

Please click through the photo gallery to the work.

The U11 A team played really well and showed great grit and determination on the ball.  It was end to end play, unfortunately we could not quite make our shots count.  Final score 5-1 to King Henry's with Grace getting a goal in the final quarter. 

The U11 B team, made up mostly of our Year 5 pupils, played a fantastic game, moving the ball effectively up court and attacking well.  They took an early lead with some fantastic shooting from Sophia and Toni.  The whole team worked well together making some fantastic linking passes from Nora in defence all the way to our shooting circle. Great play to see a 9-7 win. 

Well done to all involved. 

The U11 Hockey Team travelled down to the Olympic Park in London to play at the iconic Lee Valley Hockey Centre in the National ISA Hockey Tournament.  After an early start and a long and slow journey the team made it down to London just in time for a quick warm up and team talk.  Crescent started on the outside pitches with their sights firmly set on making the way up onto the stadium pitch after our pool rounds. 

The pool rounds were frantic, furious and frustrating with 10 minutes of play in each game pupils needed to settle quickly and get down to business.  The first match saw Crescent take on Alleyn Court, from Southend-on-Sea, the team were focused and worked hard, but the precision in the shooting was just off with several opportunities hitting the post or going just wide. After 90% of the possession it ended in a 0-0 draw.   

The second match was against a tall and strong Chafyn Grove School from Salisbury, they took an early goal but a quick counter attack from Crescent saw the equaliser with a goal from Alex G.  It was quality hockey with play moving quickly from end to end.  Unfortunately, in the final moments of play Chafyn Grove scored a second goal taking the win. 2-1 Loss. 

The third match was an evenly matched game against Cranford School from Oxfordshire.  Both sides battled hard with fantastic attacking and defending, however their efforts came to no fruition with a 0-0 draw. 

The results of the pool round put is in to the Trophy competition where we took on Thorpe Hall school in the knock out round.  Again we had all of the play working so hard, with two short corners awarded to Crescent.  The team applied the pressure but again just couldn't find the target.  The final whistle left a 0-0 draw and it was on to penalty shuffles to decide who went through to the finals. 

After the difficult decision of who should take the shuffles, Sofie stepped up first with a fantastic effort showing great speed, but the shot just went wide.  Timi was into goal to face his first ever shuffle, he did just as he was told and came out of goal making himself big and intimidating, he saved the first shot pushing their player wide to get the rebound and then fortunately for Crescent the whistle blew before they could score.  Matthew stepped up for Crescent's second shuffle with a very calm and composed approach making it count with a fantastic strike.  Timi stepped up again making another great save before Maxi took the final shuffle for Crescent.  Again a very collected and mature approach from Maxi saw him take in to the inside corner to score the winning goal.

Crescent were through to the final and had made it on to the Stadium pitch.  With emotions running high the team collected themselves well to take on Oakfield Prep in the Trophy Final.  Again holding possession well and really pushing and holding play in Crescent's attacking half Crescent scored with a few minutes to spare with a fantastically worked goal from Lewis. 

A fantastic day out for everyone, full of highs and lows and the extreme emotions of sport.  A truly well deserved final victory after a wonderful day of quality hockey from all involved. We are extremely proud of you all. 

Last week saw the U9s boys in action on the hockey pitch with matches against King Henry's VIII Preparatory on Tuesday and Bilton Grange on Thursday. 

U9A team played fantastically in both games, with solid passing and strength in the King Henry's game moving the ball well to win the match 2-1. Building on this victory in the Bilton Grange game the team had a very exciting game of end to end play, showing great progress throughout the game. With  strong defence and good shape, players holding their position they were unlucky to concede a goal in the final minute of play to loose 2-3. 

U9B team made excellent progress in the King Henry's game growing in knowledge and confidence throughout the match, having conceded 2 early goals they then gained most of the play in the final part of the match, but couldn't quite put the ball away.   They carried this progress forward into the Thursday's match holding their shape better and linking passes together well, showing great team work. Having led the play for most of the game, BG scored a goal in the final minutes against the run of play to level the game 2-2. 

Mrs Dowling Mrs McCollin Mrs Chang 

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

• Teacher of English
• Digital Transformation Leader
• IT Engineer
• Payroll Officer
• Minibus Driver

Little Crackers Nursery

• 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.