The Courier

Dear Parents and Friends of the School

The first week back after the half term has gone smoothly here at school despite more torrential downpours and flooded roads. I don’t think I can remember such a sustained period of heavy rain and persistent high-water levels as we have had in the last two months. Negotiating the school gate has been tricky over the week, and thanks to Mr Knowles for his efforts to keep it clear on Thursday morning.  
 
I do feel sorry for the Games teachers on weeks like these, when planning outside lessons is made so hard. The football tournament today was cancelled unfortunately, although the girls’ netball fixture on Wednesday did go ahead. As I write, I am hopeful that Friday’s sustainability workshops have survived, but the rain continues to come down outside my office, so who knows.  
 
Barnaby has not been far from all of our hearts and minds during the last week, as you can imagine. Yesterday you will have received communications from the school regarding arrangements for Barnaby’s funeral on 6 March. Apologies if there was a lot of detail in there, and I know it may leave you with difficult decisions to make about what is right, not to mention what is actually possible, for you on the day.  
 
I am very aware many of you have very important work commitments that aren’t easy, or even possible, to rearrange. I hope that the options we have provided will allow you to think this though and we support all families and the conclusions that they come to on this. The school has continued to receive messages of support over the last week, which we really appreciate, and I know that the goodwill of us all will mean an enormous amount to Barnaby’s family at a desperate time for them. 
 
Please do let us have your responses to the form we attached to the letter by Wednesday 28 February. Families whose children are attending as normal do not need to reply. 
 
I hope you enjoy a restful weekend with your families. 

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

The funeral will take place on Wednesday 6 March. The key arrangements for the day are these: 

• 09.05 - 09.20 Funeral procession along Bawnmore Road to pass school (with horse drawn carriage)  
• 10.00 - 11.30 Funeral Service at Rainsbrook Crematorium 
• 12.00 until finish Wake and Reception, at the Tuning Fork, Houlton 

Firstly, and for clarity, the school will be open that day. Children who are not attending the funeral will be able to arrive and depart as normal.  

Barnaby’s family would like you all to know that there is an open invitation to attend the funeral and the wake. Families are also invited to line the road as the procession passes the school at around 09.10 that morning. 

I have pasted below the form for completion and the link from Mr and Mrs Williams, my email sent on Thursday 22 February provides full details:

Barnaby Funeral Form

https://barnabygeorgeidriswilliams.muchloved.com/

Please note that the Year 4 and 5 Destination meeting for parents will now take place on Wednesday 13 March 2024 at 7pm. This replaces the published date of Thursday 12, to avoid a clash with parent consultation meetings on that day. Apologies for this change of date and I hope it doesn't cause too much inconvenience. 

There will be an opportunity to ask questions as well through the live chat function. If you are unable to watch it live, then there will be a recording for you to watch at your leisure.

A link to join the meeting will be sent out on the day of the event.

Your child will have brought home with them their World Book Day voucher, please find the information on where to redeem them below:

The redemption period for World Book Day 2024 £1 tokens is from Thursday 15 February until Sunday 31 March 2024. You can redeem your World Book Day £1 book token at the following retailers:

• Your local independent bookseller
• Asda
• Blackwell’s (selected stores only)
• Sainsburys
• Tesco
• The Works
• Waterstones
• WHSmith

We are not dressing up this year, as we usually do this on alternate years, but we will be celebrating reading and books in our own personal way in our classes and English lessons.  There will also be a bookmark design competition to take part in.

As part of our PSHE we are looking at being healthy. As part of this we have set ourselves  a two week challenge of only eating fruit or vegetables for break everyday except on a Thursday (swimming day). By fruit and vegetables we mean fresh, not dried. It would be great if you could support us with this challenge but we understand if it does not suit your family.

MySchoolPortal

Crescent School

The deadline for the acceptance of places for September 2024 Year 7 entry to Princethorpe College is fast approaching.

Parents wishing to accept their child's offered place are reminded that they need to send their signed Confirmation of Acceptance Form and £300 deposit back to Mrs Catherine Rogers, the Registrar, by Tuesday 5 March 2024 please, to secure their child’s place.

Over the last few weeks, a high number of acceptances have come in and the College has told us that it is looking to be a tremendous Year Group. Please be aware that Princethorpe College only guarantees places that are accepted by the above deadline date.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to get in touch with Mrs Rogers and Mrs Holt, their friendly Admissions Team. They can be contacted on 01926 634201 or 297 respectively or you can email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

On Friday 23 February the children at Crescent School were pleased to present a cheque for £1,669.18 to the Children’s Air Ambulance. They welcomed Blade, the Children’s Air Ambulance’s official super-hero mascot, and Anoushka Brown, Youth Development Manager, into school to receive the funds.

Kind-hearted pupils at the school had fundraised for the charity last term. Amongst their many different fundraising activities the school’s council held a super-heroes and every-day heroes non-uniform day and a super-hero art competition. They also organised lots of fundraising games and competitions for their fellow pupils to take part in. The Friends of Crescent, had supported the children’s fundraising too, with a grand prize raffle at their Christmas Bazaar, and donations were also collected at the school’s Christmas Carol Concert.

In assembly, Anoushka spoke to the children about the lifesaving work of the charity explaining how it relies on donations to fund its work. She then caused much excitement when she introduced their super-hero mascot Blake to the pupils.

Emma Clark, Teacher and School Council Lead at Crescent School, said: “The children really engaged with the fundraising for the Children’s Air Ambulance and, together with our wider school community, they raised an incredible amount. It’s so important for our pupils to understand how, if we work together, we can help each other.”

Reading is not just for school it’s for life which is why we celebrate reading at every opportunity. Reading supports the development of language and literacy skills as well as enabling children’s imaginations and helping to enrich their lives.

We have our weekly Accelerated Reader Awards, our Top Quizzers, Word Wizards, 100,000 Word Superstars and even our Word Millionaires, that all encourage pupils to engage with reading and books. This week it was our Quiz With Your Child Week, where we get parents involved too. It’s been busy in the Computing Suite in the mornings.

On Thursday, pupils at Crescent School celebrated World Thinking Day. Our Rainbows, Brownies and Guides came to school in their girl guiding uniforms to show their support for this important day in the guiding calendar, a day when they think about the big issues affecting our global community. This year's theme was Our World, Our Thriving Future: The Environment and Global Poverty, subjects that we should all be thinking about. It’s a day of friendship and it was lovely to see so many of our children in their various uniforms celebrating this event.

All 36 Crescent pupils who took the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) examinations in January passed, with the overwhelming majority achieving a distinction.

At Crescent School, children study for the LAMDA examinations in their Drama lessons as part of the school’s curriculum. This year, pupils in Year 5 took the Speaking Verse and Prose Entry Level qualification, while those in Year 6 took the Grade 1 or Grade 3 examination.

The children prepared poems to perform and were judged on interpretation, technique and knowledge. To help them get ready for their examinations they all enjoyed performing for their parents in a super LAMDA showcase in January.

Drama teacher, Lizzie Bowdige, was extremely proud of them all. She said, “Everyone has done brilliantly, and I'm so pleased for them, especially for the four pupils who took the Grade 3 examination. The LAMDA qualifications add value to the children’s learning in so many different ways. I am delighted with their results.”

Congratulations to them all.

The latest issue of the Minnacle has just been published, showcasing yet more of our pupils' excellent work. The magazine's new editorial team, Julia Lindsay, Jo Evans and Sarah Duran, have given the Minnacle and Pinnacle a bit of a revamp and they hope you like its restyle.

The Minnacle celebrates our pupils at their best and this edition includes plenty more examples of their outstanding efforts. 

The Pinnacle includes equally impressive work by Princethorpe College pupils too. It's wonderful to celebrate their talents.

Printed copies have been sent home with pupils or you can read a copy of The Minnacle on our school website here.

Friday 1 March 2023

Children in Yellow House can wear one item of yellow clothing with their unform on St David's Day.

Crescent School 

Monday 4 March - 4.00pm to 6.30pm
Thursday 5 March - 6.00pm to 8.00pm

We all value the importance of these meetings to share and discuss your child's academic progress.  

The booking system is now live for you to book your Year 6 Parent Consultation Evening appointments with form teachers and specialist teachers.

Year 5 also have the opportunity to book appointments with specialist teachers. I won’t be available for Year 5 appointments as I am a specialist teacher for Year 6 and will be seeing those families on that evening. However, Year 5 will receive their full midyear report at half term and there will be an extended consultation in the Trinity Term with me and Mrs Webb.  

Please book your appointments below:

https://princethorpe.schoolcloud.co.uk/

We look forward to meeting with you.

Ms Forth
Deputy Head - Academic

Monday 11 March - 4.00pm to 6.30pm
Thursday 21 March - 6.00pm to 8.30pm

We all value the importance of these meetings to share and discuss your child's academic progress.  

The booking system is now live for you to book your Year 3 and 4 Parent Consultation Evening appointments with form tutors and specialist teachers. Please book your appointments below:

https://princethorpe.schoolcloud.co.uk/

We look forward to meeting with you.

Ms Forth
Deputy Head - Academic

Tuesday 12 March 2024 - 4.00pm

Crescent School is hosting its annual Orchestra Workshop in conjunction with Crackley Hall on Tuesday 12 March. There will be a concert for the parents of those playing at 4.00pm on that day.

Refreshments will be served in the Library from 3.45 pm. Unfortunately, we cannot open the playground for parking as there is an extra-curricular sports club using it, so please park considerately in the roads nearby or at St Mark's Church Car Park. The concert will be finished by 4.30pm, at which point you will be able to take your child home.

Parents of children in Orchestra can book tickets here:

Orchestral Performance to Parents

Thursday 14 March - 6.00pm to 8.30pm
Monday 18 March - 4.00pm to 6.30pm

We all value the importance of these meetings to share and discuss your child's academic progress.  

The booking system is now live for you to book your Pre-Prep Parent Consultation Evening appointments. Please book your appointments below:

https://princethorpe.schoolcloud.co.uk/

We look forward to meeting with you.

Ms Forth
Deputy Head - Academic

Saturday 16 March - 10.00am to 12.00pm

We are holding an Open Morning on Saturday 16 March for prospective families. Come and find out why Crescent School has been judged 'Excellent' in all areas by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. It's a great opportunity for prospective families considering Crescent School to come and have a look around and get a feel for the school. There will be opportunities to speak to pupils, key members of staff and to meet Mr Thackway, Headmaster.

To find out more and to book your visit to Crescent School visit our website here.

Applications for places in the current Reception to Year 6 are treated on an individual basis. We are currently operating waiting groups in most year groups. Please get in touch with our Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley, regarding our availability for September 2024. 

We are now taking registrations for September 2025 entry to Reception and Year 3.

Please do share this information with interested family and friends. 

Friday 22 March 2024 – 9.15am  -10.15am

The Easter Service will be a celebration of spring and include the telling of The Mayans and the History of Chocolate by Class 5F and Choir Group. We do hope you will join us for the most important festival in the Christian year.

Two tickets per family will be available for parents of children in Choir and Class 5F. Please book below:

Easter Service

This week has been a busy week for Junior da Vinci awards.

• Thomas and Ella in 4C, along with Matthew in 5F and Emily in 6W earn theirs in Art
• Ria in 3SS receives hers for MFL
• Ava, Kiran and Lilah in 4C earn theirs in English
• Alex T, Remi, Shayla and Grace in 6W earn theirs in Maths
• Shayla and Grace in 6W earn theirs in Geography
• Shayla and Alice in 6W also gain theirs in History
• Mikael and Sofia in 1Q have earned theirs in Science

Congratulations to you all!

Mrs Symons
JdV Lead

Congratulations to Alice in 3SS and Matthew in 5F who are double millionaires.

An impressive 4,000,000 words read between them.

This week's Word Wizards and Top Quizzers are:

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

• 3LS  Elliott
• 3SS  Alice
• 4C    Esme
• 5F    Matthew
• 6W   Harry

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

• 3LS  Joshua
• 3SS  Penelope
• 4C   Lilah
• 5F    Akaal
• 6W   Roisin

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.

Oliver, Max and Beau

Well done!

Oliver in 3SS has read 100,000 words.

Well done.

It was close at the start between our finalists, Henry 5F and Sam O 6W. However, Henry's army was suddenly depleted and he had to surrender to this term's champion Sam O.

Well done Sam.

This week's Artist of the Week are:

• Rachael 3LS - Carefully observed profile portrait
• Roisin 4C - A beautifully presented storyboard 
• Shayla 6W - An excellent one-point perspective tonal sketch
• Alex T 6W - A good understanding of perspective and lovely use of tone
• Sofie 6W - Lovely sensitive line and tone
• Emily 6W - Excellent use of mark making and tone
• MingYi 5F - Beautifully sequenced storyboard
• Charlotte 4C - Powerful use of colour to emphasise an angry emotion
• Ella 4C - Excellent choice of colour to emphasise a sad emotion
• Orlaith 3LS - A beautifully observed profile portrait
• Thomas 4C - A strong powerful portrait emphasising emotion

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

• Akaal 5F completed 48% of the training course
• Walter 3LS completed 24% of the training course

Results for Battle February 8-22: All classes against each other - average score per class member.

• 1st 4C 81
• 2nd 5F 50
• 3rd 2W 35

Most valuable players in the whole competition:

• 1st Roisin 5F
• 2nd Ire 2W
• 3rd Thomas 4C

Well done, 4C! 🏆

Most improved speedsters in the studio are:

5F

• Harry - Headliner!
• Edward W - Unsigned Act!

4C

• Thomas - Unsigned Act!

Battle between All classes - 22-29 February 2024. 

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.

Crescent’s Wellbeing Team were out and about promoting positive mental health before half term, during Children’s Mental Health Week. Pupils organised lots of fun activities to support this year's event.

The children extended their Chit-Chat Tuesday session to encourage their friends to express themselves and to help them understand this year's theme for the national week of, 'Your Voice Matters'. There were posters to colour, chalks to draw with, construction toys to play with, books to read, games to join in with, costumes to dress up in, a stage to perform on and much, much more.

In school, in their PHSE lessons, pupils engaged with different activities using resources from the charity Place2Be to highlight the importance of connection and its benefits for our mental health and wellbeing.

If you are interested in finding out more about Children's Mental Health, there is plenty of useful information and resources for families on their website here. 

This week we have had on display in the break-out area a number of books that support children dealing with bereavement and loss. We are most grateful to Evelyn’s Gift and to Rev Margaret Simmons from St Oswald’s for providing them.

Class 3LS have been learning how to play along with the tune of one of the songs they learned. Using the notes E F# G A and B they accompanied the verse of the song Myths And Mysteries, part of the series about Ancient Greece they have been following.

Class 3SS have been learning the vocabulary for clothes in their French lessons. Here they are practising their knowledge of vocabulary with a card game. They also enjoyed singing a bi-lingual song on the topic. By the end of the lesson, they were able to remember all the key words.

Year 4 have been learning how to use colour adjectives in French together with the vocabulary for clothes. Here they are practising their writing skills using whiteboards. They also performed very well on the iPads in their multiple choice quiz. Several pupils scored full marks.

To wrap up their fictional writing unit, 4C read their finished 'Kapok Tree' stories to Year 1 on Monday, reading in an engaging way to make sure they captivated their audience. 1Q listened very carefully and shared their favourite parts of each story.  

Class 5F have been writing a prequel to a story that we have been reading. They had to show awareness of tone, literary features and pace. To help them refine their stories, they read them out loud while their partner recorded them on the iPad, they then edited anything they spotted when they watched it back.

Class 6W are exploring the wonderful world of quadrilaterals this week. A topic full of precarious spelling and drawing. All quadrilaterals have four solid straight sides, but that is where the similarities end. From parallelograms to truncated trapeziums, 6W are learning that the are all the same, yet all special because of their differences.

Year 6 are preparing for being ready for Year 7 and this involves consolidating our learning, filling the gaps in our knowledge and having mastery of what we learn. This week we did this through interaction and white boards. If things were not understood, then Mrs Collie was on hand to have a drop-in explanation session.

STEM club started to build their bug hotel this week, after selecting the best spot on the school grounds by carrying out online research. Mr Knowles showed them how to move the pallets into place and secure them together. Then we talked about what we could start collecting to fill the insides with lots of places for bugs to live!  

Year 5 and 6 children who attend the Reading For Pleasure club worked with our Reception Story Club this week. It was a lovely way for the children to share their love of reading.

The Green Team had a day off curriculum today to learn about how to collect rainwater from the roof of a building and how to construct equipment to collect the rainwater. They learnt how to construct a building and how to work on a roof at height. The pupils were superbly instructed by Alan Stapleton and Adam Thirsk of Roam in the Community.

In the afternoon, they then applied their new skills and installed the first water butt in the school grounds with the help of Mr Knowles. It was a great day with a great Green Team! 

One of the next projects for the Green Team is to design and build a large raised bed so that we can plant and grow flowers to be used by pollinators from Spring 2024.

We are looking to build the bed from recycled materials and from the time and resources of volunteers from our school community. Can you help? 

Please do let the Green Team know if you can offer any materials, expertise in design and planting or your time to build the raised bed via email to jacquijohnson@crescentschool.co.uk 

As the weather starts to turn a little warmer and we start seeing the sun again, we can once again get out and get some much needed fresh air! We often tend to think of technology and apps as being the antithesis of exercise and outdoor pursuits, but it can in fact provide the perfect stimulus for a real alfresco adventure!

If you have never heard of geocaching, it is essentially a massive outdoor treasure hunt, using GPS and a smart device to locate thousands of hidden ‘caches’ or boxes all over the world! It has been around for a little while now, but it has never been more popular. Technology often gets a bad reputation for putting a stop to children playing and exploring outdoors, but this is certainly a great way to combine both, along with some other fantastic educational and developmental benefits. To get started all you need is a GPS enabled phone and the (free) Geocaching app. From there it’s just a case of scanning your local area for caches, then setting off on a treasure hunt! The caches themselves vary from large boxes, to tiny film canisters and even fake rocks with hidden compartments. Often the caches contain a small trinket to take away and most have log books to sign to record your find. If this all sounds like fun, please have a read of some of the websites linked here for a handy starters guide!

A great guide to geocaching with small children - https://smallerexplorer.co.uk/geocaching-with-kids-a-short-guide

Top tips for getting started - https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/lets-go-club-geocaching
The official geocaching website - https://www.geocaching.com/play
The official geocaching app - https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id329541503

If you have any questions about this, or any other aspect of computing, please do not hesitate to get in touch!

Our U10 Girls once again showed off not only their skill and determination, but also strength in depth with a very accomplished performance from the whole squad at the Repton Festival of Football on Saturday.

They retained their 100% record being completely unbeaten for the season, with four wins against Prestfelde, Crackley, MFC and Repton and a hard-fought draw against a very strong Fairfield side. Every single girl played their part superbly, Seren and Esme comfortable and confident in both goal and defence, Nora and Aria solid and dependable at the back, Ava, Lilah and Evelyn lively in midfield, and Roisin and Amber deadly in attack.

Player of the tournament could have easily been Amber for her 9 goals in just 5 games, or Roisin for her 7 goals and ability to cover every single blade of grass on the pitch, but on this occasion has to go to Esme for her commanding performance at the back, using her fantastic ability to read the game to snuff out any potential dangers.

Incredible stuff girls!

Mr Adkins & Mrs McCollin

The U11s cross country team gave a super account of themselves in a packed field and very cold, blustery conditions on Monday 8 February at Hart Field.

Our top performers amongst the girls was Roisin C who although mainly running against Year 6s came in an amazing 7th place, with Roisin B not far behind in 32nd. For the boys our best placed runners were Maxi in 31st and Henry in 45th.

Well done to all of our competitors, especially those Year 5s stepping up a year to race...it will seem a stroll for them next year!

Fantastic footwork and finishing on display at the Kingsley netball fixture this week. The U11 and U10 Girls braved the elements and travelled to Kingsley playing fields for a hotly contested game on Wednesday 21 February. 

Our U11 team took the lead in the first quarter with a well worked goal from Maisie. Passing down the court was strong, fast and accurate helping the team move the ball quickly to our attacking circle for Alice and Maisie. At half time the team was 2-1 up after superb defence from Emily, Roisin and Leela. With some changes of position for Kingsley, they were able to equalise the game in the third quarter. It was end to end action and the game finished in a fair 3-3 draw. A great game to watch. 

Player of the Match: Roisin B

The U10 team showed great determination and drive from the first whistle and quickly showing their shooting strength with Toni and Sophia sinking 5 goals in the first quarter. Great passing and interceptions in defence and centre court saw Crescent dominate the ball taking it to 9-0 by half time. A few changes in position at half time giving students opportunity to try new roles in competition and Crescent remained equally dominant with the final score of 11-0.

Player of the Match: Roisin C

A great afternoon of netball and thankfully we all stayed dry. Well done to all involved. 

Mrs McCollin and Ms Clarke 

Friday 1 March 2024 - 3.30pm to 4.45pm

Class 2E Bake Sale is on Friday 1 March. As always this will start from 3.30pm and will have a range of yummy cakes and snacks selling at £1 each.

All profits will go to Class 2E to spend on entertainment for Privilege Time.

Friday 15 March 2024 - 3.30pm to 4.45pm

Class 2W Bake Sale is on Friday 15 March. As always this will start from 3.30pm and will have a range of yummy cakes and snacks selling at £1 each.

All profits will go to Class 2W to spend on entertainment for Privilege Time.

Please see attached photo for all the events between now and the end of this school year. Please keep dropping in your unwanted school uniform - we'd love to have as much as possible to sell in June.

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

• Digital Transformation Leader
• Teacher of PE and Games
• Graduate Teaching Assistant
• Payroll Officer
• Minibus Driver

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.