The Courier

Dear Parents

As from September 2018 we will be introducing Crescent School school bags for all age groups. As you can see from the pictures, there are two versions, a shoulder bag for Reception to Class II and a backpack for Classes III to Class VI. I hope you will agree that these will be a really smart addition to the uniform and also help to generate a sense of belonging to the school community.

We have tested the bag for size and are convinced that they represent both excellent quality and value for money. Similar bags are also in use over at Crackley Hall who have given us very positive feedback regarding their strength and durability.

I am aware that many parents may have recently invested in new bags for their children, and for this reason the new bags will be an optional part of the uniform for the Michaelmas and Lent Terms. We would hope that all children will have the new bag by the beginning of the Trinity Term 2019. The bags will be compulsory for children starting the school.

Of course, we would be delighted if many of you choose to go over to the new bag with effect from September or even this term. They are available for purchase in the school on Wednesday 10 June and Monday 18 June from 3.00pm until 5.00pm, when Nicola Browne, Foundation Shop Manager, will be running a stall in the library.

Payments can be added to your bill for ease, or made in cash or by cheque during these sessions. Outside of these sessions, payments can be made by via your school fees account, or by cash, cheque or card.

Prices as follows:
Shoulder Bag: Reception - Class II - £8.00
Backpack: Class III - Class VI - £15.00

Please click on the link below to view the weekly calendar.  This details all the co-curricular clubs running, fixtures and additional information.

There is no Drama Club after school on Thursday due to the production.

Weekly Calendar - 11 June 2018

Crescent School

Children will have brought home the photo pack proofs of their Class and Group photos on Tuesday 5 June.  In order to attain a speedy delivery of the photographs Mr Lloyd (the photographer) has asked if parents/guardians could do the following:

• Please write in the box beneath each photograph the choice of photograph style labelled: A. B. C. D.
• Complete the information on the envelope included with the proof cards
• If paying by cheque, please write your child's proof card photo security number and preferred photograph type (as well as indicating this on the photograph), on the reverse of the cheque. For example: Photo Security Number Box A Photo 1 or Photo Security Number Box B Photo 2 or both
• Place the correct amount of money in the envelopes along with the proof card(s).
• In order to receive free delivery, the deadline for return of proof cards to school is Tuesday 12 June.

Orders can be made online, however, a postal cost will be incurred via this method and is at the sole discretion of the printers, not the photographer.

Please do contact Mr Lloyd if you have any queries, his email address is on the proof.
 
Crescent School

On Tuesday 5 June local Rugby residents Tony and Sue Melia, from Bwengu Projects Malawi, visited the Crescent School to receive a cheque for £1409.02.  The cheque was presented to Tony and Sue by Class IV pupils Tumi, Archie and Euan, in a whole school assembly.

The Crescent School has been supporting the work that Tony and Sue do for eleven years, in fact the school was one of the charity’s first supporters back in 2007 when they donated books for school libraries, one of the charity’s early projects.  Each year the Class IV children at the Crescent School study Africa and in particular Malawi and the work that the Bwengu Projects is involved in.  Studying the challenges the people in Malawi face helps the children to appreciate the similarities and differences in our societies.

At the end of their topic the children choose specific Bwengu Projects to support and go on to organise fundraising activities that the whole school participates in.  This year the Class IV pupils have raised money in a number of enterprising ways including building a penny path, enduring a sponsored silence, organising collections at the school’s Easter Service and Spring Concert and running non-uniform days and a treasure hunt. 

For 2018 the children chose two projects to fundraise for, and set themselves a target of £930 to raise in order to fund 20 school bursaries. Each bursary provides a secondary school place for a child for a year, the children also decided to fund two UNICEF standard school toilet blocks. 

Bryony Forth, Deputy Head, commented, “Supporting the Bwengu Project is always a highlight of my teaching year, something of which I personally am very proud to be part of.  The children enjoy studying Bwengu and comparing 'A Village Less Economically Developed than Rugby'.  Over the years we must have raised over £8,000 and helped pay for renovating schools, building a Women's Development Centre, sewing machines, a teacher's salary and some 58,500 meals for orphans.”

She continued, “The children worked incredibly hard this year organising lots of events and have raised a grand total of £1409.02.  Our biggest total ever and we are very proud of them.”

Tony and Sue Melia, were overwhelmed, they commented, “This is really wonderful, our aims are very simple, our projects in Malawi support education.  It is difficult to ask a question of those that lead you, if you cannot read, write or even count.  Our philosophy is simply helping the many to help themselves.  The Crescent children help unlock that opportunity for children in Malawi.”

On Tuesday 5 June Crescent School welcomed Year 2 children from Crackley Hall School, Dunchurch Infant School and Leamington Hastings Infant School.  Together with Crescent’s own Class II the children all enjoyed an afternoon of Infant Agility sporting fun.  Hosted by Crescent’s Class VI the children participated in a round robin of activities designed to develop their running, throwing, bouncing, pitching, stepping and jumping skills. 

For most of the 45 children involved this was their first experience of a school sports festival and of competing alongside children from other schools.  The children were mixed into six different groups and moved round the field together, spending 10 minutes at each activity.

The event was all about participation, fun and being the best you could be. Class VI demonstrated the activity and then encouraged the younger children to take part.  All the children were impressive, participating enthusiastically and with determination to do their best.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon and the accompanying parents clearly enjoyed watching their children taking part and the refreshments offered.

At the end of the afternoon the organiser of the event, Head of Pre-Prep, Mr Alan Webb thanked everyone for coming, commenting on how well everyone had done, their enthusiasm and especially their sporting behaviour.

Headmaster, Mr Joe Thackway, added his thanks, especially to Crescent’s Class VI for their help running the event.  Mr Thackway then presented all of the participants with a well-deserved certificate.

Please note that the School Shop at Princethorpe College moves into appointment only for new starters across the Foundation schools from Monday 23 July until Monday 3 September 2018.

The shop will be open as normal until Friday 6 July. If you are looking for items to top up your current uniform needs then please take this into account and order accordingly to allow delivery to school for collection prior to this date.

Friday 8 and Saturday 9 June 2018

Sudden Impulse Theatre Company is returning to Princethorpe College this weekend for two outdoor performances of William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors.

Believed to be one of Shakespeare's earlier written plays; The Comedy of Errors is a true farce ahead of its time. The story involves two sets of twins, separated at birth, being thrown together in a tale of mistaken identity.

The performances are open to the public and will take place on the Sixth Form Lawn as follows:

Friday 8 June - 6.30pm to 10.00pm

Saturday 9 June - 3.30pm to 7.00pm

A wonderful opportunity to bring a picnic, settle down in your camping chair and enjoy some perfect summer entertainment.

Tickets are available from www.suddenimpulse.co.uk priced at £12 adults or £10 for concessions or on the door! 

Thursday 14 June 2018 - 7.00pm

Class VI warmly welcome you to their performance of The Demon Headmaster on Thursday 14 June 2018.

Dinah Glass moves in with the Hunter family and starts at same school as her foster brothers Lloyd and Harvey. It is not easy, as they seem to really dislike her, and school is really strange. Pupils suddenly talk like robots and do weird things, even Dinah finds herself acting oddly and she finds herself saying things like, "I think the Headmaster is a marvellous man and this is the best school I've ever been to". She is sure the Headmaster has some kind of power over them, and is determined to find out more. But the Demon Headmaster is equally determined to stop her. With the help of her new friends in ‘SPLAT’, can she successfully stop the Headmaster's plot to hypnotise the country through the Barry and Larry television show?

We look forward to seeing you.  Refreshments will be served from 6.30pm.

Tuesday 19 June 2018

Class V are warmly invited to a taste of senior school life at Princethorpe College on Tuesday 19 June 2018.  The Taster Day will begin at 9.30am when the children will be transported to the College by mini-bus from Crescent.  Pupils will experience a variety of classroom sessions, a tour of the school and a question and answer session with our current pupils. Break and lunch will be provided and there is no charge for this day.

At the end of the afternoon, you are invited to a Parents’ Information Session on entry to the College in September 2019. The session will commence at 4.30pm, finish at approximately 6.00pm and light refreshments will be served. 

Ed Hester, the Headmaster, along with other key members of staff will be available to talk to you about the College and to outline the admissions process. Children will also have the opportunity to trial the online CEM test, one of the exams that prospective pupils complete during the Entrance Examinations day, which will take place on Saturday 10 November 2018 from 9.30am to 3.30pm.

Please click here to access the online booking form for the Year 5 Taster Day. 

For those parents who are unable to attend the Parents’ Information Session, your child will be transported back to Crescent for 3.30pm.

We hope you can join us and look forward to welcoming you to Princethorpe College.

With kind regards from the Admissions Team at Princethorpe College. 

Registrar - Mrs Vanessa Rooney
01926 634201
vanessarooney@princethorpe.co.uk
Working hours: 08.30-17.00

Assistant Registrar - Miss Helen Morgan
01926 634262
helenmorgan@princethorpe.co.uk
Working hours: 08.30-13.30

Admissions Administrator - Mrs Catherine Rogers
01926 634262
catherinerogers@princethorpe.co.uk
Working hours: 13.00-17.30

Saturday 29 September 2018

This year the Crescent School celebrates 70 years since it was formally founded back in 1948. 70th anniversary celebrations are planned for the Michaelmas Term when the school will also officially mark 30 years at its current site. On Saturday 29 September the school will open its doors and welcome pupils past and present back into school to celebrate its double anniversary. It will be a fantastic opportunity for people to come and see their old school and to catch up with old friends. There will be tours, displays, activities, the school choir will sing, the Bilton Silver Band will play and there will be refreshments available.

Do put the date in your diary and do encourage any Old Crescentians you know to get back in touch with the school and to come and join in the celebrations.

The school has created a Facebook Group the Old Crescentians which can be found here: www.facebook.com/groups/oldcrescentians to help connect past pupils. If there are any past pupils who do not have Facebook, they can email pastpupils@crescentschool.co.uk or contact the main office on 01788 521595.

It has been a wonderful 70 years for the Crescent School. 

As the year goes on the list is growing.

Congratulations to these children for achieving their first Junior da Vinci student status:

• Archie Monteith in Maths
• Evie Bierton in English
• Finlay Calder in Science
• Freya Somerset in English
• Idan Dar for English
• Maryn Yates in RE

A big well done to these children for gaining another Junior da Vinci status making them double da Vinci Students:

• Eric Hutchinson in Maths
• Freddie Spicer in English
• Maisie Tucker in Maths
• Matthew Browne in Geography
• Mehul Patel in Maths

A super achievement!

• Drew Ovens-Gibbs
• Harry Slaytor
• Nicholas Pollard
• Olivia Cooke
• Roisin Banks
• Sam Bierton
• Samuel Oldham
• Timi Ladele

Girls from Years 3 and 4 represented the school in rounders matches at Crackley Hall on Thursday 24 May. All three matches were a very close call with every pupil showing fantastic progress in their knowledge and understanding of the rules and tactics of the game.

In the U9A game it was a real nail-biter. The Crescent girls really switched on in the 2nd innings to produce some superb batting skills, showing a good level of awareness of when to run and when to hold on a base, taking advantage of some misfielding.

The Crackley side went in for their 2nd innings needing 5 rounders to win the game and our girls fielded fantastically to get the whole of Crackley’s team out. This introduced new rules and experiences for both teams, gaining an understanding of what to do when the last remaining player comes in to bat and the different ways you can get the team out.

A wonderful team effort – player of the game was given to Amelie Frere for consistent bowling and great batting.

Final Score – Crackley 14 Crescent 13½

Our U9B side showed great progress within the game with some fantastic fielding, putting into practice the work we have been developing on accuracy of throwing to bases. Lovely team work, with players beginning to move in and out of field to back up bases and support play. Batting was also strong with all players able to make contact with the ball. Player of the Game was given to Harriett Gray.

Final Score – Crackley 12½ Crescent 10

The U8s displayed fantastic progress too, showing much improved knowledge of the rules and tactics of the game. Fabulous team effort by all with particular mention to Eve Ferguson for her superb batting, Hattie Sarkies for consistent bowling and Amy Robinson for solid catching on 2nd base. Player of the game went to Emme Edge.

Final Score - Crackley 11 Crescent 10   

Well done to the amazing Reception parents who raised £173.66 at the cake sale just before half term. A great effort by everyone.

In total this year across all the cake sales we've raised £1035.37, which has been used to buy classroom equipment for the children.

That's a lot of cake so thank you to everyone for purchasing from us.

Monday 11 June 2018 - 3.45pm

The next meeting will be held on Monday 11 June at 3.45pm in the Art Room.  

Please come along and join us to discuss next term's activities. Children are able to be put into after school for free for this time.

Friday 22 June - 3.20pm - 5.00pm

Our final event of the year is the Summer Fête. This year we will be having inflatables, donkeys, games (including some new ones and some old classics!), a tombola stall, adopt a teddy, candyfloss, face painting, nail painting and tattoos, cakes and refreshments, and the school raffle. The raffle tickets have already been sent home with your children, please return these to the FoC box by Wednesday 20 June.

We also require donations for our raffle and tombola stall so please do bring in any gifts you can spare like wine, pimms, champagne, luxury chocolates, children toys such as lego, sweets, craft items, board games, colouring sets etc. Please leave these items on the FoC table. We also have a list of suggested items on the FoC board if you need any inspiration. We also require any old teddies/cuddly toys for our adopt a teddy stall. Again, please leave these on our FoC table.

Kate will also be holding a preloved clothing stall at the Fête so please have a look and see if you have any spare uniform. Again, please leave this on the FoC table. Sports kit like hockey sticks would be fantastic too, however no sports shoes please.

With regards to the inflatables this year (weather dependent) we will be having a dragon run (long inflatable obstacle course), a super slide and a bouncy castle. Each of these items will be £2 per child, per session. You can purchase tickets for these inflatables and the donkeys from the change table beside the raffle stall. We will also be offering a £10 per child stamp which will allow them to go on all the inflatables and the donkeys as many times as they want, again this can be bought from the change stall. 

We look forward to seeing you!

The Summer Fête is this year is on Friday 22 June. This is always a very popular whole school event and you are of course all warmly invited to come along and join in the fun.

In line with the Christmas Bazzar, we would like to give the younger children the opportunity to come and have a go on the games and stalls before the rest of the school arrive. If you would like to take advantage of this, please arrive at the normal dismissing door to collect your child from 3.20pm on that day and you will be able to go to the sports field for half an hour or so before the rest of the older children come in.

Of course, if you are unable to get here for that time please do not worry, your children will be looked after by their usual teachers and staff. Any children who have not been collected early will be brought to the door at the normal time for collection.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Please click on the link below to view the upcoming lunch menu: 

Lunch Menu Week Commencing 11 June 2018

Crescent School Office

We require a well-qualified, enthusiastic and energetic graduate to teach Spanish from November 2018. The ability to teach Spanish to GCSE is essential with Spanish to A-level and French to KS3 desirable. Full and part-time applications will be considered.

The person(s) appointed will be expected to motivate and inspire pupils of all ranges of ability across Key Stages 3 and 4 as well as stimulating further interest in the subject through extra-curricular clubs and events. Candidates should be able to demonstrate success in the classroom and be effective team players.

This is an excellent opportunity to join the fast growing Foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Monday 18 June 2018, at 9.00am. Interviews are likely to be held on Wednesday 20 June 2018 at Princethorpe.
Further details and an application form are available from the College website www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment-opportunities

We are looking to recruit an IT Apprentice, at Level 3, to join the busy Foundation IT department, to start by August 2018, although later starts will be considered for the right candidate. They will report to the Assistant Head (Director of Digital Strategy) and will be based in Princethorpe College with some duties at the Foundation feeder schools, Crackley Hall School in Kenilworth and Crescent School in Rugby.

The candidate will be a member of the IT Service Desk team providing a front-line service to staff across all three schools and for pupils in the College.

The role would provide the successful candidate with an inside view of the workings and the organisation of a multisite network, implementation procedures of new hardware/software, including expansion and development of existing and new IT services. They will have responsibility for the first point of contact on the ICT helpdesk with all users.

Interested candidates will have good communication and organisational skills, as well as the ability to work on their own and as part of a team. They will be studying an IT related Apprenticeship at level three or four. Likely courses are IT, Software and Telecoms Professionals, IT Application Specialist or Infrastructure Technician, although this list is not exhaustive. Training for the Apprenticeship will be on day release at Warwickshire College, who are the training service provider for the Apprenticeship.

An IT Apprenticeship will enable the successful candidate to gain hands on experience; they will be trained to provide support to users on various levels, from toner replacements, stock checks and Audio Visual setups, to supporting end users with any technical and software queries.

Candidates are welcome to discuss the Apprenticeship courses in more detail with Emma Rogers, Worked-based Learning Manager, Warwickshire College Group on 01788 863230.

Single person accommodation on site may be available.

This is an excellent opportunity to join the fast growing Foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package including discounted places for staff, a pension scheme, child care vouchers and a cycle to work scheme.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Wednesday 27 June at 9.00am, with interviews likely to be held on Tuesday 3 July at Princethorpe College.

Further details and an application form are available from the College website www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment-opportunities

Required for November 2018, after the Michaelmas half term break, a well-qualified graduate to teach Mathematics to KS3 and KS4 in a flourishing and successful department. Familiarity with Pearson’s IGCSE would be an additional recommendation, but is not essential.

Enthusiasm to become involved with the extra-curricular life of the school is essential. Candidates should be able to demonstrate success in the classroom and be effective team players. Full and part-time applications will be considered.

This is an excellent opportunity to join the fast growing Foundation that values its staff and offers a rewarding benefits package.

Application: To apply for this vacancy applicants must submit a Princethorpe College application form, together with a CV and covering letter detailing your personal qualities, experience and how you meet the person specification for the role. Applicants must ensure the application form is fully completed, including a detailed career history with specific dates.

Closing date: Monday 18 June 2018, at 9.00am. Interviews are likely to be held on Thursday 21 June 2018 at Princethorpe.

Further details and an application form are available from the College website www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment-opportunities