The Courier

Dear Parents

We welcomed Kieran McCullough from Princethorpe College to our assembly on Tuesday and he gave us a great message related to our school promise for the week of being honest and truthful. Kieran talked about the importance of Lent in the Christian calendar and how we use it to reflect on our achievements and shortfalls in the year gone by. The children always enjoy having a new face in assembly and Mr McCullough’s assemblies are always particularly entertaining with a good message.

I managed to get over to the national hockey finals on Wednesday at Rugby School and unfortunately it was a different story this time to my last visit for the regional finals. The boys gave everything they had but came up against bigger and better opposition on the day. In many ways the challenge of dealing with setbacks like these is just as valuable as the joy and excitement they experienced when they qualified. It was great to see that they battled on regardless of the results although inevitably there were tears of disappointment at the end. Boys, you had a great run and we are all very proud of you.

We have two important dates coming up next week that I would like to flag up for you in advance. Firstly, on Tuesday Mark Groome is coming to speak to parents about the importance of managing stress for children. He will be speaking in the hall to all parents at 4.00pm and then again at 7.00pm to Year 4 and 5 parents who are coming along to the Transition Information Evening. I do hope you get the chance to hear Mark on at least one of these occasions. Then, on Saturday we have our annual Open Morning featuring a performance by the Pre-Prep children of their play called ‘Hats Off’ as well as various sporting, musical and academic activities across the school. This promises to be a fun-packed morning and I do hope you are able to come along on the day and support the school.

I hope you all have a great weekend. There will be a team of us over at Princethorpe College on Sunday for their open afternoon and I hope to see some of you there for that.

Best Wishes

Joe Thackway

For a two or three week period this year we will be focusing on one of the sayings in the School Promise. We will talk about this in assembly and in form period. It would be great if you could discuss this with your children at home and support the messages we are emphasising in school.

From now until the end of term we will be looking at a very important idea from the Good Citizens section of the Promise:

‘We are honest and tell the truth’

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

Please note:

• Both Junior and Senior Drama Club and Philosophy Club have finished for Lent Term
• Orchestra will not run after school on Friday due to the House Swimming Gala

Weekly Calendar - 250319

Crescent School

We’re delighted to announce that our new look website has been officially launched!

Developed in conjunction with website company e4education, the site has a lighter, brighter look and feel and includes features such as a News and Stories wall with social media feeds, an interactive direction map and a live subscribable calendar.

Current parents, pupils and staff can easily access school systems via the Portals tab in the top right hand corner of the school site.

The Admissions pages give prospective parents all the information they need at their fingertips, including forthcoming open event dates and deadlines for applications.

We hope that visitors will enjoy browsing the new site and finding out more about the rich and varied life of the Crescent.

To visit the new website go to www.crescentschool.co.uk

To go straight to the portals page use the link www.crescentschool.co.uk/parents-area-crescent

Play Leaders organise and lead lunchtime play sessions for the children in Reception and Pre-Prep classes.  Each week Class VI Playleaders will award certificates to children for positive participation and these will be presented in assembly on a Friday.

This week the children have been awarded certificates for helping, suggesting ideas, being sensible and good listening.

Well done all.

The following children received Certificates of Excellence from the Playground Supervisors in Assembly this morning:

• Maya for helping lunchtime supervisors to collect up coats left in the playground
• Matthew for keeping the peace on the playground

The Playground Supervisors

Every year, Years 5 and 6 enter their writing into a local competition, the Rupert Brooke Literary Prize, run by Rugby School. I am thrilled to announce that this year two pupils have received recognition for their super work.  Izzy Slaytor's entry was awarded 3rd prize and Jamie Capelett's was judged Highly Commended.

This year the competition title was 'Earth', a topic that could be explored in any writing style or genre.

Izzy will attend a special prize giving ceremony in May.

Huge congratulations to both pupils.

Open Morning is now only a week away, it is a fantastic opportunity to come and share the school with your child, to watch the Pre-Prep performance, visit a drop in session or see your child taking part in an activity - and of course, we have some delicious refreshments.

You should all by now have received a detailed schedule explaining where to come, what time, uniform requirements and the sessions on offer. Please bring your friends and family as we are very proud of our school.

Do contact your child's form tutor if you have any further questions. I look forward to welcoming you around the school on the Saturday 30 March 2019.

Ms Lowe
Senior Teacher

Please find a link for our latest in our series of advice on online safety for children and families, this week featuring Gaming.  As always, open family conversation and agreed rules/priorities for all are a really good starting point.

https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/hot-topics/gaming

Please look out for events this term. On the pupil entrance every morning you can find:

• Guess the Sweets
• Guess the Celebrity
• Guess the Name of the Teddy
• Spot the Ball

Next Wednesday 27 March 2019, there will be a Penny Path in the playground.  Please do send in any British coins you no longer have the need for so the children can add them to the path.

Next Thursday 28 March we will have a treasure hunt during the school day, please send in £1 for a game card if your child would like a chance of winning.

Mystery Pick-a Book will be the following week on 3 April. 

Thank you for your continuous support for the Bwengu Projects Malawi. This year Class IV have chosen to fund food for an orphan station for six months, solar panels for a school and bunk beds for a girls school as it is too far for them to walk home every night.

Ms Forth
Deputy Head

The JLR team continue to work very hard both at school and in their spare time to be ready for the Jaguar Junior Challenge in May.

They have been looking at and testing car designs, aerodynamics, wind tunnels and much more along with creating a portfolio and verbal presentation to present to the judges.

In order to raise some funds for car parts and testing equipment the team will be selling a strip of raffle tickets for £1 each morning, week beginning Monday 1 April at the pupil entrance from 8.15am onwards.

The FOC have kindly allowed them to also sell tickets on Friday 5 April alongside Class I Cake Sale at home time. Prizes on offer include £50 voucher for Whilton Go Karting, Nuffield Health guest passes and a month free parking at the RCP station car park.

Mrs Byrne
DT Teacher

Tuesday 26 March 2019 - 4.00pm to 5.00pm

On 26 March 2019 we welcome Mark Groome to school for two information sessions on the important area of promoting childhood happiness and well-being. The first will be in the main hall from 4.00pm and is aimed at parents from all year groups in the school. Later in the evening there is an information evening for Year 4 and 5 parents on the transition process into Year 7 and Mark will be talking on the theme of managing exam stress.

Mark is an engaging speaker with a 'parent friendly’ approach and I am sure you will enjoy his presentations. Full details of both events have been sent to all parents in a separate ISAMS message so please do check your inboxes for this and respond to the school office as required.

Tuesday 26 March 2019 - 7.00pm to 8.30pm

The focus of the evening is to go through with parents the potentially daunting process of finding the right school for your son or daughter when they leave us at the end of Year 6.  You will be told about how and when to apply for maintained and independent secondary schools, the type of standardised scoring that the maintained schools use and there will be advice from members of staff on preparing your child for the exams they will be sitting. The evening will clarify the timeline involved in this and explain a bit more about how we can help you navigate the process without too much anxiety. 

This year we are also delighted to welcome along Mark Groome, who will talk about the important area of managing stress for children, and parents, though the minefield of entrance exams, interviews and school applications. 

This meeting will be held in the School Hall.  Parking will be available on the Playground from 6.45pm.

Friday 29 March 2019 - 2.00pm to 4.00pm

The House Swimming Gala is on Friday 29 March from 2.00pm to 4.00pm at Rugby School.  All children in Years 3-6 will be involved and will need their swimming costumes, two towels and their PE t-shirt. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accommodate spectators at this event. However, there is a short presentation after at 3.45pm which parents can attend.

Please pick your child up from Rugby School at 4.00pm or email Crescent School Office in advance if your child needs to go into after school and we will arrange for them to get back to school.  Siblings are able to be picked up from school earlier to assist with collection from Rugby school, again, please let the school office know.

Saturday 30 March - 9.30am to 12.00pm

Join us for our Spring Open Morning, a wonderful opportunity to look around the school and meet staff and pupils.

As part of the Open Morning there will be a very special performance by Reception to Year 2 pupils, along with children from Pathfinders Nursery, of Hats Off - An All-Weather Musical. A fun and educational musical that takes the audience on a tour through the changing seasons of the year as Apple the pony tries to find a hat suitable for the weather.

It promises to be fantastic entertainment for visitors of all ages, and will really showcase the talents, confidence and stage presence of the school's youngest pupils. The show commences at 10.00am and we would urge visitors to arrive early to get a good seat!

After the half-hour performance there will be a short presentation about the Crescent and our ambitions for the school as part of the Princethorpe Foundation, and the chance to meet  Headmaster, Joe Thackway. There will also be short Q&A sessions with Alan Webb, Assistant Head - Head of Pre-Prep and Headmaster Joe Thackway about the Crescent's offering for Reception to Year 2 and Year 3 to Year 6. 

Elsewhere on site there will be plenty to see and do, including guided tours by the older pupils, sporting displays, instrumental performances, plus the opportunity to visit classrooms and chat informally to current parents and staff from Pathfinders, the Crescent and Princethorpe College. Light refreshments will be available. There is no need to book.

For more information about the Open Morning please call Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley on 01788 523851 or email admissions@crescentschool.co.uk.

Thursday 4 April 2019 - 2.15pm to 3.15pm

We will be presenting our annual Spring Concert on Thursday 4 April. It will feature all the extra-curricular music groups as well as some soloists and will start at 2.15pm.

All are welcome to come and hear the results of this term’s music hard work and effort!

Friday 5 April 2019 - 2.45pm to 3.45pm

All are welcome to attend our Easter Service in the School Hall on Friday 5 April.  This will be led by Classes 5Y and 5F and the Choir.

It has been a good week in Science with the following children becoming Junior da Vinci students:

• Freya 
• Izzy 
• Jay 
• Rania 

Sienna Moran is a double Junior da Vinci student this week in English and Art and Design.

Good work everybody.

Ms Lowe
Senior Teacher

Cara and Lily have now read a million words on Accelerated Reading, an excellent achievement by both.   

• Akaal
• Aryaan
• Fred
• Matthew
• Sophia
• Timi

Congratulations to Anand who achieved his Diamond Challenge Certificate for Times Tables:

The times table challenge is a drop in session in the Library with myself on a Wednesday morning for Classes II - VI.

To start our Jack and the Beanstalk topic off in English, Class I planted beans in pots, decorated a castle and attached the castle to a skewer to allow their beans to climb up through the clouds to the castle just like a beanstalk. We then set about writing instructions for planting a bean using first, next, then and finally. Some great instructional writing took place and we are all excited about caring for our plants and watching them grow. 

After researching information about owls and writing a non-fiction report, the children were asked to be TV presenters and report back to the class on their findings. We watched a David Attenborough documentary so they knew the style we were looking for in a nature presentation. The children worked in small groups and had to decide who was saying what, the order they would go in and then practise it as a whole group.

We filmed the presentations as if it was real life TV and the children totally rose to the occasion. There were nerves but watching the videos back, you would never have known. A great exercise in building teamwork, a range of communication skills and the realisation that even when things are hard or scary, if you push through the tough parts, you get the rewards of success in the end.  

Class I Parents will receive a link via Flickr to view the presentations.

In DT this week Class I have designed and made their own fruit pictures. You can see from the colourful designs they had lots of fun!

Class II children have this week, for the first time, practised for Hats Off without their script.  We are really excited about sharing our words, our actions and our songs with the school, our families and visitors next week. 

We think you're all going to love it!

In PSHE one of our warm up games was to get the hoola hoop around the circle without breaking the circle. Much laughter accompanied some very good team work as we helped each other.

We have been reflecting on how we have changed since starting Class III and what we have achieved and are proud of so far. To help us appreciate that change has to happen for something to improve or adapt, we are watching with anticipation our five new members of the class! Updates to follow!

Faris has taken the time this week (excuse the pun!) to explore the history and design of clocks, following our maths objectives last week. We were fascinated by the video he shared and the facts he presented. He was awarded a Junior da Vinci for creativity for his efforts.

Class IV completed their letters as WW2 evacuees this week. They really grasped the essence of the events of the evacuations; describing the upset of the journeys, some travelling as far as Australia others to the countryside locally.

The children captured the relief of being posted with kind people or distant relatives and the upset at being separated from their families.

All the children worked very hard and they’ve shown a real empathy with the time period we’ve studied and I’m pleased that some of the children have been happy to share snippets of their letters with you here.

In art this week Class IV have created their own clay fantasy houses.

Class IV suffered a gruelling 40 minutes of silence on Wednesday, but they all managed it without exception!

Now time for them to collect their sponsor money please.

Well done all.

Today Miss Bowen will be finishing her eight week placement at Crescent school. She is a Warwick University PGCE student who is on her final placement before she becomes a fully qualified teacher.

Miss Bowen has been teaching many subjects in school, assisted in sport, contributed to clubs and built a wonderful rapport as a form teacher with her class.

The staff at Crescent and pupils in Class VI wish her well and good luck on the next steps in her career, as she now applies for jobs and to have her own class.

The children presented her with a card and some gifts to show their appreciation.

The children are enjoying Happy Lunchtimes with lots of new 'circus theme' toys.  A big thank you to the FoC for providing the funds to purchase these. 

The children are having lots of fun testing them all out.

It was lovely to hear the children from Pre-Prep (Reception to Class II) reading in the Library this week during their rehearsal for the Open Morning production.

Wonderful reading by all.

Crescent School

Year 1 and 2 children love to chill out after swimming on a Tuesday lunchtime with Story Club.  Maisie found this week's story very relaxing while for Emily the ending was a real surprise!

On Wednesday 20 March some the Year 5 and 6 swimming team headed to Warwick School for the English Schools Swimming Association Relay Gala.  This was the last of four rounds of the event involving schools from all over the West Midlands. 

The team swam extremely well and were crowned West Midlands Small School Champions in the Freestyle Relay and placed third in the Medley Relay earning themselves a place at the National Finals for both events on the 15 June.  

A fantastic achievement, well done to all involved. 

Crescent have never finished in the top two of this competition (the top two going on to Regional Finals). This year, the boys were determined to perform and get through on the back of their success at the IAPS.

The boys opened up with a 2-0 win against Crackley and then defended well against Warwick before scoring a short corner for a 1-0 win. Nerves then potentially got to the boys as they drew with Bilton Grange and Solihull - teams that they had previously beaten. However, when the results were gathered, Crescent were crowned County Champions.

They now progress on to the Regionals next week.

What a fantastic achievement!

This is a tournament that we have played in for a number of years. It is a tournament of largely small schools so is a good fit for us.

It was a larger school who usually do well that we came up against first and the boys dominated. An early strike from George C and some key saves late on by George R meant that we started with a win.

There was then a hard fought game with Sheepy Magna who looked a strong team. They scored an early goal which could have made the boys’ heads drop. However, they kept battling and great defending from Sachin and Kai, hard work by Jack and Josh and then a breakaway goal by Isaac, saw us come away with a draw.

We then went on to beat Twycross B and we finished top of the group. Twycross A met us in the semi-final and, after an exciting game and extra time, the game went to penalties. George C slotted his in before George R saved the Twycross effort. George R then stepped up to score the winning penalty!

It was the first time that Crescent have reached the final of this competition. We were well beaten in the final but it was a really pleasing performance all the way through from the boys.

It was always going to be a tough tournament for Crescent with seven out of the eight players being a year young. Crescent ended up losing all of their games but there were some real highlights and a lot of learning from it all. Fin scored a top corner tomahawk, Josh made lots of great saves (having been pretty redundant in the previous round), Noah and Tom showed a huge improvement in their confidence on the ball and George showed a lot of maturity in his play. Matthew was skilful on the right, Archie improved as the tournament went on and James showed great commitment in defence.

We are all proud of you.

Mr Phillips
Head of PE and Games

Sunday 12 May 2019 - 3.00pm

We will be holding a Draycote Water sponsored run, scoot, walk or cycle in aid of the mental health charity Place2Be.

The school council have decided Place2Be is next term's Charity.  This is a charity that provides school based support and in-depth programmes to improve the well-being of pupils, families, teachers and school staff. For more information please go to www.place2be.org.uk.

Please put the date in your diary now. Sponsorship forms will be sent out just before the Easter holidays.

We are looking for any good quality second hand dressing up clothes for Happy Lunchtimes. If you have any you are happy to give to the school please leave them on the FoC table. 

Just to make everyone aware that we have second hand uniform that can be purchased from the FoC. Blazers and Black coats are only £5 and all other branded uniform is only £1 per item. We are looking to do an inventory of all the uniform we currently have at school which your Year Group representative will have access to and will send around to you all via your facebook and whatsapp groups. You will then be able to check this before you order new uniform to see if we have the size you require. If you wish to purchase something please speak to Mr Thackway on the door in the morning when you drop off and he, or his Year 6 helper, will be able to get this item for you.

If you also have any good quality uniform that no longer fits your child please donate this to the FoC by leaving it on the FoC table. Please ensure it is washed and ready to sell.

Friday 5 April 2019 - 3.45pm to 4.45pm

Please come along and purchase cakes and sweets from Class I. All money raised will go towards crafts, games and toys for their class.

As this date is also the Spring Concert, there will be a small selction to purchase in the hall after the concert, however, the main bake sale will be held on the Sports Field.

Monday 13 May 2019 - 3.45pm to 4.45pm

Please come along and join us at our next meeting if you're available. We will be discussing Father's Day craft, Disco, Reception Market Day as well as the Summer Fete which this year will be held on Friday 21 June. 

Please sign your child(ren) into after school for free if you wish to attend.

Please click on the link below to view next week's lunch menu: 

Crescent Menu - 250319 

Crescent School Office

Summer uniform is to be worn after the Easter break.  Below you can find the requirements:

Girls 

• Grey blazer 
• Green and white striped dress
• Green school cardigan
• White knee-high socks
• Straw boater with green band or green school sun hat

Boys 

• Grey blazer 
• White short-sleeved shirt with collar and tie
• Green school pullover
• Grey short trousers or long grey trousers
• Grey knee length socks
• Green school sun hat

Uniform can be ordered from the school shop (details below) or you can pop into the school office to collect a form.

Crescent School

Please find below term dates for this academic year and next:

2018/19

Lent Term
Term starts Monday 7 January 2019
Half Term Saturday 16 February to Sunday 24 February 2019
Term ends Wednesday 10 April 2019

2019/20

Please find a link below to the current vacancies available across the Foundation:

• Teacher of French
• Teacher of Mathematics
• Teacher of PE and Girls' Games
• Graduate Sports Coach
• Art Technician
• Facilities Assistant Manager

Full details of the roles and how to apply are available via the following link https://www.princethorpe.co.uk/employment-opportunities

Please see below for useful school contact information:

The following items are stocked in the School Office and can be added to your account:

• Winter hats
• Scarfs
• Gloves
• Ties
• Swimming hats
• Sports socks
• Hair bands
• Hair scrunchies
• Hair clips
• Sun hats
• Music group badges - Choir, Orchestra, String, Brass and Wind

Please do pop in if you need any of the above items.

Crescent School Office

Please click on the link below to read all about what the Reception Class have been learning this week.

Reception Round Up - 220319