The Courier

Dear Parents

Welcome back to our first edition of the Courier of the Trinity Term. It has been lovely to see all of the children returning to school in their summer uniforms and quickly getting back into their routines of work and play.

Those of you who drop your children off at the side gate will have noticed the appearance this week of our new bicycle and scooter storage shelter. All of our thanks for this go to the Friends of Crescent, and thereby to all of you as parents. The FoC committee carefully considered the application to fund the shelter and agreed to it as it was a project that would benefit all in the school and encourage healthy lifestyles.

The original idea for this came from the parental survey we sent out back in November and it is wonderful to see that plenty of children have started using the shelter already. Our very first customer on Monday morning was Sofie in Class I and others have been appearing ever since. I counted six bikes and four scooters on Thursday, which is a great start.

I know it’s not possible for everyone to do it but please do feel free to make use of the new facility, particularly during the lighter and warmer weeks of the summer term.

I must give a special mention this week to the Year 5 children who took part in the JLR Challenge over at Princethorpe on Thursday. They looked fantastic in their camouflage outfits and a great deal of work had gone into preparing the project and designing their miniature car which raced on the day against six other teams from local schools. Various staff were involved and I know a number of parents were also very active in securing sponsorship, providing the outfits and helping with the design. Many thanks to all of them and also a special thank you to Mrs Byrne who has coordinated and driven the whole thing forward. This has taken a tremendous amount of patience and hard work and I know the parents and children genuinely appreciated everything she did.

My Year 6 Geography class have been working towards the final of the Inter-House Geography quiz and this culminated on Wednesday in the final in the school hall. Thanks to those parents of the finalists who were able to attend and well done to all the competitors who amazed everyone with their geographical knowledge. St Andrews were the eventual winners in a closely fought final.

I hope you all have a relaxing extended weekend. Along with the Year 3 children I will be preparing for the trip to Whitemoor Lakes that leaves on Tuesday. Let’s hope for some lovely May weather to enjoy.

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.

We start Trinity term with the category of Good Friends and focus on the theme of good manners. Simple acts of courtesy and kindness can make such a difference to our quality of life and it is something we value very highly at Crescent, as I know you do at home.

'We use our manners all the time'

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Please click on the link below to view the weekly calendar.  The calendar details all the co-curricular clubs for Trinity term. 

Due to the Open Evening on Tuesday Drama, Cricket and Rounders Clubs will not be running.  SOCS Co-Curricular has been amended to reflect this.

Weekly Calendar - 070519 

Crescent School

After all the preparations, the plans, the discussions, the designs and the build it was finally time to plug in the compressed air canisters and get down to some serious racing at this year’s Jaguar Primary School Challenge Regional Final.  Team ‘Crescent Cobras’, comprising Class V’s Harry Barnwell, Ariana Gray, Milly Knott, Sienna Moran and Joseph Yates, had been fiendishly busy working hard to prepare for the big day.  The challenge requires teams to research, design, manufacture, test, promote and race the fastest car possible using standard chassis and engine housing nets with a car body made only from card. It is a technical brief but one that has proven to really engage potential future engineers.

As soon as they parked up at Princethorpe College, the team leapt into action setting up their pit display. Crescent’s team boards and table displays looked smart and professional. Bright colours and eye-catching graphics told the visual story of their journey so far.

After a welcome from Mr Scopes, Head of Design Technology at Princethorpe College, they were on to their first assessment, the Portfolio and Pit Stop Display, the team took time to carefully explain their displays to the judges.  Then it was on to the Engineering judging where the team were examined on their car design and manufacturing process before the all-important Verbal presentation where the judges were looking at technique, composition and knowledge of subject matter.

During the day, the team also had to complete an Additional Challenge, a Design Technology Challenge to manufacture a carry case for their racing car.  The focus of the exercise was once again to test the team’s ability to work together, delegate, design and manufacture. 

Then finally, it was time to get down to the serious business of racing. This was, after all, what the whole challenge has been about. Team Crescent Cobras carefully set up their car for a head-to-head down the racetrack and prepared themselves quietly and calmly for the competition. The cardboard Formula One cars flew down the track recording lightning-quick times. In a matter of seconds, it was all over.

Standards had been incredibly high and after a day’s worth of demonstration, presentations and racing the judges got down to their deliberations and analysing the scores.  When the results were announced, Crescent were delighted to find out that they had won the award for ‘Best Verbal Presentation’.

Mrs Byrne who helped guide the team was jubilant, “What an amazing day. Our pupils have worked so hard. This is the first time we have entered this competition and the children have dealt with the pressure of competition brilliantly.  I am very proud of them all.”

Huge thanks to everyone involved in supporting Crescent’s entry, we could not have done it without you.

In Assembly this morning the following children were awarded their badges in recognition of being made Sports captains this term:

• Mehul - Cricket Captain
• Olivia - Rounders Captain

Congratulations!

I was very proud to be able to attend the JLR primary schools design competition at Princethorpe on Thursday 2 May 2019. As well as all of the excellent activities which the children were involved in, they held a teachers race. This was very skilfully won by our very own Mrs Byrne, seeing her crowned as ‘fastest teacher!’

Next Tuesday is our Open Evening where we will welcome prospective families to come and look at our school, many of the children in Years 4, 5 and 6 are involved.

Please check your Evolve message for details on what time your child should be arriving and being collected and also on what they should be wearing (Year 4 to wear summer uniform and blazers, many of the Year 5 and 6 are in sports kit and blazers).

Any children that were signed up for staying in school will be looked after by staff and taken to their first activity.

All children are to be dropped off and collected by the pupil door or on the sports field.

Thank you for your help and support with this.

Dear Year 5 Parents

As from Tuesday 7 May,you will be able to register online for your child to sit the 11+ exam for the local authority selective grammar schools. The deadline for these applications is 4pm on 28 June 2019 so you have plenty of time, although the best advice is always to get it done as soon as you are sure that you will be applying. You can find full details on the link below, where you will need to set up a user account in order to apply to sit the test:

https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/admissions

Please also note that the next significant date in the school calendar regarding this process are Monday 17 June for the transition meetings for Class VF and Tuesday 18 June for Class VY. This will be meeting with Ms Forth, Mrs Yates and Ms Lowe, where they will discuss with you the different options for secondary transfer and which schools would be a good match for your son or daughter. The appointment booking system for these meetings will be opened in due course.

Hopefully, as the weather brightens and warms your children will be outdoors in upcoming weeks rather than thinking of screen time.  However, we'll continue with our series of advice on safe online family use - this week we are looking at APPS.

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

Tuesday 7 May 2019 - 5.00pm to 7.30pm

Crescent School is opening its doors for an Open Evening on Tuesday 7 May from 5.00pm to 7.30pm. 

This is a fantastic opportunity for prospective families to look around the school and chat to staff and pupils. On site there will be plenty to see and do, including sporting displays, classroom activities and the opportunity to attend a short presentation by our Headmaster, Joe Thackway.

Prospective grown ups, and little visitors, are most welcome and there is no need to book.

If you can't make the Open Day but would like to visit the school, please call our Registrar, Mrs Helen Morley on 01788 523851 and come on a day to suit you, we welcome visitors on most days.

For more information visit www.crescentschool.co.uk

Wednesday 5 June 2019 - 6.30pm to 8.30pm 

The College's Summer Open Evening will take place on Wednesday 5 June from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. This is an informal opportunity for prospective families to look around the school and to meet members of staff and pupils.

There will be activities in each department for children to participate in, and the Headmaster will also address visitors in the Chapel during the evening. Light refreshments are available.

There is no need to book.

For further information please contact the Registrar, Mrs Vanessa Rooney, on 01926 634201 or email admissions@princethorpe.co.uk.

Year 5 are warmly invited to a taste of senior school life at Princethorpe College on Tuesday 11 June 2019.  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 answers 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 join us at 4.15pm for an informal Parents’ Information Session. Offering information on entry to the College for September 2020 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 9 November 2019.

Please click here to access the online booking form for the Year 5 Taster Day. Please complete and submit the form by 5.00pm by Friday 31 May to secure a place for your child.

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.

If you have any questions please contact Assistant Registrar Helen Morgan on 01926 634262.

With kind regards from the Admissions Team at Princethorpe College.

Well done to:

• Ariana in Geography
• Cara in History
• Freddie in English

A lovely start to the term for them all, congratulations!

Ms Lowe
Senior Teacher

We have two new millionaires this term:

• Idan
• Henry 

How many more can we achieve before the end of the year?

Congratulations!

• Ava
• Damilola
• Darius
• Fred
• Grace M
• Lewis
• Mya
• Oliver W
• Olivia C
• Timi 
• Zac

Well done to Sophia and Ellie who received Certificates of Excellence from the Playground Supervisors in Assembly this morning for being a good friend to others and being a good role model on the playground.

The Playground Supervisors

We started our weather topic by studying different weather types from video footage and noting what we could see, hear and feel. We then moved outside to look at and discuss today's weather, analysed the clouds and what that told us about the likelihood of rain. We made predictions based on this about tomorrow’s weather.

As a class, we think tomorrow will be cloudy with some sun.

Mrs Emery
Class I Teacher

Due to Mrs Byrne being out at the JLR competition, I had the pleasure of teaching Class IV for science on Thursday. They were making their own switches and using simple circuits to test them.

It has been lovely to have the whole class back together after the Easter break. Unfortunately, I had to miss the Rock UK trip due to illness so it was great for me to hear all about it from the children on Monday.

We have had fun multiplying fractions this week in our maths lessons. The children experimented with a variety of methods to see which worked best for them.

Due to Mrs Byrne being out at the JLR competition, I also had the pleasure of teaching 5Y a science lesson. They created their own experiment to find out what affects the rate of rusting. 

Year 6 Yellow House pupils are up and running with Play Leader activities at lunch time following their training with Mrs McCollin on Monday 29 April. 

Pupils had to learn about the skills and attributes of good leaders, drawing upon knowledge from their own sporting hero's such as Jimmy Gopperth, Wasps Fly Half, to analyse their own areas of strength and development as a leader.  They then looked at the different methods of communication, and the need to be explicit with their instructions, before heading outside for the physical aspects of the course, where they got the chance to play and lead. 

Pupils had the opportunity to lead their peers through a variety of warm up games before planning and adapting their own games and activities to run. Red House Play Leaders have set a fantastic precedent to follow by doing a wonderful job with Reception and Year 1 pupils last term, with four pupils taking the initiative to introduce reward schemes for behaviour and effort, Mia, Lucy, Olivia F and Harry.

All leaders were focused throughout their training and we are positive they are going to have a great term running their activities with the Reception, Year 1 and 2, well done to all. 

Sunday 12 May 2019 - 3.00pm

We are 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 this term's Charity.  It 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.

Sponsorship forms were sent out before the Easter holidays.  

Additional forms can be dowloaded here.

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 sign your child up using the folder on the FoC table. It costs £5 per child which includes a drink and snack. All children in Reception need to be accompanied by an adult.  

• Reception, Class I and Class II disco will be held from 3.45pm - 4.45pm 
• Classes III - VI will be held from 5.00pm - 6.00pm

You can either pay on the night or put an envelope into the FoC green post box marked 'School Disco' with your child's name on it.

More information will be available after the next FoC meeting.

Friday 24 May 2018 3.45pm - 4.45pm

Please come along and purchase cakes and sweets in aid of Reception.

Don't forget you can also purchse pre-loved uniform too.

Friday 21 June 3.20pm - 5.00pm

At this year’s Summer Fete, weather permitting, we will have donkey rides, inflatables, games for the children to play, refreshments, tombola, raffle, candy floss and the teddy stall.

Reception and Class I children will be able to attend sligtly earlier from 3.20pm.  More details to follow.

Please put the date in your diary now. 

Friday 28 June 2019

This will be held from 8pm at the Distillery Bar in Rugby. Tickets will go on sale soon. 

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

Crescent Menu - 7 May

Crescent School Office

Please see below for useful school contact information:

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

2018/19

Trinity Term
May Bank Holiday Monday 6 May 2019
Half Term Saturday 25 May to Sunday 2 June 2019
Term ends Wednesday 3 July 2019

2019/20

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

• Teacher of Religious Studies
• Head of Religious Studies
• School Nurse

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

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class I - How to help your child at home 

Mrs Emery
Class I Teacher

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class II - How to help your child at home 

Mr Webb
Class II Teacher

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class III - How to help your child at home 

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class IV - How to help your child at home

Mrs Monteith 
Class IV

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class V(F) & (Y) - How to help your child at home 

Please click on the link below which provides information regarding areas of the curriculum where you may be able to help your child at home.

Class VI - How to help your child at home