The Courier

Dear Parents,

We have arrived at half term! It has been a time of considerable change and adjustment to new routines and norms, both for the school and for me personally. I am left feeling very positive about the road before us. At this stage I am keen to gather the views of all parents as we start to build up a plan for the years ahead. As part of this process you will all be invited to complete a short online questionnaire shortly after half term, so please keep an eye on you inboxes for this in a couple of weeks' time.

Thank you to all those parents who came into school during the week and met their teachers to discuss how your children are settling in to their new classes. It is early in the year and at this stage it is very important for you to meet and get to know your child's form teacher and these evenings play an important part in the process. It does of course make it a long day for staff, and I would also thank them for their efforts, but it is great for them to hear the positive feedback and recognition for their efforts that so many of you gave on Tuesday and Thursday. If there is a single secret for children succeeding in school it is the partnership that is forged between school and home and this is certainly something that I want to build on and develop in the years ahead. At the end of this term you will all receive a full written report on your child's progress and also some important next step targets for further improvement.

We look forward to a full two-week break that gives the children a chance to recharge their batteries and reinvigorate themselves in the midst of the longest term of the school year. I know that many Year 6 children will be doing important preparation for their upcoming independent school exams but I do hope that all of you can find time to make a visit to a local place of interest, historical, geographical or natural, during the holiday. Young children get so much out of these trips and it is great way to enjoy a day out together as a family.

Enjoy the break

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Congratulations to the following children who have been appointed as team captains for the season:

Girls' Football - Olivia Sarkies

Girls' Hockey - Georgia Dowling

Boys' Football - Daniel Pinks

Boys' Rugby - Matthew Browne

Boys' Hockey - Oliver Bell

It was also great to hear from Games Captains Georgia and Oliver in assembly this morning about all of the feats and endeavours of the school's teams during a very active and successful half term on the sports field.

Best wishes,

Joe Thackway

The following children have been awarded Honours Certificates this term. Congratulations to all.

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Mrs Claire Tucker as the new school receptionist and administrator after a lengthy and rigorous recruitment process. Claire comes with a good deal of recent and relevant experience of working in schools, namely at Princethorpe College, along with an impressive career in administration generally. I am quite sure that Claire will be a tremendous asset to us in lots of different ways. There will be a hand over period where Mrs Randle will be able to pass on her considerable expertise and knowledge before Claire takes up her post next month. I know you will want to join with me in welcoming Claire to the school and wishing her well in her new role.

Best wishes,

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

The children have settled in fantastically and already know many of our day to day routines. They've been working hard recognising and writing numbers up to 10. They have been hunting for patterns around school and created their own repeating patterns. The children have learned lots of single letters and their sounds with the help of Geraldine Giraffe, and have been trying to write their names using cursive letters. The class are continuing to make lots of new friends and enjoying our time with the older children during lunch.

Some of the things that the children might experience next half term

We will be starting a new theme about celebrations. We will learn about festivals of light and be starting to think about Christmas. We will be creating number spells to help us practise our numbers. We will be continuing to practise writing cursive letters.

Claire Pullen
Reception Teacher

Please find detailed below ways in which you can help your child at home and other useful information: 

• Practise writing first names in cursive letters
• Encourage the children to identify sounds in stories that you share. Though some children may not yet recognise words there will be many letter sounds they notice
• Practise forming numbers 0-10. We have been doing this in class. Practice is really beneficial and is a tremendous boost to the children's confidence with numbers
• Please remember to sign your child's reading record each evening
• Please let us know if someone else is collecting your child at the end of the day
• The children need wellies in school especially as the weather gets colder and damper into winter

Best wishes

Claire Pullen
Reception Class Teacher

The latest edition of The Circular, Crescent School’s review of the year for pupils, parents and staff, is out now and you should have received a copy this week.

The new look format includes lots of stories and photos from the last school year, 2016-17 and gives an insight into the many wonderful learning experiences that happen, day in day out, at the Crescent School.  

Attached below is an electronic copy of The Circular that you are welcome to download and share with family and friends.

The Circular 2017

The School Shop is open during term time, Monday to Friday from 10.30am until 4.30pm.

Parents must make an appointment in advance if they would like to visit the Shop between 10.30am and 3.30pm when the school grounds are used by pupils.

We offer a free weekly uniform delivery service to Crescent for orders placed directly with the shop or at Crescent school office. 

To make an appointment, please contact the School Shop Manager, Miss Nicola Browne, on 01926 634272 (direct line) or via email at uniform@princethorpe.co.uk. 

Thursday 2 November 2017 - 10.30am - 12.30pm

The College is holding an Open Morning on Thursday 2 November from 10.30am to 12.30pm.  Pupil tour guides will be available to show visitors around the school. A perfect opportunity to view the School ahead of the Entrance Examiniations day on Saturday 11 November. 

Please do spread the word amongst friends and family, all are very welcome.

For further information please visit www.princethorpe.co.uk

Every child in Years 3 to 6 who achieve 85% or above when they quiz on a book are awarded a star. The stars are put into a lucky dip for each class every half term to win a little prize. 

This half term's winners are: Eve Ferguson, Arabella Drinkwater, Chloe Wensley, Oliver Bentley and Ethan Capelett. Well done to all of you. 

Remember; the more stars you get, the higher the chance of winning. 

Sarah Lowe
Class VI Teacher

What an amazing start to our Junior da Vinci programme! Many children have been awarded a creativity, mastery or practice sticker through many aspects of school life. The children have appreciated that any one of them has the potential to attain an award.

Please take a look at our ever changing Junior da Vinci board by the pupil entrance. If any parents are unsure of how to encourage your child, there will be handouts attached to the board.

Make sure to check out the article below to see who has received Junior da Vinci Awards this week - well done to all!

Sarah Lowe
Class VI Teacher and Junior da Vinci Lead

Sometimes children enjoy having a real purpose that motivates them to write. Perhaps your child would love to write a poem about smells! If so, The Mighty Nose Awards is back and looking for children aged 7-11 years to create smell-inspired poems for the chance to win prizes for themselves and for their schools.

For more information, please visit: http://martythemightynose.org/competition or view our competitions board. Please do let me know if you enter. 

Sarah Lowe
Class VI Teacher and Junior da Vinci Lead

Tuesday 24 October 10.00am - 1.00pm

On Tuesday 24 October Mrs Lowe and Mr Thackway will be available in school to discuss the 11+ results and placings between 10.00am and 1.00pm. If you are unable to make this date, Mrs Lowe will be available during the second week of half term via email, if that is more convenient.

Even if you do not wish to discuss it, we ask that you send us your child's score and placing for our own records.

Sarah Lowe
Class VI Teacher

The following children have received Junior da Vinci Awards this week. Congratulations to all.

The following children have been awarded Accelerated Reader Awards this week. Congratulations to all.

Georgia Dowling, Christopher Gibson, Chloe Wensley and Clara Woolf.

Reading Eggs certificates have, this week, been awarded to Shayla Panchal, Harry McBean, Damilola Oredope, Roisin Banks, Alex Grove and Emily Barnwell.

Congratulations to all.

Alan Webb
Class II Teacher and Assistant Head - Head of Pre-Prep

The Girls' U10 hockey team gathered together for the Warwick Prep School Hockey Festival on Saturday 7 October.

During an exciting set of matches the girls truly showed what heroes they were!

The day began with a slightly nervous start against Bablake. Even though they were the youngest team at the tournament they eventually started to dominate the first game and were unlucky to come out with a draw.

The Croft came next and proved to be too organised for our girls scoring two to secure their win. Not deterred and after defending their very first short corner they faced Warwick Blue. The much older team were intimidated by the speed and aggression of the Crescent girls. Amy Robinson showed great skill and composure down the middle and passed the ball to the hard-working and tenacious Eve Ferguson who smashed the ball into the goal for the first score of the day, 1-0 to Crescent!

Warwick Red were next to face the increasingly confident Crescent team and were unable to pass the inpenetrable defence of the talented Lucy Hardy and Rebecca Monteith, who captained the side with great maturity. A long accurate pass from the determined Harriett Gray to Amelie Frere put Warwick on the back foot. Frere skillfully manouvered around the Warwick defence to score our second goal of the day. Confidence at an all time high Hattie Sarkies stole the ball with a super tackle and made a run for the goal skillfully dodging defenders along the way, a quick pass went to the unstoppable Frere who scored again, Crescent won 2-0!

The penultimate team to take on the girls were another big school, King Henry's. With a much older and bigger team it looked as if this would be a difficult match, but yet again, the Crescent girls were undeterred and showed great courage. The ever reliable Cara Ridd made crucial saves to keep the oppositon out and the team kept on pushing the ball into the D but were unable to capitalise on their great work, end result 0-0.

The last game was against Warwick Pink where the Crescent defence was not threatened throughout, and although our team were unable to score they remained a force to be reckoned with. 

The final results for the girls were two wins, three draws and 1 loss which was an incredible achievement as only three of the team were actually U10s. Several of the opposition coaches commented how well the girls represented the school and the skill of the Crescent team.

Well done to the following girls:

Lucy Hardy (Year 5), Harriett Gray (Year 4), Rebecca Monteith (Year 5), Amelie Frere (Year 4), Hattie Sarkies (Year 3), Eve Ferguson (Year 3), Amy Robinson (Year 3) and Cara Ridd (Year 5).

Clare Robinson

On Saturday, seven boys competed in The Foremarke Tournament. It was an impressive venue and well worth the travel. With a number of boys unavailable, Crescent took a young side and they did themselves, and the school, proud.

The boys worked really hard from the first whistle, closing down and putting tackles in. Unfortunately, they lost the first two matches but the sides were stronger (this included Mr Thackway's old school!). In the last group game, they drew 1-1 against Twycross in an end-to-end game, Fin Calder with the goal. This meant that Crescent progressed to The Plate Competition. In the semi-final, they conceded early and had to chase the game, as they had in each match. Tom Ferguson's ball over the top was chased down by Calder and he finished to restore parity. Crescent pressed for a winner. A lot of corners found the arms of the goalkeeper so Matthew Thomas advised, 'Keep the ball away from the keeper'! Harry Richards shielded the goalkeeper for a late corner meaning Ferguson found Calder who scored off his knee. In the dying seconds, Josh Gorbutt pulled off a world-class reaction save to keep Crescent ahead. Thomas pounced on a rebound late on to score but the whistle had already gone for full-time. 2-1 winners.

In the Final against Grace Dieu, Crescent again went behind early and then a fantastic strike made it 2-0. George Bell was energetic in the midfield and created chances but they did not find the net. With a few minutes left, Crescent went to a more attacking formation and Jamie Capelett started to launch long balls. Calder profited again as he scored his fourth of the tournament to give Crescent hope. The green and whites were now camped in the opposition's half but could not find the equaliser. They ended as Plate runners-up.

M Phillips

On Monday 6 November we will be holding our next FoC meeting. Anyone is welcome to join us. We will be discussing the Christmas Fete so all ideas would be very welcome.

On Friday 17 November we will be holding our first movie night of the school year showing Despicable Me 3 and will be held in the School Hall.

Please drop your child off at the Reception area at 5.00pm and pick them up at 6.30pm from the usual side entrance. It's only £5 per child which includes the movie plus a snack and drink. Please put your child(s) name down on the list on the FoC noticeboard and you can either pay on the night or put £5 in an envelope marked "movie night" with your child's name on it into the green FoC box.

All children in Reception need to be accompanied by an adult. If you would like your child to go into after-school until the movie night starts, please put their name down on the after-school sheet and tick for your child to receive tea and we'll make sure that all children receive their tea before the movie starts. 

Our Christmas Bazaar will be held on Friday 8 December straight after school. We will be having a visit from Father Christmas, a photo booth, plenty of games for the children to take part in, the Christmas raffle with loads of great prizes to win, refreshments, pre loved uniform and book sale. More details will follow on this in November.

Going forward we will be selling Pre-loved uniform at all the cake sales and the Christmas and Summer Fetes.

We will be putting a plastic container under the FoC table for any donations of unwanted/grown out of clothes. Please could we ask that these are all washed and ready to sell.

The Christmas Parents night out will now take place on Friday 8th December at Rugby's newest bar/restaurant The Pharmasea. This will be an informal evening of cocktails and tapas. Costs and timings will be confirmed after half term.