The Courier

Dear Parents

The highlight of the week has to be the amazing performance of our Under 11 hockey team in the IAPS Midlands tournament on Monday. We have managed to qualify for the national finals for the last four years by finishing in the top 3 or 4, but this is the first time we have won the regional tournament outright.

I managed to watch two of the group games and I have to say the eventual news of the overall victory came as no surprise. The boys played with such speed of thought and movement, where the whole team contributed and we were not reliant on acts of individual brilliance. Our first target in the finals this year is to get through to the knockout phase and then see how far we can get after that. I have already put the date, 18 March, in my diary.

We have finished the week with an open day for prospective parents and I would like to thank the Year 6 pupils in particular for their contribution in showing parents around. They take great pride in their school and are in many ways our best ambassadors. They know the school from the inside, after all. I hope you all enjoyed having a chance to look at the displays around the school in the open corridor event as well. Our next open event is on Saturday 21 March when all the children will be involved and all parents are welcome to come along.

We look forward to another busy week next week with the visit of Affixxius Films and I’m also very pleased to note we are hosting two sets of girls’ netball fixtures on Wednesday and Thursday. Let’s hope the weather holds up for us.

Have a great weekend.

Please click on the link below to view the weekly calendar of clubs, events, fixtures and additional information for the week. 

Weekly Calendar - 27 January 2020 

All the co-curricular clubs can be viewed on SOCS, where you can find details of all the dates the clubs are running.  

SOCS Co-Curricular

Crescent School

I’m delighted to announce that our drama teacher Miss Thompson is expecting a baby later this year. Miss Thompson is intending to keep working until the end of this term before going on maternity leave. We wish her all the very best.

I am also pleased to be able to announce her interim replacement, who will be Nickie Whitehead. Nickie is an experienced actor, director and drama teacher who I know the children will take to very quickly. She currently helps to run the LAMDA programme at Rugby School, working alongside Miss Thompson, and has previously taught in two prep schools in the Bath area.

I know you will join with and me in welcoming Mrs Whitehead to our community when she starts with us at the end of April.

In assembly today, the children were reminded about only bringing healthy snacks into school, unless it is their birthday when sweet treats are permissible. We shared our concerns of children sharing other children's snacks and reinforced the importance of only eating the snack that has been provided for them from home. Please remind your children about respecting this important expectation at home to remove any risks of allergy or poor choices.

Also, in line with our nut free policy, please do not send in snacks that contain nuts. Please check on the labeling of all products to ensure this is the case. Chewy energy bars also need to be checked carefully for their contents.

Thank you.

The ‘Exhibition of Young Local Artists’, which is hosted by Warwick School, was established in 1985 and started with just five schools. The exhibition has grown and last year 28 local primary schools took part.

This event brings together local primary schools to celebrate art and showcase young talent. The array and diversity of the pieces exhibited is phenomenal, from ‘Abstract Portrait’ to ‘Quarters’; ‘Felted Poppy Fields’ to ‘Skateboard Deck Designs’.

The following children have been chosen to represent Crescent School in this year's art exhibition at Warwick School. 

They are:

Pop Art

• Chloe W
• Harriett G
• Kyla-Mae
• Sam S
• Maryn 

Seurat

• Bella D
• Chloe B
• Zahra 

Silhouettes

• Darius 
• Leela

Well done to all.

Next week we have Affixxius Films spending some time with us to make a promotional video all about life here at Crescent School. They will be filming the staff and children in various activities, including extracurricular clubs, lessons, sport and music.

Please try to make sure your children are especially shiny and neat next week, it would be much appreciated.

For a two or three week period this year we will be focusing on one of the sayings in the new 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.

This week’s promise is in the category of Good Friends.

'We are  gentle and caring'

Monday 3 February to Monday 10 February 2020 - 9.05am to 10.05am

An invitation to Maths for Parents' Workshops has been sent to you. This is a chance for you to experience learning with your child in class. The focus this time will include Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract (CPA) methods, open learning investigation and higher order thinking skills. Please join us to learn more about these teaching styles and learning methods, to support your child in mathematics. Due to space, we can only allow one adult per pupil. If you have siblings you are welcome to attend more than one, avoiding any clashes.

We look forward to seeing you.

Friday 14 February 2020

We will be holding a non-uniform day on Friday 14 February with all proceeds going to this term's chosen charity, Bwengu Projects. 

Please send a £1 donation with your child to be given to the House Captains who will be collecting at the Pupil Entrance on drop off.

Thank you

Mrs Monteith and Mrs Stapleton
Class 3S and 4M Form Teachers

Tuesday 11 February 2020 - 6.00pm to 8.00pm

or

Thursday 13 February 2020 - 4.00pm - 6.00pm

Parent consultation meetings for Year 6 will be held on Tuesday 11 February and Thursday 13 February 2020 in the School Hall. This is an important evening and provides you with an opportunity to discuss your child's academic progress and next steps.

Please log on to My School Portal and select the Parents Evening Tab to book your appointment. 

Appointments can be made from today and will close on Sunday 9 February 2020. Should you wish to make any changes after this date please contact the school office.  

Crescent School

Well done to these children for achieving JdV status:

• Amber B in Geography
• Eve in Geography
• Matthew L in Computing
• Shayla in English

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

Daniel has set himself a challenge this year to read more than last year. This week he has achieved four million words, an amazing achievement!

Reading certificates have, this week, been awarded to:

• Alice
• Akaal
• Edward F
• Isbella
• Maximillion
• Taran

Well done to you all.

Congratulations to Izzy who received her Diamond Challenge Certificate for Times Tables and Zhara who received her Golden Challenge Certificate.  They were presented in Assembly this morning.

The times table challenge is a drop in session in the Library with me on a Wednesday morning for Years 2 - 6.

Well done to Drew and Liana who received Playground Conduct Awards, chosen by the Lunchtime Supervisors, in assembly this morning. 

Lunchtime Supervisors

Year 1 children have been exploring their five senses.  They were delighted to begin with taste and quickly recognised that chocolate and lemon are at opposite ends of the sweet-sour scale.  No prizes for guessing which one Maya is tasting here!

As an introduction to 3D shape in maths, and to secure naming of 3D shapes before we move onto the properties (faces, edges etc), the children were set a challenge to construct something using 3D shapes or connect 2D shapes to make 3D shapes. The only stipulation was that they were only allowed to include shapes they know the name of. Not only was this lots of fun, but the children had a real incentive to learn the names in order to finish their models.

Class 2W children have been reading and discussing a variety of dragon tales.  This week we have become creative authors ourselves by planning, writing and editing our own dragon stories.

Last Friday in their English lesson each child in 5F received a Christmas card. All the Christmas cards were handmade by children from a Polish school in a little town called Krotoszyn. The Christmas cards are a start to our new pen pal project in Year 5. The Polish children are learning English and the pen pal scheme we are introducing will help encourage them to learn the language so they can use their English in written conversations with our pupils.

The children introduced themselves and described their looks and personalities in the letters attached to the Christmas cards. Over the next week, our children will respond to the letters, thinking about what is important to share and being aware of using good English. We will then send them back to the Polish school. We hope the project will help us make new connections with children from a different background and that the children will enjoy learning about each others lives and experiences!

It was lovely to see the excitement on their faces as the children received all these beautiful cards!

Class 5F showed progress in working with decimals by creating a selection of questions. They were able to apply their skills to addition with the aid of Post It notes!. This meant that the pupils could use each other's numbers in their calculations and then feedback to each other to agree if they were both correct or not. 

Crescent travelled to Rugby School for the annual IAPS tournament qualifier. The school has qualified for the National Finals for the past three years and, with most of the team still playing from last year, the boys were aiming to do the same again.

Crescent surged through the group with four 2-0 wins. George’s reverse stick finishes were the highlights along with some lovely passing moves. In the quarter finals, they faced their local rivals Bilton Grange. Having lost to them in the previous tournament, the boys learned their lesson, snuffing out the counter-attack and being more energetic on the restarts. In the end, Crescent won 3-0.

Solihull awaited them in the semi-final. The two teams had closely fought battles when both teams were under 9 and this proved to be no different. Josh, who had had little to do up until that point, showed good concentration levels to pull off some great saves when called upon. The match ended 0-0 and went to golden goal extra time. Crescent won a short corner halfway into the extra time. Following a blocked strike at goal, the ball fell to Archie. He hit the ball goal-wards, the shot deflected off a Solihull stick and nestled in the roof of the net. Crescent had reached the final and qualified for the National Finals.

The boys wanted more, though, having finished runners-up last year. Against Moulsford, the boys were on the attack straight away. Perhaps the occasion was getting to them or fatigue but they did not show the quality of finishing that they had earlier in the tournament. With the game heading for extra time again, Archie found space on the left by-line where they seemed to be none. He tiptoed around two sticks and laid it into George in the D. George coolly slotted the ball to the side of the keeper and into the goal. The hooter sounded straight afterwards which meant that Crescent were Regional Champions. The boys were absolutely delighted but still showed great respect towards their worthy opponents.

On to the Nationals in March back at Rugby School.

Team: Josh G, Marco, Archie (defence that went through the tournament without conceding a goal), Isaac, Tom, Noah, George, Matthew.

Marco Rodriguez-Hernandez and Noah Windley, both are Year 6 pupils at the Crescent School, have been selected for Warwickshire Hockey’s U13 Academy Squad after attending trials at the end of last year.

Securing a spot in the county line-up is no mean feat, and Marco and Noah who are both only 11-years-old have earned the honour a whole two years ahead of some of their Warwickshire Hockey U13 squad peers.

In recognition of their selection Crescent’s Headmaster Joe Thackway presented the boys with their County tie in the school’s assembly.

The boys said, “We are really pleased and proud to have been selected for the County Squad.”

Both are now both attending regular County training sessions and will be introduced to England Hockey’s Player Pathway, a development programme that helps junior players realise their potential and they are both looking forward to their first matches.

Head of Sport, Matt Phillips commented, “Hockey is one of many sports we play here at the Crescent and the boys are key members of our U11 team.   They are talented players with excellent technical skills and that has clearly been recognised by the County selection team.   This is a fantastic achievement; their success is thoroughly deserved.”

Friday 7 February 2019 - 3.45pm to 4.45pm

This bake sale will be held in the library so please come along and support Class 3S by purchasing cakes and goodies after school from 3.30 to 5.00pm.

All money raised will go towards crafts, games and toys for their class.

Friday 14 February 2020 - 4.00pm - 5.30pm

Unfortunately we have had to move the disco back until May so on Friday 14 February we will be holding a movie night. The movie will be Farmegeddon - A Shaun the Sheep Movie which is released on DVD on the Monday before. 

Please note we have changed the timings of this event so the movie will start at approximately 4.00pm and all the children attending will come straight to us after school.  Reception parents will need to attend with their children again like last time, however it will only cost £3 per Reception child. All other children it will be £5 which includes the movie and a snack. 

The movie will end at 5.30pm and children will be dismised form the Pupil Entrance.

If you would like your child to attend please click on the link below:

FoC Movie Night

Below are the details of the FoC Year Group Representatives. These reps will communicate with you on all our events via email, whatsapp or facebook. 

From January 2020 the FoC is no longer be accepting cheques as a form of payment. 

We have purchased a card payment system and will now be accepting bank transfers or cash only.

Many thanks

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

Crescent Menu - 27 January 2020 

Crescent School Office

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

• Head of Digital Learning and Teacher of Boys' Games – Crescent School
• Teacher of Art
• Teacher of Business Studies
• Teacher of Computer Science
• Teacher of Design Technology
• Teacher of English
• Teacher of Mathematics
• Head of Law
• Groundsman
• Nursery Practitioner

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

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 see below for useful school contact information:

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

2019/20