Welcome to The Courier, Crescent School's electronic newsletter.

We have had a very busy week with Affixxius filming our school.  The cover photo shows the crew who have been working here with us.

Then Years 1 and 2 enjoyed a drama workshop with Freshwater Theatre, they explored the Seaside Through The Ages and Florence Nightingale.  

Do read on to find out what else has been happening in School.

Click here to email the Courier.

Preview

Headmaster's Message

Headmaster's Message

Dear Parents

We have reached the end of what seems like a long January and have now completed the first four weeks of the Lent Term. It is just starting to be noticeable that the days are increasing in length and at least part of the drive to and from work isn’t completely in the dark. One of the boys on the gate told me that in February the day lengths increase each day by two minutes. If that’s right, we will have an extra hour in the day to enjoy by the time the next month is out.

We have had a film crew in this week which has made for an interesting few days. It has been great to see the level of professionalism and attention to detail that they apply to their craft. We will look forward to seeing the finished result and sharing that with you and the pupils. That might be some way off though, these things do take quite a bit of time to put together.

On Thursday we also welcomed to school the Freshwater Theatre Company who ran two workshops for the Year 1 and Year 2 classes. These were very well received and the children had much fun extending their learning from the topics they are covering in class.

This is the term when I get into classrooms to observe lessons and complete learning walks. I enjoy this part of the job as it gives me a real insight into the school experience from the point of view of the children, which is a great place to start when planning for the future.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend. There are lots of snowdrops already out in the countryside and that might be a good focus for a family walk this weekend.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Weekly Information

Weekly Calendar

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

Weekly Calendar - 3 February 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

News

Fantastic New Film For The Crescent School

Award-winning Affixxius Films have been in school all week working with the children and staff to produce a brand-new promotional film. 

Shot over four days the film crew of five have worked with classes across the school showcasing the facilities and opportunities on offer here at Crescent.  From Reception to the Science Lab, the Sports Field to IT and the Dining Hall to Assembly, Affixxius have set up their lights, screens, microphones and cameras to capture exactly what makes Crescent such a special place to learn.

Our stars in the making took to their new roles like ducks to water, following direction naturally, with their best smiles on show and the crew were able to wrap up early today after finishing the filming ahead of schedule.

Assistant Head, Mrs Sarah Webb, commented, " We have had a great week with Affixius Films. The children have been responsive, following directions and all involved seemed to have enjoyed the experience. Sometimes there were several takes and the children were patient and sometimes other children showed potential to be directors as they came up with ideas for the film."

All the scenes they shot will now be taken back to their studios and edited.  We can’t wait to see the finished film and to share it with you all later this academic year.

 

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Grammar for Years 5 and 6

Grammar term knowledge is an essential element of the curriculum that is required throughout the school.

Years 5 and 6 are now tackling difficult terminology which is probably testing for parents too.

Please do use this helpful booklet to guide you all especially in the run up to the end of year English assessments. 

Mrs Webb
Head of English

Sienna's Success At The Warwickshire Swimming Championships

Very well done to Sienna in Year 6 who took part in the Warwickshire Swimming Championships last weekend. Sienna came 3rd in the 50m breaststroke, a wonderful achievement that reflects many hours of hard work and practice.

Congratulations from us all.

Joe Thackway
Headmaster

Poetry Competition

If your child likes to write poetry or needs an excuse to express themselves then please look at this poetry competition. It is open to all children over five-years-old.

The closing date is Monday 24 February, so it would be good to do over half term. Please let me know if you do enter it.

Mrs Webb
Head of English

500 Words 2020 - The Biggest Short-Story Competition

This fantastic competition is open again for 2020, it is a super opportunity for children to showcase their writing talents. 

Any child over age 5 can enter a story of up to 500 words before the deadline of Thursday 27 February 2020.  Your child can write a story at home or even use a story written in school.

Please let me know if your child enters the competition, it is an additional opportunity for me to praise them for extra effort.

For further information on how to enter please follow the link:

500 Words Competition 2020

Good luck everybody.

Mrs Webb
Head of English

Events

Maths For Parents Workshops

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

We are looking forward to seeing you at our Maths for Parents workshops next week.  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.

You will learn 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.

Ms Forth 
Deputy Head Teacher

Parent Consultation Evening For Year 6

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

 

Non-Uniform Day In Aid Of Bwengu

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

Awards

Junior da Vinci Students

A great week for Junior da Vinci children. We have awarded badges to:

  • Alex T for Maths
  • Amy  for English
  • Ariana for Maths
  • Isla for English
  • James M for Maths

A fantastic achievement by all.

Mrs Webb
Assistant Head

Pre-Prep Reading Certificates

Reading certificates have, this week, been awarded to:

  • Albert T
  • Amber
  • Leela
  • Max T
  • Maya
  • Sofie

Well done to you all.

Mr Webb
Head of Pre-Prep

 

Around The Classes

Year 1 ‘Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside’

A damp January morning might not be everyone’s choice of day to take a trip to the seaside, but on Thursday 30 January Crescent’s Year 1 did just that, sauntering through holidays past and present, with a little help from the Freshwater Theatre Company.  

The class has been studying seaside holidays using the topic to develop their knowledge of the past and to appreciate the differences in the present.  Freshwater Theatre returned to the school to help bring their seaside studies to life. They ran a drama workshop giving the children a memorable and engaging trip through seaside holidays from 1910 through to the modern day. The children explored how holidays and pastimes have changed over the past century in a lively session packed full of holiday fun.

The workshop looked at the differences in transport, clothing, entertainment, food eaten, sun protection, how memories were recorded and changes in attitudes.

Class I teacher, Mrs Lisa Emery, said, “The children really enjoyed the workshops, they had a lot of fun while learning lots about seaside holidays.  They developed their historical skills, their knowledge of the changes that have happened during the last century and they were all able to share lots of new information they had learned from the session.”

Well done Year 1, you clearly all do like to be beside the seaside!

 

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Florence Nightingale Calls On Year 2

Year 2 took on the roles of nurses and soldiers when they met with the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale during a special drama workshop with The Freshwater Theatre Company.  The class will be studying Florence in their History lessons and workshop was the perfect introduction to their new topic.

Florence visited the school to tell the children all about her life. Starting with her childhood, her governess and her lessons and then onto her travels and her motivation to become a nurse. The children used drama activities such as role play and tableaux to explore her life and times.

Year 2 became nurses and prepared and travelled to the old Barrack Hospital in Scutari, her base during the Crimean War.  They then re-enacted life in hospital, improving the conditions by taking on tasks such as cleaning and caring for the soldiers and even emptying the chamber pots!

Mrs Ellie Monteith commented, “It was an excellent introduction to our history topic.  The children were all engaged and interested.  They were impressed with Florence Nightingale and enjoyed the practical hands-on experience. They discovered lots about her life and her nursing legacy.”

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Class 2W Dream Catchers

Class 2W has been making dream catchers this week using card circles and squares with lots of bright wool. They all started off learning the basic skills of making a simple circular one before working independently on their own designs. 

Mrs Byrne
Head of Art
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Class 4M Legends

In Class 4M, we have been working on Legends. We have been looking at three legends:

Can You Catch a Mermaid? A book about friendship, loss and doing the right thing. This book had a selfish child in it, who wanted to keep the mermaid on land.

Beowulf, where our hero arrived on a boat with his warriors and defeated the monster Grendel. Beowulf had brave characters in it, and in the end good won over evil.  

The Seal Children, a tale about an ancient village and Selkies who lived human lives.

We were looking at language and for home work we created our own mythical creature to put in our legend.

We had all sorts of ideas, and our class came up with some like Fury, a winged bat creature, and Tragura, a scaly and spiky monster.

Then we came to do a planning sheet, and then we actually created a setting, then the beginning, middle and end.

It was a very nice thing to do…

Liana
Class 4M

Class 5F Thinking Skills

In Thinking Skills Year 5 have been expanding their vocabulary using traditional dictionaries and thesaurus and more modern online tools. I've challenged the children to use their new vocabulary in their day to day conversations.

Mrs Yates
Class 6Y Teacher
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Years 5 and 6 Trip To See The Boy In The Dress

Years 5 and 6 had the most amazing trip to the theatre last week to the RSC in Stratford upon Avon to see the Boy in the Dress by David Walliams. It was a privilege to take the children who all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Archie and Sienna have written a review each for you to read and you may wish to see it too - it is well worth it.

Mrs Webb
Head of English
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Year 6 Visit To St Mark's Church

As part of our history topic, on local Victorians, Year 6 visited St Mark’s Church. The children explored the churchyard to find headstones from the Victorian era. They recorded names, ages and dates from the time period. Interesting observations were made about the time period, including the size of families, the young age of deaths and the number of children who died.

We were fortunate to be accompanied on the trip by Mrs Bevan, a church member and former local head teacher. She showed the children around the church and pointed out lots of beautiful Victorian features including the ornate church pews designed and built by the prestigious Victorian architect, George Bodley.

Mrs Bevan was a wonderful source of information about the church’s history and we all thoroughly enjoyed learning about the changes to St Mark’s and the village of Bilton saw during the time of Queen Victoria.

Mrs Yates
Head of History
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Co-Curricular Philosophy Club

Philosophy club is where there is no right or wrong answer and a fun club on Tuesday mornings at 8.15am.  Mrs Webb teaches Philosophy Club and really enjoys her job. All the children really enjoy Philosophy Club.

There’s questions like “What could it be?” You do things like is it a truth or a lie. Would you rather? Sometimes Mrs Webb gets out games like Rubix cubes, a long plastic line that the child that gets it has to try and turn it into a ball and Simon swipe.

It is all about thinking differently.

Tegan
Class 3S
View Gallery

Sport

Strong Start To The Netball Season

Crescent started the netball season against Kingsley School on Wednesday 28 January.

U11 A - 11-0 Win and U11 B 9-0 Win

It was a fantastic start to the season from the U11 teams who displayed some fabulous footwork, strong fast passing and wonderful team work, moving the ball down to the attacking circle with confidence, holding space and timing their moves well.  Player of the games went to Jess, Tumi and Rania.

U10 - 9-1 Loss

The girls played well against Kingsley who had some particularly strong (and tall!) defence players. They all worked hard to get in front of their defenders to receive the ball and showed strong link passes down the court. Due to numbers, we had several players switch on and off throughout the game which was a great opportunity for the girls to play ‘out of position’ and develop their versatility. The final quarter was certainly our best as we dominated the overall possession of the ball, preventing Kingsley from scoring. Player of the match was Alyssa Barnett who also did a great job of captaining the team. The girls should be proud of their efforts as they displayed improved awareness of space on court and made some ‘gutsy’ interceptions when under pressure from the attacking players.  Crescent held most possession in the 2nd half but with their tall defence it was difficult to capitalise on this.

Well done to all.

Mrs McCollin
Head Of Girls Games

 

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FoC Events

FoC - Class 3S Market Day Sale

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.

Zara Corbin
FoC Chair

FoC - Movie Night

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

Zara Corbin
FoC Chair

FoC

FoC - Contact Information

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. 

Year Group 1st Rep 2nd Rep
Reception Vicky Morley Lisa Millward
Year 1 Sanda Mocanu Fatima Masood
Year 2 Inez de Koning Karen Williams
Year 3 Emilie Crowfoot Claire Brosnan
Year 4 Semma King Anita Somerset
Year 5 Kal Mistry Amy Sarkies
Year 6 Emma Wells Victoria Akbik

 

Chairperson Zara Corbin
Treasurer Nick Brosnan
Secretary Amy Sarkies
Pre-Loved Uniform Louise Symons
Staff Reps Ms Forth and Mrs Webb
FoC email address: zaracorbin9@gmail.com
FoC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendsofcrescent/
 
Zara Corbin
FoC Chair



FoC - Payment Information

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

Nick Brosnan
FoC Treasurer

Housekeeping

Lunch Menu Week Commencing 3 February 2020

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

Crescent Menu - 3 February 2020 

Crescent School Office

 

 

The Princethorpe Foundation Employment Opportunities

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

  • Head of Digital Learning and Teacher of Boys' Games – Crescent School
  • Groundsman

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

School Uniform Items Stocked At School

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

Useful School Contact Information

Please see below for useful school contact information:

Crescent School Office
01788 521595
admin@crescentschool.co.uk
Postal address: Crescent School, Bawnmore Road, Bilton, Rugby CV22 7QH
 
After School Club
01788 523850
 
Bills, Fees and Online Payment
01926 634273
georginamalin@princethorpe.co.uk
 
Registrar
01788 523851
admissions@crescentschool.co.uk
 
School Shop and Uniform
01926 634272
uniform@princethorpe.co.uk
 
Princethorpe College General Office
01926 634200
post@princethorpe.co.uk
 
Pathfinders Nursery
01788 813666
info@pathfindersnursery.co.uk
 
twitter:    @CrescentSchRug
facebook: @cres.school

Term Dates For 2019-20 And 2020-21

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

2019/20

Lent Term 
Term starts Monday 6 January 2020
Half Term Saturday 15 February to Sunday 23 February 2020
End of Term Friday 27 March 2020
 
Trinity Term 
Term starts Monday 20 April 2020
May Bank Holiday Friday 8 May 2020 (no school)
Half Term Saturday 23 May to Sunday 31 May 2020
End of Term Wednesday 1 July 2020
 
2020/21
 
Michaelmas Term
Term starts Tuesday 1 September 2020
Half Term Saturday 17 October to Sunday 1 November 2020
Term ends Tuesday 15 December 2020

Lent Term
Term starts Tuesday 5 January 2021
Half Term Saturday 13 February to Sunday 21 February 2021
Term ends Friday 26 March 2021

Trinity Term
Term starts Monday 19 April 2021
May Bank holiday - Monday 3 May 2021 (no school)
Half Term Saturday 29 May to Sunday 6 June 2021
Term ends Tuesday 6 July 2021