Admissions Update

I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Crackley Hall School. Our Admissions Update is designed to give you the latest information on the admissions process here, as well as news and developments at Crackley Hall and Little Crackers Nursery. We also hope that the newsletter will convey a feel for the family atmosphere at Crackley and a taste of the many opportunities available, as well as achievements of the children in our community, from academic to sporting and the arts.

This has been the most unusual year of my teaching career but throughout pupils have continued to learn thanks to the hard work of staff and parents alike. The seamless transition to online learning provided continuity and routine that supported the children through this most difficult of times and minimised the interruption to their learning. 

We continue to thrive following our last 'outstanding in all areas' inspection. The report was a real vote of confidence for everything we do at Crackley Hall and a recognition of the positive impact a Crackley education has on our pupils' lives. I would encourage you to visit the ISI website to read the full report here.

Inspectors from the Archdiocese spent two days at school at the end of last year, visiting Religious Education lessons and classes, interviewing pupils and staff and attending the School Council and assemblies. The focus of their inspection was on the impact, quality and leadership of the school’s provision of Catholic Life, Religious Education and Collective Worship and once again in all aspects the inspectors were incredibly impressed with the School’s pupils and staff.  Our pupils and their families continue to benefit from our inclusive and caring ethos within a setting that will inspire and support everyone. You can read their report here.

As a result, Crackley continues to be very popular. We continue to maintain our small class sizes which allows us to give the attention needed for each child at this critical time in their development.

Crackley Hall retains the small-school feel that makes it so special, but with a wealth of opportunities, often delivered by larger schools, that stretch and challenge all. It's a place where the children are individuals who are very well known to every member of staff. Our children are very happy and this matters so much to us.

We look forward to welcoming you to Crackley Hall and Little Crackers Nursery soon.

Robert Duigan

Little Crackers Nursery has won first prize in the ISA Arts ABC Hand Print Competition. 

This new competition recognises the role of art in promoting and supporting learning in the early years.  The challenge was to create an alphabet using hand prints and the children at Little Crackers Nursery had a marvellous time working together to produce a colourful animal ABC.  Each child chose the animal they liked, and the colour for the basic hand prints, they then added details afterwards with felt pen, googly eyes and even feathers.  

Nursery Teacher, Lisa O’Carroll Bailey, explains, “This was a super activity for the children that they really enjoyed, we had lots of fun creating our animal alphabet letters. It was great learning and I never expected our entry to win.” 

The individual hand prints will now all be framed and mounted on the Nursery walls as a permanent phonic resource. 

In March, Crackley sent a team of nine to Stafford Grammar School for the Under 10s ISA Netball Tournament.

The girls made an excellent start winning all their pool round matches taking them straight into the semi-finals.

The girls were all elated! They then faced Crescent School and had to fight hard in end to end play but the chances went their way and they won 4-1! This put them into the final against Twycross School.

The final was a challenge as some of the Twycross School girls were very tall. They fought hard, but Twycross played well to take the overall win. They were worthy winners, and the girls were so excited to come second overall.

The Under 10s Netball Coach, Mrs Roberts said, ”The secret to the girls' success was: great team work, attentive listening, acting upon advice and super determination! It was a memorable day, and all of the girls represented their school magnificently. Mrs Duigan and I were very proud of them all!”

Crackley Hall's Key Stage 2 Evening of Performing Arts took place in February.  It showcased the breadth and depth of pupils’ musical and dramatic talents as the audience was treated to a variety of individual and group performances.

The orchestra opened proceedings with a stirring rendition of Vivaldi’s Spring from The Four Seasons. Then followed some 28 further performances, all sparkling with crisp clear deliveries and well-rehearsed polish. Too many to mention individually, a wonderful testament to the wide range of the repertoire. 

There were entertaining ensemble numbers from the brass, violin, cello, guitar and choral speaking groups. Delightful solos on piano, viola, trumpet, drum, saxophone and flute.

Throughout the concert, pupils recited LAMDA pieces, many causing a chuckle, and there were many high-quality group and solo musical theatre performances.

The evening finished, as it had begun, with the stage packed with performers as the Chamber Choir and Choral Group delivered glorious performances of favourites such as Somewhere Only We Know and There’s Power In The Music.

Headmaster Mr Duigan expressed his delight announcing, ‘There is no better way to spend an evening than to come and watch Crackley’s children perform.  Our Key Stage 2 Evening of Performing Arts is always a highlight of the year. I am so proud of them all.  It has been a truly wonderful evening.”

Huge thanks went to all of the staff involved in preparing the children and supporting the production and to Mrs Olden, Mrs Wildey and Mrs Paphitis who have shown us yet again what talent, energy and zest for the performing arts there is here at Crackley Hall.

To listen to the Chamber Choir click on the link below.

https://vimeo.com/390972142

This summer we introduced super smart Little Crackers T-shirts, modelled so beautifully for us here. Featuring our Dormice, Hedgehogs and Badgers logos, in lovely bright colours, they are just perfect for nursery days.

Little Crackers Nursery adopted new animal names for the different age groups last year to reflect a ‘back to nature’ nursery makeover in the summer of 2019. The Terrific Twos became Dormice, the Thrilling Threes changed to Hedgehogs and the Fabulous Fours transformed into Badgers.

The nursery, at Crackley Hall School, had been transformed with a new natural look in its spacious rooms, including new furniture, flooring, decoration and a completely new indoor/outdoor Garden Room with a decked area, a sunken sand pit, a glazed roof and retractable folding doors that open up to the woods behind.

Comments Susan Glen-Roots, Assistant Head – Early Years and Key Stage 1, "The makeover was an exciting project which has transformed our children’s experiences in nursery.  A more natural environment inside, creates a sense of calm whilst stimulating interest and providing the children with a blank canvas in which to learn and develop. This, coupled with more opportunities to take their learning outdoors and explore the wonders of the natural world has reaped fantastic rewards in terms of self-confidence, imagination and physical development."

During the 'lockdown' lessons continued for the pupils at Crackley Hall School.

As part of their English lessons the children in Reception enjoyed learning about the journey of a letter. The children watched a clip about the post service and the work that the sorting office and postmen and women do. They also learned how to write a letter and address an envelope. They then chose who to send their own letter to, and posted them!

Crackley Hall also sent them all a personal letter, which they were surprised and delighted to receive.

The children wrote letters to each other, their grandparents, cousins, their own mummy and daddy and it was so sweet to see all the creativity and effort they put in.

It was a hugely popular learning task, and as you can see in the photo we were very delighted to receive some of their letters here.

It was a huge well done to Reception, for an amazing effort from all!

Both Junior 3 classes were hard at work during the lockdown developing their amazing art skills. From works inspired by their history topic on Ancient Greece, to African animals, marvellous mosaics and landscapes printed from recycled bubble wrap, these are some of their truly wonderful creations. The diversity of their fantastic efforts is celebrated in a little online art gallery.

A huge thank you to the children for their wonderful work and to the parents who supported their home learning. 

Why don't you follow the link and sit back and enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/427685004

On Tuesday 3 March, Crescent School welcomed musicians from fellow Foundation junior school, Crackley Hall, for an orchestral workshop. It was a great opportunity for the young virtuosos to play together, as 16 members of Crackley Hall’s Orchestra joined 16 Crescent instrumentalists for a day designed to develop and stretch their music and performance skills.

Pupils from both schools worked under the guidance of Directors of Music, Julie Barnes and Susan Olden, to prepare and rehearse a mixture of pieces ready for an afternoon performance for parents.

The children enjoyed a busy morning and afternoon of rehearsals, they relished making music together, especially in such a big group. They worked hard to prepare three challenging pieces, including the instantly recognisable I Am Sailing by Rod Stewart, two complicated movements, Woody’s Round Up and When She Loves Me, from Toy Story 2 and the catchy big band number In The Mood by Glen Miller. All of the pieces tested the players’ technical and music-reading ability to the limit.

The afternoon concert was super, a sensational symphony of sound. As well as featuring the full 32-piece orchestra playing their now near perfect pieces, it included four solo performances, two from each school.  

Mrs Barnes, Director of Music at Crescent, commented, “It was another very successful day and the pupils enjoyed working and collaborating together. They achieved a very high standard of performance, and this was due in no small part to the preparation and practising that went on in the weeks beforehand”.

Mrs Olden, Director of Music at Crackley Hall, agreed commenting, "The children had a brilliant day, it was fantastic for them to play with different instruments and with so many other talented musicians."

It was a great to see the young musicians enjoying learning and working together!

Crackley Hall had its best ever year at the Regional ISA Midlands Cross Country at Bedstone College in February with nine pupils finishing in the top 10 for their race and qualifying for the Nationals.

The course was exciting and challenging involving undulating fields, hills, streams, woodland, gravel and even mole hills! The U9 Girls and Boys had a 1500m course while the U11s took on a 1800m course that crossed two streams. There were over 120 children running in each race.

The school took 39 runners who enthusiastically tackled the course's tricky twists and turns with courage and determination.

Nine runners qualified for the ISA Nationals huge congratulations to Martha, Sam, Alex, Elle, Issey, George, Dexter, Sid and Leonardo.

In the team events the first four across the line count so with so many top placings Crackley also secured first place for the U9 Boys, second place for the U9 Girls and U11 Boys and third place for the U11 Girls events.

Commenting on the event, PE Teacher, Kat Vaughan, said, “As always, the children were exceptionally well behaved, a real credit to the school, and a pleasure to take to the competition.  They were nervous but excited and ran courageously to achieve a superb set of results.”

The latest editions of the Pinnacle and Minnacle were published in June.  Showcasing exceptional work by pupils from across the Foundation they are an inspiring read.

They celebrated the extraordinary 'home learning' that took place during the coronavirus lockdown and are a testament to the dedication of pupils and staff to continue with their studies in the face of the pandemic restrictions.

From the Spring Social Distance-Sing Concert and the Princethorpe At Home Recital to superb Art and DT, English competition winners, History projects, Bridging courses, EPQ and even an Online Bake Off, they showcased flair and ingenuity across a wide range of subjects and year groups.

The Minnacle included equally impressive work by the Foundation junior schools, Crackley Hall and Crescent School. It was wonderful to showcase their pupils' talents too!!

Click here to read The Pinnacle and here if you would like to see The Minnacle.

In January Junior 5 left modern day Britain behind and travelled back in time to the Tudor era. 

Children, staff and even parents came to school dressed in costume and enjoyed a memorable day exploring life in the 16th century.

They began in the court of King Henry VIII in the year of our Lord 1536. Despite rumours and intrigue surrounding his second wife, Anne Boleyn, the King’s household had plenty of tasks to attend to. Set out in Crackley’s Great Hall were typical Tudor professions and a range of crafts that included: Alchemists, Apothecaries, Barbers, Chandlers, Embroiders, Leatherworkers, Miniature Artists, Scholars (ink making and writing), Scent bag and Soap makers. The children all enjoyed taking part in the traditional Tudor activities, it was fantastic hands-on learning.

In the afternoon the children took on various roles at a mock royal banquet. Some were servants whilst others were entertainers, dancers and even singers. As they worked, more rumours swirled around the ill-fated Anne Boleyn. The background narrative really helped bring the Tudor era alive.

Crackley’s Tudor Day was led by History Off The Page, a company who run historical workshops. Junior 5 teacher Sarah Lammas, commented, “The children were immersed in history and surrounded by authentic replica artefacts. It was a day full of practical learning, storytelling and drama.“ Fellow Junior 5 teacher, Julia Roberts added, “History Off the Page were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. All of the children and adults thoroughly enjoyed the workshop, a huge thanks goes to all of the parents, who joined in the fun, dressed up and so ably assisted us.”

Princethorpe College’s plans for a new Science Centre took a major step forward last year with planning permission granted and the unveiling of further campus wide benefits.

The state-of-the-art £8 million Science Centre, which will allow the College to redevelop and cluster several other departments, was granted planning permission in May.  The College then revealed further plans for a new suite of Art studios, additional space for Maths and Technology, increased dining capacity and sporting facilities.

Comments, Foundation Headmaster, Ed Hester, “Princethorpe is situated at the heart of the UK’s automotive industry, where science and engineering meet art and design. We know that our pupils need the finest facilities to give them the best opportunities for their future and widening the scope of our Science Campaign to encompass all STEAM subjects enables us to provide these.”

The Science Centre has entered the detailed ‘developed design’ stage with local RIBA members, AT Architects of Leamington, who designed The Limes 14-classroom wing in 2014. A cost plan will follow, and then a period of value engineering and technical design before a bill of quantities is prepared.

Mr Hester continues, “This is a large, complex and exciting project. The next six months will be critical as we prepare thoroughly for the tendering process in autumn 2020. If all goes to plan we should be appointing a main contractor this time next year.”

A fundraising campaign has been launched to work hand in hand with the delivery of the project. The Science Plus Campaign outlines a menu of giving including engraved pavers and bricks, sponsorship of elements on a giant periodic table and personal and corporate naming opportunities.

Our Director of Development comments, “We’re determined to make sure that this project is funded and built as soon as possible. We hope that the many Friends of Princethorpe will be moved to support this project, as they have previous initiatives in the College’s history. Their support is vital in making our vision for Science Plus a reality.”

Those interested in supporting the Science Plus Campaign are invited to email makingadifference@princethorpe.co.uk or call 01926 634265 for a Science Campaign Plus brochure.

Pictured here alongside Mr Hester and Mr Lee are Head of Science, Emma Cooper, and some of the pupils who will reap the benefits of the new facilities at the College.

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics.