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 our admissions process, 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 the inclusivity, challenge and support and the understanding of the individual at Crackley as well as a taste of the many opportunities available, and achievements of the children in our community, from academic to sporting and the arts.

We continue to thrive following our latest inspections, which you can read in full here. In their most recent report, the inspectors highlighted, “The teaching enables pupils to make good progress”, “Principles and values are actively promoted which facilitate the personal development of pupils”, and “Leaders and managers demonstrate good skills and knowledge”. 

Crackley Hall retains the small-school feel, with favourable class sizes to ensure each child is understood and given the attention needed at this critical time in their development. We continue to offer a wealth of opportunities, often delivered by larger schools, that stretch and challenge every child. We see children as individuals who are very well known to every member of staff. Our children are happy and this matters very much to us. Just as importantly, our parents feel a real sense of connection and involvement. 

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

Crackley Hall’s Key Stage 2 Evening of Performing Arts took place on Tuesday 6 February showcasing the breadth and depth of pupils’ musical and dramatic talents.

Musical Theatre Group opened the proceedings with a spectacular The Greatest Showman Medley and that was followed by 22 performances all sparkling with crisp clear deliveries, fine-tuned fingers and well-rehearsed polish.

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 Hold Back The River and There’s A Power In The Music.

Headmaster, Rob Duigan expressed his delight at it all announcing, ‘There is no better way to spend an evening than to come and watch Crackley’s children perform. They never cease to amaze me. Thank you to them all, it has been a truly memorable evening.”

Many thanks 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 at Crackley Hall.

Our Junior 6 pioneers used their Lego and programming skills to build robots in their Computing lessons. Some pupils finished in record time and started to programme their robots to move and sense the environment around them.

The robotic kits are just some of the recent investments we are making in Departments across the school, to aid pupils' learning with cutting edge technology.

Our Key Stage 1 pupils can look forward to using the equipment to build Lego houses and then use Scratch to programme the rooms inside.

It was all very exciting and developed lots of futureproof skills!

Crackley Hall School took two teams to the ISA U11 Midlands Tag Rugby Sevens at Princethorpe College on Friday 15 March and had a very successful day. Crackley finished first and third overall, bringing home the Tournament trophy and earning themselves Gold and Bronze medals respectively.

The teams showed great effort, determination and teamwork in the group stages. Crackley A played in Pool B and won all five of their matches, against Arnold Lodge 35-15, Crescent B 30-20, Edenhurst Prep 35-15, Stafford Prep 25-20 and Mylnhurst 30-15. They came first in the group and sailed through to the semi-finals.

Crackley B played in Pool A and won three of their five matches, against Bowbrook 30-10, Dixie Grammar 25-20 and Highclare 30-25 but lost to Crescent A 20-25 and St Peter’s School 15-20. That just clinched the second spot in the group and a well-earned place in the semi-finals.

In an unfortunate quirk of fate, this meant the As and Bs were drawn against each other in an all-Crackley knock-out semi-final!  Despite a very end-to-end game and some excellent weaving runs from the Bs, the A side unsurprisingly emerged on top, their tight defence proving the difference between the teams.

This then led to the Bs playing Crescent B for 3rd place overall, and the As facing Crescent A, a seriously strong showing from the Foundation.

Both games went exactly the same way, with Crackley taking advantage of early errors to get ahead and despite strong comebacks holding out for wins. Congratulations to the entire squad, you should be proud of yourselves on an excellent day of rugby.

Assembly went with a whoosh when Crackley Hall welcomed four Princethorpe Sixth Formers to kick start the learning for British Science Week. The College’s STEAM Ambassadors introduced this year’s theme of ‘Time’, conducting exciting live experiments that amazed and impressed all.

The Princethorpe Sixth Formers then ran practical Physics and Biology workshops for Junior 5 and Junior 4 who had great fun making and timing pendulums and then exploring the spread of infectious diseases. It was wonderful to see everyone's enthusiasm for science and to see them all getting involved.

Many thanks to the College's Head of Physics, Dan Lee, and to Megan, Giorgio, Tom and Jack for providing such a boost to our BSW learning – they really put on a thrilling show!

Avni and Amaya, who are now in Junior 1 and Junior 2 respectively, have come first in the Independent Schools Association’s (ISA) Regional Art Competition. While Sara and Harry (both now in Junior 6) and last year’s Junior 1 and Junior 5L have taken second place in this prestigious competition.

Every year the ISA hold an Art competition and Crackley Hall always takes part. It is a great way to celebrate the outstanding artwork produced by pupils across the school.

This year, Avni took first place with her striking Barn Owl pastel in the Art 2D Individual EYFS class while Amaya’s lovely painting, Fish Blowing Bubbles won the Art 2D Individual KS1 class.

Last year’s Junior 1 placed second in the Art 3D Group KS1 class with Birds In A Terracotta Pot, Junior 5’s Winter Print also took second in the Textiles Group KS2 class and Sara and Harry were awarded second for their Tudor Portraits in the Art 2D Group KS2 class.

We congratulate all the artists on their super success.

Crackley Hall pupils visited fellow Foundation Prep school Crescent School on Tuesday 12 March, to take part in an orchestral workshop. Designed to develop and stretch music and performance skills, pupils worked under the guidance of Crescent’s Director of Music, Julie Barnes, to prepare and rehearse a mixture of pieces ready for an afternoon performance.

The children relished making music, especially in such a big group. They worked hard to prepare three challenging pieces, including Yesterday by The Beatles, Chariots Of Fire by Vangelis and In The Mood arranged by Glenn Miller, all three pieces testing the players’ technical and music-reading ability.

The day finished with a short concert for parents where four soloists also showcased their musical skills. For Crackley Hall, Angelica, from Junior 4, played the theme from The Pink Panther on cello while Elsie, from Junior 6, played Knock On Wood on the drums.

The workshop was a great opportunity for them all to play together, thank you Crescent School for an excellent day.

You can watch a short clip of the orchestra performing here.

Our U9 Netball Girls took part in the ISA Midlands Netball Tournament at Stafford Prep on Tuesday 19 March.

12 schools had entered the tournament so the girls enjoyed plenty of netball and played with enthusiasm and determination. Crackley Hall impressively won all eight of their matches, conceding only three goals throughout the day. The team were focused, worked well together and demonstrated skill and accuracy. A huge well done to them all!

We celebrated Mother’s Day at Little Crackers Nursery with a special Tea Party. We were joined by lots of the Mums and the children enthusiastically performed three charming songs. Our lovely Little Crackers excitedly took their Mums to the craft and activity tables to show them how to make beautiful bead and pipe cleaner bracelets or colour pictures of spring flowers. Of course our party had lots of tea and homemade and hand decorated cakes for us all to enjoy. Then as everyone left, the children presented their wonderful Mums with a daffodil and a carefully made Mother’s Day card.

It was wonderful to welcome everyone into nursery and to see how much the children enjoyed the fun.

Nursery children were treated to a special visit in February, which included a dragon, a rat and a host of other animals. Liz from Drama Tots UK led a thrilling session based around the Chinese New Year story - her infectious energy and vivacious presence captivated the youngsters' imaginations and it was lovely to see how much fun they had.

The latest edition of the Crackley Review is now available. 

This publication is a super insight into life in school and the wonderful learning that goes on day in day out here at Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery.

It makes a wonderful memento for our families, and we hope you all enjoy looking through the stories and photos.

You can find an electronic copy of the Crackley Review on our school website here which you are welcome to download to share with family and friends.

The latest issue of The Minnacle has just been published, showcasing our pupils' work. The Minnacle celebrates our pupils at their best and this latest edition includes plenty of amazing examples, from fabulous art and design work, to super descriptive writing and excellent examples of scientific working. Why not have a read yourself - you can download a copy from our school website here.

Take a look at The Pinnacle too, it celebrates the work of pupils at our Foundation's senior school, Princethorpe College, you can find a copy on their website here.