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 and real understanding of the individual 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.

We continue to thrive following our last ISI 'outstanding in all areas' inspection, as well as our most recent ISI Compliance Inspection, both of 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”. At the end of the thorough two-day inspection the inspectors concluded, “The school meets the standards and no further action is required as a result of this inspection.”.

In Autumn 2021 we were delighted to receive our first-ever review by the prestigious Good Schools Guide. The 2,500-word in depth review, which appears on the Good Schools Guide’s website, includes insights into teaching, learning and the co-curricular life of the school. To read the full review please click here.

Crackley continues to be very popular, but we maintain our favourable 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 offers the 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.  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.

Robert Duigan

We wished congratulations and the very best of luck to all our Junior 6 pupils who finished at Crackley Hall School at the end of the Trinity Term. To mark the end of their time here at Crackley Hall, pupils were presented with their Leavers’ hoodies and they were quick to put them on.

This year, our Junior 6s moved on to a range of outstanding local independent and state schools. Nineteen of the cohort went to the Foundation’s senior school, Princethorpe College, while six children chose the local grammar schools. We also had pupils going to a number of other independent schools as well as local state schools. We were especially delighted that 15 of our Junior 6 pupils were awarded scholarships, including all-rounder, academic, art, sports, music and drama awards by a variety of schools.

Headmaster, Rob Duigan, said, “Our aim is always to do our best to help our pupils reach the destination secondary school of their choice. Pupils had excellent outcomes this year and everyone was thrilled for them all.”

Congratulations to Junior 6 on their achievements.

Junior 6 pupil, Elora, read nearly 3 million words last academic year and topped the leader board in the school’s annual reading challenge, having devoured an incredible 40 books. It was an amazing achievement but Elora was not the only bookworm at Crackley Hall, as there were a further 12 pupils at the school who read over a million words during the school year.

Crackley Hall’s approach to reading and literacy is supported by Renaissance’s Accelerated Reader system. Children in Junior 3 to Junior 6 take a quiz after reading each book that tests their understanding. The approach promotes reading for pleasure whilst ensuring the children read appropriately challenging books. It totals up the books and words read, and we find the competitive element has a positive impact on children’s motivation to read.

Studies show that reading for pleasure makes a big difference to children’s educational performance. Crackley Hall’s structured approach to reading facilitates children’s progress and helps develop reading abilities well beyond national age expectations.

Junior 6 teacher, Sorcha Horan, who leads on literacy at the Crackley Hall School, explains, “There are so many good books out there for children to read and we have a very positive reading culture in school. Pupils from Junior 3 onwards take part in the reading challenge and quiz regularly on the computers at school. We find our pupils engage really well in our reading challenge and its awe-inspiring to see we have so many reading millionaires.”

Pupils from Crackley Hall School celebrated after achieving excellent results at the 2024 Nuneaton Festival of Arts. 11 pupils travelled to the Abbey Theatre in Nuneaton on Wednesday 1 May to compete in the Speech and Drama classes of the festival. They faced tough competition from local drama schools and performing arts specialist, Pattison College.

Crackley Hall’s Choral Speaking Club competed in the Junior Schools' competition. They were awarded an 'Honours' for their exemplary work with The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf and The Day I Put My Finger Up my Nose. They did so well that they just missed out on top spot by one point.

Pupils’ individual performances were excellent too, with the children coming away with three trophies for first place, congratulations to Sloane, Ted, Darcey, three for second place after a super effort from Edward, Felix and, Sukhmani, and two for third place, well done to Molly and Alexa.

Drama teacher, Nicki Wildey, was delighted, commenting, “We are so proud of the children’s commitment to Performance Poetry. They gained invaluable experience of speaking on stage in a competitive environment and came away with a great sense of achievement and pride. They have made us, their parents and the whole school very proud.”

Well done Crackley, you've smashed it yet again!

Following on from the Midlands ISA Athletics qualifying event at the start of the Trinity Term, Crackley Hall was delighted that seven pupils were selected to compete for the Midlands team at the National Championships.

Congratulations went to Sienna L (J6) who qualified for the 150m sprint, Leo C (J6) who qualified for the 600m, Casper B (J4) who qualified for the Throw and to Grace A, Amalie S, Jessie J and Scarlett (J5) who qualified for the Girls Relay.

The ISA National Track and Field Championships took place in June at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham and taking part was a fbaulous experience for them all.

Phonics is taught from the early years at Crackley Hall, starting in Nursery and Reception. When pupils move into Key Stage 1 it remains a key part of our traditional teaching approach. Both Junior 1 and Junior 2 enjoy 30 minutes of systematic phonics at the start of every school day.

Phonics is the precursor to reading, writing and spelling. It provides the foundation for children to develop crucial literacy skills that will carry them throughout life. High quality phonics teaching supports younger children to master the basics of reading and develops their communication skills.

Our strong phonics provision accelerates pupils’ learning delivering above national attainment and enables our children to independently access other areas of the curriculum. Phonics makes them better readers and writers and helps to engage them in their learning and as you can see in the photo, it's lots of fun too!

Our fantastic summer show was A Hint Of Snow White. It followed the adventures of the evil Queen Malodorous, the talented and ambitious artist ‘Prince-sy’, the joyful Cleanie Jeanie and all of their friends.

Once again the performances took place at the Leamington Spa Centre and saw children from Reception through to Junior 6 tread the boards in a fabulous adaptation of the classic tale. 

A huge thank you to our wonderful staff for all their hard work, to parents for their fabulous support in the run up to the performance and most of all to the children. We were astounded and amazed by them all.

Back in May, Junior 3 celebrated their History topic by becoming gods, goddesses, slaves, soldiers and upstanding citizens of Ancient Greece, and what a noble bunch they looked in their wonderful costumes. The children enjoyed a wide range of exciting practical hands-on activities, helping them to learn all about different aspects of Ancient Greece. Mrs Paphitis showed them how to make a delicious tzatziki, and they made a pot for themselves to take home. The Greek dancing proved lots of fun, involving lots of circles going in different directions! Acting out the ancient Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice was a firm favourite of the children, along with Greek pot designing and Olympic medal making. The activities culminated in the children taking part in a delicious feast emulating the foods that the people in Ancient Greece would have eaten. It proved to be a fantastic day of joyful learning for all the children, and the staff too!

On Sunday 12 May, a team of six gymnasts from Year 5 and 6 travelled to Adcote School in Shropshire to compete for the first time in the ISA National Gymnastics Championships.

Elora, Sienna, Adreena, Isla, Jessica and Grace had all worked incredibly hard to prepare for the competition, which involved over 130 gymnasts from 10 different independent schools from across the country. 

In the competition the girls had to perform a set vault, a voluntary vault, a set floor routine and a voluntary floor routine set to music. All the girls tried exceptionally hard and performed really well. Crackley Hall finished in 8th position overall in the U11 Girls team competition with Elora finishing in 19th place in the individual competition.  

Well done, girls! You made Crackley very proud!

Our Little Crackers Nursery team organised a very special ‘Graduation Ceremony’ to celebrate the pre-school group ‘moving on’ to big school. The ceremony took place at the end of the Trinity Term, in front of their families, and the children were each presented with a little scroll by Mrs Bird and Miss Birch.

The children had practised special songs for the occasion and sung them perfectly, they also performed an amusing short sketch, helpfully reminding us all what they need to take to school.

Miss Birch said, “It was wonderful to mark this important moment for our little ones. We are all sorry to see this fantastic group of children move on, but we wave goodbye with a smile, and plenty of good wishes for exciting times ahead.”

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 fabulous language skills. 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.