Admissions Update

A very warm welcome to our Admissions Update e-newsletter, designed to give you an insight into the Crescent and a feel for the richness of school life here. You will also find lots of practical information that will help you through the admissions process.

The first thing that strikes visitors to our school is the special sense of purpose that there is here, combined with a genuinely caring and nurturing atmosphere. Every child here is unique and everyone has their place in our shared community. Our wonderful teaching staff are determined to go the extra mile to help children achieve everything they are capable of. This philosophy applies inside the classroom, on the sports field and in all of our extra-curricular pursuits as well.

Please do come along to our Open Morning on Saturday 30 March to meet me, the staff and the children. We look forward to welcoming you to our wonderful school.

Joe Thackway

The Crescent School’s U11 boys’ hockey team have qualified for the IAPS (Independent Association of Preparatory Schools) U11 Boys’ National Hockey Finals for the third year running.

The boys secured their place last Wednesday 6 February at Rugby School when they faced school hockey teams from across the Midlands area.

Matt Phillips, Head of PE and Games, commented, “ The boys had one goal in mind as they set out last Wednesday, there was a quiet, steely determination in their eyes and this translated into their play. They sailed through the group stage with 100% record and without conceding a goal!”

It certainly was a flying start with a 3-0 win against Solihull that included an excellent reverse stick lob off the keeper by George, and a well-worked short corner routine that culminated with a slick finish from Fin. Crescent went on to win all of their first round matches; 2-0 Ratcliffe College, 1-0 The Elms, 1-0 Swanbourne House, 2-0 Bilton Grange Prep and 2-0 Fairfield Prep.

In the semi-final Crescent played St Andrew’s and the teams were evenly matched. Defensively, the boys looked strong but Josh was excellent in goal, particularly in the later stages when the outfielders were getting tired and gaps started to appear. The match could have gone either way and at full time the score remained 0-0. The game went to nail-biting golden goal extra time. Halfway through, a long ball by Fin found George who took it to the right of the keeper and fired in the bottom corner. That golden goal meant that Crescent were through to the final and were guaranteed a place in the Nationals.

In the final Crescent faced Foremarke Hall who had been on excellent form. They outplayed Crescent to win 4-0.

Taking second place and the silver medal means that Crescent qualifies for the national finals for the third year in a row. An amazing achievement for a small school, especially when most of the team are playing up a year.

Matt Phillips continues, “Being a small school we are always up against it when playing the much bigger schools. However this performance shows that with determination, belief and a strong work ethic you can achieve. It was great to see the boys grow in confidence as the tournament went on. For Crescent the big prize was a place in the National Finals and the boys achieved that goal. We will be training hard now and practising those crucial penalties in anticipation of another momentous day.”

The Nationals take place next month on Wednesday 20 March again at Rugby School.

Congratulations to our hockey heroes - all but one are a year young: George Bell, Fin Calder, Archie Dowling, Thomas Ferguson. Josh Gorbutt, Matthew Thomas, Noah Windley and James Wright.

The 2017/18 edition of the Crescent Circular is a wonderful celebration of the last school year.  It provides existing and prospective parents with a great insight into the wealth of activities and opportunities available at the school and makes a treasured keepsake.

The latest edition is available here, or please contact admin@crescentschool.co.uk if you would like to be sent a hard copy of the magazine.  

On Saturday 29 September 2018 Crescent School celebrated its 70th anniversary with a special community celebration. Past and present pupils, parents, staff and governors came together to mark the important milestone at the school in Bilton, Rugby.  It was a very special occasion, enjoyed by everyone, that gave many the chance to reconnect and share fond memories.

The afternoon opened with a performance from the Bilton Silver Training Band, many of whom are Old Crescentians. They played to an appreciative audience and provided a magnificent start to the sunny afternoon. In the carnival atmosphere children played with the family games set out on the field, while their parents enjoyed catching up and reminiscing outside and over refreshments in the decorated school hall.

Throughout the school the classrooms and corridors were filled with displays and memorabilia and visitors were encouraged to explore. Many were delighted to find old photos of themselves and examples of work that had been retrieved from the archives. Foundation Archivist, Janette Ratcliffe, was kept busy as many provided new information and memories for her collection. Some of their memories included anecdotal insights such as ‘watching the moon landing sitting in the hall’, ‘wearing my school beret para-trooper style and being much berated’, ‘being punished for scrumping apples’ and ‘the smell of polish whilst sitting cross legged in assembly’.

The school choir had been hard at work practising a series of specially prepared pieces and they also put on a wonderful outdoor performance. Past pupils found the words to the school song spring to their lips and eagerly joined in.

The school was honoured to welcome back two former headteachers, Mrs Christine Barrett, who led the school from 1971 to 1992, and Mr Huw Marshall, who retired only last year. Both enjoyed seeing the latest improvements to the school, catching up with old colleagues and sharing their own memories of their time at the Crescent.

Anyone who has a connection to the school who would like to share their memories and be kept up to date with news from the school should contact oldcrescentians@crescentschool.co.uk.

Year 1 have been studying place value and marking the passage of the school year on their classroom chart. Knowing your ones from your tens takes plenty of practise but the children have all worked very hard. So on Thursday 28 February, 100 days since the start of the school year, it was time to celebrate their perfected place value skills with a special 100 days party.

The morning was spent preparing, making party hats and party food and getting the classroom ready. Then in the afternoon the children got on with the serious business of having fun. There were plenty of traditional party games including pass the parcel, under and over and musical bumps. Of course Mrs Emery couldn’t resist including the odd mathematical challenge in between rounds but with their newly acquired skills the children answered the questions with ease. After all the games were finished it was time to sit down and share some party food before finally getting together for a party photo.

Year 1 teacher, Mrs Emery, said, “What a lot of fun we have all had today and what amazing mathematical skills the children are developing. Our 100 day party was the perfect way to celebrate, and reinforce, our developing place value skills.”

On Tuesday 8 January pupils at Crescent School presented £730.87 to the Air Ambulance Service.

The children have been busy fundraising for the national Children’s Air Ambulance since the beginning of the school year. They ran a ‘name the teddy’ competition, held a yellow Air Ambulance non-uniform day, a Christmas jumper day and organised collections both in school and at the school’s Carol Service.

The children were delighted to welcome Air Ambulance representative Dr Caroline Leech, one of the Air Ambulance doctors, into the school for a special assembly.

Caroline, who also works as an A&E doctor at the University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire, spoke to the children about the Air Ambulance Service and the work of the national Children’s Air Ambulance. She then showed everyone three key medical skills, how to read a radial pulse, check pupil reactivity and how to use a pulse oximeter to check a person’s heart rate and blood oxygen levels. The pupils really enjoyed meeting Caroline and hearing about the essential work the Air Ambulance Service does.

On behalf of the School Council teacher, Sam Stapleton, revealed how much money all their fundraising efforts had raised, an impressive total of £730.87, which was then presented to the Air Ambulance Service.

Thanking the children Dr Caroline Leech said, “This money will help buy specialist medical equipment and support running costs.”

Image Musical Theatre visited the Crescent School in October to stage a production of the exciting tale of Robin Hood. The children got to join in with the super story-telling session and clearly all enjoyed the show.

Image Musical Theatre is a company that performs participatory theatre to primary school audiences. They believe that bringing a story to life engages children and helps encourage them to read.

The actors, Will, Matt and Clarissa, began by selecting ten children who would take part in the show. They then worked with the audience teaching them a series of songs, hand actions and responses to accompany the tale.

After a short break to allow the players to get into their costumes the production started. It was an excellent performance full of comedy and wit and the children sat focussed and fully engaged. The theatre company cleverly brought the classic tale to life and the children really enjoyed ‘booing’ the villain, cheering for the ‘hero’ and singing all the songs. Well done to Crescent’s budding actors who delivered their lines with aplomb.

It was another great morning of lovely learning and fantastic fun.

The ‘Exhibition of Young Local Artists’, which is hosted by Warwick School, was established in 1985. Over the years the exhibition has grown and now many local primary schools take part.

The event brings together local primary schools to celebrate art and showcase young talent and the array and diversity of the pieces exhibited is phenomenal.

Crescent School was delighted that the following children's work was selected to be in the 2019 Exhibition.

Class III - Faris and Liana for their wonderful art in the style of Lowry.

Class V - Ariana and Rania for their colourful 3D Braque style musical instrument.

Class VI - Tilly for her super landscape print.

Art and DT Teacher, Jo Byrne, congratulated them all, saying, "Our children's work is always so creative and it is a real honour for them to have been selected for the exhibition.  I am really pleased that these young artists have been recognised in this way."

Princethorpe is putting Science at the forefront of its vision for the future with plans for a new state-of-the-art Science building. Planning was submitted last September for the two-storey, £8 million building, which will see Biology, Chemistry and Physics sited together in one dedicated location. It is hoped that construction will start on the project within the next three years.

This is the latest in a programme of capital investment in the infrastructure of the College, including recent projects such as the refurbishment of the Clarkson Theatre and the Roundhouse for the Performing Arts, the Limes Building for Modern Foreign Languages, English and ICT and restoration of the wooded lake area known as Switzerland for outdoor education.

At just over 1,600 sq metres, the building will provide contemporary, spacious and well-equipped accommodation for the three Sciences including ten new laboratories, preparation areas, staff bases and toilets.

Comments, Headmaster, Ed Hester, “In a demanding world, where scientific progress is essential across the spheres of discovery, development and innovation, we need to provide the very best facilities for teaching and learning to stimulate the intellect, ambition and creativity of our pupils. This tremendous new building will enable us to do just that.”

The main entrance of the new block will face the Lime Walk and the side of the building will abut the existing Limes Building at the top of the North Lawn. The two buildings will be connected on both floors creating free flow for pupils and staff between them. The area in front of the new building will be attractively landscaped with a central square feature.

The project will also enable the College to redevelop and cluster other departments, providing permanent homes for Economics, Business Studies, Geography and Classics and dedicated laboratory areas for Academic PE. Plans are also afoot to provide additional catering and seated dining facilities. This last major phase of the upgrading of the school’s accommodation will benefit all of the College’s 900 plus pupils.

The project has been designed in collaboration with Leamington-based AT Architects.

On Tuesday 12 February, 34 pupils from across the Princethorpe Foundation travelled to the National Space Centre in Leicester to take part in a simulated space mission called Rendezvous with a Comet. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) based adventure took place in the Challenger Learning Centre, one of only two educational space mission simulators outside North America.

For the mission pupils took on the roles of navigation experts, medical officers, data officers, scientists and engineers; the Year 6 and 7 pupils worked as a team to plot a successful course to rendezvous with Comet Enke as it streaked across the solar system, and then launched a probe to collect scientific data.

The first task was to construct the space probe before then plotting the correct intercept course but what seemed at first to be a routine exploration was soon filled with exciting challenges and emergencies along the way. Giving concise instructions, documenting the research and analysing data enabled pupils to maintain the safety of their team in space and ultimately accomplish a successful mission. And how exciting it was to discover that they had chanced upon a much rarer comet than Comet Enke. The new comet was so rare that no living human being had ever before observed it, so pupils got to name it! Our cross-phase pupils voted on the name Comet CCP to ensure that Crackley, Crescent and Princethorpe were equal partners in this extra-terrestrial mission.

The teams got a heroes’ welcome home when they returned to Mission Control safely. Da Vinci Co-ordinator, Mrs Pascoe-Williams commented, “It was another excellent mission – I was impressed with how well the pupils from our three schools worked together. The atmosphere was fantastic and the enthusiasm boundless, all in all it was a great opportunity for cross-curricular learning. Well done everyone!”

On Tuesday 5 March, Crescent School welcomed musicians from fellow Foundation junior school, Crackley Hall, for an orchestral workshop. It was another opportunity for the young virtuosos to work together following a successful Choral Workshop at Crackley Hall in the Michaelmas Term. The event saw 20 members of Crackley Hall’s Orchestra join 20 Crescent instrumentalists for a day designed to develop and stretch their music and performance skills.

Pupils from both schools worked together 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 two challenging pieces, including the moving 'I Dreamed A Dream' from the hit musical Les Miserables and the stirring ‘Great Movie Adventures’ by John Williams, both pieces testing the players’ technical and music-reading ability to the limit.

The afternoon concert was superb, a sensational symphony of sound. As well as featuring the full 40-piece orchestra playing their now near perfect pieces, it also included four solo performances, two from each school. Edward Hunter played ‘I’d Do Anything’ from Oliver on Trumpet, Fin Calder played ‘Reverie’ by Tchaikovsky on Tenor Horn, Andrea Zanyi played ‘Take Five’ by Paul Desmond on Flute and Matthew Thomas played ‘Prelude’ by Charpentier on Cornet.

Mrs Barnes, Director of Music at Crescent, commented, “It was a 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, "I thought it was a brilliant day for all the children. They learned so much challenging music in such a short space of time, it was simply great for them to play with so many other talented musicians."

Another successful Foundation day with the young musicians leading the way enjoying learning and working together!

Work is well underway on an exciting, new Foundation website which is due to launch this spring.

The new site has been carefully designed as five websites in one to perfectly showcase the Foundation and its four schools - Princethorpe College, Crescent School, Crackley Hall School and Little Crackers Nursery.

Melanie Butler, Assistant Head – Marketing, Admissions and Communications, comments, “This has been a major project, which we hope will be well received by the Foundation community and prospective families. It will look better, work faster and be easier to use than our current sites. We can’t wait to share it with everybody!”

The Foundation Marketing Team have developed the site in partnership with website company, e4education.

Keep an eye on the Foundation social media platforms for previews of the site and news of the launch date.