Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• A Warm welcome to the Autumn Term

  Thu 17 Sep 2015

  Dear Parents,

  Welcome back after the long summer break. It was lovely to see the children skip into school last week looking smart and enthusiastic. Long may it continue!

   

  As always there is a very busy term ahead. The 2014 curriculum requires primary school children to have an understanding of the chronology of English history. As well as studying this in classrooms we thought it would be lovely to compile another school calendar depicting different periods of time. He is coming on Wednesday 7^th October and we would like you to supply a suitable outfit.  What that is depends on your child’s birthday month:

   

  January                                 Stone Age (prehistoric)

  February                               Romans

  March                                    Vikings

  April                                       Crusades (knights and maidens)

  May                                        Tudors

  June                                       Stuarts (Civil War – Roundheads and Cavaliers)

  July                                        Georgian

  August                                     Victorian

  September                             1920’s

  October                                 1940’s

  November                              1960’s

  December                              Present day

   

  Have fun!

  As the term progresses our thoughts turn to a multi-cultural study centring on India and we are organising different visits/ visitors to school (see attached list of dates). This is always a very colourful, interesting study which ticks off much of the geography, arts and RE curriculum. If you have any interesting artefacts, photos or stories you would like to share, let us know!

   

  As you know we at Cropthorne are committed to providing an enhanced curriculum for your children but in the present economic climate we are dependent on your voluntary contributions of £25 a term. In addition in future we will be asking for the cost of theatre and other major trips out. We do ask for your support with this. Without it we will have to drastically re-think our policy.

   

  I look forward to another exciting action-packed year at Cropthorne and to watching your lovely children continue to blossom and mature. As always, my door is open if there is anything you would like to discuss.

   

  Yours Sincerely

  Sally Martin

  

• Five Alive July 2015

  Tue 04 Aug 2015

  This term the Chameleon class have been studying city life and we decided to look at Worcester as it is our closest city. We started our topic by thinking about the contrasts of life in Worcester compared to our village life in Cropthorne and Charlton. At the beginning all of us were very clear in our thoughts that we much preferred living in the countryside rather than in a city – would we change our minds after our work on Worcester?

   

  First of all we started our topic by learning about the history of Worcester with an amazingly interesting visit to the Commandery Centre. Here we learnt all about the Civil War and we even tried on armoury before we practised our battle formations. During quite a long walk through Worcester city centre we were surprised by how many historical features are around you than you don’t normally notice because you are looking at the shops and hoping for a drink and snack break! We were fascinated by some of the statutes on the building at the Guildhall and we could really imagine the troops trying to find Charles II as we stood opposite the building where he had been hidden. We were also really surprised by some of the beautiful green areas in Worcester and we started to realise there was a lot more to Worcester than Marks and Spencer!

   

  On our second trip to Worcester we conducted surveys, which we had planned at school, to gather data about what people were doing in Worcester. We were very interested in finding out whether the crime rate was higher in Worcester as we expected it to be, one of the reasons we didn’t want to live there! The people we spoke to were fantastic and they kept telling us how polite we were so Mrs Hunt was feeling very proud! After gathering the data we visited the university to create databases and different graphs using their computers. We had a lovely lunch by the river, watching the swans and the rowers, much more peaceful than we imagined.

   

  Our final visit to Worcester involved a day of Religious Studies at the Cathedral. It must be amazing to have such a peaceful and interesting place to visit if you live in Worcester.  We imagined we were pilgrims for the day, on a special pilgrimage to Worcester Cathedral. We started the day with crafts, making gargoyles, clay mazes, shell pictures and numerical sketches. After this we had a tour of the Cathedral, hearing all the different stories about the special areas and historical events. There was a special prayer room to remember people who have or are still fighting in wars. We finished the day learning about creative prayer, how we can pray in different ways and how prayer can be beneficial to us. The day finished with all the schools joining together in a special song in the Cathedral and we were handed a shell to remember our pilgrimage.

   

  We have been very lucky to see the many different things that are in Worcester and it has really surprised us, although most of us still love our villages! We will visit Worcester again during the summer holidays to share our findings with our families.

   

  Chameleons

  

• Five Alive June 2015

  Tue 04 Aug 2015

  What a lovely weekend we had at Cropthorne School during Walkabout. Amazing how the sun shone and how nice to see so many smiling faces. I just want to say thank you to so many parents and friends for supporting our PTA and helping to raise much needed funds for the school. I don’t know the final amount yet but it is a lot! In addition it was great to hear outsiders wondering around and commenting on our “beautiful school!”

  
  Talking about the PTA…Naomi Standing, Leanne Seal and Sara Agg have worked tirelessly for the past three years co-ordinating some excellent fund raising events allowing us to purchase our pirate ship and Chimps play area and equip our new Nurture Room. All three of them are now standing down but I am delighted to say we have already found volunteers keen to take over. We are a very lucky school!
  Meanwhile, it’s business as usual in the classrooms. Children in years 4 & 5 got particularly excited during election week when they visited the local polling station to observe democracy in action. As the children explain:

  
  “We started the day by looking at Parliament and the role of M.Ps. We walked to Cropthorne village hall which was being used as a Polling Station. We were allowed in to meet the “Presiding Officer” who explained the voting process to us.
  We returned to school and created our own Polling Station and made our own polling cards. Mrs Brown, our Presiding Officer, checked the ballot papers against our register (Electoral Roll), especially to see if everyone could write their own addresses correctly!
  Mrs Hunt read through the brochures for all of the political parties, giving equal time to each party, whilst some of the children acted as roving reporters and film crew.
  The children cast their votes in our Ballot Box and we added up all of the votes to see which party had ‘won’ our election…”

  

• Five Alive May 2015

  Tue 12 May 2015

  How lovely it is this week to return to school for the summer term and to see and feel the sunshine. It has put a smile on everyone’s face and we are now looking forward to all the events this term brings.

   

  We had a great end to last term, all left buzzing after our night out in Spooksville! Thanks to everyone for their support, it was great to hear your appreciative comments but most importantly to experience the excitement of the children and watch their confidence build as the term progressed.

   

  There was more excitement as we launched our new pirate ship and trim trail on the field. This was to commemorate the school’s 150th birthday and followed many months of fund raising by our brilliant PTA. In addition we also saw the transformation of our old PE shed/storage cupboard and we are now looking forward to the transference of charity funds to complete the building and allow for its future use enhancing the learning of small groups of children.

   

  This term the whole school have started their Town & Country project and KS2 are kick starting theirs with a visit to the Commandery next week. Appropriate, as the General Election approaches and children learn about the beginnings of democracy in this country. In English the emphasis is on the use of persuasive language which should be easy to identify as posters spring up and broadcasts are made! It will also be interesting for older children to make comparisons between urban and rural areas and voting patterns across the country.

   

  A lovely illustration of country life is evident as we prepare for the Cropthorne Walkabout and our Reception children learn to Maypole dance. This is always such a great village celebration and fund raiser and as usual the school will be open on both days. Please come in and get a taste of all the wonderful things our children get up to.

  

• Five Alive April 2015

  Wed 15 Apr 2015

  As always at this time of the year, we are coming to the end of a very exciting half term at Cropthorne as we put the finishing touches to this year’s production, ‘One Night in Spooksville’. It is a lively creation that starts with Sophie who is having nightmares being whisked off to Spooksville the home town of Philip the Friendly Phantom. The show is full of music, dancing and singing and great fun to perform!

   

  The half term started with auditions which were optional. On the day nerves were running high but everyone did beautifully. I can’t tell you how work children had put into them! Parts were given out and there weren’t too many disappointed faces.

  You can’t have a play without rehearsals so now everyone started busily learning lines, practising dances and routines and making props. As the weeks move on so do the frequency of rehearsals which does mean a change from the usual timetable. Well worth it!

   

  Of course when you are putting on a play no one works harder than the backstage crew, A.K.A, the staff! They work day and night to produce costumes, scenery and props. This year we have such a variety of ghosts; Big Mac, Hector the Spectre, Spooky Suky and the Village People to name just a few, not to mention the Ghostbusters and their 25 different back packs. Our support staff deserve all the credit they can get!!

   

  Next on the list for a perfect musical play is to find a choreographer. Luckily for us we have the wonderful Wendy Young (who also happens to be my nan!) who makes up routines for the music she is given. This year she has got her work cut out as there is loads of music and dancing but I can safely tell you that all her routines are AMAZING!

  Now to the music…we have a fantastic teacher who comes and teaches the children at Cropthorne to sing and play musical instruments – recorder, clarinet and piano. Now he has shown us another talent by adding backing tracks to the songs…is there anything this man can’t do?!

   

  So we’re now gearing up to the final week and our performance on the No 8 stage. On the Tuesday morning the whole school get onto the stage for the first time, dressed in their costumes for the dreaded Dress Rehearsal. Usually things start to go very wrong and Mrs Martin gets very worried! But as the saying goes,” if you have a bad dress rehearsal an amazing show follows”. That has always happened in the past. Fingers crossed for this year…

   

  Indie Driscoll (Year 5)

  

• Five Alive March 2015

  Tue 03 Mar 2015

  Spring is in the air at Cropthorne as we approach half term and start to enjoy getting up and going home in the light!

   

  This half term all children have been enjoying writing and illustrating their own story books, researching and agreeing the elements of successful stories and characterisation. These are now completed and pupils are justifiably very proud of their results. Our budding author’s work will be displayed during the annual walkabout exhibition together with the results of next half term’s project to produce a non-fiction reference book for class research.

   

  To whet the children’s appetites for our forthcoming ‘Spooksville’ production Cropthorne shut its doors last Thursday and everyone piled on coaches excitedly, off to see Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamcoat at The Everyman, Cheltenham. Some of us have seen it many times but for most of the children it was a first and it was lovely to see that the show has lost none of its timeless magic. All children sat beautifully, spellbound throughout and boogying in their seats for the duration of the extended encore. Everyone is now raring to get on that No 8 stage!

   

  Children in Years 4 & 5 have thoroughly enjoyed their recent cross-curricular maths homework. Their brief was to research the cost of, purchase the ingredients and then bake their own cakes, organising and publicising an after-school cake sale in aid of Moldova. How proud we are of the way they all rose to the challenge! The sale took place this Wednesday, the 11th and children raised in excess of £170!
  It was lovely to receive photos of the Moldovan village children opening their Christmas stockings and we are now looking forward to Heidi visiting school when we come back to share their journey fully with us.
  Meanwhile, children in top class have got ‘the bug’ and our young entrepreneurs’ intend to continue their fundraising throughout the term. Watch out Alan Sugar!

  

• Five Alive December 2014

  Mon 24 Nov 2014

  Here we are starting to wind down to Christmas once more. Today we have seen ‘Zoo Lab’ in school teaching younger children about nocturnal animals. This follows on from an exciting visit to ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ last week. We were also treated to an impromptu lesson about the lives of golden eagles when one of our parents brought ‘Woody’ in for a visit.

   

  Last Tuesday everyone was very moved when we all attended a Remembrance Service at Cropthorne Church led by Graham Pharo. The children had made a selection of poppies both within class and at home and Mr and Mrs Pharo displayed these at church for the community to see. It was a fabulous sight and the children clearly thought about the significance of the occasion especially when impeccably observing the two minutes silence. We all sang beautifully and shared poems from the various classes, a memorable occasion which has clearly had an impact on the children.

   

  We are extremely proud of how wonderfully the whole school sings and as a result Miss Wyatt has entered our school choir into the ‘Free Radio Christmas Stars’ competition. There was much excitement when the radio station came to record the choir and we will all be listening out to hear the children singing on air. The voting commences on Friday at freeradio.co.uk/Christmas-stars. We are keeping our fingers crossed to win through to the next round!

   

  On a sporting front our Year 4 and Year 5 participated in the South Worcestershire Schools Cross Country Championship at Bredon School. The enthusiasm from the children was amazing especially as it was such a wet miserable morning. However their encouragement for each other was fabulous to see and they were rewarded with some excellent overall positions, the majority of the children finished higher than expected because of the shouting and cheering from class mates. We were all extremely proud of Lara Meredith who finished in first in the Year 4 girls race and she will be going on to represent South Worcestershire in the district finals.

   

  In school over the last few days there has been a frenzy of activities to raise money for our Moldovian charity. The children have been making Christmas items and working in ‘apprenticeship’ style teams to raise money for the charity and they are looking forward to selling these at our annual open morning on Friday 21st November 10 – 12. We really enjoy seeing old and new faces at the open morning and it is a real chance for us to show how proud we are of our school. Parents, grandparents, children old and new friends are invited to see our colourful and creative displays, school work and see the pupils in action.

   

  Finally all of us at Cropthorne wish you a merry and peaceful Christmas as we start to prepare for our much loved nativity play. Helping us prepare for Christmas our hardworking PTFA have organised a shopping evening at Cropthorne Village Hall on Friday 28th November between 6 – 8pm, tickets available from the school office. We look forward to telling you all about our festive celebrations in the new year.

   

  All at Cropthorne with Charlton CE First School

  

• Five Alive November 2014

  Thu 16 Oct 2014

  What a start to the school year at Cropthorne…After five years of waiting Ofsted decided to visit us on September 25th. One inspector for two days who validated our own assessment that we are a ‘good’ school. The final report comments on the progress of pupils who leave with “standards usually well above the levels expected for their age” and teachers’ “high expectations of what most pupils can achieve.” Children in Reception receive “outstanding guidance” when moving through activities and are learning “through a broad and stimulating curriculum.”

   

  Pupils leave as “caring and respectful individuals with a keen interest in the wider world” and their behaviour is “often exemplary.” They get on with others “outstandingly well.” “Staff morale is high” and the school “provides a highly stimulating learning environment with beautiful artwork displayed on the corridors.” There is an “exceptional range of extra-curricular activities” and children are given “ample opportunities to think for themselves and help others, such as through their extensive charity work.”

   

  We are justifiably proud.

   

  However, having an ‘Ofsted’ inspection does have a real impact on school life and I thought I would share with you a poem written in the aftermath:

   

  “We had an inspector visit our school
  Stood at the back with a clipboard making notes all the while.
  He never smiled, he hardly spoke,
  I’d like to know what it was he wrote.

  Our school is the best, it’s colourful and bright
  With the best teachers in the world, who help us read and write.
  We go on trips, do lots of sports; we sing, we dance – have fun.
  So why did he stand at the back of the class always looking glum?

  We had an inspector visit our school, you’d think he could have smiled,
  I think he was important, he was with us for a while.
  My mum says we should be happy, he said that we are good.
  So why was it he never smiled? I wonder if he could!”

   

  A date for your diaries…Open Morning, Friday 21st November, 10.00 – 12.00 a.m. when the children will be manning stalls and raising money towards our Moldovan Charity. Please come and visit our beautiful school, we’d love to show you round. We guarantee smiling faces…

  

• Five Alive October 2014

  Mon 22 Sep 2014

  What a fantastic start we’ve had to the new academic year at Cropthorne. All children (and staff!) arrived back with big smiles on their faces and our new Reception children have settled into school life immediately. In addition, the sun has continued to shine!

   

  This term our emphasis is on history. KS1 are investigating some major, exciting events and visiting Avoncroft Museum of Buildings to whet their appetites. KS2 have started a study of Roman occupation in Britain and they are off to Careleon to visit The National Roman Legion Museum. Later in the term we are planning a major Roman feast but rest assured, dormouse (a favourite delicacy of the time) will not be on the menu!

   

  At Cropthorne we are proud of our charity fund raising – over the last 4 years we have raised approximately £3000 supporting charities at home and abroad. This year we have decided to raise money for ‘The Moldova Project.’

   

  Some of you will remember our lovely Heidi Bailey who taught in Class 1 for a while before leaving to have 2 beautiful baby boys. Since leaving university Heidi has been very involved with projects in Moldova after working at an orphanage for the summer. She has since continued to visit and is off there again on the 12th. As she explains:

  “For those who are not even sure where Moldova is, it’s in Eastern Europe; it’s the poorest country in Europe and surrounded entirely by Romania and Ukraine. The people that I have met out there are amazing, but it suffers hugely from trafficking (an estimated 25,000 women and children a year) and corruption, with around 25% of the population living below the poverty line. I will be visiting some of the poorest families in the rural villages whilst I am there, 27 of whom are currently being sponsored through The Moldova Project (with 4 families waiting). The aim of this project in the long term is to help the families support themselves, whilst in the short term stop them from sending their children into orphanages (more than 4,000 children continue to live in institutions) by providing them with their basic needs, such as toiletries and food.”

  Heidi visited school prior to her trip to present to children and encourage them to contrast their lives and ‘mod-cons’ with Moldovan children. Our pupils were spell bound and keen to help out. Our first major fundraiser will be a ‘Farmer’s Market’ at school to celebrate our Harvest Festival after school on the 23rd September.  We will also be collecting small change during the year so any donations to school will be gratefully received.

   

  If you would like to find out more about the project follow the link themoldovaproject.com

  

• Press Release from Prince Henry’s High School

  Mon 22 Sep 2014

  Seven Vale Schools in Talks to form Multi Academy Trust with Prince Henry’s High School

   

  Seven area schools are hoping to form a Multi Academy Trust with Prince Henry’s during the next academic year.  Prince Henry’s High School, which has received outstanding status from Ofsted since 2006, gained Teaching School status last year and has been an Academy Trust since 2011, has been approached by a number its feeder First Schools and St Egwin’s Middle School.  The schools wish to consolidate their already well-embedded collaborative relationships and to ensure the preservation of the ethos & values of individual schools within the Prince Henry’s pyramid.  All the schools involved have a shared vision to preserve the outstanding ethos and culture that exists; especially in the current educational and financial climate, caused by increasing austerity measures in the education sector.

   

  The schools have begun a four-week consultation period with parents with the view to convert to Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) status at some point in 2015.   The interested schools are: Ashton under Hill First School, Church Lench CE First School, Cropthorne with Charlton CE First School, Harvington CE First School, St Andrew’s CE First School, St Egwin’s CE Middle School and Swan Lane First School.

   

  Dr Tony Evans, Headteacher of Prince Henry’s, said detailed discussion has been going on now for 12 months, and the schools involved were now at a stage where it could be taken forward.   “Having mutually explored options with a number of our feeder schools, the Prince Henry’s governors and leadership agree that the best way to preserve the outstanding nature of our pyramid is to formally work with these schools so that the talented and dedicated staff in our area can continue to teach our children without the fear of outside change being forced upon individual schools in the coming years.  We think it is the best for the future of our schools. By becoming a Multi Academy Trust, we will be able to achieve an economy of scale, particularly at a time when there are considerable and ongoing pressures on budgets.  In addition to this, all of the local schools who convert to the Trust will have a much greater control over their finances.”

   

  He continued “Several of my Governors and I have also met with representatives of the Worcester Diocese and they were impressed with the future proposals. The Trust will ensure that the local ethos of all schools, including the Church Schools remain unchanged”.

   

  The Heads think the move will mean an enhanced level of influence over the experience the children receive as they pass through the local pyramid, along with control over finances, and the ability to competitively buy in better services

   

  Carol Kennedy, Headteacher of St Egwin’s Middle School said: “As schools we have already been working together for a long time, so formalising this close relationship will not be a huge change to our existing working practices. Becoming a Multi Academy Trust will give us more control over the education of our children, as well as preserving the three tier structure – First, Middle and High School – which has served our pyramid so well.”

   

  Sharon Cole, Headteacher of Ashton under Hill First School said “My governing body is very excited about the prospect of working within a Trust as we believe this will lead to better educational provision for the children”.

   

  Graham Walker, Headteacher of Swan Lane First School stated “We see the formation of a Multi Academy Trust as a way of strengthening and formalising the strong links which already exist within our pyramid of schools. This can only be of benefit to our pupils.”

  
  The consultation period has now begun and each school is meeting parents who should check schools’ websites for details.

   

  School governors will look at replies and make a decision about joining the MAT.

   

  Contact: Mrs Zoe Bradley, Head’s PA

  Tel:  01386 765588

  Email:   secretary@princehenrys.worcs.sch.uk

   

  Prince Henry’s High School

  Victoria Avenue

  Evesham

  WR11 4QH

   

  Download a PDF version on the Latest News Documents page.